Saving the world on a Sunday afternoon
Demonologists gain knowledge on how to summon the various entities of the Plane of Chaos. Such entities are collectively known as demons. Some Demonologists start off with the best of intentions, as not all demons are evil, but most are soon corrupted by the powers granted to them by the more powerful, darker demons.
Demonologists were once allowed to practice their art in the Kingdom, but after several incidents of summoning demons too powerful to control, possession and sacrificing of innocents during summoning rituals it became obvious that practitioners were not able to control either themselves or the demons they summoned. Thus the practice of Demonology was outlawed.
Demonology is still practiced in secret within the Kingdom, and more openly outside its borders. Anyone caught within the Kingdom is either exiled if no harm has been done, or executed if his research has caused any suffering. Demonologists across the borders are normally left to their own devices unless they threaten a member of the Kingdom, in which case a mission is sent out to bring them to justice. Needless to say, there is no love lost between Demonologists and Kingdom subjects.
Demonology is largely ritual based, as the higher ranking and thus more powerful Demons are beyond the scope of spells. In addition, the useful ability of Inscribing a Pentacle requires the Inscribe Magic Circle skill.
Demons are capricious entities who are allied closely with Chaos. They are not necessarily evil, but are always at least mischievous. Once summoned, their main aim is to remain on this Plane causing as much havoc as possible, though the strongest may have longer term goals, such as taking over an area for themselves.
Demons possess varying amounts of Mana which they use to power some of their abilities. However, to remain on this plane, they must always keep back Mana equal to their level or they will instantly return to wherever they came from.
All Demons have a True Name which, if known by the Demonologist, greatly aids in inscribing a Pentacle against it and controlling it.
The Plane of Chaos holds vast numbers of different Demon types, so there is nearly always a Demon for every task that a Demonologist wants to achieve. However, a Demonologist can only summon Demons of types he has learnt about, either through research or being taught by another Demonologist. Such knowledge is power, and most Demonologists closely guard their secrets.
In general, a Demonologist will know of a number of Demon types equal to his Rank divided by two.
For Players of Demonologists, every time they reach a Rank where they can learn a new Demon type, they should submit a partially statted Demon to the Character Ref.
The Demon can be of any Rank, though presumably it will be one which the character has the ability to at least summon. It can only ever cast Chaos miracles, but can belong to any School of Magic (except Demonology) obeying the usual magic rules.
The player can use half the Demon’s Character Points and can submit requests to the Character Ref for what he believes the Demon’s powers should be. However, it is up to the Character Ref to distribute the remaining Character Points.
The act of summoning a Demon is a lengthy process and usually breaks down into the steps outlined below. The italicised steps are optional, but it is the only foolish, brave or powerful Demonologist that omits them.
Inscribing a Pentacle requires the Magic Ritual (Demonology) skill to at least the level of the Pentacle, and takes 1 minute per level. Care must be taken as any breaks mean that the Pentacle will not contain the Demon. Phys Rep for the Pentacle should be sand, talc or similar, visible powder. If the powder is not visible, the summoned Demon is not contained.
The pentacle is separate to any Ritual Circle used when summoning a Demon via ritual.
Demons really do not like being pulled into this world from their home Plane. Being in the material world causes them discomfort and pain. If given even half a chance, they will anything to revenge themselves on their summoner and/or return back to their home Plane. Note that the higher Ranking Demons in particular can be extremely subtle in escaping the control of the Demonologist.
Control
The Demonologist can use a “Control Demon” spell or ritual. The Demon is forced to obey the Demonologist while the spell is in effect. If the spell expires or is dispelled, the Demon will almost certainly turn on its summoner.
Bargain
The Demonologist can offer the Demon something it wants, usually a sacrifice of some sort. Low rank Demons will be satisfied with a small amount of the blood (causing Life damage), with the amount increasing as the rank of the Demon increases. However, all Demons will attempt to get the best of the Bargain.
Note, for every Life point sacrificed in blood, the Demon gains 1 Character Point. It is possible for foolish Demonologists to sacrifice enough blood that enable the Demon to gain skills such that it can escape.
Other Bargains are possible, such as promising never to Summon the Demon again or performing some task for the Demon. Higher ranking Demons are more likely to offer these types of Bargain.
Always check the small print.
A Bargain is sealed when both the Demonologist and the Demon say “By this I am Bound”. Breaking a Bargain is possible, but doing so has the following consequences:
Demonologist
All Demons are permanently treated as five ranks higher. This consequence is cumulative, so if a Demonologist breaks two Bargains, all Demons are treated as ten ranks higher.
Demon
Permanently loses 10 ranks. Given the serious in-fighting among all Demons, this is a serious loss.
Wrack
A Demonologist can use the “Wrack” spell or ritual to cause the Demon pain and also temporarily lower its rank. This has the effect of making the Demon more likely to agree to a Bargain and also reducing its rank so that it can be more easily controlled. However, it has the side effect of making the Demon less powerful.
| Low Level | |||||
| Level 0 | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | |
| Summon Demon 2 | Summon Demon 4 | Summon Demon 8 | Summon Demon 16 | ||
| Bind Demon 1 | Bind Demon 2 | Bind Demon 3 | Bind Demon 4 | ||
| Dismiss Demon 1 | Dismiss Demon 2 | ||||
| Control Demon 1 | Control Demon 2 | ||||
| Wrack 1 | Wrack 2 | Wrack 3 | Wrack 4 | ||
| High Level | |||||
| Level 5 | Level 6 | Level 7 | Level 8 | Level 9 | Level 10 |
| Summon Demon 32 | Summon Demon 64 | Summon Demon 128 | |||
| Bind Demon 5 | Bind Demon 6 | Bind Demon 7 | Bind Demon 8 | Bind Demon 9 | Bind Demon 10 |
| Dismiss Demon 3 | Dismiss Demon 4 | Dismiss Demon 5 | |||
| Mass Dismiss Demon 1 | Mass Dismiss Demon 2 | Mass Dismiss Demon 3 | |||
| Control Demon 3 | Control Demon 4 | Control Demon 5 | |||
| Mass Control Demon 1 | Mass Control Demon 2 | Mass Control Demon 3 | |||
| Wrack 5 | Wrack 6 | Wrack 7 | Wrack 8 | Wrack 9 | Wrack 10 |
Range: 20’
Duration: 15 minutes
Type: —
Target: Area
Effect:
Summon Demon <n> summons a Rank <n> Minor Demon with the following abilities:
| Rank: | <n> |
| Skill Table: | Demon |
| Damage: | 2 (claws) |
| Life Points: | 45 |
| Powers: | 10 Standing (Chaos) |
| 5 Mana |
Each extra level of Summon Demon increases the demon’s Rank, increasing its Character Points as usual.
These Character Points can be spent on skills from the Demon Skill Table or on the powers described in the Creatures chapter.
The Demon is only able to stay on the summoned plane for the duration of the Summon spell, unless contained within a Pentacle or the target of a Bind Demon spell.
The summoned Demon will immediately try to attack its summoner, so the Demonologist needs to have a method for avoiding this. The usual methods are to summon the Demon into a Pentacle or quickly cast a Control Demon spell.
Control is immediately broken if
Demon’s are usually willing to attack even if they face certain death because when they are ‘killed’ they merely return to the Plane of Chaos. The exception to this is if the Demon is somehow controlled on its home Plane.
Range: 20’
Duration: Variable
Type: Offensive
Target: Demon
Resisted By: -
Effect:
Bind Demon is used to extend the duration that a Demon can remain on the home Plane after being Summoned as follows:
| Level | Duration |
| 0 | 15 minutes |
| 1 | 1 hour |
| 2 | 4 hours |
| 3 | 16 hours |
| 4 | 64 hours |
| 5 | 256 hours (10 days) |
| 6 | 1024 hours (42 days) |
| 7 | 4096 hours (170 days) |
| 8 | 16384 hours (2 years) |
| 9 | 65536 hours (7 years) |
| 10 | 262144 hours (30 years) |
Range: 20’
Duration: Instantaneous
Type: Offensive
Target: Demon
Resisted By: Willpower
Effect:
The targeted Demon is immediately returned to its home Plane if it fails to resist.
Range: 20’
Duration: Instantaneous
Type: Offensive
Target Area (10’ Radius)
Resisted By: Willpower
Prerequisite: Dismiss Demon <n>
Effect:
The caster nominates a point (which may be a person, object or anything else equally obvious) and every demon within 10’ is targeted by a Dismiss Demon <n>.
Range: 20’
Duration: 15 minutes
Type: Offensive
Target: Demon
Resisted By: Willpower
Effect:
The targeted Demon must obey the commands of the caster if it fails to resist. If the Demonologist knows the Demon’s True Name, the spell level is effectively doubled. Control is immediately broken if the caster attacks the Demon or otherwise places the Demon in danger. Control can also be lost if another Demonologist casts a Control Demon of the required level or higher.
Range: 20’
Duration: Instantaneous
Type: Offensive
Target Area
Resisted By: Willpower
Prerequisite: Control Demon <n>
Effect:
The caster nominates a point (which may be a person, object or anything else equally obvious) and every demon within 10’ is targeted by a Control Demon <n>.
Range: 20’
Duration: Instantaneous plus special
Type: Offensive
Target: Person, Demon
Power: Chaos
Resisted By: Power Armour
Effect:
Wrack <n> causes <n> points of Power damage to every location of the target creature and <n> Life Point damage. It addition, if any damage is caused (or if damage is soaked by Endurance), the spell also causes extreme pain, which stops the target from initiating any action for 10 seconds. If attacked, he can still defend himself but cannot attack back, for example. At the very least, the player should scream and drop to at least one knee.
When cast on a Demon, Wrack has the additional effect of reducing its Rank by <n> for 24 hours (the Demon loses the last skills bought with any part of the 10 x <n> Character Points).