The World

Magic exists in the world, but it comes at a heavy price. Demons trade magic power to humans at the cost of their souls. No one knows why demons do this, or where they come from. Those brave few who have tried to deal with the entities called Demons in order to learn more about them have been told maddeningly conflicting stories. Some demons claim to be the creatures from religious texts, others claim to be beings from an alternate reality or dimension.

A few brave individuals have tried to get to the truth, but ultimately they too succumb to the influence of the demons and lose their humanity before meaningful truths can be determined.

The nature of what the demons take in exchange for the power they grant is also in question. There is no doubt that the demons grant power. Humans who make contact with demons can perform spells and rituals to create amazing affects, altering the very nature of realty near them. What they claim to take is the human's soul. As the magic user practices their arts, they become more and more malicious and evil. The corruption takes time depending on how often the human uses their new gifts. Science has yet to determine what the "soul" is, but the effects on person's mind and body are undeniable. Over time they waste away, or become raving lunatics, or turn into actual monsters.

Seemingly in response to this threat, some people have developed mental powers that can be used to combat the demons without costing their own souls. Some claim their powers are divine gifts, A few people claim to see apparitions or hear voices telling them that God or other deities are sending them to defeat the demons, but their claims are thus far unsubstantiated and often just as contradictory as the stories the demons tell. Many different titles are claimed by people with these gifts, but the common term used is Psychic.

We know that demons do not like Psychics. Demons will answer summons, they seem bound to appear before anyone who summons them, but they will bargain more strongly if a psychic tries to gain magic. Why this is the case is unknown. It has been put forth that the psychics' powers may be connected to the "soul" that demons feed on. This is still being studied though.

As you might notice above, I haven't exactly defined the world we are playing in. It is essentially the same as our world, just an ambiguous 'some time in the near future' where technology is a little more advanced, but nothing super crazy. Self driving and electric cars are a thing we have in reasonable supply. Amazon has their drone delivery system working in some metropolitan and suburban areas. Stuff like that.

So, my question for you is...who do you want to play? One option is the Secret Government Operative who battle demons and their mage cronies trying to save the world. The opposite end of that spectrum, in my opinion, is a bunch of nobodies who suddenly gain their psychic status and powers and have to deal with things with 0 training.

Or something in between. I'm open to suggestions from the players on this.

The Greenflame Institute
Field Operative Rank Structure (Individuals that operate throughout the country, fulfilling contractual obligations):
Agent Candidate
Junior Agent
Agent
Senior Agent
Staff Agent (Staff Agent is an administrative position, reserved for Agents unable to perform in the field any longer).

Administrative Positions (Individuals that keep everything running in the Institute's headquarters):
Clerks, Quartermasters, Contract Negotiators, Agent Handlers, Psychic Trainers, Recruiters (Usually started as agents)

Institute Leadership (Executive control positions. Typically requires some experience as a Field Operative):
Sector Director (Controls a smaller geographical area, up to 100 total Agents of different levels)
Regional Director (Controls either the Eastern or Western half of the country)
Institute President (In charge of the whole program)

The Greenflame Institute was founded several years ago to address a growing need of talented and trained psychic combatants. Selling their services like mercenary companies of old, they take missions as small as protecting a single family from the scourge of the demons up to an assembled squad on loan to the government as a special operations team.

Headquarters is in Northern Minnesota, on a pristine lake, in the middle of the woods. Meetings to negotiate contracts happen at the clients. Headquarters location is typically kept secret from all but the most sensitive clients.