[Sorcerer] How Do You Handle Failed Contacts and Summons?
John S:
Anybody who enjoys the Hellboy comics by Mike Mignola might remember that Hellboy came to this world via a "failed" summoning. The Nazis held their ritual to summon the beast of the Apocalypse at a circle of standing stones, but Hellboy appeared instead at a church where he was discovered by Allied Forces. As a result, he lent his power to the Connecticut-based Department of Paranormal Research and Defense, and explicitly rejects his role as a harbinger of doom.
Depending on your local definition of sorcery, you might decide that a Contact or Summon ritual never fails, it just triggers events elsewhere. It might seem like nothing happens right then and there, and later you find out how it went haywire: a failed Contact might cause your estranged daughter to have nightmares in which she converses with the demon who bumps her Lore from zero to one. A failed Summon might land your demon in the domicile of your worst enemy, hungry and desperate to be bound.
I love the examples and ideas already posted, but I wanted to throw this in because I hate whiffs and I'm a major proponent of the idea that "nothing never happens" when it comes to magic.
Judd:
Context is key but I've been thinking about building this into the setting.
I've had this idea for a long time about demons being derived from the different suits of playing cards and when you fail a summoning or contact, you get the wrong demon. So, in some ways, summoning would be like drawing from a deck of cards...if you can count the cards, then you can narrow down the odds, get the demon you want.
So, yes, I agree with Jesse, context is key but I think a menu of results could be jotted down when some details about the demons are figured out before play begins.
James_Nostack:
As I recall the rule book, on like page 91, has rules similar to Judd's proposal for failed summoning rituals: you get a demon, just not the one you wanted. Those always seemed like fun rules to play around with.
Joel Rojas:
I'm surprised by the spectrum of responses for something that is so procedurally laid out in the text. I guess it ultimately comes down to interpretation of context and die rolls. I'm cool with that. Thanks, everyone.
Ron Edwards:
Hi Joel,
I think there's a sharp distinction between the rules and some of the suggestions in the thread.
The rules are straightforward: if you fail the Contact, no demon is contacted, and if you fail the Summons, no demon is summoned. Jesse's suggestion and mine are about plot content and colorful detail which enhance and provide context for these results, and are the only ones which are "by the rules."
John S's suggestion is to modify the rules in the book. This is obviously not a sin, but if we're talking about what the rules say, well, it's not by the rules.
James' point is mistaken regarding the rules: in the text, the alterations to a summoned demon are based on the victories of a successful roll, and do not apply to failed rolls. I'm not saying what he's suggesting is a bad way to play, but like John's suggestion, it's not what the rules say.
Judd's post is hard to interpret. I can't tell if he means using actual playing cards in some way, in which case it's not part of the textual rules at all, or presenting an analogy or conceptual device, in which case I can't tell how it's supposed to be employed.
So my interpretation of the thread so far is that the rules-consistent suggestions are limited, and that most of the range of suggestions deviate from the rules. Again, this does not mean I'm saying those suggestions should be avoided. I'm responding to your point about the range.
Best, Ron
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