I was rolling up some Hedgies the other day and started thinking about the Elementalist Art of Summoning.
In particular, I was considering the conjure elemental matter/phenomenon application of (Philosphical) Summoning and it occurred to me that, due to the range at which the target appears (within immediate reach), that the fire and air applications of this power would be harmful to the caster and thus seem quite useless.
I know the character would get a Soak bonus against the Conjured element and could use their powers to summon Sanguine and Choleric creatures, but I still feel that I'm missing something...
Hmm, okay, I don't have the book in front of me, but let me try and think of some applications for you...
This could be an excellent way to light a campfire. Or a bonfire. Or a housefire. Just be ready to run after you've set it off. You don't have to touch it, after all. Arsonist elementalist!
If you summon up a weather phenomenon, I'd say you decide what direction it's going when it first comes into being. You have no control over it afterward, but it's basically a natural wind or storm and you can predict what it's going to do. Charge of the Angry Winds? Chamber of Spring Breezes?
Can't the elementalist summon it within a container, basically creating a sort of magical bomb? Throw the bottle and wherever it shatters, an explosive fire or tornado springs up.
Lighting a camp fire is a very good application, just pull back your hands quickly like you would after tossing a match into a BBQ.
I could see having it appear inside a lantern that is held as opposed to your hand or in brazier where you are touching the edge.
Summon weather, it appears next to you and moves outward so your toes get wet but that is it. (scattered showers do occur. I remember once being outdoors and there was no rain next to me but 20' away a person was getting rained on. also driving a car and it was raining, then not raining then raining as I moved under the clouds)
I guess I was confused because the Summoning guidelines seem to focus more on Theurgy than Medical or Philosophical applications...
The suggestion to summon flames or a storm into a bottle could be an effective missile weapon. It also makes sense that you could "aim" the weather phenomenon too!
I am still a bit curious, however, as to how the power works when adding mangnitudes to "summon more-dangerous phenomenon or more-substantial matter". With fire and air, the extra damage is pretty straight forward, but I'm bit confused by reference to harder and colder matter.
I believe I was thinking of the Hermetic Rego Terram guidelines, which have added magnitudes for affecting harder material, and is probably a good place for the storyguide to start, since it isn't very well defined, sorry. But as it is stated in the Philosophical Summoning section, the first additional magnitude summons stone instead of earth, and then I would suggest metals and gemstones at two magnitudes. The example coin-sized effect is Level 3 plus two magnitudes for summoning metal, so a Summoning Total of 5 is needed. Water doesn't really have any colder matter past ice, but maybe you could use the same increase in magnitudes to create corrosive matter? I'd suggest one magnitude for summoning something other than simple water, plus the damage rating of the substance summoned.