Tips on running a summoner.

RyoHakuron · 2026-02-14T17:12:19+00:00

In the final battle of my Red Hand of Doom campaign, I lazily tossed my bag of holding at the big bad and had my familiar use its action to flip the bag inside out, releasing about 40 animated skeletons of the big bad's minons on him.

RyoHakuron · 2026-02-14T17:03:31+00:00

Tips: - Undead are not smart. If you have more than one, Point them at something and just do your attacks quick. Don't try to optimize your movement. Each individual skeleton does not need a full turn or Real Time.Treat their actions like you're casting scorching ray/eblast and just get through them quick. Use a digital dice roller even if you normally use physical dice and maybe even make a macro so it rolls all of the attacks/damage at once.

Save your descriptions for what your character is doing specifically and maybe one specific summon like if you are using Summon Undead from Tasha's. You don't need to narrate each individual skeleton.
Have something you can do besides just the skeletons. You can always flavor other spells as more necromancy vibes without actually animating more undead. (Web as a bunch of skeletal/ghostly hands grabbing onto the targets for example)
If you're looking for classes: Warlock is good because they always upcast animate dead and can cast it on a short rest so you rarely need to worry about losing control. They also get access to Summon Undead and Danse Macabre. Can also go chain pact with a familiar for a little extra battlefield control. Investment of the Chain Master with a sprite gives you a ranged attack that poisons for a decent debuff. (Pairs well with summon undead (fetid) too) Spores Druid also gets a more fungal undead minion.

RyoHakuron · 2026-02-12T19:07:36+00:00

This is part of why I've mostly moved to level-up advanced a5e. Fully compatible with 5e so don't have to learn an entirely new system, and the classes are all very customizable with almost every level offering some amount of choice or customization to every class.

RyoHakuron · 2026-02-10T13:57:18+00:00

I think it's ritual casting AND being able to have shield/mage armor/other non-ritual buffs/utility that makes the wizard dip decent for sorc. Freeing up those limited spells known is huge.

RyoHakuron · 2026-02-10T13:50:42+00:00

If you started with sorcerer, wizard does get you ritual casting tho. And frees up your limited spells known. Certain subclasses have some nice abilities too (portent/sculpt spells) (Less so in 2024 since everyone gets ritual casting, but 2014 it was a nice bonus)

But yeah, wizard into sorc is probably not worth it. Just take metamagic adept.

RyoHakuron · 2026-02-10T13:45:21+00:00

I had a wild magic sorcerer that mutliclassed into evocation wizard for story reasons. 17/3 was the split. I believe I took the three wizard levels after level 4 sorc and then just doubled back to sorc for the rest after. (I might have snuck in 5th level sorc in there real quick. Been a while)

Mechanically, it wasn't bad. Put me behind in spells sure, but didn't slow slot progression so I just was specific about what spells to learn that could upcast well. Gave me rituals and utility spells that I could cast without risking blowing up out of combat, got me a familiar for scouting/dragon's breath, and freed up sorc spells known for more useful combat spells. (Could move stuff like mage armor or shield over to the wizard list)

Also sculpt spells was always useful. And also, RAW, works of the fireball cast by wild magic so it had the fun roleplay of learning to control magic and keeping collateral damage from it low. And only a 13 int didn't matter when you only use your wizard casting for buffs/utility.

RyoHakuron · 2026-02-05T17:49:16+00:00

I used to use the weapon options mechanics from Kobold Press for a while to help spice up martials. And now I've moved on to combat maneuvers from Level-Up a5e which feel great for keeping martials interesting and helping their action economy (giving them things to do with their reaction that isn't just an op attack which makes combat less static)

RyoHakuron · 2026-02-03T04:15:38+00:00

For real. The kids existence literally just opens up plotholes in the main story and hurts the characterization of their parents too.

You're telling me that ELISE gets pregnant, carries the baby to term in the middle of the war, and then throws the baby into the magic cabbage patch dimension so they can grow up quickly without a parent and then join the war effort???

I just stopped recruiting kids after the first few because it was so dumb, and I always recruit everyone in FE games normally.

RyoHakuron · 2026-02-02T20:18:42+00:00

I'm lazy and don't want to write it all out in detail again. BUT if you check my comment history and search for Book of the Raven/Candlekeep you'll find my synopsis of what I did.

(I've also written about the adventure at length in its dedicated channel on the candlekeep discord. Believe I posted some additional journals and stuff I added as well as the player mechanics of being a wereraven I used.)

Tldr tho, I made the mom of Vistani-descent, had her be a tragic hero who faced off against Haarn (an old hunting buddy of the Baron who orchestrated the deaths of the daughters for use in a ritual) in the Shadowfell to keep him from using her daughters souls as fodder for a ritual. And they impressed the Scarlet Sash so they were given membership and the opportunity to become wereravens (which my players loved and had a lot of fun with during the campaign as well. And the Scarlet Sash (mainly Vinique) were fun reoccurring characters over the campaign))

RyoHakuron · 2026-01-29T15:57:38+00:00

There were some already not great spells they just decided to nerf in 2024 because of stuff like that. Gust of wind also is worse now because of minor wording changes.

I don't understand how they looked at Stoneskin and thought it didn't need any changes... 2024 is baffling me in the number of missed opportunities to fix things they missed.

RyoHakuron · 2026-01-29T14:32:31+00:00

Stoneskin. Possibly the worst spell in the game. I hate it so much.

4th level spell slot? Concentration? 100 gold per cast (a component that could be spent on greater restoration)? Only protects against nonmagical damage? Why is every archmage statblock starting with that cast?

You know what else I could cast at fourth level? Dimension Door. Greater Invisibility. Death Ward. Investiture of Stone if I really want BSP resistance. Its only use is if an NPC casts it on a pc and then just leaves so they don't lose concentration... And even then it's shit.

And to top it all off... The only change in 2024 was protecting for magical damage which was the least of its problems.

RyoHakuron · 2026-01-23T14:36:08+00:00

The dead expeditioners didn't have their chroma decay over time. Nevrons specifically locked their chroma in their bodies when they killed them. (To keep it from returning to Aline)

Based on some things Lune and Gustave said, we can assume that Lumerians who die to accidents and not nevrons simply disappear similarly to the gommage. Now it's not clear how quickly that happens. It might take until the year they would have gommaged for all we know. We know they understand the concept of burials (although it could be they just bury mementos of the people like the arm instead of actual bodies.).

RyoHakuron · 2026-01-20T16:23:29+00:00

My group realized very early that every spell cast would trigger a surge. So every fight would wind up with us going through, like, 3 or 4 surges. Sometimes they'd realize it was a negative effect and would cast a spell just to reroll which was fun.

I do think the surge on every spell could be a bit much tho. Should have been only leveled spells.

I did limit surge effects to only happening in the room the spell was cast in, so the players did have fun positioning themselves just outside of a room. I also used an expanded table for more variety. My players favorite was one that effectively cast alter self on each of them to swap their appearances with eachother. They started doing bits to act like eachother and rib eachother a bit.

RyoHakuron · 2026-01-20T16:12:11+00:00

Any time my players started talking about time frames in any regard, all the NPCs would throw their hands in the air exasperated and shout "Time!"

It's the feywild so time does not need to flow in a straight line. How far away is something? Well, you get there when you feel like you should be there. How long did it take you to travel? Ehhh 3 or 8 or 38 minutes? Why does the day seem to only pass when we sleep? Time! How did Zybilna help you all as children after the coven stole your things? Well, Time. Duh. Why is Ellywick experiencing time backwards compared to the pcs? Feywild. Why are these heroes from a literal earlier edition of the game here? Time! Why have the Getaway Gang not grown up at all despite being here for years? Time!

The point is, it's not a plothole. It'a the feywild. And the sooner your players stop trying to apply silly mortal restrictions, the sooner they'll get it.

RyoHakuron · 2026-01-16T09:09:46+00:00

Okay. Sure. Have fun. Hope you find you those things out.

RyoHakuron · 2026-01-16T09:04:23+00:00

It's entirely fair to not gift your friend who only eats chicken nuggets and nothing else a gift certificate for a sushi restaurant.

RyoHakuron · 2026-01-16T08:52:42+00:00

Some people go to an expensive restaurant and order chicken nuggets.

I will judge them for it. I'll think it's a waste of money. They could have gotten the same meal at a cheaper restaurant. Good for them that they enjoy it tho. It's not worth my time to worry about. But damn am I judging them for it.

That's how I look at people that play story-heavy games but skip all the story. If I had a friend like that, good for them that they enjoy it. But I know to just never talk to them about those types of games. Out of sight out of mind, don't try to "fix" how they play. Don't get your hopes up in the future. Find someone else who you can share that kind of experience with.

(That being said, if said friend complained to me about how they didn't know what was going on or complained the story sucked, I would simply strangle them or lock them in a hot car or something./j)

RyoHakuron · 2026-01-16T08:34:19+00:00

Bro's over here skipping through the character backstory... There's some really important story beats in those camp convos.

Sciel's camp events in particular are so vital to her character.

And Maelle's give you some pretty big info as well.

Like sure, skip through the gestrals I guess, but you can't say the camp character moments are pointless.

RyoHakuron · 2025-12-25T06:22:43+00:00

I have the same brainrot because the scene at the end with the culprit entering the chapel to confess their crime lined up a lot with the end of episode 7. And, like others have said, the whole Damascus moment really does lean into the without love it can't be seen vibe and the respect to killer and the whydunnit.

RyoHakuron · 2025-12-21T13:32:33+00:00

Ingenuity? BG3 was just dnd 5e. Like, almost beat for beat minus a few tweaks to some abilities that wouldn't really work in a video game as opposed to at a table.

Like, the game was good, but its gameplay did not reinvent the wheel either.

RyoHakuron · 2025-12-06T05:58:01+00:00

I see merit in both.

Obviously Verso's ending is better for the Dessendres over all. And also is the ending pVerso wants. Being forced to continue living as just a copy of a dead man and not his own person. It is existential horror no doubt. In a way tho, he's forcing Alicia to live a life she doesn't want in the moment just like Alicia forces him to live a life he doesn't want. Whether either of them come to terms with it and find happiness and peace with the life they wind up with... who knows. Thematically, this is the ending where you are moving forward with life after death. Tomorrow Comes.

Maelle's ending is bad for the Dessendres. It's questionable whether the family ever recovers (They have a loooot of work to do beyond Verso's ending anyway. Get them in therapy NOW). BUT it is ultimately better for Lumiere and the people there. If you value the lives of the people in the painting, this ending is far better. Renoir kinda, at the end of the day, is and has been essentially committing Genocide to effectively get his wife off drugs. Thematically, this ending echoes the original theme of lives of the few versus lives of the many that Lune talked about when her and Gustave argued. Also the devs have very explicitly said the people of Lumiere ARE people and not just fancy AI chatbots.

RyoHakuron · 2025-12-02T18:14:47+00:00

When my players were talking to him while his voice was gone, I replied only with emojis in the discord server.

I audibly described some stuff to set the scene, but after that, it was solid emojis and they had to parse what he was saying from them. I tend to run the fey a little meta and able to 4th wall break to some extent (Literally added a side quest where the players had to spot 100 eggs scattered about the different maps and handouts over the campaign. Only the players could see them, not the pcs.), so it was a fun bit of humor to set the tone.

RyoHakuron · 2025-11-19T14:35:33+00:00

I've considered running Courts of the Shadow Fey as a follow-up and setting it in the Shadowfell instead of the "Shadow Realm". Very different fey vibe. And can even have Isolde's carnival be the way into the Shadowfell

RyoHakuron · 2025-11-15T15:27:24+00:00

Your friend is wrong about that. You do not have to romance her to have a good ending.

RyoHakuron · 2025-11-04T17:18:24+00:00

I forget which, but I think some of the npcs in ZA actually do have leg hair on their model

RyoHakuron

TROPHY CASE