You can also one with Materialization in it's stat block. In this case, Materialization provides ITNW as a part of it's effects, but that provided ITNW is not a separate power on it's own and is inherent to the other power.
An analogy is that some creatures have listed Armor ratings. Other creatures wear physical armor, which provides the creature with an Armor Rating. However in the second case, the Armor Rating is inherent to the worn armor, not to the creature, and if you take that worn armor away the Armor Rating also goes away.
...
You'll note that the quote from RC says "Physical spirits", not just "spirits". Meaning that they only have the effect while they are materialized physically. I read that as intending to explicitly spell out this effect that Materialization provides, not as intending to provide summoned spirits with a separate power in and of itself.
You're actually making my case for me. When you wear armor, you
add the armor rating to your character until you take it off, just like you
add the power of Immunity to Normal Weapons to a Spirit while it's Materialized.
The power Endowment doesn't say "it's potential powers", or "it's inherent powers", just "its powers." Like I said, you can play it however you want at
YOUR table, but according to a precise and literal reading of the rules, Endowment only requires that the spirit have the power when the ability is used,
NOT that it be one of their natural powers.
As for "not providing the power itself", that's total bullshit. Complete, utter, smells like a cow's ass bullshit. It says in every instance that it provides Immunity to Normal Weapons, not "an effect equivalent to Immunity to Normal Weapons", but the power itself.
One could even find grounds, on a more liberal interpretation of the section on Free Spirits (since the sentence in question says
Spirits, not
Free Spirits or Physical Spirits), to say that
all spirits
always have the power, and It's not listed on individual Spirit stat-blocks for
the same reason Troll NPCS don't mention their +1/+1 armor or +1 Reach. Aka, it's a universal assumption that is so standard it doesn't bear repeating.
I say "intent" because most rules-lawyering revolves around rules-as-written versus rules-as-intended. I do not at all believe that the developers intended to provide ITNW seperately from Materialization, and as such do not believe it can be treated as a separate power for any reason, at least in the specific case of Materialization. The ITNW power was left off their stat blocks for a reason, not because it was an oversight, and the RC quote applies only to physical spirits, reinforcing my belief that it intends to mean they have ITNW only as a part of Materialization.
Okay, were you the one that wrote the rules in question? Do you actually work for CGL? If no to both, then your version of "the Rules As Intended" is
no more valuable than mine. RAI is all about individual interpretations of what the developer means and is, therefore,
worthless when talking about an abstract situation that doesn't involve a specific table.
What you call "Rules-lawyering", I call a precise and accurate interpretation of the mechanics of the game that is unfettered by personal sentiment and backed up by several direct, canonical references and
MY interpretation of the Rules As Indented. And, honestly, I actually
prefer the idea that all spirits always have ItNW, it just only comes into play when they're Materialized, but there's not enough RAW to really support that idea.
What you call "Rules As Intended" I call someone being a... well, better not go there. Suffice to say once again that I see your arguments as based on nothing but you taking your personal little-duck feelings and trying to throw them out onto the world at large as Absolute Truth, backed by nothing more than an attempt at twisting and re-writing of the basic, fundamental mechanics of the game (i.e. to get an effect you have to have the Power on your character at the time) to try to justify your negation bias.
Non-inhabiting Ally Spirits can only be built with the powers of your summonable spirits, and they do NOT have ITNW as a separate discrete power. They can have Materialization, which provides ITNW, but they cannot have ITNW as a discrete power, nor can they endow it separately from Materialization.
Okay then, lets look at Materialization:
Materialization
Type: P • Action: Complex • Range: Self • Duration: Sustained
Certain astral critters are capable of projecting themselves into the material world, thus allowing them to interact with physical beings. When materialized, critters may affect physical targets. Additionally, materialized critters gain Immunity to Normal Weapons.
Okay, so what's the actual effect of Materialization? I believe the key phrase is "projecting themselves into the material world". Therefore, all PCs, NPCs, and Critters that are already
IN the material world and can interact with physical objects... especially the entities that are Dual Natured by default... are materialized by their very nature as physical beings. Give them the power of Materialization and they automatically get ItNW because they're now, effectively, Physical Spirits. No muss, no fuss, no need to Astrally Project.
THAT is rules lawyering.
At this point I suggest we let the subject drop unless you have anything more to add other than more of the same regurgitation of statements not supported in any way by the books, because frankly I'm running out of ways to explain to you that 2+2 = 4 whether a special little snowflake wants it to be 5 or not, and I don't feel like repeating myself.
