[DF] Summoned allies questions:
 

In Basic Set, Summonable enhancement says that you roll at the start of an adventure? Does this mean in DF context that the summoned ally appearing is rolled when the party leaves "the town"? Can it be summoned at another time with a Concentrate maneuver (to save on supplies, food etc.), then? How long does it hang around, or will it just stay about until dismissed?

When a summoning roll is failed, you can't summon the ally again for one full day. What about if the summoning roll is successful? Can you summon an ally, make it attack, and dismiss it immediately on your next turn as a free action, just to summon it again to another point (on the same turn), effectively teleporting it? I guess that's not supposed to be happening. Should the one day delay also apply when dismissing an ally?

Re: [DF] Summoned allies questions:
 

It's the nonsummonable allies for which the GM rolls at the start of the adventure; for the summonable ones the player rolls when he needs them.

Re: [DF] Summoned allies questions:
 

That's assuming a fairly normal Ally. For one that you can literally conjure out of thin air, you roll every time you summon it. (Powers clarifies this some.)

No.

Yes.

The latter.

Then you can summon it again. You can summon, dismiss, summon, dismiss, etc., as much as you want until you fail that summoning roll. Then you're out for a day.

No, it's not. The GM decides where the Ally appears, not you. You can't "aim it" at an area.

No.

Re: [DF] Summoned allies questions:
 

What is the -default- casting time of Summon ally? Basic sort of seems to mean one second, but Powers say that time varies.

Re: [DF] Summoned allies questions:
 

Reading the two entries, it seems like the casting time (i.e., the time the character must spend concentrating) is one second, but there's a lot of variability in how long it takes for the Ally to actually show up.

Re: [DF] Summoned allies questions:
 

Ok, thanks!

Re: [DF] Summoned allies questions:
 

Ok, so what is the default delay before an Ally appears?

Re: [DF] Summoned allies questions:
 

Powers says it's the GM's call.. but now that you ask, I'm thinking that at least for DF Divine allies, sanctity could be used as a guideline. To mirror the example in Powers for fire elemental in a volcano or at the sea, if go for something like this:

Very High Sanctity - immediately
High Sanctity - 1d seconds
Normal Sanctity - 1d minutes
Low Sanctity - 1d hours
No Sanctity - won't appear!

Druids could have something similar.

Re: [DF] Summoned allies questions:
 

Basing it on environmentals is as valid a way as any. The time frame is likewise an arbitrary call, but the average delay should probably be short enough that a summoner could reasonably expect help to arrive in time to make a difference in non-surprise situations. JMO

Re: [DF] Summoned allies questions:
 

Thing is, there are plenty of types of summoned Allies for whom the physical environment is meaningless, since they come from some other dimension or plane. Sanctity or Unholiness level might make sense as a determinant for angelic or demonic summonings, but there are other sorts (e.g., genies, magic thunderbolts) for whom that shouldn't matter. Furthermore, there are certain character concepts that require a set, short time time (even 'instant') to fit the concept. I submit that leaving the arrival time a 0 point feature up to GM fiat on a case by case basis was probably a mistake; Johnny Thunder's ability to have a magic thunderbolt following his commands the instant he says Cei U! is on its face more useful and worth more pointswise than Thundermonkey's ability to summon his troop of monkeys from the nearest zoo, never managing to get their response time below 45 minutes and as a result frequently getting beaten up before they arrived. Even aside from the higher point value of Johnny's magic thunderbolt itself, of course.... honestly, I'd say that Onset might be a reasonable limitation to apply, even though it's currently only meant for attacks.