Post by Deleted on May 1, 2004 18:48:17 GMT -5
Most daemonology spells are just that - spells - and so cannot be cast by non-mages. There are three exceptions - Summon Daemonic Familiar, Summon Daemonic Servant, and Summon Lesser Daemon. On Geheimnisnacht, nonmages may even summon Greater Daemons (foolish mortals...)
It is clearly part of the WFRP background that nonwizards can do this - note, however, that nonwizards cannot bind, restrain or control the daemons they summon. They may know the correct rituals, but, without magical ability, those rituals are meaningless. Daemons are usually as cunning as they are evil, and will often maintain a pretense that their summoners' pentagrams are effective - just as long as it suits them.
One particular form of Limited Magery is especially relevant to Daemonology. In the Warhammer world, all forms of Limited Magery are possible, and all Magery and Limited Magery applies to daemonological spells. However, Moon-Aspected Magery deserves a few notes.
The Warhammer world has two moons, and Moon-Aspected Magery can be tied to either of them. The "normal" moon, Mannslieb, follows normal, predictable rhythms, and is favoured by nature wizards. Morrslieb, the Chaos Moon, is of particular interest to daemonologists, and Morrslieb-aspected Moon Magery is a must for powerful daemonology. Morrslieb follows no predictable pattern in the sky, so GMs are free to be completely arbitrary when determining the power levels available to daemonologists.
Being in tune with the Chaos Moon is useful for controlling Daemons - Morrslieb-aspected Moon Magery adds to the mage's Will for the purposes of spells (such as Control Daemon and Banish Daemon) which cause a Quick Contest of the caster's Will versus a daemon's Iq. However, Morrslieb-aspected Moon Magery subtracts from the mage's Will if ever a will roll is required to avoid temptation by a daemon. This is the price of being attuned to Chaos.
These rules are written on the assumption that humans' willpower is equal to 10 (not Iq), plus or minus strong or weak will. We use this rule in our campaign because a major theme of the WFRP background is temptation. The reduced Will value makes Quick Contests between mages' Will and Daemons' Iq very hard for the mages to win - this is intentional. Only fools (or the overconfident) believe they can truly control daemons.
Daemon princes are a special case. Being originally mortal, they use their Will instead of their Iq to resist control by a daemonologist. However, to become daemons at all, they are likely to have very strong willpower indeed.
Daemons can always be negotiated with, whether or not they are controlled. All but the weakest of daemons are extremely slippery customers, out to persuade their summoners to sell their souls for something worthless. Social skills (fast-talk, intimidation &c.) do not generally work on daemons, though Diplomacy attempts might intrigue a Lord of Change.
Few are aware of the fact that contracts signed with daemons are not in fact binding unless the Enforce Daemonic Contract spell is successfully cast - and those who know the spell often become dangerously overconfident.
If it looks like a mortal has found a loophole in their contract, that mortal might well find their daemonic deal worthless unless it was enforced by a spell. On the other hand, daemons often delight in fulfilling their side of a bargain in the manner most troublesome for their summoners. Playing daemons is the perfect excuse for GMs to be as sadistic as they can...
Questions can be asked of summoned daemons, whether or not they are bound, but it should be noted that daemons almost always lie. If they do not know, they simply make something up. Of course, if a daemonologist takes to asking yes/no questions and assuming the opposite of what the daemon says, that daemon might well slip in a few truths just to really confuse them...
The spell "Question Daemon" can be used to attempt to force out the truth, but it is meaningless if the daemon does not know the correct answer! If the daemon does not know the truth, it can still just make up anything it wishes.
It is clearly part of the WFRP background that nonwizards can do this - note, however, that nonwizards cannot bind, restrain or control the daemons they summon. They may know the correct rituals, but, without magical ability, those rituals are meaningless. Daemons are usually as cunning as they are evil, and will often maintain a pretense that their summoners' pentagrams are effective - just as long as it suits them.
One particular form of Limited Magery is especially relevant to Daemonology. In the Warhammer world, all forms of Limited Magery are possible, and all Magery and Limited Magery applies to daemonological spells. However, Moon-Aspected Magery deserves a few notes.
The Warhammer world has two moons, and Moon-Aspected Magery can be tied to either of them. The "normal" moon, Mannslieb, follows normal, predictable rhythms, and is favoured by nature wizards. Morrslieb, the Chaos Moon, is of particular interest to daemonologists, and Morrslieb-aspected Moon Magery is a must for powerful daemonology. Morrslieb follows no predictable pattern in the sky, so GMs are free to be completely arbitrary when determining the power levels available to daemonologists.
Being in tune with the Chaos Moon is useful for controlling Daemons - Morrslieb-aspected Moon Magery adds to the mage's Will for the purposes of spells (such as Control Daemon and Banish Daemon) which cause a Quick Contest of the caster's Will versus a daemon's Iq. However, Morrslieb-aspected Moon Magery subtracts from the mage's Will if ever a will roll is required to avoid temptation by a daemon. This is the price of being attuned to Chaos.
These rules are written on the assumption that humans' willpower is equal to 10 (not Iq), plus or minus strong or weak will. We use this rule in our campaign because a major theme of the WFRP background is temptation. The reduced Will value makes Quick Contests between mages' Will and Daemons' Iq very hard for the mages to win - this is intentional. Only fools (or the overconfident) believe they can truly control daemons.
Daemon princes are a special case. Being originally mortal, they use their Will instead of their Iq to resist control by a daemonologist. However, to become daemons at all, they are likely to have very strong willpower indeed.
Daemons can always be negotiated with, whether or not they are controlled. All but the weakest of daemons are extremely slippery customers, out to persuade their summoners to sell their souls for something worthless. Social skills (fast-talk, intimidation &c.) do not generally work on daemons, though Diplomacy attempts might intrigue a Lord of Change.
Few are aware of the fact that contracts signed with daemons are not in fact binding unless the Enforce Daemonic Contract spell is successfully cast - and those who know the spell often become dangerously overconfident.
If it looks like a mortal has found a loophole in their contract, that mortal might well find their daemonic deal worthless unless it was enforced by a spell. On the other hand, daemons often delight in fulfilling their side of a bargain in the manner most troublesome for their summoners. Playing daemons is the perfect excuse for GMs to be as sadistic as they can...
Questions can be asked of summoned daemons, whether or not they are bound, but it should be noted that daemons almost always lie. If they do not know, they simply make something up. Of course, if a daemonologist takes to asking yes/no questions and assuming the opposite of what the daemon says, that daemon might well slip in a few truths just to really confuse them...
The spell "Question Daemon" can be used to attempt to force out the truth, but it is meaningless if the daemon does not know the correct answer! If the daemon does not know the truth, it can still just make up anything it wishes.