Help! New to playing a Shifter!

[GaredBattlespike]

Greetings!

I am just starting a One-on-One game with my GM.

I am jumping from Dimension to Dimension, and personally am ambivilant about Summoning (My PC is Scrupulous, so he will not want to Summon Evil Beings).

1)I wanted to know if I should go and take Traveller OCC (from Rifter)?
1a) The Pro's?
1b) The Con's?

2) Should I Summon?
2a) If so, what can a Good Aligned Shifter Summon?
2b) Any tips on how to use Summoned Beings (Besides Combat)?

A side bit: I am thinking of getting my PC a dog sled and using the Shifter-Standard spell "Summon and Control Canines" to provide transport wherever he goes! Your thoughts?

Thank you and Good Gaming,
GaredBattlespike

[dragonfett]

A side bit: I am thinking of getting my PC a dog sled and using the Shifter-Standard spell "Summon and Control Canines" to provide transport wherever he goes! Your thoughts?

Thank you and Good Gaming,
GaredBattlespike

It would have to be snowy everywhere you went on it then, but really not that bad of an idea.

I think that you can summon Elementals (they just don't like you as much as Warlocks). I believe that I had seen that dragon hatchlings could be summoned as they are considered lesser supernatural creatures for the purposes of summoning (don't take my word on it because I can't remember where I had seen it on the boards).

Unfortunately, PB hasn't really made a whole lot of minor supernatural creatures that were good (hell, I don't think that they have made a whole bunch of supernatural creatures that were primarily good to begin with).

I would have to say servants of good aligned gods, and just let your GM create what ever stats they think are appropriate here.

[Khord - Lizard Mage]

Tectonic and Possessing Entities are always useful. As long as you win the battle of wills, you can command your beasties to obey you and behave.

[Lord Z]

Agreed, I am building a Shifter for the first time. You have some options here. The Spirits of Light (found in my copy of Rifts Conversion Book 1, but I don't know if they are in the revised edition or moved to a different book) have good alignments, and they are quite powerful..

There are a few supernatural creatures which have the Anarchist alignment. Poltergeists (though not very powerful) are anarchists, and a lot of faeries are anarchist or unprincipled. The rules in R:UE are not very clear to me about whether creatures of magic like faeries and dragons can be summoned using the Shifter's OCC ability, so consult your GM. Heck, even Lord Splyncryth has the Anarchist alignment (though your character would never know that). Billy Bob Blyncryth (also from #9 /2) is another splugorth; his alignment is not listed, but he sure acts anarchist.

Haunting Entities are incredibly useful, and they basically have no alignment.

The character I am building has a God of Magic pact with Backsmack, patron god of practical jokes from Rifter 9 1/2.

[Zamion138]

part of why a "good" shifter cant summon "good" beings in good conscions is that after the battle of wills, your taking their free will away, so if its something mindless as a dog no biggie, but an angel or the creatures of a good god, if they have a mind you just enslaved them.

make a pact with a god of magic if you want to go kinda uber on your starting spells.
The dog sled is a great idea if your somewhere cold.

[SpiritInterface]

2) Should I Summon?
2a) If so, what can a Good Aligned Shifter Summon?
2b) Any tips on how to use Summoned Beings (Besides Combat)?

A side bit: I am thinking of getting my PC a dog sled and using the Shifter-Standard spell "Summon and Control Canines" to provide transport wherever he goes! Your thoughts?

Yes you should summon, there are Neutral and Good alignment beings that you can summon and ask for aid or information. When you summon these beings you do not need to do a test of wills, instead you negotiate with them or entreat them for their aide.

Don't forget the removable wheels for the dog sled so that you can use it on almost all terrain.

[Prince Artemis]

I played a good summoner and really, if you want to go with them you gotta focus more on animals and monsters than the full blown supernatural creatures. One thing that people tend to over look is that a shifter can take the tame beast spell at level 2 and unlike other casters can tame 1 animal per level (instead of 1 every 3). This spell works great for things like gryphons, Pegasus, some dinosaurs, and other beasts that usually show up on the random encounter table. I was really hoping to snag a grigleaper too before I had to quit the game. When it came to the demons he did summon, he usually stuck to the demon mounts which were essentially demonic animals anyway, and didn't keep them around very long.

[gaaahhhh]

A side bit: I am thinking of getting my PC a dog sled and using the Shifter-Standard spell "Summon and Control Canines" to provide transport wherever he goes! Your thoughts?

Thank you and Good Gaming,
GaredBattlespike

It would have to be snowy everywhere you went on it then, but really not that bad of an idea.

I think that you can summon Elementals (they just don't like you as much as Warlocks). I believe that I had seen that dragon hatchlings could be summoned as they are considered lesser supernatural creatures for the purposes of summoning (don't take my word on it because I can't remember where I had seen it on the boards).

Unfortunately, PB hasn't really made a whole lot of minor supernatural creatures that were good (hell, I don't think that they have made a whole bunch of supernatural creatures that were primarily good to begin with).

I would have to say servants of good aligned gods, and just let your GM create what ever stats they think are appropriate here.

Not true. You could also sled on lava. You just wouldn't be sledding for very long.

[Akashic Soldier]

I think you are better off not using your summoning ability and when you do forcing demons to kill other demons or dominating them so that they have to do good acts. Its a precarious balance but that is part of your curse as a Shifter.