From:	Ed Matuskey <MATUSKEY@***.EDU>
Subject:	Sprits vs. Elementals
Date:	Mon, 12 Apr 1993 16:12:28 -0700

As a couple people have now pointed out, shamans ask for spirits, they don't
command them. (Although, as a couple others have pointed out, the PC knows
that the spirit will come to him/her. I kind of like the idea for a
charisma test, and might suggest the target number be based on what type of
situation the runner is in: if it's a frivolous task, than make the TN high,
if it's a dire situation, or a matter of some importance, a lower one will do.
Maybe modify it by totem preference: would snake want to help you kill an
enemy?) So, we'll concentrate on elementals, for now.
Roberson suggested that the elementals want to come to our plane: is this
necessarily true? And what makes you think they can only come across with
a mage helping out? They could be quite happy where they are, or they could
be capable of making the journey without anyone's help.
Another person wrote to me, suggesting that a mage might bargain with an
elemental for services: this would require a whole new set of rules, but a
more pressing point would be, what could a magician give an elemental but its
freedom?
I think we've hit a vein here, folks: keep it coming!
-Ed
-Highlander
(One who knows little about magic, so what is he doing starting a conversation
like this?)