Society and Culture

Demons are born into the world through Leylines controlled by Black Mana at seemingly random. It's rumored that Rakdos himself can control or influence these births. Demons are born almost exclusively as male and in fully adult bodies. Their minds are already filled with the necessary information to begin their life in Ravnica.   Demons are few enough in the world to have never properly formed any kind of society or culture of their own, not that they would want to. A Demon's selfishness and greed could never allow for a stable society with their own kin. One demon to another is simply unwanted competition. Normally Demons function as lone operatives, or as a leader with slaves under his wing. Rakdos is considered the most powerful Demon in Ravnica, and controls the entirety of his guild. He considers any demon to be under his authority and keeps them all in close check as they do his bidding. Even those who do not function within his guild directly would be foolish to outright disobey a summons from Rakdos when he calls.   Myths and legends have propagated around Demons for millennia, many of them true. Demons are seen by the greater society to be stains on the world, feared and hated for the trouble they tend to cause. Where Devils are considered to be more of a nuisance, Demons have a darker reputation in which their presence are rarely tolerated within the city scape. They are strictly forbidden to walk freely around the over world unless special permissions are granted, such as scheduled Rakdos events or within Rakdos establishments.   Many mortals will personally seek out Demons in the pursuit of their own power and wants. Only sufficiently powerful demons can grant contracts for exchanges, but the price for such things is often high. Breaching, or failing to fulfill a contract on either end pays a hefty toll, but these magically binding contracts are created in such a way that is almost never possible for a Demon to break, and will almost always end up with the mortal paying a high price.   Demons don't often worship a god. The selfishness of a Demon makes it more difficult to further subjugate himself towards another entity. Some gods may even outright reject the worship of a Demon, such as Erebos as Demons tend to eat the souls of the dead. Those who do find themselves in a religious order may find themselves worshiping Mogis, who respects the drive Demons have in making themselves stronger.

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Demon Traits

Skills

Free Skills

Customs +40, Native Tongue: Abyssal +40, Language: Common +40  

Culture, Morality, & Passions

Rix Maadi

Where all demons and devils eventually end up, Rix Maadi is the guildhall of the Cult of Rakdos. It's located deep in the Undercity -- lower even than the Golgari -- under a large mountain. Enclosing an active volcano, it holds the lava pit in which Rakdos slumbers. Newborn demons are quickly summoned to the chambers of Rakdos where they must swear loyalty to him or be purged.  

Standard Skills

All characters begin with +40 to customs and Native Tongue
Athletics, Brawn, Dance, Deceit, Insight, Influence, Locale, Sing, Willpower  

Professional Skills

Choose 3
Acting, Acrobatics, Gambling, Intimidation, Musicianship, Sleight, Streetwise, Survival, Track  

Moral Philosophy

Alignment: Evil. Choose one or two traits from the Evil philosophy.

Evil (POWx2+30)

Bloodthirsty, Chaotic, Cruel, Heartless, Murderous, Sadistic, Spiteful, Wicked  

Passion

Choose one or two from the following:
• Loyalty to Guild (Rakdos) (POW+INT+30)
• Desire to entertain
• Love (something evil or chaotic) (POWx2+30)
• Or add an an additional Trait to the evil Moral Philosophy.  

Careers

Agent, Beast Handler, Crafter, Entertainer, Guild Member (Cult of Rakdos), Hunter, Miner, Mystic, Scout, Sorcerer, Thief, Warrior  

“Speak my name thrice, and be rewarded.”

 

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Special Rules

Age

Demons do not age. They never grow old and are effectively immortal, but can still be killed.  

Speed

Movement: 6 meters (16 feet)
Flight Movement: 10 Meters (30 Feet)  

Flight

Demons may fly using their wings so long as they are not carrying weight equal to or exceeding their maximum encumbrance.  

Terrifying Aura

Through sheer intimidation a Demon is a grim sight to behold. Any being in the presence of a demon must make a Willpower check. Failing results in any Intimidation roll from the Demon to be rolled one grade easier. Fumbling makes these rolls two grades easier, and makes any roll against the Demon one grade harder. Individuals of the Good alignment make their willpower roll one grade harder.  

Demonic Contract

Demons begins the game belonging to a Demonic Contract Brotherhood. Once certain thresholds are met, the Demon is deemed powerful enough to begin handing out Demonic Contracts to mortals. The Demon is not obligated to create any contracts if he does not wish to. These contracts are magically binding to both the Demon and the recipient, but will always favor the Demon in its clauses. The demon can only maintain a number of contracts equal to 1/5th (20%) of his POW.

The purpose of these written contracts, is to offer a mortal something in exchange for a gain in power to the Demon. What the recipient wants can vary in concepts like power or love, material gains like wealth or powerful items, or favors. The Demon can then offer these things in exchange for something of a high price, like servitude, a vast return of investment of any material good, or even the soul of the individual. The recipient of the contract must agree to the terms signing it with their full name, or by willingly marking it with their blood. Demons are compelled not to outright lie about what is on the contract, but they can still tell half-truths. The contract is magically written out to explain exactly what is expected of both parties in no uncertain terms. The individual can make an insight check to see if they fully understand what it is they are reading. It does not matter if the individual can read or not.

Once the contract is completed, the signer is to make due with their promise to the demon and give them what is expected. It is possible for individuals to break the contract, or to avoid giving the Demon what is owed. If this happens, the Demon will have to track the individual down to forcefully obtain what is rightfully theirs. If the signer dies before they return was is owed, the Demon must find the signer's soul before it reaches Erebos, God of the Dead, and/or the items that were given to them. Borrowed stats from the Demon are not returned until the soul is consumed.

Consuming the soul of an individual will imbue the Demon with a permanent increase of power. Each soul will grant the Demon 1d4+4 additional Experience Rolls. These Experience Rolls should either be used immediately or marked in a separate pool as these points cannot be used for teaching. The individual does not need to be killed in order to consume their soul.  

Demonic Contract Brotherhood

All Demons are born belonging to this Brotherhood. The Brotherhood is a metaphysical magical entity rather than a physical group like one of the Guilds. The entity exists to give Demons the opportunity to create contracts to mortals, but only to Demons it deems powerful enough to offer such gifts. The Brotherhood cannot be physically interacted with outside of the contracts it creates, and the Demon is not obligated to create any contract if he does not want to. A Demon can cut off their ties to the Brotherhood at any time, but will never be able to rejoin it or be able to create contracts. To be deemed worthy the Demon must meet the following criteria...

• At least one Combat Style or Magical School equal to or greater than 80%
• Must be within the Evil Alignment
• Must have a POW score equal to or greater than 5
• Must invest 5 Experience Points into the Brotherhood  

Binding Weakness

Demons are susceptible to magical bindings. Any saving rolls against magical binding spells are one grade harder.  

A Demon's Name

The full name of a Demon is very important and carries powerful magic. Knowing the full name of a Demon, and saying it sequentially three times, allows for one to summon him from anywhere. This is how Rakdos is capable of keeping tabs on his Demons, and can compel them to do his bidding. A Demon should try to avoid giving out his full name to anyone unless he absolutely needs to, such as being contained within a powerful prison from which there is no easy escape. Once summoned and is dismissed, the Demon is free to teleport back to where they were originally if they will it. The Demon is fully aware that his name is being said out loud.

Knowing a Demon's full name also gives one the power to forcefully compel the Demon to do their bidding. The Demon can make an opposed Willpower roll at the Herculean difficulty to try and resist. Passing grants the Demon some time to act willingly, but does not fully break them from the bind. A critical success permanently breaks the bind the individual once had on the Demon. If the Demon is free to act, he can attempt to break the bind by killing the individual, or through some other means of preventing them from speaking his name. Attempting the roll will alert the summoner that the Demon is trying to break free.

All Demons are born with a name that he instinctively knows. Rakdos is also aware of the name of every Demon spawned into the world. Typically, one must have at least 26% in the Abyssal Language skill to be able to properly speak a Demon's name.  

Linked to Mana

If the Demon's Evil score drops below its base level and changes alignment, the Demon suffers permanent fatigue until the score is returned to at least its original level. This represents Demon's link to Black mana and its tenants. Changing to neutral will cause the demon to suffer fatigue at the "Tired" level. Changing to good will cause the demon to suffer fatigue at the "Exhausted" level.  

Heat Resistance

Being born of the infernal gives a Demon immunity to the negative effects of heat. Any fire damage from up to an intensity of 4 is negated. Any damage taken from fire of higher sources is halved.  

Necrotic Resistance

Born of Black mana, Demons only take half damage from any source of Necrotic attacks or effects.  

Weak to Holy

Holy attacks are doubly effective against Demons.  

Socially Hated

Demons are not welcome to freely walk the streets of Ravnica without special permission. Doing so will often lead to the detest of the public, an attempted arrest or, at worst, the attempted killing of the Demon. Demons are permitted presence at designated Rakdos facilities, or at planned Rakdos events. Most people will immediately distrust the Demon and will react with extreme suspicion.  

Hatred of Angels and Archons

Demons, like Devils, have a natural hatred of Angels and Archons. Born of White mana, those creatures are opposites to Demons in every way, and carry an intrinsic hatred towards them. Demons start the game with the Passion: Hatred of Angels and Archons. It starts at a base of (POWx2 + 40).  

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Guild Affiliations

Rakdos Ringleaders

All Demons are born into the Cult of Rakdos. They are beholden to Rakdos whether they like it or not, but are not beholden to the Guild itself and can act as free agents. As part of the Cult, Demons are treated as leaders and event organizers. They are tasked with setting up performances and parades, making sure to spread Rakdos' influence and to put on a good show. It's not uncommon for Demons to be part of a show, usually as a knife thrower, or some equivalent performing duty. Demons must ensure their subordinates fall in line and perform like their lives depends on it, as they often do.  

Orzhovian Contractors

The Orzhov Syndicate have been known to make their own contracts to recruit Demons in order to do their dirty work. These tasks are often collecting debts, or returning a specific individual for them to become a Thrall, an indentured servant for the Orzhov. The Demon is usually given vast amounts of wealth, or even permission to consume the soul of the individual once the task is carried out.  

Gruul Clans

Demons may rarely be seen within the Gruul ranks. Their taste for destruction is not quite at the levels of their Devil kin, but if they somehow don't get their fill of killing from the Cult of Rakdos, then the Gruul clans may offer to scratch that itch. It is also possible that a member of the Gruul has learned of a Demon's name, and is forcing them into service for the Guild.  

Dimir Agents

Similar to the Gruul, it is rare to see a Demon operate within House Dimir. The House will not often employ a demon into full service, and instead may barter with a Demon to perform a service. It is also not impossible for an agent to be in possession of one, or several, Demon's names, and can summon them to fulfill a task.  

Other Guilds

Under no circumstance will any other guild willingly employ a Demon. Even if a member of the guild knows a Demon's name it is more likely they will summon the Demon to kill him rather than make a deal. It is possible that an individual will act partly outside the guild to either summon, or barter with a demon in order to fulfill some selfish desire. Though these contracts aren't ever considered to be actual affiliations with that specific guild.  

Unguilded Demons

It is not uncommon to come across an unguilded Demon. The strive for personal growth and power can very often lead a Demon to pursue these desires as a lone operative. Results may vary without the support of a Guild, but with fewer people to answer to a Demon can expect to enjoy freedom a lot more than normal. Demons are still subjugated to Rakdos, whether they like it or not. Defying Rakdos can lead to deadly consequences.  

History

WIP