Dogs becoming sorcerers?

[zornwil]

Hi, I don't have anything to contribute on this, sorry, but as the "?" in the topic implies, I'm curious about others' experience, both qualitatively and mechanically?  Ben Lehman's analysis on backgrounds and their interplay to Conflict management/manipulation makes mention of where some Dog backgrounds can more immediately become sorcerers.  Regarding that process of becoming sorcerers, I'm not really aware of any standard mechanics for that?  I am aware of how a Dog can bring Demonic Influence to bear (thanks to Carl's discussion IRL), and I could imagine that one could simply declare oneself a sorcerer, being a Dog and all, and assign Relationship dice and gain powers accordingly - is this how you all generally do it?  I've heard very little about this - Ben's comments imply this is more common than I think (given the very little I've heard, I thought it was quite rare, but Ben's comments imply it's a semi-normative thing to do).  Comments welcome.

[Eero Tuovinen]

Roleplayers like perversity, it's no big surprise that the statement of becoming sorcerer is constantly in play as a potentiality, if not actuality. You might consider that while actually becoming a sorcerer is rare, discussing it and being tempted by it is a constant experience for all dogs. Even then, I would expect all long-term campaigns to have one or more PC sorcerers, knowing how roleplayers swing.

[Ben Lehman]

Anyone who has a 4-or-more dice relationship with a demon is a sorcerer -- they can order the demon to possess them at any time and get all the benefits of possession. So any Dog with a 4-die relationship to a demon is a sorcerer. Whether or not they ever order the demon to possess them is a totally different scoop.

yrs--
--Ben

[zornwil]

Somehow I had missed this before but finally caught it - "If your character has a Relationship with a demon, he or she can ask the demon for help at any time. Add the situation's Demonic Influence to your side, with supernatural special effects. This makes your character a Sorcerer; what that means to your character's soul is, as always, in your hands."

However, I don't believe 4 dice are required?  I see the quote "Give the sorcerer a Relationship to a demon at four dice of your choice, above and beyond the Relationships listed for the NPC." but that refers to creating a Sorcerer as an NPC.

In any event, thanks.

[Nathaniel]

It also depends on how you are all defining things in play.  Demons and Sorcerers can be just human weakness and jerks, or they can be real supernatural things.  Or it can be undefined.

Do demons even exist?  Is the Faith true?  What is human morality?  Is there a spiritual dimension?  These are things that get explored and defined in play rather than by the GM in setting.  If he's got the right dice, there's nothing stopping a player from going back to the Four Brides and making himself the Chief Prophet and Ancient and redefining the doctrine of the Faith as he sees fit.  If that's what the stakes are and you've got the dice to back it up, that's that.  I would expect though, that there's lots of Ancients with high dice related to religious leadership that would make such an event very difficult.

Players might be playing as if the cosmology of the setting is objectively true, or objectively not true (the view Vincent expressed in his interview with Theory From the Closet #25 re: the remarks about the GM as atheist) but it's not either per se.  But it can be either.  If it is either, the King of Life does not play dice with the universe.  The King of Life isn't going to punish a Dog outside of the regular rules for conflicts.  A group could have a game where the the King of Life is personally punishing a disobedient dog, but it's going to be done through the dice available through the NPCs and the Towns.  There aren't any rules for the King of Life to have a bunch of dice as an NPC.  The game is not about that.  If the game is being played with the Faith being true and the King of Life being objectively real, He is going to act through the regular rules about what's at stake and what fallout occurs as the Dogs interact with the Town.

So yeah, Dogs can be sorcerers.  I also think Eero is right, many RPG players love perversity and drive the game (or at least their character) in that direction regardless of the game.

I don't think I drove things off topic, but I apologize if I do.  What exactly demons and sorcerers are and the objective reality of the Faith are things to consider if a Dog is to become a Sorcerer with a relationship with a Demon.

[zornwil]

I don't think it's off-topic, thanks. 

I am interested to see nobody reporting actual experiences in doing this - so I kind of wonder if this is something people talk about but don't do (generally speaking of course)?  Anyway, I'd like to hear about how things went for anyone who did play in games where Dogs availed themselves of demonic powers/sorcery.

[Filip Luszczyk]

I'll go all rules lawyery, just to make sure about some stuff.

What the book says about Relationship with a Demon:

The character who has a Relationship with a Demon can ask it for help and roll Demonic Influence for his or her side.
This makes him or her a Sorcerer.

What the book says about NPC Sorcerers:

A believer in false doctrine who developed a following is a Sorcerer.
You give him a Relationship with Demon at four dice, as a "bonus" Relationship.
He or she can add Demonic Influence to a chosen side of a conflict.
He or she can become possessed at will, gaining the funky powers.
He or she can invite demons to possess her followers.

Clarity check:

1. There's a slight ambiguity as far as PC Sorcerers go. Does the PC need to believe in a false doctrine and have a following to be one? Or is it possible to be a Sorcerer by the sheer non-virtue of having a Relationship with a Demon, and both the doctrine and the followers requirements are just standard qualities of NPC Sorcerers in the game?

2. Does the PC need to have Relationship with a Demon at four dice in order to function as a Sorcerer? Or are these four dice just the standard quality of NPC Sorcerers in the game (i.e. it's just that their freebie Relationship gets four dice), and having the Relationship at all is enough for the PC?

3. Is it legit to add Demonic Influence to any side of a conflict (like NPC rules say) or only to one's own side (as the rules for using Relationships suggest)?

4. Can PC Sorcerer become possessed at will (as per the rules for NPC Sorcerers), or is he or she limited to adding Demonic Influence (as per Relationships entry)?

5. Can PC become possessed and gain funky powers if he happens to have Relationship with a Demon at less than four dice?

6. Can PC Sorcerer make other people possessed, or is this ability limited to NPC Sorcerers?

7. How making other characters possessed works? Is it possible to just "say yes" and establish the Relationship with a Demon for another character, creating the dice from thin air? Does it require devoting one of Proto-NPC's Relationships as per the rules for possessed people? If so, if there's no free Relationship available, does it require an investment of Free Dice from the GM's pool? If so, can the Sorcerer make another character possessed if the GM has already spent all his Free Dice? Or, maybe a conflict is required, and whoever controls the character to be possessed needs to take the Relationship willingly as Fallout? (Hmm, and a loose thought: what if the player of a PC Sorcerer could spend his available Relationship dice to give NPCs Relationship with a Demon?)

(No, I have no other questions to wrap my bricks in. Sorry for the windows.)

I could use clarifications on these matters.

[zornwil]

My opinions/interpretations:

1. Does the PC need to believe in a false doctrine and have a following to be one?
          I think that's entirely up to the player and how he plays the PC, consistent with how a Dog is always played - a Dog can believe any doctrine and believe it's real, he talks to the Lord.  The character's soul is in the player's hands.

Or is it possible to be a Sorcerer by the sheer non-virtue of having a Relationship with a Demon, and both the doctrine and the followers requirements are just standard qualities of NPC Sorcerers in the game?
          Note the book calls the PC a sorcerer de facto for calling on the demons.   I think that's your answer.

2. Does the PC need to have Relationship with a Demon at four dice in order to function as a Sorcerer?
           I don't see any such reference.  You don' thave to have 4 dice to be a sorcerer even for NPCs.

Or are these four dice just the standard quality of NPC Sorcerers in the game (i.e. it's just that their freebie Relationship gets four dice), and having the Relationship at all is enough for the PC?
            You saw my answer earlier in the thread, I'm not aware of any 4 dice requirement in the book.

3. Is it legit to add Demonic Influence to any side of a conflict (like NPC rules say) or only to one's own side (as the rules for using Relationships suggest)?
             Not sure I follow you - Demonic Influence is on the side of, well, demonic influence.  I mean that you roll Demonic Influence under specific circumstances in the rules, only.  Other than that, a Relationship is a Relationship.

4. Can PC Sorcerer become possessed at will (as per the rules for NPC Sorcerers), or is he or she limited to adding Demonic Influence (as per Relationships entry)?
              Good question.  I would think so - that would also be incentive to indulge further in the Relationship (to get more Powers).  Come to the dark side.....

5. Can PC become possessed and gain funky powers if he happens to have Relationship with a Demon at less than four dice?
              I don't see why not.  Note the provisions of Powers are that a Possessed simply has as many Powers as Relationship dice to the demon.

6. Can PC Sorcerer make other people possessed, or is this ability limited to NPC Sorcerers?
              I would think this would require just the target saying "yes" or if not then a Conflict to say "I possess this guy."

7. How making other characters possessed works? Is it possible to just "say yes" and establish the Relationship with a Demon for another character, creating the dice from thin air? Does it require devoting one of Proto-NPC's Relationships as per the rules for possessed people? If so, if there's no free Relationship available, does it require an investment of Free Dice from the GM's pool? If so, can the Sorcerer make another character possessed if the GM has already spent all his Free Dice? Or, maybe a conflict is required, and whoever controls the character to be possessed needs to take the Relationship willingly as Fallout? (Hmm, and a loose thought: what if the player of a PC Sorcerer could spend his available Relationship dice to give NPCs Relationship with a Demon?)
                         I'd probably stay simplistic as my above answer and say any nuance issues are up to the playgroup's sense of fairness.

[Filip Luszczyk]

Wilson, your interpretations are interesting.

However, I'm still waiting for official clarifications.

I generally prefer to know which of the nuance issues the group is supposed to work out, and which should be dealt with in a specific way that the text is not absolutely clear about (whether I play by the book once I'm sure is an entirely different matter, of course). Basically, Ben's explanation about 4 dice requirement sparked my doubts - I'm conscious Ben knows the game well, but I've never seen this thing mentioned anywhere before. So, I'd like to know what Vincent has to say about this.

As for Demonic Influence question, the text that explains NPC Sorcerers suggests an option of rolling Demonic Influence dice and giving them to someone else ("your preferred side"). Which one could want to do in some rare, very specific cases.

[Ben Lehman]

I may well be wrong about the 4 dice thing.

yrs--
--Ben

[jburneko]

I am interested to see nobody reporting actual experiences in doing this - so I kind of wonder if this is something people talk about but don't do (generally speaking of course)?  Anyway, I'd like to hear about how things went for anyone who did play in games where Dogs availed themselves of demonic powers/sorcery.

I've done it twice.  I really like the option and enjoy combining it with traits like: "I sin so you don't have to." and "I question my goodness."

I've never played it as believing in any kind of false doctrin.  I just have a relationship with a demon and I know how to call on that relationship for supernatural favors.  I've used it to mark people with weird symbols, set someone on fire, see visions of remote locations, "fight fire with fire" situations where I've used my demon to combat the demons in the town.

Yeah, I love this option.  The Dog I play when I use it is usually a convert from Back East who started out studying demonology and came out west to place he heard "real miracles" were performed.  He then uses his expertise in demonology to fight for the faith.

Jesse

[devonapple]

usually a convert from Back East who started out studying demonology and came out west to place he heard "real miracles" were performed.  He then uses his expertise in demonology to fight for the faith.

Renaissance fiction contains several examples of Christian religious types using Demonology to power White Magic, binding eveil creatures to do things in the name of Good.  Robert Greene's "Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay" is one such text.

[zornwil]

I am interested to see nobody reporting actual experiences in doing this - so I kind of wonder if this is something people talk about but don't do (generally speaking of course)?  Anyway, I'd like to hear about how things went for anyone who did play in games where Dogs availed themselves of demonic powers/sorcery.

I've done it twice.  I really like the option and enjoy combining it with traits like: "I sin so you don't have to." and "I question my goodness."

I've never played it as believing in any kind of false doctrin.  I just have a relationship with a demon and I know how to call on that relationship for supernatural favors.  I've used it to mark people with weird symbols, set someone on fire, see visions of remote locations, "fight fire with fire" situations where I've used my demon to combat the demons in the town.

Yeah, I love this option.  The Dog I play when I use it is usually a convert from Back East who started out studying demonology and came out west to place he heard "real miracles" were performed.  He then uses his expertise in demonology to fight for the faith.

Jesse

Thanks!

[lumpley]

I'll answer this when I have my book at hand. Hang in there, Philip!

-Vincent

[Filip Luszczyk]

Hmm, still hanging...