From:	bluewizard@*****.com (Steven A. Tinner)
Subject:	Spirit Appearance
Date:	Wed, 4 Sep 1996 13:18:10 -0500 (EST)

OK, we've been bouncing around a lot of ideas about spirits in several threads.
What I'm wondering now is, how does everyone handle the appearance of spirits?
In our campaign, shamanic spirits are highly variable, and their looks
depend on the location they are summoned, as well as background count, and
even the shaman's mental state at the time.
ie. Spirits summoned at the shores of Lake Erie appear as large fish, or
boats, etc.
For Hermetics, we have ruled that all elementals appear first as a vaguely
humanoid shape. As the mage uses the spirit more and more, it's appearance
will gradually morph to resemble what it's summoner expects. This alos adds
to the spirit's personality. New elementals have no persoanlity, whil ones
that have been around awhile often act more like Seeks the Moon from the
novel Burning Bright.
ie. A Force 5 Fire Elemental that slowly changed from a humanoid outline,
into a ravishing redhead, as the mage repeated added summoning success to
keep her around.
This has not only added color th our game, but helped show the differences
between traditions, and keep the shaman types playing in character.