Wizardry: Gate Spells IV
Let's tackle the summoning spells, as they are very difficult to get right. Summon Monster is strictly a combat spell, as it has a very short duration. The D&D spell has 9 levels, and GURPS has Ally with 9 power categories, which is a nice coincidence. Planar Binding is a spell with a much longer duration, but also long casting time. It's very similar to the (Entity) Summoning spell from Pyramid #3-105. Fetch is a summoning spell that does not force the summonned being to do anything. It permanently displaces an outsider from its native plane to the plane of the summoner. I will also introduce the limited versions for elemental beings for specialized elementalists.
Bind Elemental
Keywords: None.
Full Cost: 32 points.
Full Cost (Lesser): 11 points.
Full Cost (Greater): 94 points.
Casting Roll: Skill, rolled as a Quick Contest against the summoned being’s Will.
Components: V, S.
Cost: 2 FP.
Casting Time: 10 minutes.
Casting Time (Lesser): 10 minutes.
Casting Time (Greater): 1 hour.
Range: 10 yards.
Duration: Hours equal to margin of victory on Quick Contest of skill against Will.
Each time you cast this, you summon an elemental (worth 75% or less of your point value) of a specific type. This type is chosen when you learn this spell. Thus, Bind Fire Elemental and Bind Water Elemental are two different spells. The GM will create this being, but you can request one that meets broad criteria. If there is no such being on the chosen plane, the spell fails. Alternatively, if you know a specific being you want to call, you can summon it (although if you do not have its True Name or some equally significant identifier, you are at -5 on the casting roll). A penalty applies based on the planar “distance”: There is no distance penalty for creatures that are currently on the same plane of existence. Adjacent dimensions impose -3, increasing by -3 for every intervening dimension. The Prime Material Plane is considered adjacent to the Ethereal Plane, and the Ethereal Plane is adjacent to the Inner Planes, where most of the elementals come from. Thus, preparations that mitigate the penalty usually are required. The Symbol Drawing (Summoning Circles) skill can be used to lower or remove this penalty, but never provides a net bonus. Drawing a summoning circle requires a solid surface, drawing implements, and ten extra minutes of work. Success lowers the planar distance penalty by margin of success. The circle can be used multiple times, but works only for a single plane chosen during the drawing. However, you may draw a universal circle by rolling at -4.
The summoning itself requires 10 minutes of preparation and ritual. At the end of the casting, you must pay 2 FP and make a Quick Contest of skill against the elemental’s Will to force it to appear. If you are victorious, the elemental arrives. It then makes a reaction roll. On Poor or worse, treat it as an Unwilling Ally – it will obey you, but try to subvert your commands or otherwise act against your interests. If the reaction is Neutral or better, it will serve you reasonably faithfully.
You can also summon elementals to answer questions, but once the elemental is done answering your questions, it departs to its home plane. Treat this as a Contact Group with an appropriate knowledge category, an effective skill of 18, and a reliability that depends on the reaction roll: Unreliable for Poor or less, Somewhat Reliable on a Neutral reaction, Usually Reliable for Good, and Completely Reliable for Very Good or Excellent reactions. You can use this spell this way no more than once per day. The summoned being answers the first question at its full effective skill, and each subsequent question is at a cumulative -2 penalty. If the elemental cannot answer immediately, but can provide the answer later, which can happen due to a failed skill roll or unreliability, you will have to resummons this exact elemental later to get the answer later, at the usual -5 penalty if you do not know its True Name.
Unlike most spells with a duration, this spell must be maintained; thus, unless you can cast simultaneous spells, using another spell will immediately dismiss the summoned being. However, there is no FP cost to maintain this spell, only to cast it. A summoned being is vulnerable to being dispelled, banished, or warded off with occult techniques. If it is killed, you must wait 24 hours before using this spell again; if dismissed, you must wait five minutes.
Two other versions of this spell summon beings of different potency. Bind Lesser Elemental calls forth an elemental worth up to 25% of your point value. Bind Greater Elemental calls an elemental worth up to 150% of your point value, and requires one hour to cast. For the purpose of providing information, treat creatures summoned with the Lesser version as having an effective skill of 12, while Bind Greater Elemental provides effective skill 21.
Statistics: Ally
(A type of elemental;
Built on 75%; Constantly; Adjustable, Can
provide information, +100%;
Conjured, +100%; Immediate Preparation Required, 10 minutes, -45%;
Magical, -10%; Maximum Duration, hours equal to margin of victory,
-5%; Ranged, +40%; Reduced Range, 1/10,
-30%; Requires Gestures, -10%; Requires Magic Words, -10%; Requires
Quick Contest of IQ
vs. Will, -15%; Special Abilities, +50%) [32].
Bind Lesser Elemental
has Ally, built on 25%. Bind Greater
Elemental is built on 150%, and increases
Immediate Preparation Required to 1 hour, -75%. Notes:
The Maximum Duration limitation is priced based on Maximum Duration,
12 hours. As a special effect, this spell breaks rules by allowing
free maintenance, but this is offset by imposing a FP cost to cast
and dimensional “range” penalties.Fetch
Keywords: None.
Full Cost: 8 points.
Full Cost (Lesser): 3 points.
Full Cost (Greater): 24 points.
Casting Roll: Skill, rolled as a Quick Contest against the summoned being’s Will.
Components: V, S.
Cost: 2 FP + 1 character point or more; see text.
Casting Time: 10 minutes.
Casting Time (Lesser): 10 minutes.
Casting Time (Greater): 1 hour.
Range: 10 yards.
Duration: Instantaneous.
Each time you cast this, you summon an outsider (worth 75% or less of your point value) from a plane of existence of your choice. The GM will create this being, but you can request one that meets broad criteria. You cannot summon a specific being. If there is no such being on the chosen plane, the spell fails. A penalty applies based on the planar “distance”: There is no distance penalty for creatures that are currently on the same plane of existence. Adjacent dimensions impose -3, increasing by -3 for every intervening dimension. The Prime Material Plane is considered adjacent to the Astral Plane, and the Astral Plane is adjacent to the Outer Planes, where most of the outsiders come from. Thus, preparations that mitigate the penalty usually are required. The Symbol Drawing (Summoning Circles) skill can be used to lower or remove this penalty, but never provides a net bonus. Drawing a summoning circle requires a solid surface, drawing implements, and ten extra minutes of work. Success lowers the planar distance penalty by margin of success. The circle can be used multiple times, but works only for a single plane chosen during the drawing. However, you may draw a universal circle by rolling at -4.
The summoning itself requires 10 minutes of preparation and ritual. At the end of the casting, you must pay 2 FP and make the casting roll. If the roll is successful, you must also pay a certain number of unspent character points to force the outsider to appear. This summoned entity then becomes a free-willed, permanent resident of the summoner’s world, not his Ally, but on a Good or better reaction, it will grant its summoner a minor favor or service before departing.
Consult the following table to determine how many character points you must spend. “Point Total” is the summoned being’s point total expressed as a percentage of your starting points; “Cost” is the number of character points required. If the summoned being’s point total falls between two percentages, use the higher.
Point Total |
Cost |
15% |
1 point |
25% |
2 points |
50% |
4 points |
75% |
5 points |
100% |
8 points |
150% |
16 points |
Statistics: Ally (Outsider; Built on 75%; Constantly; Adjustable, +150%; Character point-powered, x1/5; Conjured, +100%; Immediate Preparation Required, 10 minutes, -45%; Magical, -10%; Ranged, +40%; Reduced Range, 1/10, -30%; Requires Gestures, -10%; Requires Magic Words, -10%; Requires Quick Contest of IQ vs. Will, -15%; Special Abilities, +50%) [8]. Lesser Fetch has Ally, built on 25%. Greater Fetch is built on 150%, and increases Immediate Preparation Required to 1 hour, -75%.
Fetch Elemental
Keywords: None.
Full Cost: 6 points.
Full Cost (Lesser): 2 points.
Full Cost (Greater): 16 points.
Casting Roll: Skill, rolled as a Quick Contest against the summoned being’s Will.
Components: V, S.
Cost: 2 FP + 1 character point or more; see text.
Casting Time: 10 minutes.
Casting Time (Lesser): 10 minutes.
Casting Time (Greater): 1 hour.
Range: 10 yards.
Duration: Instantaneous.
Each time you cast this, you summon an elemental (worth 75% or less of your point value) of a particular type, chosen when learning this spell. Thus, Fetch Fire Elemental and Fetch Water Elemental are two different spells. The GM will create this being, but you can request one that meets broad criteria. If there is no such being on the chosen plane, the spell fails. You cannot summon a specific being. A penalty applies based on the planar “distance”: There is no distance penalty for creatures that are currently on the same plane of existence. Adjacent dimensions impose -3, increasing by -3 for every intervening dimension. The Prime Material Plane is considered adjacent to the Ethereal Plane, and the Ethereal Plane is adjacent to the Inner Planes, where most of the elementals come from. Thus, preparations that mitigate the penalty usually are required. The Symbol Drawing (Summoning Circles) skill can be used to lower or remove this penalty, but never provides a net bonus. Drawing a summoning circle requires a solid surface, drawing implements, and ten extra minutes of work. Success lowers the planar distance penalty by margin of success. The circle can be used multiple times, but works only for a single plane chosen during the drawing. However, you may draw a universal circle by rolling at -4.
The summoning itself requires 10 minutes of preparation and ritual. At the end of the casting, you must pay 2 FP and make the casting roll. If the roll is successful, you must also pay a certain number of unspent character points to force the elemental to appear. This summoned entity then becomes a free-willed, permanent resident of the summoner’s world, not his Ally, but on a Good or better reaction, it will grant its summoner a minor favor or service before departing.
Consult the following table to determine how many character points you must spend. “Point Total” is the summoned being’s point total expressed as a percentage of your starting points; “Cost” is the number of character points required. If the summoned being’s point total falls between two percentages, use the higher.
Point Total |
Cost |
15% |
1 point |
25% |
2 points |
50% |
4 points |
75% |
5 points |
100% |
8 points |
150% |
16 points |
Statistics: Ally (A type of elemental; Built on 75%; Constantly; Adjustable, +50%; Character point-powered, x1/5; Conjured, +100%; Immediate Preparation Required, 10 minutes, -45%; Magical, -10%; Ranged, +40%; Reduced Range, 1/10, -30%; Requires Gestures, -10%; Requires Magic Words, -10%; Requires Quick Contest of IQ vs. Will, -15%; Special Abilities, +50%) [6]. Fetch Lesser Elemental has Ally, built on 25%. Fetch Greater Elemental is built on 150%, and increases Immediate Preparation Required to 1 hour, -75%.
Planar Binding
Keywords: None.
Full Cost: 44 points.
Full Cost (Lesser): 15 points.
Full Cost (Greater): 134 points.
Casting Roll: Skill, rolled as a Quick Contest against the summoned being’s Will.
Components: V, S.
Cost: 2 FP.
Casting Time: 10 minutes.
Casting Time (Lesser): 10 minutes.
Casting Time (Greater): 1 hour.
Range: 10 yards.
Duration: Hours equal to margin of victory on
Quick Contest of skill against Will.
Each time you cast this, you summon an outsider (worth 75% or less of your point value) from a plane of existence of your choice. The GM will create this being, but you can request one that meets broad criteria. If there is no such being on the chosen plane, the spell fails. Alternatively, if you know a specific being you want to call, you can summon it (although if you do not have its True Name or some equally significant identifier, you are at -5 on the casting roll). A penalty applies based on the planar “distance”: There is no distance penalty for creatures that are currently on the same plane of existence. Adjacent dimensions impose -3, increasing by -3 for every intervening dimension. The Prime Material Plane is considered adjacent to the Astral Plane, and the Astral Plane is adjacent to the Outer Planes, where most of the outsiders come from. Thus, preparations that mitigate the penalty usually are required. The Symbol Drawing (Summoning Circles) skill can be used to lower or remove this penalty, but never provides a net bonus. Drawing a summoning circle requires a solid surface, drawing implements, and ten extra minutes of work. Success lowers the planar distance penalty by margin of success. The circle can be used multiple times, but works only for a single plane chosen during the drawing. However, you may draw a universal circle by rolling at -4.
The summoning itself requires 10 minutes of preparation and ritual. At the end of the casting, you must pay 2 FP and make a Quick Contest of skill against the outsider’s Will to force it to appear. If you are victorious, the outsider arrives. It then makes a reaction roll. On Poor or worse, treat it as an Unwilling Ally – it will obey you, but try to subvert your commands or otherwise act against your interests. If the reaction is Neutral or better, it will serve you reasonably faithfully.
You can also summon outsiders to answer questions, but once the outsider is done answering your questions, it departs to its home plane. Treat this as a Contact Group with an appropriate knowledge category, an effective skill of 18, and a reliability that depends on the reaction roll: Unreliable for Poor or less, Somewhat Reliable on a Neutral reaction, Usually Reliable for Good, and Completely Reliable for Very Good or Excellent reactions. You can use this spell this way no more than once per day. The summoned being answers the first question at its full effective skill, and each subsequent question is at a cumulative -2 penalty. If the outsider cannot answer immediately, but can provide the answer later, which can happen due to a failed skill roll or unreliability, you will have to resummons this exact outsider later to get the answer later, at the usual -5 penalty if you do not know its True Name.
Unlike most spells with a duration, this spell must be maintained; thus, unless you can cast simultaneous spells, using another spell will immediately dismiss the summoned being. However, there is no FP cost to maintain this spell, only to cast it. A summoned being is vulnerable to being dispelled, banished, or warded off with occult techniques. If it is killed, you must wait 24 hours before using this spell again; if dismissed, you must wait five minutes.
Two other versions of this spell summon beings of different potency. Lesser Planar Binding calls forth an outsider worth up to 25% of your point value. Greater Planar Binding calls an outsider worth up to 150% of your point value, and requires one hour to cast. For the purpose of providing information, treat creatures summoned with the Lesser version as having an effective skill of 12, while Greater Planar Binding provides effective skill 21.
Statistics: Ally
(Outsider; Built
on 75%; Constantly; Adjustable, Can provide
information, +200%;
Conjured, +100%; Immediate Preparation Required, 10 minutes, -45%;
Magical, -10%; Maximum Duration, hours equal to margin of victory,
-5%; Ranged, +40%; Reduced Range, 1/10,
-30%; Requires Gestures, -10%; Requires Magic Words, -10%; Requires
Quick Contest of IQ
vs. Will, -15%; Special Abilities, +50%) [44].
Lesser Planar Binding
has Ally, built on 25%. Greater Planar Binding
is built on 150%, and increases Immediate Preparation Required to 1
hour, -75%. Notes:
The Maximum Duration limitation is priced based on Maximum Duration,
12 hours. As a special effect, this spell breaks rules by allowing
free maintenance, but this is offset by imposing a FP cost to cast
and dimensional “range” penalties.Summon Elemental
Keywords: None.
Full Cost: 3 points or more; see text.
Casting Roll: Skill.
Components: V, S.
Cost: 1 FP to cast, 1 FP per 10 seconds to maintain.
Casting Time: 2 seconds.
Range: 10 yards.
Duration: Indefinite.
Each time you cast this, you coagulate planar energies to create a creature that resembles an elemental of a particular type, chosen when you learn this spell. Thus, Summon Fire Elemental and Summon Water Elemental are two different spells. The GM will create this being, but you can request one that meets broad criteria. You cannot create a specific being using this spell. The creature obeys your orders regardless of how you treat it. Note that the creature should be able to understand you, so most casters learn a language used by elementals. The summoned being does not possess any knowledge, so this spell cannot be used to gain information.
A summoned elemental cannot summon or otherwise conjure another creature, nor can it use any teleportation or planar travel abilities. Creatures cannot be summoned into an environment that cannot support them. For instance, a fire elemental cannot be summoned underwater.
A summoned being is vulnerable to being dispelled, banished, or warded off with occult techniques. If it is killed, you must wait 24 hours before using this spell again; if dismissed, you must wait five minutes.
The point value of the summoned elemental must equal or less that a percentage of your point value. The percentage in question depends on the spell level as shown on the table below.
Spell Level |
Point Value Limit |
Full Cost |
Summon Elemental I |
5% |
3 points |
Summon Elemental II |
10% |
5 points |
Summon Elemental III |
15% |
7 points |
Summon Elemental IV |
20% |
10 points |
Summon Elemental V |
25% |
12 points |
Summon Elemental VI |
50% |
24 points |
Summon Elemental VII |
75% |
35 points |
Summon Elemental VIII |
100% |
58 points |
Summon Elemental IX |
150% |
116 points |
Summon Monster
Keywords: None.
Full Cost: 4 points or more; see text.
Casting Roll: Skill.
Components: V, S.
Cost: 1 FP to cast, 1 FP per 10 seconds to maintain.
Casting Time: 2 seconds.
Range: 10 yards.
Duration: Indefinite.
Each time you cast this, you coagulate planar energies to create a creature that resembles an extraplanar creature. The GM will create this being, but you can request one that meets broad criteria. You cannot create a specific being using this spell. The creature obeys your orders regardless of how you treat it. Note that the creature should be able to understand you, so most casters learn a language used by outsiders. The summoned being does not possess any knowledge, so this spell cannot be used to gain information.
A summoned monster cannot summon or otherwise conjure another creature, nor can it use any teleportation or planar travel abilities. Creatures cannot be summoned into an environment that cannot support them. For instance, a celestial porpoise may only be summoned in an aquatic environment.
A summoned being is vulnerable to being dispelled, banished, or warded off with occult techniques. If it is killed, you must wait 24 hours before using this spell again; if dismissed, you must wait five minutes.
The point value of the summoned creature must equal or less that a percentage of your point value. The percentage in question depends on the spell level as shown on the table below.
Spell Level |
Point Value Limit |
Full Cost |
Summon Monster I |
5% |
4 points |
Summon Monster II |
10% |
7 points |
Summon Monster III |
15% |
10 points |
Summon Monster IV |
20% |
13 points |
Summon Monster V |
25% |
16 points |
Summon Monster VI |
50% |
32 points |
Summon Monster VII |
75% |
47 points |
Summon Monster VIII |
100% |
78 points |
Summon Monster IX |
150% |
156 points |
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