Also Known as The Circle Master and Mad Mage. Woe to him who calls upon the darkness and demon host without the protection of the mystic circle, for they who come shall feast on thy bones. But the Master of Circles can call upon the human and inhuman, the light and the dark with impunity, if the circle be made of proper construction and his soul is not corrupt.

So it is that He Who Summons shall command forces that few men dare to look upon. Yet, he must never forget his own frailties and must ever be wary of the whispers and honey coated words that shall come from the mouths of those things which are summoned. For they have no liking for this world and loathe to call any man their master. Learn from the Elf and the Dwarf, for woe to he who loses his mooring and comes to see little difference betwixt light and dark, the sweet and the bitter, good and evil.

Lost is he who becomes obsessed with his own dreams and desires to the point that nothing else matters. Be there no doubt that with knowledge comes power, but corruption and madness be its companions. Without compassion, without restraint, without regard for life. He Who Summons embraces insanity, cruelty and the devouring darkness. And once lost, he is no different than the vile monsters at his command.

— The Tristine Chronicles

"I call upon the forces that be. Magic, the four elements, animals, men and the insects that crawl on the ground are all mine to command. Should I fear such power? I think not. Mine is a curious mind, so I reach out for answers and welcome the knowledge and the power that comes to me.

"Should others fear me? Only if they fear the knowledge and power at my command — and many do.

"Is it forbidden power? Dangerous forces? No different or dangerous than any other, I suppose. I simply command a power not understood by most, and it is the sad history of this world that what its people do not understand, they destroy — look at the Changeling and the lost mystic arts.

"No. I am not a coward, nor a destroyer. I am an explorer. My quest is knowledge and the power that comes with it. If people fear that, so be it. If people fear me, so be it; although they have nothing to fear lest they mean me harm. If I am attacked, should I not defend myself? If a thief comes in the night, should I not protect my possessions?

"Madness? Do I sound mad? With knowledge comes enlightenment. Truths which may sound strange or forbidding. To those who do not have the eyes to see, or the ears to hear, such enlightenment may seem like the stuff of madness. Can I help it if feeble minds dare not to think? Am I to suffer because their narrow minds cling to the comforting dark- ness of ignorance? It is the fool who hides his eyes from the light. And it is the fool — the blind, frightened fool — who kills the lightbringer. That is what you do this day."

Without a doubt, the Summoner and Diabolist are departures from the traditional spell casting mage. Both provide players with new challenges and flexibility in role playing a practitioner of magic. Summoners have a basic knowledge of magic symbols, can recognize wards, and are masters of circle magic.

The Summoner is the infamous "mad mage" who dares to call on supernatural monsters and elemental forces to try to control and command them. These power hungry men and women dare to open dimensional portals to explore other worlds and enslave alien beings and supernatural creatures. The Circle Master is the most feared of all the men of magic, because most are willing to sacrifice anything to attain their goals. To that end, most will subject themselves to personal sacrifice, suffering and madness to command the malevolent forces made available to them through the secrets of circle magic.

Many Summoners start their career full of dreams and good intentions, confident that they will not succumb to the dark forces at their command and which whispers in their ear. Most are slowly corrupted until they are as evil or self-serving as the inhuman beings they try to command. It is only the most foolish, arrogant and self-righteous Circle Masters who convince themselves that they are safe from the evil that walks in their shadow — for he who consorts with demons, the supernatural, and creatures of magic will eventually fall victim to them in one way or another.

Summoners & the Dilemma of Alignments

A Summoner character may start with any alignment but the foul nature of the circle making, its components and the sacrifices needed to activate them usually limit the alignments to selfish and evil. Those who try to maintain a good or even an unprincipled alignment must forbid themselves from ever using certain circles, which severely limits the scope of their potential power. The tiny handful of good Summoners only use protection circles and those that do not enslave or harm others. Nor will they engage in the blood sacrifice of sentient beings or consort with demonic supernatural forces for fear that it will lead to their corruption (which it usually does).

Summoners of selfish and evil alignments are experts at justifying their wicked and self serving ways. Most adopt the philosophy of "the ends justifies the means."

Knowledge & Abilities

1. Understands, creates and uses all types of circles: The Summoner is an expert in circle magic and knows all protection and summoning circles. However, the Summoner starts with no power circles. These powerful magic devices must be acquired over time. Power circles can be occasionally purchased from an alchemist, provided as a reward from a king, sorcerer, demon lord or god, or forced out of a supernatural being or other Summoner. However, most power circles are learned by finding drawn circles or ancient drawings or text of circles that the mage can study and decipher into a working circle.

2. Deciphering Circles: Whenever a previously unknown magic circle is discovered, a Summoner will draw a diagram of it in his notebook, paying special attention to components and clues that will hint at the circle's function. By studying the symbols, he is likely to discern the circle's purpose and the components needed, but formulating exactly how it works is much more difficult and dangerous.

Once the Summoner believes he has unravelled the mystery of the circle, he can find out if he is correct only by creating it and invoking the power words he believes are necessary. It is the determination of the power words which is the most difficult pieces of the puzzle in deciphering a circle, because they must be surmised from the circle's purpose, symbols and components.

Incorrect Circle Invocation has its consequences below is a list of most of them.

Small explosion, damage to every person in the circle.

Big explosion, damage to a 20 foot radius.

The Summoner is drained of all magic energy and feels physically drained; loss of performance and strength make it impossible for him to attack or defend himself.

Teleports the Summoner 50 miles away.

Temporarily blinds the Circle Master for lO minutes.

Suffers from a terrible hallucination that lasts for 6 minutes.

Summons a gargoyle, gurgoyle or lesser entity.

Summons a lesser demon who is not happy to be called upon.

Summons a lesser deevil who is not happy to be called upon.

Memory loss! For 4 days, the Summoner cannot remember who he is or anything about circles and symbols, but he will be able to perform other skills as normal.

The Summoner (and anybody else in the circle) is struck by paralysis for lO minutes.

Turns summoner invisible or into mist and cannot turn back to normal for 4 hours.

Berserker rampage! The Summoner attacks everyone encountered over the next 6 minutes.(Only those involved in the storyline!)

No reaction whatsoever. Wrong power words or components (or insufficient magic energy); keep trying to decipher its secrets.

Note: Incorrect circle invocations will react differently each time the character tries to use the circle.

Players or S.M.s can add new circles and symbols to the ones presented in this material. Of course you can, but be extremely careful to remain within the Laws of Cain. Also remember that circle magic is a lost art. This means that there is likely to be a number not generally known even by these Circle Masters, but it also means that circle magic is uncommon and a previously unknown circle is an extremely rare find. One will NOT discover a new circle in every ancient temple or ruin he visits!