New to Sorcerer..

[Bailywolf]

Howdy all.  Glad to see some familiar names from rpg.net.  Longstoryshort- I found the sorcerer Aprentice version on my local drive on sunday... and afterlooking at it wondered why the hell I didn't own the game yet!  I promptly ordered it (it hasn't arived yet).

Its fantasitic to see an indy game with such solid support, and a creator who welcomes others to expand on his work.  I'm looking forward to getting in the groove.

I do have a quick question...

Are all a sorcerer's powers derived from demons he has bound into long-term service?  Is it possible to summon up a demon and barter for a single service?  

I ask because I've been rereading some of Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories, and just about all the spells in his setting are simply highly focused summonings- usualy of unintelligent or mindless supernatural creatures (summon an idiotic fire elemental to blast enemies etc).  To the untutored observer, it apeares that the magician wields the power, but instead only summons and briefly binds some kind of supernatural creature.  

Is this concept addressed anywhere in Sorcerer or its suplemental material?  

More questions to come, I'm sure.

Thanks

[Ron Edwards]

Hey there,

Welcome to the Forge and to Sorcerer as well. The concept of and rules for "Pacting" are presented in Sorcerer & Sword, the first supplement. Unlike the long-term and open-ended relationship of Binding, Pacting is a one-service type of thing. It overlaps to some extent ("Guard this throne until a prince of the blood returns"), but it's still much more specific and task-oriented than Binding.

As for how long it's going to take to get to you, I can only hope it's not long ... all this is pretty new to me and most of the process is now out of my hands. GenCon put a dent in the whole thing too, and I'm pretty sure some direct-sales customers had to wait longer for that reason alone.

Best,
Ron

[Bailywolf]

Ah, an excellent and quick reply, and by The Minister Responsible himself.  I recieved a response email yesterday indicating the order had shipped... is that likely to be correct?

I think S&S is now on my must buy list.  Looks like I don't get to keep any of my money anymore.  Weep.

[Bailywolf]

THERE!  Are you happy!  I just ordered Sorcerer & Sword!  Who needs to eat?! Who needs to pay for electricty?!  Why, not me!  I have Sorcerer and Sword to keep me satiated and well-lit.

Hurmph.  Might as well offer a pile of blow to a recovering cokehead.  

Just not fair... so many good games... gaaaaammmmesssss.

[Ron Edwards]

Don't get too used to the speediness - just so happens we're both in front of the keyboard at the same time.

As for shipping ... well, the order is definitely in the hands of the warehouser, and he's the guy who actually puts it in the mail. Since this is the first time I've done anything like this, it's still mysterious to me how long each step takes.

(I will say that the warehouser in question is very professional and committed to the success of the game, so if it ain't fast, then it's not due to anything under his or my control.)

If you can hold off the jets, I'm hoping to get Sorcerer & Sword into print by Halloween. It's considerably rewritten from the PDF version.

Best,
Ron

[Uncle Dark]

(Must not grumble.  Must not bitch about not having recieved Sorcerer yet.  It's only a game after all...)

Oh.  Did I type that out loud? :razz:

Yeah, Ron, I think that GenCon probably slowed things up a bit.  I'll live.

Baileywolf: welcome to the Forge.

Pacting works just like Binding, but it's harder.  There are penalties assessed based on what kind of deal you work with the demon.  There seems to be an implicit asumption that demons prefer long-term, open-ended contracts (Ron?).

Remember, though, that just 'cause the sorcerer's Pacting roll didn't beat the demon's, doesn't mean that the demon didn't take the job.  It just means that things are not going to go exactly as the sorcerer planned.

Remember: Good judgement comes from experience.  Experience comes from poor judgement.  Assuming that the demon doesn't eat your soul...

Lon

[Valamir]

It may not be just Gen Con.  I got my "has shipped" notice on 7/31, so it went out before any Con manpower shrinkage.

I don't know how it was shipped though, and Tundra isn't set up to use Verza's package tracking service.

[Ron Edwards]

Actually ... well, you all ought to be aware of this, so I'll confess. The "has shipped" notice doesn't really mean the thing has gone into the actual mailbox yet.

So all the pre-GenCon order people got hosed. The books went into the actual mailbox this week. I didn't find out about this until I was at the con.

My apologies - it really will be faster once it gets going, although that's no consolation to the faithful early-orders.

Best,
Ron