So obviously a conjurer has a telepathic link with the spirits (s)he summons, but how would you arbitrate commanding them? Obviously the more complex the command the longer it takes, but where would you draw the lines.

As far as I'm concerned, certain services are automatic and do not take a separate action for a command - mostly these are magical services like aid sorcery and spell sustaining.

Most every other type of order you'd issue in combat is a free action - after all, the link is two-way and telepathic.

In the case of loaned services, the character doesn't have a telepathic link and has to communicate their orders to the spirit; for them I'd say free action for anything that they can cram into a brief sentence, simple action for anything a paragraph or so, and a complex action for anything around about a page or that they have to personally supervise.

Per the Rules, Page 179 SR4A

Commanding a Spirit is a Simple Action, regardless of the command...

Keep the Faith

...or I could glance over the frickin' obvious, like checking the rulebook.

No Problems Ancient History...

Keep the Faith

Best thread ever.

Also remember that if the spirit is not *right* there, but instead on standby for you, it takes a further simple action just to call them to your side.

I wouldn't tack on extra time, personally. Going out on a limb here but I don't think that you really need to give words to what you want the spirits to do, just meaning. If it's telepathic then the speed of language may not matter at this point. Just as long as you can formulate the idea the spirit should be able to understand. Course, handle however you see fit.

I try to limit it to how long other Simple actions might take. I don't go overboard, because speaking a phrase or sentence is a free action and can be done on anyones phase. It used to be that you could substitute 2 Free Actions for a Simple Action, so I also try to use this as a guigeline and limit commands to a couple of sentences or a long, complicated sentence.

I don't think I'd allow a paragraph or longer command in a Simple Action. I do however, allow the summoner to convey a mental image if that helps communicate the idea. For example: Attack the Gang Members < mental image of gang symbol and colors >. This avoids a long definition of which gang members one means, what a gang member is, and so on. I don't want to get into a long debate concerning every contingency, like when somone is granted a wish and the DM tries to find a loophole in the wording to screw the player. That doesn't mean I won't interpret a command from the spirits POV. In running Food Fight! recently, I had a wujen command spirits to "conceal the non-gang members in the store." I expect he intended to conceal the PCs, or at least most of them that were not gang members. The spirit concealed the store employees first, then (IIRC) either the closest beings or the beings who arrived earliest. I also had a spirit concealing all the spirits in the store. He did start defining things a bit better, but still kept commands short.

Yeah too bad I don't have SR4A. It's on my to do list. Explains why I couldn't find it.