TEXT: When Reason Sleeps, 
   
  Demons Wake 
   
  A Play-test Mini-Supplement for Ron Edwards’ Sorcerer 
   
   
   
  All art by Goya 
   
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  An Introduction 
  This is a play-test mini-supplement for Sorcerer containing three different settings 
  that share the same feature: Sorcerers draw their power from a world of dreams. 
  • The first, Something Wicked Within draws upon the horror-film genre, and 
  demons are our dream selves, hideous and monstrous. 
  • The second setting, Dreams Beyond Time and Space draw from the 
  literature of H. P. Lovecraft and others, and our dreams touch upon a 
  dimension beyond our own, one that is alien and insane and demons are 
  the malign entities that haunt that other place. 
  • The House of Gloaming draws upon the more fanciful works of Clive 
  Barker, Lord Dunsany, and Neil Gaiman, a baroque world where our 
  dreams are mystical places shaped by our dreaming minds: our Demons 
  are creatures of this chaotic and strange world, our nighttime companions 
  who can be both beguiling and cruel. 
   
  Each of these settings is discussed in greater detail, each in its own section. The 
  following information is a general overview that is applicable to nearly all the 
  settings. 
   
  What is a Sorcerer? 
  A Sorcerer is someone who knows more than the other dreamers, those normal 
  people who are passively carried along on the currents of the River Lethe, 
  sleepers blissfully ignorant of the dark potential of the sleeping world. Sorcerers 
  are those awakened few who have awoken in the dream world to discover the 
  dream world and their own terrible powers. Anyone with Lore is considered a 
  Sorcerer, and: 
  • May draw upon their strength of Will to carry on when others would drop 
  from fatigue or injury (see Sorcerer page 108). 
  • Can conduct any of the Sorcerer Rituals (See Sorcerer pages 86-91), 
  including Pacts (Sorcerer & Sword pages 55-57), the possible creation of 
  Tokens (Sorcerer & Sword page 58-61). They may also be able to use 
  Hypnotism to put someone to sleep: this could be as simple as staring 
  someone in the eyes, the use of a pendulum, or a more elaborate 
  ceremony with incense and other sounds to lull one to sleep. 
  • Are marked by the experience, afflicted with both a Telltale and a Price. 
   
  What are Demons? 
  Exactly what each demon is defined by each setting, although the following rules 
  are equally true of all the demons. Demons are Dream-Entities, born of the 
  Dreams. All of these Demons come from that place that sleepers visit and are 
  normally confined there; they may only cross over in those circumstances where 
  a Sorcerer performs some ritual that allows them to transgress those boundaries 
  between the Dream World and the Waking World. It is only with the assistance of 
  a Sorcerer that they can exist in the Waking World, however they may be able to 
   
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  exist on their own independently of the Sorcerer (see Something Wicked Within’s 
  “Humanity at Zero” section for an example). 
   
  The relationship between Sorcerer and Demon should have tension at its core. In 
  Something Wicked Within, the Demon hates its dependence upon the Sorcerer 
  and secretly craves replacing its Sorcerer in the Waking World, to slake its dark 
  lusts. In Dreams Beyond Time and Space, the Demons are anathema to our own 
  existence and are eager to invade our own reality and undo it, starting with their 
  Sorcerer. In the House of Gloaming, the Demons seek to lure the Sorcerer into 
  the Demon’s own dream reality, never to return to the Waking World. In each of 
  these settings, the Demon is there to put the character at risk: offering power at a 
  terrible cost. 
   
  Demons are creature of and masters of their own reality, reflected in their lore. 
  The Demon’s disadvantage is that they are unfamiliar with the human reality and 
  with human nature and this is their weakness. The Demon’s desire to undo the 
  Sorcerer can only be achieved by robbing the Sorcerer of their humanity and 
  drawing them into the world of the Demon. As the Sorcerer loses Humanity, their 
  Demon grows in power. The following rules are a suggested deviation from the 
  rules to reflect these changes: 
  • When a Sorcerer loses a point of Humanity, the particular Dream Demon 
  involved in the transgression (the Ritual or the event that triggers the 
  Humanity check) gains a point of Power. Accordingly, the Demon’s 
  Stamina, Will, and Lore increase by one point as well. The additional 
  ability is chosen by the GM with possible input from the player. This power 
  can be chosen and used immediately by the Demon or later be chosen by 
  the GM based upon the necessity of the Demon or its Sorcerer. 
  Preferably, this new ability should be thematically tied with the Sorcerer’s 
  Humanity loss. 
  • When a Sorcerer gains a point of Humanity, their Demon (or one Demon 
  who would be appropriate for the circumstances) loses a point of Power, 
  Stamina, Will, and Lore. One ability, thematically appropriate if possible, 
  becomes inaccessible to the Demon. Should the Sorcerer lose a point of 
  Humanity at another time and this Demon is responsible in part, than this 
  Demon regains the earlier lost ability. 
   
  As noted earlier, Demons are normally confined to the Dream World and have no 
  or limited power in the Waking World. The exceptions are those rare few who 
  have permanently manifested in the Waking World and function as Immanents 
  (see Sorcerer & Sword page 50). The other Demons have little ability to influence 
  the Waking World. There are those desperate times however when the Sorcerer 
  can transgress the boundaries between Waking World and Dream World by 
  Summoning their demon while awake. 
  • This functions as a Snap ritual (see Sorcerer page 85), reducing the 
  Sorcerer’s roll to one-die versus the Demon’s Power.  
   
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  • The Demon manifests in the Waking World for a number of rounds 
  equal to its Power. Should the Demon’s power be reduced, it will leave 
  that much earlier. It can then use some of its Power in the Waking 
  World, but the Summoning immediately puts the Demon into Need. 
  • The real world is anathema to the Demon. Each use of its Abilities 
  causes Fatigue (see Sorcerer page 110), but not only is Stamina 
  reduced, but the Demon’s Power is reduced with each use. 
  • The Demon, even if Bound, cannot be killed. It will reappear in the 
  Dream World when the Sorcerer next dreams, in Need and at Stage 3: 
  Vengeful. 
  • The Summoning attempt immediately results in a Humanity check by 
  the Sorcerer. 
   
  Demon Abilities in this Setting 
  All Demon Abilities function normally in the Dream World and cannot normally 
  extend into the Waking World except under unusual circumstances. For those 
  Demons drawn into the Waking World or who are Immanents, the GM will have 
  to adjust the Abilities accordingly or declare certain Abilities powerless in the 
  Waking World. The following are some suggested variations on Abilities. 
   
  Cloak: Can be used to hide in someone else’s dream, to spy on their 
  dreams. 
   
  Cover: The “Cover: Changeling” does exist in this setting, allowing the 
  User to declare who they are going to appear as when the ability is used. If 
  appearing as someone intimately familiar with the person being interacted with, 
  the witness gets a Will versus the Cover rating to see through it. 
   
  Hold: This ability can be used to “hold” someone in their activity in the 
  Dream World, or it can be used to keep a Dreamer from temporarily waking up 
  for the duration of the ability. 
   
  Hop: The Demon can travel from dream to dream. Unlike the version in 
  the rulebook, this Hop is not visible as it happens in the dream. Any Demon can 
  Hop from dream to dream and will be noticed by the dreamers unless concealed 
  with Cloak. A Possessor Demon has special powers. As long as the Dreamer is 
  not wakened, the Possessor can command the dreamer’s body to carry out 
  simple tasks: sleepwalk or sleep talk and handle very simple tasks. Opening a 
  door is a simple task, where as picking up a gun and pointing it at the sleeper’s 
  head is not. It is possible for a simple task to be harmful to the sleep walker: the 
  Demon can have the sleep walker step out in front of a car. This Possession roll 
  requires a Demon’s Power versus Dreamer’s Will roll (not Stamina, see Sorcerer 
  pages 48-49 for comparison). Possession puts the Demon in Need. 
   
  Link: Can be used when the Sorcerer is awake or asleep. 
   
  Perception: These powers are in the Dream World and can often be 
  fantastic: See into others’ dreams. Find other Dreamers. Hear into others’ 
  dreams. See Cloaked Demons. 
   
  Shapeshift: Can be used in a power similar to the Cloak: Changeling 
  Power but allows constant change. The User may look like someone’s intimate, 
  but does not have the ability to convincingly portray that individual through any 
   
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  but the most superficial interaction. Talking, for example, is a dead give-away. 
  Shape changing into an animal or object however can be very convincing. Unlike 
  the Cover: Changeling, as long as this Power is in use, fluid changes are 
  possible. 
   
  Taint: Often takes form as haunting nightmares that torment the target 
  even when they are awake. A Vengeful demon may very well use this on their 
  own Sorcerer. 
   
  Transport: A critical power for the Demon. This provides the Demon with 
  the power to allow the Sorcerer to accompany the Demon through different 
  Dreams or areas of the Dream World. It requires the simultaneous use of Travel. 
  It helps to have a Perception that allows the Sorcerer or the Demon to seek out 
  the dreams of others. 
   
  Travel: Every Demon has to have power. This is a mandatory ability and is 
  not free. This allows the Demon to move through Dreams. The form of the 
  movement depends upon the Demon. There is one other type of Travel, and it is 
  only available to those Demons who become Immanents when the Demon’s 
  Sorcerer loses their last point of Humanity: Cross the Borderland: This allows the 
  Demon to move bodily through into the Waking World or the Dream World. 
   
  Warp: One of the most powerful abilities in the Dream World: this allows 
  the Demon to Warp the very nature of the Dream. A door can suddenly appear or 
  the floor can turn into quicksand with the use of this ability. This power is 
  functional when the Demon crosses over into the Waking World. 
   
  The Setting and their Demons 
  Something Wicked Within: Dark-Self, Dark-Self Demon, Night Twin, or Dark 
  Dream-Self 
  Dreams Beyond Time and Space: Demons of the Abyss or Demons of the Void 
  In the House of Gloaming: Dreamworld Demons, Companions, Guides, 
  Bargainers, Goblins, Imps, Bête Noir, or the Children of the Night 
   
  What is Humanity? 
  Humanity is particularly specific within this setting: Humanity is your bond to the 
  Waking World. It is at risk when you transgress those boundaries. Humanity is 
  gained when you reject the allure of the Dream World. Committing a heinous 
  crime does not put the Sorcerer at risk of Humanity loss unless it is somehow 
  tied to the Sorcerer’s relationship to Demons and the Dream World. Each of the 
  three settings has a particular theme and the Humanity Loss and Gain rolls 
  should reflect these, but here are some following suggestions for Humanity Loss 
  and Gain rolls. 
   
   
  Humanity can be lost when: 
  • Whenever the Sorcerer conducts a Contact, Summon, or Bind ritual 
  • The Sorcerer violates someone else’s dreams (examples: causing 
  terrible nightmares, or tormenting another dreamer by pretending to 
  be their dead parents who are disappointed deeply in the dreamer) 
   
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  • When the Sorcerer brings out something from the Dream World into 
  the Waking World 
  • Whenever the Sorcerer brings someone from the Waking World 
  directly into the Dream World 
  • When the Sorcerer or his Demon kills or torments someone in the 
  Dream World 
   
  Humanity can be gained when: 
  • The Sorcerer banishes a Demon that they did not Summon. 
  • Returns a Dreamer abducted bodily from the Waking World and 
  taken into the Dream World. This could also extend to important 
  artifacts or objects taken as well and hidden away into the Dream 
  World. 
  • Destroys an Immanent, Pagan Thing, or Old One that has 
  manifested in the Waking World. 
  • Banishes or lies to rest a Ghost haunting the Dream World (or the 
  Waking World). 
   
  The Dream World: the Mystical Otherworld 
  The Mystical Otherworld is first introduced (Sorcerer & Sword page 32-33) and is 
  central to this setting: as nearly all the Demons and much of the Sorcery takes 
  place within this place, known hereafter as the Dream World. The Dream World 
  constantly exists but is separate from the workaday reality known here as the 
  Waking World. When we dream, our consciousness touches upon the Dream 
  World and its inhabitants, but this sort of conventional dreaming never requires a 
  Humanity check. Sorcerers are able to control and take power of the Dream 
  World through the use of their Demon. 
   
  When the Sorcerer is awake, the Demon is conducting its own activities and 
  knows nothing of the Sorcerer’s activities, unless there is a link and then it is 
  merely an ever-present acknowledgment of the welfare of the other. When a 
  Sorcerer dreams, their consciousness touches upon the Dream World while their 
  physical body remains behind. This sort of activity does not require Humanity 
  rolls either. Once in the Dream World, the Sorcerer can conduct all manner of 
  activities based upon the setting. The Sorcerer with their demon can observe the 
  dreams of their rivals or other interested parties, the Sorcerer can indulge in all 
  sorts of pleasures and diversions, the Demon can shape part of the Dream World 
  into a heaven or a hell, or people in the physical world can be located through 
  their dreams. These actions may require the use of Lore rolls or Demon abilities, 
  but typically do not require Humanity rolls. 
   
  However, there are times when transgressions happen, when boundaries are 
  crossed. A Sorcerer may, while dreaming, take their body with them into the 
  Dream World, and anyone else in bed will awaken to find them missing (this 
  requires the normal use of the Demon ability conferred to the Sorcerer as User, 
  the Demon cannot cross into the Waking World until it has “Travel: Cross the 
   
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  Borderlands”). A dreaming Sorcerer can alter and change things in their dream 
  that will still be true in the Waking World (this requires the use of Warp by the 
  Demon). For example, a Sorcerer locked in jail can sleep in her cell, dreaming of 
  wandering the corridors and finding the key to her cell, clutching it in her hands. 
  When she awakens the next morning, she may have either the real key or an 
  exact duplicate in her clenched hand. Any of these sorts of activities evokes a 
  Humanity Loss check. 
   
  Depending on the setting, most people dream and while they all touch upon the 
  same region, they are effectively isolated in their dreams. When we dream of 
  others, it is not normally the dream selves of others we see, but merely images of 
  them. There are times when our dreams do mesh with those of others, and these 
  are often times when people awaken to their powers and become Sorcerers. The 
  Dream World is limitless and constantly fluid and changing. Sorcerers are able to 
  stake out and shape entire regions to meet their needs, while most dreamers 
  simply flit through the Dream World leaving no impressions behind. Using their 
  Power, some Sorcerers may bodily enter the Dream World and create their own 
  domain, in a place where they cannot age and have near god-like powers. These 
  Sorcerers however depend upon the power of their Demons to maintain their 
  power and position, and should that relationship sour, they are at the mercy of 
  their Demon. Nearly all dreamers however are safe from the direct depredation of 
  Demons. It is only when directed by a Sorcerer that the Demons have access to 
  something human to be able to affect Dreamers. 
   
  What if you want to leave the Dream World? A Sorcerer can make a Lore roll at 
  any time to awaken if in a stressful experience (unless hit by the Hold ability). 
  Normal sleeper cannot awaken until they experience something traumatic 
  (seeing a traumatic sight in the dream or being the target of a Demon ability or an 
  attack by a Demon or Sorcerer). 
   
  Dying in the Dream World 
  Sorcerers can spiritually or bodily enter the Dream World. What happens if the 
  Sorcerer attempts to strangle the Dream Self of another Dreamer? What is two 
  Sorcerers bodily or spiritually battle it out in the Dream World? What if a Demon 
  besets a Dreamer and attacks it with slavering fangs or with a psychic attack? 
  Can you die in the Dream World? 
   
  Those who physically manifest in the Dream World: all Demons and those who 
  physically enter the Dream World will die normally and be affected normally. 
  Damage is carried out as normal and it is possible to suffer terrible damage or 
  even die. 
   
  If the target of the attack is only there in spirit (in other words, their body is in the 
  Waking World) they too take damage normally. They can be attacked by others 
  who are present in spirit or bodily and by demon attacks and abilities. When 
  attacked, any sleeper may make a Will vs. Will roll at the end of the round 
   
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  (unmodified by any penalties) to wake up. This attempt to awaken does not 
  constitute an action on the part of the Dreamer. If they are successful in the roll, 
  they can immediately awaken. Once awake, all damage counts as temporary, 
  even damage sustained as lasting. The target awakes frightened and half-mad. If 
  the Dreamer does not awaken before taking greater than twice their Stamina 
  (see chart in Sorcerer on pages 107 or 132) they suffer severe consequences 
  and may not awaken. The consequences are determined by the setting, the 
  intent of the attackers, and the GM decision (player’s advice on the 
  consequences are welcomed). Odds are the person’s body will be catatonic or in 
  a coma and their Dream Self is stranded in the Dream World and subject to the 
  torments and attention of their attackers. This sort of attack results in a Humanity 
  Loss Check by the Sorcerer. Those who would rescue such a bereaved Dreamer 
  and return them back to the physical world would receive a Humanity Gain 
  Check. 
   
  For a good literary example of the Dreamworld and violence in the Dream World, 
  see Haruki Murakami’s The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and for a poor but 
  appropriate cinematic version, see Dreamscape (1984).  
   
  About Lore 
  In this setting, Lore is very powerful and is what distinguishes a normal dreamer 
  from a Sorcerer. Without Lore, one can only touch briefly the Dream World and is 
  powerless there in the Dream World. With Lore, the Sorcerer is able to use and 
  manipulate the Dream for their own ends, redefining the Dream. The nature of 
  the Dream depends on the setting and thus Lore is more likely to be powerful In 
  the House of Gloaming setting than in the other two settings. 
   
  What can Lore do? When in the Dreamscape, it can be used to generate 
  Currency (Sorcerer page 75) for nearly any roll in the Dream Worlds. Lore can 
  be used to identify which are Dreamers and which are Demons. Lore can be 
  used recall areas or past encounters in the Dream World, drawing on facts from 
  previous dreams and experiences before play began (“flashbacks”). Lore can 
  also be used to twist or manipulate the Dream World, but this should be in very 
  minor ways to ensure that the Sorcerer remains tied to their Demon. However, 
  this is a game about creativity, and should the players come up with something 
  interesting and want to use their Lore, allow them to do it. This should be done 
  sparingly and if it would normally require a Demon Ability, the Sorcerer 
  automatically suffers a Humanity Loss check. 
   
  The following is a list of possible but rare events that a Sorcerer might be able to 
  pull off using their Lore and other elements if the circumstances prove right. 
  Contacting someone in their dreams: Sorcerer’s Will versus Target’s 
  Will. Sorcerer and Target must both be sleeping and blood related or intimately 
  familiar. This can be a brief exchange for a number of rounds equal to the 
  success. Normally this requires the Demon abilities Travel + Perception to do 
  this. Requires a Humanity Loss check. 
   
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  Dream Hopping: Sorcerer’s Will versus Target’s Will +1. Sorcerer and 
  Target must both be sleeping and blood related or intimately familiar. The 
  Sorcerer must be in physical contact with the Target or be in possession of a 
  valued personal effect of the target. Normally Requires the Demon abilities 
  Travel + Transport + Perception to do this. Requires a Humanity Loss check. 
  Minor shaping of the Dream: Sorcerer’s Will versus Opposition Dice of 
  1. Causing a faucet in a dream that is dry to suddenly drip water or to change the 
  color of your shirt is a minor action. If it offers a little color and no significant 
  change or tactical advantage, this does not require a Humanity Check. Demons 
  can use their Lore to do this as well. 
  Significant Shaping of the Dream: Sorcerer’s Will versus Sorcerer’s Will 
  +1. To reach into your jeans and to produce a gun that was not there previously 
  or to open a door that is not there. Normally this requires the Demon Ability 
  Warp. Requires a Humanity Loss check. 
  Give someone a dream flash while they are awake: Sorcerer’s Will 
  versus Target’s Will. The Sorcerer must be in physical contact and must have 
  witnessed the dream that is being flashed. The Currency from this success can 
  be used to modify the next logical roll (“See, I know what your heart’s innermost 
  desire, I may be able to fulfill your… particular needs…”). Normally requires the 
  Demon ability Daze, Hint, or Hold (and the Demon need not be in contact or have 
  previously witnessed the Dream). Requires a Humanity Loss Check. 
  Conceiving or giving birth in the Dream World: This is a complex ritual 
  determined by the GM. The intent and procedures should be explored and the 
  resulting dice rolls and consequences based upon the experience. 
  Sacrificing or intentionally dying in the Dream World: Bodily death in 
  the Dream Land follows the rules for Necromancy (see Sorcerer & Sword pages 
  58-62). 
   
  Creating Your Sorcerer 
  Follow the standard Sorcerer rules for character creation. The following are some 
  suggestions for Descriptors for this particular setting. 
   
  Stamina Descriptors 
   
  Dying – Cancer, a weak heart, failing organs, you sense that your time is just 
  around the corner. Your body has betrayed you, but you are desperately hanging 
  on for some particular reason… 
   
  Prison Physique – One look at your frame and your old school ink and people 
  know your gym was the exercise yard of some high-security prison. 
   
  Steady Diet of Cigarettes and TV – Your body has been honed by the modern 
  age of cable television, beer, potato chips, and a comfy couch. In other words, 
  you look like shit. 
   
   
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  Strung Out on Crank/Pharmaceuticals – Lean and gaunt and skeletal, you’re only 
  strength comes from what little desperation you can eke out of your famished 
  and punished body. 
   
  Wheel-Chair Bound/Disabled – It could have been a wartime incident or an 
  automobile accident, a birth or congenital defect, but whatever the reason is, you 
  are at a disadvantage in society, being severely limited by your disability. 
   
  Will Descriptors: 
   
  Academically Trained – You spent a bit of money and now have a piece of paper 
  certifying that you’ve jumped through the hoops. 
   
  Fixated – You’re desperate for something more, something outside you that you 
  constantly fix your full attention on, both a source of strength and weakness. 
   
  “Just a Little Too Tense” – You’re wound tighter than spring. The intensity of your 
  stare makes other people uneasy. 
   
  Sensitive – You perceive things that other people ignore or overlook. You 
  experience a world different from that those around you experience. 
   
  Serene – This world can be a really shitty place, but for everyone around you, 
  you are an island of sanity and decency even in the thick of it. 
   
  Lore Descriptors: 
   
  “In Depravity There is Wisdom”: You have done a lot of things you should be 
  ashamed of. Maybe you never had a conscience, or maybe you’re just good at 
  quashing it, but by exploring the dark side of your personality and your world you 
  have learned a great many terrible things. Sure, the nightmares were difficult, but 
  that was just another realm to explore. Now that you have plumbed those depths, 
  you have gained greater power than you would have ever thought… Pity the 
  world… 
   
  Narcoleptic – You have dramatic sleep onsets where amidst your work or play 
  you instantly collapse asleep. Doctors claim it is simply a case of Narcolepsy, but 
  the dreams you have during these fits are unlike any dreams you normally have 
  at night… 
   
  Night Terrors: You suffered Night Terrors as a child. Perhaps it was the 
  medication or the experiments, or it could have been something you taught 
  yourself, but you learned early on that there was more to your dreams than most 
  people believe. 
   
   
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  Premonitions: Perhaps it could have been a “gift” from your family, your destiny, 
  an act of the divine, or some “sixth sense” you tapped into, but you have always 
  had premonitions and watched tomorrow unfold in your dreams. Aware of this, 
  you have gradually explored your powers and are not only close to mastering 
  your abilities, but have discovered a remarkable amount about the Dreams that 
  provide you with your power. 
   
  Occult Experience/Training/Library: Perhaps you were a skeptic regarding the 
  paranormal or an academic investigator, but somewhere along the way 
  something convinced you, made you a believer, and spurred your own 
  researches into the unknown. That experience still haunts your dreams… 
   
  Waking World/Dreamworld Mentored: You have a mentor or mentors that have 
  endowed you with terrible knowledge. They may have trained and taught you in 
  the Waking World: your satanic cult parents, your stern Roma grandmother, or 
  the Order of the Rosy Twilight. Or they may have come to you in your dreams: 
  the man that claimed to be your “real” father, your kindly grandmother, or the 
  voice from the cellar in your dreams. They introduced you to your own little 
  Dreamworld, a place where you have power and knowledge… friends… and 
  enemies… 
   
  Prices 
   
  Addicted to Sleeping Pills: In order to sleep at night, you find yourself constantly 
  on barbiturates and sedatives which keep you from feeling much in the Waking 
  World: -1 to any conflicts involving emotions or passions in the Waking World. 
   
  Dream Echoes: You feel a constant déjà vu when talking with others, and their 
  actual communication with you is garbled by what they said to you in your last 
  dreams: -1 to all speaking communication 
   
  Haunting Visions: when you close your eyes at night, terrible things visit you in 
  your sleep. – 1 to all Dream related rolls 
   
  In Another World: You’re an absent presence in the waking world, someone who 
  cannot function well in the harsh light of everyday reality: -1 to all social 
  interactions in the Waking World. 
   
  Restless Sleeper: Your body is fatigued from its nocturnal activities: -1 to all 
  physical actions in the Waking World 
   
   
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  Something Wicked Within (Dark Dream Horror) 
   
   
   
  Yes, there are monsters. Each of us nurtures one, something dark and troubling 
  deep within the subconscious, a dark self, a demon, that lurks beneath the 
  veneer of normalcy and civility. Yet when we dream, reason sleeps and demons 
  dance… 
   
  Influences 
  Movies: Nightmare on Elm Street, The Cell, Psycho, Poltergeist 1 & 2, Buffalo Bill 
  and Hannibal Lector of Silence of the Lambs, Bradbury’s Something Wicked This 
  Way Comes, Mulholland Drive, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Closet Land, TV: 
  Twilight Zone’s “It’s a Good Life” episode (Anthony, who wishes people into the 
  Cornfield), Fox’s Millennium TV series, Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom mini-series, 
  HBO’s Carnivale. Books & other culture bits: Gaiman’s Coraline, Barker’s The 
  Thief of Always, Naked Lunch, NY’s Son of Sam, Pop-interpretations of Freud, 
  Goya, Geek Love. 
   
  “When one creates phantoms for oneself, one puts 
  vampires into the world, and one must nourish these 
  children of a voluntary nightmare with one's blood, one's 
  life, one's intelligence, and one's reason, without ever 
  satisfying them.” 
  -Eliphas Levi 
   
  Sorcerers are those who have contacted their Dark Selves that live in their 
  dreams, a being that exists in their subconscious. They bargain and bind this 
  Other, fully acknowledging this entity that is not so much a dark twin, but as a 
  dark fragment of their personality. Most wise people repress the monster within, 
  which rarely surfaces in dreams or moments of stress or tension. A Sorcerer has 
   
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  engaged with that dark portion of their psyche as an equal, not as something to 
  be suppressed and forgotten, but a dubious ally and resource in the Waking 
  World As a result, the Sorcerer can draw upon those dark, forbidden powers that 
  others instinctively shy away from. 
   
  Sorcery in this setting is drawing upon the powers best left suppressed, powers 
  that normally appear only in dreams. When dreaming, the Sorcerer enters the 
  subconscious, and by binding the Dark Dream-Self that resides almost wholly in 
  the same subconscious realm, the Sorcerer is better able to control their own 
  dreams and potentially the conscious real world as well. Their power is great, to 
  the extent of even allowing their demons to not only be present in the Waking 
  World, but to manifest in the Waking World. The dangers are great however, for 
  the Demon may potentially dominate the Sorcerer. 
   
  Humanity is your connection to your conscious self and the real Waking World. 
  Repeated abuses and interaction with the subconscious demon, the Dark 
  Dream-Self, ruptures this link between self and the conscious world.  
   
  As Humanity decreases, the Dark Dream-Self 
  Demon grows and increases in power, and the 
  Conscious Self (the Sorcerer) of the Waking 
  World diminishes, becoming a shadow while the 
  Dream-Self becomes more fleshed out. When 
  humanity hits zero, the conscious self (the 
  Sorcerer) is suppressed and lost forever as the 
  subconscious self (the Demon) with its sinister 
  needs possesses the Sorcerer’s body 
  permanently. Many of those who commit 
  inhuman atrocities, such as serial killers, are 
  those whose own real personalities have been 
  suppressed by the demon self. When Humanity 
  hits Zero, the Sorcerer must meet their end in a 
  scene framing that player’s downfall and hinting 
  at the consequences of the Dark Self’s victory. 
   
  The demon is the subconscious self that is 
  actively suppressed, lest we become monsters 
  ourselves. For some people, it is a dark id, cruel 
  and selfish and petulant, while for others it is a 
  dark super-ego: cruel and domineering and sadistic. The demon lurks there in 
  the darkness of the human soul and it is instinctively hidden away and neglected 
  by the conscious self. Yet at night, it sometimes creeps forth and the ambitious 
  and foolhardy can bind it. Being of the subconscious and of the Dream World, the 
  Demon is able to wield and use powers normally beyond human ability. The 
  Demons of Something Wicked Within may not begin with a Power greater than 
  the Sorcerer’s Humanity. However, over time, the Demon gradually grows, 
   
  - 13 - 
  
  increasing in Power and Abilities. Each time the Sorcerer loses Humanity, the 
  Demon gains a new Ability and increases in Power, Lore, and Stamina as it 
  grows. Should its Sorcerer increase in Humanity, the Demon’s power ebbs away 
  and it loses a point of each and an ability.  
   
  The demon initially only manifests itself in the dream world, riding as a parasite in 
  the mind, but when the demon’s power exceeds the humanity of the Sorcerer, it 
  is able to appear in the real world, either as a parasite, a voice in the back of the 
  mind, or as an inconspicuous demon, usually appearing as one’s own shadow. 
  When its power is greater than the Sorcerer’s humanity, it can appear as a 
  Passer demon, bearing the same appearance as its Sorcerer – a very potentially 
  dangerous proposition. When a Demon’s Power exceeds that of the Sorcerer, 
  the ability gained is automatically: Cover [Name of the Sorcerer]. Those with Lore 
  can distinguish the two by a Lore test versus the Demon’s Power to distinguish 
  between the Demon and the Sorcerer. Those with a relationship with the 
  Sorcerer can merely sense something wrong if they encounter the Demon 
  separate from the Sorcerer by making a Humanity test versus the Demon’s 
  power. 
   
  To appear in the Waking World at the behest of the Sorcerer, the demon must be 
  brought across from the Dream World, requiring a Summons test. To be forced 
  back into the subconscious, it requires a Banish roll (see below). For a Demon to 
  travel to the Waking World on its own, two conditions must be met: it must have 
  Travel and it must be of greater power than its Sorcerer (thus possessing “Cover: 
  [Name of Sorcerer]”. 
   
  Something Wicked Within Rituals 
   
  Contact: Contacting your own personal Dark Self Demon typically involves that 
  recurring dream that the Sorcerer has always had that takes place at night in a 
  familiar and intimate childhood location that seems creepy and different. The 
  Dark Self can also be contacted in Dreams that take place at a location of deep 
  guilt and trauma, often a crime scene where the Sorcerer conducted a crime, 
  such as the alley where the Sorcerer murdered a prostitute or the woods where 
  the Sorcerer buried his or her little sister. 
   
  To Contact someone else’s unbound Dark Self Demon requires that the Sorcerer 
  infiltrate that Sleeper’s dream or ingest a part of that person’s body such as hair, 
  blood, or fingernail or toenail clippings. 
   
  It is possible to Contact one’s own or another’s Dark Self in the Waking World by 
  entering a trance in front of a mirror. If successful the Demon’s own appearance 
  will replace the Sorcerer’s own reflection. 
   
  If one is able to manifest his Dark Self Demon in the Waking World and take a 
  photograph of the Demon or some other representation, this picture allows a +1 
   
  - 14 - 
  
  bonus to all the Sorcerer’s actions in the Waking World in relation to the Demon. 
  It should be noted that the Demon resents such photos or drawings and will do 
  anything in its power to destroy them. 
   
  Summon: Summoning one’s own Demon is the next inevitable step after 
  Contacting. One need only seek out and hold out a hand to draw one’s Demon 
  forth – the act of holding out the hand in the Dreaming World and accepting one’s 
  own Demon is a highly symbolic act. The act of drawing one’s Dark Self out of 
  the closet, the shed, or from the cellar or attic can require a little work, a trail of 
  candies or toys, or dressing up as one’s own mother or father and commanding 
  to come out are all examples. Bonuses for such means of drawing out one’s Dark 
  Self are added to the Summon roll. 
   
  A Sorcerer can summon their Demon into the Waking World by using a Summon 
  Ritual. 
   
  Summoning another person’s unbound Dark Self Demon is more complicated 
  process. Having Contacted it, one can Summon it in the Dreams or the Waking 
  World by either befriending it with an outstretched hand or grasping it and 
  wrestling it into one’s own Dream or out of the Mirror. 
   
  Bind: While the Initial Contact and Summoning may seem like drawing forth a 
  slightly sullen and child-like version of the Sorcerer or another person, the 
  Binding betrays the dark nature of the Demon, for this is when the bargaining 
  becomes. One must nourish one’s own dark desires and here an offering or 
  sacrifice helps significantly. Some examples: Bringing a piece of the school you 
  burned down that night as an offering to your pyromaniac alter-ego who despised 
  school, bringing your mother’s tongue after all those years she harassed you, or 
  providing the trussed up bully that tormented you as a child to your sadistic self 
  are all ways of providing a substantial bonus to your Dark Self. 
   
  It is in the negotiation of the Binding that the Dark Self’s twisted Needs become 
  known and that the Sorcerer must acknowledge the Other as an equal and 
  promise to nurture it’s petty and sick desires. 
   
  Punish: While the Dark Self is often very weak and sickly initially, the Binding 
  ensures that a Dark Side Demon becomes more and more powerful while the 
  Sorcerer becomes weaker. To ensure compliance, it is appropriate to the setting 
  to torture one’s own Dark Side Demons to keep them in line. Few Demons in 
  Sorcerer will be as responsive (and resentful) as one’s own Dark Side Demons. 
  Normally a Sorcerer may automatically punish one’s own bound Demon to a 
  level equal to their Will, but this can be increased by dressing up as one’s 
  parents or older siblings and punishing the Demon or using instruments of 
  punishment from the childhood such as a razor strop or a belt. When Punishing 
  another person’s Dark Self, follow the standard Sorcerer rules. 
   
  - 15 - 
  
   
  Banish: Banish can take two forms. The first is when one simply physically 
  Banishes a Dark Side Demon from the Waking World, which one can do to their 
  own Demon or another Dreamers or Sorcerer’s Demon by following the normal 
  Banish ritual. This merely causes the Demon to instantly retreat back to the 
  subconscious mind where it resides. 
   
  The formal act of Banishment (almost to Extinction), as a means of destroying a 
  Dark Side Demon is more difficult. Banishing one’s own Dark Self Demon to a 
  shadow of itself is a difficult and trying task and usually entails a significant 
  confrontation as the Dark Self Demon knows the Sorcerer more intimately than 
  any other Demon could. In addition to the normal Banish roll, the Sorcerers inflict 
  injury upon themselves, the Demon’s Power versus the Sorcerer’s Stamina in 
  Fist Damage, resolved after the Banishment roll. If successful, the Demon is 
  almost entirely destroyed, brought down to a Power of One and with the Cloak 
  (Inconspicuous ability). It no longer functions as a Demon, but can be Contacted, 
  Summoned, and Bound again if the Sorcerer so desires. In the meantime, the 
  Demon is nearly powerless and just haunts the Sorcerer’s dream, possibly 
  causing the odd nightmare. It is impossible to completely destroy a Dark Side 
  Demon. 
   
  You cannot Banish (to Destroy) another person’s Dark Side Demon. 
   
  Contain: A Sorcerer can contain their own Dark Self in the Dream World by 
  locking the Demon up in the same location it was discovered: a closet, a toy 
  chest, the basement, attic, or shed or other suitable location.  
   
  Containing one’s own Dark Self Demon in the Waking World is very difficult 
  generally. One must physically lock the Dark Self Demon in the very same 
  Waking World location that the Dark Self Demon was first Contacted and 
  Summoned from in the Dream World. For this reason, many Dark Self Demons 
  attempt to destroy the Waking World childhood home or other locale. 
   
  Another person’s Dark Self Demon can be bound by a Sorcerer in the Dream 
  World or Waking World in any container or locked room that is familiar in the 
  Sorcerer’s contemporary life. There is a bonus if one uses an object or location 
  that is owned by that Dark Self Demon’s Waking Self. 
   
  - 16 - 
  
   
  Any Dark Self Demon can be Contained in the Waking World in a mirror as well, 
  although any breaking of the mirror will free it. If one tries to Contain one’s own 
  Dark Self Demon in a Mirror there is a +2 penalty. Anyone looking into the mirror 
  will see the Contained Demon behind them, looking over their shoulder. 
   
  Bonuses to Rituals 
  • Conducting rituals in childhood home or other life-significant locations. 
  • Using a relic from one’s own childhood or other significant event that your 
  Dark Self Demon to which your Demon would respond (the knife used to 
  murder your spouse). Often used as a sacrifice which your Demon then 
  spirits away somewhere else. 
  • Dressing as the parental figure of your childhood. 
  • Bribing with candies, treats, or pornographic materials. 
  • Sacrificing childhood and adulthood tormentors to your Demon. 
  • Cutting or burning oneself during the ritual. 
   
  Other Demons 
   
  Old Ones: “Old Ones” are mostly great and powerful Dark Dream Self-Demons 
  who once entered the real world, absorbed their sorcerers, and were finally sent 
  back into the dream world where they still lurk. Such entities still take an interest 
  in their living relatives or may be Contacted, Summoned, and Pacted by those of 
  their blood or holding an artifact that the original binding Sorcerer once held. Old 
  Ones are thus capable of carrying out all rituals except Banishing, in that they are 
  able to Contact, Summon, Bind, Punish, and Contain any Undead that they 
  create by killing in the Dream World or any of the Beasts that they create. They 
  have no power over Pagan Things, however. 
   
  The obvious example for an Old One would be "Freddie Krueger", although any 
  serial killer or mass murderer in history could possibly fit. These are the powerful 
  figures in the Dream World that present a menace to Sorcerers who linger too 
  long in the Dream World. Another example: Reverend Kane that appeared in 
  Poltergeist 2 as is the Reverend that appears in the Dark Future short story and 
  novel "Route 666". One last contemporary example would be "Samantha" from 
  The Ring. 
   
  Pagan Things: Pagan Things reflect our collective darkest fears. The 
  subconscious dread of countless sleeping minds has coalesced to create all 
  manner of non-human Pagan Things that are comprised solely of and fed by 
  fear. Some are easily identified, giant snakes and spiders being the most 
  common, although black dogs and cats abound as well. Others are less defined 
  and far more mysterious, such as the Thing Under the Stairs, the Monster Under 
  Your Bed, and The Thing Right Behind You. All can be Contacted, Banished, and 
  Summoned, but almost none of them are capable of being Bounded or Pacted. 
  Summonings and Contacts with such Pagan Things are often accidental or an 
   
  - 17 - 
  
  act of malice by another Sorcerer. Some example Pagan Things would be the 
  demonic house from Gaiman's The Thief of Always, the jutting rock at the heart 
  of the movie Picnic at Hanging Rock.  
   
  Beasts – Dark and dire Beasts can be crafted from the Dream Worlds by 
  Sorcerers and Old Ones alike, and imbued with a life of their own, but true 
  intelligence is denied them. The ones crafted by humans often look like massive, 
  dark, hulking shadows of real animals, while the Beasts crafted by the self-aware 
  Old Ones are flashes of shadow, claws, and teeth, the unknowable and unseen 
  shadow of nightmares. While they can be Contacted or Summoned in the 
  Waking World or the Dream World, lacking any real intelligence, these Beasts 
  cannot be Bound by Sorcerers (although the Nightmare Beasts can be Bound by 
  the Old Ones or Commanded by them), they can be Banished if the venture into 
  the Waking World and can be Banished and Contained in the Dream World. 
  Examples of Beasts are Simon's talking pig head from The Lord of the Flies while 
  a more comedic example would be the monster under the stairs in "The 
  Munsters". In the comic "Cloak and Dagger", Cloak would absorb people into his 
  cloak and there in the darkness lay monsters that devoured people. Likewise, 
  from "Poltergeist", the little demon clown doll and the evil old tree were all Beast 
  Minions of an Old One. 
   
  Undead – The Old Ones frequently prey upon Dreamers in the Dream World. 
  While few fall victim to them, those that do are often Bound to the Old One 
  forever until freed by another through the use of Containing the soul of the 
  dreamer into an object-artifact from their living days are being Banished by the 
  Sorcerer. These Undead crave Final Rest except for a few maddened or 
  depraved souls. These Undead can appear as Zombies that can be Summoned 
  by the Old One based on a Lore test or they can be Ghosts that float about 
  disembodied or are trapped and Contained by the Old One themselves. For 
  bloody zombies in body bags acting at the behest of an Old One, the first 
  Nightmare on Elm Street is a classic, as is the later sequel when we see how 
  Freddie has contained the souls of those he murders - their faces are squirming 
  under his flesh. The gray monster fish in "The Thief of Always" is another 
  example of "Containing" souls of the living. 
   
  Ghosts – Most Ghosts are covered in the Undead above, but some human 
  dreamers that die in their sleep have an inkling of the truth about the Dream 
  World and a reason to persist, and thus their souls can venture forth into the 
  Dream World to help those they love or care for. Such Ghosts can be Contacted 
  and Summoned, but never Bound, or Contained. Any attempt to Punish them by 
  their living, dreaming connection simply breaks the bond between that individual 
  and their Ghost. Drawing upon Poltergeist 2, when that old short psychic woman 
  from the first film dies in Poltergeist 2, she appears in the Otherworld to help, or 
  maybe it was the family's grandmother - I forget, but its a perfect example of the 
  dead having a job to carry on in the afterlife. 
   
  - 18 - 
  
  Dreams Beyond Time and Space (Cosmological Dream Horror) 
  or Beyond the Pale 
   
  Something lurks out there, beyond time and space… We feign ignorance and 
  suppress our unease, but when we sleep, somewhere deep within the primitive 
  reptile-part of our mind, we remember their ancient manipulations, their 
  tampering with our very humanity… and their inevitable return… It is in our sleep 
  when we may cross to that void where they lurk… 
   
   
   
  Influences: Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Treader of 
  Dust”, ICE’s Dark Space game supplement, Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-tale 
  Heart”, the video game Dreamseed, and the movies John Carpenter’s In the 
  Mouth of Madness, John Carpenter’s The Prince of Darkness, The Hidden, Event 
  Horizon, Cronenberg’s Existenz and Videodrome, and Quartermass and the Pit 
  (also known as Five Million Years to Earth). 
   
  A Sorcerer is someone with the madness and the genius to transcend the 
  confines or our existence, grasping for something more… and something 
  terrible… Perhaps Sorcerer’s are an evolutionary step forward or some ancient 
  gene-tampering has given them unprecedented powers. Maybe the Sorcerer has 
  been trained from within a cult, been subject to innovative and dangerous 
  experimentations, or more classically, has read a forbidden tome, researched 
  arcane rituals, or heard whisperings deep in their mind… 
   
  …regardless of the access, the Sorcerer is someone with ultra-cosmic 
  perceptions and see beyond time and space, peering deep into the abyss, the 
  edge of the cosmoverse and bargaining with those who reside there. The 
  physical body cannot travel to the Abyss, but the sleeping or meditating 
  consciousness can defy physical and natural laws and venture forth to where no 
  human should journey. It is in this transgression of the natural boundaries during 
  periods of sleep or trance or meditation that a Sorcerer can trigger powers and 
  abilities other humans could only dream of through the assistance of a demon of 
  the Abyss. 
   
   
  - 19 - 
  
  Sorcery is tapping into a power from beyond our universe, an Abyss from which 
  no light or matter exists. This power is granted through the patronage and 
  binding of demons, squamous and horrifying entities that skulk in the abyss, 
  biding their time for their fateful return to our reality, the Waking World. 
   
  In contrast to the emptiness of the void and the cyclopean and inhuman entities, 
  Humanity is your grip on sanity, human inspiration, and reality. The malefic and 
  alien patrons of the Sorcerer are a challenge to this: the demons are entities that 
  seek to invade and destroy our reality, the abyss and their powers are 
  blasphemous and sacrilegious. Trifling with this power and trafficking with such 
  demons inevitably invites damnation and madness. 
   
  Should a Sorcerer reach Zero Humanity while in the Waking World, that 
  Sorcerer has succumbed to their human frailty. If their Will is lower than the 
  Stamina, they have felt the void within and die of a massive heart attack or brain 
  aneurism, whereas if their Will is lower, their insignificant monkey brain has 
  collapsed under the cosmological horror and majesty of the Abyss and its 
  occupants and they have gone irrevocably mad. As always, the endgame scene 
  should be set up and executed in a suitably dramatic fashion that concludes this 
  character’s story. 
   
  If the Sorcerer loses their last point of humanity while in the Dream World – with 
  their mind touching the Abyss, their personality and soul are obliterated as the 
  Demons of the Abyss devour their soul and use their body as a husk to invade 
  reality, bloating the Sorcerer’s soulless body with their inky, tentacled, sanity-
  destroying bulks. Being fully possessed by the minions of the Old Ones from the 
  Abyss, the flesh puppet that was once a Sorcerer continues to carry out their 
  nefarious scheming in our reality. The player and the GM should arrange an 
  epilogue which hints at these misdeeds, should the other players not intervene. 
   
  These Demons of the Abyss are inconceivable monstrosities that existed 
  before the universe and will be the end of it. Lairing beyond even the coldest and 
  darkest realms of space in the Abyss and comprised of something far more 
  mysterious than Dark Matter, they eagerly await their triumph and the destruction 
  of existence. Until then, their alien minds steal forth, whispering into the dreaming 
  minds of mortals to further hasten the end of meaning and reality. 
   
  The Demons of the Void/Dream World that most Sorcerers summon are naught 
  but the lesser servant creatures of these alien anti-gods, yet even these modest 
  entities are worse than even the most depraved and perverse imaginings, more 
  terrifying than any night terror. They begin as Parasites, but can evolve into 
  Possessor Demons that gradually replace the Sorcerer’s organs as humanity is 
  lost, or into Passer Demons that are given birth painfully by the Sorcerer 
  regardless of sex. 
   
   
  - 20 - 
  
  Dreams Beyond Time and Space Rituals 
   
  As with all the Rituals for the Dreams Beyond Time and Space setting, when a 
  ritual is performed any clocks or other means of telling time become unstable and 
  for any witnesses time may hurdle forward or reverse for moments and candles 
  may burn down instantly or the flame may crawl back up reforming the candle. 
  Objects and people in the room may have shifted position or have slightly 
  different dimensions or appearance. 
   
  Contact: Contacting with the Demons of the Abyss is concerned with fracturing 
  time and space and is conducted either in dreams or in trance state. Chanting 
  ancient and inhuman verses and the use of incense with hallucinogenic drugs 
  are the primary means of altering one’s state of consciousness. Doing so within 
  the framework of a chalk outline done with the obligatory non-Euclidean 
  geometry is ideal. 
   
  The Sorcerer heads for the cold numbness of the Abyss and therefore a cold 
  room is often central to the ritual, as is holding a cold object in one’s own hands. 
   
  The contact takes place within the mind through telepathic means with the far off 
  entities. The entity remains within the Abyss unless Summoned. 
   
  Once a Demon of the Abyss has been Summoned and if it is manifested in the 
  Waking World, contact involves tracking down its trail or its Summoning and 
  Binding Sorcerer through the use of the Lore skill. 
   
  Summon: All rituals in the Dreams Beyond Time and Space setting are 
  particularly fraught with danger, but Summon is one of the most dangerous as it 
  tears holes in the fabric of reality. 
   
  When one Summons a Demon of the Abyss in the Dream World, one’s own 
  consciousness ventures forth to the very edge of the Abyss, an act of damnation 
  for even strong minds. So in the Dream World, the initial Summoning is not a 
  bringing of the Demon to the Sorcerer, but rather bringing the Sorcerer to the 
  Demon. In a sense, it is the Sorcerer who has been summoned by the Demons. 
   
  Summoning a Demon of the Abyss into the Waking World is even more 
  challenging – for it does not merely slip a sliver of its essence into your mind, but 
  it journeys from the edge of the cosmoverse, shredding apart reality and 
  emerging through the rent to pulsate on the floor with tentacles twitching and 
  oozing. Again time and space will flux and the emanations outwards will cause 
  queasiness for people in the nearby area, electrical systems will burn out, 
  pregnant women nearby will miscarry, and small birds and animals die instantly 
  while larger animals will panic and act aggressively. 
   
   
  - 21 - 
  
  Bind: The act of Binding follows the Summoning, when the Sorcerer nears the 
  edge of the Abyss and the Demon from that benighted place slips forth into their 
  psyche, latently resting part of its essence in Sorcerer’s subconscious mind. The 
  Sorcerer will never be the same again. It latches onto its host, often the Sorcerer, 
  acting as an extra organ in the body cavity and can be detected by instruments 
  as an anomaly of some sorts. Another Sorcerer can still sense the Telltale organ. 
   
  This Binding is only partial – the Demon exists in the physical world but can only 
  exert its powers when the Sorcerer is asleep or in trance. There is one last 
  element of the Binding that some Sorcerers will complete, which is crossing over 
  the demon from the subconscious to the conscious world. Allowing the Demon to 
  cross over is a transgression and immediately results in a Humanity Loss roll. 
  The actual experience is agonizing as well and the Sorcerer takes Special 
  Damage: Lethal from the Demon’s Power against the Sorcerer’s Stamina. If the 
  Sorcerer survives the experience, the Demon’s organ has extended its own 
  tendrils up their spine and driven it home into the Sorcerer’s brain and the 
  Sorcerer can use the Demon’s abilities in the Waking World and the Dream 
  World. Again, each use of a Demon Ability in the Waking World is a painful 
  experience, and the round after it is used the Sorcerer takes non-lethal damage: 
  (Sorcerer’s Stamina vs. Demon Power). 
   
  Punish: The Demon is a thing of unreality and our own existence is a painful and 
  hateful thing for the Demon of the Abyss, but its animus allows it to endure. To 
  Punish, the Sorcerer must tightly weave reality around it, forcing the Waking 
  World and its material and spiritual comforts into the very being of the Demon of 
  the Abyss. Attending an orchestral performance or repeated viewings of On 
  Golden Pond are noted for their ability to punish and immiserate Demons. In the 
  Dream World, punishing can be a leisurely journey down a particularly fond 
  memory or intruding upon the memory of a content and sleeping child, an 
  experience terrible for both demon and infant. 
   
  Another means of punishing the Demon is to starve its host. Poisoning, starving, 
  or near-drowning of its host, invariably the Sorcerer are prolonged means of 
  demonstrating to the Demon of the Abyss the powers of the physical world and 
  its own precarious physical existence in this world. Likewise, cutting or piercing 
  one’s skin, branding, or electrical shocks can be used to punish a Demon at the 
  expense of its Sorcerer. 
   
  Banish: The presence of a Demon invited from the Abyss and bound has an 
  inevitable warping effect on reality. While the presence of emotions and meaning 
  may disturb a Demon of the Abyss, it is wholly insufficient to Banish it. The only 
  means to Banish a Demon is through ancient techniques passed on from 
  generation to generation. These formal techniques follow rituals older than 
  humanity itself. Some say that the ritual are the words of Creation, others say 
  that the rituals evoke the 10,000 names of god that created the universe, while a 
  few argue that the ritual names the Demons of the Abyss and includes them into 
   
  - 22 - 
  
  the realm of the physical and of creation thereby empowering the Sorcerer to 
  expel them. The truth is that the reason why banishment works is a mystery. The 
  act of banishing entails following these rituals, kept secret by religious sects, 
  passed down by Demon Hunters, or encoded in rare tomes. 
   
  Some argue that a Demon of the Abyss can be Banished by the killing of its host, 
  the Sorcerer, while others suggest that the Demon is then let loose to prowl 
  reality and seek out and even mentor a new host-Sorcerer. 
   
  Contain: The ritual of Containment draws upon similar measures as the Ritual of 
  Banishment and its origins are just as obscure. The Containment ritual is merely 
  a portion of the larger Banishment ritual, drawing upon the same chants and 
  accoutrements as candles and incense as its more powerful version. There have 
  been reports that recent innovations have been made on the Contain ritual using 
  new mathematical applications drawn from Astro-Physics or Genetics. Using 
  non-Euclidean geometry or drawing upon sequences in the human genome 
  formulated by powerful super computers, some Sorcerers and other occult 
  figures claim that the Demons of the Abyss can be contained by the formulae 
  drawn from such experimentations. 
   
  Other Demons 
   
  “They worshipped, so they said, the Great Old Ones who 
  lived ages before they were any men, and who came to 
  the young world out of the sky. The Old Ones are gone 
  now, inside the earth and under the sea; but their dead 
  bodies had told secrets in dream to the first man…” 
  -“The Call of Cthulhu”, H.P. Lovecraft 
   
   
  Old Ones – (Power 11+) The Old Ones are simply those entities of the Abyss 
  that loom on the periphery of reality and the cosmoverse. The Old Ones are the 
  monstrosities of the Abyss, those creatures that defy imagining – each is “as 
  small as a world and as big as alone” (e e cummings). If they so desire, they can 
  be Contacted and Summoned, as well as Pacted with, although their alien 
  intelligence means that they potentially interpret the Pact differently than the 
  Sorcerer would expect. 
   
  Beasts – Beasts are those humans or animals infested with wayward Demons. 
  For whatever reason, some of the demons become merged with their host and 
  lose their identity, being severed from the Abyss, and both demon and host have 
  become mad, merging into a nightmarish abomination. Beasts are most 
  frequently encountered in the Dream World, hunting on the edge of sleepers’ 
  dreams, but a handful have manifested in the world. Those inhabiting both 
  Dream and Waking Worlds can be Contacted, Summoned and Pacted with as 
  they still remember a fragment of their nature, however those in the Waking 
   
  - 23 - 
  
  World are much further from the Abyss than those in the Dream World and 
  consequently there is a +2 die penalty to all rituals. 
   
  “They have hinted at strange survivals in terms that would 
  freeze the blood… but it is not them that there came the 
  single glimpse of forbidden eons which chills me when I 
  think of it and maddens me when I dream of it.” 
  -“The Call of Cthulhu”, H.P. Lovecraft 
   
  Pagan Things – Humans are not the only ones who dream. There are others, 
  and they still linger in the Dream World. Perhaps the Serpent People who 
  preceded humanity lurk on only in dreams, extinct in the Waking World but 
  lingering in the Dream World, thus explaining many people’s fear of snakes in 
  their dream. Perhaps some of the higher animals dream, and their collective 
  dream is represented by an archetypical animal that tries to sway humanity from 
  approaching the Abyss, such as The Dog, while others madly encourage humans 
  to venture nearer, such as The Snake, while a few cynically watch on and offer 
  no help at all, as does The Cat. Nearly all Pagan Things exist only in the Dream 
  World and can only be Contacted and Summoned in the Dream World and 
  Pacted with there. If a Sorcerer sleeps next to a pet animal that is well cared for, 
  they have a +2 bonus to the Contact, Summoning, and Pact as their pet’s 
  contribution to the Dream Archetype Animal makes that Pagan thing more 
  predisposed to it. 
   
  Ghosts – Most people die and their consciousness dissolves as brain death 
  occurs. A few extraordinary individuals die somewhere between the Waking 
  World and the Dream World and are trapped on the border, capable of appearing 
  in both the Waking World and the Dream World. This half-life suspended 
  between the two worlds is either accidental or intentional. If accidental, they 
  crave Final Rest, which can be effected by an exorcism (Banish) modified by the 
  circumstances of their death. If this existence is intentional, then if banished they 
  simply retreat from one World to the other and may return at the same time in the 
  next lunar cycle. Both can be Contacted, Summoned, and Bound. 
   
  Undead – There are a number of possibilities for the Undead. Some dreamers, 
  typically not Sorcerers, accidentally or intuitively approach the Abyss and have 
  their reason obliterated, and while they may live and act, they no longer have 
  souls and carry out their routine actions, acting as Zombies. It is reputed that the 
  famous voodoo ceremony to make Zombies usually entails sending the victim’s 
  soul to the Abyss, while many of the loa that are summoned are Old Ones who 
  may then control these Zombie vessels. It is possible that a person in the waking 
  world can become a Zombie when temporarily possessed by “hopping” demon, 
  which devours their soul and leaves them a Zombie which can then be controlled 
  by the Demon as well. 
   
  - 24 - 
  
  In the House of Gloaming (Baroque Dream-Fantasy) 
   
  “You see things and say ‘Why?’ But I dream things that 
  never were and say ‘Why not?’” 
  - George Bernard Shaw 
   
  Influences: Miyazaki’s Spirited Away and My Pet Totoro, Clark Ashton Smith, H. 
  P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands Cycle, Neil Gaiman’s Sandman (particularly Preludes 
  and Nocturnes), American Gods, and Stardust, Zelanzy’s Chronicles of Amber, 
  Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Grimm the role-playing game, the movie Labyrinth, The 
  Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, “Bump Toad” adventure in The 
  Book of Hunts for Whispering Vault, Nobilis, Charles Stross’ Singularity Sky, and 
  Bill Watterson’s Calvin & Hobbes. 
   
  The only time we may transcend the mundane is when we dream, when the 
  trappings of the physical world which bind us to mediocrity unwind and we 
  discover the whimsy, wonder, and horror of the reality beyond our rules and 
  symbols and paradigms, a world of magic rather than the workaday world of 
  mediocrity. In truth, our Waking World is a gray, drab, but safe and predictable 
  place relative to the madness and inspiration of the Dream World.  
   
  Thus Dreaming is when we escape from our humdrum lives; our sleeping minds 
  drawn by the color and spectacle of the Dreamworld, tentatively nears these 
  places, a place both grotesque and wonders. It is said that much of the greatest 
  art and poetry and inspiration comes from those who tap in to and capture a 
  small part of that magic. 
   
  Names for the Dreamworld: The Land Beyond the Bed, The House of Sand, 
  the Dreaming, the Castles in the Sky, Slumberland, the Gloaming, the Land of 
  Nod, Fairyland, Cloudland, Sugarplum Mountain, Cloud Cuckoo Land, 
  Pillowland, Nevernever Land, Sugarcandy Mountain, Wonderland, Closetland, 
  the Dreamworld, Neverland, Saturnalia, Dreamscape, East o’ the Sun and West 
  o’ the Moon, the Nightlands.  
   
  Sorcerers are those that do not lurk passively as do most dreamers, but tap into 
  and seize part of that inspiration and experience and power of the Dreamworld. 
  The Sorcerer, through their connection with the Dreamworld wields more power 
  than any other human, but even the Sorcerer is but a thief, a parasite, in relation 
  to the awesome power of the entities that shape and rule the Dreamworld. 
   
  For the Dreamworld is not ours, we are but mere witnesses to the imaginings of 
  entities far greater than ourselves. Our own sleeping minds rarely ever venture 
  into these imaginings, but rather flit about the periphery, lest we never return, for 
  the Dreamworld is so beguiling that to experience it makes the Waking World 
  seem excruciatingly tedious. Yet the Waking World is our birthright and it is best 
  if people stay where they belong and accept their place… 
   
  - 25 - 
  
   
  Yet the Sorcerer flaunts these rules. A Sorcerer is one who realizes that dreams 
  are the closest humans can come to divinity – and that divinity is found only 
  within dreams… Sorcerers are those humans who reach further than others and 
  dabble in this supernatural realm of the gods, one accessible only while 
  dreaming. When we dream, we trespass into the playground of gods and 
  monsters, angels and devils. 
   
  Sorcery in this setting is the ability to defy our nature, to surpass our own limited 
  imaginings and to skirt about in a reality ruled by things far greater than 
  ourselves.  
   
  Humanity in this setting is your attachment to reality – knowing that despite the 
  wonders beyond, humanity is meant to exist in a world of routines. A person 
  whose humanity declines has problems staying in the real world, the Waking 
  World, and their mind constantly wanders, mulling over the delights and terrors in 
  the Dreamworld. As humanity nears zero, the Sorcerer may lose themselves in 
  the horror and marvels of a world where we do not belong and have problems 
  distinguishing between the human world, the Waking World and the reality 
  beyond, the Dreamworld. 
   
  If a Sorcerer reaches Humanity Zero 
  while in the Dreamworld, their minds 
  become trapped in the world beyond. 
  Their mind is awake but cast adrift, and 
  they forget their mundane selves, their 
  physical bodies starve. As their bodies 
  wither into husks, their souls adrift in the 
  Dreamworld eventually becomes noticed, 
  inevitably a cruel fate and they may be 
  reshaped into an inhuman minion, trapped 
  in jar for display, or devoured by some 
  entity like the Old Thing in the Bog. 
   
  If the Sorcerer is in the Waking World 
  when they reach Humanity Zero, it 
  means that they have become part of the 
  Dream in the Waking World and are no 
  longer human. The Sorcerer is possessed 
  by their Demon, carrying out its deeds in 
  the mundane physical world and then 
  retreating back into the dream with the 
  Sorcerer’s body, heavily warped and transformed by the Dream Presence of the 
  Demon. 
   
   
  - 26 - 
  
  Demons are the servitors of the dream world and reality. Dragging one forth into 
  the real world gives a Sorcerer power, while binding one within the dream is far 
  less dangerous. Demons are a mixture of the whimsical and the grotesque: a 
  grumpling that once served the Goblin King, a sliver of the night that the Moon 
  Queen absentmindedly misplaced, or the thought child that Absentia and the 
  Prince of Fools conceived and then neglected. The demons are the living 
  artifacts and inhabitants of unimagined vistas, or the demons, trolls, goblins, and 
  bestial minions that slave away at the behest of the supernatural entities that 
  command them. But what may be the tools or slaves of deities may become the 
  masters of mortal sorcerers if the sorcerer fails to control them. Running amok in 
  reality, these minions can become gods themselves if humanity is careless… 
   
  Old Ones are the gods of the Dreamworld and are the creators of the cosmos. 
  Typically they are remembered by humans in vague and poorly understood terms 
  through fairy tales and myths. They could be the Horned King, Queen of Hearts, 
  Baba Yaga, The King of Rats, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, the Prince of 
  Swords and the Prince of Fools, the Stranger, Old Misery, the Green Man, and a 
  whole host of other entities beyond imagining. They are the gods that created 
  and shaped the Dreamworld. They cannot be affected by any of the rituals and 
  may not be Pacted with – one can only hope to entertain them. 
   
  Pagan Things are 
  those entities that 
  may have once 
  been part of our 
  world, or are 
  entities of some 
  power in the 
  Dreamworld. These 
  could represent 
  those such as the 
  Fey Courts that 
  once ruled the wilds of the earth, or the great sentient trees that were among the 
  first entities created in the Dreamworld when it was young and whose roots reach 
  deep between worlds. Uncle Bear, Grandfather Grasshopper Legion, and 
  Constant, the First Dog, are examples of Pagan Things that may still be bound 
  by some ancient magic and can be bound by Pacts, but all other rituals will 
  typically fail. The ancient rites that bound mortals and Pagan Things have gone 
  unpracticed and the ties between both are tenuous at best. It should be noted 
  that Pagan Things, who either once enslaved or were once enslaved by 
  humanity still bear some animosity towards mortals. The Big Bad Wolf, exiled 
  here into the Dreamworld along with many of his cohort still harbors resentment 
  and their lot delights in tormenting the dreams of the innocent. Some of these 
  entities can be Contacted in both the Waking and Dreamworlds, while fewer can 
  be Summoned into the Waking World. None can be Bound, but they may be 
  Pacted within the Dreamworld. 
   
  - 27 - 
  
   
  Beasts are the non-sentient Dream Creatures and Minions of the Old Ones, the 
  rulers of the Dreamworld. Some are loyal and dutiful servants, others horrid 
  creatures of war, while a handful are forgotten and roam free. A Dream Beast 
  serving an Old One cannot be affected by any rituals except Contain, although a 
  free-roaming Beast can be Summoned, Contacted, and Pacted. Beasts could be 
  Flying Monkeys, Black Goblins and Horned Trolls, Woven Shadows, Rat 
  Minions, the Leviathan and Behemoth, and others. 
   
  Ghosts can vary dramatically within this setting; each has its own origin and 
  story. Some of the Old Ones have become bored with their existence and faded 
  away, yet these powerful entities still haunt massive swaths of the Dreamworld 
  when roused from their ennui. The vast majority of “Ghosts” in the Dreamworld 
  are human dreamers whose dreaming minds have become trapped. Some 
  Ghosts are devoured by Old Ones or their minions, others kept in jars or 
  menageries for the Old One’s amusement. In the Waking World Ghosts can 
  appear as well, with Ghosts being the souls of powerful dreamers, often 
  Sorcerers, trapped in the Dreamworld but able to manifest at certain times in a 
  place or near an object of significance to that dreamer in the Waking World. 
  These places or objects may very well be Tokens (see Sorcerer & Sword pages 
  58-61). 
   
  The House of Gloaming Rituals 
   
  Contacting: Contacting the Demons of the Dreamworld stands in stark contrast 
  to how most occultists think Sorcery should work, often entailing undignified and 
  child-like behavior. Initial contact is through Dreams and usually entails the 
  reading of myths, a fairy tale, or a children’s book originally influenced by the 
  entity to be summoned. More frequently, a nonsensical child’s rhyme can be 
  sung before sleeping and once asleep as the chanting of this rhyme will draw the 
  Demon. The Demon can be summoned through the Dream, with the area often 
  changing to reflect the domain where that entity lives. A Sorcerer trying to contact 
  Old Man Marsh will find themselves singing a song and squeezing the mud 
  between their toes as the rolling hills around gradually become marshland. 
   
  Much more difficult is contacting the Demon in the Waking World, in which case 
  one typically has to venture to the locale which that particular entity is associated. 
  Singing the same contacting rhyme or reading the same passage in a shadowy 
  area will open a portal and allow conversing between the Sorcerer and the 
  Demon that is lurking in the shadows. Contact is usually made through a 
  reflection in a pool of water or the shiny surface of a bauble. 
   
  A few powerful Sorcerers have ancient trinkets or charms that allow one to more 
  easily contact a particular creature. A mirror used at the Autumn Equinox may be 
  used to draw forth a Dryad fearful of the coming Winter or the use of an old 
  Skeleton Key can be used to invite in the lanky and ghoulish Doctor Pennycrank. 
   
  - 28 - 
  
   
  Summon: All standard Demons can be Summoned 
  while in the Dreamworld, and nearly all can be drawn 
  into the Waking World with considerable more effort 
  required. Doing so transgresses boundaries and 
  necessitates not only a Humanity Roll for the very 
  Summoning, but a second one for the outright 
  transgression of toying with the Waking World. 
   
  The Dreamworld is a wondrous place and some are 
  loathe to leave such a place for minds and a world as 
  drab as ours. Such creatures need to be lured, 
  captured, or forcibly dragged into our world. Drawing 
  upon their True Names is one means of compelling 
  them, as is drawing upon some of the older rituals that 
  still evoke them, corruptions of the rituals that the Old 
  Ones use. Some can be summoned more easily as 
  they are curious about who is summoning them. 
  Others tire of the whimsical world of Dreams and are 
  easily convinced to sally forth, at least until they 
  discover how unappealing the Waking World truly is. 
  Some of the meaner ones hunger for the tasty flesh of 
  humans and need little persuasion to venture into a world where bone marrow is 
  abundant. Some chaff under the onerous obligations of the Old Ones and delight 
  in a world where they only have a foolish Sorcerer to contend with. 
   
  The Summoning ritual, like the Contacting and Binding rituals, may seem 
  deceptively easy: a few rhymes, a name written in mud, a handful of spring 
  flowers, and a copper penny may be all that is necessary to draw forth a creature 
  from the Dreaming. Usually a couple of ancient relics or simple trinkets that are 
  suggestive of the nature and essence of the creature to be summoned are 
  utilized. Conducting a Summoning in the Dreamworld is fairly easy as these 
  things are all around and over the millennia the knowledge of these creatures 
  has become widespread, whispered in the rustling of weeds or carried about by 
  the wind.  
   
  Bind: Unless engaged in some important task or already familiar with the Waking 
  World, most creatures of the Dreaming are not too hostile when drawn by a 
  Contact or Summon ritual, as their curiosity or cruelty might mitigate from being 
  drawn from their own world. Binding is an entirely different matter. Suddenly 
  discovering themselves being bound to something as insignificant as a human 
  Sorcerer is incredibly demeaning for those who have served the gods. For those 
  Demons who have turned their backs on the gods, being bound to a Sorcerer is 
  all the more humiliating after escaping the clutches of the Old Ones! 
   
   
  - 29 - 
  
  Thus Binding is an intense struggle against an unwilling Demon. The Binding 
  may be intensely physical, such as wrestling with a giant Bog Troll or catching 
  and squeezing a Grumpkin into a Brass Jar. Other creatures are only bound 
  through a battle of the wills, such as a staring match with the Giant Cobra that 
  once guarded the Monkey King’s treasure, or commanding through mystical ties 
  your own Changeling Twin. Some entities are better bound by drawing upon the 
  mysteries of the Dream Worlds. Lore can be drawn upon to Bind those esoteric 
  or more abstract Demons, such as learning the weakness of Winter or using your 
  Lore to find out where the North Wind nests while the South Wind is blowing. 
   
  Binding such a fanciful and grotesque or enthralling creature is an intense ordeal 
  and saps at the humanity of the Sorcerer, for these are forces not to be trifled 
  with. All Bindings occur in the Dreamworld, but once Bound, a Demon can be 
  drawn across to the physical world, transgressing boundaries and necessitating 
  another Humanity Loss test, as noted in the Summoning section above. 
   
  Punish: All creatures of the Dreamworld are spectacular but bizarre creatures 
  made of Dream Essence. They are remarkable different from human beings and 
  nearly each and every one has something anathema to it, and this is its 
  weakness. The Blind Rat Sage is a creature of Knowledge and Wisdom, yet is 
  fearful of cats and exasperated by meaningless limericks or riddles with no 
  answers. The creatures of the forest, such as the Awakened Trees and Faeries 
  are of the Essence of Nature and are harmed by objects of Culture, in particular 
  cold-iron. Creatures of Night, such as the Fanged Maw and the rare Black-
  Spotted Blood-Drinker are tormented by bright lights. The Cornfield Scarecrow 
  and the Voice in the Well are of the Essence of Culture and therefore abhor wild 
  and untamed things. To Punish a Demon requires that it be exposed to the very 
  Essence anathema to its own. These Demons are particularly resentful to any 
  suffering and harbor their animosities for centuries…  
   
  Banish: As all Demons of the Dreamworld are Immanents within the 
  Dreamworld, they call the Dreamworld their own and Banishing them is difficult 
  and complex. The periphery in which most mortal human dreams occur is 
  unappealing to Demons of the Dreaming World, yet it is by extension part of their 
  own world. Consequently, if a Demon does not want to be Banished out of the 
  vicinity of the Banishing Sorcerer and hurled to another part of the Dreamworld, it 
  can take test against its own Power and use any bonuses to that successful roll 
  as Bonuses to its own Will versus the Banishment. Should a Dreamworld Demon 
  be in the Waking World, it is not allowed this power and may be more easily 
  Banished. 
   
  While Summonings and Bindings draw upon sympathetic Essences, Banish 
  rituals are like Punish rituals in that they rely upon contrary opposing Essences. 
  These counter-Essences are supported by more seeming nonsensical rhymes or 
  verses that sap the will of the Demon and through the Demon’s natural 
   
  - 30 - 
  
  abhorrence aid the Sorcerer is warping the Dreamworld and projecting the 
  Demon elsewhere far away.  
   
  Contain: As can be imagined, Demons are creatures of a constantly changing 
  and whimsical world and one of the greatest traumas for them is to be trapped in 
  a dreary and static environment. In some ways, the Waking World is the Essence 
  of Reality and is counter to their Essence of Unreality and thus containing Warty 
  Toad in a unmarked Jar of Ashes or capturing a Spring Morning in a book of 
  Statistical Tables is the single worst thing a Sorcerer can do to a Demon. And for 
  this reason, Sorcerers do it with alarming frequency. The more simple and 
  commonplace the container used the more power it has to hold the Demon. 
  Regardless of the Dream Demon’s size, any manufactured or crafted vessel or 
  object can hold any Dream Demon.  
   
  The actual Contain ritual requires less Occult artistry and a lot more physical 
  effort and cunning than one would expect. By using objects and situations 
  anathema to the Essence of a Dream Demon, one has to corner or trap a Dream 
  Demon in the Biscuit Tin or Urine Sample Jar. Contain is effective in the 
  Dreamworld, but far easier to do in the mundane world. The Sorcerer can roll 
  Humanity against itself and use any bonuses to assist in the Lore/Contain roll. 
   
  - 31 - 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Sorcerer RPG/Sorcerer - When Reason Sleeps, Demons Wake.pdf