Shayde

Shayde is a 400 point superhero mentioned at Making Friends and Conjuring People
PK uses her to demonstrate the construction of the Animate Shadows ability:
*
Each uses his 100-point Shadow meta-trait which utilizes his Conjured Servant meta-trait.
==you reform where now==
PK writes "can be summoned again within (2×HP) minutes."
GMs decide where UK3 reforms but PK takes advantage of them basically having a kind of Warp as a result of Summonable.
Where they reform PRIOR to that (you at least need to use a Concentrate maneuver to summon your allies to you is unknown.
"appear nearby" is not given an explicit range, so some might assume "touch" or "exact control within 10 yards" or "roll to hit within 100 yards".
Kind of like "physically present" is undefined for dismissing them (could use similar guidelines)
==you reform WHEN now==
PK assumes here that "time until arrival" after reformation is instantaneous. That may not be the case.
B38's "On a success, your Ally appears nearby." certainly sounds like there is no delay, but P41 "GM determines how long it takes summoned beings to appear" confuses the issue.
"not at all at sea" is clearly Environmental, while "instantly in a volcano" is probably like Reduced Time limited with Environmental
"animals might need to reach the summoner on foot" is like Thundermonkey and probably worth paying Onset.
The default being instant as PK assumed in 2005 is finally supported by Kromm in 2010 at http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?p=1029855&highlight=Allies#post1029855
:The intent is that Ally (Summonable) works like any other switchable advantage, which by default requires one second.
It's not ENTIRELY the same (a Concentrate maneuver, not a Ready) but close enough.
==which type of summonable==
One glaring issue is what type of Summonable enhancement the Animate Shadows ability represents.
Making Friends and Conjuring People was published 16 September 2005 in Pyramid, which predates 7 April 2006 when GURPS Powers came out.
PK wrote something here which effectively made it into powers:
:The Summonable enhancement can turn Allies from a standard social advantage into a supernatural power.
:In fact, it's reasonable for the GM to rule that Allies becomes a [Mental, Supernatural] advantage instead of a [Social] one when used in such a manner.
B38 never mentioned changing the type, but P41 adopted PK's idea:
:The Summonable enhancement converts Allies from a social trait to a supernatural ability
This means it is necessary to specify an origin for it.
Powers does not necessitate that it be changed to mental though. Abilities can be made mental by giving them something like requires will roll though.
*this option can cost less FP and usually always work, but it wasn't available prior to Powers. The closest thing in Basic Set was Unreliable. A big downside unlike Costs FP is if it hits 3 FP it's not just can't do it until there's 4 FP but FULL.
PK clearly wrote this with the original version of summonable in mind: dead allies stay dead. You keep the advantage and GM eventually lets you RP to reassign it to a new ally so long as it didn't die due to your abuse. These types of allies are consistent: they're on your side by default and keep memories of previous encounters.
Shayde is written as animating the shadows of allies, but while the substance of their bodies is circumstantial, they are OLD FRIENDS who she could've previously instructed with tactics. Conjured Servants are Automatons and Shadows have IQ 8 so the tactics they can process would be limited, but this is still better than needing to "instruct from scratch" every single time you summon your group, if you want them to begin combat immediately.
If Shayde's ability were redefined as being the new one, all those limitations would come into play, but she would enjoy the advantage that if they were slain (it IS possible to kill a foe with Unkillable 3, you can negate that advantage) she could get new ones, and HOPEFULLY they would like her (they would make a reaction roll and possibly rebel, that's why Minion helps: you can kill them if they do with no consequences)
The ability to summon new minions is also helpful if they aren't killed but are otherwise compromised, such as being hit with Unhealing (which would prevent reformation of a destroyed body) or other kinds of Afflictions or Symptoms. It allows you to dispel them and summon a fresh batch not suffering from those impediments. Also if they didn't die: there's no 24 hour waiting period before getting a replacement (that's why it's good to have UK2: UK3 is actually unnecessary)
==See also==
*Red Wolf
Category:Rule Examples