The Summoner is a really cool class, and while I think I'd probably be wise to stick to the suggestion that one not play it before getting some experience with simpler classes under the belt first (though I've got to imagine that if I ever play Draw Steel, I'm going to be a Forever Director) I do really like the idea of playing one. I'm primarily inclined toward the Necromancer/Circle of Graves, but the other options are all pretty cool-looking.
This class is all about the minions, and while you do have some features outside of summoning minions, that's what we're all here for. I thought it might be fun to go on a little tour through the options you have to pick for which minions you can summon.
Once again, you can only have two kinds of minion out at a time, each organized into their own squads (that share one big health pool and act in tandem with one another).
Each subclass gets their choice of 2 Signature minions, 2 3-Essence minions, 1 5-Essence minion, and 1 7-Essence minion. So you'll only ever have 6 minion types to choose from when you call them forth, but there are more options.
We're going to start by looking at the demons that the Circle of Blight Summoners can pull out of the Abyssal Wastes. I'll do a quick summary of their abilities, though I'm not going to be exhaustive, both because I have finite energy and also because I'm not just trying to reprint the entire class in this blog. (If I'm honest, I sometimes do these overview posts to help me internalize the way a class or other rule system works, and if you read it, hey, enjoy).
Demons in Draw Steel are warped and twisted creatures - a stark contrast with Devils, who are basically just winged, horned, tailed people (and in this cosmos, are not related to demons in any way - there's no "fiend" catch-all." Demons are nightmare creatures with bizarre biology that honestly give off somewhat more Lovecraftian vibes than they do in other media. Calling upon them means you're working with some nasty, nasty things that are very dangerous.
All demons seek to consume souls, and so every demon minion has a feature called Soulsight, which prevents adjacent creatures from ever being hidden from them, as the demon can sense the living soul for which they hunger in those creatures.
Signature Minions:
Ensnarer:
These guys are vaguely humanoid, with a head that splits open to reveal a massive tongue longer than the demon is tall. They are a Brute, and their free strikes have a longer distance and pull targets, with the pull distance increased for each ensnarer joining in the attack. Free Strike: 2.
Rasquine:
Small, shimmering little skulkers, these are Ambushers. Their movement is teleportation, and they can hide as a free maneuver after teleporting. Free Strike: 2.
Razor:
These are smaller versions of the Ruinant (found in the Monsters book,) swift mounds of tumbling flesh and claws. These are Harriers and deal damage back to adjacent foes that grab or attack them, this damage increasing if there are nearby Razors. Free Strike: 1.
3-Essence Demons:
Archer Spitlich:
These small Artillery minions look like larger Pitlings (found in the Monsters book). Their ranged free strikes have increased range and will also splash an adjacent enemy to the target for 2 poison damage. This poison damage prevents enemies from shifting until the Spitlich's next turn. Free Strike: 5
Fanged Musilex:
A demon made up of multiple ensnarers twisted and molded together, thee large Brutes have a longer range for melee free strikes and have pull 2, with the pull distance increasing by 2 for each minion joining in the attack. (Like with the Ensnarer, you pick which one is actually doing the pulling to determine where they're being pulled to.) If the target is pulled adjacent to the Musilex, it can either deal 2 extra damage or grab them. Free Strike: 5.
Twisted Bengrul:
This undulating mass of glass and flesh shatters pieces of itself to warp and wound foes. They're large Hexers, and they have a ranged signature ability called Mind Twist, which deals 4, 6, or 8 damage and has a potency that attacks presence, inflicting a debuff called Twisted (save ends) which prevents the target from being able to use edges or search for hidden creatures. Free Strike: 4.
5-Essence Demons:
Gushing Spewler:
These squat Controllers are mostly mouth, spraying acid and bile from their stomachs. Their ranged free strikes have an increased range and will slide the target. Also, if they take damage, they can shift 2 squares after the effects of the damage resolve. Each square they exit when doing so is covered in slime that inflicts a bane on enemies, the slime lasting until the end of the encounter. Free Strike: 3.
Hulking Chimor:
These size 2 Defenders are shapeless masses of demonic body parts who break off little pieces of themselves in the foes they attack. Their free strikes will weaken targets with low might (end of turn) with a potency that grows higher the longer the fight has been going. They also don't provoke opportunity attacks. Free Strike: 3.
Violent:
Violents are red, lanky bipeds, Ambushers that can contort their bodies into unassuming shapes. They get to add 2 damage to their free strikes for each adjacent enemy from which they were hidden when they attack, and they automatically take the Hide maneuver as a free maneuver at the start of their turns, disguising themselves as objects of their size or smaller. (In my mind, these are similar to the Mannequins from Silent Hll 2. Free Strike: 4
7-Essence Demons:
Faded Blightling:
These large Support minions look like blasphemous mockeries of "Biblically accurate angels," a kind of big ball of eyes (though here the eyes are all withered and look like blisters) ringed by wings. They can fly and have a signature ability that does 7, 11, or 16 corruption damage and a potency targeting presence that will inflict Bleeding (EoT). They can also target a friend with this to impose a double bane on the next strike that targets them. Their wings are crap, though, so if they end their turn mid-air, they fall prone. Free Strike: 7.
Gorrre:
Yes, that's three Rs. Gorrres look like weird spiny orangutan-rhinos. They're size 2 Brutes that must charge before making a strike. If the target is not mighty enough, they are knocked prone if the Gorre moved through another creature or object while charging. It can ignore difficult terrain while charging, and they destroy any unattended size 1 objects in their path, while enemies they move through on the charge take 3 damage. Free Strike: 8.
Viscisittante:
These size-2 Harriers are an ever-shfiting mass of burning flesh, scarring anything they touch as they leave parts of themselves behind. They have a signature ability that deals 7, 11, or 16 psychic damage and have a potency against a creature's presence that inflicts weakened (save ends). Weakened creatures are then considered flanked by the demon regardless of their position until the condition ends. Free Strike: 7.
General Thoughts:
I think there are a lot of options here to move targets around on the battlefield, so you could choose to specialize in that by going with Ensnarers, Fanged Musilexes, Gushing Spewlers, and Gorrres. However, you might decide that's a bit redundant. The handful of minions with signature abilities are probably going to give you the most damage, if that's what you're going for, though also a fair number of minions have ways to get bonus damage if certain conditions are met (such as the Violent).
What is guaranteed, though, is that your minions are going to be real gross.
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