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AbilitySummoningVerified

Summon

An ability that brings a temporary allied creature or entity into play, fighting under the user's control or on its own, until a duration ends, it is destroyed or dismissed, or, in a one-shot form, it delivers one effect and leaves.

Also known as: conjure, conjuration, monster summoning, summon magic, raise, animate dead, spirit ashes, minion, pet

Definition

A summon puts a new allied entity on the field: an elemental, a monster, a demon, a skeleton, a spirit. The entity acts on its own turn or under the user’s orders and lasts until a duration ends or it is destroyed or dismissed. Charming or dominating an existing enemy, taming a permanent pet, and conjuring objects or illusory decoys that have no agency fall outside the definition. Training units from buildings in strategy games is production, not summoning.

Behaviour

The summoner chooses a creature and places it near themselves or at a range. The creature then has its own hit points and attacks, and it ends when those run out, when the spell’s duration lapses, or when the summoner dismisses it. Delays are common: Greyhawk’s Monster Summoning takes a turn to arrive, and Magic: The Gathering and Hearthstone bar a new creature from attacking in the turn it enters. Opponents answer by killing the summon, dispelling it, or attacking the summoner. In Chainmail and early Dungeons & Dragons, that last option has a second effect: an interrupted conjurer loses control and the elemental turns on them.

Variations

  • Persistent summon (Dungeons & Dragons, World of Warcraft): the creature stays until killed or dismissed.
  • Timed summon (Greyhawk Monster Summoning, Diablo II Revive): the creature leaves after a fixed duration.
  • One-shot summon (Final Fantasy III): the creature appears for a single effect, so it works like an attack spell with a creature attached.
  • Corpse-raising (Dungeons & Dragons Animate Dead, Diablo II Raise Skeleton): a body in the world is consumed to make the minion.
  • Random summon (Greyhawk, Final Fantasy III Conjurer): the creature or form is rolled or drawn at random.
  • Card-text summon (Hearthstone): another card’s effect puts extra creatures into play without playing them from the hand.

Gating

The tabletop origins limit how often a summon is cast. Chainmail caps elementals at one of each kind per game, which fits the gating terms only loosely, and Dungeons & Dragons places summons in spell slots while keeping a one-of-each-per-day cap. Final Fantasy III copies the slot model in per-level charges. Card games charge mana for the creature card, and the card itself is the unit. Video games from 2000 onward shift the limit toward how many summons exist and what replacing one costs: Diablo II adds a corpse and a skill-scaled cap, World of Warcraft long casts and a reagent, and Elden Ring a location gate with re-summoning only after a rest. Losing control of the summon appears only in the tabletop examples.

History and provenance

Chainmail’s Fantasy Supplement (1971) is the earliest documented use, though the earliest wording cited is the 1975 edition, and an earlier fantasy wargame source remains possible. Dungeons & Dragons (1974) carried Conjure Elemental over with a reference to Chainmail, and Greyhawk (1975) added the Monster Summoning series, timed and random. In video games, Final Fantasy III (1990) is an early one-shot form, and Final Fantasy VI calls its summons Espers. Magic: The Gathering printed “Summon” on creature cards and named the arrival delay summoning sickness. Diablo II’s Necromancer and World of Warcraft’s Warlock are widely known persistent forms in action and online role-playing games, adding corpses, minion caps, and reagents to the cost.

Notable examples

Notable examples, in chronological order. Notes describe how the ability behaves in each game; gating is what limits its use there; the latest reference is a widely played game from 2020 or later.
GameYearMediumGatingHow the ability behaves
Chainmail
Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren (Guidon Games)		1971Board & cardPer restA wizard conjures an Air, Earth, Fire, or Water Elemental, at most one of each kind per game, and it lasts until dispelled or killed. If the wizard is attacked while it exists, control is lost and the elemental attacks its conjurer; if the wizard dies, it attacks the nearest figure. Wording cited from the 1975 third edition.
Dungeons & Dragons
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson (TSR)		1974Tabletop RPGSpell slotsConjure Elemental, a fifth-level magic-user spell, brings a 16-hit-dice elemental, one of each type per day, that remains until dispelled, but the caster must concentrate on control or it turns on them. The Greyhawk supplement (1975) adds Monster Summoning I to VII, a monster from the level tables that serves for six melee turns after a one-turn delay.
Final Fantasy III
Square		1990VideoSpell slotsSummon magic, cast from per-level spell charges, calls a monster to the battle. Each of the eight summons has a white, a black, and a combined form; the Conjurer job draws the white or black form at random and the Summoner gets the combined form. The monster reportedly leaves after its one effect.
Magic: The Gathering
Richard Garfield (Wizards of the Coast)		1993Board & cardManaA Summon spell, paid once from the hand in land-produced mana, brings a creature into play, where it persists until it dies or is removed. Summoning sickness bars it from attacking or using tap abilities until it has begun its controller's turn in play, though it can block. Wording cited from the 1994 Revised rulebook.
Diablo II
Blizzard North		2000VideoManaThe Necromancer's Raise Skeleton is cast on the corpse of a slain monster for mana, 6 at skill level 1 and one more per level in the Arreat Summit tables, and the number of skeletons kept at once rises with skill level. Golems need no corpse and only one exists at a time; Revive raises a slain monster for 180 seconds at 45 mana.
World of Warcraft
Blizzard Entertainment		2004VideoMana, ConsumableThe Warlock's Summon Imp takes a 10-second cast and a share of base mana, and the demon stays until killed or dismissed. Summon Voidwalker also spends a Soul Shard reagent, a cost removed in patch 4.0.3a (2010); patch 7.0.3 (2016) moved Summon Imp to one Soul Shard and a 2.5-second cast.
Path of Exile
Grinding Gear Games		2013VideoMana, Ultimate chargeRaise Zombie creates permanent minions that fight with a basic melee attack, range 9 since 2.6.0, and a slam; since 3.12.0 permanent minions such as Zombies and Golems persist through logout. Vaal Summon Skeletons spends 50 souls per use (3.3.0).
Hearthstone
Blizzard Entertainment		2014VideoManaMinions are played from the hand for mana, up to seven on the battlefield, and enter exhausted, unable to attack that turn without Charge or Rush. Card text that summons, as on Murloc Tidehunter's 'Battlecry: Summon a 1/1 Murloc Scout', puts extra minions into play that are not played and trigger no Battlecries.
Grim Dawn
Crate Entertainment		2016VideoCooldownThe Occultist may keep only one Storm Raven familiar at a time. The Necromancer of the Ashes of Malmouth expansion (2017) raises three skeletons per cast of Raise Skeletons on a cooldown, reported by a player as 10 seconds with its modifier maxed, up to a summon limit that modifiers and items raise.
Elden Ring Latest
FromSoftware (Bandai Namco)		2022VideoMana, Per restSpirit Ashes are called with the Spirit Calling Bell only within range of a Rebirth Monument, one ash at a time, for FP or, for some ashes, HP. Spirits vanish when the player leaves the area, a spirit that dies cannot be called again until the player rests at a Site of Grace, and summons are unavailable in multiplayer.
Last Epoch
Eleventh Hour Games		2024VideoManaThe Acolyte's Summon Skeleton raises a standing group of skeletons for mana, three in one leveling guide, at a base cost reported by a player as 15. The Necromancer mastery's Summon Wraith is cast again and again to build up to a maximum of six wraiths.

Provenance

Earliest documented use: Chainmail (1971), board & card. Confidence: medium. The Fantasy Supplement of Chainmail lets wizards conjure elementals that fight until dispelled or killed and turn on the conjurer when control is lost. The earliest wording cited is the 1975 third edition; no copy of the 1971 text is cited. The 1971 dating rests on a collector's statement quoted by the Acaeum that "conjure elemental" is in the 1971 edition, whose first printing carried six spells; whether the spell or only the Elementals creature entry carried conjuration in 1971 is unconfirmed. Dungeons & Dragons (1974) cites Chainmail in its Conjure Elemental spell. Antecedents include spirit conjuration in ceremonial magic and the djinn of the Thousand and One Nights, and Leonard Patt's Rules for Middle Earth (c. 1970) is often named as an influence on the supplement; its contents remain unsurveyed. The earliest video-game summon remains unsurveyed; Final Fantasy III (1990) is an early one-shot form.

Sources

  1. Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. (1975). Chainmail: Rules for Medieval Miniatures (third edition). TSR. Rulebook Fantasy Supplement, Wizards spell list item 6, Conjuration of an Elemental (pp. 31-32); Elementals (p. 35). Accessed 2026-10-24. Wizards conjure one elemental of each kind per game; lost control turns it on the conjurer; it lasts until dispelled or killed.
  2. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. (1974). Dungeons & Dragons, Volume 1: Men & Magic. Tactical Studies Rules. Rulebook Explanation of Spells: Conjure Elemental and Animate Dead (c. p. 28), Invisible Stalker, Turn Sticks to Snakes. Accessed 2026-10-24. Summoning spells inside the spell-slot system; Conjure Elemental cites Chainmail and requires concentration to keep control.
  3. Gary Gygax. (1975). Dungeons & Dragons Supplement I: Greyhawk. Tactical Studies Rules. Rulebook Explanation of Spells: Monster Summoning I (c. p. 23) to VII; Conjure Animals; Aerial Servant. Accessed 2026-10-24. Timed summons that call a random monster from the monster level tables to serve until the spell ends or it is killed.
  4. Square. (1990). Final Fantasy III instruction manual. Rulebook Magic section, summon magic; Conjurer and Summoner job descriptions. Summon magic in eight classes with white, black, and combined forms, limited by per-level charges.
  5. Wizards of the Coast. (1994). Magic: The Gathering Revised Edition Rulebook. Rulebook Summons and Creatures (pp. 24-25); Summoning Sickness (p. 27). Accessed 2026-10-24. A Summon spell brings a creature into play; summoning sickness delays its attacks. The 1993 rulebook is not the text cited.
  6. Blizzard Entertainment. (2000). Diablo II manual. Rulebook Necromancer Skills, Summoning Spells: Raise Skeleton (p. 58). Accessed 2026-10-24. Raising a skeleton from a fresh corpse, one skeleton per skill level.
  7. Blizzard Entertainment. The Arreat Summit: Necromancer Summoning Skills. Website Raise Skeleton, Clay Golem, and Revive tables. Accessed 2026-10-24. Mana costs, corpse requirement, and Revive duration, in Lord of Destruction-era values that may differ from the 2000 release.
  8. The Acaeum. The Acaeum: Chainmail. Website Printing Information, 1st Edition. Accessed 2026-10-24. Collector Bruce Robertson's statement that conjure elemental is in the 1971 edition, and the six-spell first printing.
  9. Liam Croft (Push Square). Elden Ring: How to Summon Spirits and Use Ashes Summons. Article Accessed 2026-10-24. Rebirth Monument requirement, FP cost, spirits vanishing on leaving the area, re-summoning after a Site of Grace rest, and no summons in multiplayer.
  10. warcraft.wiki.gg. Summon Imp; Summon Voidwalker. Wiki Warlock demon cast times, mana shares, the Soul Shard reagent, and patch history.
  11. hearthstone.wiki.gg. Summon; Minion; Murloc Tidehunter. Wiki Board limit, exhaustion on entry, and the difference between playing and summoning a minion.
  12. eldenring.wiki.gg. Spirit Ashes; Lone Wolf Ashes; Mimic Tear Ashes. Wiki FP and HP costs of individual ashes and the one-ash-at-a-time rule.
  13. Grinding Gear Games. (2017). Path of Exile Content Update 2.6.0 Patch Notes. Website Accessed 2026-10-24. Raised Zombies' basic melee attack, its range of 9, and their slam.
  14. Grinding Gear Games. (2018). Path of Exile: Incursion (Content Update 3.3.0) Patch Notes. Website Accessed 2026-10-24. Vaal Summon Skeletons' cost of 50 souls.
  15. Grinding Gear Games. (2020). Content Update 3.12.0 -- Path of Exile: Heist. Website Accessed 2026-10-24. Permanent minions such as Golems and Zombies saved through logout.
  16. Terek (Maxroll). Necromancer Leveling Guide. Website Accessed 2026-10-25. Three Summon Skeletons early in the campaign, and Summon Wraith from the Necromancer mastery up to a maximum of six wraiths.
  17. Last Epoch forum players. (2024). What is causing mana cost change of Summon Skeletons?. Last Epoch forums (Eleventh Hour Games). Website Accessed 2026-10-25. A player's statement that Summon Skeletons has a base mana cost of 15, lowered by the Unbound Necromancy node.
  18. Crate Entertainment. Guide: Character, Masteries, Occultist. Website Accessed 2026-10-25. Only one Storm Raven familiar summoned at any one time.
  19. BuckGB (GameBanshee). (2017). Grim Dawn Grim Misadventures #114: Necromancer Mastery. Article Accessed 2026-10-25. Raise Skeletons raising three skeletons, modifiers raising the summon limit, and slain foes able to reset its cooldown; a preview written while the mastery was under development.
  20. CargoPants (Crate Entertainment forums). (2024). [1.2.0.3] SKELESPAM! 1.5 Skeletons/second - Skelemancer Cabalist. Website Accessed 2026-10-25. A player's statement that Raise Skeletons has a 10-second cooldown with Undead Legion maxed, reduced by items, and raises 3 skeletons per cast.

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West, James, Jr. (2026). "Summon." Game Mechanic Compendium, updated 2026-10-25. http://localhost:4321/abilities/summon

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