So what exactly happens to a spirit when a summoner goes unconscious or dies?
Does it stick around to complete the service, does it dissipate or will it freak out and attack anything nearby?
Full Version: Spirits and dead mages
Depends on the spirit, and if anyone has "Bad Luck" around it. Also, depends on the services, how many were left, and the type of magician.
Shaman who RPs respectfully with Spirits, it might stay around and help out. Mage who abuses his power and/or powergames, the Spirit goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the PCs who "Smell of his Aura".
And thus I encourage ROLE playing rather than ROLL Playing.
Shaman who RPs respectfully with Spirits, it might stay around and help out. Mage who abuses his power and/or powergames, the Spirit goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against the PCs who "Smell of his Aura".
And thus I encourage ROLE playing rather than ROLL Playing.
What about NPCs? Does killing off a shaman also take his spirit out?
Same deal. Gives a good reason to figure out NPCs so they're not just faceless masses to slaughter like you're in a FPS.
Not really mentioned anywhere, I'd think. Since the summoning/binding is a magic compulsion effect which is in no way dependant on the magician's attention, or consciousness, I wouldn't know why death would be any different. I'd say they complete whatever service they're executing, and stay "on call" for the rest of eternity.
Waiting for a phone that will never ring again.
Waiting for a phone that will never ring again.
QUOTE (Mardrax @ Feb 13 2011, 09:29 AM) 
Not really mentioned anywhere, I'd think. Since the summoning/binding is a magic compulsion effect which is in no way dependant on the magician's attention, or consciousness, I wouldn't know why death would be any different. I'd say they complete whatever service they're executing, and stay "on call" for the rest of eternity.
Waiting for a phone that will never ring again.
Waiting for a phone that will never ring again.
But that compulsion is controlled by the link between the Summoner and the Spirit... Once the Summoner Dies, that link dissipates.
I think it's all in SM. GM may roll, if the spirit goes fee etc. maybe even in the corebook: a bound spirit performs a service until the summoner dies...
Maybe, maybe not... the service usually expires at the next sunset/sunrise.
I can't seem to find anything about unconsciousness in the core.
It does mention something about a mage getting knocked out DURING the summoning, but that's it.
What if, for example, your PC mage went unconscious and then someone threw a stim patch on them?
Would the spirit have already left or is it still there doing whatever spirits do?
I can't seem to find anything about unconsciousness in the core.
It does mention something about a mage getting knocked out DURING the summoning, but that's it.
What if, for example, your PC mage went unconscious and then someone threw a stim patch on them?
Would the spirit have already left or is it still there doing whatever spirits do?
"Mage is not controlling me any more? Slot you all with a splintery baseball bat, sideways, I'm off drinking!"
A case could definitely be made for the astral signature the compulsion is keyed to being needed to keep the compulsion active at all. Since the signature doesn't disappear instantly though, should the service?
Either way, RAW doesn't describe anything pertaining this that I remember. Which makes it fall solidly into the "whatever the GM thinks would work at this particular moment" kind of thing.
edit:
It is? I'll go and dig through it after dinner, unless anyone could provide a page reference.
Either way, RAW doesn't describe anything pertaining this that I remember. Which makes it fall solidly into the "whatever the GM thinks would work at this particular moment" kind of thing.
edit:
QUOTE (Makki @ Feb 13 2011, 05:37 PM)
I think it's all in SM. GM may roll, if the spirit goes fee etc. maybe even in the corebook: a bound spirit performs a service until the summoner dies...
It is? I'll go and dig through it after dinner, unless anyone could provide a page reference.
QUOTE (SM p92)
Free Spirits
Sometimes conjured spirits become uncontrolled. These
spirits usually vanish, but occasionally they stick around in-
definitely pursuing inscrutable spirit activities. No one knows
whether these spirits are acting out some distant echo of the
mind of their original conjurer, or if they were simply indepen-
dent entities all along. When a spirit begins acting on its own,
it is called a free spirit.
Sometimes conjured spirits become uncontrolled. These
spirits usually vanish, but occasionally they stick around in-
definitely pursuing inscrutable spirit activities. No one knows
whether these spirits are acting out some distant echo of the
mind of their original conjurer, or if they were simply indepen-
dent entities all along. When a spirit begins acting on its own,
it is called a free spirit.
uncontrolled spirits are on SR4A p189. and it mentions dead magicians
QUOTE (SR4a pg 189)
Spirits go uncontrolled under two circumstances: if the magician is knocked out from Drain during the Binding Test, or if she rolls a critical glitch on that test. An uncontrolled spirit owes no services to the magician (the connection between them is severed) and is free to act as it wishes within the limits of its power.
Most uncontrolled spirits will attack the magician who attempted to bind it, attempting to kill him. This is especially true of higher Force spirits, who take the binding attempt as a personal insult. A spirit with a Force less than half the magician’s Magic attribute will simply flee, unless someone attempts to prevent it from doing so. All other spirits will attack the magician, hoping to kill him in a moment of weakness and so prevent him from attempting to bind them again. If the magician is already dead (or dying of physical wounds), an enraged spirit may even go on a rampage, attacking the nearest living beings—especially if they seem to be allies of the magician.
Most uncontrolled spirits will attack the magician who attempted to bind it, attempting to kill him. This is especially true of higher Force spirits, who take the binding attempt as a personal insult. A spirit with a Force less than half the magician’s Magic attribute will simply flee, unless someone attempts to prevent it from doing so. All other spirits will attack the magician, hoping to kill him in a moment of weakness and so prevent him from attempting to bind them again. If the magician is already dead (or dying of physical wounds), an enraged spirit may even go on a rampage, attacking the nearest living beings—especially if they seem to be allies of the magician.
Emphases mine.
How does this say spirits go uncontrolled if the mage dies after binding succesfully? Or after plain summoning at all?
it doesn't. But it at least makes you think 
Not really. An unbound spirit is just that, unbound to anything. A mage trying to exert control over it losing control during the binding, the spirit being uncontrolled makes sense. After the spirit has been magically bound to do something, this is far less so.
Does an Influence spell wear off when a magician dies? Does a ward cease to exist? Does a quickened spell? One sustained by a Focus?
I don't see why spirits should be any different.
Does an Influence spell wear off when a magician dies? Does a ward cease to exist? Does a quickened spell? One sustained by a Focus?
I don't see why spirits should be any different.
QUOTE (Mardrax @ Feb 13 2011, 11:00 AM)
Not really. An unbound spirit is just that, unbound to anything. A mage trying to exert control over it losing control during the binding, the spirit being uncontrolled makes sense. After the spirit has been magically bound to do something, this is far less so.
Does an Influence spell wear off when a magician dies? Does a ward cease to exist? Does a quickened spell? One sustained by a Focus?
I don't see why spirits should be any different.
Does an Influence spell wear off when a magician dies? Does a ward cease to exist? Does a quickened spell? One sustained by a Focus?
I don't see why spirits should be any different.
Influence and Wards wear off over time, regardless of external circumstances. A focus will deactivate once it is either removed from the body, or the body dies (Must be alive, after all, to have an aura). I assume the same applies to a Quickened Spell...
Just food for thought...
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