TEXT: Lair of Sword & Sorcery adventure game #4
  
  Credits and thanks:
  Stock by Freepik.com
  Wizards on page 6 by Adam Muszkiewicz
  Fighter and Wizard on page 9 by Kreg Mosier
  Wizard on page 10 by Jud Crandall
  PG01
  PurchasePay what you want
  digital copies of LoSS at
  Order print copies of LoSS at
  lairofswordandsorcery.blogspot.ca
  Lair of Sword & Sorcery (LoSS)
  Issue 4, October 2015, The Sorcery Issue
  Credits: Copyright Ripley Stonebrook 2015 ©
  All art, writing, and rules by: Ripley Stonebrook 
  Editor and Creator. Published by Spooky Room 
  Productions and Ripley Stonebrook
  How to Join the world of Kartharka
  Website:
  You best place to start is the Lair of 
  Sword and Sorcery Site at:
  lairofswordandsorcery.blogpot.ca
  Here you can comment on updates, 
  and respond to what you would like 
  to see, or not see, in the game.
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  Email: 
  spookyroomproductions@gmail.com
  Send in any and all submissions, 
  rules, art, questions, stories, comics, 
  pictures of your demonboard, and 
  pictures of your group.
  Or, if you are looking for players or 
  demonlords in your area, send in your 
  contact email and we’ll put it in the 
  next issue or post it to the site.
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  Submissions & questions: 
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  The Legend of Sorcery 03
  The Great Abyss 06
  The Rift of Abalon 07
  Demons and the Other World 08
  Sorcery Veteran  Skills 09
  Summoning 10
  Protection 12
  Control 13
  Command 14
  Enslavement 15
  Imprisoning 16
  Spirits &nd Demons 17
  Creating Spirits  18
  Issue 4 and so much to talk about!
  It’s big, it’s bold, and it’s on the 
  cover. The name of the magazine is 
  officially changing to LoSS (short for 
  Lair of Sword & Sorcery, you dig?). 
  Adam Muszkiewicz was the first to 
  call the game LoSS and I thank him 
  for it!
  If you’re reading this as a Pdf then 
  you’ll see that this issue is in full 
  sword swinging colour! If you are 
  reading this as a hardcopy then you 
  are likely looking at the usual black 
  and white printing.  Get to the 
  website immediately to get your 
  own full colour digital copies.
  Also the size of the magazine 
  has changed as well. Moving up to a 
  letter size format was a hard decision 
  but I think you’ll agree that this issue 
  looks great. The comic book size 
  served us well in the past but it’s time 
  to move up to full size. Pricing should 
  stay right about the same for printing 
  and shipping so why not enjoy a 
  bigger, better book.
  LoSS and Roll20
  By the time this is printed my 
  home game will likely be in full swing 
  on Roll20. My precious Demonboard 
  will have to languish in it’s box while 
  we play online but that’s the price 
  you pay. It’s either play online at this 
  point or not at all as my players are 
  all well into the kid having stage of 
  their lives and though we hope to get 
  together face to face every now and 
  then online playing is just the only 
  option now. Do not fret though all of 
  you who still get to play face to face, 
  more Demonboard goodness is still 
  comin at ya.
  This Pdf has Buttons! 
  Yep, you’ll see them scattered 
  about here and there in the pdf. Click 
  them to see what happens. Not to 
  fear, none of the rules or background 
  tales will be in there so you can still 
  happily 
  print 
  this 
  off 
  without 
  missing 
  out on any game.
  Sorcery!
  This is the issue with all the Crazy 
  in it! Demons, ghosts spirits, crazy 
  wands, staffs, fireballs, lightning, all 
  that crazy Sorcery stuff. Sorcery is 
  difficult, dangerous, unpredictable, 
  and weird. And now it’s all in the 
  hands of your reckless heroes and 
  their enemies!
  In this issue you will find:
  The true history of Sorcery in 
  Kartharka. You may or may not want 
  to share this with your players, it’s up 
  to you!
  Veteran rules for your heroes 
  to climb the ranks of Sorcery 
  themselves.
  Rules for Demonlords to create 
  their own spirits, demons, ghosts, and 
  other perilous enemies (or friends) 
  from the Other World.
  The Sorcery issue wraps up the 
  last of the main “rules” for the LoSS 
  game. All those things you need to 
  play the game.
   The next issue will describe how 
  to actually create Stories, Scenarios 
  and Lairs for the Demonlord. 
  It will discuss things like creating 
  ideas and how to make things fun 
  but will also contain the balancing 
  rules for Lair creation. Since 
  the Demonlord is allowed to 
  get in there and mix it up with 
  the players on the board the 
  Demonlord needs some rules to be 
  sure they don’t write Lairs that are 
  too hard (or too easy!)
  Get involved!
  Now that the Sorcery issue is 
  out you will have in your hands the 
  complete LoSS game as it stands 
  now. Now it’s time for you people to 
  get in there and start mixing it up! 
  Create some monsters, create some 
  Lairs, populate a village and stick it 
  on the map! Create some Villains 
  to terrorize the provinces of the 
  Winterlands.
  Create some stuff and send it it. 
  The LoSS community is growing all 
  the time, might as well jump on now 
  before everything get’s grabbed up.
  Me, I’ve still got a whole world to 
  fill, the Hunzar jungles are calling, the 
  far north desolation is hardly empty, 
  and the Black Emperor calls to have 
  his home created!
  Rock on my faithful Blood Reavers! 
  Let’s get this party Rolling!
  ~Ripley
  THE EDITOR SPEAKS
  
  PG02
  the legend of sorcery
  The history of Sorcery is the story of Kartharka itself
  These events are spoken of in no books of 
  legend or fireside stories. Dating back to the 
  birth of the world of Kartharka this ancient 
  history is known to none but the ancient 
  demons that lie far beneath the earth 
  of Kartharka.
  Heroes and sorcerers may 
  glimpse clues and scraps 
  from their dealings with the 
  demons but these will 
  always be shrouded with 
  lies and misleading tales, 
  for the Demons still hate 
  the living things above 
  ground for trapping 
  them beneath the 
  earth.
  In the time before 
  time…
  The world of 
  Kartharka was a 
  place of despair and 
  misery, the landscape 
  a blasted ruin of fire 
  and stone. The skies 
  burn red and black 
  with smoking fires and 
  choking gases.
  Before the time of the 
  gods, Demons ruled the 
  world of Kartharka.
  The demons needed not 
  food, water, sleep or comfort, 
  but being long lived and infernally 
  intelligent they sought ways to relieve 
  the tedious boredom of their world. 
  Usually this was achieved by the constant 
  war which raged across the planet. Armies 
  of demons grew, marched, fought, and were 
  betrayed, over and over again endlessly fighting to 
  take control of the land. 
  But this too became tiresome, and while they were 
  far too covetous of anything another might hold to 
  stop the constant war, some turned to other pastimes 
  to amuse them during their time between battles.
  At first they tried to create great weapons of war, 
  smithing enormous swords, axes, and maces and 
  raising huge piles of stones into fortresses. Their 
  inventive powers failed them soon after that. For 
  demons are not creative creatures.
  It is the Demons immortal lifespan which leads to this 
  lack of creativity
  If  their spirit flies off to crouch in a cave or hole for 
  centuries until it can reform itself,  appearing again as a 
  small foul imp, plotting and scheming as it grows again 
  in power and size. This kind of setback means little to 
  ones who live for all eternity so Demons have never 
  formed the sense of urgency or fear which leads man 
  to create so much in so little time.
  The Bloodlings are born...
  Sometime, during this great eons long war, a 
  remarkable thing happened. 
  A century long battle raged in a valley of fire. Millions 
  of demons fought and were cut down amidst the 
  flames until a great lake of their blood filled the valley. 
  The battle ends with both sided retreating back to their 
  lairs, but the lake remained in the Valley of Fire, 
  boiling and churning as it began to recede.
  Crawling from the mud and blood a new race 
  emerged into the hellscape of Kartharka.
  Crude brutish things, their bodies malformed, these 
  bloodlings crawled to the shore of the lake and looked 
  out upon the world they had been born to.
  They made crude shelters at the shore of the lake, 
  hunting the others that emerged still confused and 
  bleating. For the bloodlings were mortal, needing food, 
  sleep, and shelter. Also, unlike the demons, they lived 
  and died, and procreated on the shores of blood.
  They retained the infernal intelligence of the demons 
  and soon learned to carve stone, mine metal, and 
  create their own weapons, as well as many other 
  things. They created reading and writing, that their 
  children could learn their secrets. They studied the 
  land, the lake, and pondered how they had come to be.
  They then learned the secret of creating life of their 
  own from the lake of blood, now dwindling to smaller 
  pools throughout the valley of fire.
  They created plants to grow and eat, and animals to 
  pull heavy loads and raise great blocks of stone.
  They created a self sustaining society. Though 
  their lives were brutish and short, their science 
  and craftsmanship continued to grow with 
  each generation.
  Their time of freedom was soon to 
  end however.
  The demons had rebuilt their 
  ranks after thousands of years 
  of waiting and, returning 
  Valley of Fire found the 
  Bloodlings.
  The demons, upon 
  seeing something 
  new in the world of 
  Kartharka, desperately 
  fought each other to 
  take control of the 
  bloodlings. Each of 
  the demons fought 
  to claim as many 
  of the bloodlings as 
  they could. Many 
  bloodlings died in 
  that battle, defending 
  themselves against the 
  titan-sized demons. 
  Many died also in the 
  hands of their captors, 
  who did not understand 
  concepts of mortality or 
  weakness.
  There was a time of relative 
  peace in the world of Kartharka 
  afterword as the Demons had 
  something else to occupy their 
  thoughts.
  At first the bloodlings’ mortality alone 
  was enough of a novelty to distract them. 
  They learned what the bloodlings needed to live 
  and how to breed them.
  They demons forced the bloodlings to teach them all 
  their secrets,  along with the secret of creating life.
  The demons made all manner of things then, things 
  that lived and crawled, that grew and flowered, and all 
  these things died in the passing of time.
  Soon the world of Kartharka was a changed place. 
  Great thorny forests were grown to protect the 
  demons’ citadels, rivers and seas populated with terrific 
  creatures to protect from attack on the shores. The 
  demons’ wars became more advanced and were fought 
  by whole armies of bloodlings and other creatures 
  raised for battle.
  The demons learned other things from the bloodlings, 
  governance, leadership, and control. The demons 
  began to arrange themselves in great hierarchies of 
  power and control over the lands of Kartharka.
  All of the creatures, plants and “improvements” 
  were changing the world of Kartharka. No longer a 
  blasted hellscape, it had been remade to make it more 
  conducive to war with the demons’ minions.
  Soon the demons withdrew into their mighty 
  fortresses, planning to change the planet back to it’s 
  original hellish landscape once their enemies were 
  defeated.
  In time they were forced to withdraw into the bowels 
  of the earth, creating a new hellscape there, a place of
  
   fire and stone.
  Someday soon, they thought, the war would be won 
  and they could do away with these armies and retake 
  the world.
  The coming of the gods...
  That is when the “gods” came.
  All of these mortal creatures, all of those lives ending, 
  their life forces trapped,  building up, creating another 
  place, the other side, the Other World.
  And this other world drew something, from a place 
  far, far away.
  The “Gods” of the other side came to the world of 
  Kartharka.
  A strange insect-like race of creatures, their bodies 
  suited to the airless void of the Other Side. 
  The gods came and made their own fortresses in 
  the high places of the world, to keep as much stone 
  and mountain between themselves and the demons’ 
  underworld as they could.
  The demons’ Bloodling soldiers met the gods 
  and many chose to join them in their mountain 
  strongholds.
  The gods were much changed by this time. Shedding 
  their hard shells in the warm world of Kartharka they 
  were a race of tall spindly creatures.
  The Bloodlings called the gods “Goblyns”, meaning 
  “Tall ones” in their language. 
  In the beginning they lived together peacefully.
  The Goblyn kings chose to help the bloodlings, some 
  of them even choosing to breed with the bloodlings to 
  create a race that would be better suited to the world 
  of Kartharka.
  These half-goblyns were  quite strong, dexterous, and 
  well suited to the world of Kartharka. They were skilled 
  at digging, mining, building and smithing.
  The Birth of Man...
  These half-goblyns again bred with the bloodlings, 
  this time creating a new race, which would come to be 
  called Man. 
  Man however was not respected as an equal like the 
  Goblins, Half Goblins, and Bloodlings. The lives of men 
  were much shorter than that of their Father races and 
  it was thought that they could not learn enough in their 
  short lives to be truly useful. Kept as slaves, soldiers, 
  diggers, and farmers they did the menial tasks of the 
  Father races.
  The Demon-Goblyn Wars and Magic...
  During this time the demons had been busy 
  themselves below the earth.
  Their wars still raged on the surface of Kartharka.
   Many of the bloodlings continued to exist as the 
  Demons’ slaves, though they could no longer be 
  trusted to wage war or even  go to the surface. But the 
  demons could still use their evil creativity.
  They wanted a weapon to destroy all the bloodlings 
  above ground as well as the goblyns and half goblyns. 
  The demons did not yet know or possibly care about 
  the creature called man.
  So began the great war of the Demons against the 
  Goblyns and their kin.
  The Demons rose to surface to fight this battle 
  themselves. Endless waves of Demons attacking the 
  fortresses of the Goblyn kings.
  During this war the Goblyns revealed their great 
  powers. They had brought something with them from 
  the other side, a connection to the other world that 
  linked it to the world or Kartharka.
  This would come to be called Magic.
  With this they could hold back the Demons attacks, 
  but not forever. For the Father races, with all their 
  power, were still mortal. While the Demons would die 
  to return again, there were always more to rejoin the 
  battle.
  The Demons were patient and continued the attack, 
  knowing that, someday, the defences would falter, and 
  the world would be theirs.
  The Other World and Sorcery...
  But the demons plans were destroyed once again by 
  something no one could have foreseen.
  The wars had raged for so long that there were far 
  more bloodlings dead and gone to the other side, than 
  demons still on the earth.
  The Demons blood, that had borne the bloodlings, 
  that was their link to the demons, became the 
  bloodlings strength, and the demons weakness.
  All the spirits of these dead bloodlings, in the Other 
  World had come together, and grown in power. From 
  the Other World the bloodlings could now control the 
  demons, cause them pain, injury, or even death. The 
  living bloodlings used this power to push the Demons 
  back below the earth and bring peace, finally, to the 
  world of Kartharka.
  This power, to summon, dispatch, and 
  command Demons, became known as 
  Sorcery.
  The Wrath of the Sorceror 
  Wars
  But with peace comes 
  dissatisfaction, the 
  bloodlings, half-
  goblyns and men 
  all chafed under 
  the ruleof the 
  Goblyns.
  In the 
  times of 
  War the 
  Goblyns 
  had 
  risen 
  to be 
  the 
  leaders of 
  Kartharka, 
  using their 
  magic to 
  defend and 
  protect all the 
  other peoples. 
  But now that the 
  wars had ceased, these 
  peoples felt that this rule 
  PG04
  
  was no longer necessary. That the bloodlings and all 
  their descendents should rule the world 
  of Kartharka, being its rightful 
  inhabitants and not the 
  goblyns who had 
  indeed come to 
  this world 
  from 
  another.
  So began the great wars of Sorcery, led initially 
  by the Bloodlings, then joined by the half-
  goblyns, and their human cattle as well.
  Demons raged across the land once 
  again, and the bloodling connection 
  to the other side was so powerful 
  now that it even interfered with 
  the goblyns magics. War raged 
  across the world with plains of 
  fire sweeping across the land, 
  whole countries wiped out in a 
  single night, Sorcerors walking 
  the land spouting fire from 
  their fingers, and commanding 
  death at a word.
  Man found, with their 
  bloodling heritage, that they 
  could command Demons as 
  well and, indeed, were often 
  better at it than the bloodlings. 
  This turned the tide on the 
  Bloodlings as the humans turned 
  on their former masters, threatening to 
  destroy all the father races of Kartharka.
  The Dread Compact...
  Forced into a unity against men the father races 
  met in the great conclave upon the highest peaks 
  of Kartharka. Together, With the bloodlings using 
  their diabolical intelligence, pure demon blood 
  and knowledge of the demons, the goblyns using 
  the powerful magic of the otherside and the half-
  goblins using earth shakingly powerful machines, 
  was created The Dread Compact.
  The Dread Compact is an agreement, a spell, a 
  machine, a twisting of the laws of the universe, a 
  control of the other side, a contract with reality, all of 
  these things and none of them.
  None know the specifics of the Dread Compact, 
  perhaps not even those creating it but it created the 
  rules of Sorcery as they were to be forever more on 
  Kartharka.
  Whatever it is the Dread Compact exists, both in this 
  world and the other side.
  Its power to control sorcery is not complete, perhaps 
  the bloodlings of the other side could not be persuaded 
  to allow that, but Sorcery was now controlled by 
  laws, restrictions, convoluted requirements and ever 
  changing dictums, depending on the moon, stars, 
  planets, tides, and on and on.
  Discovering these laws was now required to summon 
  demons and their ever changing permutations meant 
  that only the most powerful, dedicated, and patient of 
  Sorcerors could summon a demon, and that the times 
  of sorcerors wielding a thousand demons with the 
  wave of their hand were now but a memory.
  So began the time of Magic which ruled 
  Kartharka for many aeons, before it too died 
  long before the First Men of the Winterlands 
  built their realm. So ends the tale of the time 
  of Sorcery!
  PG05
  Bloodling
  
  The Abyss does lie below the earth of Kartharka.
  A place of smoke and flame, where the wars of the Demons rage 
  on. But they have company now to keep them occupied in their 
  aeons of boredom.
  For the dread compact not only controls the demons but all 
  those who seek to control and speak with them. All those who 
  still carry the blood of the demons in their veins are controlled by 
  the dread compact. This includes man, and more importantly the 
  Sorcerers of men.
  All who dabble with the dread art of Sorcery come under the 
  terms of the Dread Compact. Should they misstep in their rituals, 
  or fail in their control over the powers they summon, they may be 
  taken by the Demons and transported to the Abyss to entertain 
  them for all eternity as their slave.
  Even in death these poor souls are trapped by the Dread 
  compact and must forever remain in the Abyss .
  But where are the Demons now?
  Some legends say The Great Abyss, the underground world of the Demons.
  Some say the Abyss lies somewhere on the Other Side, no longer connected to our world but 
  severed by the Dread Compact.
  Others say the Abyss lies on the other side of the planet, on another great continent unknown to 
  the people of Kartharka.
  Perhaps they are all wrong, or all correct.
  But there are definitely gates, passages, and ways to the Demons World, a place of fire and smoke.
  Long winding underground corridors and passages, some of them great roads leading beneath 
  the earth. It is said that these lead to the Realm of the demons though none who have taken the 
  journey have ever returned.
  Things also come to the surface now and again, some are called, and some find a way of their own 
  accord, finding their own loopholes and exceptions in the great Compact.
  Sometimes something comes through from the Other Side, with dread purpose and 
  incomprehensible goals of it’s own.
  PG06
  Compatible with:
  Dread Compact/Between Devil
  moon highwise bloodsooth
  T
  theabyss
  Dread Pact/flamefall
  
  PG07
  allowable route for the 
  demons according to the 
  compact. 
  So the compact readjusted 
  the contract and acted 
  accordingly, creating the 
  great whirlwinds which 
  now block the route. 
  But the rift grows, 
  changes, expands and 
  contracts. It’s smallest 
  fissures fracturing 
  through what were once 
  safe mineshafts, with 
  other parts of the rift 
  collapsing on itself in great 
  quakes. And every now 
  and then a place is born 
  where the winds have not 
  yet formed, and something 
  can slip through…
  The abyss, a world of fire, 
  smoke, pain and despair.
  But the rift is real. And indeed not 
  bottomless. The rift plunges deep 
  into the earth all the way to the Abyss. 
  Strange winds howl within the rift and 
  some say they are the voices of the 
  Demons calling out from the earth.
  They are actually the voices of titanic 
  hurricanes that spawn along the 
  midpoint of the rift. Horrible winds 
  that would pull a man in half, break 
  wood 
  into 
  splinters 
  and 
  smash 
  anything that remains into the cliff 
  sides of the rift.
  Some ancient legends of the Sages 
  speak of these winds but none have 
  climbed deep enough in centuries to 
  witness them themselves.
  They serve a purpose however. Created 
  by the Dread Compact they prevent 
  the Demons of Kartharka from using 
  the rift to reclaim the world. For the 
  Rift is an exception to the rules. Either 
  formed by random happenstance 
  of tectonic forces, or engineered by 
  the demons themselves, the rift is an 
  places.
  Not a single wide 
  fissure across the whole of 
  the Winterlands, but a multifingered and 
  winding void. In some
  places beginning deep below the mountains, and in some near 
  the highest peaks. When a mine or tunnel breaks into the rift it 
  is often easier to close the tunnel and attempt to rise above it. In 
  some cases a bridge may be attempted.
  The many fingers of the rift interrupt workings all across the 
  Winterlands, seemingly without rhyme or reason, and indeed 
  the great mining essay office of the empire claims that these are 
  not all connected in one great rift as legend says but are simply 
  what the people of the Winterlands refer to whenever they find 
  a deep crevasse that is impassable.
  THE RIFT OF ABALON
  The great rift of Abalon, a mighty fracture leading  deep below 
  the crust. Said by some to be bottomless, by some to lead to the 
  bottom of the world. This great fissure cuts across the mighty 
  mountain ranges of the Winterlands. 
  Mostly below ground it also reaches 
  to the surface in some 
  hidden 
  
  It is not known whether the Other World was created by 
  the Deaths of the Bloodlings or if their deaths created a 
  gateway between Kartharka and another world that has 
  always existed.  No matter what the truth may be, the other 
  side is real.
  This term encompasses all things beyond the natural 
  senses of man and all places 
  unknown to the normal 
  ken of the living.
  It may be an 
  afterlife, another world, or may be a world living a razors 
  edge away from the world of Kartharka.
  Ghosts, demons, magic, gods, all these are of the Other 
  World.
  Demons are kept from entering The Other World by the 
  Dread Compact. 
  Generally Demons have very real, 
  very physical forms. But, should they 
  be killed they, do not “die” as mortal 
  creatures do. Their essence lives on, feeding on 
  something, some energy of the world of Kartharka, 
  be it sorcery, magic, or some other dread thing, until 
  they become strong enough to form again, as a tiny imp no 
  bigger than a man’s finger.
  But during this time they are technically things of the 
  Other World, thought they may not travel there.
  They are akin to ghosts or spirits, but with a dread and 
  malevolent intelligence. They will attempt to stay in the 
  world above ground until they can form again for once they 
  are above ground they may remain until banished, so says 
  the Dread Compact.
  Until they take on physical form again they may only be 
  affected like those other things of the Other World, with 
  Sorcery, magic, or some other force not of this world. 
  Sorcery and Demons in LoSS
  The next several articles will discuss how the player’s 
  heroes and the Demon Lord’s villains can use Veteran Skills 
  to summon and control demons, ghosts, spirits, and other 
  paranormal entities.
  Any hero or villain who summons and controls these 
  things are considered “Sorcerors”, and the laws and rituals, 
  creatures and effects are all referred to as “Sorcery”.
  All spirits, demons and supernatural creatures are sorted 
  by “degree”. A spirits degree is not a specific stat but is more 
  a measurement of their power. It is not directly used by the 
  spirit but is used to calculate how easy they are to summon 
  and then command.
  The articles will refer to a spirits “degree” along with it’s 
  other usual stats, such as combat stats etc, as well as the 
  usual combat rank.
  Spirits
  It is important to point out that the term spirit is 
  used to describe any creature of the Other world 
  even if they do occasionally have physical forms.
  Therefore ghosts, demons, and nature gods are 
  all “spirits”. Even when a demon has a physical 
  form it is still a spirit.
  Demons however are very specific types of 
  spirits. If the rules that follow say “spirit” then it can 
  be said to affect demons as well.
  Any rules that refer to “demons” may not necessarily 
  refer to spirits.
  D
  emons and  the
      Other World
  D
  emons and  the
      Other World
  PG08
  
  The Sorcery system of rules in Lair of Sword and 
  Sorcery (LoSS) is a continuation of the Veteran skills 
  listed in the Veteran issue.
  •  The Sorcery skills may be taken by anyone, like any 
  of the Veteran skills.
  On page 17 of the Veteran issue we see how a hero 
  may begin their path on the road of Sorcery. It speaks 
  of how a hero wishing to become a Sorcerer can gain 
  the first rank of the Summoning skill. It also details 
  how the sorcerer can summon their first spirit. This 
  first spirit is their familiar spirit and is their guide and 
  teacher in the ways of Sorcery. After this spirit is 
  summoned they may learn all the other Sorcery skills 
  from it, or have it teach them how to summon a spirit 
  that can teach them if necessary.
  • 
  This familiar spirit is considered to have a degree 
  of 1 for the purposes of the following rules. In all other 
  ways it continues to have the same powers and effects 
  detailed in the Veteran issue.
  • 
  The sorcery skill now has 6 subgroups (as opposed 
  to the 4 listed in the Veteran issue)
  Summoning
  Protection
  Control
  Command
  Enslavement
  Imprisoning
  As you can see the Sorcery rules for LoSS have grown 
  far more than I had thought during the writing of the 
  Veteran issue. 
  • 
  Each of the subgroup skills must be bought and 
  paid for separately with Veteran points.
  • 
  Each of these Sorcery subgroup skills will take up a 
  slot in the Other World stat and use the Other World 
  stat as a modifier.
  You will note, however that there are only 3 slots 
  available for skills next to the Other world Stat.
  • While there are still slots available in Other World 
  the heroes must add any Sorcery subgroup skills there. 
  • 
  However, once these slots are full, the hero may 
  add further Sorcery subgroup skills to slots on the 
  mind stat.  If they choose to do this then any of these 
  subgroup skills use the Mind stat for their modifying 
  number. Heroes may not palce Sorcery skills in the 
  Mind Slots until the Other World slots are full.
  • 
  If the all of the heroes Mind slots are filled then 
  they may begin placing their Sorcery Subgroup skills 
  in their Camaraderie stat, with these skills using the 
  Camaraderie stat for their modifier. Heroes may not 
  use the Camaraderie slots for Sorcery skills until all of 
  their Mind Slots are full.
  Such are the strange and mysterious ways of Sorcery 
  in Kartharka. 
  The Sorcery skill is skill is an Other World stat skill. 
  In these articles you will also see exactly what the 
  Other World stat really is, and how it can be used, even 
  by those who don’t have the Sorcery Skill
  The Other World Stat:
  • 
  The other world stat is used for modifying rolls in 
  anything involving the Other World. 
  It is used for Sorcery, Magic, dealing with gods, 
  demons, other sorcerors, ghosts, etc.
  It can be thought of as a mental “strength” although 
  not in the way of intelligence, willpower, or other such 
  things. It is the heroes mental “force” on things from 
  the Other World.
  Although useful for fighting things of the Other World 
  it acts like a beacon to those creatures. Those with 
  a high Otherworld stat shine out to these creatures 
  as if they were a bright light in a dark cavern. They 
  will be the ones who attract the attention of these 
  otherworldly forces. 
  If the group of heroes encounters a ghost or demon, 
  it will be invariably drawn to the hero with the highest 
  Other World stat. 
  Other Side Combat:
  Many of the Other World entities the Heroes 
  encounter will have no physical form. Some will be 
  controllable through the rituals and powers of sorcery 
  but others, like ghosts and spirits, will not be bound 
  by these things. The heroes may find other ways to 
  combat these entities but it is possible that they will 
  have no other recourse but to “attack” it.
  Since the entity has no physical form these attacks, 
  though they may be done in the physical world with a 
  physical weapon, will actually be effected on the other 
  side by their Other World Stat.
  • 
  Other world combat may be done using any 
  weapon or even the heroes fists, the physical attack 
  itself will not matter.
  • 
  The hero and the entity roll their dice to attack as 
  normal but the only modifier to the dice roll will be the 
  heroes or entities Other World Stat.
  • 
  Endurance damage and death rolls occur in exactly 
  same way as regular combat except that armour is 
  ignored for the purposes of these combats, as well as 
  any modifiers for weapons, combat skills etc.
  • 
  If the hero should die in this combat, they die as 
  in any other combat, unless the scenario specifies 
  something different.
  • 
  Should the entity “die” they disappear. Whether it 
  will return or not, or whether it is destroyed forever will 
  be specified by the Scenario.
  At the Demonlords discretion the Other Side Stat 
  can be used for other things as well. The heroes could 
  roll against their Other Side Stat to detect a spirit in 
  their midst, or to be warned of an attack by a feeling 
  of dread, or to be filled with a sense of foreboding in a 
  place where great evil has happened in the past.
  In the following articles each of the Sorcery skills will 
  be discussed in detail.
  Sorcery
  Veteran
  SkillS
  PG09
  
  summoning
   
  On page 17 of 
  the Veteran issue, the 
  players and Demonlord are 
  introduced to the Sorcery skill, more 
  specifically the Summoning skill. 
  Details of how to learn the first rank of the 
  summoning skill are given as well as rules for summoning the 
  Sorcerors first “spirit”. Go back and reread that section now as the 
  following rules pick up where they left off…
  As stated in the Veteran issue the first rank of summoning is 
  available to all with the right teachings or writings. 
  This will allow them to summon a 
  weak “spirit”. 
                    In the world of Kartharka 
  these spirits reside in many places. 
  They may be escaped demons 
  from the abyss, still weak and 
  waiting to reform their bodies. 
  Spirits can be long dead 
  ghosts of priests, great 
  sorcerers, or even the 
  ghosts of the first men, 
  trapped in this world by 
  some evil magics, or some 
  sense of purpose.
  Some are the creations of 
  the Demons or the Bloodlings, 
  created in the times before man and 
  the Dread Compact, still remaining long after 
  their creators have moved on from the world.
  Sometimes these spirits grow strong and 
  powerful, they may choose to inhabit and 
  defend a specific place, like a grove or cave, 
  and may come to be worshipped in time 
  by the Tribesmen of the Winterlands, or 
  other groups of darker creatures slinking 
  through the mountains.
  The spirit may 
  not have ever 
  been alive but 
  instead came 
  to the world of 
  Kartharka from 
  the 
  Other World, 
  with intelligence 
  either dread or benevolent, 
  with thoughts and plans inscrutable 
  to Man.
  The hero may know what his spirit is, or he may 
  not. Evil spirits lie about their abilities and history,  good 
  spirits may choose to keep their powers a secret to the heroes lest 
  they be misused.
  The only way a hero can truly know their spirit is through use of 
  the Control skill, once they have learned it.
   A successful control roll will force the spirit to tell him it’s true 
  name and history. (Control is covered later in this book)
  The First Spirit:
  This first spirit, called the familiar spirit, is the most useful one 
  in the Sorcerors arsenal. It does not require a summoning roll to 
  summon, the Sorcerer simply calls it. As stated in the Veteran 
  issue it has it’s uses though it’s powers are limited.
  The first papers or teacher the sorcerer found which allow it 
  to summon the spirit will also mention the skills of protection, 
  control, and imprisoning, though it they not discuss how to use 
  them.
  The sorcerer’s familiar spirit will know these things, however. It 
  will be able to lead the hero in the ways of Sorcery, though it may 
  choose to withhold certain information if it chooses.
  The Summoning Skill rules:
  The summoning skill is built up in ranks like any other skill. Each 
  rank will give a bonus to the hero for the purpose of summoning 
  spirits.
  If the summoning is successful the spirit must appear, the dread 
  compact will snatch the spirit up wherever it may be and drop it 
  before the summoner.
  If the summoner is unsuccessful, either nothing will appear, a 
  spirit of greater power will appear, or a spirit of lower power will 
  appear.
  The Summoning Roll:
  •To see if the summoning is successful use the following 
  formula.
  •Take the degree of the spirit, subtract the Sorcerors Other 
  World stat, and subtract the sorcerors summoning skill.
  •This is the number the Hero must roll above using one die. 
  •If the summoning is successful the spirit appears. However it 
  is not controlled, and the summoner and any one else is not 
  protected unless the hero has successfully used the protection 
  and Control skils. (Covered later in this chapter)
  If the hero fails the summoning:
  •Roll a die.
  •1-4 Nothing appears.
  •5 A spirit of a degree lower than the desired spirit appears. roll 
  a die and minus that number from the desired spirits degree, 
  that is the degree of spirit that will appear. If this is 0 then 
  nothing appears.
  •6 A spirit of a degree higher than the desired spirit appears. 
  Roll a die and add that number to the desired spirits degree. 
  This is the degree of spirit that will appear.
  PG10
  
    How to know what to summon:
  A fledgling sorcerer will have no idea what is available for him to 
  summon, the powers of demons and spirits, their abilities or their 
  weaknesses. 
  To find these things out they must either:
  Convince another Sorcerer to give him information.
  Discover another sorcerer’s writings.
  Force another spirit to give him this information.
  This final choice is the route most common to use, and luckily 
  the hero has a spirit under his control for just this sort of thing.
  However the familiar spirit will not want to give the hero this 
  information. Usually the hero simply asks questions of their 
  familiar and, if the familliar knows the answer, will immediately 
  tell them. However, revealing the names, powers and degrees of 
  its fellow spirits is taboo to spirits.
  To give a sorcerer this information is a betrayal of the other spirit 
  as it gives men more power over them. The other spirits will surely 
  try to take their vengeance on the sorcerers familiar spirit if they 
  ever can.
  Since familiars are rarely trapped in the Abyss the demons 
  are less likely to be able to take their vengeance but demons 
  memories are long and if the familiar is ever forced to enter the 
  abyss or if another demon should ever be freed near them their 
  vengeance will be terrible.
  And so the Sorcerer must force the familiar to give up this 
  information. This is done using the Control skill (Covered Later).
  A good rule of thumb is that a demon will only know the true 
  names of demons one degree above themselves. 
  The mechanics of the summoning ritual:
  What does a hero actually do to summon a spirit?
  The familiar spirit:
  The familiar can be summoned at any time with no ceremony or 
  special incantations. It is bound to the Sorceror and cannot refuse 
  it’s summons. The Sorceror need not roll to summon the spirit 
  after summoning it for the first time.
  To summon a spirit for the first time: 
  The hero will need certain things. The hero must make a suitable 
  offering that will be pleasing to the spirit in question. A simple fire 
  spirit can be summoned using a bonfire, but the most powerful 
  fire demons would require the melting and burning of rare and 
  strong metals, requiring a forge or furnace to reach high enough 
  temperatures. The items consumed in the summoning would 
  usually need to be acquired and may cost an amount of gold to 
  buy or must be sought out by the hero.
  Either the Demonlord will decide what is suitable or the scenario 
  will state the requirements.
  Next, incantations must be made to satisfy the Dread Compact, 
  the specific gestures, motions, and times to summon are 
  constantly changing due to the Compact but the familiar spirit will 
  be able to guide the Sorceror in these things. 
  The Dread Compact always has exceptions to it’s usual rules 
  which are constantly changing.
  For example:
  A spirit that must be summoned in the first moon of spring can 
  be summoned in winter by turning clockwise while chanting, 
  unless the time of day be in the morning in which case a wand 
  of bone inscribed with the true name of the demon must be held 
  above the summoners head.
  The Veteran skill “summoning” is not a knowledge of true names 
  of demons and their powers, but more a growing collection of 
  knowledge concerning exceptions, replacements for offerings, 
  ways to speed up the rituals, as well as the mental fortitude to will 
  a spirit to appear.
  As a Demonlord I would not waste too much time while playing 
  to make up complex rituals for the Sorcerors to act out and special 
  items for them to find. Suffice it to say that the Sorceror will be 
  making strange motions, speaking dread and mysterious words, 
  and shaking or gesturing with bizarre items. The Sorceror is clearly 
  doing something other worldly and everyone who sees it will 
  know this.
  The actual actions of the summoning are not as important to 
  those playing the game as the fact that they see someone doing a 
  summoning and it has some effect.
  Summoning time:
  If a Sorcerer is attempting a summoning but there is no chance 
  of being interrupted then it is not important how long it takes. If 
  the heroes are in combat however the amount 
  of time a summoning requires becomes 
  very important indeed.
  Summoning time can 
  vary greatly for enemy 
  sorcerors as the heroes 
  cannot know how long was 
  spent before they arrived on the 
  summoning.
  For heroes it will take 
  one turn per degree of 
  the spirit being called to 
  attempt a summoning.
  There are ways to speed up 
  a summoning which will 
  be discussed under the 
  control section later.
  PG11
  
  If a summoning is successful, the sorcerer will now 
  have a ghost, spirit or demon in front them, and chances 
  are, it’s not too pleased.
  If the spirit has never been summoned and controlled 
  before (see control below) then the spirit will try to 
  attack the hero that summoned it, and likely any others 
  that are close by.
  To prevent this Sorcerers protect themselves from 
  Other World forces, using magic circles, amulets, charms 
  and incantations.
  Buying ranks of the protection skill is easy for those 
  who have a familiar spirit. These ranks represent 
  learning the ways of protection from their familiar spirit, 
  how to create the charms and amulets as well as the 
  proper invocations to the dread pact and the drawing of 
  protective circles.
  The Protection skill can be used in several ways, as is 
  described below.
  Other Worldly Armour:
  •Each rank of protection gives the sorcerer an armour 
  bonus versus spirits and demons which works in exactly 
  the same way as normal armour in regular combat. 
  •Any attack by a spirit or demon, whether they are in 
  a spirit form or a physical form is modified by sorcerers 
  protection skill. The Sorcerers Other World stat does not 
  add a bonus to this.
  For example: a demon tries to disembowel a sorcerer 
  with its claws. The Demon causes 4 points of 
  damage, but the sorcerer has 2 points of protection 
  so he only takes 2 points of damage. 
  The demon will appear to be attacking the sorcerer 
  through an invisible wall of force.
  •The same is true of attacks by an incorporeal spirit 
  such as a ghost. Their spiritual attacks are lessened in 
  the same way by the Sorcerers protection skill.
  •The drawback of the protection skill is that the sorcerer 
  must wear their amulets, and clothes inscribed with 
  the mighty charms at all times. Once they invoke the 
  protective magics of the Dread Compact they draw 
  the attention of the Compact. Removing their amulets 
  would mean that they have discarded the protection of 
  the Compact and every spirit and demon in the vicinity 
  will be drawn to them by the terms of the Compact to 
  exact their revenge on the Sorcerer.
  Unfortunately for the Sorcerer the common folk of 
  Kartharka have a great fear of Sorcerers and may react 
  to Sorcerers in less than friendly ways. Having a few 
  friends with deadly weapons helps to assuage the fear 
  of the locals however.
  Protection During Summoning:
  •The sorcerer can also use their protection skill to 
  create a protective ward or circle around the area where 
  a spirit is to be summoned. The hope of the Sorcerer 
  is that if they are not strong enough to control the 
  demon (see below) they will at least be protected from 
  its power.
  •The power of the protective circle is measured in 
  degrees exactly the same as in summoning.
  •The hero may create a protective circle of any degree 
  they choose, however the actual power of the circle will 
  vary depending on the apparently random nature of the 
  dread compact as well as the heros protection skill and 
  the other world stat of the hero creating the circle.
  •It takes a full turn per degree of protection to create 
  the circle.
  •The circles true power will not be known until a spirit 
  tries to pass it, when it does, use the following rules to 
  determine the circles power.
  The hero rolls a medium SOTA check, adding any 
  modifiers for their Other World stat.
  If the roll is successful the power of the circle, in 
  degrees, is equal to the heroes other world stat, plus 
  their protection skill plus the score of one die roll.
  If the roll is failed the power of the circle is the 
  characters other world stat plus their protection skill 
  minus the score of one die roll.
  This roll can never bring the actual power of the circle 
  higher than the set goal stated by the hero when 
  creating the circle.
  The circles final power in degrees is the level of spirits 
  it will protect the heroes from. Spirits of that degree 
  or lower may not pass the circle or harm anyone 
  within it in any way.
  •This is also the degree of spirit the circle will entrap. 
  Once a spirit is in the circle it will not be able to leave 
  until the hero dismisses it at which point it will return to 
  wherever it came from. Even if the sorcerer is unable to 
  control the spirit they are still able to control whether 
  it leaves and may be able to extract a bargain from it to 
  allow it to leave. 
  More on this in the control section.
  Using the circle for protection 
  from other spirits:
  The circle will protect the heroes from all otherworldly 
  creatures so creating one and standing inside it will 
  protect them from attacking Other World forces. 
  Creating the circle and determining it’s strength is the 
  same as when summoning a spirit.
  The circle can be drawn in the dirt, on stone with chalk, 
  carved in stone or wood, or any other form the hero 
  wishes.
  PG12
  
  Once you have summoned a spirit, and it is safely 
  behind a protective circle. What do you do next?
  Bargaining:
  The simplest and “safest” (if such a thing exists) way 
  to have a demon do your will is to make a bargain with 
  it. To give it something it wants in return for something 
  within its power.
  Rarely will the hero have anything the demon desires 
  but it may have a task which it cannot do itself or will 
  require a sacrifice by the hero. Demons generally want 
  two things, freedom, or amusement to while away the 
  centuries until the Dread Compact crumbles to dust.
  Once in our world it may ask to be freed from the 
  circle in return for a favour. It will wish to be free in our 
  world now that the summoner has brought it above 
  ground. It will not be able to stay forever, the turnings 
  of the Dread compact will eventually find the exception 
  the summoner has created and erase it banishing the 
  demon once again but it will cause a great deal of 
  destruction and evil before leaving. It will not harm the 
  ones present during the summoning but anyone else 
  would be subject to its evil.
  If the summoner chooses to allow the demon or spirit 
  its freedom it will usually be sure to make it known to 
  everyone exactly who summoned it and released it, 
  earning the hero infamy as if he had perpetrated all the 
  evil acts of the demon himself.
  To some this would seem to be a fair trade.
  Amusement: 
  All demons, if not allowed their freedom, will settle 
  for amusement. A living human can be given to them 
  to take back to the underworld where they will be 
  tormented for some time before finally dying.
  To some this may also be a fair trade.
  Bargaining with spirits other than demons can be a 
  simpler and less dangerous. Their motives however are 
  more mysterious and varied depending on the spirit.
  Some spirits may be well inclined towards man and 
  may offer their help for nothing. However the heroes 
  must be wary. There are many spirits in the land of 
  Kartharka and not all are what they seem. A kindly forest 
  spirit may be revealed to be a demon in disguise at the 
  worst possible moment, or may ask the heroes for an 
  innocent sounding favour only to find that they are 
  doing the work of evil.
  The control Skill is rarely used in these bargaining 
  situations but the Demonlord may choose to allow the 
  heroes a die roll to determine whether or not they are 
  able to get a suitable “deal” from a spirit or demon, and 
  in this case the control skill would be used to modify 
  the roll.
  The heroes should ask the Demonlord if they plan on 
  using this skill in their games before spending veteran 
  points on it.
  OTHER USES:
  In the Enslavement section you will see that the 
  Control skill is used for determining how the sorcerers 
  control range and control limit (see enslavement for 
  more) 
  PG13
  
  If the Sorcerer wishes to skip bargaining with a spirit they may 
  force the spirit to do their bidding.
  •All spirits and demons may be commanded by a Sorcerer 
  with enough power.
  •A hero may use their command skill on any spirit whether it is 
  in a protective circle or not. 
  A circle is highly useful and suggested however, for if the hero 
  fails the demon will immediately attack the hero with all of its 
  power ignoring all other enemies and its own safety until that 
  hero is dead. 
  The Sorcerer can try to control the spirit in two different ways, 
  either commanding it to Answer Questions, or command it to 
  do Perform a Task.
  Answer Question:
  •The hero adds his Other World stat to his Command skill and 
  rolls a die to add to this total.
  •The spirit takes its degree and rolls a die to get its total.
  • If the hero has a higher score the Spirit must answer one 
  question.  If the spirit does not have a specific lore skill then it is 
  assumed that its lore is equal to its Degree.
  To other heroes the controlling sorcerer will appear to be 
  chanting, gesturing, and displaying various amulets and charms 
  to the spirit. If this is occurring during combat then the amount 
  of time the controlling takes is equal to the roll of the demons 
  die roll in turns.
  •If the hero fails the spirit will try to attack the hero as stated 
  before.
  •Every time the hero attempts a control roll against a spirit the 
  spirit gains +1 on the next roll to force it to answer a question or 
  an extra die to enslave it or force it to perform a task.
  The spirit is learning the strengths and weaknesses of the hero 
  and will be more prepared for the next attempt to control it.
  Perform a Task:
  •The Sorcerer may attempt to force the spirit to perform a 
  task.
  •Careful thought must be given to what they are asking the 
  spirit to do. The sorcerer may ask the spirit to do any task that 
  they wish but the spirit will be given permission to act in any 
  way it wishes to perform the task. It will also be allowed to 
  remain in the realm of man long enough to complete its task.
  Demons and spirits do not eat, do not sleep, do not become 
  tired, may sometimes fly or have other abilities so their power 
  to accomplish their tasks can be great. But even they may not 
  be able to complete a task that is ordered. 
  If the commands are being given during combat it is best to 
  keep the command simple such as “kill that sorcerer” or “knock 
  down that door” or other simple things.
  •If the sorcerer says something like “build me a house” with 
  no instructions as to size or where to get the materials the 
  demon may choose to tear down the palace of a king for the 
  stones and build the sorcerer a house so big that it may take 
  a century to complete. Meanwhile the spirit will terrorize the 
  countryside destroying every home for building materials all 
  while technically following the orders of the Sorcerer.
  •If the Sorcerer is clear on what must be accomplished and 
  how, and does not assign a task to a spirit which will take 
  more than a day the spirit will generally comply quickly and 
  accurately to be away from the sorcerer as soon as possible.
  •Once the spirit has completed its task it will return to the 
  sorcerer. At this time the sorcerer may choose to make another 
  control roll to have the spirit complete another task or they 
  may dismiss the spirit sending it back from whence it came.
  •The control roll to force a spirit to complete a task is similar to 
  the one to answer a question except:
  The hero rolls a number of dice equal to his other 
  world stat and his control stat combined. The spirit 
  rolls a number of dice equal to it’s degree (adding an 
  extra die for every previous command from the same 
  sorcerer). The one with the highest total wins.
  The control roll therefore is much more random and 
  dangerous for the sorcerer, and for every attempt 
  whether successful or not the spirit gains an extra die 
  for the next attempt.
  PG14
  
  Enslavement
  The most powerful skill of the Sorcerer is 
  Enslavement. It allows the Sorcerer to summon spirits 
  instantly, command them to do their bidding with 
  needing to make rolls, and control more that one spirit 
  at a time.
  Enslavement:
  The  most powerful of all the sorcerous abilities and 
  the most dangerous to attempt.
  An enslaved spirit or demon is at the sorcerers beck 
  and call.
  A Great Exception is written into the Dread Compact 
  allowing the sorcerer to call up and command the spirit 
  or demon whenever the sorcerer wishes.
  •To enslave a spirit the sorcerer summons the spirit 
  in the normal way, preferably with a protective circle if 
  things don’t go their way.
  •They then must make a successful control roll to 
  control the spirit to give them the ability to command 
  the spirit.
  •The sorcerer must then enslave the spirit.
  •The sorcerer should have an appropriate item in 
  which to imprison the spirit. An item connected to the 
  spirit in some way is required; a tree spirit could be 
  enslaved with a wooden wand or staff, a fire demon 
  with a brazier or a lamp for example.
  •The sorcerer must now make the enslavement roll. It 
  is the same as the control roll but must succeed 3 times 
  in a row. If the sorcerer fails any of their rolls the spirit 
  will immediately be freed from the protective circle 
  and the control of the sorcerer. It will then try to attack 
  the sorcerer and anyone else with them.
  •If the enslavement rolls are all successful the 
  demon is dismissed back from whence it came but will 
  be forever bound to the enslaving item the sorcerer 
  has chosen.
  •If the item is stolen, anyone else attempting to use 
  the item will indeed summon the spirit but it will not be 
  under their control and free to attack the summoner.
  •If the item is destroyed then the link is severed. The 
  spirit will be immediately banished back from whence 
  it came.
  •An enslaved spirit may be summoned at any time, 
  even in combat (takes 1 round), by the sorcerer who 
  enslaved the spirit using the item.
  •When summoned, the spirit can be commanded 
  in any way the sorcerer chooses. They will answer 
  questions (using the usual lore rolls) and act as 
  commanded. 
  •They may not leave the sight of the Sorcerer however 
  and may not move out of “range” of the sorcerer, which 
  is a number of squares equal to the Sorcerers Control 
  skill.•It may not perform SOTA but is able to attack, open 
  doors, move, pick up and move items, untie ropes or 
  any other mundane activity.
  •The Sorcerers can command more than one spirit at 
  a time. The Sorcerers Control skill is the limit of how 
  many total degrees of spirits they can control at once.
  Example: a Sorcerer has a Control skill of 
  5. They can command 1 demon of the 5th 
  degree, or 2 demons of the second degree, or 
  5 demons of the 1st degree.
  PG15
  
  IMPRISONING
  The most powerful of the Sorcerous arts, the 
  imprisoning skill is used to trap a spirit directly in an 
  item.
  An enslaved spirit needs an Item for summoning but 
  the item serves only as a doorway to the Other World.
  With imprisoning the spirit is forever imprisoned in the 
  item itself.
  In the previous chapters we saw that directly 
  summoning and commanding a spirit is gives it more 
  freedom and power than an enslaved spirit has. 
  However an enslaved spirit can be summoned instantly 
  and with no risk.
  The Sorcerer is also limited in the amount of enslaved 
  spirits they can control at a time.
  But the great sorcerers of old were very clever. They 
  found a way of imprisoning a spirit or demon directly 
  in an item.
  This is the most powerful of the sorcerous arts but the 
  most difficult to master and use .
  The concept is a simple one. A spirit is imprisoned 
  within a specially prepared item. Once it is imprisoned 
  it may no longer escape, its prison means it no longer 
  needs to be summoned, protection need not be used 
  and control is no longer necessary. Unfortunately an 
  imprisoned spirit is of little use. It is trapped and unable 
  to use its powers. While this may be a suitable goal 
  if the purpose is to neutralize the spirit it is not very 
  useful to the Sorcerer.
  The power of the Prison lies in its exceptions.
  All imprisoning items are created to “mostly” imprison 
  a spirit, allowing it to escape only in certain ways.
  For example: a prison could be created to trap a fire 
  demon but still allow its fire to  escape.
  This would result in an item which continually pours 
  forth fire and flame.
  Heroes could certainly find a use for such a thing, but it 
  could be dangerous to carry around with you.
  •Usually Exceptions are controlled by a command 
  word which turns the exception on and off.
  For example: an item that normally appears to be a 
  large orb with intricate carvings will, on speaking the 
  command word, begin to pour forth fire. 
  •In combat terms this fire pouring forth would be 
  equivalent to whatever attack the spirit would have 
  made with fire but without going through the trouble of 
  summoning, protection, controlling and enslaving. 
  More refinements can be made to the exceptions as 
  well.
  For example: With our fire orb, the item could be 
  used as a type of grenade, throwing the orb at your 
  enemy as you speak the command word. However this 
  is not too elegant and may result in loss of the orb if 
  the sorcerers enemies are not killed.
  Another exception may be added to the prison, that 
  the bearer of the orb be protected from the fire while 
  forcing it to be directed away from the bearer. Now the 
  item is truly a weapon.
  Or the prison could be a sword. With the hero wielding 
  a powerful flaming sword that burst into flame at 
  command and could shoot fire at anyone it is pointed 
  at.
  This is the true power of the Sorcerer, the abilty to 
  create these powerful and terrible prisons. But they 
  come at a price.  They are quite difficult and dangerous 
  to make. 
  Creating a Prison:
  •The sorcerer must create the item to be used as a 
  prison. It must be made for a specific spirit.
  •At the time of creating it must be decided how many 
  exceptions are being added to the 
  item.
  •The item will be very 
  costly to create, needing 
  many exotic ingredients, 
  jewels, metals and other 
  items to create.
  •The cost will be 
  equivalent to: Number of 
  exceptions x the degree of 
  the spirit x 100 gold coins.
  •Since money can be quite 
  hard to come by in the world 
  of Kartharka the Demonlord 
  could also have the heroes 
  search for the materials 
  themselves. Usually they 
  will have to complete one 
  difficult lair per Exception 
  and Degree of the prison.
  •To create the item the 
  sorcerer rolls a number of 
  dice equal to their Other 
  World stat plus their 
  Imprisoning stat. The 
  Demonlord will then 
  roll a number of dice 
  equal to the number 
  of exceptions plus the 
  Degree of the spirit to be imprisoned.
  •If the sorcerers roll is equal to or higher than the 
  demonlord’s roll then the prison has been successfully 
  created.
  •The spirit to be placed in the prison must already be 
  enslaved to the sorcerer. The sorcerer will summon the 
  enslaved spirit and command it to enter the prison.
  •The sorcerer will then roll to Imprison the spirit.
  The sorcerer rolls a number of dice equal to their Other 
  World stat plus their Imprisoning skill. The spirit rolls a 
  number of dice equal to its degree. If the sorcerer rolls 
  equal to or higher than the spirit 3 times in a row the 
  spirit is successfully imprisoned. If the sorcerer fails in 
  any of his rolls the spirit is no longer enslaved to the 
  sorcerer and may now take it’s revenge on him.
  •An item prison may be used by anyone that knows 
  the control words.
  PG16
  
  SPI RITS
  &DEMONS
  In the game of Lair, all entities of the other world, all supernatural beings, 
  be they ghosts, demons, nature gods, or elemental energies, all of these are 
  referred to as spirits.
  Whether or not they are able to take on a physical form for periods of 
  time they are still referred to as spirits for they exist, at least partially, in the 
  Other World.
  So all demons are sprits, but not all spirits are demons.
  Demons are a very specific race of “spirits” that reside primarily in the 
  great underworld beneath the world of Kartharka called the Abyss, beyond 
  the great rift of Abalon and inaccessible for surface dwellers.
  Although the most commonly referred to spirit in game mechanics is the 
  demon there are many spirits in the world of Karharka. 
  Ranging from simple nature spirits, residing in an ancient tree, to great 
  and powerful “gods” once worshipped by thousands of followers and now 
  forgotten by time in ruins long abandoned by men.
  The source of these other spirits is mysterious and lost in time, perhaps 
  they were once men, or sorcerers, or wizards, or even just a tribal leader 
  that chose to stay in our world instead of moving on to the other side once 
  dead. Perhaps they are the ghosts of great leaders, or they may be another 
  spirit that existed long before the death of those men, who have chosen to 
  pretend to be people to gather worshippers and followers to act on their 
  wishes.
  Some may even truly be “gods”, personifications of a forest, or a force of 
  nature or of an entire nation,  whether their followers or creators still exist is 
  irrelevant to them as they continue on as they always have.
  Many options are open to the Demonlord to create spirits to serve their 
  needs in scenarios and lairs.
  Most of the rules which will follow in this issue will deal with “demons” 
  but simply replace the name with “spirit” and it becomes a force not of 
  the netherworld but of the other world. Using the same stats and rules as 
  a demon it may be a ghost, unnamed force, or a god. Its motives may be 
  good, evil, or neutral and its source of power may be infernal or benevolent 
  as the demonlord wishes.
  So although many of the rules and lists which follow may refer to 
  “demons” feel free to adapt and change anything you wish to add variety 
  and spice to your own games.
  PG17
  
  C
  REATING
  SPIRITS
  There can be any number of spirits, demons, ghosts, 
  gods, or elementals. To try to create a list of every 
  possible one here would be a massive undertaking.
  I think what would be more useful would be a set 
  of guidelines for creating your own spirits, similar to 
  the ones laid out in the Veteran issue for creatures and 
  monsters.
  Spirits have stats, like other creatures. They also 
  have additional powers available only to spirits. They 
  may have a physical form or they may not. They may 
  be able to effect the physical world or they may not.
  All of these things will be discussed in the following 
  sections.
  To create a spirit go through the following steps:
  1. Determine spirit type:
  2. Determine stats:
  3. Assign additional powers:
  4. Assign elemental powers if any:
  5. Assign mortal interaction:
  6. Determine Other World stat:
  7. Determine degree:
  All of these will be discussed, simply work your way 
  through the list and you will have your dread spirit 
  ready to terrorize your heroes.
  Determine Spirit type:
  This is the creative part of the process. Decide if 
  you want your spirit to be a demon, a ghost, some kind 
  of elemental spirit or anything else the imagination 
  can devise. Use this decision when working your way 
  through the next few sections. There is no limitations 
  on any particular type of spirit, a ghost can be as 
  powerful as a demon if the Demon lord chooses.
  Typical choices would be:
  • Demons from below the earth of 
  Kartharka
  • The ghost of a mortal being, be they 
  a man, goblyn, half goblyn or something 
  else. They lived for a time and then they 
  died. On death for whatever reason they 
  did not move on to the other side. They 
  may have existed long ago or have died 
  recently.
  • Elemental spirit of the Wild. There 
  are many spirits which are thought to be 
  embodiments of great forces of nature. Be 
  they the trees, the air, the storms in the 
  sky, or a spirit of a specific forest or circle 
  of stones.
  It is not known truly where these spirits come 
  from or what keeps them where they are found. Most 
  of them have been worshipped for centuries by the 
  various tribes of the Winterlands or elsewhere in 
  Kartharka. They may actually be something else or 
  something from the other side in disguise. At any rate 
  they tend to be mostly an ethereal force with powers 
  over plants, wind, or air, though sometimes they will 
  manifest themselves as a physical creature made of 
  their preferred element.
  Statistics:
  Each spirit will have all the usual stats of a monster 
  or creatures, Defence, Attack, Endurance, Damage, and 
  Move.
  Even if they are never in our physical world or able 
  to affect it, their stats must be determined, even if they 
  are only zeros.
  Like any creature or enemy you can make these 
  stats whatever you want, but the higher the stats the 
  higher their rank will be.
  Assign the spirit stats for 
  defence, attack, endurance, 
  damage, and move. Remember 
  an average man would have 
  zero defence, zero attack, 4 
  endurance, zero damage, 
  and move 4.
  Additional 
  powers:
  •Demons and other 
  spirits are considered 
  to either be carrying 
  spectral ethereal 
  weapons, or to 
  have claws (as 
  in demons) or 
  due to their 
  other world 
  nature are 
  considered to be armed at all times. They will do 
  damage as if they were carrying standard weapons 
  causing 1 dice of damage, unless stated otherwise in 
  another rule.
  As if having all of this is not enough, spirits may have 
  some additional powers.
  Common powers which a spirit may have are:
  Flight: The spirit may fly. They move at their move 
  rate up, down, or in any direction.
  Move Objects: Whether the spirit is ethereal or 
  not, or whether they are able to take on a physical 
  body they may still move objects as if they were a 
  solid creature. It can be assumed that the creature can 
  move objects in the same way as a normal man unless 
  otherwise stated.
  Sound(illusions) or create noises: The spirit may 
  create noises whether they are ethereal or not. Note 
  that spirits would usually not be able to make noise or 
  make themselves understood by mortals unless they 
  have this power. The noises are not necessarily limited 
  to speech but may make any noises or sounds that 
  they like.
  Light(illusions) or create images: In the same way 
  that spirits cannot be heard while they are ethereal 
  they may also not be seen. But if they have this power 
  they may appear to mortals. Note that they do not 
  necessarily have to appear as they actually are, they 
  may change their appearance in any way in the same 
  way as creating noises.
  PG18
  
  Elemental powers:
  •These allow the spirit to control an element or use it 
  for an attack. The power may be given more than once. 
  The first time it is given allows the spirit to “control” 
  that element in a limited way. Fire for example would 
  allow the spirit to start fires on readily combustible 
  materials like an unlit campfire.
  •It also allows the creature to have 1 armour point 
  against that element. Additional slots of the same 
  power can be used to add another armour point 
  against that element.
  •Another slot can be used to allow the spirit to 
  “attack” with that element for 1d6 of damage. For 
  example a spirit could have fiery hands which cause 
  1d6 of damage if they hit a hero.
  •For each extra time it is taken the spirit gets to cause 
  an additional d6 of damage using their element
  •A slot can also be used to allow a spirit to “throw” a 
  ball of the element with a range equal to their move 
  stat. •The elements available are: Fire, Ice, Wind, Electricity, 
  Stone, Water, Wood (dead), Plants (Living).
  Mortal interaction:
  •The word “spirit” refer to the class of otherworldly 
  beings, and not necessary to whether they have a 
  physical form or not.
  •When creating a spirit you must decide if the spirit 
  has a physical form. If it does not, then you must 
  decide how it interacts with the physical world, if it can 
  at all.
  •All spirits begin as an ethereal creature, having no 
  physical substance. They are unable to affect the 
  mortal world, to be seen, heard or felt. They can 
  move through doors, walls, floors, etc. This does not 
  necessarily mean they can “fly” or “float”. To do some 
  they must have the “flight” special power above.
  Spiritual attack:
  •Some spirits, by growing their power, are able to 
  affect the mortal realm without a physical body. These 
  spirits are able to attack mortals using their other world 
  stat as detailed in the Other World section earlier in 
  this book.
  If this is the case with the spirit you are creating then 
  you should give them the “spiritual attack” power.
  •Some spirits will have a physical form, such as most 
  summoned demons. They may not use a “spiritual 
  attack” while in their physical form. If they are able to 
  change from physical back to an ethereal form then 
  they can use spiritual attack when ethereal and regular 
  attacking when in their physical form.
  Demons prefer to remain in mortal form because if 
  they “die” they must start all over again as a spirit with 
  all stats being 0 and begin to build their power again.
  •Some spirits can take on a mortal form only when 
  summoned, many of the “gods” of Kartharka appear 
  in this way. 
  Other world stat: 
  Now decide what the creatures Other world stat will 
  be, keeping in mind that this is the stat which will be 
  used for spiritual attacks if the spirit has that power.
  Rank
  •Determining combat rank for spirits is very similar to 
  the system for mortal creatures.
  •First start with 1. Add the spirits defence, attack, 
  damage, and any endurance over 4. Add any move 
  over 4. Add 5 for every power (and every slot of every 
  power).
  Multiply the spirits other world by 2 and add this to 
  the total.
  This is the final Combat rank.
  Determine the Spirits degree:
  The Spirits degree will vary greatly from spirit to 
  spirit.
  •A good rule of thumb is to divide the spirits Combat 
  Rank by 5. A spirits power varies greatly depending on 
  what powers it has and how many slots of any specific 
  power it has.
  •Published spirits will likely have a degree that varies 
  from the simple, divide by 5 calculation.
  PG19
  
  SpookyRoom Productions Presents:
  Lair of Sword & Sorcery: The Adventure Game
  Issue 4: SORCERY! October 2015
  Price  $4.00
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Lair of Sword & Sorcery (osr)/Lair of Sword & Sorcery Issue 4 Sorcery.pdf