Ally Spirits

An ally spirit can be a great boon to an initiated magician. To conjure an ally spirit, a magician needs to either craft or find an appropriate spirit formula. Once the magician has the proper formula, she may attempt to conjure and bind the spirit.

ALLY SPIRIT FORMULA

An ally’s spirit formula is a physical representation of the spirit, similar to an initiate’s thesis (see p. 142, SG). A magician can obtain this formula in one of two ways:

1. The conjurer (or a trusted third party) can create the formula from scratch by making an Arcana + Logic [Mental] (Force x 5, 1 day) Extended Test. Be aware that having someone else design your spirit formula means the creator might keep a copy for themselves.
2. By undertaking a metaplanar quest (p. 140, SG) to the chosen metaplane, an initiate can locate a formula that matches her needs.

To perform the summoning ceremony, the conjurer needs a physical copy of this formula. For allies requiring a vessel, either the original or a copy of the spirit formula must be carved into the prepared vessel.

CREATING AN ALLY SPIRIT FORMULA

To create a spirit formula and determine the Karma costs for conjuring an ally spirit, perform the following steps:

1. Choose Force: The base cost of an ally spirit is 8 Karma times desired Force.
2. Choose Form(s): The ally spirit may have only one of the following powers: Inhabitation (p. 195, SG), Materialization (p. 398, CRB), or Possession (p. 197, SG). Materialization allies have a base form that usually applies to the conjurer’s traditions. Allies can have additional forms at the cost of 2 Karma each; an ally can switch between forms using a Complex Action. Inhabitation allies must have a prepared vessel for them, but they can only have multiple forms if a true form results from the merge. Possession allies have no material form of their own, but vessels can be prepared for them.
3. Choose Powers: Ally spirits start with Astral Form (p. 394, CRB), Banishing Resistance (p. 194, SG), Realistic Form (p. 198, SG), Sapience (p. 400, CRB), and Sense Link (p. 198, SG). Each ally also receives one additional power per point of Force, chosen from any powers of spirits appropriate to the conjurer’s tradition. Beyond this, further powers appropriate to the conjurer’s tradition may be chosen at the cost of 5 Karma per power. If the conjurer chooses the Elemental Attack, Energy Aura, or Engulf powers, she must specify what form the power takes.
4. Choose Skills: Allies start with the skills of Assensing, Astral Combat, Perception, and Unarmed Combat. Additional skills that the conjurer knows or that may be needed for the spirit to use one of its powers (such as Exotic Ranged Weapon for Elemental Attack or Counterspelling for Magical Guard) cost 5 Karma each. Allies may never possess skills from the Conjuring group, and they may only be given the Flight skill (p. 394, CRB) if it fits the spirit’s form.
5. Choose Spells: An ally spirit can be taught any spells the conjurer knows for 3 Karma each or ones the conjurer doesn’t know for 5 Karma each (spell formulae are still required).

CONJURING AN ALLY

The ritual for summoning an ally must be performed in a magical lodge with a Force at least equal to the ally being summoned. Follow summoning rules (p. 300, CRB). Immediately after summoning, the spirit must be bound using standard binding rules (p. 300, CRB). Calculate Drain as if summoning and binding a spirit of the ally’s Force.
If the binding succeeds, the magician pays an amount of Karma as outlined in the ally’s spirit formula. If the binding generates succeeds, the magician pays an amount of Karma as outlined in the ally’s spirit formula. If the necessary amount of Karma cannot be paid, the ritual fails.
If the ally has the Inhabitation power, the conjurer must already have a prepared vessel. After the spirit is bound it must immediately use its Inhabitation power on the vessel. As per the Inhabitation power (p. 195, SG), the conjurer may choose to influence the outcome of the Inhabitation Test. Inhabitation takes a number of days equal to the spirit’s Force and is considered part of the ritual; thus the magician must continuously attend to the vessel during this time.

ALLY SPIRIT ABILITIES

Ally spirits follow standard spirit rules, with the following exceptions:

AID SORCERY AND AID STUDY

When using Aid Sorcery and Aid Study services, an ally spirit is considered appropriate for every spell category.

ATTRIBUTES

An ally’s Physical and Astral attributes equal its Force. However, allies start with an Edge attribute equal to the Edge of its conjurer. Inhabitation allies follow the rules for the Inhabitation power (p. 195, SG) to determine physical attributes.

LOYALTY

Allies are more loyal than normal spirits because that loyalty is part of the spirit’s formula. Because of this, an ally will serve a character until their master’s death (or near-death) frees them. Unlike normal spirits, an ally might go out of its way to assist its master or volunteer helpful information. On the other hand, a mistreated ally can potentially turn on its master. Allies are considered to start with a Loyalty rating of 6 (see p. 55, CRB), but a master’s particularly callous behavior toward her spirit or other spirits can potentially lower this. See Ally Spirit Loyalty, p. 207, SG.

MAGIC SKILL USE

Every ally spirit is considered a full Magician (see p. 69, CRB) and can be designed with any magical skills known to its summoner, except skills in the Conjuring group. Allies also may not initiate, and an ally inhabiting a vessel may not astrally project.

NATIVE PLANE

An ally’s native metaplane is specified by the spirit formula and can be used to destroy the spirit by making a metaplanar quest (p. 140, SG) to that plane.

OPEN-ENDED SERVICE

An ally’s services are never exhausted, and the ally can perform any unbound or bound spirit service (see p. 302, CRB) an unlimited number of times, including Resist Drain (see below). Ally spirits do not count against a magician’s limit of bound spirits.

RESIST DRAIN

A magician casting a spell may choose to have her ally spirit take the spell’s Drain instead. This can be done in two different ways. Either use the ally’s Magic attribute to determine if Drain is Physical or not and have the spirit resist the Drain as normal, or the magician may buy one extra hit on her Drain Resistance Test in exchange for her ally suffering one box of Physical damage (which the ally cannot resist). Regardless of the method, using this service is incredibly painful for the spirit and will foster hatred in the spirit if abused.

SENSE LINK

Ally spirits have the power of Sense Link (p. 198, SG), which let them share sensory data with their conjurers at a limited range. The conjurer may not target spells through this power.

ENHANCING AN ALLY

Sometimes you want to give your ally spirit a little more oomph—add new forms, powers, skills, or spells or increase the spirit’s total Force. This enhancement requires first modifying your ally spirit’s formula. Modifying the formula requires either an Arcana + Logic [Mental] (Force x 5, 1 day) Extended Test or a metaplanar quest.
The rebinding ritual, known as a Ritual of Change, must be performed in a magical lodge with a Force equal to or greater than the ally. Spend the usual amount of binding reagents, and pay Karma equal to all the relevant changes to the spirit. However, increasing an ally’s Force with a Ritual of Change requires 16 Karma per point of Force beyond the spirit’s initial Force.
An Inhabitation Test is not necessary for inhabiting allies, but the conjurer may choose to provide a new vessel for the spirit to merge with.

LOSING AN ALLY

A magician who routinely mistreats his ally spirit is just asking for it to eventually turn on him. Also, a magician who is overly dependent on his ally or regularly endangers it can risk making the ally resentful, which may cause it to seek freedom. An ally can only break away during a Ritual of Change or if its master is knocked out by Drain or by Physical damage, and it will only make the attempt if it feels it has been wronged in some way.
When an ally attempts to break free, it makes a Force x 2 [Force] test against the magician’s Binding + Magic [Mental]. If the spirit generates any net hits, it goes free and may become a free spirit (gamemaster’s discretion).
If an ally successfully breaks free during a Ritual of Change, the ritual fails: the reagents and time are spent, but the Karma remains unspent. The magician must also resist a Drain Value equal to twice the number of hits the spirit got on its test. If the magician is incapacitated by the Drain, the ally immediately goes free.

(SG 200-202)