This article was last edited Saturday, December 23, 2023 by Mr. Johnson.
The Summoning Workflow uses Summon/Compile Items to help manage Spirit Actors, including the Summoning Test[sr 1], including the Spirit's Resistance Test and the associated Drain Resistance Test.
Setup
As of SR5 v0.17.1[git 1], there is no explicit support for identifying which powers are optional. Using some low-sorting Unicode character such as ⌥ (the symbol for "Option" on Apple keyboards) in the Item's name can allow identifying which is which on any given spirit, and can easily be deleted after using the Summoning Workflow to spawn a new Spirit Actor.
Properly using the Summoning Workflow requires a configured Summon Item in the inventory of a likewise appropriately configured Actor. It is also recommended to preconfigure the summonable Spirit Actor referenced in the Summon Item. The workflow will function without a preconfigured Spirit actor, but will spawn an Actor with a generic name, no token art, and no Critter Power Items.
Summoning
On the Actor's Actor's Magic Tab, Left-Click the icon for the desired Summon Item to bring up the Summon Spirit dialog:
- The top section shows the selected Actor and the Summon Item in use.
- Spirit Type is a selectable list of the type of spirit to be summoned. Changes here are ignored if a spirit type is preconfigured.[git 2]
- Force is the rating of the new entity. Some properties, like Attributes and Skills, will be calculated from this value, along with the die pool used in the Resistance Test.
- Reagents spent affect the Drain.
- Modifiers, Pool, Limit, and Threshold show the calculated values for the Attack Test. They can be maually modified.
- Push The Limit[sr 2] shows the Actor's current and maximum Edge, and provides a checkbox to apply it to the current attack.
- Roll Mode applies one of Foundry's Roll Modes whenever the action is used. It overrides whatever is selected in the Chat Messages sidebar.
- Pressing Template:Roll executes the roll.
The results of the Summoning Test appear in the Chat Log, encapsulating the same information as the Summon Spirit dialog. As with most roll cards, clicking on the Pool section expands to show the Description from the Item in use, while clicking on the Results message shows the individual die rolls.
Resistance & Drain Tests
Despite the order of the buttons in the Summon Spirit rollcard, the spirit needs to oppose the magician before the Drain Test can take place. Make sure the Summoning Actor is selected (as with other rollcards, you can click on the Actor token image to select it), and press Template:Roll.
The Oppose Summoning dialog provides the standard roll options, though there shouldn't rarely be a need to change anything here. This is a good place to use SHIFT+Click to bypass the dialog.
Once the Resistance Test has been completed, you can click on Drain Test.
References
GitHub Issues
Sourcebook
- ↑ Shadowrun Fifth Edition Core Rulebook (p. 300)
- ↑ Shadowrun Fifth Edition Core Rulebook (p. 56)