The Summoner, of course, need not summon spooky, scary creatures like demons or undead. In what I'd think of as the most kind of tonally neutral choice, you can pick Elementals to summon - a classic option for conjurers.
In Draw Steel, there are seven elements (the regular four and then Green, Rot, and Void). While these have their physical expressions, the elements are also (as the Alchemists and earlier philosophers thought) the essence of various concepts. Fire is not just that phenomenon of things burning, but the very idea of destruction or transformation. Earth is not just rocks and dirt, but the very idea of solidity and stability.
Elemental minions all have some kind of effect that happens when they are reduced to 0 Stamina (meaning I don't think they trigger when you sacrifice them). Some of these require you to spend 1 Essence to activate, but the key is that if you're an elemental summoner, you're going to be making an absolute mess of the battlefield (for your foes).
Signature Minions:
Elemental Mote:
Motes are tiny Hexers, and are little pure, well, motes of elemental energy that can fly. When they are killed, they inflict a bane on the next strike adjacent enemies make. Once per turn, they can transform into an adjacent allied signature minion (maintaining their current stamina) and join a new squad if they change names (though I can't imagine why you'd change them into another Elemental Mote). You can even spend 1 Essence to transform them into a signature minion you don't actually have, as if you were summoning them into the Mote's space (and thus should have the chosen minion's Stamina). All Storm Summoners get this minion and one other signature minion. Free Strike: 1.
Brisk Gale:
These small Harriers look like twisting ribbons of cloud and debris. They can fly and don't provoke opportunity attacks by moving. When killed, the space they leave a swirling wind in their space until the end of the encounter. If you or an ally starts their turn there or enter the space, they can immediately shift (including vertically). Free Strike: 1.
Fire Plume:
These tiny Artillery are extremely bright flames, sputtering and spitting sparks. Their ranged free strikes have an increased range, and when reduced to 0 stamina (ah, I see a theme developing) their space becomes wreathed with flame until the end of the encounter, dealing 2 fire damage to foes that enter the space or start their turn there. Free Strike: 2.
Walking Bolder:
These size-2 Defenders are clods of stone roll around on smaller limb-like rocks. They block line of effect for enemies, and when one is killed, you can spend 1 Essence to have them leave behind a stone wall of their size in their space until the end of the encounter. Free Strike: 1.
3-Essence Elementals:
Crux of Ash:
These phoenix-like birds made of hot ash are medium Ambushers. They can fly, and their melee free strikes against lower-Might enemies will hide all allies from the target until the start of the Crux's next turn, or until the target uses a maneuver to wipe the soot from their eyes or the crux takes damage or is destroyed. When killed, you can spend an Essence to cover the area within 1 square of the crux to be clouded by ash, granting concealment to you and your allies, and preventing foes from establishing line of effect beyond the ash if they're in an affected square. Free Strike: 5.
Flow of Magma:
This serpentine elemental made of heated rock is a large Harrier. It has a signature ability that deals 4, 6, or 8 fire damage and lets them shift 3, 4, or 5 squares. The squares that the Flow shifts into become wreathed in flame until the Flow's next turn, dealing 2 damage to any enemy that enters them. When killed, you can spend 1 Essence to launch lava into a square equal to 1+ their size (so likely a 2-square), which becomes difficult terrain for enemies until the end of the encounter and causes lower-agility foes that enter the space or start their turn there 4 fire damage. Free Strike: 4.
Desolation of Sand:
These medium Hexers are legless humanoid shapes of sand have glassy arms that shoot blasts of sand at their foes. Their free strikes inflict slowed (save ends) against low-Might enemies, and if the target is already slowed, an enemy that even has slightly higher Might becomes Restrained (end of turn). When killed, the area within 1 square of the elemental becomes difficult terrain until the end of the encounter, and you or allies that enter the area can immediately shift 3. Free Strike: 4.
5-Essence Elementals:
Dancing Silk:
These tiny Controllers look a bit like baby spiders using webbing balloons. They can fly, and their ranged free strikes can inflict restrained against low-Agility targets (EoT) and then slowed against adjacent targets with lower agility (in other words, the potency is weak, rather than average) (EoT). When slain, you can spend 1 Essence to have the Silks send ribbons of webbing into an area of their size +1 within 5 of them. The area is difficult terrain for foes until the end of the encounter, and enemies that ends their turn in the webbing and have lower Might are slowed (EoT). Free Strike: 3.
Principle of the Swamp:
These size-2, equine Brutes live in swampy sludge, and their manes can extend and hook into things like arms. They can swim and their free strikes have a distance equal to your reason and will grab lower-Might targets. They can have any number of creatures grabbed. A creature grabbed this way can still move, but can't move away from the Principle. When slain, you can spend an Essence to cause the area within 1 square of it to become difficult terrain for enemies until the end of the encounter, and a creature who ends their turn in the area is pulled 4 toward its center. Free Strikes: 4.
Quiet of Snow:
These small, six-legged, fox-like Artillery white as fresh snow fly through the air sending telepathic howls. They can fly and hover, and have a signature ability that does 4, 6, or 8 cold damage and slows lower-might targets (EoT). On a tier 3, their speed becomes zero instead. One adjacent ally to the target can shift 2 and either hide or defend when they do this. When slain, the Quiet launches a blast of air to an area equal to their size +1 and all allies within the square gain a surge. Free Strike: 4.
7-Essence Elementals:
Iron Reaver:
These Large Harriers look like metallic centipedes that shed shavings and sheets of metal as they move. Also of note, you get three of these per summon, rather than the two you get for the other minions of this level, but they have lower Stamina. They can burrow, and they get cover when adjacent to another reaver that they were summoned with. If they receive an effect that allows them to move or shift outside of their regular move action, they get to share it with each adjacent reaver they were summoned with. Their free strikes inflict bleeding (save ends) on low-Might foes, and when they inflict bleeding, they can shift 2 and make an additional free strike against a new target. (The potency for this is weak, so you need a fair number of low-Might foes, but I think this could potentially chain endlessly with enough targets). When slain, you can spend 1 Essence to create a line equal to 2x their size centered on their space, filling it with iron shards until the end of the encounter. You and allies get cover and damage immunity 2 while occupying an affected square. Free Strike: 6.
Knight of Blood:
These large Controllers look like spiky armored knights endlessly dripping blood (yeah, a bit more hardcore than you expected from an elemental, right?) Their melee strikes inflict bleeding (save ends) on low-Presence targets, and when the die is rolled for their bleed damage, the result can't be lower than a 3. When slain, you can spend 2 Essence to let them move up to their speed ignoring opportunity attacks. Each square they exit pools with blood until the end of the encounter. Enemies treat this as difficult terrain and it deals 3 corruption damage to enemies who first enter the area on a turn. If a bleeding enemy starts their turn within 10 squares of the blood pool, they are pull 2 toward the nearest square, ignoring stability. Free Strike: 7.
Light of the Sun:
These size-2 Support are avian in shape and blaze with blinding light, grasping a glowing sword. They can fly, and they have a Signature ability that deals 7, 11, or 16 Fire damage and can inflict dazed on low-Intuition foes (EoT, or Save Ends if tier 3). A target that is dazed this way has their stability reduced to 0 until the condition ends. If slain, you can spend 2 Essence for the area within 1 square of the Light to be wreathed in sentient flame until the end of the encounter. Enemies who enter this space or start their turn there take 3 fire damage and are slowed (EoT) while you or allies who enter the area or start their turn there gain 5 temporary Stamina and their speed increases by 2 until the end of their turn.
So, that's Elementals.
Naturally, the big thing here is that you'll be seriously changing the environment of a fight, and the longer it goes, the more crazy stuff will be stacking up there. You will need to reserve some Essence if you want to make use of your higher-level minions' death-burst abilities, but it seems that they can also be fairly potent.
I do think you're going to potentially have even more to track here than other Summoners, as you cover the battlefield with the remains of your minions, so having tokens or at least something to consistently mark the affected areas is important.
I suppose that you'll also be even more ok with your minions dying than other subclasses, as you get all these cool additional effects from them. While officially all these effects go away when a battle ends, I think it's really funny to imagine that it's just an absolute ruin after you finish a fight, and that it's a big mess that will have to be cleaned up.
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