I understand that the animals roll an initiative, but do they go on this round? If they roll higher than the caster they would lose their turn. If they roll lower... they get to go?
As I DM, tonight, I ruled that they appear when conjured but cannot move or attack untill the following round. Essentially they are surprised on their first round.
If they have a round where they can’t act that can gimp the spell if the caster takes damage while they’re not able to act and loses concentration. Plus the spell only lasts 10 rounds, that makes it so that it’s only a 9 round spell which is a 10% drop in its usability. You’re really weakening the spell.
That ruling does weaken summoning spells, but at least it is consistent and fair. The situation remains that a ruling must be made, and they all have strengths and weaknesses. If you just roll initiative and slot the summoned creatures in, then you actually punish the player for rolling a high initiative for those creatures. Other rulings have similar drawbacks and counter-intuitive results.
My personal ruling is to roll initiative for the new creatures and; if they roll lower than the caster then slot them in as normal, if they roll higher than the caster then slot them in immediately after the caster. I feel this balances pros and cons.
Whatever the ruling, the important thing is to make it clear, open and consistent for players and enemies alike.
Just slot them in to the initiative order and continue as normal. The time limit for the spell starts with the summoner's turn. If the summon has lower initiative, it will act after the summoner this round. If the summon has higher initiative, it will act before the summoner next round. Either way, all summoned creatures will get a turn before the summoner's next turn, which will signify 6 seconds after summoning. So every summon will get to act 10 times in 1 minute, which ends on the summoner's 10th turn.
Of course having not read the spell until now, this line seems relevant: "Roll initiative for the summoned creatures as a group..." So all the summons have the same initiative, but still have their individual turns and will act before the summoner gets another turn.
My personal ruling is to roll initiative for the new creatures and; if they roll lower than the caster then slot them in as normal, if they roll higher than the caster then slot them in immediately after the caster. I feel this balances pros and cons.
My personal ruling is to roll initiative for the new creatures and; if they roll lower than the caster then slot them in as normal, if they roll higher than the caster then slot them in immediately after the caster. I feel this balances pros and cons.
My own house rule is to always have conjured creatures act on the same init as the caster (since it's just easier that way), but give players two options:
The DM gets to decide (within the CR specified by the player) what type of creatures are conjured, or
The creatures have a 50% of not acting on the first round they're conjured (to simulate the normal 50% chance of not going before the average bad-guy's next turn)
I have read conjure animals
I understand that the animals roll an initiative, but do they go on this round? If they roll higher than the caster they would lose their turn. If they roll lower... they get to go?
As I DM, tonight, I ruled that they appear when conjured but cannot move or attack untill the following round. Essentially they are surprised on their first round.
Does that sound right?
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
If they have a round where they can’t act that can gimp the spell if the caster takes damage while they’re not able to act and loses concentration. Plus the spell only lasts 10 rounds, that makes it so that it’s only a 9 round spell which is a 10% drop in its usability. You’re really weakening the spell.
Professional computer geek
That ruling does weaken summoning spells, but at least it is consistent and fair. The situation remains that a ruling must be made, and they all have strengths and weaknesses. If you just roll initiative and slot the summoned creatures in, then you actually punish the player for rolling a high initiative for those creatures. Other rulings have similar drawbacks and counter-intuitive results.
My personal ruling is to roll initiative for the new creatures and; if they roll lower than the caster then slot them in as normal, if they roll higher than the caster then slot them in immediately after the caster. I feel this balances pros and cons.
Whatever the ruling, the important thing is to make it clear, open and consistent for players and enemies alike.
Just slot them in to the initiative order and continue as normal. The time limit for the spell starts with the summoner's turn. If the summon has lower initiative, it will act after the summoner this round. If the summon has higher initiative, it will act before the summoner next round. Either way, all summoned creatures will get a turn before the summoner's next turn, which will signify 6 seconds after summoning. So every summon will get to act 10 times in 1 minute, which ends on the summoner's 10th turn.
Okay,
"Slotted in" works for me.
Thanks
Jesus Saves!... Everyone else takes damage.
Of course having not read the spell until now, this line seems relevant: "Roll initiative for the summoned creatures as a group..." So all the summons have the same initiative, but still have their individual turns and will act before the summoner gets another turn.
This is what I do as well.
fwiw: if the bad-guy(s) act on the same initiative count (say because they're all the same type, there's only one, or you just roll that way):
The conjured animals have a 50% chance of going before the bad-guy's next turn.
My own house rule is to always have conjured creatures act on the same init as the caster (since it's just easier that way), but give players two options: