SORCERER

The Apprentice Version

By Ron Edwards
Copyright 1998 Ron Edwards
Thanks for taking a look at Sorcerer! Come on by the
official website at:

http://www.sorcerer-rpg.com
There you can order the full Adobe Acrobat version of the
game. It includes great art, a wider range of character creation
options, a hefty section on preparing good stories for Sorcerer, lots
more examples, and a whole section on demon creation you can't
get anywhere else.

CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Creating Your Sorcerer
3. Resolving Actions
Sorcery
Combat
4. You and Your Demons
5. Branches of Sorcery

At the site you'll also find chat, player submissions and

suggestions, fiction, more art, other original RPGs you might like,
and a link center to small-press and maverick roleplaying games
from all over the world.

Grateful thanks are due to: The Game Publishers' Alliance,

Serendipity's Circle, Geof Gowan, Philip Tillsley, and Ed Healy

Introduction
In this roleplaying game, each player creates and runs a powerful
sorcerer in the modern-day world. Each character (PC) comes equipped with at
least one demon he or she has bound and at any time may try to summon and
bind more demons. The demons have tremendous superhuman abilities; the
sorcerers themselves have no special abilities or powers beyond their
knowledge of how to summon, command, and bind them. The Game Master
(GM) plays the demons as characters.
The sorcerer is not like magic-using characters in most roleplaying
games. They are not wizards who channel the harmonious elements of the
natural world. They do not cast spells. They know that the traditions,
cultures, rituals, and bodies of knowledge surrounding what we call magic or
the occult are wrong. It is hogwash, flimflam, swindlery, and lies. Instead,
they break the rules of reality to summon and command beings that are Not
Supposed to Be Here. They are outlaws -- the ultimate in arrogance.
Sorcerous magic is powerful, very obviously Not Natural, and has no
true masters. Demons shriek with malicious delight or lick their brutish lips in
anticipation as they materialize from Outside and match their power against the
sorcerer's wits. Sorcerous deeds mix the heady possibility of awesome power
and the certainty of blood-freezing danger. If you risk all on a crucial bargain
with a demon, get nervous when it readily agrees . . . what have you missed?
The rules do not include a premise for what sorcery "really is," that is
left to the Game Master for every group. You, the GM, must decide what
demon means to you: a blasphemous threat to one's soul? A misunderstood
rebel? A psycho-killing menace? In fact, it's totally up to you whether there is
any religious content to the definition at all. Whatever definition you settle on,
don't let players railroad the story with their own assumptions. Remember that
a sorcerer might think that demons come from Hell, or from Dimension X, but
only the GM knows for sure.
Roleplaying is a lot like playing in a band: on game night, you get
together and make cool-sounding noises. You'll have to try people out and
have standards for their abilities. Everyone has to listen, everyone has to play
honestly and hard, and no other group will be quite like it. It doesnt concern
winning, although showing off for your friends might be part of it. It has
nothing to do with losing either, although screwing up or regretting things can

play its role. In a band, if someones not having fun, they stop coming. If
someone is not up to the level of the other members, or cant handle their end
of things, they stop getting invited. Eventually the band might be pretty good.
When all is said, the rules you hold are just some instruments. The music is up
to you.

System rules
Sorcerer is a dice-based RPG. It does not matter what sort of dice your
roleplaying group uses, as long as they (the dice) all have the same number of
sides. Characters' scores and momentary modifiers are all measured in dice, so
that one might be said to have four dice of Will, or a two-dice bonus in an
attempt to bind a demon, or whatever. Every character has several scores,
including Stamina, Will, Lore, and Cover (described fully in Character
Creation below).
Roll whenever:
two characters are trying to accomplish the same thing,
one character is trying to do something while the other tries to prevent it,
and
one character is attempting a difficult act.
Rolls are always made against someone else's roll or a set number of dice rolled
by the Game Master to reflect how difficult the task is.

Do not count the actual total value rolled. You are not aiming for a
target value. Instead, simply match the highest single value rolled by each party
and see whose is highest. This is the Basic roll in Sorcerer; there is no other.

Example: Fred rolls 4 dice and Fritz rolls 6 dice, using 10siders. Fred's highest value on a single die is a 10; Fritz's
highest is an 8. Fred won (was successful).

If the two highest dice are tied, simply go to the next highest pair and
compare them, until one party wins. If absolutely every pair is tied, either
resolve the conflict in some even way or roll again.
To see how well one succeeded or failed, count the winner's number of
Victories: the dice that show higher values than the highest of the loser's dice.
This is especially important when interacting with demons and during combat
(which are sometimes the same thing).
Example: Fred, above, actually rolled 10, 4, 4, 1, whereas
Fritz rolled 8, 8, 6, 5, 2, 2. Fred was still successful, but only
gained one victory (the 10 over the 8). His advantage over
Fritz is minimal, whereas four (total) victories would indicate
total domination. If they were racing, he would have won
only by a hair. If he had been trying to hit Fritz, he would
have inflicted only minor damage.

If you're a player, it's easy. Just call out the highest value from the dice
you rolled, and if the GM frowns and says, "Next," call out the next highest. If
you're the GM, however, reading rolls fast is the necessary skill. The first step
is determining who won: whoever got the highest value. Then ask, "How many
victories?" Look at the loser's highest value, then count the winner's dice that
exceed that value. If the number of victories is equal to the winner's number
dice, then that's called Total Victory.

Fred rolls 10, 8, 8, 4, 3; Fritz rolls 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1. Fred

won with five victories, and in this case it was Total
Victory, which ought to merit some kind of special
advantage.
Or Fred rolls 8, 5, 5, 2; and Fritz rolls 8, 7, 6, 1. In this
case, Fritz wins with two victories: the first two 8's
cancel out, then the 7 and 6 are higher than Freds other
dice.
Or, finally, Fred rolls 9, 7, 2, 2; and Fritz rolls 10, 10, 1,
to win with two victories.

The key to success in Sorcerer isn't hard to figure out: pile on the dice.
Equal numbers of dice give a 50% chance of success, and a difference of two or

more dice is a definite advantage. So how do you get more dice? This is where
roleplaying comes in.

A dramatic or appropriate quip while announcing the task: +1 die

Announcing a task generically ("I swing at him!"): -1 die
Repeating a simple task after failing: -1 die (cumulative)
Especially clever version of the action: +2 dice
Especially stupid move: -2 dice
The announced action moves the plot along significantly: +2 dice
Obstructive, petty announced action: -2 dice

All the items above are cumulative, making the dice in Sorcerer very
flexible. If you have a Will score of 4, that means you get 4 dice to roll for Willbased things, but often that just won't be enough. In a dice-rolling situation, the
players should not shift out of roleplaying mode but rather get as into it as
possible, because that way they can pack their rolls with extra dice.
The actions taken by player-characters in Sorcerer fall into three types:
sorcery, combat, and everything else. The mechanics of all three are exactly
the same and use the dice system described above. For sorcery, it's a matter of
matching Will or Lore against some score of the demon (use the chart in the
Sorcery section). For combat, it's usually Stamina vs. Stamina, modified
heavily by circumstances, and damage is figured from the victories of the
winner (use the chart in the Combat section). For everything else, every
character may perform physical tasks using Stamina, mental or emotional tasks
using Will, sorcerous tasks using Lore, and any professional/personal tasks
using Cover (use the chart in the Resolving Actions section).

Creating your sorcerer

You must follow all these steps to make up a sorcerer character. For
this version of the rules, you pick options from lists; in the full version, the lists
are longer or the options are left to your imagination.
Pick score values for Stamina, Will, Lore, and Humanity. These
indicate how many dice you roll during play. If you have Stamina 4, roll 4 dice
when using it (subject to modifiers of course). Choose from the following list:
Stamina 2, Will 6, Lore 2
Stamina 4, Will 4, Lore 2
Stamina 5, Will 3, Lore 2
Now set your character's starting Humanity to equal either Stamina or Lore,
whichever is higher.
Pick a list of Descriptions for your scores. These specify how your
character has developed them. One character might have Stamina 4 because he
works out and jogs; another might have Stamina 4 because he doses up on
steroids and amphetamines.
Stamina. Choose from the following:
Scrapper: you have a violent background and know how to stick a
thumb in someone's eye.
Clean liver: you take care of your health and are physically fit.
Drugs: you dose up on performance enhancing substances with little
regard to your health.
Will. Choose from the following:
Belief system: totally religious, totally rationalist, whatever -- you are
sure you know how the universe works.
Zest for life: if it ain't fun, it ain't worth doing.
Rage/vengeance: someone is going to pay for what has happened to
you.
Lore. all characters made using this version of the rules have the same
description for Lore.
Apprentice. This means you've learned sorcery from another person
whom you owe some sort of obligation. Choose a basic sorcerous
background for this relationship:
The Way of the Black Wheel: death, sacrifice, damnation
The Cult of the Dark Lady: ecstasy, manipulation,
abandonment
Sanzoku: combat, honor, and more combat

Drug-based: mystic insights and fried brain cells

These backgrounds are treated in some detail in the Branches of Sorcery
section.
Pick a Cover, which is basically what everyone thinks your character
does for a living, from the following list. Your Cover serves as a "skill list"
during play; you are considered competent at all the tasks it calls for. Its value
is set equal to Will (or Stamina where marked with an asterisk).
ambitious politician, late 30s
artsy musician, middle 20s
police detective, late 30s
college student, late teens
hard-partyin biker, middle 20s *
university professor, from 30 to middle 60s
corporate executive, early 30s
model, early 20s *
ex-con, early 30s
drifter/street person, middle 40s
hit man for the Mob, early 50s
Pick a demon. Take a look at the demons described in the final
chapter. Pick one you like! This is your starting demon, and you may freely
describe how you came to meet and Bind it. See the Branches of Sorcery
section for more details about each.
Regin: a golden eye that freezes people in their tracks
Strase: a tattoo that can detach itself and reform into an imp
Skavos: a ceremonial dagger
Wahoo: a hot-lookin babe who can turn into a horrifying huge floating
eyeball
Yahoo: a possessor demon who likes to fight
Scatch: another possessor who switches bodies through sexual contact
Spike: a very useful fighting knife
Bzzt: a very useful chain whip
Bump: a very useful claymore (scottish sword)
Woot: a bottle with decidedly unnatural contents
Ranth: a demon who lives in your unconscious
Rogg: a slithering shadow

Pick a Need for your demon from the following list, or make up a
Need instead, subject to the GM's approval.
blood from Binder
listen to music
occasional animal (house-pet size) for dinner
affection and compliments
sing loudly
scratch weird runic markings into things
make bets
gossip
get ears (or equivalent) scratched
A demon should get a dose of its Need about once a week, more if you call on
its powers often or in ways it doesn't like. The GM will determine what it
thinks of your mastery and roleplay it accordingly.
Bind your demon. Choose which Attribute (Stamina, Will, or Lore,
never Humanity or Cover) you will use to Bind your demon. The player rolls
that many dice, and the GM rolls dice equal to the demon's Power. The demon
is Bound, no matter what, but only the GM knows and records who won the
roll, and by how much. See the Sorcery section for more about Binding.
You must also roll the demon's Power against the character's Humanity. If
the character loses, he or she loses a point of Humanity.
Pick your Price. Sorcery doesn't come cheap. Your character has a
personality quirk, an injury, or any other quality that reduces his or her
effectiveness in certain situations. In game terms, this is a 1-die penalty to any
and all dice rolls under the defined circumstances. It might have come about
because of your early experiences with sorcery, or it might have been a quality
that led to sorcery in the first place. Either definition is acceptable, but your
character has paid a price, and it shows. Choose from the following list.
Arrogant. You get right up people's noses. Penalty applies to all statusoriented situations.
Gets no respect. Demons can't take you seriously. Penalty applies to all
commands to demons.
Paranoid. Twitchy, jumps a foot at slightest provocation. Penalty applies
whenever you are NOT under direct physical attack. (This is not a flaw
that goes well with the more suave Covers.)
Substance abuse. Say no more and pick your poison. Penalty applies when
you haven't had your fix recently, as well as when you've just had one.

Injury. A demon or cruel master gimped you, or maybe your congenital

handicap is part of your motivation. Penalty applies when you're running
or otherwise being athletic.
Goofball. You're just a social loser. Penalty applies when you try to
convince anyone of anything.
Sexual coward. Lots of good story potential here with those Dark Lady
demons, eh? Penalty applies in all romantic situations.

Humanity. Your initial Humanity score is set equal to the higher of

either Stamina or Will. You might have dropped a point already from Binding
your demon, or you might not. Humanity is used like any other score during
play (see Detailed Rules below), but it also indicates how round the bend you
are as a human being. Losing Humanity makes the person shaky, twitchy,
haunted-looking, or cold toward others.
Humanity is lost by performing certain sorcerous acts (see the Sorcery
section) or by doing things that, in the GMs opinion, are ethically
unpardonable. You will roll your current value against (1) a demons Power or
(2) itself; if you lose, youll drop a point. If your Humanity hits zero, the
following fun things happen:
the character is certifiably insane and possibly possessed by a
demon
the character is now run by the GM
serious therapy or perhaps an exorcism is required for recovering
Humanity to 1
Before this crucial point, a character may increase Humanity at the
GMs discretion by performing praiseworthy acts. The roll is the same:
Humanity against itself.
Humanity is the basis for character improvement: at the end of a
Sorcerer story, the player may roll Stamina, Will, and Lore against current
Humanity. Success means the score is raised by a point. (Note that after initial
character creation Humanity is no longer linked to a given score).
More broadly, Humanity is the center of all Sorcerer stories, which in
the end are about only one thing: how do you achieve something with methods
that are (or very easily could be) evil? Do you succeed? Is the price you pay
too high? Playtesting has produced the full range of outcomes to these
questions. To the mature roleplayer, this is a lot more satisfying than many

video-game style RPGs, in which the characters merely live or die, but in
practice, they simply keep living so that the game will continue.
Example character: Bobby Scurlock
I start with the idea of a young guy who doesn't take a
whole lot of crap from anyone.
Attributes: Stamina 2 (scrapper), Will 6 (zest for life), Lore 2
(apprentice). This works well for a person whose mouth is
bigger than his britches. On the other hand, it's enthusiasm
rather than rage that gets him in trouble. He can fight, but not
especially well. As for his apprenticeship, Ill put him in the Way
of the Black Wheel, a dangerous and intense branch of sorcery.
Cover 4 (college student, late teens): this is closest to what I
have in mind and I privately resolve to get him kicked out of
school pretty soon. The Goth things been done to death, so
Bobby is not tormented or alienated, just exuberant..
Price -1 with romance (sexual coward): oh-ho! Now I'm getting
somewhere; perhaps what this guy needs is a murder mystery
with a beautiful suspect.
Humanity 6: initially set equal to Will, which is higher in this
case than Stamina. This score isn't done yet, though; we'll return
to it after we define his starting demon.
Regin seems like a good choice. I further decide upon
listen to music as his Need; since Regin sits inside Bobbys
own eye-socket, that means Bobby has to do so as well.
Time to do some sorcery. Bobby will use his powerful
Will for Binding (it takes some serious willpower to remove your
own eye!), so that's 6 dice against Regins Will of 5. He rolls 8,
7, 3, 3, 2, and Regin rolls 5, 4, 2, 2, 2. Bobby wins with 2
victories (note: the GM keeps this Binding Strength secret from
the player). From now on, in any roll that opposes Bobby against
Yahoo, the sorcerer will get a two-dice bonus. The only
exception is checking Humanity loss.
Speaking of which . . . Bobby rolls his Humanity (6)
against the demon's Power, which is also 6. He gets 9, 9, 7, 6, 5,
1, against -- uh oh! -- 10, 5, 3, 3, 2, 1. He loses. His Humanity
is reduced to 5.
In the full version of Sorcerer, players have a lot more latitude with
beginning characters. They don't have to start as apprentices, for example, and

the starting demons can be built from the ground up rather than being chosen
from a list.
Finally, the Kicker. Sorcerers are intense people and any story they
star in will have to be interesting. Every character needs to be facing a
problem, a threat to one or more of the following:
life or health
his or her stuff
status
loved ones
You should also consider the characters sorcerer mentor and the act or acts
that are owed to him or her.
Example: Bobby is getting stalked by a mysterious woman
who keeps messing with his love life. At first it seems like
his imagination, but she keeps showing up right when she
shouldn't. What really makes him nervous is that Regin can't
see her: that is, when he looks at her using his demon eye,
she's not there.
In a character-driven (as opposed to setting-driven) roleplaying game
like Sorcerer, the hero must be barrelling toward an ending: live or die, win or
lose, succeed or fail. Theres no point to playing unless even before you start,
your character is desperately fighting and scheming for something.

Detailed rules
So what can you do? Here comes the attacking demon, or here's the
crime boss you need to convince, or what does this passage in the this forbidden
tome mean, anyway? You look at the sheet and -- gasp! -- there is no skill list!
All you see are a Cover, a Flaw, and Descriptions for each of the Scores.
In fact, this makes roleplaying easier, not harder. Here's how it works:
Someone is competing with you or opposing your action: Roll your relevant
score against theirs.

You must overcome wounds or some aspect of yourself: Roll your relevant
score against the other relevant score, or against the value of the damage.
You are trying something difficult: Roll your relevant score against dice
chosen and rolled by the GM. Use the following table for the "difficulty"
dice.
NUMBER OF
OPPOSITION
DICE
0
1
Greater than 1,
less than PCs
score
Equal to the
PCs score

Greater than the

PCs score

REPRESENTATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES
Typical task for this character; he or she does
it without any roll needed (even if it's highly
skilled!)
Mildly annoying or distracting: someone is
talking to the PC, he or she is driving, etc.
The task is trickier than usual, or someone is
trying to divert the PCs attention for some
reason, or loud music is right in his or her ear
The task is unusually hard given the PC's
background, like trying to start a car with a
shorted-out ignition, or someone is trying to
hit you while you attempt the task.
Getting the task done is requires serious luck;
someone is beating the PC with a dead cat, or
he or she is hanging from a catwalk by the
legs while attempting the task
Flatly impossible for this character; the GM
informs the player that the PC fails without
any roll needed

Of course, all the roleplaying-oriented bonuses and penalties

described in Chapter One apply in full as well. Also, penalties for the PCs
Price and injuries (see Damage below) apply to interaction and physical task
rolls as well as those for combat.
The especially-cool thing about this system is that you can use your
full dice for things that you only just now realized are consistent with your
character concept. There's no need to scan the pages-long skill list wondering
what will be useful in the future.

Example: Bobby has a lot to cope with as he deals with his Kicker.
Recall that his Cover is "college student," which applies to any
and all skills for that activity.
He's taking a test in class as the mysterious woman stares at
him: Cover vs. the difficulty of the test, under pressure.
He attempts to convince a student employee at the Registrar
to track her name through the school records: Cover vs. the
employee's Will.
He gets chased by a mysterious pair of assailants: Stamina vs.
their Stamina.
He fast-talks his way into the hotel apartment where the
mysterious woman lives: Will vs. the clerk's Cover.
He tries not to puke at what he finds in her apartment
bedroom: Will vs. his own Humanity.
He tries to understand the strange rune written on the
bathroom mirror with soap: Lore vs. the Power of the demon
it represents.
He may perceive that his pursuers are creeping toward him
from the outer room: Will vs. difficulty set by the GM.
He struggles to open the locked door that traps him: Stamina
vs. difficulty set by the GM.
He faces down his attackers: Will vs. Will.

Sorcery
All PCs in Sorcerer can do all the rituals listed on the Sorcery Chart,
at any time during play. They are: CONTACTING, SUMMONING,
BINDING, PUNISHING, BANISHING, and CONTAINING.

THE SORCERY CHART

RITUAL

THE
SORCERER'S

VS. THE
DEMON'S

Contact

Lore

Power

Summon
Bind
Punish
Banish
Contain

Will Humanity
Appropriate
Score
Will
Will +
Humanity
Lore

Power

MODIFIERS
Sequence of tries;
drugs
Sequence of tries;
sacrifice

Will

Desire and Need

Stamina

Nothing special

Power + Will

Nothing special

Power

Preparation

Demons cannot perform sorcery. The rituals on the Chart are not
available to them as stated tasks under any circumstances.
All of the listed rituals take anywhere from half an hour to three hours
to perform correctly. A PC may attempt to speed things up, like Banishing a
demon right there in combat, for example, but the relevant score is reduced to
1. Also, a PC may choose to take from six to 24 hours to perform a ritual,
being very careful in all its details, in which case he or she gains a 1-die bonus
to the roll.
Contacting a demon requires expanding one's mind well out of
commonly-acknowledged boundaries. The sorcerer's Lore measures how far
the perceptions can be pushed before becoming jumbled; thus it is matched
against the demon's Power, which measures how far you must stretch your
mind to perceive (or conceive of) that demon.
Bonus dice for Contacting are awarded for massive doses of
hallucinogens, especially those refined by the sorcerer for this use. For every

hit dropped, award the sorcerer one die as a bonus. However, there is a cost to
this sort of activity: at the end of the Contact attempt, successful or not, the
sorcerer must roll his or her Will vs. dice equal to the number of hits dropped.
Failure means that his or her Will is impaired by one for several weeks; total
failure (no victories) means the loss is permanent!
One can continue to attempt a Contact even after a failed roll, with a
penalty of 1 die to Lore and Stamina both per extra attempt. If the cumulative
penalties bring Lore to zero, the sorcerer is catatonic for several hours; if they
bring Stamina to zero, he or she faints, again for several hours. The clever
player might raise the character's Lore with hallucinogens and Stamina with
stimulants . . . the clever GM will certainly allow this but will also make the
most of various physical and social problems that might arise thereby.
Once Contacted, a demon can be perceived and spoken to; any kind of
information can be exchanged. However, neither sorcerer nor demon may
affect the other physically or in terms of Binding unless the demon is
Summoned. The communication stays open, so to speak, for one hour per
victory of the Contact roll, unless the sorcerer terminates the Contact or makes
another Contact roll to prolong it.
Summoning a demon may only be attempted if it has been Contacted,
whether by the summoner or by someone else. All demons want to be
Summoned and will not resist; the only thing that the sorcerer must overcome
with his or her Will (as modified by Humanity) is the demon's intrinsic Power.
The same penalties to Stamina incurred by repeated attempts to Contact also
apply to Summon. A summoned demon is not automatically bound, which is
why the wise sorcerer prepares a Contain before trying.
One method for improving the chances to Summon is a sacrifice:
killing a living thing during the ritual. The victim's Stamina is used as a onetime bonus to the roll. The social disadvantages of making this practice a habit
should be clear; furthermore, performing a sacrifice entails making an
additional Humanity check. If it is a human sacrifice, this check has a penalty
equal to the victim's Humanity instead of the usual -1.
Banishing a demon is much like Summoning, although the demon
will almost certainly resist with its Will and the sorcerer uses his or her
Humanity as a bonus. If the demon is bound, the strength of the binding
(regardless of whose favor it supports) is used as a penalty. A banished demon
must be re-Contacted and re-Summoned in order to trouble anyone, ever again.

Binding a demon is the most important act of sorcery. One may have
contacted and summoned a demon to Bind it, or one may merely encounter it in
reality. The means of Binding can vary from person to person, which is why
"appropriate score" is used instead of some specific skill. You can challenge it,
promise it something, or even seduce it, whatever is appropriate to the demon's
Need and your personality.
Binding an un-Bound demon always works! Either the demon or the
sorcerer will have the success for the roll, and the total number of that
individual's victories is the Binding Strength. It will be used as a bonus for all
their interactions thereafter. A Bound demon cannot be re-Bound unless it is
freed from the first contract. There is no upper limit to how many demons a
sorcerer may Bind, but a demon can only be Bound to one sorcerer at a time.
Punishing a demon removes its Power in dice equal to the sorcerer's
victories. The penalty applies to all the demon's abilities; the dice are regained
with Stamina rolls vs. the strength of the Punish. This hurts the demon a lot
and they really hate to be punished. You can punish your own Bound demon
automatically, removing Power equal to or less than your Will, down to Power
1. Punishing someone else's Bound demon uses the strength of the Binding as
a penalty.
Containing a demon means limiting its movement, whether to a
certain vicinity or relative to another person or object. A Contained demon is
also immune to Banishment as a consequence of Need or lack of a host or
master (although it can be formally Banished by a sorcerer). The sorcerer must
prepare the focus for the Containment, such as a pentagram, adding a bonus die
for every successful Lore roll against his or her own Stamina, which represents
the concentration necessary. The Containment isn't tested until a demon
challenges it, and only then is the roll made. A given Containment must be
defined as general (applying to any demon) or specific (applying to a certain
individual or type).

Combat
When a combat situation ensues, the GM simply calls for actions from
everyone involved. The order they are stated does not affect play in any way. If
you want your action to pre-empt someone else's, just wait -- it'll turn out that
way if you're lucky. The first job is simply to get all the intentions stated; the
GM presents the intended actions of NPCs as well, insofar as PCs can perceive
them.
All the combatants now roll Stamina. The GM should afford many,
many situational bonus and penalty opportunities in combat as well as the
standard ones. Good tactics and roleplaying can rack up bonus dice pretty
quickly. In Sorcerer combat, it's not just a matter of the dice ruling the events.
The roleplaying during the combat rules the dice! If you've been badly hit, your
dice are in the negatives, and the guy's coming at you, do something smart and
roleplay it well -- and you can triumph.
Example: Bobby, to say the least, is not a combat monster.
However, he can use Regin to Hold opponents, and now he
also has Wahoo to back him up. So the next time he's
cornered (on a hotel balcony, as it happens), he unloads some
demon-augmented butt-kicking. His player says, "I say,
Stand still for your free anatomy lesson, then I'll zap him
with Hold. Thats Regins Power (5) against the jerks
Stamina (4), but Bobby gets a +1 for a cool quip for a total of
6.
Next round, the player says, I grab his lapels and knee him
in the nuts!" (Players get all fired up about this stuff.) Well,
that's 2 dice for Bobbys Stamina, with +1 for tactics and +2
because the guys just Held there: 5 dice total.
Once all the rolls are made, highest to lowest values indicate the order
in which they happen. Don't touch the dice yet; now it's time for defensive
rolls.
If the target does not defend, he or she rolls base Stamina with no
bonuses, only penalties if they apply. (Also, if the target is totally
unaware of the attack, only one die is rolled.)
He or she may decide to defend, or optionally, the player may
have already committed to defense depending on the action

statement. A defending character rolls Stamina against the

attack, subject to normal bonuses and penalties. If the character
has acted already, the defense is free. However, if the character's
own action hasn't occurred yet, choosing to defend means aborting
that action and his or her initial combat roll is cancelled.
Example: The fight is on and everyone rolls! Briefly, Bobby
gets a cool 4 victories on his victim. Unfortunately, the jerks
equally evil buddy (Stamina 4) has knifed Bobby, who opts
not to abort his action and thus defends with only 2 dice. Jerk
#2 beats Bobby s high die of 8 with 2 10s, for 2 victories.
Now for damage. Record the number of victories in each successful
roll, and apply that number as X on the Damage Table. The number of
victories (or more!) is usually taken as a penalty right off the character's Scores.
Yes, all of the Scores, not just Stamina. Anything the character tries from that
point on will be reduced by the damage (with one exception, explained below).

WEAPON TYPE
Fists & feet
Edged weapon
Small handgun
Nasty big handgun
Rifle
Big auto-rifle
Special damage (non-lethal)
Special damage (lethal)

PENALTIES (X = victories)
X for next action
2 lasting
X for next action
X victories lasting
X victories for next action
X victories lasting
2X for next action
X + 1 lasting
2X for next action
X + 1 lasting
3X for next action
2X + 1 lasting
X + demons Power for next action
X lasting
2X for next action
X + demons Power lasting

Here's what damage feels like, based on the penalties (round + lasting)
experienced by the character at the moment. The exact locations on the table
are meant only as examples.

Total penalties
< Stamina
> Stamina

> 2x Stamina

Effects
nose bopped, ears ringing, shin banged,
seeing stars
solar plexus hit, nerve center struck, joints
twisted; pain incapacitates movement or
action
shocked/stunned into helplessness, no
dignity

Example: Bobby just took a knife slash for 2 victories, which

gives him a 4 dice penalty on his next action and a 2 dice
penalty thereafter. Furthermore, this is greater than his
Stamina (although not greater than twice his Stamina), so he
is seriously pained and frightened.
Now for the good news. A PC can, at any time, make a Will roll with
no penalties against the number of dice the character is trying to be able to use
next round, up to his or her maximum score. This uses up no actions in the
combat round either. This option is only available for sorcerer characters and
reflects their incredible will to assert control over reality.
In situations of this sort, the player is reminded of the roleplaying
guidelines in The System and Combat Rolls, above. If a player can come up
with cool ways to express (1) channelling the pain and adrenalin into mastering
himself and (2) phrasing (for example) a command to a demon in terms that
particular demon will react to enthusiastically. This stuff is what theme music
is all about.
Example: Bobbys next action is loaded with 4 penalties. He
wants to jump off the balcony safely into the swimming pool
below, but that penalty pretty much renders him useless
unless he can master himself. He rolls his 6-dice Will vs. 2
dice (his maximum base Stamina). He gets it! Now he can
use his 2-die Stamina without penalty - -and this roll CAN
be boosted with roleplaying.
If you make it through combat, recovery is extensive. One-round
penalties clear up during or just after the fight, but lasting penalties are never
as bad as they look either. After the fight, if the character can rest and recover
for a little while, their lasting penalties are halved (round up). Whatever is left

over will last for at least a week, if not months, in the form of bruises, stitches,
and so on, as follows.
TOTAL LASTING
PENALTIES
< Stamina
> Stamina
> 2x Stamina

EFFECTSS
skin broken/scraped, bruises, need bandages,
icepacks
in need of stitches, slings, temporary crutches
bones protruding, massive hemorrhaging, guts
hanging out

If the character's total lasting penalties, following combat, are over

twice his or her Stamina score, he or she is dying, quickly or slowly depending
on the circumstances. Note that these rules do not permit a PC to die during
combat! A GM may rule that a PC dies during combat (e.g. soaking in a vat of
acid, splattering after a 50-story fall), but the dice won't do it by themselves.
Example: After all the fightins over, Bobby takes stock of his
injuries. One (half) of the lasting penalties goes away, so he
has only one left: the gash from a knife wound that needs to
be bandaged and treated lightly. GM gives him a week to
suffer under the penalty.
Demons time their actions and make their rolls just like other
characters. Instructing a demon is a full action, so if your demon is faster than
you are, it will probably be moving before you have a chance to tell it what to
do. Or if it's irritated with you, maybe it won't be moving until you tell it.
Either way can be an advantage or a problem.
Demons' abilities cause them fatigue. Each time a demon uses an
ability, keep track. If the total number of abilities used in a single scene
exceeds its Stamina, assign it penalties equal to the difference. Thus each
successive use will incur another 1-die penalty. When the number of penalties
exceeds the Stamina score, the demon will not be able to use any abilities at all
until it has a chance to recover.
If a demon takes more than twice its Stamina of lasting damage, it dies
nastily, then oozes, vaporizes, or explodes into nothingness, leaving no direct
forensic evidence. Exactly what happens to a killed demon depends on whether
it was Bound at the time. If it was unbound, it's Banished. It could be reSummoned just like any other Banished demon. If it was Bound, though, it's

dead and will never be seen again. If its master really wanted to, he or she
could call up a similar demon, but it wouldn't be the same individual.

Various combat modifiers and spot rules include the following:

Second-rate foes. Certain combatants should be designated "one-hit"
opponents, in that if a PC hits successfully, the target is put out of the fight.
Whether they are stunned or maimed depends on the type of attack, but
they certainly can be ignored for the rest of the combat. This is strongly
recommended for large group combats with nameless minions.
Armor. Protective clothing varies in detail depending on the type of attack.
Kevlar converts Gun damage into Fist damage, but it is less effective
against piercing melee weapons. The GM must judge what other sorts of
armor are capable of. Note also that all attacks in Sorcerer are considered
to be aimed, and no armor (aside from the demon ability) covers
everywhere.
Melee weapons. If they're blunt, just give the user a bonus die or two on
the Fists damage table. If they're edged, then use the Blades/Claws table.
Guns. The rules are bound to be disappointing to those players fascinated
with the details of gun design. If in the GM's opinion a given gun has
some special advantage, merely use an appropriate damage category. As a
rule of thumb, if the detail in question has never made a plot-important
difference in any commercial movie with which the GM is familiar, it
should have no effect on play.
Automatic maximum. The GM may award to any character an automatic
maximum, meaning Total Victory, regardless of the actual victories rolled.
This is for cases where the target is completely helpless or similar
situations.
New columns. Attacks like stun gas or poisons may require making up
new kinds of damage effects, although many of these can be assigned a
Power and treated like Special Damage. Also, most details in combat are
best handled simply by giving bonus dice.
Switching damage categories. IMPORTANT. The GM may also change
which category of damage applies in certain situations. For example, a
pistol at point-blank range may well use the category for a much heavier
weapon. (This option eliminates PCs shrugging off bullets fired into their
temples.)

Demon Interaction
If a demon fails to get its Need, it suffers. It will lose 1 Power per day
until it is down to zero, in which case it must start making Will rolls to use any
dice (much like a character reduced to 0 Stamina; see Combat). At that point it
will lose 1 Stamina per day unless it rolls its Power successfully vs. its original
Stamina. Once its Stamina hits 0, the unbound demon is automatically
Banished.
This process also applies when a Possessor or Parasite cannot find and
inhabit a host. Finally, it also applies when a demon is not bound to a master,
doubly so if a demon cannot get its Need without a master's help.
If a Bound demon's master dies, the demon is still Bound. In many
cases, that means its Need will eventually go unmet long enough to give it
enough bonuses to rebel and become unbound, freeing it to seek a new master.
A clever sorcerer may arrange for his pets to remain fed after he dies, thus
carrying out his will as long as the arrangements last.
A demon may rebel at any time, matching its Will against its master's
(modified for one side by the strength of the Binding), in order to disobey a
command. A badly Bound demon might disobey all the time, or it might bide
its time until the perfect moment. If its Need is met frequently, it might cut its
binder some slack; conversely, a demon who is kept continually in Need will
rebel and generally behave fractiously even if it is well Bound. It depends
largely on how the binder treats the demon. If it is continually used as just a
convenient tool or arbitrarily Punished, it will start resenting its binder. A little
consideration, on the other hand, might go a long way with the right sort of
demon.
The GM should keep track of where a disgruntled demon is on the
following scale of dissatisfaction with its master.

Stage one: brat. This is characterized by a brief, single

instance of refusal, requiring direct commands (Will vs.
Will) to make the demon obey. One common example is
if the sorcerer orders the demon to do something in an
obvious or public way.
Stage two: rebellious. The demon is generally fractious
and will be whiny, insulting, or prone to negotiations,
depending on its personality, and it will require Will vs.
Will rolls to do just about anything.
Stage three: vengeful. This is bad. The demon applies
itself seriously to its master's injury, humiliation, or
demise. Remember, nothing induces a demon to tell the
truth about its intentions or what it's up to on its own
time; even direct commands may be met with stubborn
silence.
The other stage three: true rebellion. The demon
attempts to break the Binding itself. This is very hard;
the demon must repeat the Binding roll, with the strength
of the Binding as a penalty (regardless of who had the
advantage). Bonuses include the weeks it has been in
Need and any other situational bonuses the GM assigns.

Every Sorcerer game must establish its own standards for just what
kind of power balance should exist between sorcerer and demon. How the GM
handles these interactions should be consistent with the atmosphere of the game
itself. Some GMs are good at creating a feeling of drama and brooding
menace, whereas others are able to coax incredibly funny moments out of
roleplaying situations. Run with whatever works for you and your players.
Example: In his haste to vacate the hotel, Bobby has been
neglecting Regins Need, even though the demon probably
saved his bacon during the fight. Worse, Bobby has, ah,
interacted extensively with the woman he was tracking, who
turns out to be a demon named Wahoo. Next time Bobby
tries to use Regin, the GM merely smiles and has the demon
do something heinously inappropriate. Bobby had better do
some quick bargaining or excuse-making, or hes going to
lose the services of his first demon.

Everyone should understand the rules on how to communicate with

demons. There is no telepathy in Sorcerer. Passers, Possessors, and
Inconspicuous sorts generally talk fine, unless otherwise defined; Parasites
might, given their individual definitions. But they and Objects mostly
communicate by conferring/using their abilities or by failing (refusing) to do so.
These demon types are ostensibly low-stress, as they don't talk back, but that
makes things difficult if they get fractious. Conceivably complex objects like a
laptop computer might communicate, or a car's dashboard LEDs, but a cruel
GM might make their messages relatively obscure.

Branches of sorcery and lots o'demons

There are two general branches of sorcery of interest, one very old and
classical, the other quite recent and radical. Each is subdivided into a variety of
approaches, only some of which are described below. The total number of
sorcerers in the world is estimated at just over a hundred. The GM is
encouraged to make up lots more demons, which do not have to correspond to
any of the sects given below or to any others.
THE CLASSICISTS
Classical sorcerers belong to ages-old traditions; they are
knowledgeable about specific texts and fluent in a horrible nonhuman language
spoken by un-Bound demons. They extensively ritualize their Contacts and
Summons, and their Binding methods usually include complex contracts.
The Way of the Black Wheel. These guys are your basic diabolists.
They and their demons are interested in pure death: killing and control of
killing, immortality, and revenge, revenge, revenge. Otherwise the demons get
bored and rebel. This is a dangerous path: Humanity rolls are common, and
complete loss of Humanity to a Black Wheel demon usually means it kills you
and, depending on the GM's theological notions, eats your soul. Black Wheel
Binding contracts are excessively convoluted.

Some Black Wheel demons

REGIN. This demon replaces its master's left eye; the eye has
a golden iris. The host may use the following abilities, if
Regin permits:
Command: applies to insects; roll sorcerer's Will vs. 3 dice to
control a goodly swarm of whatever crawlies are available.
Perception: add Demon Power to dice rolled to perceive.
Hold (at Range): match Demon Power vs. the Will of a target
to freeze them in their tracks (hit them again to restrict all
movement and speech).
Regin has Stamina 2, Will 5, Lore 4, Power 5. It
communicates with its host when he or she looks at spilled
blood; words appear in the splatter as seen through that eye.
STRASE. This demon is a little imp who hides in its master's
pockets. It has the following abilites, all of which are under
its control:
Armor: any damage it takes from physical projectiles or
weapons (up to the level of its Power) is applied to the Fists
damage column, regardless of source.
Big: Strase may become very large, about 9 feet tall, and its
Stamina is increased by its Power for purposes of resisting
damage and endurance only (not for attack or defense rolls).
Daze: match Strase's Power vs. a target's Will; if successful,
the target receives a penalty to perceptual tasks equal to the
number of victories.
Special Damage: Strase uses the Special Damage column
when figuring the effects of its attacks (it has really big
fangs).
Vitality: Strase removes lasting damage equal to its Power
following a fight, rather than the usual half.
Strase has Stamina 5, Will 6, Lore 5, Power 6.

Some Black Wheel demons cont.

SKAVOS. This Object demon is a ceremonial dagger
Mark: The target rolls Humanity vs. Skavos' Power; failure
means anyone (or thing) with Lore of 1 or greater will
thereafter perceive the individual as Marked, permanently. A
sorcerer may remove a Mark by successfully rolling Lore vs.
demons Power.
Boost Lore: Skavos increases its master's Lore by its Power,
although while it does so, its Power for other purposes is
reduced to 1.
Perception: while holding Skavos, the master can perceive
the cause of death of any corpse, or sense whether someone
has died in a given room-sized area.
Skavos has Stamina 3, Will 4, Lore 3, Power 4.
The Black Wheel apprentice lives in a terrifying world of sacrifice,
mysticism, and pain. Nothing is as important as your servitude: not family, not
life, not dignity, and it is widely considered appropriate to feed an erring
apprentice to demons. It is also considered appropriate for an apprentice to get
fed up and assassinate his or her mentor, so the teacher walks a fine line
between abusing the apprentice and making the abuse worth it.
Story seeds include:
apprentices pitted against each other to win favor from their
mentor
apprentices pitted against the abusive master
apprentice and master coping with an out-of-control demon
The Cult of the Dark Lady. This group is more directly religious;
practitioners speak of a central, mystical personage called the Dark Lady, or the
Queen of Witches, or Mother Night, and a hundred other titles. Her true name
is unknown.
Dark Lady sorcerers operate out of covens; they may be the organizer
and leader, or the tool of the non-sorcerous leader. Covens may be totally
anonymous, and the belief system of a coven may not be sorcerous at all, such
as a whorehouse or ordinary cult.
Contacting and Summoning the demons of the Dark Lady usually
requires a wild orgy, with the covens help. The demons are beautiful,
passionate, vain, and very wilful. Their roles in the coven range from totally
dominant to totally subservient, depending on the skill and personality of the

coven leader. Losing all of one's Humanity as a Dark Lady sorcerer usually
means getting possessed, permanently.
Some Dark Lady demons
WAHOO. Wahoo is a Passing demon; she looks just like a
human woman except for the scales up and down her spine.
Shapeshift: Wahoo may change shape into a gigantic winged
eyeball (an alarming sight).
Travel: Wahoo teleports from place to place, although she
won't do it if anyone with Lore 0 is watching. Her maximum
range is 5 miles (equal to her Power).
Psychic force: Wahoo may induce cerebral spasms at a
distance, using her Power on the Special Damage table,
matching Will vs. target's Stamina to hit.
Cover: Wahoo has Cover: graduate student with dice equal to
her Power.
Wahoo has Stamina 4, Will 5, Lore 4, Power 5
YAHOO. A possessor demon, requiring a host body in order
to function. It favors tough, good-looking male hosts.
Hop: Yahoo can move to another host in his line of sight with
a successful Will vs. Will roll. The host personality will not
die, but must roll Will vs. Will to influence Yahoo's behavior,
with a penalty equal to the victories in the initial possession
roll.
Special Damage: uses the Special Damage column when
figuring the effects of its attacks (attacks are scarily perfect
martial arts moves).
Cover: matches to current host's Cover, at Yahoo's Power in
dice.
Armor: any damage it takes from physical projectiles or
weapons (up to the level of its Power) is applied to the Fists
damage column, regardless of source.
Protection: Any damage from non-impact attacks (e.g. fire,
gas, psychic attacks) up to Yahoo's Power is applied as if it
were Fists damage.
Perception: (others' expectations)
Yahoo has Stamina 5, Will 6, Lore 5, Power 6.
Story seeds include the following:

The coven is torn by a power-grab, with the character's leadership

challenged or the leadership becoming available to him or her.
The character has a serious relationship begin with a non-coven
member, and his or her demons decide to participate in the
relationship as well.

THE RADICALS
Radical sorcery is not backed by any body of education or
shared practice through history, and its practitioners and details are highly
individual. This sort of sorcerer regards the classicist as an old poop; the
classicists think these guys are somewhere between stupid and insane.
The sanzoku. Technically, these practitioners are hardly sorcerers at
all. They know about Binding, in a limited way, but little else. Their demons
are always weapons. A strange martial subculture has grown up in the last few
decades, of people engaging in savage one-on-one combat in kind of an
ongoing tournament.
Sanzoku demons are not interested in unfair competition, and they will
swiftly betray a master who uses anything but a melee weapon, or who wimps
out from frequent armed encounters. Unfortunately, the demons are not
articulate and simply base their loyalties on the wielders actions.
Some sanzoku demons
SPIKE. fighting knife
Travel: Spike somehow always returns to its wielder's hand,
although not in obvious ways (just happens to be kicked back
to him or her during a fight, shows up in the master's locker
after being stolen, etc).
Cloak: Spike is hard to perceive if it's not being used; add its
Power to the opposition dice for relevant rolls. This applies
to any perception, including metal detectors.
Spike has Stamina 2, Will 3, Lore 2, Power 3.
BZZT. chain-whip
Special Damage: use the Special Damage column in the
damage tables when hitting with Bzzt.
Confuse: roll Bzzt's Power vs. the target's Will to force the
target to lose his or her next action.
Bzzt has Stamina 2, Will 3, Lore 2, Power 3.
Some sanzoku demons cont.

BUMP. Claymore (Scottish sword)

Vitality: Bump's Power is added to its wielder's Stamina for
purposes of recovering from damage after a fight (see
Combat). In other words, they can be put down, but it's hard
to keep them there.
Travel: the master may walk and run on air
Bump has Stamina 2, Will 3, Lore 2, Power 3.
Story seeds include the following:
It's time for a tournament! Sanzoku travel from all over the world
for a secret, last-man-standing showdown.
Two sanzoku plan a duel, but it is interrupted by a Black Wheel
demon who wants to eat them both. Slowly.
The psycho-junkies. The most radical sorcery involves ripping ones
perceptions wide open, usually with the help of designer hallucinogens. The
sorcerer uses self-created rites for Contacting and Summoning. Binding
follows no set pattern. This brand of sorcery is highly improvisational, and the
primary risk is going straight off the deep end, ending up muttering and
picking at oneself in an asylum or alleyway.
The drug-warped sorcerer often commands his or her demons
unconsciously. Furthermore, the demons themselves are insane. They respond
equally unconsciously to the commands, for example with uncontrolled Travel,
whether teleporting about or walking through walls, usually masked by a
Cloak.

Some radical drug-demons

Some radical drug-demons cont.

WOOT. This demon is a whiskey flask that never quite

empties.
Boost Stamina: a swig will increase the master's Stamina by
Woot's Power, up to twice the master's own Stamina.
Unfortunately Woot's Power for all its other abilities drops to
1 while the Boost is sustained.
Hint: Woot rolls its Power vs. its master's Will of the target,
and then the master rolls Humanity vs. the victories of the
first roll. Success on both rolls means the targets player may
ask one Yes-No question of the GM and be answered
truthfully.
Taint: The target makes a Humanity check vs. Woot's Power;
failure means loss of a Humanity point. The special effect
includes physical as well as psychic malformation, with the
details being left to the individual play group. Unlike real
Humanity Loss, though, the Humanity will return in a few
days.
Woot has Stamina 3, Will 4, Lore 3, Power 4.

ROGG. This demon becomes its master's shadow, which

therefore appears a bit darker than it ought to. It can whisper
in its master's ear, but is otherwise silent.
Spawn: Rogg produces small versions of itself, each at Power
1 with the ability Link (see below). Its own Power is reduced
by 1 for each Spawn produced. Spawn may be resorbed and
the Power regained.
Shadow: Rogg controls illumination in any enclosed space,
affecting perception rolls by dice equal to its Power.
Link: Rogg and its master may see through one another's eyes
at any time.
Rogg has Stamina 3, Will 4, Lore 3, Power 4.

RANTH. This demon only appears in mirrors, and only when

its master looks into them. It can then speak to him or her.
Travel: Ranth's master may step into the image presented by
a mirror, disappearing from three-dimensional reality.
Warp: Ranth's master may alter the shape of unliving
material, up to its Power in kilograms squared. It will not
animate material but simply give it a new shape. The effect
lasts for one hour per point of Power.
Perception: Ranth's master may see what is happening from
the perspective of any mirror within a 5-mile range.
Shapeshift: Ranth's master may shapeshift into the image of
another individual with a Will vs. Will roll, only when the
target is looking into a mirror occupied by the sorcerer (see
above). The change lasts up to 5 hours.
Ranth has Stamina 4, Will 5, Lore 4, Power 5.

Story seeds include the following:

A trilogy of strange movies (actually demons!) is driving the
population of a small town nuts, by Boosting their Lore scores
(which start at zero for normal people) and providing Contact
rituals.
A rather nice and friendly (but very powerful, Power 9 or higher)
demon is bound to a maddened, homicidal master. At first
glance, the situation appears to be the other way around.