D&D 5E How does Conjure Elemental work with higher slots?

[Stalker0]

Conjure Elemental says that if you cast the spell in a higher level slot...you get an elemental of a higher CR.

However, looking at the MM...there no elementals of a higher CR. Or does it mean I can summon creatures of the elemental type (such as genies and the like...though I think their CR is too high to summon regardless).

 

[Joe Liker]

Conjure Elemental says that if you cast the spell in a higher level slot...you get an elemental of a higher CR.

However, looking at the MM...there no elementals of a higher CR. Or does it mean I can summon creatures of the elemental type (such as genies and the like...though I think their CR is too high to summon regardless).

That is an extremely good point.

I very much doubt that the spell is meant to extent beyond true ("vanilla") elementals, but the lack of more powerful examples in the MM is either an oversight or one of the compromises they had to make to keep the page count down.

What I would do is just use the damage expressions in the monster creation guidelines to ratchet up the stats of the elementals we have. It's not ideal, but it's probably good enough until some official big-boy elementals are published.

 

[SilverfireSage]

Conjure Elemental says that if you cast the spell in a higher level slot...you get an elemental of a higher CR.

However, looking at the MM...there no elementals of a higher CR. Or does it mean I can summon creatures of the elemental type (such as genies and the like...though I think their CR is too high to summon regardless).

That is exactly how it's meant. I was wondering about that when smaller elementals came up, but it seems mephitis and the like fill that void. There seems to be a decent amount of elementals across all levels purely for that purpose.

 

[SilverfireSage]

That is an extremely good point.

I very much doubt that the spell is meant to extent beyond true ("vanilla") elementals, but the lack of more powerful examples in the MM is either an oversight or one of the compromises they had to make to keep the page count down.

What I would do is just use the damage expressions in the monster creation guidelines to ratchet up the stats of the elementals we have. It's not ideal, but it's probably good enough until some official big-boy elementals are published.

Why would you doubt that? It's not like when you summon fey creatures it's tied to only those named "Fey", or when you summon an animal it's only for those beasts named "Animal". It's meant to be the type not the name, of which there are a good amount of elementals to choose from.

 

[abelmort]

Monsters of type Elemental that should be summonable by the "Conjure Elemental" spell. (let me know if I missed any)

1/4 Mephit, Mud
1/4 Mephit, Smoke
1/4 Mephit, Steam
1/2 Magmin
1/2 Mephit, Dust
1/2 Mephit, Ice
1/2 Mephit, Magma
1 Salamander, Fire Snake
2 Azer
2 Gargoyle
3 Water Weird
5 Elemental, Air
5 Elemental, Earth
5 Elemental, Fire
5 Elemental, Water
5 Salamander
5 Xorn
6 Galeb Duhr
6 Invisible Stalker
11 Genie, Dao
11 Genie, Djinni
11 Genie, Efreeti
11 Genie, Marid

Edit: Added more comprehensive list

 

[steeldragons]

Monsters of type Elemental that should be summonable by the "Conjure Elemental" spell. (let me know if I missed any)

1/4 Mephit
1/2 Mephit
1 Fire snake
3 Water weird
5 Salamander
5 Elemental
6 Invisible Stalker
6 Galeb Duhr

I don't have the MM yet,so don't know if these are there or not...or what their HD/CR is. But off the top of my head, what about:
Sylph
Xorn
Pech (never quite sure if they count as an elemental being or not?)
Efreeti
Djinni
Firebat
Aerial Servant (they still around?)

 

[abelmort]

I don't have the MM yet,so don't know if these are there or not...or what their HD/CR is. But off the top of my head, what about:
Sylph
Xorn
Pech (never quite sure if they count as an elemental being or not?)
Efreeti
Djinni
Firebat
Aerial Servant (they still around?)

Sylph, Pech, Firebat and Aerial Servant aren't in the 5e MM. Efreeti/Djinni/Dao/Marid are elementals, but CR11 (highest you can get with Conjure Elemental is 9).

I did miss Xorn, added it to my list above, thanks!

 

[Paraxis]

I find this site very helpful, it can filter monsters by type and CR so you can quickly get a list of all the elementals that are CR 9 and lower.

http://kobold.club/fight/#/encounter-builder

Hope that helps.

 

[the Jester]

I very much doubt that the spell is meant to extent beyond true ("vanilla") elementals...

Why?

 

[Joe Liker]

Why would you doubt that? It's not like when you summon fey creatures it's tied to only those named "Fey", or when you summon an animal it's only for those beasts named "Animal". It's meant to be the type not the name, of which there are a good amount of elementals to choose from.

I doubted it because there is no monster named "fey" or "beast," but there is an entire section of monsters specifically named "elemental," and that section specifically calls out the fact that elementals are often summoned by wizards.

However, upon further consideration, it's pretty clear that mephits, fire snakes, and gargoyles are all that's available for the conjure minor elemental spell, so it does make sense that conjure elemental could do genies and salamanders.