Summoning Devils before you should be able to

[ddgon]

ok in the fiction students of the Arcane are able to attempt to summon Devils long before they should have access to the spell to allow them to do so. Is it a ritualized form of the spell that just takes longer to cast or what? It seems to be a very important part of the Academe, but by the rules it can't be done. Ideas?

[ElyasRavenwood]

ddgon,
are we talking about the book Winter Witch?

Well one way i can think of, is if a student wizard got his hands on a "Summon Monster " scroll of higher level then he/she could normally cast. With a successful spell craft roll, there you have a higher level devil.

Or perhaps a use magic device skill for a sorcerer?

That's just what i can think of off of the top of my head,

I hope this helps,
Elyas

[ddgon]

yes the Book Winter Witch is the source of what I mentioned. And the small story in the Wayfinder that ties in to that story.

He used no scroll, and it seemed to be fairly common. Or at least not so out of the normal that they no one thought he could do it.

[Captain Xenon]

considering the real nature of the acadamae, it seems likely that there is either a custom spell, or a special magic item. it could even be 'magic chalk' that draws the circle for summoning.

a very real possibility is that the 'ritual' is simply the students accessing a spell already in place. devils want to go to the prime material after all, so calling the right name could summon them without much need for magical power- the real problem is trying to control them.

[El Baron de los Banditos]

Perhaps there's an already-existing contract between Hell and the Academae to just show up any time a summoning happens there, should the summoner prove worth dealing with?

[ClarkKent07]

ddgon,

I too often struggle with situations like this, where story elements conflict with any traceable rule.

I spend hours as a GM trying to find justification for why an NPC can accomplish something that the players most likely couldn't just in case they ever ask (mine never do, but still).

Typically I go with some of the ideas that have already been mentioned....or some unique alignment of events that makes the impossible possible this one time.

Anyway, a group of students mistakenly utilize a cursed candle, or mistake normal chalk for powdered demon bone...or any other weird mishap that would explain thier wasting of a valuable resource to accomplish something unintended.