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Roll up to 3 dice – this is your summoning roll. You can summon one new unit with the Daemonic Ritual ability to the battlefield that has a Power Rating equal to or less than the total result so long as it has the same Chaos God keyword you chose at the start.

If I make a summoning roll with the intent to summon a Daemon Prince (8 power) but only roll a 7, am I forced to summon at least one daemon of a power 7 or less? Can indicates ability, not option. The only time it says you don't summon the unit is if the total is insufficient to summon ANY unit, not just the unit you wanted.

Can is not compulsory.

I've certainly always read it and played it as: if you don't get the roll for the power level you want, you don't have to spend the reinforcement points and bring a unit on. Otherwise you might have rolled enough to summon Nurglings but not have any models, how would they go about forcing you to summon a unit you don't own?

Can and may are often used interchangeably. Neither word means 'must'. Nothing to see here.

Also, the Tenets of YMDC have a clause about GW's wording to avoid this kind of thread. Jussayin.

English may not be my first language, but even I know "can" is often used in place of "may", especially when it's supposed to be "can and may" such as in this case. If the intention was to make the summoning mandatory, they'd probably have used the word "must" somewhere, or just said "summon", without the "can". Permission generally doesn't imply obligation.

"Can" states the ability to do something. "May" states permission to do something. Neither implies a compulsion to do something. In a rules context, "can" and "may" are pretty much interchangeable.

Medicinal Carrots wrote:"Can" states the ability to do something. "May" states permission to do something. Neither implies a compulsion to do something. In a rules context, "can" and "may" are pretty much interchangeable.

JohnnyHell wrote:Can and may are often used interchangeably. Neither word means 'must'. Nothing to see here.

Agreed.

JohnnyHell wrote:Also, the Tenets of YMDC have a clause about GW's wording to avoid this kind of thread. Jussayin.

Even more to the point, the OP really isn't bringing anything up to present a "can" vs "may" discussion, therefore presenting a misleading topic title.

The word "can" is often used when both ability and option are both in play, such as Movement: "A model can be moved in any direction...", while "may" is often used when restrictions are in play on an ability, such as Grenade: "Each time a unit shoots, a single model in the unit that is equipped with Grenades may throw one instead of firing any other weapon." or in Choose Unit to Shoot With: "...You may not pick a unit that Advanced or Fell Back this turn, or a unit that is within 1" of an enemy unit....".

In either case, I don't see how a difference of "can" or "may" would make any difference in the Summoning rule quoted in the original post. As has been pointed out, if "must" was used, we would be having a different discussion.

I brought it up because it was a legitimate question. The old nitpick over "May I vs Can You" springs to mind. "Can I go to the bathroom? I don't know, can you?" Nice to see some members who I have blocked are still backseat moderating however.

 BaconCatBug wrote:
I brought it up because it was a legitimate question. The old nitpick over "May I vs Can You" springs to mind. "Can I go to the bathroom? I don't know, can you?" Nice to see some members who I have blocked are still backseat moderating however.

its only different in your example because it’s a question, not a statement

 BaconCatBug wrote:
I brought it up because it was a legitimate question. The old nitpick over "May I vs Can You" springs to mind. "Can I go to the bathroom? I don't know, can you?" Nice to see some members who I have blocked are still backseat moderating however.

But you didn't really bring up anything to present a "may I" in regards to Summoning, or indicating that "can" is a requirement in any other situation.

 Charistoph wrote:

 BaconCatBug wrote:
I brought it up because it was a legitimate question. The old nitpick over "May I vs Can You" springs to mind. "Can I go to the bathroom? I don't know, can you?" Nice to see some members who I have blocked are still backseat moderating however.

But you didn't really bring up anything to present a "may I" in regards to Summoning, or indicating that "can" is a requirement in any other situation.

He was just getting a last word in and jibing at me, wouldn't worry.