Invoking Spirits, Faeries, Demons, etc.

With great inspiration from Luke Gearing’s Contacts and Favours, and Nathan Bateman (Press the Beast) for suggesting to use it for invocation (I highly recommend applying his Glamours & Seemings, as well, as powers available to all spirits).

It is every man’s dream to bind the forces of chaos to his will. The ancient texts hint that it can be so.

Domains

Each spirit can assist with a number of domains equal to its HD. For example:

• A spirit with 1HD can know lies.
• A spirit with 1HD can make things unseen.
• A spirit with 3HD can make things unseen, know lies, and seduce mortals.
• etc.

Summoning

When a spirit’s name is called, they are summoned. Their names are not spoken with tongue alone, but with yew and ash, blood and bone.

They naturally form a relationship with those who call it, however short-lived it might be. Spirits with a higher HD than the summoner will attempt to kill them on the first visitation on a X-in-6 chance, where X is the difference between their HD.

Each time a spirit is summoned, automatically reduce the Invocation Rating by 1.

Invocation Rating

The Invocation Rating, which ranges from 1-6, represents the power the summoner holds over the spirit. This begins at half the invoker’s HD (rounded down).

When a command is given, roll 1d6 equal to or lower than the Invocation Rating. On a success, the spirit concedes. Otherwise, they make excuses.

Modify the roll as follows:

• The command requires little effort from the spirit: -1.
• The invoker owes the spirit a favour: +1.
• The command is outside their domain: +1.
• The command puts the spirit at risk, or requires great effort: +2.
• The command hurts a mutual enemy: -1.

Add further modifiers when applicable, depending on the situation at hand.

Favours

Each week (or other reasonable timeframe), there is a 2-in-6 chance the spirit will request a favour of the invoker. Both a lesser and greater version of the request should be presented. Assisting with the lesser version increases the Invocation Rating by 1, while assisting with the greater version increases it by 2.

The size of the favour in question is determined by the spirit’s HD, with greater HD spirits asking for larger favours. For example:

• A spirit with 1HD might ask for the life of a young child.
• A spirit with 3HD might ask to change the course of a river.
• A spirit with 10HD might ask for the head of a king.
• etc.

If the favour is refused, reduce the Invocation Rating by 2. If the value drops to 0 or less, the spirit no longer heeds the invoker’s commands (save for summoning, which is compulsory) and may take what actions they deem reasonable in response.