Help - Search - Members - Calendar
Full Version: Summoning a Familiar at Char Gen
Dumpshock Forums > Discussion > Shadowrun
Czar Eggbert
SO I was thinking of making a conjuring aspected adept, level one initate using the familiar ordeal and taking channelling. So is it possible and what would be the the limit on the ally? It just hit me when I was reading the Twink thread.

The Eggman
Kanada Ten
You cannot take an Ordeal during chargen to initiate. Nor can you join a group.
Kagetenshi
As Kanada Ten said, it cannae be done.

The Walrus
Czar Eggbert
sigh... I'll have to lose a magic point then.... but an unlimited use spirit and channelling would be worth it.


The Eggman
Kanada Ten
It's practically required for a Conjuring adept, though I recommend Invoking if you go the Shamanic route.
A Clockwork Lime
Kanada Ten and Kagetenshi are both wrong.

You're free to initiate, including the use of a group or ordeal, as per the rules on page 15 of the Shadowrun Companion. Spell Points are treated as Karma in all ways regarding magic. It is dependant upon GM approval, however.

You're going to need at least 13 Spell Points to initiate (3 to join a group, 9 to initiate with the Familiar Ordeal), leaving you with a max of 37 Spell Points with which to design your familiar. Just follow the normal rules for creating an ally spirit that way.

Channeling cannot be used with an Ally Spirit, however, just like Watchers. They don't provide Services so you can't spend them to Channel one.

Overall, you'll wind up with a relatively weak Ally Spirit you won't be able to channel (but who cares when you have other spirits on hand), but it's not a necessarily a bad choice for an aspected conjurer, especially if you have a cool background in mind for one. I'd rather focus on initiating three times (grabbing Channeling, Invoking, and either Masking or Centering) and then spend the last two Spell Points you get for free on a force 1 Spirit Focus or something like that for a little extra kick.
Kanada Ten
Oh man, that's what I get for using NSRCG. CharGen rules atrophy. I don't think I'd allow either without a good reason (though straight Summoner is a pretty good reason).
Kagetenshi
It's questionable whether or not you can even initiate at chargen, as you mention.

~J
Eyeless Blond
QUOTE (A Clockwork Lime)
You're free to initiate, including the use of a group or ordeal, as per the rules on page 15 of the Shadowrun Companion. Spell Points are treated as Karma in all ways regarding magic. It is dependant upon GM approval, however.

Er, where do you see this? Page 15 of SRC is about using build points on skills and resources, and begins talking about Edges and Flaws. Page 14 is about Magic and spell points, but it says to use the "All the standard rules for spending spell and Power Points apply, as per SR3." Is it somewhere in MitS? I don't see it there either, but it might just be me being blind again.
Czar Eggbert
Ah... that sucks... I can't learn spells so my ally wont have socery, and without being able to use channelling it just dosent make him worth it. Maybe just start with night one, albino, color blind, exceptional attribute cha... hmm what am i missing? I 'm at work so this is all from the top of my head. Weapon focus is a must an 1.99 BI geased off. Maybe Synaptac accelerators and mnem enhancers, enhanced articulation. What else?

The Eggman
A Clockwork Lime
QUOTE (Eyeless Blond @ May 7 2004, 07:03 PM)
Er, where do you see this? Page 15 of SRC is about using build points on skills and resources, and begins talking about Edges and Flaws. Page 14 is about Magic and spell points, but it says to use the "All the standard rules for spending spell and Power Points apply, as per SR3." Is it somewhere in MitS? I don't see it there either, but it might just be me being blind again.

It's under "Resources" on page 15. Behold the power of Shadowrun's organization!

And like I said, Czar, it's better to blow your free points on initiating three times leaving you with two Spell Points to piss away (or you could buy 11 more points for 275,000 nuyen to initiate a fourth time). Alternatively, you can trade in all 35 Spell Points to get 7 Build Points back if using the BP System so you can get some other perks.

Trauma Dampers are a god-send for conjurers, too. Any spirit that causes Light Drain (such as Watchers or spirits of a Force less than half your Charisma) effectively become "free" to conjure. smile.gif Lowers the number of successes you need to completely shrug off Drain by two (since you only need to get it down to Light now), too.

And unless you have a specific tradition in mind, I'll also recommend considering a Wujen. Spirits of the Elements have some really cool powers (if not as diverse as nature spirits), especially since you lack an active use of Sorcery, and with Invoking you're free to drag them out of their domains. And even then, you still have Spirits of Man to rely on in a pinch. smile.gif
BitBasher
Yeah, btu be careful of wujen, a fair amount of the time it can really suck finding the elements necessary on the fly to summon them.
A Clockwork Lime
Which, again, is why it's nice that they have Spirits of Man to rely on in those cases. And as long as you get a nice Lifestyle near a public park or the like, you shouldn't have much trouble scoring a Manitou at the very least. If you prefer Salamanders or Gnomes, Hell's Kitchen isn't a bad spot to have a Lifestyle (or just visit) either. You might even be able to use the geysers to snag an Undine.
BitBasher
Right, summoning isnt the issue, USING them is. according to MITS pg 105 under the section Domains, elemental spirits cannot leave the elemental doman around which they were summoned. Salamanders cannot leave the Hell's Kitchen hot spots, nor can the Undine leave the area of the geyesrs. They are very restrictive, unless of course you summon a great form, but that's an entirely different issue.
Kanada Ten
Wujen summoners are best used defensively by corporate security and such. I imagine Wuxing designs their buildings with Wujen domains in mind.

"Oh, look at all the beautiful decorations! Is that a babbling spring in the middle of the office entry?"
A Clockwork Lime
QUOTE (BitBasher @ May 7 2004, 07:59 PM)
Right, summoning isnt the issue, USING them is. according to MITS pg 105 under the section Domains, elemental spirits cannot leave the elemental doman around which they were summoned. Salamanders cannot leave the Hell's Kitchen hot spots, nor can the Undine leave the area of the geyesrs. They are very restrictive, unless of course you summon a great form, but that's an entirely different issue.

And apparently, you completely missed the part about Invoking. So no, it's not an entirely different issue. It's one that was already covered and an extension thereof.
BitBasher
Not when my entire post was just talking about normal spirits of the elements. I made no mention of invoking, and specifically added that last line to show that I was NOT talking about invoking, that invoking was different. Jeez.
Lilt
QUOTE (A Clockwork Lime)
Kanada Ten and Kagetenshi are both wrong.
...
You're going to need at least 13 Spell Points to initiate (3 to join a group, 9 to initiate with the Familiar Ordeal), leaving you with a max of 37 Spell Points with which to design your familiar.  Just follow the normal rules for creating an ally spirit that way.

I agree with you, although your math is somewhat whacked. (How does 9+3=13?)

Initiating at chargen with the familiar ordeal costs at-least 21 spell points. 3 to join a group, 9 to initiate, meaning the familiar must cost at-least 9 spell points. For the familiar: I'd personally spend 5 to get it to force 2, give it Talismongering 6 for another 3, and spend 1 to give it another form. Spending 15 on the familiar to get it to F3 is possibly worth it if you can afford it. F2 with sense link (10 karma) works-out well too.

As for not being able to channel an ally: Allys and Watchers do provide services to their masters, wether you consider that oweing services to the master is another matter. That interpretation does clear-up some wording, however, so I'm happy with it. (also: Great form spirits give you nicer powers to play around with than ally spirits can)

If you want Channeling then Invoking is definately another top priority due to the Immunity(Normal Weapons) you get when Channeling great-form spirits. Foci (and your ally's aid power) help greatly when channeling as you can use the dice they give both on the Channeling attempt and the drain resistance. An Elf with maxxed-out charisma, a force 3 ally, and a trauma damper can on average take the drain from channeling even a reasonable-force (4) great-form spirit.
A Clockwork Lime
Well, I suppose you could channel an ally spirit, but it would be an incredibly stupid idea since it would be released from your service upon completition of the task.

And leave my math out of this. nyahnyah.gif
shadd4d
Wait a sec, how can a conjurer invoke? It requires a jaunt to the metaplanes, which a conjurer can't do as they can't project.

OTOH, why does a conjuring adept even get spell points? No spells should = no spell points.

Aside from that, summoning a familiar can be possible. Maybe use the buildpoints as spell points.

Don
A Clockwork Lime
Eh? Invoking doesn't require astral projection or visiting a metaplane. It just lets you conjure Great Form spirits.

Conjurers get "spell points" because, as is made abundantly clear repeatedly throughout the game, the designers didn't really think about their wordings or the names they gave things. "Spell points," even by the core rules, allow you to bind spirits at the beginning of play and to bond with foci as well.
Caine Hazen
But the initiation does require astral projection....unless you use a spirit for the initiation. I think that's what he was refering too
dead_as_elvis
initiation doesn't necessarily involve projection. if you do an astral quest ordeal, or your group requires some sort of activity on the astral plane, then you do. normally it doesn't matter. Even Physads can initiate.
Shockwave_IIc
QUOTE (Caine Hazen)
But the initiation does require astral projection....unless you use a spirit for the initiation. I think that's what he was refering too

Not a chance otherwise How can A physad Initate?

Thouh i am confused by the wrding on Inovking in referance of it costing more to learn form a spirit... Or are they refering to you paying it karma to teach on top of the cost of Initation??
A Clockwork Lime
What's confusing about it? If you're asking a free spirit to teach you a metamagic technique, it's going to want some Karma in exchange. If it agrees to teach you Invoking, it'll likely ask for twice what it normally would (ie, twice their Spirit Energy).
Shockwave_IIc
QUOTE (A Clockwork Lime)
If it agrees to teach you Invoking, it'll likely ask for twice what it normally would (ie, twice their Spirit Energy).

See thats the bit i didn't know/read/see
Lilt
As free spirits can't learn Conjuring, I very much doubt they'd bother to learn Chanelling to teach it to you. In-fact I probably wouldn't allow a free spirit to teach a power unless it was one they had an equivalent of (IE: Posessing or Masking).

A free spirit with the astral gateway power could use it to allow the aspected character to do an astral quest to learn the metamagic though.

As for Karma: It probably couldn't ask for karma if it was bound. If it wasn't bound; it wouldn't nessecarily ask for karma, but it would ask for something in return. This is especially true for Guardian and Player spirits, or any spirit that maintains a metahuman support base.
Anymage
Question here;

By the RAW, are great form nature spirits really as good as everyone thinks? True, they can leave the domains they're summoned in, but by the BBB "If a shaman leaves a nature spirit's domain, any remaining services the spirit owes are canceled". (It will continue on with its last service, but barring munchkinny "services" like "follow me around and do everything I ask for the rest of the day", that's kinda weak.) Nothing in the Great Form section contradicts, this, so while the spirits can still be fun for remote service, they're a tad shy of elemental flexibility.
shadd4d
If that's true, then only a toxic's spirits can ignore that rule, as it is stated that a toxic domain can move. Then the toxic is "never" outside the domain and can still order around the spirit.

Don
Lilt
Possibly, MitS says that:
QUOTE
Because these spirits can cross domain lines, shamans must remember that they may only bind at one time a number of spirits less than or equal to their Charisma.

implying that when you cross domain lines, the spirits remain bound.
hobgoblin
QUOTE (BitBasher)
Right, summoning isnt the issue, USING them is. according to MITS pg 105 under the section Domains, elemental spirits cannot leave the elemental doman around which they were summoned. Salamanders cannot leave the Hell's Kitchen hot spots, nor can the Undine leave the area of the geyesrs. They are very restrictive, unless of course you summon a great form, but that's an entirely different issue.

err, then why are there a specific way to calculate how big the domain of the spirit is? to me that sounds like the spirit can apear anywhere the summoner wants it to appear as long as he can see both the elemental spot to draw the spirit from and the spot where its suppose to appear.

and force x 10 meter dont sound restrictive to me (alltho a true forest spirit can do a search of the entire forest and so on most times you will want it to stay close to you) as that gives a spirit a nice 6 meter range from the spot it was summoned...
Anymage
Both toxic spirits and normal great forms have a couple of huge advantages over basic nature spirits; you can send them to do remote service without being on-site or next to it, and more importantly they're nowhere near as easy to run away from. Both of these are pretty big advantages for the shaman.
Cain
QUOTE (shadd4d)
Wait a sec, how can a conjurer invoke? It requires a jaunt to the metaplanes, which a conjurer can't do as they can't project.

You've got a holdover there. That was a rule from the 2nd Ed Grimoire, which has since been superceded by Magic In the Shadows.
Arz
Actually, I'd disagree with the general run. Summoning elementals is best. They allow you "sorcery dice" for spell defense, which you can match with spell pool dice that are normally inaccessible for conjurors. Plus you can assign them to others to free up slots to carry more elementals for yourself. Elemental formulae can be acquired via the matrix. And you don't have to worry about those pesky domains.
Bearclaw
If you're a member of a magical group, your groups guiding spirit can translate you to the meta planes. If it's not in MiTS, it's in Awakenings and nothing has contradicted it since.

<edit>OK, it hasn't been contradicted but updated. It now requires the Astral Gateway power of a free spirit to get to the metaplanes. I think that's a reasonable power for an Avatar to have though.</edit>
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.
Dumpshock Forums © 2001-2012