Talk:Summon monster VIII

This Spell Does Not Exist
I would like to quibble that this spell as written is incorrect. It assumes that there was a Monster Summoning VIII spell, and there wasn't; if you check the Wizard's Spell Compendium, you'll see the series stops at Monster Summoning VII, a 9th level spell. The spell can be used to summon several creatures of level 7, which arrives next round, or one creature of 8th level, which arrives two rounds later. (Wizard's Spell Compendium, p. 588) The note on it refers the reader to page 590 for the 8th level creatures; there is only one table in Page 590, which is the Monster Summoning VIII table. However, no Monster Summoning VIII spell is represented in Wizard's Spell Compendium, nor is there one in the Player's Handbook or any other source.

Furthermore, while Dragon-220 p.74 refers to a Monster Summoning VIII spell (W10), Dragon-242 p.20 explicitly calls the Monster Summoning VIII list in the back of the Monstrous Manual an error, in its Sage Advice column. I reproduce the text here.


 * "What is the deal with the listing for monster summoning VIII in the back of the Monstrous Manual™ tome? As far as you’ve let us know, monster summoning VIII is the highest possible (because it’s a ninth-level wizard spell)."
 * "There actually are some spells higher than 9th level out there (true dweomers, psionic enchantments, and elven high magic to name a few). However, there is no monster summoning VIII spell. The listing in the Monstrous Manual tome is an error, but I’ve always found it useful as an alternate list for the monster summoning VII spell."

I am aware that the Monster Summoning and Summon Monster series are equated in the Conversion Booklet for 2e->3e, and I'll admit I've no good answer to that. But in the meantime, I want to argue that Summon Monster VIII does not equate Monster Summoning VIII, a spell that did not in fact exist, and the inclusion of its list here is an error: the 3e list should be used instead.

Please take my suggestion into account and consider my submission. There's enough work in this article I would feel out of line if I simply went and edited it, so I'm taking this step instead of diving straight in. Stabbier (talk) 23:25, 16 April 2022 (UTC)