Your point was to work toward a fun time. Clearly the players idea of fun is using the spell to summon pixies to do something absurd. But the rules allow that.
The Dm could always have blink dogs show up, but that's not letting the player have their fun.
1) Again, if that's the only way you can see it being a fun time, that shows a lack of ingenuity on the DM's part.
2) The rules allow it as long as the DM decides that pixies are summoned. But the second that gets exploited one time, chances are it's not going to happen again.
3) If the players are only having fun because they are using one spell in one particular way, then you have other issues besides that.
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
As sloporion has said, if you are only going to have fun if the DM lets you have the exact singular thing you wanted, and especially if you specifically desire that thing because you think it is "OP", then you aren't being much of a team player.
I said the point was for everyone to be on the same side working toward a fun time. That's not just the DM caving to the players' every collective desire no matter what - it's a group of people trying to find the most fun for everyone at the table, not just their own fun.
Which could be them turning into this really awesome animal. Besides if the Dm is always going to chose the same creature it because a matter of the spell should just say it only summons that creature.
If the Dm plays the blink dogs poorly then the pixies are absolutely better. If the Dm plays the blink dogs well or let the PCs play them, then it the Blink dogs could be overpowered themselves and worse than the pixies.
Any Dm who switches to blink dogs over the pixies is probably not going to play the blink dogs well.
I see your 8 4th level spells for the price of 1 4th level spell, and 8 concentrations for the price of 1 concentration, and officially official designer nerf in Official games
... and raise you the not-nerfed Wish Clone Simulacrum loop , and the Glyph Of Warding accumulation loop. Let's see your card then.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
2 "B" or not 2 "B" , that is the question my kitty avatar's Tail is secretly signing. You can see it, I know you can.
Hold on... if the caster, probably a druid, morphs into a spider or other very stealthy animal using Wild Shape and hides, then Conjure Woodland Beings concentration probably won't be broken. Then you ask 3-4 of the pixies to Polymorph the rest of the party and hide with the druid. Then you tell the other pixies to Ready Polymorph and hide. If one of the pixies who cast Polymorph dies/breaks concentration, then one of the hiding pixies with Polymorph readied can cast it again on the no-longer Polymorphed ally. You could probably keep up the forms for several rounds if you do that, at the cost of the caster having to hide away.
#1: DM has option to adjust any rule to fit their campaign... or even to completely disallow a spell from existing in their campaign.
That IS in the rules.
#2 I'd let you get your pixies. No porblem at all. 8 pixies show up and ask what game you want to play.
PC "Please polymorp.." DM: "The pixies polymorph you into butterflies. They cavort with the party, flitting around for a while, then they leave. As they leave, they break concentration and... the party all transform back to their normal selves, falling d10 X 10 ft (random for each character) if there is no ceiling." Note that characters in metal armor are going to make a lot of noise on impact.
PC does not even get to finish stating his request... the Pixies are very happy to polymorph you into playmates... until they get bored with the game.
What Crawford says is irrelevant unless it is written in the rule book. No where in the rules does it say that the DM decides which creature is summoned. It says you summon a creature with a certain CR which clearly implies you the caster determines which creature is summoned.
Also the OP clearly took this as what the rules state (as well as a lot of other people) since asking staring the spell was overpowered.
Crawford even has to state "the design intent was" which indicates they failed to convey that in the rules.
Even awake seems to indicate a position of the rules indicating the PC decides by stating it was "subject to a nerf" which indicates the rule was changed.
What Crawford says in Sage Advice is as much a part of the official rules as anything in any book. If you were to play any official game, that would be the rule. So what exactly is your argument? That if it's not in a book, then it isn't a rule? What if you had an older edition and someone else has an errata-corrected edition. Would the older edition be equally as official?
Does the errata not matter if it's not in a book? Or is it just Sage Advice that you don't count?
Actually per the official FAQ for adventurer's league no that would't be the rule. while inconsistent DMs is an issue for the format as a whole you are allowed but not required to use sage advice
Sage Advice/Twitter. Sage Advice (SA) and tweets from the Wizards of the Coast staff are a great barometer for the ‘rules-as-intended’, in any case. Whether or not your DM chooses to utilize them for rules adjudication in is at their discretion;
Also semi relevant sage advice changed some paragraphs so jeremy crawfords ramblings on twitter aren't RAI anymore.The relevant changes.
OLD
Official rulings on how to interpret unclear rules are made in Sage Advice. The public statements of the D&D team, or anyone else at Wizards of the Coast, are not official rulings; they are advice. One exception: the game’s rules manager, Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford), can make official rulings and usually does so in Sage Advice and on Twitter.
NEW
Official rulings on how to interpret rules are made here in the Sage Advice Compendium by the game’s lead rules designer, Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford on Twitter). The public statements of the D&D team, or anyone else at Wizards of the Coast, are not official rulings; they are advice. Jeremy Crawford’s tweets are often a preview of rulings that will appear here.
No it is only a maybe sometimes thing. Also just so I am not accused of mincing here someone asked he and he confirmed it.
Q: It looks like the Invoke Tweet of Jeremy Crawford feature has been nerfed. Official rulings are now found in the Compendium only, with this account merely providing a "preview" of possible future ones.
JC: Yes, I decided I don't want people feeling they need to dig through my tweets for official answers.
Sage advice is not official errata in this edition. It even says so in it when it lists all the errata that have come out and doesn't include itself Here look
Notice no sage advice there. Sage advice is not errata because it says it not errata in Sage advice. All it is is advice. This was only updated at the start of the year so I understand why you haven't heard about it yet figured I'd let you know.
For an example of Sage Advice and the rulebook in opposition to each other see the hand crossbow thread.
As summoning pixies being OP, consider this "feature" of pixies: Opposed to Violence. The pixies are likely to be unwilling to polymorph the party into better forms to engage in fisticuffs. Forms better suited to running though, sure.
Not useable the way you like. Pixies can only use the stuff on themselves, and they are opposed to violence.
So they couldnt polymorph you, neither would they attack anyone, even polymorphed themselves, because only HP over the creatures HP and they are dead to and they are, well, opposed to violence and would flee.
So a DM who plays it RAW and dont consider it something who would fall under the "rule of cool" and ignore facts, wouldnt allow it because it doesnt work like that.
Maybe you meant Sprites - but they cant cast spells, only invisibility on themselves.
But more it has a lot of use as a utility spell. Got lost in the woods? They surely would help you. Need some lore about the region? They maybe also can help. Or help from some sprites with some enemys who defile the forest, they will be more likely to help
There is actually a in-book justification that conjure woodland beings does not let the summoner pick the summons. The circle of sheperd's lv 14 class ability states that when you go unconscious you get a special version of conjure animals. This spell has a lot of extra rules, one of which is that your options are: You summon 4 beasts of your choice, with a CR of 2 or lower. If the spell could always summon beasts of your choice, there would be no reason to add this as a special rule. It would just say:you summon 4 beasts of CR 2 or lower. The fact that you have to be a dying lv 14 circle of shepherd to gain the ability to choose your summon for conjure means it the spell itself does not have the capabilites. It makes sense in context too: by comparison Danse Macabre has the same action economy (1 action, concentration for 1 hour) yet only gives you 5 CR 1/4 monsters--as a lv 5 spell. Conjure woodland beings gives you more monsters, has more options, and is cheaper--its clear that the inability to choose your animals is what keeps the lv 3 conjure spells in line with other conjure spells
I just want to set some of the writing straight for the folks who think that the pixies would not assist players due to their "Opposed to Violence" entry, or that they would simply prank the players who summon them.
Opposed to Violence explains "Unlike their fey cousins, the sprites, pixies abhor weapons and would sooner flee than get into a physical altercation with any enemy." This states nothing about being unwilling to assist someone who summons them - just that they themselves would not get into a physical conflict. This is accurately represented in their stat block, as they have no attack actions, and their offensive capabilities consist of confusing their enemies, turning enemies into animals, or entangling them.
Further, Conjure Animals dictates that "the summoned creatures are friendly to you and your companions," that they "obey any verbal commands that you issue to them" and "If you don't issue any commands to them, they defend themselves from hostile creatures, but otherwise take no actions."
So while a group of pixies encountered in the wild might refrain from assisting you on your command, or might very well decide to play pranks on you instead of hearing out your commands, pixies that are conjured by this spell will not act against you (since they are friendly and also take no action until you order them) and will obey your verbal commands, as explained in the spell.
On a side note, abusing this use of the spell could still have consequences. If we conjured pixies used solely for combative purposes at my DM's table, he would probably have them begin to resent us, and either refuse our next few attempts at conjuring them, or on repeated offense might even have a more powerful fey act against us for our actions on their kin.
On a somewhat related topic, what about the Pixies sleep spell. It is an innate spell but what level can they cast it at? Based on their other innate spells (polymorph!) they are functionally high level casters. Could they cast sleep at level 4?
On a somewhat related topic, what about the Pixies sleep spell. It is an innate spell but what level can they cast it at? Based on their other innate spells (polymorph!) they are functionally high level casters. Could they cast sleep at level 4?
They don't have spell slots in which to upcast with. Innate spell casting (unless specified differently) will cast at the spells lowest level.
Since dndbeyond does not close threads, I thought I would summarize it here and add some points that have not been mentioned before, but I personally find might be helpful to future readers.
Issue: Conjure Woodland Beings, a 4th level spell has the potential to conjure 8 Pixies, who can then use their innate spellcasting ability to cast various high-level spells without the summoning player expending any more spell slots. The example given is to use this 4th lvl spell slot to gain 8 uses of Polymorph which is also a 4th lvl spell.
The discussion concentrates on two points: whether such a use of the spell is actually overpowered, and if such a use of the spell is rule-consistent.
What does it mean to summon eight pixies? - On the turn they are summoned, the summoning player can give them verbal commands as a brief utterance. The spell requires a verbal component of any length at the DM's discretion, leaving less than 6 seconds for the player to convey his or her commands to the summoned creatures. - Enemies that act between the player's and the pixies' turn might be capable of hearing and understanding the implications of those commands, or attack these small and vulnerable opponents out of instinct. They might also attack the character that casted the spell. - Pixies can use their action to turn invisible, which leaves no action to hide. Pixies that are not invisible can not use their action to hide unless they can not be seen by use of total cover or full obscurity. Being hidden does not mean an enemy forgets their last position or their existence altogether. - Pixies that use their action to cast a spell can not use their action to turn invisible or hide. Pixies that are invisible lose their concentration and therefore their invisibility when they cast a spell that requires concentration. Pixies that concentrate on a spell can not turn invisible without breaking their concentration. - Characters that are polymorphed into a form incapable of speech can not convey verbal commands to their summoned creatures. Summoned creatures that are not given commands will defend themselves from other creatures, but otherwise take no action. The extent to which they will "defend themselves" is up to the DM's interpretation. They might flee, turn invisible or cast spells to do so.
Can you summon eight pixies? - Players do not have access to the Monster Manual. They have no means of specifying what monsters they summon, since they do not know what challenge ratings various monsters have, or even know what monsters fall into the category applicable to the spell. - Their characters might have encountered various creatures before, or have knowledge about certain monsters from various sources. They might try to summon a specific kind of monster. - While the rules do not say so explicitly, it is intended for the DM to choose the creatures summoned, as stated in the Sage Advice. - A player does not know the summoned creature's stats or capabilities. Their character might or might not know some of that. For example, it is reasonable to assume a ranger has spent some time observing wolves in the wild, a druid might even lived as a wolf for a while, or an elven druid might have spent some time with pixies and sprites in the feywild. - There is nothing that says you can not summon eight pixies, but there is also nothing that says you specifically can. As everything else in DnD, the DM decides what happens at all times.
Should you summon eight pixies? The concept of "overpoweredness" comes from video games. DnD is not a MMORPG. Everything that happens in DnD is make-belief. In general, everyone at the table should act in a way that allows everyone to have as much fun as possible. The DM and players do not compete against each other. There is no requirement that combat should be challenging, or easy, or that anything needs to happen at a specific point in time. The players willingly give control over to the DM, in hope the DM will create a narrative most enjoyable for everyone. The DM gives the players cues to react to, and might change the narrative to meet the players' expectations. In its essence, DnD is a form of improv theater. Players might feel some gratification from "beating" the challenges the DM presents them, but in the end, they only "beat" them because the DM decided it served the narrative. Again, all of this is make-belief. There is no highscore, you do not get achievements, or loot boxes, or anything in that matter. That said, the rules of DnD give a very thought-out framework to assist the players and the DM in having as much fun as possible. The DM can decide to let the player summon eight pixies. The DM can decide to let the player know the spellcasting capabilities of the pixies. The DM can decide to let the player control the pixies. The DM can decide the enemies will not target the pixies. The DM can decide to create encounters that are more challenging. The DM can decide anything he or she wants to happen, as is the right of any DM. Players can decide whether to use a spell. The players can decide to build a character that makes use of a spell. The players can decide whether they want to play with a DM. After decades of playing DnD, millions of players have come to realize that a good narrative is much more enjoyable than "exploit" made-up rules to use in made-up encounters with a made-up difficulty to gain made-up gratification. So, here is my suggestion: A druid has lived in the tundra. He has spent years of his life, testing his capabilities in the wilderness. He has led a pack of wolves as their alpha on their hunt for mammoths. He has fought over a seal's carcass with a fellow polar bear. He has roamed the endless taiga in a herd of elk. He has climbed the mountain peaks and conversed with giant eagles. He uses his action to call spirits of wolves before using his bonus action to turn into a dire wolf. He turns into a giant elk to stampede over his enemies with a herd of elk. He falls from a high cliff and calls for giant eagles to save his life. This makes narrative sense. The DM can decide to give him a random assortment of animals, but most times, it will reduce the fun of everyone involved. It can be funny to summon a large bear in a narrow hallway for the comical effect, though. What doesn't make narrative sense? To be in an underwater temple with a four-foot-wide hallway, and summon four wolves and four giant poisoneous snakes, to optimize the tactical advantage. When it comes to fey creatures, they are random by nature. They are all about shenanigans. And they are intelligent. They might refuse being called from the feywild into the material realm. Or they might come back later to take (comical) revenge, after having the pc's will forced upon them. It makes sense to randomize the summoned creatures here, unless the character has gained the favor and allegiance of the fey, which in turn makes for a great opportunity to tell a good story.
I'd probably solve this problem a bit differently than an outright ban. I'd let the player summon his 8 pixies. On round two, a /very/ angry fey lord would appear wanting to know why the PCs had stolen his pets.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Click Here to Download my Lancer Class w/ Dragoon and Legionnaire Archetypes via DM's Guild - Pay What You Want
Click Here to Download the Mind Flayer: Thoon Hulk converted from 4e via DM's Guild
“It is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment.” ― Oramis, Eldest by Christopher Paolini.
As sloporion has said, if you are only going to have fun if the DM lets you have the exact singular thing you wanted, and especially if you specifically desire that thing because you think it is "OP", then you aren't being much of a team player.
I said the point was for everyone to be on the same side working toward a fun time. That's not just the DM caving to the players' every collective desire no matter what - it's a group of people trying to find the most fun for everyone at the table, not just their own fun.
Which could be them turning into this really awesome animal. Besides if the Dm is always going to chose the same creature it because a matter of the spell should just say it only summons that creature.
If the Dm plays the blink dogs poorly then the pixies are absolutely better. If the Dm plays the blink dogs well or let the PCs play them, then it the Blink dogs could be overpowered themselves and worse than the pixies.
Any Dm who switches to blink dogs over the pixies is probably not going to play the blink dogs well.
I see your 8 4th level spells for the price of 1 4th level spell, and 8 concentrations for the price of 1 concentration, and officially official designer nerf in Official games
... and raise you the not-nerfed Wish Clone Simulacrum loop , and the Glyph Of Warding accumulation loop. Let's see your card then.
2 "B" or not 2 "B" , that is the question my kitty avatar's Tail is secretly signing. You can see it, I know you can.
Hold on... if the caster, probably a druid, morphs into a spider or other very stealthy animal using Wild Shape and hides, then Conjure Woodland Beings concentration probably won't be broken. Then you ask 3-4 of the pixies to Polymorph the rest of the party and hide with the druid. Then you tell the other pixies to Ready Polymorph and hide. If one of the pixies who cast Polymorph dies/breaks concentration, then one of the hiding pixies with Polymorph readied can cast it again on the no-longer Polymorphed ally. You could probably keep up the forms for several rounds if you do that, at the cost of the caster having to hide away.
#1: DM has option to adjust any rule to fit their campaign... or even to completely disallow a spell from existing in their campaign.
That IS in the rules.
#2 I'd let you get your pixies. No porblem at all. 8 pixies show up and ask what game you want to play.
PC "Please polymorp.."
DM: "The pixies polymorph you into butterflies. They cavort with the party, flitting around for a while, then they leave. As they leave, they break concentration and... the party all transform back to their normal selves, falling d10 X 10 ft (random for each character) if there is no ceiling."
Note that characters in metal armor are going to make a lot of noise on impact.
PC does not even get to finish stating his request... the Pixies are very happy to polymorph you into playmates... until they get bored with the game.
Actually per the official FAQ for adventurer's league no that would't be the rule. while inconsistent DMs is an issue for the format as a whole you are allowed but not required to use sage advice
Sage Advice/Twitter. Sage Advice (SA) and tweets from the Wizards of the Coast staff are a great barometer for the ‘rules-as-intended’, in any case. Whether or not your DM chooses to utilize them for rules adjudication in is at their discretion;
Also semi relevant sage advice changed some paragraphs so jeremy crawfords ramblings on twitter aren't RAI anymore.The relevant changes.
OLD
Official rulings on how to interpret unclear rules are made in Sage Advice. The public statements of the D&D team, or anyone else at Wizards of the Coast, are not official rulings; they are advice. One exception: the game’s rules manager, Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford), can make official rulings and usually does so in Sage Advice and on Twitter.
NEW
Official rulings on how to interpret rules are made here in the Sage Advice Compendium by the game’s lead rules designer, Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford on Twitter). The public statements of the D&D team, or anyone else at Wizards of the Coast, are not official rulings; they are advice. Jeremy Crawford’s tweets are often a preview of rulings that will appear here.
No it is only a maybe sometimes thing. Also just so I am not accused of mincing here someone asked he and he confirmed it.
Q: It looks like the Invoke Tweet of Jeremy Crawford feature has been nerfed. Official rulings are now found in the Compendium only, with this account merely providing a "preview" of possible future ones.
JC: Yes, I decided I don't want people feeling they need to dig through my tweets for official answers.
So while this shows up in the most recent sage advice compendium the sage advice compendium is not errata. That would be this https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/PH-Errata.pdf
Sage advice is not official errata in this edition. It even says so in it when it lists all the errata that have come out and doesn't include itself Here look
Errata Errata have been issued for certain fifth edition books and can be downloaded at the following locations. Player’s Handbook http://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/PH-Errata.pdf Monster Manual http://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/MM-Errata.pdf Dungeon Master’s Guide http://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/DMG-Errata.pdf Hoard of the Dragon Queen http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/ HotDQ-Errata.pdf Princes of the Apocalypse http://media.wizards.com/2016/downloads/DND/PotA-Errata.pdf Out of the Abyss http://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/OotA-Errata.pdf Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide http://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/SCAG-Errata.pdf Volo’s Guide to Monsters http://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/VGtM-Errata.pdf
Notice no sage advice there. Sage advice is not errata because it says it not errata in Sage advice. All it is is advice. This was only updated at the start of the year so I understand why you haven't heard about it yet figured I'd let you know.
For an example of Sage Advice and the rulebook in opposition to each other see the hand crossbow thread.
As summoning pixies being OP, consider this "feature" of pixies: Opposed to Violence. The pixies are likely to be unwilling to polymorph the party into better forms to engage in fisticuffs. Forms better suited to running though, sure.
Not useable the way you like. Pixies can only use the stuff on themselves, and they are opposed to violence.
So they couldnt polymorph you, neither would they attack anyone, even polymorphed themselves, because only HP over the creatures HP and they are dead to and they are, well, opposed to violence and would flee.
So a DM who plays it RAW and dont consider it something who would fall under the "rule of cool" and ignore facts, wouldnt allow it because it doesnt work like that.
Maybe you meant Sprites - but they cant cast spells, only invisibility on themselves.
But more it has a lot of use as a utility spell. Got lost in the woods? They surely would help you. Need some lore about the region? They maybe also can help. Or help from some sprites with some enemys who defile the forest, they will be more likely to help
There is actually a in-book justification that conjure woodland beings does not let the summoner pick the summons. The circle of sheperd's lv 14 class ability states that when you go unconscious you get a special version of conjure animals. This spell has a lot of extra rules, one of which is that your options are: You summon 4 beasts of your choice, with a CR of 2 or lower. If the spell could always summon beasts of your choice, there would be no reason to add this as a special rule. It would just say:you summon 4 beasts of CR 2 or lower. The fact that you have to be a dying lv 14 circle of shepherd to gain the ability to choose your summon for conjure means it the spell itself does not have the capabilites. It makes sense in context too: by comparison Danse Macabre has the same action economy (1 action, concentration for 1 hour) yet only gives you 5 CR 1/4 monsters--as a lv 5 spell. Conjure woodland beings gives you more monsters, has more options, and is cheaper--its clear that the inability to choose your animals is what keeps the lv 3 conjure spells in line with other conjure spells
I just want to set some of the writing straight for the folks who think that the pixies would not assist players due to their "Opposed to Violence" entry, or that they would simply prank the players who summon them.
Opposed to Violence explains "Unlike their fey cousins, the sprites, pixies abhor weapons and would sooner flee than get into a physical altercation with any enemy." This states nothing about being unwilling to assist someone who summons them - just that they themselves would not get into a physical conflict. This is accurately represented in their stat block, as they have no attack actions, and their offensive capabilities consist of confusing their enemies, turning enemies into animals, or entangling them.
Further, Conjure Animals dictates that "the summoned creatures are friendly to you and your companions," that they "obey any verbal commands that you issue to them" and "If you don't issue any commands to them, they defend themselves from hostile creatures, but otherwise take no actions."
So while a group of pixies encountered in the wild might refrain from assisting you on your command, or might very well decide to play pranks on you instead of hearing out your commands, pixies that are conjured by this spell will not act against you (since they are friendly and also take no action until you order them) and will obey your verbal commands, as explained in the spell.
On a side note, abusing this use of the spell could still have consequences. If we conjured pixies used solely for combative purposes at my DM's table, he would probably have them begin to resent us, and either refuse our next few attempts at conjuring them, or on repeated offense might even have a more powerful fey act against us for our actions on their kin.
Who chooses the creatures you summon is it the dm or the player? It's caused a bit of a problem at the table
The DM.
Technically, a player wouldn't even know a list of creatures to choose from.
On a somewhat related topic, what about the Pixies sleep spell. It is an innate spell but what level can they cast it at? Based on their other innate spells (polymorph!) they are functionally high level casters. Could they cast sleep at level 4?
They don't have spell slots in which to upcast with.
Innate spell casting (unless specified differently) will cast at the spells lowest level.
...cryptographic randomness!
Thanks
Since dndbeyond does not close threads, I thought I would summarize it here and add some points that have not been mentioned before, but I personally find might be helpful to future readers.
Issue: Conjure Woodland Beings, a 4th level spell has the potential to conjure 8 Pixies, who can then use their innate spellcasting ability to cast various high-level spells without the summoning player expending any more spell slots. The example given is to use this 4th lvl spell slot to gain 8 uses of Polymorph which is also a 4th lvl spell.
The discussion concentrates on two points: whether such a use of the spell is actually overpowered, and if such a use of the spell is rule-consistent.
What does it mean to summon eight pixies?
- On the turn they are summoned, the summoning player can give them verbal commands as a brief utterance. The spell requires a verbal component of any length at the DM's discretion, leaving less than 6 seconds for the player to convey his or her commands to the summoned creatures.
- Enemies that act between the player's and the pixies' turn might be capable of hearing and understanding the implications of those commands, or attack these small and vulnerable opponents out of instinct. They might also attack the character that casted the spell.
- Pixies can use their action to turn invisible, which leaves no action to hide. Pixies that are not invisible can not use their action to hide unless they can not be seen by use of total cover or full obscurity. Being hidden does not mean an enemy forgets their last position or their existence altogether.
- Pixies that use their action to cast a spell can not use their action to turn invisible or hide. Pixies that are invisible lose their concentration and therefore their invisibility when they cast a spell that requires concentration. Pixies that concentrate on a spell can not turn invisible without breaking their concentration.
- Characters that are polymorphed into a form incapable of speech can not convey verbal commands to their summoned creatures. Summoned creatures that are not given commands will defend themselves from other creatures, but otherwise take no action. The extent to which they will "defend themselves" is up to the DM's interpretation. They might flee, turn invisible or cast spells to do so.
Can you summon eight pixies?
- Players do not have access to the Monster Manual. They have no means of specifying what monsters they summon, since they do not know what challenge ratings various monsters have, or even know what monsters fall into the category applicable to the spell.
- Their characters might have encountered various creatures before, or have knowledge about certain monsters from various sources. They might try to summon a specific kind of monster.
- While the rules do not say so explicitly, it is intended for the DM to choose the creatures summoned, as stated in the Sage Advice.
- A player does not know the summoned creature's stats or capabilities. Their character might or might not know some of that. For example, it is reasonable to assume a ranger has spent some time observing wolves in the wild, a druid might even lived as a wolf for a while, or an elven druid might have spent some time with pixies and sprites in the feywild.
- There is nothing that says you can not summon eight pixies, but there is also nothing that says you specifically can. As everything else in DnD, the DM decides what happens at all times.
Should you summon eight pixies?
The concept of "overpoweredness" comes from video games. DnD is not a MMORPG. Everything that happens in DnD is make-belief. In general, everyone at the table should act in a way that allows everyone to have as much fun as possible. The DM and players do not compete against each other. There is no requirement that combat should be challenging, or easy, or that anything needs to happen at a specific point in time. The players willingly give control over to the DM, in hope the DM will create a narrative most enjoyable for everyone. The DM gives the players cues to react to, and might change the narrative to meet the players' expectations. In its essence, DnD is a form of improv theater. Players might feel some gratification from "beating" the challenges the DM presents them, but in the end, they only "beat" them because the DM decided it served the narrative. Again, all of this is make-belief. There is no highscore, you do not get achievements, or loot boxes, or anything in that matter.
That said, the rules of DnD give a very thought-out framework to assist the players and the DM in having as much fun as possible. The DM can decide to let the player summon eight pixies. The DM can decide to let the player know the spellcasting capabilities of the pixies. The DM can decide to let the player control the pixies. The DM can decide the enemies will not target the pixies. The DM can decide to create encounters that are more challenging. The DM can decide anything he or she wants to happen, as is the right of any DM. Players can decide whether to use a spell. The players can decide to build a character that makes use of a spell. The players can decide whether they want to play with a DM.
After decades of playing DnD, millions of players have come to realize that a good narrative is much more enjoyable than "exploit" made-up rules to use in made-up encounters with a made-up difficulty to gain made-up gratification. So, here is my suggestion:
A druid has lived in the tundra. He has spent years of his life, testing his capabilities in the wilderness. He has led a pack of wolves as their alpha on their hunt for mammoths. He has fought over a seal's carcass with a fellow polar bear. He has roamed the endless taiga in a herd of elk. He has climbed the mountain peaks and conversed with giant eagles.
He uses his action to call spirits of wolves before using his bonus action to turn into a dire wolf. He turns into a giant elk to stampede over his enemies with a herd of elk. He falls from a high cliff and calls for giant eagles to save his life. This makes narrative sense. The DM can decide to give him a random assortment of animals, but most times, it will reduce the fun of everyone involved. It can be funny to summon a large bear in a narrow hallway for the comical effect, though.
What doesn't make narrative sense? To be in an underwater temple with a four-foot-wide hallway, and summon four wolves and four giant poisoneous snakes, to optimize the tactical advantage.
When it comes to fey creatures, they are random by nature. They are all about shenanigans. And they are intelligent. They might refuse being called from the feywild into the material realm. Or they might come back later to take (comical) revenge, after having the pc's will forced upon them. It makes sense to randomize the summoned creatures here, unless the character has gained the favor and allegiance of the fey, which in turn makes for a great opportunity to tell a good story.
My dm banned this as soon as I learnt it😭
Completely? This is so stupid and bad DM'ing.
He just could remove the ability to cast spells for the created creatures or that the creatures can affect others instead of themselves.
I'd probably solve this problem a bit differently than an outright ban. I'd let the player summon his 8 pixies. On round two, a /very/ angry fey lord would appear wanting to know why the PCs had stolen his pets.
Any time an unfathomably powerful entity sweeps in and offers godlike rewards in return for just a few teensy favors, it’s a scam. Unless it’s me. I’d never lie to you, reader dearest.
Tasha