Summons
Almost every summoning spell here has been rewritten to scale with caster level, so the same spell brings a stronger creature the higher you are. Most of them scale past level 26 only if you have the matching Spell Focus, which is the single most important thing on this page for anyone building a summoner.
This page is about spell summons. A wizard's familiar and a druid's animal companion are a separate system with its own scaling - see familiars and animal companions.
How many you can have
A summoning spell fills your summon slot: one at a time, as in the base game.
The two epic summons - Mummy Dust and Dragon Knight - do not. They arrive as henchmen, so one of them can stand beside an ordinary summon and you can have two creatures out at once.
Only one epic summon at a time. Casting the second while the first is alive is refused outright, with a message - and the feat use is given back to you, so nothing is wasted.
The scaling rule
Where a spell scales, it works the same way throughout:
- The creature improves at fixed caster levels.
- Past a certain point each further grade needs a Spell Focus feat - Spell Focus for the first, Greater Spell Focus for the next, Epic Spell Focus for the last.
- Without the feat, the scaling simply stops at the last grade you qualify for. Nothing fails and nothing warns you; you just keep getting the weaker creature.
- A druid is one grade ahead of an arcane caster at the same caster level on everything that scales. This is never stated in game.
Gate: read this before you cast it
Gate summons a Balor if you are evil, a Solar if you are good, and one or the other on a coin flip if you are neutral.
If a Balor is what comes and you have no protection up, it turns on you. With no protection from evil, magic circle against evil or holy aura running, the demon rebels: you take half your current hit points as magic damage and nothing is summoned. Buff first.
It lasts one turn per 4 caster levels, and the creature improves at 26, then at 31 / 36 / 40 with Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus and Epic Spell Focus Conjuration.
The epic summons
Mummy Dust and Dragon Knight both start at their base grade and improve at 26, 36 and 40, each step needing Spell Focus, then Greater, then Epic. Mummy Dust accepts a focus in either Conjuration or Necromancy; Dragon Knight wants Conjuration.
Dragon Knight no longer summons a dragon - it summons a Draconic Warrior, and lasts caster level / 4 + 10 turns.
Uses per day: Mummy Dust is once, plus one more for every 20 levels of Druid, Cleric, Sorcerer or Wizard. Dragon Knight is once, plus one more at level 40.
Elementals
Summon Creature IX and Elemental Swarm run through six grades: up to 20, then 21, 26, 31, 36 and 40. The last three want Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus and Epic Spell Focus Conjuration respectively - without any of them the scaling stops at the level 26 grade.
Undead
| Spell | Grade changes at caster level |
|---|---|
| Animate Dead | 6, 10 - Skeleton Warrior, Skeleton Chieftain, Doom Knight |
| Create Undead | 12, 14, 16, 21, then 26 with Spell Focus Necromancy |
| Create Greater Undead | 14, 16, 21, 26 (Spell Focus Necromancy), then 31 with Greater Spell Focus Necromancy |
Create Undead climbs Doom Knight, Lich Apprentice, Lich, Master Lich, Fallen Priest, and finally an Epic Fallen Priest. Create Greater Undead starts a rung higher and ends on a Legendary Fallen Hero.
A Pale Master's own greater undead scales separately, at 10, 15, 20, and then at 25 and 30 only with the Epic Fallen Angel feat.
Planar allies
Lesser Planar Binding, Planar Ally, Planar Binding and Greater Planar Binding each have two modes. Aimed at an outsider, they paralyse it for 1 round per 2 caster levels unless it saves against Will. Aimed at the ground, they call an ally of your own - and your alignment decides which kind of outsider answers.
| Spell | Grade changes at caster level |
|---|---|
| Lesser Planar Binding | 12, 15, 18, 21 |
| Planar Ally / Planar Binding | 15, 18, 21, then 26 with Spell Focus Conjuration |
| Greater Planar Binding | 18, 21, 26 (Spell Focus), then 31 with Greater Spell Focus Conjuration |
Other summons
Blackguard's Fiendish Servant improves at 10, 15, 20, and then at 25 and 30 only with the Epic Fiendish Servant feat, which also grants an extra use per day. While it is out it carries an aura that gives its master +1 dodge AC per 10 fiend levels, for as long as the master stays inside it.
Black Blade of Disaster was made stronger: its enhancement, damage and base statistics all scale off the caster's main ability - Charisma for a sorcerer, Intelligence for a wizard. It still needs a concentration check each round to keep it up.
Summon Shadow, Shadow Conjuration and Greater Shadow Conjuration bring a Shadow Mastiff up to level 6 and a Shadow Fiend from 7, which improves again at 11, 15 and 20 - the last being an Ancient Shadow Fiend.