Art of Demon Summoning

Many of the following procedures have the wild-card phrase “Creature” in their name and description. For the purposes of these Procedures, each such creature is an individual type of First Circle demon, or a specific Second Circle demon.

Initiate Procedures

• Alarm Ward Against (Creature) (1, Perception, 1, one hour): The thaumaturge sets up an invisible magical line that alerts the character whenever a particular type of demon crosses the ward. The alert only reaches the thaumaturge if she is within one mile per success she gained during its casting. The alert can manifest as anything from an enchanted bell that rings to a pricking sensation in the thaumaturge’s thumbs. Once placed, this ward endures for one day. Magical methods of avoiding detection, including Charms, must exceed the ward’s threshold, although sorcery and necromancy that prevent detection automatically succeed. The ward protects an area at most (character’s Degree in Warding x 20) feet in any direction.
• Demonsight (1, Perception, 3, five minutes): Her closed eyes anointed with blood, the thaumaturge opens them to perceive immaterial demons with all senses for the rest of the scene.
• Lesser Ward Against (Creature) (1, Manipulation, 1, one hour): Employing components antithetical to the particular type of demon, the thaumaturge evokes an invisible magical barrier that discourages its approach. A Lesser Ward acts as a deterrent rather than a physical barrier. A creature needs Dodge MDV at least equal to the number of successes achieved on the thaumaturgy roll in order to ignore its unnatural mental influence. A creature affected by the ward may spend 1 Willpower per scene to ignore its effects, though doing so may incur Limit when applicable. Once cast, the ward lasts for one day. The ward protects an area at most (character’s Degree in Warding x 20) feet in any direction.

Adept Procedures

• Alarm Ward Maintenance (2, Perception, 3, five minutes): The more effort put into a ward, the greater its effect. If a thaumaturge succeeds with this ritual, she enables a ward to last longer: another day with a single success; two successes adds a week, three adds a month, four adds a season, five adds a year, and every additional success adds another year. Wards that truly last indefinitely require binding the ward to some sort of talisman using the Art of Enchantment: the talisman requires the same Degree of mastery in the Art of Enchantment as the basic barrier does in the Art of Demon Summoning.
• Banish the Faithless Servant (2, Essence + Willpower, 2, miscellaneous action): With this ritual, a thaumaturge may attempt to banish a demon of the First Circle only if he was the summoner (usually via Summon [Species]). With a miscellaneous action, the magician enters a contest of wills against the demon. Each participant’s player rolls (Essence + Willpower) until one side achieves a net number of successes equal to the other contestant’s Essence. Each roll requires another miscellaneous action for each participant, and neither can take any non-reflexive actions during the contest without automatically forfeiting. Unfortunately for the thaumaturge, his rolls are diffi culty 2, and he needs to show the demon its special sigil. If the thaumaturge wins, the demon disappears back to Malfeas in a flash of green fire; if the demon wins, the thaumaturge may not attempt to banish it again for five days.
• Dishonest Demon’s Rebuke (2, Intelligence, Difficulty, 10 hours + miscellaneous action): With this Procedure, the thaumaturge can strike an immaterial demon. In the first part of the ritual, the thaumaturge spends 10 hours inscribing special prayer strips. In the second part, the thaumaturge casts the strips into the air and mutters a quick prayer while expending the Willpower needed for the ritual. The caster may then perform a single attack against a dematerialized spirit using a weapon or barehanded. For the rest of the scene, he may attempt additional attacks at the cost of another Willpower point for each attack. This rite doesn’t grant the ability to detect the spirit. That must be gained in some other fashion.
• Expulsion (2, Manipulation, spirit’s lowest Virtue, 10 minutes): Some demons can enter mortal creatures and take control of their bodies. A skilled thaumaturge can drive out a demon that has used a Charm to possess another being. The effort to do so is an extended roll, with a difficulty equal to the spirit’s lowest Virtue, requiring an accumulation of successes equal to twice the demon’s highest Virtue. Each roll requires 10 minutes and costs the thaumaturge 1 Willpower.
• Lesser Ward Maintenance (2, Perception, 3, one day): As Alarm Ward Maintenance, but extending the duration of any Lesser Ward.
• Summon (Creature) (2, Intelligence, 5, six hours): A First Circle demon of the desired species crawls through a crack in the Demon Realm and appears in a fl ash of green fi re before the caster. Thaumaturges have no power to command summoned demons, but they may try to threaten, bribe or cajole them to do some task they are naturally inclined to do instead of immediately attacking (e.g., erymanthoi hunger for bones to crunch and flesh to rend). This ritual must be begun at sunset and ends at midnight, and it involves blood sacrifice. Each type of demon has its own sigil and array of plants, animals, stones, color combinations and other symbolic elements that must be used in its summoning. Erymanthoi, for instance, loathe cats above all other creatures, and so, their summoning must involve killing a cat and offering its blood.
• Ward Against (Creature) (2, Intelligence, 1, one hour): This ritual works like a Lesser Ward, except that it creates a physical barrier against the warded creatures rather than a mental deterrent. The strength of the ward equals the number of successes the thaumaturge’s player gains during its creation. A warded demon cannot pass through the barrier unless its Essence exceeds the strength of the ward, in which case it may tear a hole in the ward through which other creatures may pass. A demon that is blocked may also spend 1 Willpower to assault the ward, rolling its Essence in dice, with each success reducing the ward’s strength by one. The assaulting demon suffers a number of dice of bashing damage equal to the current strength of the ward, soakable only by Stamina and other natural soak. If the ward remains strong enough to block the demon, it may choose to attack it again for another Willpower point. The ward protects an area at most (character’s Degree in Warding x 20) feet in any direction.

Master Procedures

• Banish (Creature) (3, Manipulation, special, one minute per roll): This Procedure must be purchased separately for each kind of demon. The players of the exorcist and her target engage in a contested roll, the thaumaturge’s (Manipulation + Occult + Degree) against the demon’s (Willpower + Essence), with each roll costing the exorcist 1 Willpower and a minute of work. The target must reflexively expend 3 motes of Essence for each roll or forfeit the contest. If the exorcist achieves a number of net successes equal to (the spirit’s Essence + highest Virtue), then the spirit must leave the area immediately and stay away for a night and a day, with extra successes doubling the banishment period for each additional success. Though this Procedure can be taken for a demon of the Second Circle, only a thaumaturge with a permanent Essence at least equal to the demon’s own can attempt to banish it, with the banishment lasting for only a scene.
• Beckon (Unique Demon) (3, Intelligence, demon’s Essence, six hours): With greater mastery of the Art of Demon Summoning, the thaumaturge may beckon one of the demons of the Second Circle and open a way for it to enter Creation. This ritual must begin at sunset on the night of a new moon or one of the nights of Calibration, although some demons have alternative times and conditions under which they might be called instead. Unlike their inferiors, demons of the Second Circle are not bound to answer: they may choose to ignore the call altogether if they wish. As with the Summon (Species) ritual, the thaumaturge cannot control the demon and must bargain or plead for whatever aid it renders. Each of these greater demons requires a different ritual, unique to its nature, that incorporates distinctive symbolic elements. Beckon Sondok, for instance, involves use of a battleaxe, the lethal red mushrooms her cult holds sacred, an image of a wolf and offerings of garnets and the decaying corpse of a dog.
• Demon-Scorching Celestial Weapon (3, Intelligence, 3, five minutes): For the next battle (but no more than a week in the future), the enchanted weapon deals aggravated damage to demons. The ritual only works, however, on weapons plated with gold (for the Unconquered Sun) or silver (for Luna). This raises the weapon’s Resources cost by one dot. The Immaculate Order deems this Procedure heretical. The Realm’s non-Immaculate military thaumaturges use it anyway. The Heptagram, the House of Bells and Pasiap’s Stair all teach the Procedure in their thaumaturgy curricula.
• Five Days Foresight (3, Manipulation, 5, six hours): Few sages know that a summoned demon departs Malfeas across the endless desert of Cecelyne five days before the summoning actually takes place. The twisted and fractured connections between Creation and Malfeas give the Yozis and their servants strange insight into Creation’s future. A thaumaturge who knows this ritual can open a mystic connection to a demon currently in Malfeas and ask it a question about the future. Unfortunately for the magician, she does not know which demon she contacts, nor can she compel it to tell the truth (or speak for that matter). The thaumaturge can only issue whatever appeal she thinks most likely to bring her a response. Storytellers might have the demon honestly reveal some relevant information or admit its lack of knowledge… or the demon might lie. Many demons take delight in giving honest answers that corrupt or doom the querist.
• Greater Ward Against (Creature) (3, Intelligence, 1, two hours): This ritual works like a Lesser Ward, except that it creates a mystic shield rather than a mental deterrent. The strength of the ward equals the number of successes the thaumaturge’s player gains during its creation. A warded creatures cannot enter the warded area, launch physical attacks of any type into it, or make any type of magical attack (including mind influencing Charms and spells) into it, unless its Essence exceeds the strength of the ward, in which case it may tear a hole in the ward through which other attacks may pass. A creature that is blocked may spend 1 Willpower to assault the ward, as per Ward Against (Creature) rituals. By itself, a Greater Ward is not damaging, but if it is cast in conjunction with a Ward Against (Creature), then the damage caused by that ward becomes lethal and equals the strength of both wards added together. An assault against a target protected by both wards damages both wards equally and only requires 1 Willpower point.
• Keyed Ward (3, Wits, ward diffi culty +2, one hour): Sometimes, it is inconvenient to have a ward affect every member of the group it is designed to restrict. This ritual is always cast in conjunction with another warding ritual and limits the scope of the other rite. The casting time adds to that of the other ritual, and the thaumaturge must succeed in a roll at (the other ritual’s difficulty + 2). With success, the thaumaturge specifies a condition where the other ward lets creatures through. The condition described must be something objectively definable that could be deduced through mundane means. “Those who have my sigil tattooed on their back,” “my honored ancestor ghosts,” “those who say the word ‘hallelujah’ while passing through the door,” or “the Dragon-Blood named Sesus Nagezzer” are all valid conditions. “The person who is telling the truth” or “followers of the Bull of the North” are not—the ward cannot read minds or otherwise probe a creature to determine truthfulness or loyalty. Failure on the Keyed Ward ritual roll means the other ward operates in its normal fashion, while a botch engenders some unexpected condition instead.
• The Year and the Day (3, Manipulation, 5, miscellaneous action): A persistent thaumaturge can rid Creation of a First Circle demon. This ritual only works for a banisher who has successfully repelled a demon from her presence repeatedly for a period of a year and a day. Finally, she uses this ritual, and if successful, the demon returns to Malfeas in a burst of green flame, not to return until someone summons it again.
• Ward Maintenance (3, Perception, 3, one day): Works as Lesser Ward Maintenance except it applies to an Adept-level ward. Alternately, the thaumaturge can use this ritual to restore a damaged Adept-level ward to full strength.