Summoning a specific Balor

[pawsplay]

Specific is not the same as unique. Unique would be like Demogorgon.

 

[jefgorbach]

I concur, however believe its generally accepted a unique being is presumed to be the sole example of its race (ie Data was considered unique in the ST universe until the discover of Lor revoked that status), thus the Questioner's Balor is a specific individual but NOT unique and thus required to answer the Gate's calling function.

However not is all lost should the Questioner's GM disagree and allow it to ignore the Gate's call. Simply recast to open a two-way portal to the current location of that specific balor - for while the spell doesnt state you can specifically target a location on the desired plane, doing so seems reasonable given the spell's second function requires the ability to lock onto a specific being. (Note: His GM may prefer the Gate's two-way portal function since the Questioner could return home happy at having resolved his balor problem only to find his casting locale occupied by uninvited Abyssal guests!)

Either way, Gate puts the caster into position to Plane Shift his balor as desired.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Specific is not the same as unique. Unique would be like Demogorgon.

I thought that initially in the context of the first excerpt (and that's how I'd most likely rule it, fwiw). "Unique" here could mean "one of a kind".

But in the second excerpt cited, it explicitly differentiates between a general kind of being and a "known individual" of that kind of being. The only restriction in this context is apparently on whether or not you've met the guy, not whether he's the sole member of his species.

Seems open to interpretation to me.
Oh well.

 

[pawsplay]

1) You can call a unique being, but it need not answer

2) You can call other beings
2a) you can call a known being by name
2b) you can call a type of being

If "known individual" and "unique being" meant the same thing, presumably they would just use the same phrase twice.

 

[pawsplay]

"Unique" here could mean "one of a kind".

That, of course, being the accept meaning of "unique," from the Latin unus, meaning "one."

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

"Frodo is a unique hobbit."

That's a perfectly valid use of the word "unique" that doesn't require the existence of only one hobbit. It means "notable" or "extraordinary", in the sense that he is a "one of kind" among the hobbits.

1) You can call a unique being, but it need not answer

2) You can call other beings
2a) you can call a known being by name
2b) you can call a type of being

If "known individual" and "unique being" meant the same thing, presumably they would just use the same phrase twice.

If you choose to call a kind of creature instead of a known individual you may call either a single creature (of any HD) or several creatures.

The "instead of" is what's drawing the distinction between "kind of being" and "a known individual", which arguably refers back to the "unique" beings of the previous paragraph. This explicitly excludes item#2a, imho. But I'm not going to belabor the grammar or semantics anymore, mainly because I actually disagree with my proposed interpretation!

I'm simply pointing out that the wording is ambiguous, and the interpretation is there-- and so a DM could argue it that way.

Fortuntately, as jefgorbach points out, it's not even much of a problem! Cheers!

 

[pawsplay]

"Frodo is a unique hobbit."

That's a perfectly valid use of the word "unique" that doesn't require the existence of only one hobbit. It means "notable" or "extraordinary", in the sense that he is a "one of kind" among the hobbits.

However, it doesn't parallel nicely with the phrase "deities and unique beings."

Also, by this reading, it refers to any identifiable person. Suddenly, all creatures are unique beings. That would mean they could refuse not only to be summoned by name, but could refuse to appear even when called as part of a group. Further the phrase "kind of being" becomes meaningless. It doesn't matter if you call Frodo by name or summon "a hobbit," every hobbit is unique in the sense of being one of a kind.