The Summoner Class

An Original Homebrew Class

Made for play with D&D 5e.

The Summoner
An armored warrior charges the enemy sword in
hand, taking a moment to glance up he sees
what he already knew to be true, his powerful
wyvern companion gliding above in battle
formation. The two let out a battle cry and begin
their coordinated attack, sundering their
enemies defence.
A cloaked figure flees from a group of muggers,
ducking into a dark alleyway. Her pursuers
round the corner expecting to find their prey
trapped, instead they come face to face with two
hulking Gorgons. Their screams travel through
the silent night air as the woman they chased
sets her beasts on them.
Though differing in their approach both of these
cunning warriors are indeed Summoners. A
magic practice long forgotten by the layman and
only referred to in ancient texts read by a few
scholars, these powerful mages harness the
power of monsters with the only tool strong
enough to bring one into submission...Their
Soul.
The brave few who practice the art of
summoning do so at a great risk to their person
as they literally attach a fragment of their very
soul to a monster’s binding it to their will. These
monsters are then housed in magical vessels
known as ‘Summoning’ Crysts and can be
manifested or ‘Summoned’ at will.
Creating a Summoner
Some summoners see monsters as mere tools,
a means to an end. Meanwhile others forge
bonds with their monster companions that goes
beyond the master-servant relationship that is
portrayed. Is your summoner a true friend to its
summons, caring for and fighting beside their
most unlikely allies or are they cold and cruel
only using monsters as weapons in revenge for
some loss suffered at the hands of the very
monster they now lord over?
When creating a Summoner there are a few
questions you can ask yourself to get an idea of
your summoner will act. How does my
summoner view the monsters they summon?
How did they learn to link with monsters and
summon them, was it taught to them by an older
master summoner who they were apprenticed
too or is it a family tradition handed down the
generations? The answers to these can help you
shape your own powerful master of monsters.
Quick Build
To quickly make a Summoner follow these
suggestions: First, make Charisma your highest
ability score as this will influence the power of
your Summoner’s Soul and the total amount of
monsters you can have as summons. Your next
highest score should be Constitution. Secondly
take the Hermit background.
​Class Features
Hit Points
Hit Dice:​ 1d8 per Summoner level
Hit Points at 1st Level: ​8 + your Constitution
Modifier.
Hit Points at Higher Levels: ​1d8(5)+ your
Constitution Modifier.
Proficiencies
Armor: ​Light.
Weapons: ​Simple Weapons.
Tools: ​Summoning Crysts.
Saving Throws: ​Charisma and Constitution.
Skills: ​Choose 3 from Acrobatics, Animal
Handling, Athletics, Insight, Intimidation,
Medicine, Nature, Perception, Persuasion,
Stealth, Survival.
Equipment
You start with the following equipment in
addition to that granted by your background:
 17 +6 Improved Soul Link
● A dagger
● Leather Armor 18 +6 Summoner Archetype
● 6 Summoning Crysts (Standard Quality) Feature
● Explorer’s Pack
● 1 Summoning Cryst containing your 19 +6 Ability score
Initial Summon. improvement.

Level Prof. Features 20 +6 Perfect Soul

Bonus

1 +2 Soul Link, Initial

Summon.

2 +2 Synchronize Soul, Soul Link

Preferred Monster Type.

3 +2 Summoner Archetype. At 1st level you gain access to the summoner

technique Soul Link. The Soul Link is a magical
4 +2 Ability score
summoner technique used to attune a monster's
improvement.
soul to their own. This technique requires an
5 +3 Bolstered Soul empty Summoners Cryst (see appendix for more
information) to focus the Soul Link between
6 +3 -------------------------------- summoner and monster. Once attuned the
monster gains several advantages while linked
7 +3 Summoner Archetype
to the summoner including no longer needing
Feature
physical sustenance while it is attuned to a
8 +3 Ability score Cryst. A summoner can only link with as many
improvement. monsters as its Cha mod equals.

9 +4 Exotic Preferred A monster is eligible to be Soul Linked as long

Monster Type as it is not Humanoid, Construct or Undead and
is not larger than Huge in size. For a creature to
10 +4 Summoner Archetype
Feature be successfully Soul Linked it must be
unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. The
11 +4 Improved Synchronized Summoner then focuses their own life force
Soul through a Summoning Cryst and attempts to link
their life force with the monsters. The Summoner
12 +4 Ability score
must make a Summoner's Cryst ability check
improvement.
with their tool proficiency against a target within
13 +5 Improved Bolster Soul 60ft that they can see. The bonus for this roll is
proficiency bonus + Cha mod. The DC is 10 +
14 +5 ------------------------------- CR of the target monster rounded up (minimum
of 1). Other factors that influence the bonus and
15 +5 Summoner Archetype DC of the roll and are listed in a table below.
Feature

16 +5 Ability score
improvement.
 of the circumstances. It gains
proficiency in 2 skills of your choice.
● It’s alignment is unchanged but while
Soul Linked it is completely subservient
and will comply with any of your wishes.
Variable Effect It has full recollection of how it was
treated should you ever release the
Monster has more Hit +The difference in Hit
monster from this bond and will act
Dice than the Dice to the DC
according to its alignment and its
Summoner.
treatment by the Summoner upon such
Standard No Bonus a release.
Summoner’s Cryst ● Once Linked a monster’s Hit Dice will
increase or decrease to match the
Superior Summoner’s -2 to DC +1 bonus to Summoner’s Hit Dice (Level). If this
Cryst roll
should cause a monster to ‘Level Up’
Epic Summoner’s -4 to DC +2 bonus to past 4th, 8th, 12th, 16th or 19th level the
Cryst roll monster benefits from an ability stat
increase just as the Summoner would.
Master Summoner’s -6 to DC +3 bonus to You can increase any stat by 2 or any 2
Cryst roll stats by 1, the normal stat cap of 20
applies. Some monsters will have stats
Target monster is +5 to the DC and
over 20, in this case the ability increase
Legendary disadvantage on roll
cannot be used to further increase a stat
Target monster Gain advantage on above the cap of 20.
belongs to preferred roll ● While Linked and attuned to a Cryst the
type monster has no need for physical
sustenance and requires no food or
The benefits gained are as follows: water to survive. It does however still
● It loses it’s​ MultiAttack​ if it had one as require sleep and can still contract
well as any​ Legendary Actions​, L ​ air diseases unless it is naturally immune to
Actions​ and ​Regional Effects. ​It’s class them.
becomes ‘Summon’ and its background
becomes ‘Monster’. It’s level By its very nature a Soul Link is taxing and a
(represented by its Hit Dice total) potentially dangerous technique in that should a
becomes equal with the Summoner who Summoner’s monster ever die that Summoner
Soul Linked it and it continues to grow in would lose a fragment of their own soul. When a
strength with it’s Summoner gaining monster that is soul linked dies the summoner
levels as the Summoner does. must make a CON saving throw. The DC is 15
● The Summon now uses your proficiency and on a failed save the summoner takes 1d4 x
bonus instead of it’s own and in addition Summoner level Necrotic damage. Should the
to where it would normally apply such a save be failed by more than 5 or a natural 1 is
bonus it also adds it to its AC (to a rolled the Summoner instantly drops to 0 Hit
maximum of 22) and damage rolls. Points from the strain placed on their soul and
● It becomes proficient in all saving throws makes death saving throws per normal. On a
and always has advantage on a save successful save the Summoner takes no
against any charming effects regardless damage but has disadvantage on any ability
check when trying to Soul Link a new monster in
the next 24 hours. If the save is made by 10 or
more or a natural 20 is rolled the monster
stabilizes on 1 Hit point as the summoner’s soul
bolsters its own and pulls it from the clutches of
death, the summoner has disadvantage on the
next roll it makes due to the strain on its soul.
Initial Summon
At the completion of your Summoner training
you Soul Linked a monster and this monster
became your first companion. Choose from the
list of monsters below by randomly rolling a dice
or choosing based on personal preference.
Roll Monster
1 Axe Beak
2 Blink Dog
3 Darkmantle
4 Gray Ooze
5 Magmin
6 Needle Blight
You can only have one summon accompany you
into battle at a time unless a feature you gain
says otherwise. Once you have more than 1
summon you can switch them out of battle freely
or take an action in battle to switch them. The
new summon appears in the place the previous
summon occupied at its full Hit Points. Any
summon that spends longer than 8 hours in its
Cryst benefits from a long rest.
In battle your summon rolls its own initiative and
acts according to your wishes on its turn. Their
is no communication needed to convey your
instructions as you are linked at your very
souls.To this end the Player controls the
summon just as they control the summoner.
Synchronize Soul
At 2nd level you gain the ability to assist your
summon in battle. When your Summon is forced
to make a saving throw you can channel your
own abilities through the Soul Link swapping its
saving throw bonus with your own. After
assisting your summon in this way you cannot
do so again until you finish a short or long rest
as the stress it imposes on your soul is
significant.
Preferred Monster Type
At 2nd level you grow an affinity towards the
monster type your Initial Summon belongs too.
This affinity grants you advantage on Linking
with other monsters of that type as well as any
Intelligence (History) checks regarding that type
of monster.
Summoner Archetype
At 3rd level you can choose a Summoner
Archetype. Your powers as a summoner have
progressed to the point where you choose either
to become a Xeno-knight: A warrior who fights
side by side with it’s summon coordinating lethal
attacks and counter attacks and even fusing its
own physical form with its summon. Or a
Xeno-mage: A soul mage who can exert control
over multiple monsters and learn magics to heal
and support them as they battle to protect their
summoner. Further details on both these
archetypes will be covered below.
Ability Score Improvement
At 4th level you gain the ability to improve one of
your Ability scores by 2 or two of your ability
scores by 1. Alternatively if your DM allows it
you can take a Feat instead. You can do this
again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level.
Bolstered Soul
At 5th level you gain the Bolstered Soul feature.
After taking a long rest you can nominate either
the damage resistances or condition immunities
of the summon accompanying you into battle.
You gain these effects until your next long rest,
the summon becomes incapacitated or
unconscious or you switch summons. As a
Xeno-mage you can choose only one of your
summons that is accompanying you for this
feature.
Exotic Preferred Monster Type
By 9th level your adventures have brought you
into contact with all sorts of amazing and deadly
monsters. At this point you can choose a second
preferred monster type from Aberrations,
Celestials, Dragons, Fiends and Giants. For the
monster type you choose you gain all the
benefits you have with your original preferred
monster type.
Improved Synchronize Soul
At 11th level your Synchronize Soul ability has
strengthened to the point where not only can
you swap one of your saving throws with your
summons to help it but now when the summoner
is forced to make a saving throw they can swap
their bonus with their summons. This ability can
now be used as many times as your Cha mod
equals per long rest.
Improved Bolstered Soul
At 13th level your Bolstered Soul ability has
strengthened to the point where can take on
both the damage resistances and condition
immunities of the summon accompanying you
into battle. All the other restrictions including
duration apply from the Bolstered Soul ability.
Improved Soul Link
At 17th level repeated use of soul magics has
strengthened your soul to the point where it is
easier to gain control of monsters when linking
with them. The base DC is now 8 + CR of the
target monster rounded up (minimum of 1). The
same variables still apply to the check. Your
summons now also get advantage on their death
saving throws as the strength of your soul helps
them pull back from the void.
Perfect Soul
At 20th level your repeated use of soul magics
over a long time has strengthened your soul to a
point that it cannot be considered a mortal's
soul. You gain the following benefits
● In addition to your summons you also
have advantage on death saving throws.
● You no longer age and are immune to
being magically aged. You can still be
slain or die from disease etc.
● For every 10 years a summon spends
linked to you its alignment moves one
step closer to yours. A creature that was
Legendary gets a saving throw against
this effect. The DC is your Summoner
Level and the summon uses its Cha
saving throw.
Summoner Archetypes
Xeno-Knight
The Xeno-Knight is a summoner who has
chosen a more martial course and over the
years trained in combat by the side of his
summons becoming a synchronized fighting
force taking down target after target.
Greater Proficiencies

At 3rd level when you take this archetype you
gain the following proficiencies.
Armor: ​Medium armor and shields
Weapons: ​3 Martial weapons of your choice
You also choose a fighting style from the list
below:
Defence
While you are wearing armor, you gain a +l
bonus to AC.
Dueling
When you are wielding a melee weapon in one
hand and no other weapons, you gain a +2
bonus to damage rolls with that weapon.
Protection
When a creature you can see attacks a target
other than you that is within 5 feet of you, you
can use your reaction to impose disadvantage
on the attack roll. You must be wielding a shield.
Two Weapon Fighting
When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you
can add your ability modifier to the damage of
the second attack.
Coordinated Assault
At 7th level when you attack a creature within 5ft
of your summon it can , as a reaction, make a
single attack against the same creature.
Extra Attack
At 10th level you can make 2 attacks against
enemies when you take the attack action on a
turn.
Irresistible
At 15th level your summons attacks count as
magical when dealing with resistances if they
aren’t already.
Improved Assault
At 18th level you gain the Improved Assault
Feature. After years spent fighting side by side
you gain the ability to, when your summon
attacks a target that's within 5ft of you, you can
as a reaction make an attack against the same
target. Also now your summon can make two
attacks when takes the attack action on its turn.
Xeno-Mage
The Xeno-Mage focuses not on the physical but
on further strengthening their soul so as to tap
into magics both arcane and divine with the
sheer force of will that only one practiced in soul
magic can manifest. Armed with these magics
as well their ability to command more than one
summon at a time, a Xeno-Mage is a foe to be
reckoned with.
Greater Soul Magic
At 3rd level when you take this archetype you
gain access to spells that will assist in keeping
your summons alive and your enemies at bay.
Cantrips
You know two cantrips of your choice from the
Xeno-Mage spell list. You learn additional
Xeno-Mage cantrips of your choice at higher
levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known
column of the Xeno-Mage table.
Spell Slots
The Xeno-Mage table shows how many spell
slots you have. The table also shows what the
level of those slots is; all of your spell slots are
the same level. To cast one of your Xeno-Mage
spells of 1st level or higher, you must expend a
spell slot. You regain all expended spell slots
3 2 2 1 1st
when you finish a short or long rest.
For example, when you are 8th level, you have 4 2 2 2 1st
two 3rd-level spell slots. To cast the 1st-level
spell ​Cure Wounds​, you must spend one of 5 2 3 2 2nd
those slots, and you cast it as a 3rd level spell.
6 2 3 2 2nd

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher 7 2 4 2 2nd

At 3rd level, you know two 1st level spells of
your choice from the Xeno-Mage spell list. 8 2 4 2 3rd
The Spells Known column of the Xeno-Mage
9 2 5 2 3rd
table shows when you learn more warlock spells
of your choice of 1st level and higher. A spell 10 2 5 2 3rd
you choose must be of a level no higher than
what's shown in the table's Slot Level column for 11 3 6 3 3rd
your level. When you reach 9th level, for
example, you learn a new Xeno-Mage spell, 12 3 6 3 4th
which can be 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level. Additionally,
13 3 7 3 4th
when you gain a level in this class, you can
choose one of the Xeno-Mage spells you know 14 3 7 3 4th
and replace it with another spell from the
Xeno-Mage spell list, which also must be of a 15 3 8 3 4th
level for which you have spell slots.
16 3 8 3 5th
Spellcasting Ability
Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your 17 3 9 3 5th
Xeno-Mage spells, so you use your Charisma
whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting 18 4 9 4 5th
ability. In addition, you use your Charisma
19 4 10 4 5th
modifier when setting the saving throw DC
for a Xeno-Mage spell you cast and when 20 4 10 4 5th
making an attack roll with one. Spell save DC:8
+ your proficiency bonus + your Charisma
modifier.
Spell attack modifier: your proficiency bonus + Twin Soul
your Charisma modifier

At 3rd level when you take this archetype your

Arcane Focus
You can use an arcane focus (found in chapter 5
of the PHB) as a spellcasting focus for your
Xeno-Mage spells. You gain one when taking
this Archetype.
soul magic progresses to the point where you
can exert control over 2 summons
simultaneously in battle. You can use any
combination of your summons but the usual
rules apply to switching summons and they can
only be switched one at a time.

Level Cantrip Spells Spell Slot Soul Share

s Known Slots Level
Known
At 7th level you gain the ability to more
effectively protect yourself and your summons in 1st Level Spells
battle. When you cast a Cantrip or higher level Absorb Elements
spell with the range of ​Self​ you can nominate Bless
one of your summons within 60ft that you can Command
see to also receive the effects of the spell at no Cure Wounds
extra cost. Entangle
Fog Cloud
Healing Word
Summoner’s Love Heroism
Identify
Mage Armor
At 10th level your bond with your summons Shield of Faith
exceeds the master-servant relationship Sleep
portrayed. When you cast a spell that restores
Hit Points to your summons you can maximise
2nd Level Spells
the amount healed. After using this ability you
Aid
cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.
Barkskin
Enhance Ability
Irresistible Hold Person
Invisibility
At 15th level your summons attacks count as Mirror Image
magical when dealing with resistances if they Pass Without Trace
aren’t already. Silence
Web
Zone of Truth

Greater Soul Share 3rd Level Spells

Aura of Vitality
At 18th level you gain the Greater Soul Share Clairvoyance
ability. Now when you cast a Cantrip or higher Counterspell
spell with the range of ​Self ​both of your Dispel Magic
summons benefit from the effects as long as Fly
they are within 60ft. Also you can now use the Haste
Summoner’s Love ​ability twice per long rest. Mass Healing Word
Slow
Xeno-Mage Spell List
4th Level Spells
Banishment
Cantrips Confusion
Blade Ward Fire Shield
Guidance Freedom of Movement
Light Locate Creature
Mending Stoneskin
Message
Resistance 5th Level Spells
Spare the Dying
Dispel Evil and Good
Hold Monster
Mass Cure Wounds
Passwall
Wall of Force

Magic Items

Summoner’s Cryst (common)

+1/Superior(Rare) +2/Epic(Very Rare)
+3/Master(Legendary)
A Summoner’s Cryst is a fist sized clear gem
that would easily pass for a large diamond. In
actual fact it is piece of crystalized soul matter
left behind on the Material Plane after the death
of a creature. The matter seeps into the earth
and forms crystals deep in the crust and most
are mined along with other precious gems.
Thought useless by jewelers because of its
brittle texture these are often discarded or kept
as paperweights but a summoner recognizes the
true value of these gems. A summoner’s Cryst is
needed to focus the Soul Magic used to bind
monster to summoner and houses the summon
when its physical presence is not needed.