IC - Demon: The Fallen (Closed)

Closed for Applications

✅ The Game System and Rules Version: Storyteller System, Revised.

✅ Adult Content or Controversial Themes: As a game about demons, there will be a lot of religious subject matter, as well as violence and spiritual possession. The Fallen are liars, manipulators, and corruptors. Even reformed demons aren't very nice creatures and are often willing to do horrible things to achieve (what they consider) just ends. In other words, like most World of Darkness games this isn't going to be a light-hearted affair.

✅ Character Restrictions: Demon characters only. No other World of Darkness monsters.

✅ Game Duration and Post Frequency: I'm thinking about 3 or 4 posts per week. The game's duration will probably be a year, or for as long as players remain interested.

✅ Specialized Software and Resources: Unfortunately, you will need the core book for Demon: The Fallen. For those who don't have it or don't want to spend to money, I can assist with character creation.

✅ Player Experience Requirements: Open to anyone, but if you have prior experience with the old Storyteller System then that's a plus.

✅ Welcome Marginalized Groups: This game is friendly to all groups.

✅ How to Apply: Drop a comment below.




A Game of Infernal Glory

Demon: The Fallen is a ttrpg released by White Wolf Publishing in 2002. It is set in the Classic World of Darkness (not New WoD or Chronicles), sharing the same universe as other classic game lines such as Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Mage: The Ascension, Wraith: The Oblivion, and Changeling: The Dreaming.

In this game, you play one of "The Fallen" - a fallen angel (i.e. demon) who was condemned to Hell following a long war against Heaven. After countless millennia, the Gates of Hell that keep the demons imprisoned have begun to crack, allowing the weakest among demonkind (the player characters) to escape to Earth. However, to continue existing on Earth, a demon must find a suitable host for itself. Upon selecting a host body, the demon severs the person's soul from the body and takes its place inside the host, merging with the host's memories and emotions. On Earth, the demon follows its own personal objectives, while trying to balance the life of its vessel with the machinations of its demonic superiors to whom it is still bound.

All demons suffer from Torment, which is a Trait that measures the demon's pain and anguish. It reflects the mindless hate and rage that demons have experienced since their rejection by God and fall into Hell. Part of the game revolves around trying to manage one's Torment. Those Fallen with high Torment appear more monstrous and wicked in their natural form. Likewise, high Torment makes one unable to enter Holy Ground and more vulnerable to the faith-based attacks of true believers. Vile and selfish actions increase a demon's Torment, and it is much easier to gain Torment than it is to lose it.

While the mortal body provides the Fallen with a shield against their Torment, they are sometimes hindered by the memories and feelings the mortal soul left behind. The personal agendas of the demons vary from individual to individual. Some demons wish to finish the war against Heaven. Some wish to take revenge upon humanity, believing humans are the primary cause for the war and the overall ruined state of the world. And other demons want to reconcile; to repent for their sins and be able to return to God. A few even want to just live as humans and try to forget everything that's happened to them. The player characters will be a group of demons who have recently escaped from Hell and have reconnected with each other on Earth.

I hope to find 4 to 6 players looking to have a devilishly good time.
Playing a Demon

The Fallen are organized into a number of "Houses." These are analogous to angelic choirs and represent what kind of God-given jobs the demon had before Falling. Demon society is further divided into "Factions," which represent the Fallen's philosophical outlook on God, humanity, and its time spent in Hell.

Problematic and distasteful role-playing situations can arise when portraying immoral, inhuman characters such as demons. To help avoid these, player will be required to depict demons who are attempting to reform. "Reforming" can take a variety of forms and mean different things to different Fallen. It could mean doing good deeds and trying to be the angels they once were before the rebellion. It could mean actively opposing evil on Earth, especially evil perpetrated by other demons or supernaturals. To repent for stealing a human's body, some demons try to live the best human life they can, in order to make that person's sacrifice mean something.

Still, demons are gonna demon. Even those Fallen attempting to reform will often do questionable things to achieve "benevolent" goals. As protagonists, the Fallen are very much anti-heroes. Most repentant demons are not above violence, intimidation, and supernatural manipulation to reach their objectives. The Fallen suffer from a strong "ends justify the means" mentality.

Demons feed on Faith. Faith is the divine spark that exists in humans. Demons can access this by directly tapping into a human soul (a messy process known as "reaping") or by encouraging acts and expressions of worship. Likewise, Faith can be weaponized against demons, and Demon Hunters know how to use prayer and devotion to damage or drive away the Fallen.

This is one splat that I've never played, but always been curious about.

It's good that you put in the part about all characters must be trying to Reform. Cuz I was wondering what a group of Demons even DOES together that would constitute storytelling that people would want to do as a group.

Is the intent that the characters play as a group/party/coterie (to steal a word from VtM)?

Or is it a lot of lone actors doing stuff alone?

Can you tell us more about the setting? Time. Place. General premise?

Thank you for your time and willingness to run a game!

Thanks for your interest! The game will take place in the present day, and it will be set in Los Angeles. I'll note that in the post.

Your characters are fairly recent escapees from Hell who have reconnected back on Earth. A majority of demons who have returned to Earth have given into their Torment; they are looking for payback against God or humanity (or both). The PCs are in a minority in that they happen to share a similar desire to reform, which provides a partial reason why you'd want to stick together. In a weird way, your characters can serve as a sort of support group for each other, helping to keep each other from veering into Torment-building behavior.

Even though demons are often loners, my intention is to try to keep you all together, though there'll be time for characters to pursue individual agendas. Most of your efforts, as a group, will be directed toward thwarting a growing threat in the city. The hope is that your characters realize that no single Fallen can tackle the issue alone, so cooperation is best.

There are also enemies in the form of demon hunters and other supernaturals, which further encourages some demons to find safety in numbers. The Kindred have a powerful presence in L.A., as do other groups. I'm not planning to use material from other game lines in the World of Darkness, but those threats exist in the background, and demons are aware of them.

This is all great insight and I like the sound of it all. Thank you for the thoughtful response.

I think I could do 3 - 4 posts a week. Color me interested.

0.o

*Blows dust off ancient Demon: the Fallen book gifted to me 20 years ago.*

So my old Vampire group gifted me this book for my birthday in the long-long ago. We tried it for 3 sessions and then went back to vampire because some players struggled with playing a fallen (Vampire had much clearer objectives/politics). Since then I thumbed through the book on occasion but believed the system was long forgotten and never would get to play it.

Until now! Sign me up!

I'd love to.

I'm really tempted by this but I'm far more familiar with the Chronicles of Darkness setting & rules rather than the nWoD or WoD.

I'd be in and loving it.

Edit: Already going through the book and forming some ideas... :)

Okay, looks like I’ve got at least four interested parties. Sweet. That means I’ll start working on the game. Give me a few days to put it together, and then I’ll send out invites.

Also, for those familiar with the other Classic World of Darkness game lines, I want to clarify that none of the End Times events have happened yet. Even though it’s 2023, there hasn’t been a Gehenna, Apocalypse, Endless Winter, Week of Nightmares, or any other stuff from Time of Judgment. The world is still inching toward those events, but they’re a long way off.

Looking forward to the game. Any additional hints for character creation other than standard rules and a concept that allows / strives for restoration / redemption? My head's already filling with ideas :)

The only real note I can make about character creation is regarding factions. The clear choice for reforming demons is the Reconciler faction. It doesn’t seem most of the other factions are compatible with a redemption concept, but I need to look into this a little more closely. However you have no limitations regarding choice of Houses.

Currently tinkering with a Reconciler Scourge, so no problem there I guess.

Reforming and being benign to humans (not being murder monsters) is something multiple factions do. In fact, the only ones who don't are the Raveners (who are apocalyptic destroyers) and the Cryptics (who are mostly compassionless observers).

But are the Reconcilers more benign? Most certainly not. Don't let the faction name fool you. Reconcilers believe they made a mistake in granting mankind Wisdom. And they want to reconcile with God, not mankind. One can say the Reconcilers are the most selfish faction. Like beaten children they want their Father to forgive them, even if it means their death and the abandonment of mankind. They don't care about humanity per se. They just want to understand the world so they understand God's plan for themselves. And maybe try to repair Creation a bit. But repair it in God's image and to how it was before the Fall, with all that entails for humanity. It's like putting lobotomized humans in a zoo exhibit.

The Faustians want to enslave and use humanity to overthrow Heaven. But while they see humans as a tool, at least they are very invested in keeping humanity as a whole thriving, like a flock of fate-battery sheep. But nothing is stopping a Faustian from being nice to humans. Far from it in fact. Love and Fear are the two most direct ways to collecting the herd.

Lucifarians want to continue the rebellion against Heaven and are, perhaps, the most human-loving faction. After all, Lucifer rebelled because he wanted to save humanity from destruction. And crawling up from the Abyss and seeing God and the Heavenly Host abandoned Creation only affirms the belief of these Fallen that they are the only ones who care for humanity now. True, a lot of effort is going into finding Lucifer. They also actively battle the Earthbound (which generally is in humanity's interest). But at the core they held closest to the very reason the rebellion happened in the first place; to save mankind, even if it meant direct rebellion against God's will.

Thanks Khulod, you just planted the thought of steering my Scourge idea towards Luciferan - at least it became an angle to explore.

Just a heads up ST, I leave for a 1 week vacation in a couple days.

I will have internet, but will probably not be able to keep up with my pbp for that week.

Broadly, at a glance, I've been interested most by Fiends or Defilers.

No problem. I imagine that it’ll be a couple weeks before the game officially starts.

Yeah I would agree with Khulod that most of the factions, upon closer inspection, are broadly capable of reform. Aside from Raveners, I think any of the factions are probably workable

I'm away for a few days, and come back to this??? Damn work. Lol

I absolutely would love to play. Demon and Wraith are the two OWoD splats I have no experience with, so this would be perfect.

It seems you may be full up (4 already,so if you were leaning more towards 4 than 6...) but if that's the case would you be so kind as to put me on a list in case a spot opens up down the road?

Still space if you want a spot. I usually allow up to six players because, from personal experience, one or two players will typically drop a new game within the first month. So I like to have a little bit of a buffer. As long as I have at least 3 or 4, then that’s enough.

Well, if there's still a spot I'll happily take one.