If you are fighting a shadow conjuration creature, how many disbelief saves do you get?
Do you just get one upon your first interaction and then believe/disbelieve from that point forth?
Or do you get one save for every interaction you make with it, it makes with you or near you or whatever?
Any ideas?
Unless otherwise noted, I allways assume only ONE save per spell. So I would only grant the save on the first "contact".
That sort of makes sense but it would be nice if the disbelief rules were clearer.
Well, lets look at the rule:
Saving Throws and Illusions (Disbelief): Creatures encountering an illusion usually do not receive saving throws to recognize it as illusory until they study it carefully or interact with it in some fashion.
A successful saving throw against an illusion reveals it to be false, but a figment or phantasm remains as a translucent outline.
A failed saving throw indicates that a character fails to notice something is amiss. A character faced with proof that an illusion isn't real needs no saving throw. If any viewer successfully disbelieves an illusion and communicates this fact to others, each such viewer gains a saving throw with a +4 bonus.
So the first paragraph tells us we get a save to disbelieve when we "interact" with an illusion. Interaction isn't formally defined, but for Shadow Conjuration it's probably straightforward. In the case of a summoned creature, it's probably when it attacks you, or you attack it.
Since it's obvious what happens if you make the save right off the bat, let's say you fail your save, and you think it's real. I don't see any reason normally why you'd be allowed a second save. It's partially real after all; it does real damage and can make tangible effects to the real world and in return you can deal damage and effect it as well.
The trick is with that last sentence however. If someone makes their save and shouts "it's not real," everyone gets to make their save with a +4 bonus. I can see two situations where this isn't as clear as it should be. First, if you've already attempted a save and failed. The sentence doesn't say that you gain a new saving throw after all. This might be implied by the word "gains" itself though, since you can't really gain something you'd be entitled to in the first place. Personally, I'd rule that if anyone makes the save and communicates, it grants a new save (with the bonus) on the next interaction. It wouldn't be an automatic thing, you still need to prove to yourself that your senses were playing tricks on you the first time.
The second situation is a variation where more than one person makes their save over a period of time. "No really, it's not real!" Does each time the illusion is communicated grant a new save? Again, it's not clear. I'd go with no, however. It says that "any" disbeliever gives the bonus save, not "each." It's a fine line, but I think after two failed saves you're just going to have to live with swinging your sword at shadows.
Of course, what happens if you make a spellcraft check to identify the spell as it's being cast is anyone's guess.... :)