I have found the summon spells to be quite useful when the party is outnumbered, or more frequently, when the number of monsters is greater than the number of non-mage party members.
Advantage: the mage doesn't get hit because the summoned creature is in the way, or in the case of the first example, it rebalances the party's numbers to closer to that of the monsters.
Disadvantage: Some DMs count the summoned monster as part of the XP equation, thus dividing off a bit of XP from the party and giving it to the summoned creature. Besides that, a summoned creature may also not be of suitable ability to fend off the monsters for long. In other words, if you cast summon creature I, expect your summoned creature to die quickly against level 10 foes. In such a case, you've wasted a round casting a useless spell. |
