2 literary sources for Sorcerer

[slavlin]

I have recently been reading the Sorcerer books and have read 2 books that are, IMHO, perfect source material for Sorcerer.

1) Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher - This is an urban noir with magic setting. Where the Sorcerer comes in is this. There is a group known as the Knights of the Denari. They are individuals who each carry one silver coin in which there is bound one demon. There are only 30 of these silver coins. Approximately 2000 years old. I think you see where we are coming from.

What I thought would be the best version of humanity for this would be Free Will. My view of it is that these demons have a collective goal to strip mankind of the free will which God granted to them.

2) The White Tribunal by Paula Volsky - This is a mideval setting with very little magic, but the magic in it is all granted by extradimensional entities. The main character makes a pact to receive a fixed amount of power to do with as he wishes, in return, the entity gets his spirit when he usese it up or when he dies, which ever comes first. I have not finished reading the Sorcerers Soul yet, so I am not really sure how I would apply this, but I think it has potential.

Michael Blank

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Michael,

I think the first question that comes to mind with settings of this kind is, "Why be a sorcerer?" Oh, you might say, for the money or the sex or the worldly power, but none of those really answer the question of how a sorcerer might be anything but a plot device or a bad guy.

Consider that, in the game, you should think of a player-character as having a three-step history:

- a person with a life and a past

- who Bound at least one demon, he really did this and meant to do it

- and who now faces a transformational event, possibly the most important in his life

It seems to me that your summary of these settings tells us nothing about any of these. It tells us about the demons and what they might be up to, but ultimately, that's not too important compared to these three layers of the player-character.

Best,
Ron