Demon: the Fallen - Infernal mechanics & abilities

In this episode of the podcast, we are taking a look at what goes into a Demon: the Fallen character, the interesting mechanics the game makes use of, and the awesome innate abilities all characters possess.
While I do consider this a podcast, first and foremost, and my video editing skills are so bad they are used in the Pit as an instrument of pain, I did try to accompany the audio with a simple presentation, for anyone who wants to have the notes on hand.
Enjoy!

[@theelderkine]

Just found your channel as I’m getting interested in DtF. Really good stuff and I’m looking forward to watching more.

[@theoldcountry]

Yeeey! I'm happy to hear and I hope I won't disappoint in future episodes. Welcome to the Old Country! "Enter freely and of your own will" as Dracula would have said it 😆

[@theelderkine]

@@theoldcountry - Happy to subscribe!

[@thatpurpledaddy6731]

On the ground floor of subs! #23! Looking forward to more

[@theoldcountry]

Welcome to the channel and thank you for the sub! Unless disobedient childer and incompetent ghouls distract me from my labor, the upload schedule will be pretty consistent, and more will come, in regards to music, Demon: the Fallen, and Vampire. I also look forward to it and unlike most Tzimisce, I'm glad you decided to visit and give the Old Country a chance 😀. You are welcome to stay for as long as you enjoy it! 😉

[@asdrubaelvect8038]

Can a demon Host be a corpse, so it's solely the demon in charge

[@theoldcountry]

Well, even if the mortal has been dead for a very short time (I imagine we're talking minutes), the demon's memories still mix with those of the host, though the human soul is supposedly no longer there. If the body is long dead (an actual corpse), then I guess it doesn't make for a suitable vessel anymore. At least, that's what I got from the books. Do check out the more recent episode on possession and memory for more details on this :D The Players' Guide offers quite a few narrative options in regards to the conflict between host and demon, though, inevitably, the Fallen does win and take over fully, while still remembering and partly "being" the host. It can lead to very nuanced and interesting stories. On a different note, how is Commorragh this time of year? 😁

[@asdrubaelvect8038]

@@theoldcountry lovely actually. The festival of existential torment is coming up it's grand fun. We get the participants entirely too high and then ask them to prove that they are still alive. When they can't we hit them with sticks. Some damn fool released the razor pigeons too early though and had to be dealt with. So we told him to go collect them. He got 1. 😁

[@theoldcountry]

Lovely! Always a treat to see an incompetent Beastmaster lose control of their flock of Razors :)) I imagine it must've been... quite a scream *ba dum tss* (Haemonculus dad joke, sorry, it's a classic, I just had to say it)

[@asdrubaelvect8038]

@@theoldcountry speaking of haemonculi, we had the coven of The wretched circus implant tear ducts. I was going to make a crack about refreshment stands but honestly I just thought it was funny. Toodles TTS Vect is best Vect

[@bloodoftheunicorns2621]

Can demons be embraced by vampires?

[@theoldcountry]

Hmmm, very good question! Doesn't look like it, though, and I'm not aware of any canonical instance of this happening 🤔 The Fallen is anchored to the host's body only as long as the host stays alive. The Embrace effectively kills the victim before reawakening them as undead, thus the Fallen spirit would be ejected from the host when that happens, and would immediately feel the pull of the Abyss, forcing them to find another vessel. The only situations where I can see this working is if the Fallen spirit is intentionally transferred into an undead vessel (using certain Lores - which is very much possible), or if the Fallen possesses an already dead but yet un-awakened embraced host (something I see Slayers doing, maybe, but even so, it would be very rare and quite an amazing feat). However, this might render them incapable of receiving faith from preexisting pacts or making new pacts (since the host body is dead, treated as a corpse/object), thus forcing them to do what Earthbound do - make a cult and obtain their faith through rituals of worship, not personal pacts 🤔 So, from what I've read, transferring one of the Fallen into a Vampire body is possible, but embracing them will kill the host and force the spirit to find a new vessel 😁

[@tzaphkielconficturus7136]

@@theoldcountry The Embrace also probably wouldn't work on the demon's host, since the soul has not been there for some time.

[@theoldcountry]

@@tzaphkielconficturus7136 I would be very much tempted to agree, though there are instances in which the host comes back to the foreground, even after months of possession. The Players Guide says it varies from case to case, and, in a particular scene from the Demon novels, the Devil Gaviel brings the host to the foreground and in control of the body for a few seconds, to confuse an attacker. Gaviel also has frequent dreams in which he just... talks to the soul of the host 🤔 A very curious recurrence. Though I personally like to think once the Fallen taken over the body, the host's soul is already gone, it seems things aren't so straightforward. Some souls are completely replaced/destroyed during possession but some still reside somewhere in back of the Fallen's mind (whether they are real of just figments of the imagination - a manifestation of guilt, having taken someone's body)

[@tzaphkielconficturus7136]

@@theoldcountry Interesting. I suppose it may be more complicated. Maybe only part of the soul is gone? The avatar and shadow have left, but some part of it remains? Maybe the Khu is still there, though I struggle with Mummy soul-anatomy, and it may not be the correct paradigm here. I suppose the soul could also have been subsumed into the fallen, while it resides in the body, which may help to explain why they seem to maintain some of the host's sense of self. Subsuming the host's Avatar and/or Shadow may be what balances their torment, rather than any property of the physical body, for example. Ugh, I guess I have to actually go acquire some demon books, now.

[@theoldcountry]

@@tzaphkielconficturus7136 Know that I am predominantly operating within Demon lore paradigm here, and though the game is predominantly like "you're possessing a simple, unawakened mortal", I don't see why a gilguled mage or a mage who's just had it really rough couldn't become a fitting host for a Fallen 🤔 You raise some very interesting questions here, mentioning the Avatar or the Shadow. I doubt Demon will offer any straightforward solutions, but do consider getting the books, if you find it interesting. This particular topic, possession situations, who gets possessed and what happens afterwards is covered in the... Players Guide (if I remember correctly). But on this note, I'd love to play a mage who gets possessed, and though they can no longer perform dynamic magic, the Fallen begins understanding what led reality up to this point, and why steering humanity is a certain direction is so crucial. Probably Faustian... not sure, though 😁 Ah, you've given me such delicious food for thought 🥰