Summon Monster Level 1

Conjuring monsters with music by theDURRRRIAN

Conjuration, more specifically summoning, is easily one of the most versatile set of spells in the game, allowing you to call in assistance from otherworldly sources for almost any situation. So naturally its pretty popular with mages of all stripes, whether they be arcane, divine, or even psychic in nature.

It comes as no surprise then, that there are a multitude of techniques used by various conjurers to get the most out of their summoned creatures and magics, and today, we’ll be looking at a selection of them from the core rules, Advanced Player’s Guide, Ultimate Magic, and even Monster Summoner’s Handbook.

 As one might expect, the most common way that summoning specialists empower themselves is by increasing the power of their summoned creatures. The most basic way in Augment Summoning, which enhances the physical abilities of the summon.

Druids and other summoners of wild creatures imbue their summons with the power of sunlight, moonlight, or starlight with the Sunlight Summons, Moonlight Summons, and Starlight Summons respectfully, making them glow with light or sensitive in darkness, as well as imbuing their bodies with resistances and their strikes with magical properties.

Others learn to alter their conjured servants the way a summoner alters their eidolons, granting them minor additional abilities with Evolved Summoned Monster.

Some can even summon a unique creature called a guardian spirit, which resembles a minor outsider, but grows in power with the caster, requiring higher and higher level summoning magic to call upon This technique is therefore called Summon Guardian Spirit.

Normally, when calling upon ordinary animals with summoning, the beings that are called are cosmic reflections of natural beasts that adhere to a moral alignment. Those with Versatile Summoning, or Versatile Natural Summons, however, are able to call upon beasts infused with one of the four elements, primordial fae creatures, and even shadowy reflections of such creatures.

Another way that summoners increase their power is by diversifying their list of summons. Some do so based on alignment, picking up whole swaths of goodly, neutral, or even evil creatures with the Summon Good, Neutral, or Evil Creature feats, these beings gaining minor enhancements as well.

Others prefer to pick and choose, learning an Expanded Summon Monster technique that allows them to choose a few extra summons for every such spell they can cast, diversifying their arsenal.

 This only scratches the surface of feat options for would-be summon-masters. That being said, this is a very good starting point when considering a summoning-focused character, so keep that in mind.