Advanced Feats: The Summoner's Circle (PDF)
by
Published by Open Design
Disclaimer: The copy used for this review was provided by the folks at Open Design.
If all I saw was the Eidolon Character Sheet, that would be enough.
Yeah, I know, I paraphrased a quote from A Knight's Tale, I'm cool like that. It could have been Roar, as my Heath Ledger man crush is that dated. I'm just warning you all.
Anyhow, on toward the review...
Seriously, there's an Eidolon Character Sheet...how cool is that?
Sigfried Trent offers further exploration of the new classes found within Paizo's Advanced Player's Guide for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, this time the focus is upon the Summoner. As with prior Advanced Feats works, we've a series of new feats (30 in total number), example builds (3), discussion of builds, and an examination of the classes its self.
I know, that's a wee bit dry, but that's just the quick and short version.
See, I like the Summoner as it's hits that boy-and-his-monster vibe for me. Whether it's Stanley and his Monster, Puff the Magic Dragon, or what not, there's a vibe that taps into a child and his uncanny companion that I like a lot. In fact, I'm fairly certain that early readings of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea instilled some of that in me, too, but I digress.
Trent hits the nail on the head, with respect to the Summoner, as it really is a class that folks can tinker around with and customer to their particular desire. Not only do you get a class, but you get a companion as a sort of two-for-one character.
There is a lot of focus on building the right Summoner for you, but there is also a fair amount of focus on fine tuning your eidolon and that's a big win for this product. Yes, the character sheet is useful, however the volume of focus on various things to do with and to an eidolon is full of utilitarian joy and win.
Are you in the mood to be all steampunky, then how about summoning clockwork beasts instead? It's right there.
Wanna go all Shiva on your foes? Multi-arm is there, too.
On that note, I should point out that there is a fair amount of advice on balance for GMs who might be worried, which is always a nice touch.
Overall, The Summoner's Circle is a continuation of the useful series that Open Design has been offering. It is a solid treatise on the class with useful feats, solid examples of build ideas, and is very helpful for those interested in the class.
Buy yours today, for $3.95 (PDF).
