Sorcerer

A player-focused walkthrough, tips, and personal insights for Sorcerer

This guide dives deep into Sorcerer, offering a player-focused walkthrough, personal anecdotes, and actionable advice to help you get the most out of the experience. Whether you’re starting your first session or trying to master advanced mechanics, this article covers core systems, storytelling choices, and practical strategies. I’ll share moments from my own play sessions to illustrate common pitfalls and winning approaches, and provide clear, step-by-step recommendations you can apply immediately.

Getting Started with Sorcerer: Basics and First Session

So, you’ve heard the whispers about a different kind of game. One where power has a price, where your character’s greatest strength is also their deepest shame. You’re curious about Sorcerer, but the rulebook feels like a philosophical treatise mixed with a nightmare journal. Where do you even begin? 🤔

I was in your shoes once. My first attempt at how to play Sorcerer was a mess. We spent two hours arguing about the metaphysics of demonic pacts before anyone even rolled a die. Don’t do that. This guide will cut through the cosmic horror and get you to the good stuff: telling desperate, personal, and thrilling stories.

What is Sorcerer? Core premise and objectives 🎭

At its heart, Sorcerer is a game about people who have broken the ultimate taboo: they’ve bound a demon to their will. But this isn’t about casting fireballs in a dungeon. The core premise is a question: What will you sacrifice for power?

Your character is a human, deeply flawed, who now possesses supernatural abilities through their demonic companion. The objective isn’t to “win” in a traditional sense. It’s to explore your character’s Need—their driving, often self-destructive desire—while navigating the fallout of your choices. The game’s tension comes from the constant push-and-pull between using your demon to solve problems and resisting its corrosive influence on your humanity. Think less about saving the kingdom, and more about whether you’ll still recognize yourself in the mirror tomorrow.

Getting a grip on this Sorcerer game basics mindset is your first step. You’re not playing a hero. You’re playing someone trying to be a hero, or at least survive, with a horrific tool. The game master’s job is to present situations that test your Need and tempt you to rely on your demon, making the story a tightrope walk over your own potential damnation. Intrigued? Let’s build someone to walk that wire.

Character creation: choosing your path 👤

Sorcerer character creation is where the game truly shines. It’s a collaborative, imaginative process that builds the story’s foundation. Forget picking from a list of classes. Here, you’re defining a person in crisis. I recommend doing this together as a group, as your characters’ stories will inevitably intertwine.

Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough:

1. The Concept & Need: Start with a simple human concept. A broken boxer, a greedy art dealer, a terrified single parent. Then, ask: what is their all-consuming Need? This is their fatal flaw. It’s not “to be happy.” It’s “to feel invincible again,” “to possess beauty at any cost,” or “to never feel afraid.” This Need is why they sought out a demon.

2. Defining Your Demon: Your demon isn’t just a stat block. Describe it. What does it look like? A whispering shadow? A swarm of clockwork insects? A second, grotesque skin? Then, define its Power (what it can do), its Need (its own alien desire, often related to corrupting you), and its Taint (the physical or social mark its presence leaves on you).

3. The Stats: Sorcerer uses three core attributes:
* Stamina: Your physical and mental resilience.
* Will: Your determination and sense of self.
* Lore: Your knowledge of the occult and control over your demon.

You assign dice to these (like d8, d8, d6). Your demon provides Abilities, which are extra dice you can add to rolls when you use its power. But remember, using an Ability often means feeding your demon’s Need or showcasing your Taint.

4. The Backstory Hook: Write a short paragraph. Who were you before? How did you find your demon? What was the first terrible, wonderful thing you did with it? This hook should directly tie into the group’s shared Kicker—the sudden, provocative event that kicks off the first session, throwing all your desperate lives into chaos.

🎯 Personal Insight: The most powerful characters I’ve seen aren’t the ones with the strongest demons. They’re the ones with the simplest, most relatable human Needs. A chef whose Need is “to create the perfect taste, to make someone remember.” Their demon? A fungal spore that alters perception. The stories write themselves.

Example Starter Characters

To make Sorcerer starter characters feel real, here are two brief examples:

• Elias Vance, The Faded Photographer

  • Concept: A once-celebrated war photographer who can no longer feel anything from his own life.
  • Need: To feel a genuine, powerful emotion again.
  • Demon: Shutterghast. A demon that lives in his antique camera. Its Power is to capture the emotional essence of a moment in a photograph, which Elias can then experience. Its Need is to consume moments of pure despair. Its Taint is that Elias’s own emotional range dims more each time he uses it.
  • Hook: Elias’s last assignment was a corporate scandal. He used Shutterghast to capture the CEO’s guilt. Now he feels that guilt as his own, and the CEO’s bodyguards are at his door.

• Maya Chen, The Debt Collector’s Daughter

  • Concept: A quiet librarian trying to pay off her father’s massive, dangerous debts.
  • Need: To find security and silence the constant, looming threat.
  • Demon: The Quiet. A demon that manifests as absolute, unnatural silence. Its Power is to erase sound—from a creaking floorboard to a scream. Its Need is to spread permanent silence. Its Taint is that Maya gradually loses her ability to hear certain frequencies of human emotion in voices.
  • Hook: The loan sharks have finally offered a “clean slate” in exchange for one job: using The Quiet to make a witness disappear before a trial. Permanently.

Running your first session: setup and tips 🚀

The table setup Sorcerer requires is minimal, but the social setup is crucial. Your first session will set the tone for the entire chronicle.

Before You Play:
* Players: 3-4 players plus the GM is the sweet spot. This keeps the story focused and gives everyone room to breathe.
* Session Length: Aim for 3-4 hours. The first session will include finishing character ties and launching the story.
* Materials: Character sheets, dice (d4, d6, d8, d10), index cards for notes, and the agreed-upon Kicker written where everyone can see it.
* The Most Important Tool: A safety discussion. Sorcerer can go to dark places. Before you start, have an open chat. Use tools like the “X-Card” (where anyone can veto content) or “Lines and Veils” (stating topics to avoid or fade to black). This isn’t restrictive—it’s liberating. It creates a space where players can explore dark themes without fear. My group once avoided body horror because of this talk, and the game was better for it.

Launching the Game: The Kicker
Your session starts in media res, moments after the Kicker happens. If the Kicker is “A mutual friend, now possessed, delivers a cryptic warning and then melts into black ooze in your shared safehouse,” start with the ooze pooling at your feet. What do you do? 🕳️

Pacing Your First Session:
1. Finalize Bonds (30 mins): With characters made, discuss how you know each other. Are you reluctant allies? A support group for the damned?
2. The Kicker Hits (15 mins): The GM presents the scene. No lengthy narration. Immediate action.
3. React & Investigate (90 mins): Let players drive. They should be asking questions, using their mundane and occult skills, and feeling the pressure. The GM’s job is to react, escalate slightly, and introduce one or two key NPCs or clues.
4. The First Hard Choice (60 mins): Force a decision that tests a Need. Do you use your demon to easily bypass a security system, or risk getting caught? End the session on this cliffhanger or its immediate, messy consequence.

💡 First Session Tips Sorcerer: The biggest beginner mistake is making the demon the enemy. Initially, the demon is the solution. The enemy is the situation, other people, or the character’s own Need. Let the players feel powerful using their demon. The horror creeps in later, when they realize what it cost.

Sample Opening Scene:
“The rain drums a funeral march on the roof of your cramped warehouse loft. Elias’s photos of the CEO are spread on the table. Maya’s list of debts is tucked under a cold coffee cup. The air smells of ozone and fear. A heavy fist suddenly pounds on the door—not the polite knock of a friend. ‘Open up! We know you’re in there!’ It’s the CEO’s men. Through the grimy window, you see another car screech to a halt—Maya’s loan sharks, early for their meeting. Both groups are here. Now. The only other exit is a fire escape that hasn’t been used in years. What do you do?”

This scene immediately forces the group together, presents a clear threat, and offers a dilemma where their demonic powers are a very tempting way out.

Troubleshooting Common Hiccups:
* Problem: Players are hesitant to use their demons.
* Fix: Have an NPC use a vulgar, obvious power. Show them it’s “normal” in this world. Or, make the mundane solution brutally difficult.
* Problem: The story feels aimless after the Kicker.
* Fix: Follow the characters’ Needs. If Maya’s Need is security, have the loan sharks threaten her library job. Immediate, personal stakes.
* Problem: The tone is too silly or too grim.
* Fix: Pause and check in. “Hey, are we good with this direction?” A quick 2-minute chat resets expectations.

Mastering how to play Sorcerer is about embracing the messy, personal drama. Your first session won’t be perfect, but if you end with players arguing about the moral cost of what they just did, you’ve already won. You’re not just playing a game; you’re conducting a symphony of poor life choices and desperate hopes. And that’s where the magic happens.

Session Setup Checklist

Use this as your quick-reference guide to ensure you’re ready to go.

Sorcerer offers a rich blend of mechanics and storytelling that rewards thoughtful play and creative problem-solving. This guide walked through starting the game, understanding core systems, designing engaging quests, applying safe customizations, and solving common table problems—each section includes concrete examples and personal notes to help you apply the ideas immediately. Try the sample characters, test one house rule in a single session, and use the troubleshooting tips to smooth early bumps. If you enjoyed these insights, set up a one-shot using the starter checklist and share your experience with other players to refine your approach.