PDA

View Full Version : Need Assistance Making an Elemental Summoner Viable in 3.5



AzureNightshade
2013-05-12, 04:32 AM
One of my PCs in a 3.5 campaign wants to play an Elemental Summoner based on the Malconvoker

Knowing that elementals are largely underpowered until the Elemental Monoliths at spell level 9, and starting this campaign at lvl 3, I was looking into how to make an Elemental Summoner a little more playable.

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=10603.0

I looked at this first and it has lots of good advice

Rashemi Elemental Summoning, Doesn't extend to fire and water elementals.
A homebrew feat which knocks the elementals down a spell level, which I've just house ruled that summon monster elementals are summoned at the same spell level as SNA elementals.
Planar Wizard Substitution levels that may make your elementals evil? (seems like an uncessary investment for something so simple)

But I still feel like an elementalist would be weaker then your average summoner.

So here's the Homebrew:

1. Rashemi Elemental Summoning templates extended to Fire and Water Elementals too:

Fire Elementals:

AC+2
Fire Damage on Natural Attacks increased by 1 die level.
Produce Flame Effect: Can throw a fireball dealing its on hit +HD damage
ex: Small Fire Elemental 1d6+2, range 120 feet touch attack
Fire Shield affect 1d6+HD when struck
Con+4
Int = At least 10

Other Possibilities:
Wall of Fire 3x/Day, Seems OP at lower levels, maybe only give to elementals with HD 8 or higher?
Blast of Flame 3x/Day, Too much like the Cone of Cold the Air Elementals Receive, I want each elemental to seem unique in its function.

Water Elementals:

AC+2
Drown: on a second successful grapple check can attempt to drown a creature, forgoing its usual ability to hold its breath.
Control Water at will: raise or lower water, or slow water creatures
Fire Resist 5
Con +4
Int = at least 10

This ones hard as there isn't a label for "water" wizard spells.
Could mix it with acid like the air elementals were mixed with ice.
Don't know what spell like ability to give them.
ex:
Sleet Storm 3x/day, hesitate to give kind of crowd control to a basic summon.
Water Jet 3x/day: 1d6/2HD 30ft Line, make a Balance or Str check = damage dealt+5 or be knocked prone.

2. Elementals Houseruled to be summoned from SNA spell levels instead of their SM level which is 1 higher for no real reason.

3. How to make elementals evil.
There are 3 ways of doing this that I've found so far.

1. Is to take planar wizard substitution levels for the 10th level feature that you can add an alignment descriptor to your spells, this option is meh.

2. There is a vile feat called "corrupt summon" that turns all your summons evil, but it requires your character to be evil, which could be fluffed that malconvoker ignores this requirement, but opens up extra cheese with some good summons and if that's ignored seems like a waste of a feat.

3. There is a Demonically Fused Elemental Template in the Dragon Compendium, This basically adds the fiendish template, some stat boosts and haste to regular elementals. I like this option the best because it has the most wiggle room. I just cant decide whether to make it a feat (Demonically Fused Elemental Summoning), or just fluff it that these are the types of elementals that they are summoning given the vague wording of the summon monster spell.

Well what do you think?

Do the Fire Elementals seem balanced/flavorful, what would work for water elementals? Should Demonically Fused Elementals be Fluff or Feat.

I'd love to hear some opinions/alternate ideas.

AzureNightshade
2013-05-12, 04:44 PM
Please, I would love to hear any other ideas for flavorful but not OP SLA's to give a water elemental, or other strategies to turn summoned elemental's evil.

I'd also like a critique on my custom Rashemi Fire Elementals.

Just to Browse
2013-05-12, 08:23 PM
The more stuff you add the more complicated and fiddly the summoner will be. I don't know much about Summoning Handbooks, but I can tell you that it will be easier for you to just write/find a good summoner class or summoning ruleset instead of writing new SLAs and Rashemi Summoning rules etc.

I humbly submit the following ideas:
Have your PC play a summoner (http://dnd-wiki.org/wiki/Summoner_(3.5e_Class)) and he can just summon frost beasts or elementals. The class is very strong anyways.
If the PC is about strict elemental-summoning, give him bard spells off the wizard list and let him summon elemental encounters with an EL of his level - 2 at will. So at level 3 he could summon up any small elemental, and at level 5 that could be any medium elemental, or a thoqqua, a magmin, or any 2 small elementals.

AzureNightshade
2013-05-13, 02:30 AM
That's a pretty cool class I'll ask them what they think of it