Official ICE Forums
Systems & Settings => Rolemaster => Topic started by: alloowishus on March 22, 2022, 02:01:46 PM
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The spell states that Summons in the Gate mastery list is random, however, there are not enough creatures in C&T for this to work, especially at low levels. So instead I was looking (for an NPC) at what possible non-intelligent creatures they could summon, I came across a jadeback, which is a 2nd level giant beetle (and kind of nasty for 2nd level). So obviously if he specifies "6 legged large insect at 2nd level" there is really only one creature that fits into this category in C&T, so in effect he is summoning a specific creature. Is this allowed or does it have to be random? I was thinking that one possible modification to that spell would be that in addition to being able to increase the level, duration doubled, or extra 1st level, there should also be "can specify creature", so a Summons III could summon a specific 2nd level creature. Otherwise it seems all you can summon are things like dogs, horses, cats etc, and nothing more interesting like monsters because these canimals would not normally attack an armoured combatant and probably just run away.
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The way I usually manage this is with the C&T level variability tables. The summoner may get a 2nd level (young?) version of a 5th level creature, with stats adjusted according to the front of the book. It takes a minute to scale, but after a couple of times you get faster. But it opens up a much broader pool of creatures. It does not, however, address the frustration of having to figure out what actually answers a summons for a "four legged beige carnivore"!
And as for the summoned creatures wanting to run away, the caster controls them, so they will attack if the caster tells them to.
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[Edit: just got ninja-ed by Jengada, who says much the same thing that I was going to say, but I am keeping my post in case some of it is useful.]
I would not assume that all summons are intended for combat. Often you might summon a creature for scouting, for example. Or a kitty if you get lonely.
But you are right that there aren't always appropriately levelled creatures, and that is a problem. However, remember that creatures have levels (even C+T has rules for them), so one thing you could do is have the character summon another creature of similar type and then up-level or down-level it. I would also feel free to create or even just ballpark stats for an appropriate creature of the designated type.
You could thus have anything from a Jadeback to a giant ant, bee, cricket, or flea.
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...Or a kitty if you get lonely. ..
There are days when even the most stalwart adventurer needs a kitty to hold. This is where the party spell-caster really earns their keep. On a really bad day, summon one for each party member - no need to share.
(A quick expansion on the level-adjustment: I remember someone suggesting boosting 0-level creatures to avoid the issue of "how many 0-level things an I summon with Summon V?")
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[Edit: just got ninja-ed by Jengada, who says much the same thing that I was going to say, but I am keeping my post in case some of it is useful.]
I would not assume that all summons are intended for combat. Often you might summon a creature for scouting, for example. Or a kitty if you get lonely.
But you are right that there aren't always appropriately levelled creatures, and that is a problem. However, remember that creatures have levels (even C+T has rules for them), so one thing you could do is have the character summon another creature of similar type and then up-level or down-level it. I would also feel free to create or even just ballpark stats for an appropriate creature of the designated type.
You could thus have anything from a Jadeback to a giant ant, bee, cricket, or flea.
Only problem is that there are no giant ants, bees or crickets in C&T :(
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[Edit: just got ninja-ed by Jengada, who says much the same thing that I was going to say, but I am keeping my post in case some of it is useful.]
I would not assume that all summons are intended for combat. Often you might summon a creature for scouting, for example. Or a kitty if you get lonely.
But you are right that there aren't always appropriately levelled creatures, and that is a problem. However, remember that creatures have levels (even C+T has rules for them), so one thing you could do is have the character summon another creature of similar type and then up-level or down-level it. I would also feel free to create or even just ballpark stats for an appropriate creature of the designated type.
You could thus have anything from a Jadeback to a giant ant, bee, cricket, or flea.
Only problem is that there are no giant ants, bees or crickets in C&T :(
But there are rules for giantism at the end of Creatures, just before Treasures.
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But there are rules for giantism at the end of Creatures, just before Treasures.
Yes, that was what I was thinking of. That and the more regular rules RMU has for simply adding levels to creatures via archetypes.
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Summon a giant kitten, toss string on foe, and let nature take its course.
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So obviously if he specifies "6 legged large insect at 2nd level"...
It'd be fun if one summons an insect that doesn't have six legs... an infirm insect?
Summon a giant kitten...
I'd say that tigers and warcats are too high levelled creatures to be summoned at low levels! :p