Conjuring Mechanics
How a magician calls, commands, and dismisses spirits at the table — Force, the summoning test, services, conjuring Drain, spirit domains and powers, spirit forms, and banishing. Sources: SR2 core Magic chapter, Conjuring pp. 139–144 & Spirit Forms/Table pp. 142–144; spirit powers under Powers of the Awakened, p. 224.
Magic Mechanics covers casting, Drain, and astral space. This page drills into conjuring specifically: how a shaman raises a nature spirit or a hermetic mage calls an elemental, what services they owe, and the limits that keep them in check. The conjuring attribute is Charisma, and the skill is Conjuring.
Spirits aren't a chargen shopping list the way spells are. A shaman summons nature spirits on the spot during play, and they're temporary. What you choose at chargen that governs conjuring is: your Magic Rating (caps Force), your Totem (bonuses/penalties, often tied to favored environments), your Conjuring skill (the dice you roll), and your Charisma (sets your Drain). Hermetic elementals can be bound and stockpiled; a shaman's nature spirits cannot.
// SUMMONING A SPIRIT — THE SEQUENCE
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01
Be in the right place
Nature spirits (shaman): you can only call a spirit in its home domain — a City spirit on city streets, a Forest spirit in the woods, a Hearth spirit inside a dwelling. Elementals (hermetic): summoned from a Hermetic Circle, not tied to any domain. (SR2 p. 139–140)
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02
Declare a Force
Pick the spirit's Force — it cannot exceed your Magic Rating. Higher Force means a tougher, more capable spirit, but a harder summon and heavier Drain.
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03
Conjuring (Success) Test
Roll Conjuring skill (+ Magic Pool / spirit focus) against a Target Number equal to the Force. Each success = one service the spirit owes you. (SR2 p. 139)
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04
Drain Resistance Test
You take Drain whether or not a spirit answers. Roll Charisma dice (adjusted by totem and foci) against TN = Force; the Drain level comes from the Conjuring Drain Table below. Every 2 successes drops the Drain one level. (SR2 p. 139–140)
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05
Spirit appears & serves
It arrives (astrally first; it can manifest physically) and performs its services one at a time, within its limits.
// CONJURING DRAIN TABLE
Conjuring Drain scales with the spirit's Force relative to the conjurer's Charisma — overreach for a high-Force spirit and the Drain turns Physical. (SR2 p. 140)
| Spirit's Force vs. Charisma | Drain |
|---|---|
| Force ≤ ½ Charisma | (L) Stun |
| Force ≤ Charisma | (M) Stun |
| Force > Charisma | (S) Physical |
| Force > 2× Charisma | (D) Physical |
Drain TN = Force. Each 2 successes on the Charisma resist test removes one level (D → S → M → L → none).
// NATURE SPIRITS vs. ELEMENTALS
Called in their home domain only (City, Forest, Mountain, Sea, Sky, Swamp…). Out of domain, no spirit comes — and a spirit dragged out of its domain vanishes.
- One at a time — a shaman may have only one nature spirit summoned/in service.
- Domain-locked — it can only act within its environment.
- Sunrise/sunset expiry — every nature spirit fades at the next sunrise or sunset; unused services are lost.
- Powers depend on the spirit's type (see the domain table below).
(SR2 p. 139–140, 144)
Called from a Hermetic Circle — one of four elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Air. Not tied to any domain.
- Go anywhere — an elemental serves the mage regardless of location.
- Bindable — with extra effort an elemental can be bound for later use; otherwise it leaves when its services run out.
- Element ↔ spell category — each element aids one category of spell (e.g. Fire → combat).
- Powers include Engulf, Movement, Manifestation, plus element-specific ones (Air: Psychokinesis; Fire: Flame Aura/Projection).
(SR2 p. 140–141, 144)
// WHAT YOU CAN ASK — SERVICES
Every success you rolled bought one service. A service can be any one of the following (within the spirit's limits). The spirit acts on its own Initiative once tasked. (SR2 p. 140–142)
- Combat
- The spirit attacks a designated foe (it has combat stats by Force on the Spirit Table) until the enemy is down, the spirit is destroyed, or the service ends.
- Use a Power
- Direct the spirit to use one of its innate powers — Concealment, Confusion, Accident, Fear, Guard, and so on (see below). Some powers hit one target, others an area.
- Aid Sorcery
- The spirit lends dice to the magician's Spell Defense / Magic Pool for spellcasting.
- Sustain a Spell
- The spirit holds a sustained spell so the caster doesn't have to carry the dice penalty.
- Remote Service
- Send the spirit off to perform a task elsewhere — but a nature spirit can only range within its domain.
- Guard / Watch
- Stand guard over a person or place (often as an astral sentry), alerting the summoner to threats.
// SPIRIT POWERS (NATURE SPIRITS)
A spirit's available powers are set by its type. Brief plain-language meanings (full descriptions: Powers of the Awakened, SR2 p. 224):
- Accident
- Causes a damaging mishap to a target — a slip, a fall, a fumble at the worst moment.
- Concealment
- Hides people or objects from notice within the domain.
- Confusion
- Disorients targets, raising their target numbers.
- Fear
- Drives targets to flee in terror.
- Guard
- Shields a protected target against accidents and harm.
- Movement
- Speeds allies or slows foes moving through the spirit's domain.
- Search
- Locates a person or thing somewhere in the domain.
- Engulf
- Envelops a target to smother or drown it (water, sea, sky, lake, river spirits).
- Alienation
- Makes bystanders shun and reject the target.
- Binding
- Entangles and holds a target fast (swamp spirits).
- Electrical Projection
- A lightning attack (storm spirits).
// NATURE SPIRIT DOMAINS & POWERS
Where each spirit can be summoned, and the powers it brings. Condensed from the SR2 Spirit Table (p. 144).
| Spirit | Domain | Typical Powers |
|---|---|---|
| City | Streets, plazas, alleys, abandoned buildings | Accident, Alienation, Concealment, Confusion, Engulf, Fear, Guard, Search |
| Hearth | Homes, residences, occupied buildings | Accident, Alienation, Concealment, Confusion, Guard, Search |
| Field | Cultivated fields, worked land | Accident, Concealment, Confusion, Fear, Guard, Movement, Search |
| Forest | Woods, forests | Accident, Concealment, Confusion, Fear, Guard |
| Mountain | Rugged mountain terrain | Accident, Concealment, Confusion, Fear, Guard, Movement, Search |
| Prairie | Plains, tundra | Accident, Alienation, Concealment, Fear, Guard, Movement, Search |
| Desert | Desert | Accident, Concealment, Guard, Movement, Search |
| Sky | Open sky | Accident, Concealment, Engulf, Fear, Movement |
| Mist | Fog, mist, rain | Accident, Concealment, Confusion, Guard, Movement |
| Storm | Thunderstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes | Concealment, Confusion, Electrical Projection, Fear |
| Lake | Open fresh water | Accident, Concealment, Engulf, Fear, Guard, Movement, Search |
| River | Rivers, large streams, deltas | Accident, Concealment, Engulf, Fear, Guard, Movement, Search |
| Sea | The open sea | Accident, Concealment, Confusion, Engulf, Fear, Guard, Movement, Search |
| Swamp | Swamps, marshes | Accident, Binding, Concealment, Confusion, Fear, Guard, Movement, Search |
// SPIRIT FORMS
- Astral Form
- A spirit's default state — it exists in astral space, invisible to mundane senses, and can only be engaged by astral perception or astral combat. (SR2 p. 142)
- Manifest Form
- The spirit makes itself visible and physically present so it can interact with the material world. Manifesting is what lets it attack non-astral targets or move objects.
- Spirit Initiative
- Spirits act fast — they roll high Initiative and often go before metahumans. Once given a standing order, a spirit can keep acting on it each turn.
// CONTROL & BANISHING
- Control Contest
- If two magicians vie over a spirit, they make opposed Conjuring (Charisma for shamans) tests vs the spirit's Force; the winner commands it. (SR2 p. 153)
- Banishing
- A magician can banish a spirit by opposing its Force; net successes strip services from its remaining stock. A spirit reduced to zero services vanishes.
- Spirit fights back
- Banishing and control aren't free — the spirit resists with its Force, and a powerful spirit is hard to dismiss.
- This is SR2 core's standard conjuring. Grimoire 2nd Edition and Awakenings expand spirit types, totem-specific conjuring, and great-form spirits.
- Totem effects on conjuring (favored environments, penalties) vary by totem — check the totem you've chosen on Magic Traditions.
- The domain/power table is condensed for play; full per-spirit stat lines (combat, attributes by Force) are on the SR2 Spirit Table, p. 144, with power descriptions at p. 224.