Hi everybody,

I'm kinda new to SR4, I've played a bit of SR3 before. The thing is, I've never played a spellcaster in these systems before, and I'd like to play one for a change.

I think I understand most if not all of the magic part of the game, except for this one annoying detail. Summoning materials. I've seen them mentioned in the gear section of the BBB, with no explanation as to what they are. The only part I've found about materials in the summoning section is about binding materials, which are not even mentioned in the gear section.

So, what's the deal with them ? What are they ? Do we need them ? How do they work ?

's an error. Should be Binding Materials, Force x 500

Corrected in the next printing, I'm told.

Thanks for the quick reply. By the way I really enjoy the Ancient Files site you set up, I congratulate you on the work you've done there.

If you haven't seen this you should:

http://www.shadowrun4.com/wordpress/index.php?cat=4

Ah, and here I was after seeing the thread title all ready to launch into a list of items that could comprise "summoning materials"...

*shuffles off to stuff his never-useful esoteric trivia knowledge back into the shoe box under the bed*

Well hey, that sounds like a fun list-o-stuff. Chalk for drawing a big circle, a fox hair, crushed rubies, what?

Chalk/paint, salt, candles for the quarters in different colors according to that tradition's correspondances, herbs, crystals/stones, incense, magickal tools possibly including: knives (athame, boline), ceremonial bowls with water and earth, censors, staff, and a sword. In some shamanic traditions you might be using parts like animal hair or bones, drums, spirit shields, etc.

Here are some other samples of correspondances from common traditions. According to the SR rules, these objects are used up (probably go poof in a flash of smoke) upon the successful completion of the act, though even in RL magick, some of these items, like candles, incense and herbs, can get rather expensive as consumables. Note that you don't just throw any ole incense in the burner and go to town.

You need specific scents, for instance, for specific purposes. That's the Arcana skill in action, I suppose. It's also why you get comments in some of the books about trying to find a tradition specific item in an area where that tradition is not common. If you practice voodoo, for instance, botanicas carry what you need (grave yard dirt, coffin nails, and High John the Conqueror Oil are some examples I know of, though some of those aren't literal but in-the-know code words I've been given to understand...) but there aren't a lot of South American botanicas in Neo-Tokyo, so you're looking at maybe an Arcana check just to figure out what raw ingredients you need to make a particular incense for a binding ritual.

A quick look into your magician's tradition and correspondances could yield a lot of role playing opportunity, but I hesitate to suggest it for fear of freaking out the parents of some younger players...