Sorcerer is an independently published, fantasy role-playing game written and published by Ron Edwards.
It is a tightly focused game revolving around the highly relevant and thematically potent question, "How far will you go to achieve your goals?" The basic premise focuses on sorcerers who summon, bind, and interact with demons, which are powerful non-human entities who work with and against the sorcerers.
Play focuses on a particular theme defined by each group as Humanity. Players make conscious decisions throughout play to commit their characters towards actions that support or negate Humanity, often risking it in the process of acquiring or utilizing the power of demons. Through doing so, players are making strong thematic statements about the issue defined by Humanity. Demons are also defined by the group, which can range from the classical demons to high powered AI robots to sentient artifacts of power.
Sorcerer is also notable for its success as an independently published game. It was first self-published on-line as a free text document. It gradually built up an audience, made a profit at every stage of its growth, and is currently published as a hard-cover book with three soft-cover supplements. Sorcerer has received numerous positive reviews on various web forums, such as RPG.net, and in print magazines, such as Realms of Fantasy. It played a substantial part in Ron Edwards's receipt of the prestigious "Diana Jones Award" in 2002.
Criticisms
Of the many varied reviews available, only one has been negative, penned by an admitedly biased reviewer (one who has stated he "hates the indie gaming scene", in which Sorcerer plays a significant part). This reviewer objected to what he referred to as the “Pokemon problem”, which arises from characters invoking demons, which are played by the game master, having the potential to make the characters and the players into bystanders to the action at hand.
It is notable this criticism is based on a misapplication of the rules of play, and therein lies a possible criticism about Sorcerer: the text exists in a vaccum, describing play precisely without spending any time to explain the differences in its play compared to more traditional RPGs.
Thus traditional notions about "how play should happen" often trip-up long-time gamers who are expecting and reacting the sort of play they are used to, not realizing the game's text indicates a different methodology to and experience of play. When the game is played as the text indicates, the "Pokemon problem" does not appear.
Sorcerer is not a game for everyone. GNS-wise, it was written for a specific Narrativist audience, and so those who prefer Simulationist RPGs and (to a lesser extent) those who prefer Gamist RPGs may not find the style or mechanics of Sorcerer enjoyable, as it does not cater to these desires in play.
Rulebooks
- Sorcerer
- The core rulebook
- Sorcerer and Sword
- Explores pulp fantasy in Sorcerer
- The Sorcerer's Soul
- Re-examines humanity and demons and introduces angels
- Sex and Sorcerer
- A new look at player interactions and story creation in the game
External links
