Stormbringer Redux # 22 - Virtues, Elementals, 1E Demons Oh My!

As I read through my old tea-stained (I hope it's tea...) copy of Stormbringer 1E, I can't help shake the feeling that I have missed something about the old powers. To be honest, my grasp of the mechanics for the three powers (Elementals, Virtue, and Demons) is tenuous at best after all these years. Added to that, I think my review of 4E demon mechanics kind of threw the baby out with the bathwater by overlooking the simpler mechanics of 1E demons. It is a lot like eschewing D&D for AD&D and all its splatbooks, then realizing later how much fun can be had with a simpler and more elegant ruleset.

VIRTUES OF LAW

Admittedly, no one ever used this in a Stormbringer game I have run or played in. More's the pity! Still, I would modify the particulars a little to emulate the source fiction better.

1. PREREQUISITES

Although the rulebook states those trying need only be a Priest or Champion who is also a Sorcerer, something doesn't sit right with me about having Lawful sorcerers. Yes, Myshella was called the Sorceress of Law, but her castle had psychedelic mind defences, she rode a clockwork bird, and the Noose of Flesh she drops on Theleb K'aarna and his followers comes from a pink dust that could just be some sort of futuristic bio-weapon.

So let's add some super-science pizzaz to Virtues!

The prerequisites for making a Virtue thus would be:

1) Champion or Priest of Law
2) Master of the relevant Craft skill (90% or higher)
3) INT and POW of 16 or more each
4) The time (1D6 months), tools, materials, and workspace in which to construct the Virtue

2. PROCEDURE

First, let's strip out all the wonky INT x 5% rolls and use a Skill - heaven forbid! In this case, a Craft skill (see below)

Note that I have to say I do not like the Questioning function of Virtues. First off, the bonuses are not worth it (+1D6% to a weapon skill or +1D10% to Dodge, ho hum), and could be added to weapon skills or Dodge in armor instead. Also, there is no questioning allowed for Virtues of Travel, and the Virtue of Knowledge seems both more Chaotic and stymies roleplaying by negating the need for information gathering via interaction with NPCs. Instead, I would keep only the Embody, which I would consider rather forging or construction of the Virtue.

The character must make a successful roll on the appropriate Craft skill. Time taken is 1D6 months undisturbed in their workspace with the necessary materials and tools, as mentioned. Needed skills are as follows:

Virtue of Attack - Appropriate weapon Craft (Swordsmith, Bowyer, or Blacksmith)
Virtue of Defense - Appropriate Craft (Armor Craft if armor, Carpenter if door)
Virtue of Travel (ie clockwork animal) - New skill, Tinker Craft
Virtue of Knowledge - I would scrap this as it reeks of Chaos and reliance on magic while Law is supposed to rely more on the skill of people. It also stymies roleplaying as noted above. I suppose you could make this into a magic mirror, I-ching board, Magic Eight Ball or something, but I would drop it.

Success levels could also be as follows:

Critical success: Time is halved, Virtue POW is 4D6+4
Success: Normal success, Virtue POW is 4D6
Failure: Time is wasted, must start over
Fumble: Mishap in the workspace, time, materials, and tools are all destroyed

3. EFFECTS

Virtue of Attack - If successful, weapon has the following attributes:

1) Always does maximum damage (no roll necessary)
2) Gives + 1D6% to Attack and Parry using the weapon (one time roll when first used, percentage fixed after that)
3) Always makes a POW vs POW against target it hits, kills the target if successful. Works against mortal creatures and demons, but not gods.
4) If broken, can be reforged if 90% of the weapon remains

Virtue of Defense - If successful, armor or shield has the following attributes:

1) Always protects its maximum value (no roll necessary)
2) Gives + 1D10% to Dodge when in armor (one time roll when first used, percentage fixed after that)
3) If hit by a demon weapon, soaks up damage equal to its POW before passing on to the wearer.
4) If broken, can be reforged if 90% of the weapon remains

If a door, it also does the following:

1) Only opens to the proper password
2) If a demon tries to go through, break it, or teleport past it, they must make a POW vs POW roll or die.
3) I would also make it immune to mundane weapons

Virtue of Travel - If successful, clockwork animal has the following powers:

1) Wooden: + 3 armor, double damage from fire
2) Stone: + 4 armor, double Hit Points, 1/2 speed, cannot fly
3) Metal: + 5 armor, double Hit Points, 2/3 speed

I would also rule that these creatures can also damage Demons if sufficient damage is rolled.

GM'S may reward creativity when fighting these animals, ie +1 damage when using fire against wood or a hammer against stone, or ability to sink metal animals into water.

4. VIRTUES VS ELEMENTALS

In the original rules there is no mention of Virtue effects on Elementals. I would rule that, in a situation where a Virtue would normally destroy a Demon, the owning player or GM rolls a POW x 5% for the Virtue. If it succeeds, the Elemental is sent back to its plane. If it fails, the Elemental survives or bypasses the door. However, banishing elementals may gain the enmity of the Elemental Ruler who would try to hinder the creator or wielder.

ELEMENTAL ARMS & ARMOR

Since I've already done a review of the process for summoning these entities in a previous post and found no objections, I will pass on to the interesting bit.

NOTE ON BINDING ELEMENTALS & DEMONS - ACTIVE & PASSIVE

As I noted previously, there are two types of binding - Active and Passive. Active means the entity is housed in an object, but comes out fully formed. This is like a genii in a lamp or demon from a ring. Passive means the entity cannot leave the object, but instead lends its power to it. Examples are demon armor, an elemental weapon, or a magic piece of clothing. 

1. PROCEDURE

As noted, I scrapped the fiddly POW gain roll for a Sorcery roll with the following effects.

Gaining POW from Binding

Sorcery Roll                 Effect

Critical success                                     Gain 2 POW,

(ie 1/10 of chance)                                                    Elemental is bound into object

Normal success                             Gain 1 POW, Elemental is bound

Failure                                             No change in POW, Elemental escapes

Fumble (ie roll of 99-00)         Lose 1 POW, Elemental escapes,

                                                                                Lord is insulted

2. SAMPLE EFFECTS

I don't want to give an exhaustive list of Elemental items, weapons, and armor because I think each GM and player can come up with some great stuff. Moreover, making a preset list would deviate from the objective of Stormbringer Redux, which is to hit that sweet spot of narrative and not replace the OSR style creative tools with boring prescriptive mechanical items.

The only rules I would put on Elementals bound into objects are:

1) The material must be able to hold the Elemental (ie a salamander in a shirt is a flaming shirt as per the rulebook)
2) Armor and weapons must have a combat use
3) Other items are limited to one elemental power but increased in power or range, and should reflect the professions protected by the elemental cult
4) Elementals don't think about the safety of the wielder, so should be used with caution

Here is one combat and one non-combat item example for each element.

AIR

Shield of Winds - Blows all mundane arrows and missiles off target.
Horn of Hearing - Can be used to hear conversations far away, at the limit of eyesight.

FIRE

Flamesword - Does an extra 1D6 in flame damage, 75% chance of igniting flammable objects, wielder must have fire protective gloves and sheath.
Healing Stone - An obsidian rock that can  heal 1D6 points of damage from open cuts by cauterizing them. Must be used before any First Aid.

EARTH

Boots of Grome - Lets the wearer walk at normal speed through ANY terrain (mud, vegetation, rocky).
Hammer of the Earth God - Can do 3D6 damage once per combat, but goes last that round. Also, can cause a mini-quake once a day requiring all around to make a Balance roll to avoid falling down.

WATER

Torc of Strassha - This metal circlet goes around the neck and lets the wearer breath underwater at any depth, as well as talk to sea mammals.
Trident of the Sea - The wielder can breathe underwater and move without penalty.

1E DEMONS

So I dismissed 1E demons right off the bat for being too simplistic and the rules too muddled. Let's try and dial it back and make them usable.

Summoning will use the Sorcery skill and binding a POW x POW as previously outlined. Since the powers of demon weapons and the demons themselves are inextricably linked, I am forced to look at both Active or whole demons and Passive ones bound into items.

1. CREATING 1E LESSER DEMONS

Once again I take issue with the rulebook's insistence that a sorcerer needs to "summon the correct demon for the job." This negates the delicious randomness of Chaos and gives the PCs too much agency wielding a power which they are supposed to be fearful of. Also, the whole process of adding up the character's attributes and assigning points is an unnecessary rigamarole. Finally, the type of demon (Combat, Travel, etc) should give them the abilities to do their job.

Instead, let's let nature do the heavy lifting and base all our demon appearances on the variety of the animal kingdom. Note that you could extend it to fungi or other kingdoms if you want to get weirder. We will also use as much rulebook material as possible with as little addition as can be managed.

First, choose the type of demon you are summoning. Demons of Combat and Desire may be chosen as humanoid by default, but you can ignore and roll randomly for fun. Demons of Travel can be chosen based on medium, ie fly for flying and fish for in water.

Then, roll the type of animal it is based on (1D12). All are human sized. This is a basic table and can be expanded as the GM wishes.

1 Cnidaran - A jellyfish hovering in air, poisonous tendrils have a potency equal to CON.
2 Crustacean - A crablike thing, armored carapace of 5 armor, claws do 1D8+1 damage.
3 Arachnid - Spiderlike, walks on walls, shoots web of STR equal to POW.
4 Myriapod - Centipede, has 2 points armor, legs coated with paralyzing poison equal to CON in potency.
5 Insect - Can fly, cannot be surprised.
6 Fish - Swims in a floating glob of alien water, hard to hit (half skill), has 1 point scale armor.
7 Amphibian - Frog or newtlike, can survive on land or in water, 50% lethally poisonous skin equal to CON in potency.
8 Mollusk - Giant shellfish, shell gives 8 armor.
9 Humanoid - Monkey, ape, or manlike, can use weapons.
10 Snake - Long serpent, 50/50 chance of being poisonous (potency equals CON) or constrictor DEX x 5% constrict Attack, does 2D8 per turn, needs DEX x 3% roll and small weapon to fight.
11 Lizard - Immune to heat attacks, prehensile tongue or tail lash does 1D8.
12 Horror- Disembodied eyeball, flaming skeleton, Lovecraftean thing, whatever comes to mind.
NB: All non-combat demons can do one 1D6 damage attack by default, have Attack at DEX x 3% and Dodge and Parry at STR x 3%. For Demons of Combat or Protection, skills are raised to x 5% instead.

Next, roll its attributes using 3D8 for each.

Then, roll its demonic power on [5.7.1.4] to give it a Demonic Ability (1D10)

Finally, roll on [7.4.6.1] to give it a Special Chaotic Ability (1D20).

SAMPLE DEMON

Let's roll a sample demon just for fun. We won't choose demon type yet, this is just an experiment to see what kind of results we get.

Demon Appearance - Rolled a 2, so a crustacean, crablike thing
Name - Let's take a crabby name and turn it around. Ret'sim Sbark!
STR 16    CON 15    SIZ 18    INT 18    POW 20    DEX 17    CHA 17
Demon Power: Rolled 3, so Strength Drain
Chaos Ability: Rolled 1, so Invisibility
Notes: Has 5 pt armor and claws doing 1D8+1 damage, Attack 51% (85% if demon fighter or guardian), Parry 48% (80% if demon fighter or guardian), Dodge 51% (85% if demon fighter or guardian).

This would be a totally dangerous monster in its own right, but could easily be a great Demon of Combat or Protection. Perfect for Stormbringer!

Now let's see how it would function as one of the Demon Types if either Summoned (ie one use), Active Bound (ie in an object but coming out when called) or Passive Bound (ie melded inside an object). The original rules are fiddly and all over the place, so hopefully by applying them to this demon we can see how the system works.

DEMON OF COMBAT
All have +1D8 to STR and DEX.

• Summoned - (Demon Fighter) This demon shows up, fights, then disappears. The rulebook tells us it also gets STR + SIZ damage bonus (in this case +1D6), plus bite at 1D10.
• Active - (Demon Fighter) Once again, it comes out of the binding object, fights as above, then returns if not destroyed.
• Passive - (Demon Weapon) It is subsumed into a weapon. The wielder gets +1% to Attack for every 4 DEX and +1D6 damage per every 10 STR. In this case, that is + 4% Attack and +1D6 damage for our crab demon. When demon weapons Parry or are Parried they have a damage rolled percentage of breaking a normal weapon. Also, I would allow the weapon to use its demon abilities, so it could be invisible (half chance to be parried) and drain 1D6 strength when it wounds a foe. I would forego the POW x POW roll for Strength Drain in weapon form, but require it in all others.

NB: This was very convoluted! Between the Invisibility and Strength Drain, this demon is a real beast, much better than what I rolled with the 4E system I cobbled together. Also, no CON cost as the demon sticks around to eat people. Note that I added bonuses to attributes to emulate sorcerer's putting extra points into important areas. 

DEMON OF PROTECTION
All have +1D8 to STR and DEX.

• Summoned - (Bodyguard) Sticks around for one day protecting the summoner or someone he orders protected.
• Active - (Guardian) Bound in an object, usually a statue. Warns any interlopers to leave before attacking. Has one Wardpact. Cannot leave the area they guard. I suggest the Wardpact go undecided at creation, but to choose it when a dangerous weapon is faced. Otherwise as Demon Fighters.
• Active - (Spirit Ward) Has +1D8 INT. Is intangible, can only be attacked by magic. Can cast Illusions at own INT minus victim's INT x5%. Results are below:
  
  Critical Success: Intruder is fooled, loses 1 INT and wanders away empty handed.
  Success: Intruder is fooled, wanders away empty handed.
  Failure: Intruder sees through the illusion, can oppose POW vs POW (see below)
  Critical Failure: Intruder sees through the illusion, can now fight the Guardian if holding magic weapons.
  
  For POW vs POW roll, intruders can add POW together if all are Sorcerers or Nobles. Intruder results are below:
  Critical Success: Intruders win, each participant gains one POW, Spirit Ward is destroyed or banished.
  Success: Intruders win, Spirit Ward is destroyed or banished.
  Failure: Intruders are defeated, half their POW is absorbed by Spirit Ward. This dissipates after a week save for one POW, which stays permanently.
  Critical Failure: Intruders die of psychic agony, half their POW is absorbed by Spirit Ward. This dissipates after a week save for one POW, which stays permanently.
  
  
• Passive - (Demon Armor or Shield) Has +1D8 CON. Armor value is equal to demon CON. Can be damaged by normal weapons, but these have a 50% chance to break when attacking. Also, if attacked by another demon weapon, loses HP from CON, but gets a POW save for half damage.
• Passive - (Demon Barrier, Wall or Door) Has +1D8 CON. Demon walls are impassable, but can be damaged by demon or other magic weapons. Demon doors only allow creatures of lesser SIZ. Normal weapons can damage the demon's CON (Hit Points?) if have a 50% chance of breaking against them. If unauthorized person passes through, roll POW vs POW. If they win, barrier dies. If barrier wins, they die and it gets half their POW. This extra POW dissipates after a week, but 1 POW point stays permanently. Needs INT 7 to talk. 

NB: This was a tangly mess of a rules section, but with our crab demon on guard, any sorcerer looks unstoppable. Note that I added bonuses to attributes to emulate sorcerer's putting extra points into important areas. Also, I tried to flesh out the Spirit Ward section and make it truer to Moorcock's writings, while making it a fairer competition.

DEMON OF KNOWLEDGE
Has +1D8 INT

• Summoned - Demon shows up, has INT x 5% chance of knowing what is asked, but answers cryptically. Demon will not fight, runs away.
• Active - As above, reusable. Costs 1-3 CON per question depending on its importance, demon returns to its plane. Examples:
  1 CON - Where is a mundane item (ie weapons, a hidden door)
  2 CON - How to get supernatural aid or mortal allies sufficient to help
  3 CON - How to stop the big bad.
• Passive - As above, reusable, demon subsumed into mirror or crystal ball. Costs 1 CON per question, demon returns to its plane.

NB: Knowledge Demons will not fight under any circumstances, only 1 can be bound at a time. I added the CON costs to bring these demons in line with Demons of Desire, which also have costs to use.

DEMON OF TRAVEL

• Summoned - (Gateway Opener) This demon opens a gateway, then disappears, if the GM wants it to happen. The alternate dimension may affect magic items etc if it is ruled by forces other than Chaos.
• Active - (Teleporter) Invisible and immaterial. Teleport skill is DEX x 3%. Costs 1 CON to teleport regardless of success or failure, when CON is 0 demon is destroyed / returned to its dimension. This demon can teleport on the plane and bring an object or creature equal to SIZ. I would ignore the teleportation mishaps as too punitive and instead roll on the following table:
  
  Critical Success: Appear exactly where they want, in an advantageous position.
  Success: Appear where they want.
  Failure: Appear far from where they want to be, demon is too exhausted to teleport again for 1D4 days. Must travel on foot or other mundane means.
  Critical Failure: Appear far from where they want, and in a disadvantageoues or dangerous position.

• Passive (Teleporter) As above but can be bound into an object.
• Passive - (Transporter) STR and SIZ are doubled. This demon is subsumed into a vehicle, probably one made of shell in the case of our crab demon. Should also be able to travel in the appropriate fashion, ie fly or sail, burrow as need be. Costs 1 CON to ride regardless of distance, when CON is 0 demon is destroyed / returned to its dimension. 

NB: This was very fiddly on the surface, but made better sense upon writing down. I added the CON cost of teleporting to bring the mechanic into line with Demons of Desire, who also have a cost and thus are a limited but powerful resource.

DEMON OF DESIRE
CHA is doubled. This is basically a genii, gets you what you ask for but is capricious. If overtaxed (ie object larger in SIZ than its STR), demon is returned to its plane. Wishes cost 1 CON for mundane objects, 3 CON for magical, and 1D10 CON to shapeshift the asker. Demon returns to its plane when CON reaches 0.

• Summoned - Grants one boon, then disappears.
• Active - Reusable, but disappears when CON is reduced to 0 or overtaxed as above.
• Passive - Subsumed into a ring or statue. Reusable, but disappears when CON is reduced to 0 or overtaxed as above.

NB: This was fiddly, but having a premade demon makes it a bit easier to visualize. With 15 CON, our demon will get a lot of uses out of it. 

DEMON OF POSSESSION
POW gets an extra 1D8. Are immaterial and invisible. Can only possess creatures of lower POW, and must win a POW vs POW battle. When possessing a body, they can only use its STR, CON, and DEX. They must make a POW vs POW roll to possess a body. They are happy to be slain and returned to their plane. If they leave a body, it becomes mindless until its soul is returned to it.

• Summoned - They stay in the body one day.
• Active - They stay until the body is slain or their master tells them to return to their object or take a different body.
• Passive - They stay until the body is slain or their master tells them to return to their object or take a different body.

NB: Demons cannot possess anyone who has their binding object. Also, there is no real difference between Active and Passive Demons of Possession.

CONCLUSION

Seeing Virtues, Elemental, and Demons side by side like this, it is easy to see that all three offer certain advantages and protections. Of course, Demon Weapons & Armor are the strongest of the 3, but this is par for the course in a chaotic world like The Young Kingdoms. As for procedures, I really like the the streamlined procedure for Virtues and leaving Elementals untouched. As for Demons, substituting a quick random demon generation & choice of demon type for the convoluted math of adding attributes and divvying up points seems a fair trade to me.

Note that if I had the computer skills I'd make a Stormbringer random generator for demons. Would save oodles of time, could be programmed with more demon abilities and descriptions.

Sources

https://kids.britannica.com/students/article/biological-classification/611149/media?assemblyId=195075