Author: Ron Edwards
Category: game
Company/Publisher: NA
Line: Sorcerer
Cost: $10
Page count: 96
ISBN: NA
SKU: NA
Playtest Review by Mike Zebrowski on 06/09/00.
Genre tags: Fantasy Modern day Horror Generic

sponsored by

Sorcerer

Overview

Most role playing games can be placed into one of three categories. In the first category are the generic games such as GURPS and FUDGE. They are the games that provide a generic set of rules for any genre. In the second category are the full blown setting games. These games provide the rules and background for a specific setting, such as the World of Darkness or Star Wars. In the third category are the generic genre games. These games provide generic rules for a specific genre. The classic example of this is D&D which provides a set of generic rules for fantasy games. Sorcerer falls into this last category. It provides a generic set of rules for playing a Sorcerer is a modern setting. As such it expects the GM to define the game world.

Sorcerer can be found on the World Wide Web at : http://www.sorcerer-rpg.com. It is available as a set of PDF files. It is also available from Concept Syndicate Inc. on CD as a set of html documents. This review will cover the PDF version.

Layout and Presentation

Sorcerer is 96 pages long with a color coversheet. Each of the seven chapters begins with a black and white line drawing and there is usually another piece of artwork within each chapter. All the art is well done and sparks the imagination of the reader. While there isn't an index, the table of contents does break each chapter down to its components. Unfortunately, the table of contents does not give page numbers.

The text suffers from poor editing and vague/incorrect cross-referencing with other parts of the book. Some cross-references refer the reader only to a chapter and not a page. Other cross-references direct the reader to a previous section in a chapter when the desired material is actually presented later on in the chapter. A few cross-references direct the reader to the wrong chapter. This problem is further compounded by the almost stream of conciseness type presentation that the author uses. For example in chapter 1, the reader is first introduced to the concept of sorcery, then the text jumps into a discussion on what each player and GM must do to make their game unique (which is discussed again in Chapter 4) , followed by the core rules of the game, followed by the bibliography. The entire text feels as if the author is explaining his game to you in person while you are at a game convention.

Character Creation

Each PC is composed of three attributes, one skill, a cover, and a price. Each of the character's scores is rated in dice. The typical human range is 2-4 dice. Most sorcerer's scores will be in the 3-5 range.

The three attributes are Stamina, Will, and Humanity. Stamina covers all physical activities. Will covers all mental activities. Humanity is meant to be defined by each GM. Within the game mechanics, Humanity fluctuates with the summoning of demons and the doing of good deeds. A PC with a Humanity score of zero becomes an NPC.

There is only one skill in Sorcerer and that is Lore. Lore represents the knowledge needed to contact, summon, bind, and banish demons.

Each PC has a day job which is referred to as their cover. They also have a price that they have paid for their dabbling in the black arts. A price is often a character flaw that will cause the PC a penalty in certain situations.

As having only 2 attributes cover the entire realm of mental and physical activities is a little generic, both Stamina and Will have descriptors attached to them. For example, a descriptor for Stamina might be "graceful acrobat". For situations that fall outside the realm of the descriptor, the PC would be assessed a penalty. So a "graceful acrobat" would use their full score when walking a tight rope, but assigned a penalty for trying to pry open a window. Lore is also assigned a descriptor to describe what kind of sorcerer the character has become. Examples include mad, novice, and adept.

Characters are rounded out with the usual background stuff. Sorcerer recommends that each character have a telltale that reveals that he is a sorcerer to those who know what to look for as well as a kicker (basically a plot hook for the GM to use right away). Each PC also starts out with a demon.

Game System

As mentioned above, all of the PC's stats are measured in dice. Sorcerer can use any type of dice as long as they are all of the same type in a given roll.

All actions in the game are opposed dice rolls. The PC rolls their appropriate score verse a number of dice set by the GM. Whichever side rolls the highest number on a single die wins. Furthermore, the number of dice which rolled higher than their opponent's highest die, is the number of successes or victories that they have scored. The system recognizes good role-playing and rewards it with bonus dice for clever tactic and good quips.

As mentioned above, there is only one real skill is Sorcerer and that is Lore. Everything else is handled by the character's cover and background. During character creation, the player links his character's cover to either his Stamina or Will. The score that cover is linked to determines the number of dice to roll when that cover is used.

When a character has to perform an action outside of sorcery or combat, the GM must determine if the given activity falls within the skill set that the cover provides. If it doesn't fall under the cover, the GM must decide which attribute the PC must use and if the descriptor for that attribute merits a penalty to the roll. While this might sound complicated, in practice it is pretty intuitive and easy to use.

On the surface, the system is pretty simple and elegant to use; however, it breaks down in two areas : Static tests and the lack of a perception score.

Static tests are the challenges that a PC faces that do not involve other characters. Examples include scaling walls, hacking in computers, and juggling hand grenades. Instead of using a chart of standard difficulty levels, Sorcerer uses the following table:

UMBER OF OPPOSITION DICE	REPRESENTATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES
0	Typical task for this character; he or she does it without any roll needed
1	Mildly annoying or distracting: someone is talking to the PC, he or she is driving, etc.
Greater than 1, less than PC's score	The task is trickier than usual, or someone is trying to divert the PC's attention for some reason, or loud music is right in his or her ear
Equal to the PC's score	Someone is trying to hit the PC, or the task is unusually hard given the PC's background, like trying to start a car with a shorted-out ignition
Greater than the PC's score	Getting the task done is possible only through luck; someone is beating the PC with a dead cat, or he or she is hanging from a catwalk by the legs while attempting the task
0	Flatly impossible for this character; the GM informs the player that the PC fails without any roll needed

So regardless of the character's competence, they will always have less than a 50% chance of success if someone is beating them with a dead cat. Of course, it doesn't say how many dice above or below the PC's score should be rolled.

The other area that the rules fall flat is the lack of a perception score. If a situation falls within a PC's cover, they are allowed to roll their cover dice to try and detect something, otherwise they are stuck rolling 1 die and hoping for the best. So if a PC's cover was "Software Engineer", they would be allowed to roll their cover score to detect office romances, bugs in computer code, or that the soda machine is out of Mountain Dew, but they are only allowed to roll 1 die to spot a speed trap on the way home from work.

The Demons

Instead of listing dozens of different demons for the PCs to summon, Sorcerer instead presents a system in which the GM can create his own demons. It is a simple process of picking a type, picking several abilities, assigning the stats, and determining the desires and needs of the demon.

There are several different types of demons in the game. Some demons can pass as humans, other demons take over other people's bodies, others live inside a host's body as a parasite, and others are so small that they live in their master's coat pocket. Each type of demon has it's own advantages and drawbacks.

All demons have a number of supernatural abilities. Some abilities allow the demon to transfer powers to its master, others allow it to make mental attacks, others allow it the absorb great amounts of damage, etc…. The selection of abilities is quite good and allows for a wide variety of demons. However, some of the abilities are not well explained or are missing rules. For example, the ability "Fast" allows the demon to use its Power(see below) instead of its Stamina to determine how many actions it gets each combat round. Unfortunately, there are no rules for using stamina or any other stat to determine how many actions a character can take during each combat round.

Demons have 4 numerical stats : Stamina, Will, Lore, and Power. While Will and Stamina have not changed their meaning, Lore has. While Lore represent the knowledge need to summon demons for the socerer; for the demon, Lore is the number of abilities that a demon has. Power represent how strong a demon is. It is used to resist summoning, banishing, and containing. It is also used as the score for all of the demons abilities.

There is an inflexible relationship relationship between the four stats. Lore is always the number of abilities that the demon has. Will is always one higher than either Stamina or Lore (which ever is higher). And Power is always equal to the demon's Will. It is impossible, for example, to have a strong bodied, weak willed demon. It is also impossible to have a weak demon with a ton of different abilities or a demon with a different power level for each of its abilities.

Demon creation is rounded out with the GM determining each demon's desire and need. The demon's desire is the reason it wants to be summoned. A demon might desire power over mortals or to simply watch CNN. A demon's need is what it needs to survive in this realm. Some demons might need the blood of an innocent, others might need a belly rub.

It should also be pointed out the all demons are GM characters. The GM role plays them and decides if they will help their masters and to what degree. In general, the more a master respects his demon and satisfies its desires and needs, the more likely the demon will be to help its master.

Combat

Combat is a strait forward application of the basic rules with a few tweaks. The combat rounds are 2 seconds long and each character can perform one action each round. There isn't an initiative system. Instead the characters announce their actions in a random order and they are resolve from the highest score to lowest. Like the basic system, bonuses are given to cool and inventive descriptions.

The use of a character's cover isn't mentioned in the combat section and apparently does not figure into combat. So an ex-marine is just as effective in combat as a software engineer.

Damage is defined as a penalty that applies to all actions until it is healed. So a character with 1 point of lasting damage subtracts 1 die from all of his rolls. Damage is also divided into temporary and lasting. Temporary damage only applies to the character's next action, while lasting damage lasts until it is healed.

Damage is determined by the number of victories that a character scores on their attack roll, multiplied by the type of attack. For example, a large handgun does two times the number of victories in lasting damage.

There isn't any healing rates given in the game. It is up to the GM to determine how fast a character heals. Also, except for demons, none of the characters can die except through GM intervention.

The main failing of this system though is dealing with the demons. Since all demons are GM characters, the GM usually has to control them during combat. As many PCs will not be the combat types, they often let their demons fight for them. This often leads to combat situations straight out of Digi-mon or Pokemon with the PCs spending their entire action shouting out orders to their demons ("Kick his butt now Demon-mon") and the GM determining what the demon actually does as well as rolling all the dice. With a party of 4 PCs with 2-4 demons apiece, this can lead to quite a headache.

Sorcery

All PCs know how to contact, summon, bind, punish, banish, and contain demons. The rules for the actions are a strait forward usage of the basic rules. There is even a nice chart that describes which stats to use for each of the actions. Interestingly enough, a character's humanity score acts as a penalty during summoning but aids banishing. Rules for sacrifices, drug usage, and group efforts are included as well.

The rules mention that it takes anywhere from a half hour to three hours (GM determines the exact amount of time) to perform the require rituals for each action. If the sorcerer doesn't meet the time requirement, then he is reduced to 1 die. While the time requirements are understandable for contacting, summoning, and binding a demon. PCs will often want to act quickly when banishing, containing, and punishing a demon as the demon will often resist such actions. Unfortunately, the range requirements for these rituals are not mentioned. Does a demon have to be present to be banished or punished? How does one contain a demon if the ritual takes at least a half hour to perform? ("Excuse me Mr. Demon, would you mind standing in the middle of this chalk drawing as I chant for the next half hour?")

Punishing a demon results in a demon having its Power score lowered for a short amount of time. Unfortunately, the time interval for regaining its Power isn't mentioned.

Other stuff

Sorcerer contains a rather nice section on customizing the game for each group. The introductory adventure is amusing and is a good way to get the PCs to meet each other for the first time. The book finishes off with the author demonstrating how the game can be modified as he shows off part of his personal campaign world.

Final thoughts

I really wanted to like this game. It takes a different approach to RPGs that fills a niche in the market. However, the more I played, the more and more I wanted to change vast sections of the rules. Specifically I wanted to add a perception score, split the 2 primary attributes into 4, determine the healing rate, completely change the demon construction rules to be more flexible, change parts of the sorcery rules to be a bit more defined, add a predefined static challege chart, and change the combat rules to include intative and take into account a character's cover. In the end, I was doing what I normally do with FUDGE, except that I paid $10 for this game while FUDGE is free.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 2 (Sparse)