Demon: The Fallen
So…I am skipping ahead a bit. The reason is this: Classic World of Darkness had two other gamelines during their “Year of the Scarab” and “Year of Jade.” These were part of the main game-line…but were not necessarily heavily factored into the lore. I’ll get more to them later, Mummy before I review…the other Mummy, and Kindred of the East…some time.
Demon: The Fallen is a game that, really, I shouldn’t like. It has a lot of the markers I mentioned in Changeling: odd power levels, strange ideas, lack of recent interaction with the world, and atypical concepts for the World of Darkness. And yet, despite this, I find Demon a compelling game. There is, perhaps, no greater marker of darkness than a demon: shadowy, mysterious, and, if not outright evil, than at least certainly far from perfect. Playing a fallen angel might be one of the quintessential experiences in a world so filled with fallen creatures.
Spinning heads and vomit galore: this is Demon: The Fallen.
Inferno
So…you’re a fallen angel.
Which…kinda sucks. See, back when God created the world, he worked the big stuff and let angels help with a lot of the rest. That was you, by the way. Somewhere near the start of the world, you helped form it. Maybe you helped solidify some laws of thermodynamics, or set up arithmatic, or designed the chromatic scale of music, or decided to play a joke and slipped in quantum physics.
And it was good.
Then, God made humanity, and things were better.
Here was a creature that could understand, that could appreciate your work. No simple beast, you could show them how to play music, how to use mathematics, how that little loophole you left in physics would let them fly in the air, or how using simple tools would let them make fire, which could be used as their first tool.
Only one issue: the boss said no. Tree of Knowledge stuff, you see.
Lucifer: he’s hard to say no to
So angels were split. Lucifer and a group were…well, annoyed. They decided to screw the rules and help humans. They taught them, gave them tools to work with, and showed them how they might be able to become so much more than they were.
The other camp…was less than thrilled. Michael and other loyalist angels tried to offer one chance to repent. Lucifer and the others held fast, and were damned. God named them demons, giving each fallen house a new name and a curse. And, in one final act of wrath, touched the world, setting entropy into motion.
Angels and demons warred. The defeated simply ceased and this continued…until Caine and Abel. The idea of murder, that it was possible to take the life of another, had never even entered into the minds of the angels, fallen or otherwise. That changed with the first murder.
The war changed, and, seeing no other choice, the demons were trapped in Hell. During that time, they knew only torment, and hatred leaked into their being. Sometimes, mortals would summon them, hoping to tap into their godlike powers. This resulted in the Earthbound, demons of a different stripe.
Cut to today. Following the Day of Nightmares, things shook loose, including the seal of hell. Now you’re back, tethered to the body of a dying or comatose human who’s soul has long since fled. The encounter has left its mark: torment is no longer all you know…for now…
I really want to plug the introduction chapter. There’s a really simple introduction: it’s a demon possessing a young man, talking to his father about the entire thing. It’s got a sort of odd Interview With a Vampire feel, a mere mortal looking at the perspective of a demon. It’s got some really fascinating ideas and lore to it.
All the Devils are Here
Making a demon is a bit…tricky. See, unlike most of the entities, you’re not human. Inhabiting it’s shell, maybe, but you’ve never really been human before.
First thing to mention is the powerstat: faith. The idea that faith can move mountains? Well, it’s true. You’ve just got to know how. Of particular note is that this isn’t your faith. It’s the faith of mortals. You…well, you kinda ran outta faith sometime back when you rebelled, now didn’t you?
Torment is your morality stat. Unlike most of the World of Darkness, torment doesn’t drop, it increases. Worse…it’s permanent eventually. When it gets there…well, it’s a measure of how much you fit into the classic interpretation of a demon. You’re pretty much gone at that point. Also, unlike most, your character starts with some permanent Torment, meaning you’re going to need to balance your morality stat against your choice of starting House.
Like most of World of Darkness Classic (remember that old refreshing taste), Demon has various ‘races,’ though this actually has fewer than usual (7 total) and they are divided by purpose rather than by archetype. Let me explain: each angel belongs to a house, which in turn had a purpose set them by God. They are:
- Defiler: Former Neriads, angels who laid out the oceans and mystery. They were meant to provoke humans with curiosity and longing.
- Devils: Former Heralds, angels who were messengers of God to humans. Lucifer was a member of this house. Noble lightbringers, they were meant to inspire humanity toward the Divine.
- Devourer: Former Angels of the Wilds, these angels made the creatures and wilds in which they dwell. They wished to teach humans to live in harmony with nature.
- Fiends: Former Seers, angels of Fate, these creatures laid out the orbits of planets and stars. They wished to teach humanity about physics, mathematics, and the vagaries of fate.
- Malefactors: Former Artificers, angels of the Firmament. They were meant to teach humanity about the physical world, including metals, tilling the fields, and building earthenware.
- Scourge: Former Guardian Angels, they would animate living beings with the Breath of Life, then protecting them afterward. Not so cute or fluffy.
- Slayers: Former…ok, kinda current, angels of death called Reapers. They were responsible for watching over deaths of animals and plants. Later, they would also do this for humans after the fall.
Slayers: when you need to make sure it stays dead
The Houses are where demons come from, but now that they’re out, a lot of them have different philosophies on what to do with their new-found freedom from Hell. These coalesce into factions. They are:
- Faustians: As in bargains. These demons look at humanity and see potential, but see that as being wasted. They seek to cultivate the faith of humanity for their own use.
- Cryptids: These demons ask that most potent of all questions: why? They seek to understand the mysteries of the world.
- Luciferans: Loyalists to Lucifer’s original cause, they seek to continue their rebellion against heaven. This is…complicated, since heaven seems to have left earth behind.
- Raveners: Rather uncomplicated, though dangerous. These guys basically want to destroy everything, for various reasons.
- Reconcilers: These demons want to make up with Heaven. In the words of one demon, Christ died to reconcile humanity, maybe someone can do the same for them.
These give some unique outlooks and philosophies, but allow demons a wide enough breadth that they can develop into full characters.
The usual assortment of backgrounds are there as usual, and help flesh things out.
There is a final component, but let me delve into that in a moment.
Thrones and Powers
High Torment Lores are…not exactly subtle…
Demons are rather unusual. You are, after all, playing an entity which, at their least impressive, laid down the foundations of the earth. Demons, like most splats, have a few powers that make them unusual. These are called lores. Lores are…nuts. I mean, most of them imitate or come close to other powers, but there’s a base ability that is to manipulate gravity. There’s also some in there that let you do things like determine when someone will die or draw mortals into your little cult. There’s also an aspect of how torment plays in. When your torment rises, you start to see lores twist. So where before a lore might help you create light, under high torment, you snuff it out.
Each lore also has a defining tie to your character through the apocalyptic form. This is your character temporarily assuming his true form, be it angelic or monstrous. The defining lore is the thing that governs what kind of form you take. A slayer, for example, might be defined by her lore of death, becoming a shadowy figure with pale skin and raven wings. Another might be defined by his lore of spirit, looking more like a saint in repose with shifting eyes. Like lores, as torment grows, the powers and abilities of the demon shift, as does it’s appearance, becoming less angelic and more demonic.
Circles
So, simply put, demon antagonists are…bad. You’re basically looking at the worst of the worst here. After all, you’re pretty much one of the worst things to enter the world already.
Despite what you might expect, angels aren’t the main concern. In fact…they’re mysteriously absent. And that’s worrying. No, the things you have to watch out for the most…is your fellow demons.
Most other creatures, for one reason or another, will leave you alone. Vampires fear you, werewolves have their own issues, wraiths, mummies, and the rest are all too far off to care…no, the thing you most have to deal with is yourself and your fellows.
Normal demons are bad enough. Once they hit higher torment, their Lores start to take on rather sinister uses and they gain more power with their apocalyptic form. Bad news, and they risk exposing demons, or, perhaps, even feed off of demons. Faith is a finite resource, after all, so they might simply be pushing into your territory…or they might want to rip you limb from limb.
Deeeeeeeeemooooooons…come out and plaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
But they are nothing compared to the Earthbound. The Earthbound were summoned from hell by mortal sorcerers and came to earth. The difference between them and you? There was no mortal to help them snap back. Which means they came out at Torment 10. Which means…well, they are basically as evil as you get. The Earthbound are less Demons as we imagine them, and more Lovecraftian horror. They are the old gods, horrific and monstrous. And oh, how they hate you. You can serve them, or perish.
The Devil’s in the Details
So…why do I like Demon? Honestly, I think it is probably the best example of why the Classic World of Darkness was so good. It has such flavor to it. The lore is fantastic. The metaplot is amazing. And the writing is just top notch.
Plus…well, I mentioned this back in my Demon: the Descent review, but there’s something grimly satisfying about playing a demon. It’s fun to play the ultimate rebel, and that’s what you are in this game.
Overall, I’d say the only weakness of this game is that it came so late in the game line that there wasn’t a lot of support for it. Unlike most game lines, it doesn’t have a lot beyond a few support guides.
Give Demon a look-see. It’ll be well worth your time.
What happens next? Well, I’m skipping over a couple other games to finally press into the New World of Darkness. I’ll do a quick overview of the game before delving into the splats.
The Magister's Corner 