Rather than cast Spells or work some other form of Magic on the spur of the moment, Daemonologists instead summon and bind Daemons into mystic contracts commanding the summoned entities to do one or more tasks to carry out the Daemonologist's will.

This is a very dangerous undertaking, as the Daemonologist must win a battle of wills against the Daemons they summon each time they attempt to bind a new Daemonic contract, and if they fail the entities they are attempting to summon instead attempt to slay the summoner and drag their soul into whatever abyss Daemons spawn from.

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PACKAGES

Daemonologist Basic Package

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MECHANICS

This Magic System relies on the underlying Summon power of the HERO System for the bulk of its functionality, with some clearly defined specialized Limitations. Every Daemonologist has an identically defined Summoning Multipower as defined below. This block of abilities is considered to be locked, meaning it cannot be altered or enhanced. Individual GM's may vary on this however.

Cost  Power END 30 Daemonlogy: Multipower, 150-point reserve, (150 Active Points); All slots Requires A Resisted Skill Roll (No Active Point penalty to Skill Roll, Power Skill: Daemonology (EGO) vs. EGO contests; -1/4) Side Effects (If Resisted Skill Roll Failed, Summoned Daemon Attacks Caster With Intent To Slay, Fights To The "Death", Returns To Home Plane If Successful; -1) Each Summoning, Must Pre-Contract For A Number Of Tasks Equal To Weak-Willed EGO Roll Penalty (Minimum One Task); When A Daemon Fulfills Its Contract It Immediately Returns To Home Plane; -1) Extra Time (minimum of 1 Minute, Only to Activate, Character May Take No Other Actions, -1) Incantations (-1/4) Gestures (-1/4) Concentration (1/2 DCV; -1/4) Complex Preperations (Details Vary Per Summon Type As Determined By GM, -1/4) 2u 1) Summon 1 500-point Daemon, Expanded Class of Beings Limited Group (Daemons; +1/2) (150 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Hour, Only to Activate, Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 3/4) Notes: One Task 15 2u 2) Summon 2 400-point Daemons, Weak-Willed -2 on EGO Rolls (+1/4), Expanded Class of Beings Limited Group (Daemons; +1/2) (149 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Hour, Only to Activate, Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 3/4) Notes: Two Tasks 15 2u 3) Summon 4 325-point Daemons, Expanded Class of Beings Limited Group (Daemons; +1/2), Weak-Willed -4 on EGO Rolls (+1/2) (150 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Hour, Only to Activate, Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 3/4) Notes: Four Tasks 15 3u 4) Summon 8 250-point Daemons, Expanded Class of Beings Limited Group (Daemons; +1/2), Weak Willed (-6 on EGO Rolls; +3/4) (146 Active Points); Extra Time (5 Minutes, Only to Activate, Character May Take No Other Actions, -1 1/4) Notes: Six Tasks 15 3u 5) Summon 16 200-point Daemons, Expanded Class of Beings Limited Group (Daemons; +1/2), Weak Willed (-8 to EGO Rolls; +1) (150 Active Points); Extra Time (1 Minute, Only to Activate, Character May Take No Other Actions, -1) Notes: Eight Tasks 15 42 Total Powers Cost

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CONTRACT / SUMMONING

A Daemonologist names the task(s) they are contracting for as part of the Incantations / Preparations process before they make their Daemonology skill roll vs the summoned Daemons' EGO roll.

Tasks can be defined in any fashion, though a GM has ultimate veto rights as always. Daemons cannot fulfill a task if it is outside of their capabilities and any such task that is impossible for them to accomplish is considered to be null and void. If the Daemonologist is attempting to force the Daemons to do something that one of their Disads would make especially against their nature the GM might assess an EGO bonus for the Daemon to resist the Summon, or not, as they see fit.

The more broadly defined a task, the more usage the Daemonologist will get out of a Daemon but the more latitude the Daemon has for interpretation. To prevent a Daemon from getting "creative" requires a very well defined and boxed in task. Alternately, tasks can be left undefined but each undefined, "Obey My Command!" type task counts as two tasks. This allows for some flexibility, especially with the lower-end summons. The top end summons only has one task, so this option is de facto unavailable.

In actual gameplay, a PC Daemonologist would simply write down the tasks and give them to the GM; if the summon is successful the GM interprets the tasks as they see fit. For NPC's the GM handles it however they like.

A task can be simple, such as "Follow me around and defend me from attackers", or complex, such as "remain in your home dimension but when I brandish this item and say a certain word of power immediately appear and attack whoever I specify and when they are defeated return to whence you came". The GM may assign a weight to a complex task, counting it as two or more tasks based upon the sub-steps or conditional behavior contained within it; for instance the previous example complex task might count as two or three tasks, or even more. If the GM does this, it is recommended that the base structure be weighted but additional uses of that same structure on the same contract not be and count as a single task each; thus if the example were the equivalent of 3 tasks then to have the Daemon(s) serve in this fashion four times would count as three tasks for the setup and first use and three more tasks for the three repitions adding up to six total tasks.

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MULTIPLE SUMMONS

For slots that allow multiple creatures to be summoned, a Daemonologist can opt to summon multiple Daemons of the same type and bind them to the same contract in which case a single collective EGO roll is made to resist the contract and the contract is completed by the actions of any of the summoned entities collectively (they all disappear at the same time). Alternately a Daemonologist can opt to summon only one or a few Daemons at a time and reuse the slot to summon different sets of Daemons of the allowed point totals, up to the total creature limit allowed by the slot; and each seperate use of the summon constitutes a different contract.

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DAEMON DESTRUCTION

Daemons don't really "die"; when their physical forms are destroyed they merely return to wherever they come from. However, the contract the Daemon is bound by is rendered null and void by its destruction. Typically a destroyed Daemon cannot be reconstituted (be resummoned) for at least 24 hours. Even if the Daemonologist would prefer to instead summon some other type of Daemon using the same Summon slot, destroyed Daemons effectively lock out the portion of the Daemonologist's Summon used to call them for at least 24 hours.

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COMPLEX PREPARATIONS

Summoning a Daemon requires complex preperations, but what they consist of can vary widely. Thus, a blanket Limitation is used in place of something more specific but less flexible. What is necessary for a given summon should be negotiated between the GM and player, or mandated by the GM. This can include things like circles of protection, ritual preparations, discovering / knowing a Daemon's "true name", some kind of sacrifice, or whatever else is within the comfort level of the involved parties.

Magic Systems