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Message no. 1
From: "J. G. du Chatinier" <chatin@*******.NL>
Subject: Spirits and personalities..
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 1997 22:18:48 +0100
Hya All!~

And yet again, a question I'm sure has been discussed before! But, what the
hell.. ;)
I've been thinking, do any of you think spirits/elementals have emotions and
personalities? Personally, I can imagine Spirits with a personality fairly
easily. However, Elementals seem to me a bit of... well, drones.
On the other hand, playing elementals with personalities seams fun, and I
think it'd add a lot of colour to the campaign. Imagine a semi-funny Fire
Elemental...
Then again, I'm aware there are such things as Free Spirits, but I was
thinking about the Spirits and Elementals (Are thos the same BTW?) that you
summon.

comments, opinions, flames, sausages?

Jod
chatin@*******.nl
Message no. 2
From: Justin Pinnow <vanyel@*******.NET>
Subject: Re: Spirits and personalities..
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 09:17:07 -0500
> From: J. G. du Chatinier <chatin@*******.NL>
> Date: Saturday, November 29, 1997 4:18 PM

> Hya All!~

> And yet again, a question I'm sure has been discussed before! But, what
the
> hell.. ;)

Yeah, hey, why not?

> I've been thinking, do any of you think spirits/elementals have emotions
and
> personalities? Personally, I can imagine Spirits with a personality
fairly
> easily. However, Elementals seem to me a bit of... well, drones.
> On the other hand, playing elementals with personalities seams fun, and I
> think it'd add a lot of colour to the campaign. Imagine a semi-funny Fire
> Elemental...

> Then again, I'm aware there are such things as Free Spirits, but I was
> thinking about the Spirits and Elementals (Are thos the same BTW?) that
you
> summon.


> comments, opinions, flames, sausages?

I categorize spirits as such: Nature Spirits, Elementals, Watchers, Free
Spirits, Insect Spirits, Toxic Spirits, Toxic Elementals, and Ally Spirits.

There may be other categories I am missing, but that's a good chunk of
them, if nothing else.

In my campaign, I role play ALL spirits as if they had personalities.
Watchers are the only spirits that, according to the rules, aren't very
bright. I treat them as if they were well-trained dogs. A high-force
Watcher would do his job very well, but would be oblivious to pretty much
everything else. (I treat them as very single-minded).

All the other spirits I treat as being as intelligent as their Force.
Thus, a Force 3 Elemental would be equally intelligent as a (Meta)human
with an Intelligence of 3. Of course, that doesn't mean that humans and
spirits have the same knowledge. Spirits live, think, and are motivated
differently than (Meta)humans. Trust me, if you roleplay your Elementals
(as well as the other spirits), you can open up some wonderful
opportunities for both yourself and your players.

> Jod

Justin :)
Message no. 3
From: "J. G. du Chatinier" <chatin@*******.NL>
Subject: Re: Spirits and personalities..
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 16:10:45 +0100
At 09:17 30/11/1997 -0500, you wrote:
>> From: J. G. du Chatinier <chatin@*******.NL>
>> Date: Saturday, November 29, 1997 4:18 PM
>
>> Hya All!~
>
>> And yet again, a question I'm sure has been discussed before! But, what
>the
>> hell.. ;)
>
>Yeah, hey, why not?
***Yeah, why not? ;)

<<KASNIP!!>>

>I categorize spirits as such: Nature Spirits, Elementals, Watchers, Free
>Spirits, Insect Spirits, Toxic Spirits, Toxic Elementals, and Ally Spirits.
>
>There may be other categories I am missing, but that's a good chunk of
>them, if nothing else.
>
>In my campaign, I role play ALL spirits as if they had personalities.
>Watchers are the only spirits that, according to the rules, aren't very
>bright. I treat them as if they were well-trained dogs. A high-force
>Watcher would do his job very well, but would be oblivious to pretty much
>everything else. (I treat them as very single-minded).
**Uhu, read that part in the Grimoire. I had to laugh at the example...
"Ohno, I'mgonnabelaaaaaaate." Or something...

>All the other spirits I treat as being as intelligent as their Force.
>Thus, a Force 3 Elemental would be equally intelligent as a (Meta)human
>with an Intelligence of 3. Of course, that doesn't mean that humans and
>spirits have the same knowledge. Spirits live, think, and are motivated
>differently than (Meta)humans. Trust me, if you roleplay your Elementals
>(as well as the other spirits), you can open up some wonderful
>opportunities for both yourself and your players.
**Uhu, sounds reasonable... But, what would the elementals points of view
would be on things such as money, life and pleasure. I mean, they live in a
completely different world...
Just wondering..

>
>Justin :)
Jod. What's so funny? ;)
Message no. 4
From: Justin Pinnow <vanyel@*******.NET>
Subject: Re: Spirits and personalities..
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 1997 13:09:58 -0500
> From: J. G. du Chatinier <chatin@*******.NL>
> Date: Monday, December 01, 1997 10:10 AM

> At 09:17 30/11/1997 -0500, you wrote:

<Snip>

> >All the other spirits I treat as being as intelligent as their Force.
> >Thus, a Force 3 Elemental would be equally intelligent as a (Meta)human
> >with an Intelligence of 3. Of course, that doesn't mean that humans and
> >spirits have the same knowledge. Spirits live, think, and are motivated
> >differently than (Meta)humans. Trust me, if you roleplay your
Elementals
> >(as well as the other spirits), you can open up some wonderful
> >opportunities for both yourself and your players.

> **Uhu, sounds reasonable... But, what would the elementals points of view
> would be on things such as money, life and pleasure. I mean, they live in
a
> completely different world...
> Just wondering..

That's what your imagination is for. Give them varying personalities and
motivations. For example, that Force 3 Fire Elemental is a real prick
about fulfilling his end of the bargain (i.e. the services he owes the
conjurer). However, that Force 5 Water Elemental might be quite amicable
to the arrangement. I also give my elementals/spirits names and True
Names. That way they aren't just "that Force 3 Fire Elemental" anymore.

In general, I play Elementals (in particular) as being bound to service
because of an agreement made with the summoner. (For flavor, I rule that
the ritual that summons the Elemental produces energy that it needs for
sustinence. This energy attracts an Elemental to it and upon grabbing the
energy, the Elemental is trapped and bound within the Magician's Hermetic
Circle. Then, the Elemental must bargain for the energy with the summoner.
This invariably ends up with the summoner acquiring one or more services
from the Elemental in exchange for the "food" given to the Elemental.)
Now, according to the laws of metaphysics, it is impossible to break the
agreement (it is truly binding), but that doesn't mean all Elementals LIKE
being sworn to such an agreement. Most of them (in my campaign) are a bit
reluctant and some may very well follow the letter of the agreement and not
the spirit. And heaven forbid the Elemental is more intelligent that its
summoner....

> >Justin :)

> Jod. What's so funny? ;)

Nothing, that was just a smiley.

Justin :)

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