Summoning

[Slimcreeper]

So I'm looking through the summoning stuff. There is a lot left to GM fiat, which is fine for NPC stuff. However, I'd like things a bit more settled for PCs. Especially after listening to so many Shadowrun actual play podcasts.

Some basic guidelines and rulings I'm looking at:

- It seems weird that they get 1 service with negotiation success number of powers. Let's say I get an ally spirit with 1 service and one power use. I say, "Buddy, kill those rats please!" That's his service. But he has Insubstantial and Poison. He's not going to use both powers to attack the rats? To me it seems to make more sense to say the summoner gets negotiation number of services, with many of the powers counting as a service. Aid Summoner for example is definitely a service.

- Spirits get Strength Rating number of abilities, including Astral Sight, Manifest, and Spellcasting, if they have them.
- Spirits with Spellcasting get Strength Rating number of spells. Maximum circle = Strength Rating, as per the book.
- A number of spirit templates should be provided to the player with the spirit powers.
- the summoner takes strain equal to the spirit's Strength Rating unless he or she can negotiate some other favor for the spirit.
- the GM can still create any sort he or she likes.

How do you guys use spirits and the Summoning abilities?

[Bonhumm]

- It seems weird that they get 1 service with negotiation success number of powers. Let's say I get an ally spirit with 1 service and one power use. I say, "Buddy, kill those rats please!" That's his service. But he has Insubstantial and Poison. He's not going to use both powers to attack the rats? To me it seems to make more sense to say the summoner gets negotiation number of services, with many of the powers counting as a service. Aid Summoner for example is definitely a service.

How I would see this is that you CAN specify the power to use to do the service but you don't HAVE to.

In your example, you could ask the Spirit to kill those rats without further detailing how, in that case the Spirit would do it in the way it consider the easiest/most logical (for it) to do it, no matter how many powers it needs to use. But, say you don't want the rats poisoned to some reasons, in that case you order him to use another power to accomplish the task.

The power use clause would be more an insurance against 'my GM is evil and will manage to turn my order against me if I don't think this through'.