Hi guys, my question is simple.

Does Magic Accumulation apply also to Summoning/Invocation (and similar other stuffs from Arcana Exxet) ablities? I mean all summoning abilities require an expenditure of Zeon points (which may become really consistent as summonings/invocations grow in power). Now, does the summoner need to accumulate Zeon as if casting spells, in order to be able to spend it or is the Zeon spent simply a part of the ritual. This is absolutely inconsequential (most of the time), as far as the summoner takes hours to make his rituals. But if the summoner is willing to summon during a battle (has high enough summon/control to do it) or use an invocation (which use should be instantaneous), the matter becomes a issue.

I thank in advance for any reply (**** my player who chose the summoner class!).

PS - Yesterday I got my hands on Los Que Caminaron con Nosotros and Arcana Exxet, a couple expansions for this game which are yet released only in Spanish. Really, really delightful...I was really happy to discover that among the new advantages there was the opportunity to buy a familiar. It costs 2CP if you buy a familiar of your same level and 3 if you want it one level higher...I had already let my player buy a Level 2 familiar (they all started as level 1) for 3 CP instead of a Level 3 Artifact, so I'm very happy to know that my choice would have been approved by the designers of the game themselves!

It is my understanding that summoners do not need accumulation to use any of their abilities. They need to make really hard summoning rolls though.

Invocations are very limited, by the fact that you have to make the pacts. Don't allow your summoner to start with too many pacts already made.

Thanks a lot for the answer. I also suspected it was so.

My summoner started with no pacts, knowledge of the true name of 4 creatures (3XLevel0, 1XLevel1), and a Level 2 Familiar he spent 3CP for. I can't see any reason why his character should have already made pacts...expecially considering that the requirements for pacts are usually very difficult for a level 1 guy. During the first battle he summoned one of his known Level 0 (one that was useful in battle, of course) and bound it at the end of battle. Since his summoning abilities are pretty high, he could perform rituals for Level0 creatures with reasonable probability of success even during a confrontation, provided the other party members protected him. Now that he got to Level 2, he can do the same with Level1 creatures he knows the name of. As soon as he will have time to make some research, he'll get his hands on juicy summons, but I believe he won't be using Invocation until at least Level 3. They require tons of Zeon which isn't exactly what he's good at, but I must say that the new manual offers a very interesting option for Summoners (and characters in general), since it allows them to buy "Zeon Regeneration Multiple" for half the cost of Magic Accumulation. It actually works as a Magic Accumulation Multiple, but only for Zeonic Regeneration. He'll be happy when I tell him!

Wow, he has access to lots of creatures. That is more than the GM kit recommends for summoners, but they also have them start with a Invocation or two. I was surprised to hear that he summoned a creature in battle, even a level 0 is pretty hard for a first level summoner, if he has to summon the creature at the speed that makes it useful in combat. Perhaps knowing their true names compinstates, but don't forget to give him penalties for summoning based on the time it takes.

Well he spent most of his 60% in summon abilities...he had about 50% chance of summoning. Also he had an absurd starting Occult. By the way, to limit his "battle use" and increase his "overall usefulness", I gave him only two creatures which would be useful in battle (a Level 0 and the Level 1, which he wouldn't be able to summon directly in battle). The other two creatures are a psychic fairy who substantially works as scrier and a lesser imp with overall awesome stealth he can use as scout.

I really like the idea of non-combat summons. But does that mean that the other two are combat monsters.

I have a "hound of the wild hunt" for my summoners primary summon creature. It is pretty good in combat, but is has points spent in other places as well. It really like to track and run down what it sees as prey.

Apart from the Psy-Fairy and the Stealth-Imp, the guy is able to evoke a Raptor-like reptilian and a Demonic Warrior. They are both pretty tough fighters, but since the Demon is VERY dangerous, he hasn't dared to summon him yet (he's very afraid that the demon will find an opening in his orders to lay waste on the party...which is very likely if he's not correct and specific...after all, that's what demon summoning is all about...).

why would he spend CPs? it's not mentioned anywhere invocations/summoned creatures cost CPs in the manual

Of course not. But nowhere it's told that a character can begin the game with a Familiar. As per Arcana Exxet, you can have a starting familiar if you spend 2-3CP (with 2 cp you get a familiar your same level, with 3 cp you gain a familiar one level higher), it's an advantage. I allowed my character to spend such points even before Arcana Exxet was in my possession, considering the Familiar an "alternative" to an artifact (level1 Artifact -> Level0 Familiar...and so on).

As for the rest. I gave him starting "knowledge" of the names and nature of a few entities (described in my previous post). I based the number/level of creatures he personally knew on his Occult value. I decided to give him knowledge of level0/1 creatures because they're the only he could easily summon/control/otherstuff. He managed to summon the Level0 "fighter" during the first fight and bound him very early which made me take a sigh of rilief since this is my first Anima experience and I was unsure about how to employ the Summoner.

By the way, the party has by now reached Level 3 and they're pretty fine on my opinion.

I didn't know this rule from Arcana Exxet. I find it very harsh to pay CP to get a familiar you could summon in between 2 stories by setting up a ritual, maybe with some NPCs helping, it would even make a nice RPG moment. It would be like having a character paying 1 CP to be rich and at the third story the PCs find a treasure and he's not that rich anymore ...

I have a dark paladin using summoning, he spent 260 points (out of 600) to get summoning skills and Zeon to get it, which is a high enough cost I think, as he didn't use any of these summoning skills after as lots of time is needed to summon anything.

Well, if you're a summoner or a mage, a Familiar may be a useful "bodyguard" from the very start. It's the same as buying an extra party member...so it's always useful. Otherwise I'd allow a Sheele (a new cathegory of creatures/familiars) for 3CT. Beginning the game with a bound Sheele means having a very nice and powerful tool too. I believe my player would have chosen the sheele if he could when he rolled the character (I hadn't Arcana Exxet at that time), although I guess he likes very much his trustworthy bodyguard.

It's true you can always forge the bond with a Familiar, but then you're restrained by the creatures you somehow manage to evoke during the first part of the game. Also, beginning with a Familiar is interesting because the familiar may be an important tool for the character's own plot (as in this case).

It should be pointed out that a summoner can't just make a Familiar between games. He has to actually have the familiar before binding, and therein lies the rub. It's a lot more to making a familiar than summoning and binding.