100 Summoning Mishaps

1. Spell or ritual fails but nothing happens.
2. Caster is seared by backfiring magics and suffer conjuration burns. Take 2d6 damage per level of the spell or ritual used in the summoning.
3. Caster is summoned to a different location/plane.
4. A gibbering mouther is summoned instead.
5. You summon a creature of opposite alignment to your intended target.
6. Your wards fail and the summoned creature is free to act independently.
7. A wheel of cheese appears before you. It appears to be muenster…..
8. All surfaces surrounding you for 100 feet in any direction are now covered in a thin layer of lemon juice.
9. An awakened shrub is summoned instead.
10. A golem leg appears. It’s [1d4. 1. stone, 2 iron, 3. copper, 4. tin]
11. A monodrone is summoned from Mechanus.
12. A tiny, harmless owlbear appears. It acts like a cat, and sticks with the party for 1d12 minutes.
13. You summoned an outer Chaos version of what you intended: it has extra tentacles, an extra face somewhere on it’s body, and an extra two hit dice. It gets a save each round to break control and do its own thing.
14. Your summon worked, but an extra one snuck through and is running away. Who knows what it will get up to.
15. You summoned a Catherine instead: http://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2013/06/a-spell-called-catherine.html
16. Your summon worked, but it appears to be in the shape of a woman instead.
17. Your summon worked, but it looks like a hybrid of what you intended and a (d6): 1. human; 2. preying mantis; 3. gorilla; 4. shark; 5. squid; 6. bull.
18. Your summon worked, but the scale is off: (d6): 1. half sized; 2-5. 50% bigger; 6. double sized, and roll again. Redouble and roll again for each 6 rolled. It will attack you immediately prior to the summon ending.
19. You are merged with what you summoned. You and it get to each make an action each turn from your total list if options. It gets a save each turn to take an action of its own volition. This effect ends if you spend ten minutes meditating.
20. Your summon worked, sort of. The creature is big and puffy like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow man. It gets -4 to initiative. On a natural 1-3 (d20) on it’s initiative, it explodes, doing (hit dice÷3, round up)d6 damage to everything within 45 ft.
21. Your summon worked, but it’s difficult to control. Each round after their first, the creature gets to roll a save to break control. Once it does, it’s free willed. You can spend an action to banish it, but it can save against that, as well.
22. Your summon appears 2d6 × 10 ft. Above your intended location, and instead summons (d6): 1. what you intended, which spends a round feather falling down; 2. a potted petunia; 3. a blue whale (100 ft×30 ft, 10d6 damage to anything it lands on that doesn’t have some sort of cover like a ditchor a wall to give ur space); 4. gelatinous cube; 5. 1,000 cubic feet of frogs; 6. 3d6 house cats and 3d6 hounds.
23. You summon what you expected, but a vargouille is attached to it, and then it flies away.
24. You summon what you expected, but it can’t talk.
25. The summoning doesn’t work, and know you have a terrible headache.
26. You summon a doppleganger in the shape of yourself who attempts to escape immediately.
27. Your summoning attempt gains the attention of an arch devil who makes you an offer.
28. You summon a harmless woodland creature – 50/50 chance if they like you and want to hang around.
29. You summon a series of dismembered body parts which land like someone belly flopping into a pool.
30. A disembodied voice says ‘We have a lot of summonings right now and you’re on hold. You’re number d100 in line. Stay patient and we will get to you as soon as we can.’ And then it plays an easy listening, elevator music version of a song that all the bards are playing right now.
31. A guy in a business suit appears and wants you to sign a lot of paperwork before doing anything.
32. A loud voice is heard ‘fine fine i’m up!’ But after that nothing happens.
33. 1d10 waterbottles appear.
34. A small mist appear that follows the summoner for 1d4 days. It is completely harmless but every9ne that passes through it starts coughing.
35. A bleeding heart falls out of nowhere and restores (MaxHP/Level)hp to anyone the eats it.
36. Everything seems to have gone correctly, however you don’t see anything in the summoning circle. Summoned creature is invisible and is waiting for you to break the circle.
37. Creature is summoned, however it doesn’t appear in the circle. It appears 2d100 ft away from where it was supposed to appear.
38. Creature is summoned, however it doesn’t appear in the circle. It just walks up or enters through a nearby doorway. It seems that it was already in the neighborhood.
39. Creature is summoned, however it has a much stronger willpower than expected. Each (round / new command), the summoner must make a (charisma / willpower) roll to control it. Summoner must also make a (charisma / willpower) roll to banish it.
40. 1d6 Creatures get summoned. They are currently confined by the summoning circle. You only have control of one of them.
41. The summoned creature appears, however it is heavily wounded. roll d6 (1-3 its at 1/2 hp / 4-6 its at 1/4 hp)
42. 2 Creatures appear. They are locked in mortal combat.
43. Someone else summons the same creature at the same time. roll d6 (1-2 you get the creature / 3-4 other summoner gets the creature / 5-6 creature explodes in a gory mess)
44. Someone else summons the same creature a second after you. The creature appears in the circle, as you are about to give it a command, it vanishes.
45. A statue of the summoned creature appears instead. roll d6 (1-2 just a statue / 3-4 actual creature, who was turned to stone / 5-6 animated statue of creature)
46. Creature appears, however it is frozen in a block of ice.
47. Dead creature appears. Roll d6 (1-3 just dead / 4-6 zombie version of creature)
48. Skeleton of creature appears. Roll d6 (1-3 just remains / 4-6 animated skeleton of creature)
49. A ghost version of the summoned creature appears
50. A book written about the summoned creature appears Roll d10 (1-2 story where creature is main character / 3-4 story where creature is main antagonist / 5-6 diary of creature / 7-8 naturalist’s research notes on creature / 9-10 actual creature trapped in a magic story book)
51. Something too big to fit in the summoning circle reaches through it. Roll d6 (1-2 an arm reaches through / 3-4 a tentacle reaches through). Roll d6 (1-2 you have control of the appendage / 3-4 you don’t have control & it attacks anything near the summoning circle / 5-6 you don’t have control & it tries to grab anything near the circle an pull it back through to it’s side)
52. A human, humanoid, or demihuman appears. Roll d6 (1-2 they are wearing a mask of summoned creature / 3-4 they are wearing a costume of summoned creature / 5-6 they are wearing clothing or armor made from summoned creature)
53. A human, humanoid, or demihuman appears. The creature is currently (polymorphed / shapechanged) into the current form
54. A human, humanoid, or demihuman appears. The creature in question is currently possessing the body.
55. Creature appears, however it is currently possessed by a (animal spirit, demon, devil, ghost, god, greater old one, outsider, etc)
56. A tiny rift appears in the summoning circle. You can see something moving on the other side. Roll d8 (1-2 rift slowly starts closing on its own / 3-4 rift slowly expands until summoned creature can pass through, then it closes / 5-6 rift slowly expands to doorway size and remains stable / 7-8 rift slowly expands & continues to expand showing no signs of stopping on it’s own)
57. The creature appears. It looks sickly and strangely bloated. Soon after it’s arrival, it falls to the ground and starts writhing. Roll d6 (1-2 a single creature burst out from inside the original creature / 3-4 a few creatures burst out / 5-6 a huge swarm bursts out)
58. The creature appears. It is currently contained by the circle, however you have no control over it. It is willing to make a deal for it’s services. What do you need done? What are you willing to offer for said services?
59. A crossbreed of the summon creature appears. Roll d6 (1-2 naturally occurring crossbreed / 3-4 magical crossbreed / 5-6 Frankenstein mishmash of parts)
60. The creature appears, however it is currently restrained or tied. Roll d10 (1-2 tied with rope / 3-4 tied with chains / 5-6 entangled in vines / 7-8 cocooned with spider web / 9-10 restrained by magic spell)
61. A young child, cub, pup, kitten, etc of the summoned creature appears. If sentient creature, then you hear very faint screaming from the summoning circle and you are gripped with an overwhelming sense of dread.
62. If summoning a creature, the creature is summons with 1d4 extra appendages of a type it would have had already.
63. You summon an invincible wasp that stings you. It does 1 damage on a failed DEX6 check, and disappears after 1d4 hours.
64. You and any creature (except constructs) within 30ft randomly switch bodies. If no other creature are within range, then the caster swaps with with one of the the summoned creatures
65. Creature(s) are infested with virulent fungi. Creature within close proximity are at risk of becoming infected by the spores that cloud around the creature.
66. Creature(s) are infected with a planar disease that spreads by contact. Creatures struck by melee attacks (or those ranged attacks that expose a target to bodily fluids) are at risk of contracting the disease.
67. Creature(s) are infected with an airborne planar disease.
68. Creature(s) are infected with a memetic planar disease. This disease is spread through abstract means such as observation of specific patterns, certain phrases, concepts, emotions, memories, etc.
69. One or more gauths are summoned instead. These aberrations immediately attempt to break containment and consume any magic sources, be they items, casters, or magical creatures.
70. A single random magical item appears for the duration of the spell before disappearing.
71. A sorrowsworn is summoned instead.
72. An anti magic field emanates from the point of summoning rendering all magic (including the summoning itself) inactive/dispelled.
73. Caster summons themselves. This duplicate is a version of the caster from a parallel dimension and has the same stats as the caster at the time of casting.
74. The caster summons themselves, and they disappear from where they were standing and appear in the middle of the summoning circle, or at the target location.
75. The caster creates a permanent portal directly in front of the thing that they were trying to summon.
76. The caster summons the thing they were trying to summon, but it appears inside out. Creatures likely die very quickly unless their biology is amorphous.
77. A small wooden figurine of whatever the caster was trying to summon appears instead.
78. A psychic aftershock carries through at the same time as the spell’s intended effect. Everyone nearby makes an INT save to avoid being blinded, deafened, and temporarily bereft of other external senses for 2 rounds.
79. A planar aftershock carries through at the same time as the spell’s intended effect. Thematically appropriate objects rain down in a 60-ft radius around the location of the spell, e.g. rusted, blood-stained chunks of twisted iron for a summoning from Acheron, or gouts of acid for an acid-related spell.
80. The spell completes explosively, releasing a shockwave that does thunder and fire damage in a 45-ft radius. Anyone failing the DEX save to avoid the shockwave is pushed back 10 ft. Anything summoned is unharmed.
81. The summoning is unstable, causing anything summoned to disappear after 6 rounds.
82. The summoning experiences periodic instability, intermittently causing anything summoned to Blink uncontrollably for up to 10 minutes. This version of Blink connects to whatever plane the summoned entity/entities come from, rather than the Ethereal Plane, unless they already came from this plane.
83. The spell fully succeeds, but as a dimensional ‘equal and opposite reaction’, the caster is shunted into whatever plane they attempted to summon something from for some time. If they were summoning something from this plane, they are instead teleported to wherever they summoned that something from.
84. The ‘life force’ of the caster and summoned entity/entities are partially bound together. Any damage one party takes is transferred to the other, but they share some defensive properties as per DM discretion.
85. A semi-stable dimensional rift is left behind, which will close if exposed to enough destructive energy. If left open, small objects can move through it. It remains open for 1d6 hours, or until captured in a special apparatus that allows it to remain open indefinitely.
86. An inconvenient amount of lava begins pouring out of the air where the creature was supposed to appear. The caster can attempt to close the rift each turn by making a difficult Concentration check.
87. The summoned creature appears in the center of a small tornado and immediately torn to pieces. Nearby creatures and loose items are picked up and flung about by the powerful winds.
88. The summoned creature has a bad case of hiccups. Each hiccup spits out an impossible volume of water like a fire hose in whatever direction it faces, launching the creature backward and knocking it prone.
89. A moment after the creature appears, a giant earthen hand rises up from the ground around it and crushes it to a pulp. The hand then forms a fist and just starts punching things for the rest of the spell’s duration, flying around and attacking a la the Bigby’s Hand spell.
90. A small black hole opens where the creature should have appeared. Creatures within 60 feet must make difficult Dexterity saves to grab on to something heavy; creatures that fail or have nothing to grab have their speeds reduced to 0 as they are dragged 20 feet towards the center. Anything touching the black hole is struck by a Disintegrate spell. The black hole swallows itself and vanishes without a trace after a minute.
91. A creature-shaped window opens to a radiant plane of healing energy. Creatures within 60 ft regain 10 hit points per round while exposed to the light. Once at full health, creatures continue to gain 10 temporary hit points per round but are slowed (as the spell) as long as the temp HP remain due to tumorous Akira-style growths. If the temp HP total ever exceeds a creature’s normal maximum health, the creature violently explodes and its fleshy remains animate as a gibbering mouther.
92. Instead of the intended creature, the caster summons a vast and lidless eye wreathed in flame. Anyone looking at the eye (treat this as a gaze attack on each creature’s turn) must make a difficult Constitution save or turn into a pillar of salt.
93. A portal opens into a demiplane/dungeon that is located within the intended creature. Those adventurous enough should be ready for an amazing journey…
94. Unstable magical energies course through you as the summoning fails disrupting your ability to use magic. Any further spell-casting requires concentration, with a success triggering a wild magic surge.
95. You summon an immense swarm of iridescent butterflies – everyone inside is blinded by the reflections.
96. The creature resists the summoning leading to minor magical backlash. You are stunned for a number of rounds equal to the level of the spell being used
97. Your summoning succeeds but leaves your connections to the other planes weakened. You cannot cast another summoning spell for (1d4) 1)number of rounds equal to the spell level, 2) number of minutes equal to the spell level, 3) number of hours equal to the spell level, 4) number of days equal to the spell level.
98. Your summoning succeeds but gravity is oriented differently for the summoned creature. Roll a 1d10 to determine the direction of gravity, in a clockwise manner (1 in north, 2 northeast, etc.) with 9 and 10 representing up and down. Gravity for the creature(s) doubles if a 10 is rolled.
99. Your summoning is permanent, the creature(s) do not disappear upon death or the end of the spell.
100. Roll on this table twice and apply both results.

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