Summoning a spirit and getting it to do something for you requires all of the following steps in a single Spirit 2 extended ritual. You may allocate as many or few successes to each step as you see fit.
Protecting against hostile spirits
However many successes you allocate to this step, a hostile spirit must beat that number of successes on a Willpower roll to break through your protection. (You may choose to skip this step, but Consequences Will Occur.)
- Duration. See the standard duration chart. You will probably want "rest of the scene" (2 successes, and you can overlap the successes according to the house rule for duration/distance).
- Coverage: Yourself. Extra spheres can give extra coverage:
- Corr 1 = specified line-of-sight area
- Corr 2 = larger area (compare total successes allocated to the standard Corr Range chart)
- Life 1 or Mind 1 = one extra person per success allocated
- Matter 1 or Forces 1 = uniform material barrier, e.g. chalk or flame
- If you know a spirit's True Name, then this step gets three free successes with respect to that spirit.
Getting the desired spirit to show up
You must allocate a number of successes equal to the spirit's level. Spirits of level 4+ cannot be summoned unless the ST allows it.
Getting the spirit to do what you want
- Duration: See the standard duration chart. The house rule for duration/distance applies as usual: 1-3 successes can be overlapped, 4+ must be separate.
- Intensity: 1 to 6 successes. 1 = "it cannot attack you", 6 = "it follows the spirit of the command as well as the letter". With less than 6 successes, it will be inclined to exploit loopholes (e.g. a spirit ordered to "protect a treasure" might take it home and "protect" it forever).
- Even if a spirit is willing to cooperate, its ability may be limited by its stats (e.g. low Gnosis = confused by complex instructions) and/or charms (e.g. pretty much any spirit can spy and report back, but frying a Technocrat's ray gun with electricity requires the Control Electrical Systems charm, and spending power points to use it).
- This step gets one free success if you lower the Gauntlet to at least half its normal value, or two free successes if you enter the Umbra.
- This step may get free successes, or require extra successes, depending on the type of spirit and the caster's paradigm.
Example
A shaman wards all the doors of the room he's in, summons a level 2 spirit, and respectfully asks it to act as a lookout the next morning while the shaman and his chantry attack a Technocratic outpost. This requires:
- 2 successes for the ward (the shaman must have Corr 1 to do it this way)
- 2 successes for the summoning
- 3 successes for the duration and intensity of service (duration, enough to give the shaman time to rest overnight; intensity, the spirit will actively look for an excuse to cut and run).
For an extra 2 successes in step 3, the shaman could convince the spirit to stick around until its life was seriously endangered.
