What niche fulfill demons in your Settings? What distinguishes them from normal monsters?
Demons are incorporeal magic users normally but have the niche of possessing people and being able to jump from body to body.
>>46501396
Ability to reason and be better than you.
>>46501396
Typically they are just bad spirits.
>>46501396
They are manipulative, sarcastic assholes who dabble in the lives of mortals to take their souls. Most work from behind the scenes but others prefer a more "direct" approach to gaining souls
>assisting in bloodly wars
>leading hordes of demons on conquests
>>46501396
They are stuck-up, sweater vest wearing cunts. Very persuasive cause they can't do anything to you without permission.
>>46501396
They're the souls of people corrupted by worshipping evil spirits. Their presence makes it easier for others to be corrupted, and enough demons in one place can cause even a noble and pious man who dies to become a demon instead of moving on to the afterlife.
>>46501396
They teach mortals secrets of magic
They're the arseholes who came down from the Hell Moon and fucked the world.
The dwarves sealed up their underhomes to keep the demons' bullshit out. It didn't work.
Magic works based on metaphisical parasites that attach themselves to secrets a human does not want to give up. Magic is done by exchanging deals with these parasites.
You give them power for effect, they stay around and defend you because they want physical form. They consume one another (parasites that you find for them to fuel the magic) and grow stronger. At some point they cease defending you and instead seek to kill you (this is when they think they are strong enough to win control of your body upon your death). They will do this by withholding power at a key moment.
Upon your death they will try and gain control, if they do the person turns into a different being depending on the nature and strength of the parasite.
An example is a strong secret kept because of prudishness (an example would be hiding a mistress or some such). If it gains control the individual's skin peels off the corpse. This skin will then move around and seek things does not approve of and stuffing them inside it's empty sack of skin. This could be everything from literature to people. The players were trying to find one of these, it kept killing prostitutes by suffocating them. When they found it the creature could barely move, it's body stuffed to the brim with unfortunate souls, half digested.
Demons come in many forms, all born from forgotten sins of man.
>>46501396
Good-aligned sex sprites whose breasts contain an anti-magical substance used by paladins to kill gods.
>>46503829
Sounds like premise to hentai
>>46503850
It's a serious matter, paladins are vicious and cruel sadists, and it's up to the party to rescue the demons.
Malevolent psychic entities that float about. They don't have a physical form, but when attached to a sapient mind, can manifest their form to them - and harm them. Others won't see the demon, and demon cannot harm them either - unless we are talking about oppressively powerful demon, which can have a minor physical presence.
It does make them slightly less dangerous in a way, but you can't really escape them. Most apt comparison would be Freddy Krueger or some sort of reverse stand, I suppose.
As for creation, they were created by a particular god to destroy life ( note; gods are opposed to life by nature. Some may have true slight tinges of benevolence, but those are freaks, of sort - most cannot directly affect physical world anyway ), but an oversight caused them sorta fall into Sheol and nooks and crannies of the world.
>>46501396
they're the pieces of a mortally wounded primordial titan, who gained sentience and sapience. They can do improbable things, but only on contract basis - they need to be given something in exchange of usage of their power.no matter how strong or smart they are, every demon has a self-destructive urge - it's dying titan's conscience calling back its stray pieces. When titan will die and all of its pieces disappear it will once more become one.
Some demons eventually succumb to this urge, some seal themselves away or get sealed by mages and some try to drown out the call by doing something, anything - these last ones are the usual source of the stories about demon rampages.
>>46501396
When intelligent beings die, they begin to break down into their constituent concepts, which eventually gather and become new entities.
Demons are among these entities and generally are formed of the negative aspects of the psyche, but they do sometimes have other parts to them.
They try to get living mortals to be like them in life because that flavours the cores of their souls, which the demons, angels and such feed upon and they can enjoy them more if they are attuned to the concepts that form them.
As such, the old feuds between angels and demons is more a case of competing for a food source, while between devils and demons is a political one and an attempt to starve the other out.
In my setting Demons are a sort of deity. There are the high spirits which are often called angels, and they embody concepts that generally cannot be comprehended in their full scope by mortal minds. For example Euclid is an angel who scholars know is in some way related to mathematics but whenever people try to contact him they go mad and start drawing blueprints for impossible designs on the walls in their blood.
Meanwhile demons are these lower spirits that embody concepts that are much more graspable by mortals. For example one of the most prominent demons is Bhaal, Lord of Murder. He serves as the patron for the various assassin cults and guilds scattered throughout the four Realms.
>>46501396
Demons and Angels and other extraplanar beings cannot fully exist in our reality, they can only be summoned or invoked. Even then, only a fraction of their essence is called into our world, and it must inhabit a specially prepared vessel.
The more powerful the demon, the more of themselves they can pour into our world without risk of harm to themselves, and the further beyond the confines of their vessel they can extend their power. An especially powerful demon can possess entire town simultaneously. I don't mean all of the townsfolk, I mean every single person, animal, and item within range all being puppeted by an extraplanar force of evil and being warped to malign purpose.
Demon incursions are rare, but they usually end up leaving stains upon the world that last long after the demon itself is gone. In many cases, a banished demon still leaves behind scraps of its power that end up causing blighted landscapes or infesting local wildlife into unique and powerful monsters.
Demon thread?
Yo, I got a succubus question.
When Succubi are freshly hatched, or born, or made or whatever, do they have to learn general demon stuff before growing up to learn succubus stuff?
I have an idea dealing with succubi that's not *supposed* to be even remotely sexual and I'd be disturbed it became that but I can't really blame anyone for accusing me of magical realm since, well, succubi.
>>46503770
secrets=sins now?
>>46501396
They're whimsical freakishly powerful living embodiment of passion that harbor a certain emotion or aspect and a purpose that live only to fulfill it with no real ulterior motives beyond that. While not necessarily dangerous and sometimes even allowed to live among the general populace, they're all completely nuts, unpredictable, and cannot be bribed or reasoned with except with the one thing they're obsessed over.
For example you could have an anger demon obsessed with justice, or a nature demon obsessed with eating new and interesting things, or an art demon obsessed with drama and bad romance plots, or a love demon obsessed with friendship, or a hate demon obsessed with bureaucracy.
Demons are beings that are birthed into reality when a certain negative characteristic becomes over powering, Detroit for instance has a lot of demons of ruin and decay running around cause its such a shit hole and DC has many demons of greed and corruption.
Demons can more easily posses and influence those that exhibit their particular "sin".
Demons can only manifest physically under very favorable circumstances.
The material plane has two "reflections". One is a realm of the chaos of creation and one is the order of death and decay.
Because the realms are literally physical reflections of the material plane only way to enter them is by entering a reflection such as a mirror or still surface of liquid.
Demons come from the space in between realms. The more impure the reflection used to make a gateway between realms the easier it is for Demons to pass through.
Many ships have been lost at sea during storms when massive sea monsters have reached through the chaos of the water's surface, dragging ships and crew back through the surface to the void between.
>>46501396
Demons in my setting are based on the Greek Titans, they are essentially the exact same as the Angels. The only real difference is their appearance and the fact that the angels won the war for dominion over heaven and history is written by the winners. So they told the mortals that the demons were evil and monsters and they ate babies and that the angels were the unquestionable servants of the gods. Turns out that they are both assholes that use mortals for their own devices, but at least the demons are open about it.
>>46501396
Demons lack the absolute free will of "natural born" mortals on the living plane. Their behavior is entirely indicative of their breed and their ambitions are very similar to men who lust for desire. They can love, have regrets, hold grudges and wish for the success of their associated group, however, their methods and habits are uniformly evil in execution. Demons have the cold blooded nature of predatory animals combined with the cunning and creativity of a sentient mortal without things like anxiety, doubt and depression from holding them back.
Demons are known as Hellborne in my setting, and they are the main antagonists against the Celestials, higher dimensional angel like bveings that basically act like a cleanup crew when Hellborne invade a galaxy. When a player rolls a 66 on any roll (we use a d100), a troop of Hellborne immediatelly spawns near the party. They coalesce and coagulate out of shade of the surrounding area. When they are killed are are gone they still leave a trace wherever they invade, almost blanching the environment.
They also worship Chaos and are themselves worshipped by half of the galaxy, the Shadow Zealots.
>>46509312
Heres another type of Hellborne from my setting, and yes I had them commisioned to be drawn
>>46506598
So... Ghostbusters canon?
>>46509335
And another., The first comes in troops of 1-6 or more, the guards always come in pairs and This one comes in 1s or 3s.
>>46501396
nobody cares what niche they fill because if they catch the whiff of one they're already running as far from it as possible.
Not even the wizards that summon them understand how they work exactly suffice to say that they're extremely tricky and more devastating than a nuke if you fuck up.
>>46509312
That's some pretty cool art, but do you mean to say that in your setting, any time anyone does anything (worthy of a roll), they have a 1% chance of SUDDENLY DEMONS?
That sounds like a very dangerous place to live.
>>46509406
Yep, it's pretty bad, you could call them a plague on the galaxy, that's why the Celestials are here, they are basically hazmat cops for the chaotically destructive Hellborne.
>>46501396
They are literally evil incarnate. Well, not incarnate as such, they're most often intangible. But they are evil by definition (having supernaturally aligned themselves with the concept) unlike practically everything else.
>>46509457
That means that most sane people will presumably do their best to minimize how many dice they roll... except in the rare circumstances where SUDDENLY DEMONS would improve the situation.
>>46509502
Yep, it's a a pretty loose playing system but you'll find yourself goofing off and rolling to kick over a rock and BOOM! Hellborne show up so...
>>46501396
they're a conglomerate of separate species from a parallel dimension that have been living disguised and hidden on earth for a considerable amount of time, having fled their home world's constant civil warring and atrocities at the hands of unknown masters.
When earth begins to experience the apocalypse, the demons throw off their disguises and aid humanity, fighting back against a nightmarish, alien darkness, applying their own technologies and magic to the humans and saving a great many of their kind.
In my post apocalyptic setting, they live as honored brothers, sisters and 'whatevers'.
>>46501396
Every light casts a shadow. It has to, contractual obligation. Way way back when everything began every god and spirit agreed to the Laws of Physics and Ethics. There were some detractors but it was basically rubber-stamped through the Celestial Bureaucracy by a powerful bloc of gods and their attendants. The very instant it was signed into Cosmic Law, everything we know and understand came into being. Demons, unfortunately, were among the first of uncountable "unintended consequences."
They exist due to some shoddy writing on the part of the God of Order, whose acclaimed Amendment of Natural Law held within it a single loophole - every action must have an equal and opposite reaction. Demons and their home plane, the Abyss, came into being as the opposite reaction to creation. They exist to destroy everything that is, and the worst part of the whole situation is that, as far as the Celestial Bureaucracy is concerned, it's all legal.
Demons were, in fact, the spark that lit the fires of the First War, when gods and spirits, disillusioned with the Cosmic Law, wrote for themselves hundreds of loopholes and pork-barrel projects in order to officially separate the cosmos into various spheres of influence. The most powerful and legally brilliant of these spirits and gods became the first Devils, and the universe was irrevocably split into the godly domains we know of today.
>>46503770
Neat.
They're beings from a different dimension which can manifest either spiritually or physically.
If they manifest spiritually, they have just a fraction of their power and, if they're too powerful, only a fraction of their bodies will be able to appear (For example, an eye or a mouth.)
If they're summoned spiritually in this realm, they're bound to a certain extent of range, so they can't go outside of the dungeon they were summoned or that. They're confined more or less in the room they were summoned in, and even then they don't have much power. Just like a strong ghost or something.
On the other hand, they can be summoned physically to this world, however this takes exponentially more effort to do, requiring often multiple sacrifices to just summon a soldier. (They way I list it is 5 normal/2 pure souls for a soldier, 15 normal/5 pure for a lieutenant, 50 normal/20 pure for a general, +100/+50 for a pretty fucking be demon, etc)
However, if they're physically summoned to the realm, they have a pretty big advantage against normal races.
They are generally strong beings that surprass the average human by a kinda long margin. A normal demon soldier has the strength of 5 men and the speed of a car, while a lieutenant can easily destroy rock buildings with just his raw strength.
They're also very adept at mind and dark magic, being able to mind control, persuade and corrupt any person if they have enough influence over them.
Once physically summoned to the realm, you can easily beat them just like any other human. Beheading them, destroying their heart, maybe industrial-amounts of arcane bolts will do it to. However, once destroyed physically in this realm, instead of dying, they're expulsed to their dimension in a weakened state.
>>46501396
They don't exist :D
>>46501396
Demons are what you get when you make a super computer out of soul particles rather than just a machine.
If the gods weren't keeping them at bay the entire universe would be destroyed
>>46501396
stolen concept from warhamz: demons are bad emotions that got conscious in the soul dimension, angels are the same but with good emotions
Which emotion is good/bad is determined by DMPC who made the world, heh
>>46501421
So basically, Wizards are demons?
>>46516687
Wizards are usually physical-type meat people by default, aren't they? Like, starting out, at least.
>>46501396
They are utterly incapable of existing without the consuming mortal souls, either to exist or reproduce. Universal parasites unmatched in flesh-crafting.
Nonexistent, because they tried to go against the Pyramid, and no one goes against the Pyramid.
Demons are mortals who made pacts with various spirits in return for power. They are not necessarily evil, however the goals of spirits can be quite abstract and aren't really constrained by any morality.
>>46501396
Immortal assholes.
>>46501396
Anti-Gods.
You get gods from when people consciously believe in a thing, and worship it. You get demons when people believe in a thing, but don't actively praise it, like urban legends or folk tales.
Coincidentally, demons are immortal as long as the particular belief that spawned them is still around. This is why imps have the self-preservation skills of a immolated lemming.
Demons in my game are the tormentors of the damned, and the corruptors of the corruptible. They have corporeal form but will often try to avoid revealing it by possessing people; exorcising them or knowing their true name can force them to take their real form. They feed off the torture of the damned and seek to steal more souls. Because of their intrinsic relationship with souls and corruption, they can be bent to the will of some magic-users of sufficient power. They will offer their power as a boon to mortals if they think it will get them souls in return.
So, pretty standard I think?
>>46501396
My setting has three types of demons:
Hell-Fiends, who are tread underfoot by their creator (not ancestor), a primal god of fire and war, the Ur-Conqueror, and rule over the hells of flame, whose torturous nature is inherent to the fact that just about everyone present is a ruthless asshole. He enjoys kicking back some divine mead and enjoying the Arena- it's promised that whoever can defeat him can leave. No-one has ever accomplished this, though he has let people go for putting up a good fight.
Waste-Fiends, who are bitter survivors of the endless, lightless cold, ruled over by a selfish primal goddess similarly as the Hell-Fiends (think the Ice Queen from Narnia). She collects the damned like action figures, sometimes obligating them to play on the equivalent of chessboards for her amusement. She can also freeze her 'subjects', making them unable to move, though they can still sense their surroundings.
Void-Fiends, beings older than the current pantheon. They are primordial chaos in its most nonsensical and destructive form, wishing nothing more than everything be devoured in a wave of destruction endlessly. It's their nature. Due to the nature of magic in the setting, they are also immune to it. Their ruler is the second-oldest being native to the realm, with Space(Life) and Time(Death) tying for first.
>>46501396
Demon is just a term for criminal gods, which was imprisoned in the underworld.
