Rules Questions

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Binding, Banishing, demon death, and master death
Descriptors
Sorcerer combat
Why no mind control?
When is a demon in Need?
Commanding demons
Sorcerer & Sword
More about Sorcerer & Sword
Taint and Mark
Fast and Parasite Stamina
Bonus dice for Humanity rolls

The Gaming Outpost Sorcerer forum is no longer active but contains many useful discussions to peruse.

Dice mechanics and calculating victories

On page 18:

A rolls 8 5 5 2 B rolls 8 7 6 1

B wins with two victories, because the 8s cancel, and both 7 and 6 are higher than 5, which is A's next highest die. Right?

On page 92:

A rolls 10 10 8 7 7 5 B rolls 10 5 5 5

A wins with one victory. Why one? Why isn't it: the highest pair of 10s cancel, and then A has 10, 8, 7, 7 all higher than 5: four victories. Is this a typo?

This is what happens when you correct the instructive rules and don't follow through with every example. Page 18 is right and p. 92 should be four victories.

Also -- what happens if you get:

A rolls 10 10 4 4 2 B rolls 10 10

Does A win? Or is this a tie that gets rolled again? This seems similar to the situation which is given a special exception on page 18, when one of the conflicting parties is rolling only a single die ... but that special exception explicitly states that it's only for ties when one party is rolling a SINGLE die. So how does it work?

You're right, it is similar to the one-die situation, but the rules apply more like the usual situation. The way I usually handle this is to say that A succeeds, but by the barest margin possible, up to and including "0 victories" for damage purposes. I figure B gave it the very best shot possible, so doesn't deserve to be hosed so terribly badly.

Telltales

Are Telltales consistent or obvious to those in the know?

As far as consistency is concerned, Telltales do not have to be consistent unless you customize it as per Chapter Four.

As far as obviousness is concerned, in practice, this shakes out into two situations. (1) The sorcerer makes the Lore roll, hence he does see the silvery scales lining the elbows and fingertips of the waiter. Bam, he saw it, and knows that those scales are demonic. In this case, the Lore roll is being used like a traditional-RPG perception roll; failure indicates he doesn't even see the scales in the first place. (2) The sorcerer makes the Lore roll, hence he recalls that a red lapel button is the recognition signal for a particular coven. In this case, the Lore roll is being used like a traditional-RPG knowledge skill, to interpret an obvious feature correctly in a sorcery-knowledgeable context.

... Harry, the FBI agent, has an ornate tatoo on his chest. So does my cousin. Is there something archaic in Harry's tatoo that would make it a give away to another Sorcerer? Or are there many cases of mistaken identity?

Well, the very idea of an FBI agent with ANY kind of tattoo is itself off-kilter. I also could see the tattoo itself having content that would tip off a sorcerer who makes the Lore roll. But yes, I think that SOME Telltales (which correspond to situation #2 above) lead very nicely to mistaken-identity issues.

In my games, anyway, players tend to make "he's a demon" and "he's a sorcerer" decisions over the long term rather than the instant judgment. I wasn't kidding with that crack about the houseplants; that came right out of one of my early games.

Detecting demons via Telltales

On page 48: "all may be identified as demons by a sorcerer who rolls Lore vs demon's Cover (or one die, if the demon does not have the Cover ability)".

On page 102: "the second is if the demon's Telltale catches Fenster's attention as a sorcerer, so the roll is Fenster's Lore against the demon's (10-power = 4)."

Where did "10 - power" come from?

From old rules which are clunky and stupid. The p. 48 rules are correct.

GM modifying demons

On page 92: "One detail is altered for each die of the demon's roll that is greater than any die of the character's."

Does "any" in that sentence mean the same thing as "the lowest"? Otherwise I don't understand what it means.

Yes. That is a much clearer way to put it, and why I didn't say it that way, I can't imagine.

Starving demons

Unbound demons lose 1 power/day until they hit 0 power; then lose 1 stamina/day unless they successfully roll their power vs original stamina. Isn't their power always 0 at this point? How do you roll 0 power versus anything? Or is the roll "original power vs original stamina"?

Original Power is used, but current Stamina is used, as it dwindles. Since the roll therefore becomes easier and easier, on the average a demon's starvation rate will slow down as time passes.

Summoning demons

Humanity begins equal to the character's Stamina or Will, whichever is higher [p. 31]. Characters summon demons by rolling Will-Humanity [p. 86]. I realize that extra dice may be earned during through Contact, but lets say that none are. This means a starting character rolls a whooping 0 dice for Summoning a demon. Is this right?

Right. The beginning sorcerer character is in a pickle. In the long-term, if you want to be a summonin' bad-ass, either drop some Humanity or bulk up some Will, or both. More concretely and immediately, USE ROLE-PLAYING BONUSES from Chapter 1 and the ritual bonuses listed in Chapter 5. With a bit of imagination, you can get up to 5 or 6 or more dice. Group sorcery can also help.

Another frequent tactic is to Bind already-extant demons away from NPC sorcerers.

Thanks to Brett and Kyle for the questions.