[Saxon]

Thanks a lot for the clarification. I have been trying a number of different things over the Last couple of days. Having a good group of body guards is essential early on, as you I do not have the construction skills to build decent items.

It is still risky, as a big summoning gone wrong will wipe out your summoning skill and take the magic items and body guard away. 10% of all summonings will wipe out your summoning skill, leaving you with the minor summons resulting from low skill as you start again.

To be honest, it seems like a lot of investment for limited gain. To get the really good summons, you have to keep someone alive and sane for a long time. If he gets knocked out around turn 30, you have to start again and will not get much useful for that stage of the game. You know that feeble mind is going to knock him out at some point, so it is hard to justify. Perhaps a magic item which reduced the chance of feeble mind would make it more viable.

Also, the summons are your sacred troops. Given that you will not get many and their numbers and strength are pretty random, it is tough to plan a bless strategy around them.

Put another way, it is an expensive lottery ticket and I am not sure the prize is being paid!

On the other hand, I have had a tough time with other nations and would love to hear others methods for making this race a winner. I will check out the other thread.