[dresdran]

So last night I was looking through Street Grimoire again when I saw the fluff text for the Guardian spirits, more specifically the two words holy avenger. That got me to think about a Catholic magic user that focuses on conjuring spirits whom he is convinced are servants of the faith (no matter what other naysayers may proclaim). Of course I soon learned that Christian mages aren't exactly known for their competency in all things conjuration, but there are always exceptions to the rule. This is mostly due to his mentor spirit, a Wanderer mentor spirit (a.k.a the Bat) whom he calls the Friar. In this way he has a rather unique outlook on spirits while still feeling like he is being guided by a spirit of the faith (he's not quite sure if his mentor is an angel or a long dead spirit but as far as he is considered thinking too much about such things can be bad for the faith).

My question is what kind of magic user should this guy be? I could take the Spiritual Way and go with a Mystic Adept to have another +1 to Conjuring tests or I could forsake that and the Mystic Adept and take something like Spirit Whisperer and Spirit Affinity. Also what is the advantage of the Spirit of Man over the other original six spirit types? I'm considering my five spirits on being Guardian, Task, Guidance, Man, and Air.

[Tecumseh]

See p.44-45 of Street Grimoire for the spirit list for Christian Theurgists:

Combat: Fire
Detection: Water
Health: Air
Illusion: Earth
Manipulation: Guidance
Drain: Willpower + Charisma

If you want a different spirit list you'll have to ask your GM nicely. Alternatively, doing a custom tradition (say, Roman Catholic or Protestant instead of Christian Theurgy) is not out of the question.

Spirits of Man are awesome for their Innate Spell power, which allows the spirit to cast any spell known by the conjurer. This is tremendously powerful.

Bat/Friar sounds good for a mentor spirit. Mystic adepts are cool, but note the karma costs: buying power points during chargen means less karma for positive qualities unless you pick up a lot of negative qualities too. Buying power points (30 karma) and Spiritual Way (20 karma) will break the chargen karma bank unless you max out negative qualities. There are less expensive ways to get +1 to Conjuring. Check out power foci or spirit foci (which will still be hard to afford during chargen after power points, but might make a good goal once gameplay starts).

Alternatively, just going straight magician and picking up Spirit Affinity/Whisperer is a solid choice too.

[dresdran]

I was thinking of something along the lines of an odd sect of Catholicism or perhaps a small Christian denomination that is sympathetic to Catholicism. As a matter of fact my guy would have at least 22 karma in negative qualities. Code of Honor (Shaman's Code) because he thinks he is working with angels and/ or the faithful so he isn't going to try and bind them and force them to do stuff,  Big Regret because he did something horrible that eventually led to him having a revelation and becoming a hardcore Christian, and the mouthful known as Pie Iesu, Domine, Dona Eis Requiem due to him seeking repentance from his horrible past and seeing it as one way.

Edit: Hm, if I take Spirit Affinity should I go with Man, Guardian, or Air?
Second Edit: What is the purpose of the Combat, Detection, Health, Illusion, and Manipulation designations for spirits. Did I miss something while reading Street Grimoire?

[Desiani]

See p.44-45 of Street Grimoire for the spirit list for Christian Theurgists:

Combat: Fire
Detection: Water
Health: Air
Illusion: Earth
Manipulation: Guidance
Drain: Willpower + Charisma

If you want a different spirit list you'll have to ask your GM nicely. Alternatively, doing a custom tradition (say, Roman Catholic or Protestant instead of Christian Theurgy) is not out of the question.

Spirits of Man are awesome for their Innate Spell power, which allows the spirit to cast any spell known by the conjurer. This is tremendously powerful.

Bat/Friar sounds good for a mentor spirit. Mystic adepts are cool, but note the karma costs: buying power points during chargen means less karma for positive qualities unless you pick up a lot of negative qualities too. Buying power points (30 karma) and Spiritual Way (20 karma) will break the chargen karma bank unless you max out negative qualities. There are less expensive ways to get +1 to Conjuring. Check out power foci or spirit foci (which will still be hard to afford during chargen after power points, but might make a good goal once gameplay starts).

Alternatively, just going straight magician and picking up Spirit Affinity/Whisperer is a solid choice too.

This is what i've been confused about the little red boxes. Are the ONLY kinds spells for each role you can cast? or are those the ones you can not cast? There is zero explanation in the Core or SG about what those boxes actually mean

[firebug]

The spirits listed are the only ones available to be summoned by that tradition; the category listed is what spells the spirit can be asked to Aid you with when bound (page 302).  They also tend to express what spirits are commonly summoned for what tasks, but this is not a hard rule.

The spells listed are just suggestions to give flavor to how spellcasters of that tradition do magic.  Preferences, but not restrictions.

[Jack_Spade]

@dresdran

Yeah, refluffing existing traditions would probably work best. For example Voodoo can be easily converted to Catholic Theurgie where you call upon angels and saints instead of the Loa.

[dresdran]

Hm, poking through Hard Targets I've found the Santeria religion to be closest to what my guy espouses. Possibly my guy learned of this tradition and decided to take a page from their book, although he might put a little more emphasis on the saints part of the religion. Doesn't have Task as one of them but I can live without it I think. What is the advantage to Task spirits? They really good at performing run-of-the-mill tasks for you?

[Jack_Spade]

Not just run of the mill. They are the perfect skill monkeys to do stuff you know how to do.

[dresdran]

Yeah, I'm starting to see how their optional power Skill could be useful consider it can be any technical or physical skill (especially if you have a high enough force for it). How useful is magical healing? It seems quite nice and it's something I could definitely use besides stand there and let my spirits do all the work.

[Jack_Spade]

Magical healing is - surprisingly - less efficient than a high level task spirit with first aid and a  high rated medkit.

The heal spell can only heal physical damage, while first aid can remove stun (albeit no drain) and with medicine even speed up the healing process (adding dice for the recovery).
It's most effective to use first aid first (who would have thought) and remove any left over damage with magic.

If you don't want your spirits to do all the work, get the channeling metamagic. That way you can just call the spirit into you and use their skills as your own character (while also benefiting from having a spirit possess your body without losing control.

But on the whole its always best if you prevent your team from getting hurt in the first place. Spirit meat shields, invisibility, concealment, counter spelling, illusions and so on are all great ways to aid your team without using actual violence yourself.

[dresdran]

Then it's just like Pathfinder in that regard, good to know. Any other good spells I should use? I've been eyeing the Watcher and Homunculus but have no idea whether or not I should bother with them.

[firebug]

Watcher and Homonculus are rituals, different than spells.  One of them can be useful, though they are quite niche.  You won't need both.  Ward and Circle of Healing can be useful as well, but as with all rituals, they are very situational.  If this is one of your first characters, I would avoid rituals so you as picking them could be a waste most of the time.

[dresdran]

Good to know. Will probably look at booster spells as well so I can buff my allies, give them a little of what god can grant to the faithful.

[Jack_Spade]

Watchers are quite useful. You can have more than one without the hassle of binding and even low force watchers can detect obvious threats in the astral and are therefore great to give your mundane chummers a warning system.

Homunculi make great mobile cover/decoys. They are fairly quick with their 15/30 movement rate and they can give otherwise mundane objects a lot of versatility (A rope form homunculus can be a self tying grappling hook, or a neat way to keep an escape artist from undoing his bounds)

That said: Ritual Magic starts getting interesting once you get the Greater Ritual metamagic.

But that goes beyond mere dabbling in ritual magic.