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Summon a horror alternative effect: Banish a horror

Conan: Adventures In an Age Undreamed Of
#1

Hello everyone, I have some interrogation about banishs a horror alternate effect from summon a horror spell.

On page 186 (GM book) the description of Banish a Horror is a D1 test and momentum spent on success reduces the horror’s resolve by 3 combat dice “in addition to the normal counter magic rules, modifying that struggle”

I am a bit confused as to how banish a horror should be used. It seems like the description suggest you should use your momentum pool and throw a large number of dies at the horror and hope to hit the maximum of two traumas per attack.

Basically it’s a single target horror only mental damage spell? And cannot be used to “banish” a horror? It’s either standard summon a horror counter magic while it is being summoned or single target attack if it is already here?

and about the “in addition to the normal counter magic rules, modifying that struggle” How would rolling 3 combat dice on the horror while trying to counter magic work? If the counter magic fail we can at least damage the horror? But if the struggle fails then we have 0 momentum left?

In the conclusion of vultures of shem (p378) it is said “the spell Banish a Horror could be used to dispel […]” while protecting the caster from the threat of what they are trying to dispel. So it’s not a counter magic because it’s already there. By dispell should we understand that they cast it repeatedly until it dies of trauma? But then why wait two turns and not have them roll dices for every cast as a player sorcerer can be involved? Or is there a way to actually banish a horror that I fail to understand? It would be weird to go “well yeah it was possible during that story but not anymore”

In our team there is a player with the summon a horror spell and I want to offer the banish options correctly.

Thanks.

#2

That is how I use it in my games.

If your PC sorcerer already knows Summon a Horror, the normal countermagic rules apply against an opposing sorcerer who is currently casting a Summon a Horror spell, turning it into a Struggle. If the PC sorcerer wins, NO horror will be summoned as the whole spell was prevented to succeed by the countermagic.

The Banish a Horror variant of this spell is intended for an already summoned, existing horror in a scene. So the horror was summoned successfully, or had been there for thousands of years, and you banish it, by causing it as much Trauma as necessary to take it out - Minions for 1 Trauma, Toughened for 2 Trauma and Nemesis Horrors for 5 Trauma (probably requiring casting this spell several times to accumulate sufficient Resolve damage to get to 5 Trauma).

I find the description text in the core book misleading as it mentions countermagic. The described application which causes Resolve damage is definitely NOT an application of countermagic (which has to happen while the spell to be countered is cast - as a Reaction, turning the spellcasting into a Struggle).

So that is my take on it, the way I’m using it in my games.

Maybe some of the official wise guys, like @Modiphius-Nathan could shed some official light of clarification on it?

1 Like
#3

ok thanks for the input, much appreciated.