When you cast the spell summon monster, does the summoned creatures alignment affect the spell description for the school?
So would a good cleric be allowed to summon a Lemure from SM2 which is a lawful EVIL creature?
\$\begingroup\$
\$\endgroup\$
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
\$\begingroup\$
\$\endgroup\$
4
The summoned monster's alignment subtype affects the spell's descriptor
The spell summon monster I (et al.) says, "When you use a summoning spell to summon a creature with an alignment or elemental subtype, it [the summoning spell] is a spell of that type." Hence, for example, a lemure's alignment subtype is evil (and, technically, lawful), so when summon monster II would be used to summon a lemure, that summon monster II spell would gain the evil (and lawful) descriptor, and the spell couldn't be cast to summon a lemure by a good (or chaotic) cleric.
answered Sep 20, 2016 at 4:05
-
1\$\begingroup\$ @Fering I think there's some jumbling of technical terms in this question. A creature's alignment can be different from its alignment subtype, a spell's school is different from its descriptor, and a spell's description is also different from a spell's descriptor. I think my answer cuts through all of that, but let me know if you need more. \$\endgroup\$ Sep 20, 2016 at 4:10
-
\$\begingroup\$ I had been looking for this paragraph and somehow missed it. Thanks for pointing it out. \$\endgroup\$– FeringSep 20, 2016 at 4:19
-
\$\begingroup\$ @Fering You're welcome. (Note that I dislike the idea of these Schrödinger spells that you don't really know their descriptors until they're cast. I kind of wish there were 4 different summon monster spell lines (summon good monster, summon lawful monster, and so on) just to avoid that weirdness.) \$\endgroup\$ Sep 20, 2016 at 4:27
-
1\$\begingroup\$ Also this: Chaotic, Evil, Good, and Lawful Spells A cleric can't cast spells of an alignment opposed to her own or her deity's (if she has one). \$\endgroup\$ Sep 20, 2016 at 11:30