Summon Spirit

"I'm pretty sure I died around... 2:00 o'clock or so. It was shortly after lunch. I remember.. wire, I think. One of them wire chokey things. Must'a killed me right quick. They pulled down though, like, whoever killed me was pretty short, no more than shoulder height. I hope that helps." -- a ghostThis information spell allows the caster to speak to the deceased.Magic, p.150 This can allow the PCs to establish a time of death, the deceased's last actions and perceptions, and, if murdered, whom the deceased believes may have wanted them dead.Mysteries, p.85
== Rules as Written ==
=== in GURPS Magic ===
* Summoner gets one question (which doesn't sound like a lot), but the spell can be maintained for multiple questions
* The subject can be summoned multiple times, but failure results in the spirit not being summonable for a year (ouch)
* Normally, this spell is resisted by Will, with Will-5 if the subject was a friend of the caster
* -5 if you don't know the subject's full name
* -1 if it's been more than a week since the subject's death
* -2 if more than a month
* -3 if more than a year
* -4 for 10 years
* -5 for 50 years
* and -6 for more than 500 years
=== in The Dungeon Fantasy RPG ===
* Critical failure can summon a malign spirit that lies deliberately, or worse (GM's whim)
* 20 to cast and 10 to maintain, but halve the cost if at the death site or near the body, or quarter the cost (5 to cast, 3 to maintain) if both!DFRPG: Spells, p.61
== Prerequisites ==
* Wizardly: Magery 2, Death Vision
* Clerical: Power Investiture 2 (but may vary)
A cleric of a god of the underworld/afterlife is highly likely to be given Summon Spirit!Thaumatology, p.70
== In Ritual ==
As Summon Spirit is a fairly expensive spell at 20 energy, it's often cast as a ritual, allowing higher skill and/or allies to assist. Allow players to reduce the cost of the spell if there's a lot of pomp and circumstance to their summoning! Lanterns, sombre music, maybe some turquoise.Thaumatology, p.240
== As a Prerequisite ==
* Summon Spirit is a wizardly prerequisite for Astral Block--although perhaps the opposite should be true! If you only have summon spirit, you should probably learn Pentagram as well, if dealing with dangerous or unknown spirits.
* It's also a prerequisite for Animation, Command Spirit, Materialize, Summon Shade, Weapon Spirit, Zombie, and of course, Resurrection.
==See Also==
*Summon, and its magic path, the Path of Spirit
*To summon Elemental Spirits, see Summon Elemental
== References ==
* Magic, p.150
Category:Spells
Category:Necromantic College