Summon Creatures
Between spells and character abilities there are many ways for characters to summon creatures. Over time this has become much more complex and the features to define those have gotten more complicated as well. This article describes how Shard handles modeling this variety.
Overview
The basic process is that a character activates an ability or casts a spell. The user may get to choose the monster and depending on the selection one or more creatures are added as companions on the character sheet. When the spell is finished or the ability is deactivated the summoned creatures are removed.
Summon Options
Summon options can either be described on a character feature action or as part of a spell definition.
To set on a spell:
Select option to set spell options manually.
Click the SUMMON MONSTERS button.
Summon options are shown inline
To set on a feature action:
Click USER ACTION on a feature.
Select Summon Companion.
Summon options are shown in a dialog.
The summon options will look something like:
The top options allow configuration of what monsters are available to select:
Minimum CR and Maximum CR: restrict the monsters base on the range of CRs. If there is no minimum or maximum then set the value to none.
Monster Types: set the types of the monsters allowed to be selected. Wild Shape is a good example that only allows beasts.
Exclude Movement: select movement types that are not allowed. Wild Shape is a good example that only allows flying at certain levels.
Pick Monsters: allows you to select specific monsters rather than based on a restriction.
Normally monsters will be summoned with their normal statistics, but in other cases the monsters statistics are modified based on the character and in the case of spells based on how the spell is cast. For those cases click the “change statistics based on character” option. Additional options will be shown.
Note: that the spell options are only available for spells.
The options allow adjustment of the HP, AC and optionally adding a feature definition that will be applied to the monster. Setting the feature can allow a whole range of modifications of the monster, for example add a fly speed.
In many cases the summon options vary based on the level of the character or based on the level that the spell is cast. To change the options by level click the ADD LEVEL OPTIONS button to get a copy of the summon options. Set the level that the new options start and adjust the options.
Metaword Options from Summoner
Summoned creatures frequently inherit modifications based on the summoner. To facilitate those adjustments there are some special metawords that are applied to the summoned monsters that can be used with the monsters.
summoner str: strength ability modifier of the summoner
summoner dex: intelligence ability modifier of the summoner
summoner con: constitution ability modifier of the summoner
summoner wis: wisdom ability modifier of the summoner
summoner int: intelligence ability modifier of the summoner
summoner cha: charisma ability modifier of the summoner
summoner proficiency: proficiency modifier of the summoner
Special Options for Spells
Summoned creatures frequently inherit modifications based on the spellcaster. To facilitate those adjustments there are some special metawords that are applied to the summoned monsters that can be used with the monsters.
cast spell level: is set to the level that the spell was cast. This metaword can also be used in the applied feature as part of a restriction. As a result features can be activated based on the level that the spell was cast.
additional spell levels: when spells are upcast this values holds the number of levels of the upcast. So a level 2 spell cast using a level 4 spell slot will have a value of 2.
caster spell save: will hold the value of the spellcaster’s spell save for the spell that summoned the monster.
caster spell attack: will hold the spellcaster’s attack modifier for the spell that summoned the monster.
spellcasting mod: will hold the spellcaster’s ability modifier for the spell that summoned the monster.
Example of how metawords might be used.