Coming Soon - Demonologist Prestige Class

[*Orlitoq]

Will the Summoning Mastery ability upgrade only the class summons, or all critters summoned (ie through the Summon Monster I - IX)?

[*Plaxy100]

I was curious if this class could be open for warlock progression as well. Warlocks could use a few fiendish friends and have there own summon.

[*Ceremorph]

Orlitog: Summoning Mastery ONLY works on summon creature I-IX. The summon they get from the Binder of Fiends feat is unique to that ability and gets no additional boosts, and in the case of theurge builds will also work on those spell from the cleric caster list.

Plaxy: This doesn't really mesh with warlocks, and the PnP version doesn't allow them. Just as Summoning Mastery doesn't work on Planar Binding (or other summons from alternate sources like Pale Master or Blackguard levels), it wouldn't really effect anything a Warlock can do, so having it open for them would be pretty much the same as if it were open for fighters.

And just to put one thing into perspective, the "henchman slot" I mentioned is the same one that hired thugs/rogues/demonic pacts/merkhant constructs go into. So if your warlock wants a demon henchman, they are available... for a price.

[*Tubbles]

When you overhaul the summons, don't tweak the Good Summon Monster IX too much, the Guardian Naga is actually pretty useful!

[*poststructuralism]

Thrilled to hear it! Thanks Ceremorph!

[*DarkPerin]

The tricky thing about summons, is they can't be to powerful, because then it makes playing a fighter type, or whatever the type the summon is, pointless generally. Especially after wizard buffs. Especially when you consider that the wizard still has a huge arsenal of spells. Probably why they only make the summons effective up to the Abyss.

[*PenguinNinja]

I always wanted to see a server that had a line of caster feats that let you summon a multitude of creatures that could go toe to toe with basically anything on the server, be in the process your character is very gimped, incredibly low HP, AC, saves, and the monster's can only be summoned once per day. Say you have a Tank summon, a DPS summon, and a sneak summon, you summon the Tank, you can't summon anything else till you rest, ect.

[*Ceremorph]

Tubbles: you mean the naga is better than what you get for Epic Gate?

Poststructuralism: you're welcome!

DarkPerin: None of the Binder of Fiends summons is going to be anywhere close to an epic-level melee build, of course. Both because of design and because of stupid AI. But what this really comes down to is sacrificing the caster's blasting ability, and in return getting summons to fill that role. Thus, the well-played demonologist is going to be a controller figure more than a constantly acting one.

Here's my view of the class progression: it definitely starts off weak, as you will need either 5 wiz levels or 6 of sorc/bard before qualifying, and the feat qualifications of SF: Conj and Augment Summoning pretty much force you to build with this PRC in mind. The best possible outcome would involve taking this class as early as possible, which will result in very strong bound fiends, and the bonuses to summoned creatures are most effective in the middle levels. Take the full ten of demonologist to get the best version of the bound fiend and the resistances, then likely either a move straight to ASOC or Red Wizard to pick up and make best use of the high-level offensive spells, or else dip into a divine casting class and advance Mystic Theurge to double-dip your spells (because the Summoning Mastery also applies itself to other classes casting their summon creature as well). Another interesting option is if you started with Bard, you could resume bardic progression, since the inspirations affect your summons and henchmen and enhance that controller role; you just have to live with either not getting requiem unless you sacrifice the 10th level of demonologist (but trust me, you want the bound fiend from L9).

Stand back, let your (preferably well-buffed) Bound Fiend deal with enemies, while you throw in additional summons or the rare offensive spell when circumstances dictate. It's definitely a different playstyle, but one that I think will wind up being quite effective.

[*Tubbles]

I wouldn't say the guardian naga was better than the planetar from epic gate, but the planetar could still use some slight buffs. As it is, they are a little bit too close in usefulness, considering one is just a normal 9th level spell, and the other is an epic feat.

From my experience the Planetar is pretty tanky, and he has some useful healing, but he doesn't really do much else. It's a little bit disappointing as an epic feat.

I have no real experience with the evil summons, but I know for a fact that Gate for neutrals across the board is pretty useless. The Death Slaad for Neutral/Chaotic Neutral NEEDS to be buffed, or he just immediately gets feared and killed. Meanwhile, the Astral Deva for Good characters does a pretty decent job of staying alive and killing things. Not quite as strong as the Vampire Warrior from Create Greater Undead however.

[*Ceremorph]

Tubbles: that's the biggest part of the balancing act that's currently out of whack, and it truly does happen at almost every level of summon creature. My aim is to make each level fill a specific role, and for the summoned monsters to be similar in overall functionality, while having its own unique quirks. What I'm really looking for is so that if LG and CE characters cast the same summon spell and let the results have a poke-battle (hezrou, I choose you!), it should be a close fight that could go either way.