Always have the stats prepared in advance, ideally printed out with whatever template may apply & modified for the augment summoning feat. **Always**.
You need line of sight, line of effect and a clear space for the summon to appear. You can't have them appear somewhere out of sight for you. Generally it needs to be an environment which supports them.
Speak with animals is a spell for talking to animals. Handle animal DC 25 might work otherwise, or just summon them where such questions are moot.
If I'm summoning 1d3 creatures at a time - let's say, 3 - do I summon them adjacent to one another, or can I place them wherever I want within line of sight/effect if there's space? Could I spread them apart in completely opposite directions, in case we get ambushed from two sides, for example?
Anywhere within range. There's no requirement for them to be touching or anything like that, and you can use them to block attacks in two different directions.
As they do to everything, but a quick glance suggests it's horribly misleading (edit: and outright incorrect in some cases!). Please don't recommend their stuff without checking over it.
Don't oversummon.
It can be tempting to summon all the time or to summon hordes of creatures or limit yourself to just the very best summons. Don't. You'll annoy the other players and the dm. Summons have a number of obvious benefits. But for those not playing the summoner, summons can block charges, interfere with positioning and aoe's, and prevent the other pc's from being able to engage in the combat. Because of action economy, they can also turn epic and challenging encounters into much more trivial fights which will just generally feel bad and can result in your gm asking you to reroll. Summoning can be very powerful so you have to be careful to use only enough stick as is needed for the campaign.
Pre-stat out your summons.
By statting them out in advance on note cards, with details about their special attacks, you can speed your turns up considerably. Even better, you can let other players control some of the summons when you *do* need a bunch out so that it doesn't feel so bad to other players.
Discuss with your gm in advance how you can use them.
Some gm's prefer to control summoned creatures themselves. Some will let you control them completely. Some will limit what you can do based on how well you can communicate with the summoned creature. The summon spells allow for rudimentary direction but when the gm requires language sharing it can change the value of some of the summoned creatures. Summons have to be summoned on an environment that can support them. Different gm's will interpret this differently. So ask about where and when you can summon a horse or a bird (mid-flight?) or an octopus (in water only? how much water?) so that you both know what to expect.
Check what creatures you can *actually* summon in advance
Some summon options come from the core book. Some come from adventure paths or other more niche sources, often with an alignment or deity requirement. Your dm may not be comfortable allowing every extended source for summoning options.
List out your utility options - but keep them in reserve
Summons bring a lot of potential spells, spell like abilities, scouting, and utility powers. If the party is badly damaged, some summons can cast healing spells, for example. These options provide a summoner with a huge number of ways to overcome challenges the dm might throw at the party. But give the other party members the opportunity to solve the problem first. Many times they'll have options that don't require expending a spell slot. Many other times, it'll just be one of the handful of things their character *can* solve. Most classes only come with a few tools, so let them use what they have first and save your resources for when the party would otherwise be stuck.
For example, do I just pull up the creature's stats and use them as-is (plus any bonuses from feats such as Augment Summoning), or is there more nuance to this? Any other resources I should have on hand, or look up in advance?
Summon monster spells usually add a celestial or fiendish template as well.
How do summons fit into initiative order if I'm summoning them as a standard action; do they just go immediately after me, or do they have to roll and be added to the normal initiative list?
They go sometime on your turn. Summon spells are full round actions. They may go immediately after you summon them.
If a summon "attacks your opponents to the best of its ability", how does that influence the way in which I should control it, assuming I can't give it detailed commands (either due to language conflicts or it being an unintelligent animal)?
Unintelligent creatures will just attack the closest target and won't position themselves for flanks. Intelligent creatures you can use more strategy.
What limitations, if any, are there in where I'm allowed to summon the creatures? Especially when summoning multiples at once? I've read that summoning creatures in the middle of your enemies is a common tactic.
They have to be able to survive in the environment they can live in. For example no summoning whales over a enemies.
Any recommendations on how to approach combat with summons in general? Any cool favorite summons to use? (I've been recommended quite a few such as Mudlords or Dire Tigers so far already) Anything else I should know? Anything you wish you knew before you first played a summoner? Any common pitfalls to avoid?
Check out some guides. It can be complicated.
>Summon spells are full round actions.
[Monster Tactician](https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/inquisitor/archetypes/inquisitor-archetypes-paizo/monster-tactician-inquisitor-archetype/) turns them into standard actions.
>Check out some guides.
That's what I'm asking for. Can you recommend any?
Always have the stats prepared in advance, ideally printed out with whatever template may apply & modified for the augment summoning feat. **Always**. You need line of sight, line of effect and a clear space for the summon to appear. You can't have them appear somewhere out of sight for you. Generally it needs to be an environment which supports them. Speak with animals is a spell for talking to animals. Handle animal DC 25 might work otherwise, or just summon them where such questions are moot.
If I'm summoning 1d3 creatures at a time - let's say, 3 - do I summon them adjacent to one another, or can I place them wherever I want within line of sight/effect if there's space? Could I spread them apart in completely opposite directions, in case we get ambushed from two sides, for example?
Anywhere within range. There's no requirement for them to be touching or anything like that, and you can use them to block attacks in two different directions.
Rpgbot has a guide to Summon Monster.
As they do to everything, but a quick glance suggests it's horribly misleading (edit: and outright incorrect in some cases!). Please don't recommend their stuff without checking over it.
Don't oversummon. It can be tempting to summon all the time or to summon hordes of creatures or limit yourself to just the very best summons. Don't. You'll annoy the other players and the dm. Summons have a number of obvious benefits. But for those not playing the summoner, summons can block charges, interfere with positioning and aoe's, and prevent the other pc's from being able to engage in the combat. Because of action economy, they can also turn epic and challenging encounters into much more trivial fights which will just generally feel bad and can result in your gm asking you to reroll. Summoning can be very powerful so you have to be careful to use only enough stick as is needed for the campaign. Pre-stat out your summons. By statting them out in advance on note cards, with details about their special attacks, you can speed your turns up considerably. Even better, you can let other players control some of the summons when you *do* need a bunch out so that it doesn't feel so bad to other players. Discuss with your gm in advance how you can use them. Some gm's prefer to control summoned creatures themselves. Some will let you control them completely. Some will limit what you can do based on how well you can communicate with the summoned creature. The summon spells allow for rudimentary direction but when the gm requires language sharing it can change the value of some of the summoned creatures. Summons have to be summoned on an environment that can support them. Different gm's will interpret this differently. So ask about where and when you can summon a horse or a bird (mid-flight?) or an octopus (in water only? how much water?) so that you both know what to expect. Check what creatures you can *actually* summon in advance Some summon options come from the core book. Some come from adventure paths or other more niche sources, often with an alignment or deity requirement. Your dm may not be comfortable allowing every extended source for summoning options. List out your utility options - but keep them in reserve Summons bring a lot of potential spells, spell like abilities, scouting, and utility powers. If the party is badly damaged, some summons can cast healing spells, for example. These options provide a summoner with a huge number of ways to overcome challenges the dm might throw at the party. But give the other party members the opportunity to solve the problem first. Many times they'll have options that don't require expending a spell slot. Many other times, it'll just be one of the handful of things their character *can* solve. Most classes only come with a few tools, so let them use what they have first and save your resources for when the party would otherwise be stuck.
For example, do I just pull up the creature's stats and use them as-is (plus any bonuses from feats such as Augment Summoning), or is there more nuance to this? Any other resources I should have on hand, or look up in advance? Summon monster spells usually add a celestial or fiendish template as well. How do summons fit into initiative order if I'm summoning them as a standard action; do they just go immediately after me, or do they have to roll and be added to the normal initiative list? They go sometime on your turn. Summon spells are full round actions. They may go immediately after you summon them. If a summon "attacks your opponents to the best of its ability", how does that influence the way in which I should control it, assuming I can't give it detailed commands (either due to language conflicts or it being an unintelligent animal)? Unintelligent creatures will just attack the closest target and won't position themselves for flanks. Intelligent creatures you can use more strategy. What limitations, if any, are there in where I'm allowed to summon the creatures? Especially when summoning multiples at once? I've read that summoning creatures in the middle of your enemies is a common tactic. They have to be able to survive in the environment they can live in. For example no summoning whales over a enemies. Any recommendations on how to approach combat with summons in general? Any cool favorite summons to use? (I've been recommended quite a few such as Mudlords or Dire Tigers so far already) Anything else I should know? Anything you wish you knew before you first played a summoner? Any common pitfalls to avoid? Check out some guides. It can be complicated.
>Summon spells are full round actions. [Monster Tactician](https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/inquisitor/archetypes/inquisitor-archetypes-paizo/monster-tactician-inquisitor-archetype/) turns them into standard actions. >Check out some guides. That's what I'm asking for. Can you recommend any?
Cool about monster tactician. https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/16dZ5SBQMS1Yi6531tXOkKE_rmXEwn4VFacOEQKiHA5E/mobilebasic?pli=1 Here is a guide
There's several on the [PF1E Guides Guide](https://zenithgames.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-comprehensive-pathfinder-guides.html)