Effects of summoning on summoned warriors

[tomc]

Someone, somewhere, recently asked about where summoned warriors come from, what they're made of, etc. If I could find the thread I'd reply there, but I can't remember enough detail to effectively search for the post, thus a new thread...

There was a short story in The Space Gamer #62 (April 1983), entitled "Master's Thesis" by Phillip Rennert that addresses this very topic in an interesting and entertaining way. (Sure, I can remember short stories from 35 years ago, but not forum posts less than 2 weeks old...)

I won't post any spoilers, but if you're not Grognardish enough to have the original, the PDF can be downloaded from warehouse 23 for not a lot of cash:

http://www.warehouse23.com/products/...amer-number-62

[Rick_Smith]

Originally Posted by tomc

Someone, somewhere, recently asked about where summoned warriors come from, what they're made of, etc. If I could find the thread I'd reply there, but I can't remember enough detail to effectively search for the post, thus a new thread...

Hi TomC, everyone.
In my campaign every major dimension has a number of 'shadow' dimensions created and carried along by it. Summoned creatures came from these shadows.

Warm regards, Rick.

[KevinJ]

Originally Posted by tomc

Someone, somewhere, recently asked about where summoned warriors come from, what they're made of, etc. If I could find the thread I'd reply there, but I can't remember enough detail to effectively search for the post, thus a new thread...

There was a short story in The Space Gamer #62 (April 1983), entitled "Master's Thesis" by Phillip Rennert that addresses this very topic in an interesting and entertaining way. (Sure, I can remember short stories from 35 years ago, but not forum posts less than 2 weeks old...)

I won't post any spoilers, but if you're not Grognardish enough to have the original, the PDF can be downloaded from warehouse 23 for not a lot of cash:

http://www.warehouse23.com/products/...amer-number-62

In my game I explained to the one player who is a mage that summoned beings and creatures come from another dimension. They are here for that breif time and on the spell ending or the 'death' of the summoned they return to their dimension to wake from a dream. Thus, Mymidon do not die when killed, but are unsummoned and wake at home, in bed, with a vivid memory of the dream where they were called to some strange world and forced to fight.

[zot]

Originally Posted by Rick_Smith

Hi TomC, everyone.
In my campaign every major dimension has a number of 'shadow' dimensions created and carried along by it. Summoned creatures came from these shadows.

Warm regards, Rick.

So does summoning happen through shifting or hellriding? ;)

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by tomc

Someone, somewhere, recently asked about where summoned warriors come from, what they're made of, etc. ...

That was me. Thanks!! I'll pass on the reference to my friend who wanted to know... 35 or so years ago... :-D

[Skarg]

Originally Posted by KevinJ

In my game I explained to the one player who is a mage that summoned beings and creatures come from another dimension. They are here for that breif time and on the spell ending or the 'death' of the summoned they return to their dimension to wake from a dream. Thus, Mymidon do not die when killed, but are unsummoned and wake at home, in bed, with a vivid memory of the dream where they were called to some strange world and forced to fight.

Yeah, I thought whatever the reason, it would be good if it didn't involve actually getting creatures somewhere else killed for you, or else it would add some moral issues, especially when made to do suicidal moves...

[Steve Jackson]

There are certainly moral issues if a summoning is a literal summoning and not a fancy sort of creation. "Master's Thesis" was a good story and on the stretch goal list.

Imagine the quandary of a wizard who has been summoning Myrmidons for arena entertainment. He thinks he's been saving "real" lives. What if he finds out differently?

OTOH, since summoned creatures have no will, they might just be created beings, regardless of the name the Cidri wizards put on the spell.

[KevinJ]

Originally Posted by Steve Jackson

There are certainly moral issues if a summoning is a literal summoning and not a fancy sort of creation. "Master's Thesis" was a good story and on the stretch goal list.

Imagine the quandary of a wizard who has been summoning Myrmidons for arena entertainment. He thinks he's been saving "real" lives. What if he finds out differently?

OTOH, since summoned creatures have no will, they might just be created beings, regardless of the name the Cidri wizards put on the spell.

It really depends on the campaign world. So long as the stats remain the same the being summoned could be intelligent or not and it could actually be killed or not.

How would PETA feel about Summon Wolf or Bear...

Oh, wait... PETS People for the Ethical Traetment of Summons.

[tomc]

One of the thing TFT has done really well is to give the GM interesting jump off points. I think the level of activity on this forum shows how much variety there is in the way people interpret and play the game. I like that a lot.

[Skarg]

Yep! That friend also suggested it could be an interesting idea to run an ironic twist game where the players keep getting summoned to fight for wizards, and have to figure out how to stop it, perhaps by figuring out where those wizards are...

Like several unexplored details in TFT, it was interesting wondering about how/whether to explore filling those in, and maybe more interesting left blank for GMs to do interesting things, in some cases. Like this!! -->

Originally Posted by KevinJ

... How would PETA feel about Summon Wolf or Bear...

Oh, wait... PETS People for the Ethical Traetment of Summons.

LOL! Could be a whole comedy antagonist, that would fit in well in my original TFT campaign. It'd make it even more ironic if they were actually incorrect that anything real was being hurt...



I thought it might logically be a clue that summons always had the same stats/equipment and no injuries (and also that teleporting something nearby is so much more difficult), so it seemed likely they were projections or "knots of force" or something manifested out of energy rather than actually brought from someplace, even though that has some interesting possibilities.