If, at any point, the player fails a roll – that is, he gets no successes at all – the spirit can make a Willpower roll to end the contest. The difficulty for that roll is the mage’s Spirit-Sphere Rank +5. If the entity succeeds, it may either leave the area (noting the foolishness of the mage who dared to call upon that spirit without being worthy to do so) or else attack the summoner (which is where the wards come in handy…).

• A mage who botches the roll gets attacked automatically by the insulted spirit, whose wrath may be defected only by the strength of the mage’s protective wards.

• A spirit, on the other hand, who fails or botches during the challenge process immediately defers to the mage’s commands.

A mage with significant experience, or who’s got an established relationship with the entity in question, can usually forgo the challenge process. If the mage and the spirit are friendly with one another – like a totem or an old ally – then no challenge is necessary.