Demon: the Fallen - Earthbound / The Dread Kings (a brief look at their mechanics, means, and Lores)

In this episode we are taking a quick look at the Earthbound, also known as the Dread Kings for Demon: the Fallen, using the antagonist book with the same title, "Earthbound", which you can find here:
www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
And yes, I am not joking when I say this is a quick/brief look, though the episode is over 15 minutes long, because there is a lot of mechanical (rules and build) variation to how these antagonists work, but also a lot of room for nuance in the narrative and character creation departments, which makes them horrifyingly memorable monsters.
While the book's introductory chapter, the one about the history of the Archdukes, probably should have been written using a different approach and a different perspective, the rest of the book is very useful to both players and storytellers, since it brings in a lot of new content like new rules/mechanics, new natures, abilities and backgrounds, new Lores, new Apocalyptic Form features that really allow the storyteller to create a custom antagonist, corrupted enchanted items and relics, and best of all, rules for turning player characters into playable Earthbound (at least until Torment drives them completely mad and renders them unplayable).
Enjoy!

[@NyarlathotepCrawlingChaos]

I love running Earthbound characters. It truly is a great outlet for me to channel all my pent up stress, negativity and destructiveness, and just cut loose in game do create some really memorable characters and stories. Let me tell you, that can actually be very… cathartic, perhaps even therapeutic. Lol

[@theoldcountry]

I completely agree, not only because good stories need memorable antagonists (which these guys totally are), but because playing an entity that behaves almost like a Lovecraftian god/entity, and doing so while still entertaining your fellow players, making sure they are comfortable with this from a metagame perspective... is a sign of player maturity, I think, while also showing a willingness to explore and discover yourself more as a player (and person too) (and outer god too :P) With my group, we're still hoping to play an all Earthbound cast one day! On our very last session of the previous Demon chronicle we all agreed that when the stars align, we'll give a full PVP chronicle a chance, something we've never done before. Each of us would play Dread Kings located in adjacent cities and fighting for supremacy, mercilessly throwing Lores, servants and mortal cults at each other until only one is left standing :D Sounds very much like a strategy game, but I think it would be a very interesting RPG experiment. Actually, it would make for an interesting video game too :)) So, give my best to father Azathoth, consider my sanity shattered, and keep on crawling, oh Dweller in Darkness! :P

[@flippyveteran2366]

@@theoldcountry That idea sounds REALLY cool. Has anything arisen from it yet?

[@theoldcountry]

@@flippyveteran2366 Not at the moment, the context hasn't been right, but I am playing a Devourer of the Wild in a lovely little chronicle taking place in New Orleans 🥰

[@jm7781]

I wish a colab game about mages, werewols, vampires, changelings and demons fighting a powerfull earthbounds.

[@theoldcountry]

Hmmm, well, as long as the threat it big enough, it would probably bring the supernaturals together, at least temporarily. Earthbound demons are perfect for that, especially if they work with/through Nephandi mages, Black Spiral Dancers, the Baali or the Thallain. I mean, throughout the gamebooks there have been Sects/Cults that bring mages and vampires together, like the True Black Hand, the Bahari, or the conspiracy from The Red Star book (I can't remember what it's called right now), and when it comes to antagonists/ bad-dudes factions, the Sabbat and Black Spiral Dancers have been known to operate in the same city without butchering each other (and maybe even working together) I'm not a huge fan of crossover, but if there's a game that can bridge the gap between other splats like Mage, Wraith and Vampire, it's Demon. And I do believe it can work beautifully 😌

[@diegosalazar3520]

This was an amazing video! I can't believe that one of the first videos on demon I've watch just happened to relate to Kupala! But yes, both Corrupt the land and the ability to make something into a vessel of yourself seem very, very appropriate for Kupala. I could also see some of the other powers come into play, but I can also see some things that don't quite make sense for Kupala being an earthbound such as removing its heart in order to be safe from death... It's interesting to think about, and the earthbound seem EXTREMELY interesting in their own right! Could they use a mortals true name?

[@theoldcountry]

Glad you enjoyed it. Though the Earthbound pretty much force their gifts upon mortals, I don't think they know humanity's True Name. Also, yes, the Heart part is weird. Either that really is Kupala's reliquary, or it's made up, so foolish vampires go looking for it, when in fact it resides in the Carpathians. So much deception from Kupala! I don't know what to believe anymore 😋

[@diegosalazar3520]

@@theoldcountry fair, I was just thinking as they are from the creation and still remember things. Yeah, Kupala feel like a character meant to not be understood, and for all we know may be older than even the world itself. That's somewhat what make it so interesting! Because this way, any interpretation can be true, even a "good" Kupala could make sense in a twisted form.

[@theoldcountry]

@@diegosalazar3520 Some of them do remember names, no doubt about that, but both the demon rebels and humanity suffered changes to their True Names after the fall, since their natures were deformed as a result of entropy making its way into the world. The names these Earthbound remember are names from the Pit, the names that reflect the corrupted nature of their brethren. That or they've gained such knowledge from gifted mortals (like mages) who know a thing or two about summoning the Fallen. Thus, the names these Earthbound know are valid and can be used in summoning/enslaving lesser demons. Fun fact, while we're on the topic of True Names: There is someone on the Inner Council of Seven (the Inner Council of Clan Tremere) who is actively interested is discovering humanity's True Name.

[@Mr_m33k]

Thanks for the recommendation love the videos

[@theoldcountry]

Yeeeey! I'm happy to hear 😁

[@GranddaddyArcher115]

My memory is a bit spotty but I believe there is one way to lower a Earthbound's Torment. If a Earthbound where to target one of the imbued and successfully get one to be a trall they get access to a potentially world changing power. A human host that can sustain them for impunity. However the power that allows an extremist Imbued to serve as a vessel also means they have the force of personality to potentially fuse with the Earthbound and bring back to being one of the regular fallen.

[@theoldcountry]

This sounds very interesting! Do you by any chance remember where this information is from? Everything I've read indicated that once Torment reaches 10, it cannot be undone, cannot even be bought back with xp, and the Fallen is an incurable, evil monster 🤔

[@GranddaddyArcher115]

@theoldcountry I got this partly as a Hunter the reckoning fan who wanted to know more about Demon The Fallen. Which your videos have been great for. But essentially a Earthbound named Vassago took over a Imbued named Leaf Pankowski or Potter116. She was a Hunter of the redeemer Creed and believed in self sacrifice so much she willing gave her soul to Vassago. She had a different Hunter put her into a medically induced coma then when Vassago settled into her body her spirit and soul merged with it's and they fused together. Unfortunately there are no mechanics for this but you can find the story in Time of Judgement Hunter section and it's apparently also in Days of Fire. Wiki says Verse 86.

[@theoldcountry]

@@GranddaddyArcher115 Amazing! 🤯 Thank you for sharing this. I'll look it up 🥰

[@uselessfamiliar]

I love DtF. Thanks for making these videos

[@theoldcountry]

Entirely my pleasure! Glad you found this channel and you're enjoying the episodes. I found myself in unexpected love with Demon even before playing it. Now that I got to both run in and play it, I enjoy it even more... and hopefully, so will the listeners ;) Despite its flaws, it can really make for a memorable, fun time, and some really intense roleplay/storytelling. Cheers!

[@MrSerfer11]

Great video!!!

[@theoldcountry]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed 😉

[@MrSerfer11]

@@theoldcountry please make more!!!

[@theoldcountry]

I definitely will, but the next few episodes will probably be about general RPG stuff, Vampire, or Kupala Lore-hunt, because that's what I've been working on these days :D

[@0604854]

I would love a tutorial on creating an Earthbound as this sounds really cool

[@theoldcountry]

I'm really considering making a whole city of Fallen, from Earthbound to the lowest member of a local Court, and showing everyone my process over the course of a few episodes. It's going to be like writing a city book in youtube format 😁 I'm glad you left this comment! It only encourages me to go for it as soon as possible 🥰

[@0604854]

@@theoldcountry oh yes please I had a few ideas of my own for an Earthbound, in paticular a building being possessed by one sounds like it could be cool

[@stevewinkleburg5300]

You should 1: make a playlist with all of your rp videos and 2: make a demon one

[@theoldcountry]

😵Wait, I'm super confused. I do have playlists on the channel, a general GM stuff playlist and a Demon: the Fallen playlist among them. Are they not visible? Please let me know 😟 They should be visible and easily accessible from the channel main page (the playlists section) EDIT: if you're saying I should have a playlist just for solo RP videos, then, yeah, that's a fair point 🤔 Let me know if you want me to make one really quick 😁

[@stevewinkleburg5300]

@@theoldcountry rp playlist would be great, those are my favorite videos

[@theoldcountry]

@@stevewinkleburg5300 Coming right up! Also, uaaaa, I'd have never guessed those videos would be someone's favorites. I'm super happy to hear that! 😁

[@FBI-ju5no]

So the earthbound only have three lores? Weird. I mean, they don't really need any others, but the typical fallen have access to 5, overall. And two of the earthbound loves sound like heavily corrupted versions of the two common lores.

[@theoldcountry]

No, no, these are only the ones they have created/ discovered in addition to the normal ones, after returning to the physical world from the Pit. They have access to high-torment versions of their house lores and the common ones too... and some out-of-house lores as well 😄 They are very powerful! 😨

[@FBI-ju5no]

@@theoldcountry Damn, so I got lucky the one time I actually has to deal with one. Shit......

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

:)

[@theoldcountry]

Uuuu, the Smily Guy leaves a smily 😁I'll take that as a good sign

[@thesmilyguyguy9799]

@@theoldcountry :) Is A Good Sing? or A bad One? (:

[@zacharyhawley1693]

Infernalism writ large. Poor things too far gone for anything but to old yeller them.

[@theoldcountry]

Pretty much, although another comment here pointed out there might indeed be ways of "saving" an earthbound. I wouldn't count on it, though 😱