A couple more rules questions

[Jeffrey Straszheim]

I have a couple more questions.

Hold

Let's see if I'm right on how the Hold ability works.  The demon attacks using its Power.  The target can defend normally using his Stamina (or one die if he "soaks").  If he fails he gets one level of Hold.  The target can break one level of Hold during a round as his action; he rolls his Stamina vs. the Demon's Power.  Is this roll considered an attack on the demon?  Does the demon have to choose between aborting or rolling one die?

Punish

When punished, a demon regains its Power by rolling Stamina vs. the strength of the Punish.  Easy enough.  How frequently may the demon make these rolls?  Once per combat round (recall that it takes several hours for the Punish ritual)?  Once per hour?  In removing the punish, does the demon regain one point of power per victory, or one per successful roll?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Jeffrey,

Regarding Hold, you have the basics down without any problem, regarding how the demon establishes it. The second and third Holds would work exactly the same.

Now, regarding breaking the Hold:

The target can break one level of Hold during a round as his action; he rolls his Stamina vs. the Demon's Power. Is this roll considered an attack on the demon? Does the demon have to choose between aborting or rolling one die?

This roll is not an attack on the demon; the Hold and the demon should be considered two separate things once the Hold is established. The Hold's resistance is equal to the demon's Power, and "it" has no ability to abort; it's just a pile of dice sitting there, in game terms. The demon, once it's established the Hold, can go off and do other stuff, fight or write a novel, whatever.

Whether the demon can drop the Hold depends on the special effects involved.

Regarding Punish, there are two answers.

1. (You knew this one) Depends on the special effects of the Punish.

2. By default, though, demons recover fast. I'd put the roll at about once per hour ... but even better, I'd say, once per scene of play. In fact, I'd avoid the "per hour" concept as a written rule, although I'd probably apply it if in-play time skipped a day or a few days.

Don't get sucked into Simulationist-think, though - if in-play time skipped a couple of days or more, I'd just have the demon recover fully and be done with it.

Best,
Ron

[Jeffrey Straszheim]

Thanks Ron.

[Jeffrey Straszheim]

Oh yeah, one more thing.  If the demon rolls and gets, say, 3 successes, does it gain back 3 points of Power, or just one?

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Jeffrey,

Just one.

(whew, that was easy)

Although under some special effects I can think of, one might use the victories as bonus dice to whatever the demon does next.

Best,
Ron