Playing a summoner in fantasy grounds--how annoying is it?

[hobit]

Hi folks,
I've only used FG for 5e and a custom game and I've largely stuck with simple characters. But I'm looking at playing a summoner in a Pathfinder game. In a PnP game, it would probably be annoying but doable with all the summons coming in-and-out. But I've done it before (Druid that almost only cast summons) and it worked fine. But I'm worried about the summoner and FGs. I don't want to slow down the game too much. And I don't want to add burden to the GM. I just want to be able to cast the needed spells, have monsters show up and be able to move them/have them attack/take damage all correctly.

I know there is a module for summoned creatures. It is a DM-only thing? Is it going to require the DM do do something every time I cast? Can I control the creatures myself?

Also, how is the support for the Eidolon? For the Master Summoner?

I'm debating a vanilla summoner, a cavalier and a master summoner. But each of those have at least one NPC that needs to be dealt (some much more) and I don't want to slow down the game much. Is that doable?

[OTG_Wraith]

In my videos I play a synthesist and while I don't really rely on my summons very much, I did use them a little at low levels. If the GM makes the summons module open to all then you can reference the creatures and choose the one you want, but he is still going to need to drag it into the combat tracker. Once there, you can click its attacks and plot its movement without much delay. There will be some concerns about attacker and target but nothing game-stopping.

As far as the Eidolon, my suggestion is to make two characters and run both. It's easy to do and you can swap between them just by clicking their portraits. Each one will have their own attacks and defenses and will play pretty much normally as in any case of running two characters. That being said, any time you run more than one character you end up taking more time.

One way to alleviate some of this is to make you and your summons act on different initiatives. This, at least, makes it seem like your turn isn't taking twice as long (or more) than everyone else. Once you get really comfortable with running both then you can go back to having them act on same initiative. Just make sure you always bear in mind there are others (presumably friends) waiting and they want to play also. This won't be a problem with the Eidolon since it has its own initiative, but seems to work well enough with summons as long as you're willing to forego the 'double attack' summoning a monster gives you.

Now, the master summoner on the other hand is a different case entirely. You will need a very patient and accommodating group to run one without getting violently throttled by the end of your turn. :D

[hobit]

Thank you, that's helpful. With the same group I played someone with leadership (in a d20 variant that is pretty fast paced) and I _think_ it went well, but I'm really not certain.




Now, the master summoner on the other hand is a different case entirely. You will need a very patient and accommodating group to run one without getting violently throttled by the end of your turn. :D

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. I've used FG for about 30 sessions, but never for a caster (well not one that I really needed to do much) and never for Pathfinder. I'd like to play a caster and we've already got a wizard and an oracle. I think I'll give the summoner a shot and change out if it becomes a problem.

[Blahness98]

One of the reasons summoners (the offical class) are not allowed in ANY of my games. Takes too damn long to get everything sorted. My players have been awesome enough to let me know in advance that they will be picking up and using summoning spells, so I am able to prep those creatures+templates in advance.

[Ken L]

From experience, leadership needs to be planned far in advance by the GM. If a player willynilly just picks it and expect their GM to let the mechanics roll, there's strife ahead.

Regarding summons, I don't really mind as long as the player knows their stuff. I have tokens for every summon-able creature and given class selections, I can predict what's in their trans-dimensional arsenal. What I don't like is those who don't know about their summon. Now if I'm planning for newcomers to the game and one of the pregens happens to to able to summon, I can plan for that.

Regarding the class 'Summoner'.... well no, just no.

[ddavison]

I played a Master Summoner in a personal game. I had everything pretty much ready to drop in and run right away, but the turns still take longer than they would otherwise. I ended up replacing the character with something else because it was too overpowered. If I had to do it again, I might suggest summoning monsters and letting each of the other party members control one or more of the summons. You could still "command" them on who to attack but how they do so would be up to the other players. That might keep it from dominating gameplay too much. As is usually the case, conferring with the DM and the rest of the party on that approach might be wise.

[Old Man Trouble]

I have a summoner in my current game. The player provided a module for FG with the summoned creatures. The summoner's player handles everything save the token selection on the creature and the placement on the combat tracker through the use of effects. Short of combat rounds taking longer, I've seen no issues. The character does not spend every moment in combat summoning things, but instead provides a great deal of utility to the party. Summoned monsters are generally used situationally and creatively. Perhaps this approach would be something to think on. I can say I'm far more inclined to GM with this sort of character when the player takes much of the behind the scenes work themself.

[Trenloe]

Using Blackfoot's excellent summonable creatures modules will help a lot. Find them at the top of this post: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?16074-List-of-Modules&p=120187&viewfull=1#post120187