The Cosmic Caller
Hello everyone, and welcome to another great edition of Best in Class, where each week we bring you newer and cooler class features, archetypes, and even the occasional prestige class. It’s been over a year since we’ve talked about summoners, so here’s a new summoner archetype, all about summoning an eidolon so powerful, it’s dangerous.
New Summoner Archetype
Cosmic Caller
A cosmic caller does not summon a traditional eidolon, but rather calls a creature from the deep cosmos to aid him. These creatures are alien and ephemeral in form, taking their shape and appearance from the summoner’s nightmares. The entities called by a cosmic caller are infused with dark powers, which make them both more powerful than an average eidolon, and more dangerous.
Cosmic Eidolon: A cosmic caller has the ability to summon a powerful outsider, called a cosmic eidolon. These potent creatures follow all the same rules for eidolons, except as follows.
A cosmic eidolon’s alignment is not tied to the summoner; rather, the eidolons summoned in this fashion have alien personalities and incomprehensible moralities. As a result, the eidolons summoned in this fashion are treated as having no alignment for the purposes of spells and effects which are alignment-dependant. The personalities of these entities vary enormously and their temperaments range from hideously violent to unbelievably patient. The cosmic caller can attempt to form a bond with a cosmic eidolon of a specific temperament; however, these creatures are wholly alien, and so it can be difficult to predict how a cosmic eidolon might react to or approach various situations. For instance, a cosmic eidolon whose personality leads him to be a cruel and malicious killer might be hesitant to kill a monster outright, arguing that it would be better to kill its food supply and watch it starve. On the other hand, a peaceful cosmic eidolon might decide that protecting a village full of people who will eventually grow old and die is pointless.
In general, the will of a cosmic eidolon is strong, and it will almost never willingly perform an action at the behest of the cosmic caller. In order to compel the cosmic eidolon to perform a task that it does not want to do, the cosmic caller must succeed on a Charisma check with a DC equal to 10 + the cosmic eidolon’s Hit Dice. The exception is that cosmic eidolons will always attempt to end a threat to the life of the cosmic caller, unless specifically ordered not to by the cosmic caller (requiring a successful Charisma check).
Cosmic eidolons are more powerful than other eidolons, and at 1st level the number of evolution points in the cosmic eidolon’s pool increases by +2. At 4th, 9th, 14th, and 19th levels, the number of evolution points in the cosmic eidolon’s pool increases by a further +2, for a total of 10 additional evolution points at 19th level.
Finally, the exact form of a cosmic eidolon is only roughly shaped by a cosmic caller’s will, and appears as the worst possible creature the cosmic caller could imagine. All characters that can see the cosmic eidolon must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the cosmic eidolon’s HD + the cosmic eidolon’s Charisma modifier) or become shaken for 1 minute. Regardless of whether the save is successful or not, a single character cannot be affected by this ability more than once in a 24-hour period. As a 3-point evolution, the cosmic eidolon can adopt a more frightening form, which causes characters who fail this saving throw to become frightened for 1 minute, instead. The cosmic caller must be at least 9th-level for the cosmic eidolon to gain this evolution.
This ability modifies the eidolon class feature.
Life Leech (Ex): A cosmic caller forms a dangerous bond with his cosmic eidolon. This bond gives him some control over the cosmic eidolon’s actions, but also forces him to link his own life essence with the cosmic eidolon. Whenever the cosmic eidolon suffers damage, he attempts to drain life from the cosmic caller. The cosmic caller must attempt a Will save (DC 10 + the cosmic eidolon’s HD + the cosmic eidolon’s Charisma modifier); if he fails, he suffers 1d6 points of damage and the cosmic eidolon heals a like amount of damage. Additionally, this link is somewhat weaker than that formed by other summoners, and if the cosmic eidolon moves more than 100 feet away from the cosmic caller, he is instantly returned to his home plane.
This ability replaces the life link class feature.
Life Drain (Ex): At 14th level, the cosmic caller creates a stronger bond with his cosmic eidolon. He gains a +2 bonus on all Charisma checks made to control the cosmic eidolon. Additionally, the cosmic eidolon can travel as much as 1,000 feet away from the cosmic caller before being returned to its home plane. Finally, the cosmic eidolon gains an improved ability to siphon the cosmic caller’s life force. Whenever the cosmic eidolon suffers hit point damage or ability damage, the cosmic caller must succeed on a Will save (DC 10 + the eidolon’s Hit Dice + the eidolon’s Charisma modifier), or suffer that hit point and/or ability damage instead.
This ability replaces the life bond class feature.