Banish, Snapshots & Boost Questions

[Michael S. Miller]

Can someone answer me these question three?

Okay, we've got:
Samson, a parasite demon with Power 9 and Boost Stamina
Rafeal, the sorcerer whom Samson is bound to
Che, the PC sorcerer who very much wants Rafeal dead.

1) Let's say that Che has killed Rafeal all-dead and wants to Banish Samson. Can he keep Punishing Samson over and over until his Power is down really low and then do the Banish?

My thought is that this is okay by the rules (although he'd get a cumulative -1 for trying the same thing over again). However, I'd use the lower Power for the Humanity Gain roll. So, by Punishing first, Che's player increases his chances of successly Banishing, but lowers his odds of raising his Humanity. Is that right?

2) On a related note, suppose during a given round, Samson is doing his Boost to Rafeal and Che decides to do a snapshot Banish. Assuming that the Boost goes off before the Banish, Samson's Power will just be 1 for purposes of resisting the Banishment. So, good timing on Che's part enhances the odds of the Banish. Good tactics!

However, assuming the Banish is successful, does the Humanity Gain roll (if there is one) use the Power of 1? My game-mechanics intellect is telling me that it should, but my gut is telling me that this is robbing Che of a reward he earned through clever tactics. Which is it?

3) Performing snapshot rituals allows the sorcerer to roll only 1 die. However, Banish is Will + Humanity. Does each score drop to 1, meaning Will 1 + Humanity 1 = 2 dice, or is it just a flat 1 die?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Michael,

1) Let's say that Che has killed Rafeal all-dead and wants to Banish Samson. Can he keep Punishing Samson over and over until his Power is down really low and then do the Banish?

My thought is that this is okay by the rules (although he'd get a cumulative -1 for trying the same thing over again).

So far so good. However, I want to stress that killing Rafeal is completely irrelevant. Samson is still going to get the Binding strength as a bonus to its resistance roll against the Banish.

However, I'd use the lower Power for the Humanity Gain roll. So, by Punishing first, Che's player increases his chances of successly Banishing, but lowers his odds of raising his Humanity. Is that right?

I need to re-check the text (going from memory at the moment) ... there's another detail that I'm sure is escaping me. Your next question seems to back this up, so give me a bit to flip pages when I get a chance.

2) On a related note, suppose during a given round, Samson is doing his Boost to Rafeal and Che decides to do a snapshot Banish. Assuming that the Boost goes off before the Banish, Samson's Power will just be 1 for purposes of resisting the Banishment. So, good timing on Che's part enhances the odds of the Banish. Good tactics!

However, assuming the Banish is successful, does the Humanity Gain roll (if there is one) use the Power of 1? My game-mechanics intellect is telling me that it should, but my gut is telling me that this is robbing Che of a reward he earned through clever tactics. Which is it?

The roll uses the Power of 1.

3) Performing snapshot rituals allows the sorcerer to roll only 1 die. However, Banish is Will + Humanity. Does each score drop to 1, meaning Will 1 + Humanity 1 = 2 dice, or is it just a flat 1 die?

Neither. The Will score drops to 1 but the Humanity score is added in full.

Best,
Ron

[Christopher Weeks]

Neither. The Will score drops to 1 but the Humanity score is added in full.

Mmmmm...now if only I hadn't lost two points of Humanity last session.  :-)

Chris

[Ron Edwards]

Hooray!

Armed with a rules-check, I confirmed my memory that if a sorcerer Banishes a demon with low Power, he gets no Humanity gain roll.

So that's what was confusing me in your post, Michael - you spoke of a reduced chance for Humanity gain, whereas the rules have it that the character would have no Humanity gain.

So there's the trade-off: Punish first, then Banish the demon but get no Humanity gain roll; or Banish the demon with it's hunky-high Power and get a Humanity gain roll.

Oh, and Chris? They all say that, eventually ... this is me, smiling wickedly.

Best,
Ron