Summoning

This has been something I've loved ever since Final Fantasy II on the SNES. You can all blame Rydia for this particular path.

You can kind of blame Hunters from World of Warcraft as well, but Rydia honestly is where the desire to make this came from.

There are many varied and wondrous creatures that fill the world you live in, and creatures from other planes that travel to ours. Some are vicious and powerful, others are wise and mystic, but all of them have unique abilities and powers that have made them highly adept at surviving harsh and extreme danger and environments. The School of Summoning allows you to bond with these creatures, making their unique gifts yours.

Primary Stats: Charisma, Constitution

Bonus to Skill Checks: Intimidation, Knowledge (Dungeoneering, Nature, The Planes), Survival

Basic Abilities

Opening this talent tree grants you the following powers and abilities.

Summoner’s Companion: You have a bond with a unique and special creature that is a representation of some inner part of you. You choose whatever sort of animal, elemental, demon, or undead companion you would like and create it with the GM. You can choose a handful of powers, or the GM can suggest things that the creature could do, and it gains power with you. The companion will be played by the GM. The companion is as intelligent as you, speaks your language, and can be enhanced later with talent branches.

Pact and Soul Stones: You can bond with creatures that are willing or that you defeat. When you create this bond it is called a pact, and you gain a copy of this creature known as a soul stone. Soul stones can summon a copy of the creature to aid you and fight alongside you for a time or will come, perform an action or attack and then vanish once more. While a summoned pact creature will do its best to fight for you, you can only have a certain number you can use in a day and still have control over them. This number is your Charisma modifier. There are limits on what sort of creature you can pact with and how difficult it might be to pact with. At the start, you can only pact with natural creatures. As you gain ranks in Mastery, you will be able to pact with more powerful creatures and eventually people and other things. You direct a soul stone companion in whatever way you determine is best, and can command them with a general order (“protect the mage”) or more specific orders (“run around to the back, wait for my signal, then spring your firepillar on them”) and you can do this verbally or psychically, but it is always a free action to direct them. Soul Stones have a small recharge which differs from stone to stone and is based on the power of the creature and the length of time you have the creature out.

Mastery: Mastery is a measure of your overall power and ability in a given talent branch. Each rank raises your ability a bit higher, and grants you greater power and access to more abilities further down the line. You must purchase each rank in order. Each rank is explained in detail below.

Rank 1: Your powers are slightly enhanced, and you can tame and pact with more powerful creatures. 10 points.  

Rank 2: Your powers are slightly enhanced, and you can tame and pact with more powerful creatures. You and your companion fight more effectively together, and their power is enhanced as well. You gain an additional soul stone use per day. 20 points.

Rank 3: Your powers are enhanced, and you can tame and pact with more powerful creatures. You gain a +2 to Charisma. 30 points.

Rank 4: Your powers are greatly enhanced, and you can tame and pact with much more powerful creatures. You and your companion fight more effectively together and their power is greatly enhanced as well. You gain an additional soul stone use per day. 40 points.

Rank 5: Your powers are greatly enhanced, and you can tame and pact with much more powerful creatures. Once per day you can summon all of your pacts at once. You have the option of taking the second companion talent branch or the enhanced companion branch. You can take one or the other, but not both. You gain an additional soul stone use per day. You gain a +3 to Charisma. 50 points.

Tame: You overwhelm an enemy and gain control over them for a short time. You can control them as you would your companion or a soul stone. When you’re done controlling them, you can send them away instead of having to fight them. Any sort of damage or attack against the controlled target will release them from the control. You can only control one creature at a time in this fashion. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 10 points.

The Call: Regardless of where you are there are natural creatures. You can send out a call for aid, and a small group of natural creatures from nearby will come to your aid. The amount of animals that heed your call, and their power and ability depend on your level and ability. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 10 points.

Bond of Nature: You can take on the physical aspects of the natural world, growing sharpened natural claws, making your flesh tougher, creating natural poisons, toxins, and venoms, and more. You are also better at pacting with natural creatures. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 10 points.

Pincer Attack: You draw the attention of your enemy while your companion sneaks behind them, then you attack as one. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 15 points.

Control Creature: You dominate a single, natural creature that is attacking you and have it fight or work for you for a short time before you release it back to the wild. If the creature is under a spell to attack you, you break the spell and free it. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 15 points.

Spirit Bond: So long as you and your companion are within 20 yards of each other, both of you gain a small regeneration. You both also gain a boost to magical abilities. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 15 points.

Undead Golem: You can easily piece together bits of corpses, be they flesh covered or not, to make various golems. It takes a bit of time and energy to do so, and nothing you create is intelligent or particularly strong, but they can still be effective and used for any number of purposes. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 15 points.

Elemental Fury: You and your companion are charged with elemental energies, allowing you to use small bits of elemental magic, such as launching a small fireball, wind armor, etc. Nothing you can do is terribly powerful, but it can be very effective when used creatively. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 15 points.

Call of the Grave: You send out a chilling message to spirits, wraiths, ghosts, and anything undead nearby. They crawl from their eternal rest to aid you in battle. The amount of creatures that heed your call, and their power and ability depend on your level and ability. Requires Mastery Rank 1 and 15 points.

Dire Beast: You can either summon a dire version of a natural beast from where you are, or turn your companion into a dire beast for a short time, making them stronger, faster, tougher, and bigger for a short time. This stacks with other similar abilities and talents. Requires Master Rank 2 and 15 points.

Bestial Ferocity: So long as you and your companion are within 20 yards of each other you both gain a boost to your physique, making both of you tougher, stronger, and better able to fight physically. Requires Mastery Rank 2 and 15 points.

Feast of Souls: The damage your companion inflicts can be used to heal you or your companion. It will never be equal, say point for point if it was hit points, but it can be very effective and useful. Requires Mastery Rank 2 and 15 points.

Frenzy: You send your companion into a rage, empowering them for a short time, granting them the ability to hit harder and more accurately against one single target. Requires Mastery Rank 2 and 20 points.

Wild Imps: As you attack, either physically or with magic, there is a chance that a wild imp will suddenly pop into existence and start casting fel firebolts at your target. They last a short time, and you can have up to 3 + Charisma modifier fighting with you at once. Requires Mastery Rank 2 and 25 points.

Kill Command: You can now empower your soul stones with dire beast or frenzy. Requires Mastery Rank 2 and 30 points.

Blink Strikes: Your companion and summons now have the ability to teleport short distances to attack targets physically. They can only teleport every minute or so, and their physical attacks are more damaging for a few seconds immediately after they teleport. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 15 points. 

Clever Tactics: You have a group of soul stones that work well with you and your companion. You can summon them all at once and, with a single command, thought, or word, all those summoned as well as you and your companion fall in line to work as a well-trained team. You can have more than one ready to go that do different things. For example, you can have a small group that work well as tanks, allowing you and your companion to attack while they take damage, or a team that heals you and your allies, etc. You can only summon one group at a time, and it does take from your daily soul stone use. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 20 points.

Spirit of Connection: The connection between you and your companion is incredible, and you now share power and energy. Each of you is more difficult to attack and you each take damage better. You may also trade places instantly so long as you are close enough to each other. You are also able to see through each other’s eyes. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 20 points.

Aura of the Hunter’s Pack: Your eyes become golden orbs of power, and you gleam with a slight haze that only you and your allies can see. You are all slightly empowered, your senses are enhanced, and all of you work with one mind, each knowing what the other will do. You move as a pack, more accurate, stronger, and better able to take down your enemies. This lasts for as long as you keep it up, but it is draining. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 20 points.

Infernal Pact: You can control demons. The amount of control you have over them depends on the type of demon. You also can make pacts with demons and gain a bonus to pacting with them. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 25 points.

Bestial Wrath: With a quick command, you empower your companion, making it stronger, faster, tougher and slightly larger for a few moments. This stacks with other similar abilities and talents. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 25 points.

Bond of the Elements: You can control elementals. The amount of control you have over them depends on the type of elemental. You also can make pacts with elementals and gain a bonus to pacting with them. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 25 points.

Elemental Swarm: You can summon a small amount of varied elementals of a small size that swarm around your foes, damaging them and disorienting them. The amount you pull, their power, and how long they last depends on your power and ability. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 35 points.

Powers of the Pact: You can now take on the powers and abilities of the creatures you have summoned from your soul stones. You can only take one at a time and they only work while you have the pacted creature active. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 35 points.

Stampede: You summon up to 3 + Charisma modifier copies of your companion, a soul stone, or a combination of both. They last for a short time, attacking targets as you command with improved damage to all abilities. Requires Mastery Rank 3 and 35 points.

Titanic Infusion: You can enhance your companion with the energy of elemental titans, granting it greater physical and magical power, making it larger, and granting in limited immunity for a short time. This cannot be done often. This ability stacks with other talents and abilities. Requires Mastery Rank 4 and 30 points.

Master Summoner: You stand alone, the best of the best. And when you need, you call out and the whole of the world responds, sending you an army to aid you when you need. This takes a lot of energy and can only be done about once a day, safely. Creatures that will aid you the most in battle appear ready to follow your commands. Depending on your ability, more creatures and more effective creatures will appear. All of your powers are again, greatly enhanced. Requires Mastery Rank 5 and 50 points.

Unleash the Beast: Once per day, you can summon ALL of your soul stones at once, and you, your companion, and your summons have your powers and abilities enhanced for a short time. Requires Mastery Rank 5 and 50 points.

Second Companion

Second Soul Aspect: You gain another permanent companion. All of your abilities are enhanced as well as both companions. Requires Mastery Rank 5 and 50 points.

Enhanced Companion

All abilities, unless otherwise noted, require Mastery Rank 5 and are permanent additions to your companion.

Blood Feast: Your companion gains strength with each successful attack, becoming stronger, to a point for a short time. They also gain a small regeneration as they attack. 15 points.

Dire Upgrade: Your companion becomes much larger, more physically powerful, more resistant to damage, faster, and much tougher in general. 25 points.

Natural Brilliance: Your companion becomes much more intelligent, able to think faster, more clearly and more efficiently, allowing it greater arcane ability as well as tactical ability. 25 points.

Greater Celerity: Your companion gains a great boost in speed, allowing it to move much more swiftly both in and out of combat. 30 points.

Hidden Potential: You have helped your companion grow in power to the point that you have discovered a special ability that neither of you knew it had. The companion gains a special new ability that you and the GM create. This can be taken more than once. 50 points.