Encyclopedia Magical: Demon Rules

Demon Summoning

To summon a demon a sorcerer must know the spell of Conjure Demon. This spell searches through the Spheres to find a creature dwelling there and bring it to the plane of the caster. On a normal success, a totally random specimen appears. On a special success, the caster's POW is doubled in all attempts to control the conjured demon. On a critical, the caster is considered to have summoned a member of a Breed. (Breeds may be summoned with a normal Summon spell thereafter).

Summoning are essentially alike, but breeds or individuals may require special ingredients, procedures, or location. Every demon resents being summoned. Though negotiations may soothe them, some demons do their best to spite the sorcerer who have called them.

In summoning a demon to negotiate, the summoner sacrifices magic points for the demons characteristics, abilities, and skills.

The Ritual

A summoning usually takes place inside a binding and normally takes 1d8 hours. Each summoning requires the sacrifice of at least nine magic points. If a particular breed is wanted the sorcerer must specify the breed or a True Name of an individual demon.

Defining the Demon

If an unknown demon is being summoned then it must be defined. This is done with the magic points sacrificed during the ceremony. The magic point cost per ability, stat, or skill is listed in the Demonic Abilities table

Negotiating

The sorcerer should have in mind something to exchange for the demon's services. If the negotiation succeeds, the demon then undertakes one limited task, and does it to the best of its ability. A limited task is some clearly finite action: "Let no one open this door for a year and a day". A demon would demand much more for this task than it would to defend it for one day.

The sorcerer's most common offer is to return the creature to its own plane after performing the desired service. But this must often be supported by promises of sacrifices, POW, etc... It is also wise to extract from the demon a pledge to do the summoner no harm. To see whether the demon agrees to the magician's bargain, the GM roll a D100. If this is below the binder's CHAx3%, the demon will obey. If not, the demon will betray the summoner at some time and possibly attack him. The GM should keep the dice roll secret until the demon acts: Dealing with demons is always risky business...

A mortal can either offers his/her own life force, in the form of worship, or the one of another sentient being in sacrifice. He can pledge to serve the demon lord for a certain period of time, or for the eternity of his afterlife. The successful summons of a demon lord creates a psychic bond between the demon and the sorcerer. As the sorcerer can attempt to summon the demon more easily, so can the demon summon the sorcerer to his plane.

Demons or spirit lords cannot be compelled by mortals, and the human must offer some form of bargain to gain the otherworld lord's cooperation. The player attempting the summons should be aware of this and have some sort of offer ready. Demon lords cannot be bribed with material possessions. They feast on other things: sometime on pain, beauty or sanity, sometime on life force and services. The following example of a successful bargain with a demon lord was sent to by Sandy Petersen. After reading the text, none of player ever attempted a summon again. Enjoy...

You finish the incantation exactly at midnight, as prescribed by the ancient book. After lighting the seventy candles in counterclockwise order around the circle, you lay the trail of kinsblood in an outgoing spiral. Then you pour the Unholy Ale upon the floor and speak the Word that cost you your thumbs and big toes to learn. Nothing happens for a minute or two, then a dim light begins to shine from the horizon, as though it were almost sunrise, but from every direction at once. Suddenly there are lightning flashes overhead in the clear sky, and a deep corrupt Voice booms from beneath the Earth:

WHAT IS ASKED?

Tremulous, you make your demands.

HAVE YOU A TOKEN?

You hold up the bloody form of your dead kinswoman.

NAY, the Voice thunders. THIS IS THE SECOND OF TIMES. HAVE YOU A TOKEN?
This time the Voice sounds closer, more eager.

Confused and frightened (this wasn't in the books), you present the sacrificial dagger.

The Voice groans, so softly you can barely hear It, but a dismal hunger slices through every word. Gently, It speaks,

NAY, MY SON. THIS IS THE THIRD OF TIMES. HAVE YOU A TOKEN?

Suddenly the light over the horizon vanishes. The thunder ceases. Everything is still. You hear your heartbeat, but nothing else. What the Hell does It want? Your fevered brain flashes through possibilities. Suddenly a wind springs from nowhere, the table overturns, the candles are extinguished. You fall to the ground, engulfed in total blackness. Huge claws grip your head and body and in desperation you pluck out your own eyes and hurl them into space, shrieking with pain and terror. The claws release you, the wind vanishes, but you no longer can see to tell if the light has reappeared.

The Voice speaks as before, quiet, eager, but no longer a-hungered.

BETAKE YOURSELF TO THE GATE, AND YOUR ASKING WILL BE GRANTED.

Scrabbling on hands and needs, blood pouring from your eye sockets and drenching the front of your robe, you climb the hill to the ancient ring of stones. Almost dead from pain, fatigue, and terror, you collapse in the center of the ring.

The Voice now speaks again, whispering softly, and seemingly right by your ear.

MY SON, THE FACES OF DECEIT ARE YOURS TO COMMAND.

Then the voice whispers the names of the Five Faces of Deceit and at last departs.

Something furry, clammy, and stinking of rot nuzzles your cheek. You pull back, but it chatters in speech, "I am high Magikin. I am your slave, and you are now and forever my master."

It licks your gory eye sockets and the pain dwindles. Your hands grope over the creature, and you feel that it is vaguely catlike, with prehensile hands and a human face. It chatters again.

"The names of the Six Faces of Deceit, spoken aloud, tap the Sacred Might of the Powers you conversed with tonight. When you Speak the First Name, you lose a year of your life. The Second Name is two years, and so forth. Each Name taps into a different Aspect of the Six Faces of Deceit. The Titles of the Faces, which are safe to speak aloud (but not their Names) are, order; ENVY, LIAR, THEFT, BETRAYAL, and MURDER."

You ask, "Magikin, you speak of Six Faces of Deceit, but you, and the Voice each told me but five Names."

Magikin chirps, "The Sixth Face of Deceit is your own face. The Sixth Name of Deceit is your own name. The Sixth Title of Deceit, which it is safe to speak, is that name which you must now choose to be called among men. Speak your old name aloud, and lose six years of life, but invoke unspeakable power.

When ever you hear your old name from another's lips, you shall suffer. Speak each Name but once. If ever you must speak a name a second time, the years of your life shall be shortened by six times as much as the first time. If ever you speak a Name a third time, That Whom you spoke with tonight shall return and do with thee as It wilt."

You mourn, "Magikin. I am blind by mine own hand. How shall I live? How shall I perform my spells."

Magikin squeaks softly, "I will be thy eyes." And suddenly you see again, but through Magikin's eyes. The creature leaps upon your shoulder and curls around your neck. "Let us be off", it squeaks again. "For I hunger and must be fed." Your lore tells you that a being such as Magikin may feed on nothing but human milk, and you depart to find it.

Binding

Several bindings exist. A demon can be bound as itself, or can be bound into an object or a place. A binding is good for the binders life, or until it is dismissed.

Bound demon counts against the binders CHA for a number of creatures that can be bound at any one time. No matter if the demon is bound as itself or is an object, a binding object must be created of points equal to the number of demon characteristics.

The binding itself can be performed in one of two ways, the demon can be forced into a binding matrix with a Dominate <Breed> spell, or by sorcerers will (this cost the binder one point of POW and the sorcerer must succeed in POW vs. POW roll against the demon)

Demonic Abilities

Roll Table for Demons