Questions after looking at Quick Ref

[Lisa Padol]

Nev very kindly sent me his Quick Ref. I emailed him a couple of questions, and he suggested I post them here, as he'd like to know the answers as well.

1. A demon isn't under any obligation to tell the truth unless commanded to do so. Okay, if a sorcerer commands her bound demon to tell the truth about something or to always tell her the truth, must the demon obey? I presume this only applies to demons who can communicate in words.

2. If Amber banishes Ben's demon, the demon is still bound, correct? To Ben? If Carol contacts and summons the demon, can she bind it to herself? Or is it automatically bound to Ben?

Meanwhile, if all goes well, barring parental emergencies and the like, I'm hoping to meet with people on Wednesday for character generation and going over the one sheet. As no one came up with alternative suggestions, I was forced to put my foot down and declare that we will meet at the Hungarian Pastry Shop. So there.

-Lisa

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Lisa,

1. A demon isn't under any obligation to tell the truth unless commanded to do so. Okay, if a sorcerer commands her bound demon to tell the truth about something or to always tell her the truth, must the demon obey? I presume this only applies to demons who can communicate in words.

That's actually three questions wrapped up together with ors and ands.

a) If the sorcerer says "Tell me the truth!" and presumably it's clear just what this is referring to, and if the demon doesn't want to, and then demon fails a Will vs. Will contest ... then with great resentment, it tells the truth about what's being asked. This is no different from any other NPC.

b) If the sorcerer says, "Always tell the truth!" and the demon doesn't want to, then it's just like any other generalized order a character may give another in Sorcerer ... the victories of the roll simply become penalties for actions which defy the order. It acts as no restraint whatsoever on the announced actions or sentences themselves.

In other words, a demon in such a situation can lie all it wants, it just has a penalty for succeeding at rolls which are relevant to its lies.

c) All demons can communicate by some means. If you don't think that a demon who uses non-verbal communication cannot lie, then you aren't thinking at all ...

2. If Amber banishes Ben's demon, the demon is still bound, correct? To Ben? If Carol contacts and summons the demon, can she bind it to herself? Or is it automatically bound to Ben?

Look, another three-in-one question. I'm going to start calling you the Holy Trinity.

a) Yes, the demon is still bound to Ben.

b) If Carol contacts and summons the demon, it's still bound to Ben. Contact/Summon doesn't alter Binding any more than Banishing does.

c) All of the instructions I've given in the past about trying to bind an already-bound demon apply. You can't bind an already-bound demon. You can, however, help it break the binding, if it wants to, and then bind it.

Best,
Ron

[Lisa Padol]

That's actually three questions wrapped up together with ors and ands.

a) If the sorcerer says "Tell me the truth!" and presumably it's clear just what this is referring to, and if the demon doesn't want to, and then demon fails a Will vs. Will contest ... then with great resentment, it tells the truth about what's being asked. This is no different from any other NPC.

Ah. Okay, so there is no automatically successful sorcerous compulsion on the demon. Got it. It's a basic intimidate/interrogate/convince someone to answer the question roll, usable on anyone, demon or no, correct?

In other words, a demon in such a situation can lie all it wants, it just has a penalty for succeeding at rolls which are relevant to its lies.

c) All demons can communicate by some means. If you don't think that a demon who uses non-verbal communication cannot lie, then you aren't thinking at all ...

Got it.

Look, another three-in-one question. I'm going to start calling you the Holy Trinity.

And me a nice Jewish neo-pagan.

a) Yes, the demon is still bound to Ben.

b) If Carol contacts and summons the demon, it's still bound to Ben. Contact/Summon doesn't alter Binding any more than Banishing does.

c) All of the instructions I've given in the past about trying to bind an already-bound demon apply. You can't bind an already-bound demon. You can, however, help it break the binding, if it wants to, and then bind it.

Okay, got it. Thanks.

-Lisa

Best,
Ron

[Ron Edwards]

All correct! Yay!

Best,
Ron