"While many who dabble in the arcane become adept at beckoning monsters from the
farthest reaches of the planes, none are more skilled at it than the summoner. This
practitioner of the arcane arts forms a close bond with one particular outsider,
known as an eidolon, who gains power as the summoner becomes more proficient at
his summoning.
Over time, the two become linked, eventually even sharing a shard of the same soul.
But this power comes with a price: the summoner’s spells and abilities are limited
due to his time spent enhancing the power and exploring the nature of his eidolon."
From the perspective of Pathfinder Fate Accelerated, summoners are just arcane spellcasters
with an extra-fancy familiar.
Therefore, it is recommended that players interested in making a summoner type character
refer to the
Sorcerer
or
Wizard
or
Witch as a baseline, and allocate some number of Stunt slots towards having a companion.
Archetype Considerations
The only Archetype a summoner needs is Arcane, and
there isn't a lot of thematic reason for them to splash one of the other Archetypes
for anything other than concept.
Approach Considerations
Careful and Sneaky
are useful Approaches for summoners.
Summoners are Charisma based in Pathfinder, so Flashy
might suggest itself thematically.
Clever, Quick, and
Forceful are all equally viable secondaries.
Starting Archetype Sets
Eldritch
Arcane +4
Diverging From Source Material
Unlike the core classes which have some amount of prior existence or precedence
in D&D lore, the Summoner class was created wholesale for Pathfinder.
The name might suggest some kind of specialist in Conjuration
magics, and that is true in a broad sense. However, the Summoner class goes further
and offers a concept called an eidolon, which is
a sort of build-your-own pocket monster.
It is relatively easy to make very powerful combat capable eidolons, and to further
abuse the rules via some "archetypes" (as defined in the Pathfinder rulebooks) and feats to produce what many consider to
be a grossly overpowered character. So much so that some GM's outright ban the Summoner
class from their games.
Further, as Summoners were introduced later the class is not well integrated into
the default setting of Golarion overall, (though there are a few exceptions), which
leaves it rather weak from a fiction perspective.
As Pathfinder Fate Accelerated is far more concerned with concepts than mechanics,
the concept of Summoners offers little to distinguish itself from the basic idea
of a arcane caster with a really pumped up familiar. However, individual players
and GM's can overcome this by finding ways to more seamlessly integrate the Summoner
concept into their campaigns if they so desire.
The following Stunts might be of interest to a summoner.
Companion's Senses: Because I share a mystical bond with my animal companion, I may spend a Fate point to share their senses for a scene at a range of a few dozen miles. This allows me to witness events through the senses of my companion as if I were present. This can be detected by others with appropriate senses as a Quick + Primal overcome action vs a Fantastic (+6) difficulty.
Skilled Conjurer: Because I am skilled at using conjurations for summoning minions to do by bidding, I get +2 when I am Arcane and overcome using conjuration magic to summon a servitor.
Companions
Summoners have an eidolon, which is a powerful companion; see the
Stunt options
document for details on how to incorporate companions into your character using
Stunts.
The sample Animal Companion below demonstrates the starting baseline for such a
companion at the cost of three Stunt slots; however as described in the
Stunt options
document, it is possible to allocate even more Stunt slots to such a companion to
make them more powerful.
Animal Companion (-3): Because [describe the reason you have an animal companion], I have attracted a powerful animal companion that chooses to aid me.