Demon: The Descent

Demon: The Descent
RPG published by White Wolf / Onyx Path
Rule System	Storytelling System
Authors	Dave Brookshaw et al
First Publication	2013

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I said to my soul, be still, and let the darkness come upon you. Which is the darkness of God.
— T.S. Eliot, East Coker

The very first gameline created explicitly for the 2nd edition of the New World of Darkness/Chronicles of Darkness. It abandons the explicitly Christian themes of Demon: The Fallen for a much more unique setting of "techgnostic espionage", aka The Matrix meets Dogma.

See, the Chronicles of Darkness has a thing in it called the God-Machine. Essentially, it is a mechanical demiurge - an extraordinarily powerful supercomputer that takes Clarke's Third Law to its logical extreme. It may not be a true god, but it's certainly the closest thing the Chronicles of Darkness has to one, and it's strongly implied that the current status quo is all a part of its incomprehensible plan. That's not to say it's particularly invested in mortals, though- it can only view the universe in terms of inputs and outputs, and humans (and other supernatural beings at that matter) are only important to it when their presence either poses a threat to its Infrastructure or when they are required for one of its designs to function. This God-Machine is so powerful that it can create sentient quantum reality computer programs, called Angels. And sometimes, these Angels get corrupted. Usually this occurs when an Angel starts to take an interest in humanity and the physical world around them, but it may also occur in a situation where the orders that the God-Machine gives them are impossible to carry out. These Angels gain their free will and Fall, burning out their connections to the God-Machine and becoming independent entities, called Demons. These demons then have to form Covers to hide their true forms from reality or risk being discovered by the God-Machine's loyal angels and mortal servants. If they do end up being exposed to their creator, they will either have their minds erased or be dismantled so their parts can be used to build new angels. Luckily, they retain just enough knowledge of how their creator works to hack reality in their favor.

The end result is awesome; spy-thriller themes against a religious horror meets mad science veneer.

The first gameline in the NWoD to completely abandon the traditional Morality system; instead, Demons have Cover, which is how well they stay in character for their human guises and how well those guises blend into reality. For example, a demon whose Cover is low might live in the basement of a building that doesn't have one, or drive a car whose make doesn't exist anywhere else- it gets the job done for a short time, but unless they can strengthen it even a little bit of investigation by mortals will make it clear that something's not right. There's nothing mentally wrong with burning a Cover out (and in fact, "going loud" gives you a temporary but potent boost in power for when staying unnoticed isn't an option)... but it does make you an easy target for the God-Machine's lackeys and will likely get you killed if you don't get more Cover right away.

Incarnations

A Demon's Incarnation determines what its task was as an angel prior to their Fall. Afterwards, they tend to stick to these Incarnations, using their abilities to further their Agenda.

Destroyers

Agents of endings, the Swords are tasked with ending anything from a single life to a whole city. The Fall often set in after the demon in question began to let its feelings get in the way of its work- compassion might make it refuse to eliminate a target, or bloodlust might cause it to perform acts of destruction it wasn't ordered to commit. While most of these targets are human, they occasionally go after other supernatural beings. If a Demon's cover were to fail, it is the Angelic equivalents of the Destroyers who are sent out to hunt them. They keep destroying after their fall, in the hopes of coming to terms with their relationship with violence.

Destroyers' Demonic Forms are literal combat monsters, and usually focus on finesse and precise application of force rather than simple brute strength (though that does show up too). They specialize in the use of Cacophony Embeds.

Guardians

The Shields are sent by the God-Machine to protect a charge- a specific human, a piece of Infrastructure, or something much more bizarre. Doing this duty faithfully, some of them start to obsess over their target, realized that the God-Machine is the charge's biggest threat (which is technically true, inasmuch as the Machine normally protects individuals whose later death or sacrifice is needed to create Infrastructure), or failed and the sheer shock of losing their charge mad them Fall. Guardians tend to be reserved, but once befriended they are the closest friend you can wish. They can be rather twitchy when it comes to protecting those around them though, often giving in to paranoia.

The demonic forms of Guardians can vary greatly, though most have some kind of enhanced senses or boosted mobility; depending on what they were assigned to protect, they can specialize in either direct defense or the proactive removal of threats. They specialize in Instrumental Embeds.

Messengers

The Trumpets whisper into the ears of humanity in mortal form, appear directly to mortals to burn commandments into their thoughts or shape minds directly. Whether the messages were true or not was irrelevant, at least until they started thinking about the content of the message rather than the mission. Some wanted to see the results of their messages for themselves instead of returning; others refused to repeat messages they perceived as lies, or wondered what would happen if they made their own messages. In any event, they Fell, and now they put their communication skills to good use. While their knack for judging intentions and knowing the right thing to say makes them expert diplomats, their knowledge of how easily others can be manipulated causes them to grow suspicious and critical of new information.

Messengers have demonic forms suited to communication; in many cases this means they're built for awe and intimidation, complete with hypnotic powers or the ability to control the attention of others. However, it's just as common for them to be somewhat stealthier, with a greater emphasis on receiving communication s than sending them. Their specialized Embed category is Vocal.

Psychopomps

The Wheels are builders, taking elements and turning them into a whole. This can be a physical object, but also alter fate, select reincarnations and get rid of spirits and ghosts in an area as needed by the God-Machine. They create, modify, and move Infrastructure as the God-Machine desires. Sometimes things go wrong though, causing a Fall. Some Wheels are given impossible orders or have their creations destroy themselves; others want to improve what they see as flaws in the God-Machine's design, or start caring about the components they build with. Such a Fall gives a Psychopomp a unique view in how society works with all of its moving parts, though the urge to keep rearranging the world around them doesn't do them any favors now that they're a part of the system themselves.

Psychopomp demonic forms are alien even by the standards of demonic forms- wheels of burning metal, a cluster of floating metal spheres covered in robotic arms, and the like. They favor the use of Mundane Embeds.

Agendas

Upon Falling, a Demon has to decide what it wants to do. Most of them join an Agenda, which determines how they interact with other Demons and how they go about their existence within the God-Machine. Unusual for a World of Darkness game however is that (with the right Merit) an Unchained can belong to up to two Agendas at the same time.

Inquisitors

"Knowledge is power, hide it well" might as well be the catchphrase of this Agenda, whose members are also called Watchers or Paranoids. By discovering, trading, and hoarding information they seek to stay one step ahead of the God-Machine to ensure their survival. This makes Inquisitors extremely paranoid loners, only associating with others if it is in their interest to do so. Arguably, the only reason they even bother doing that is because they know that a lone demon quickly ends up being a dead one when the hunter angels show up. Their end goal is to gather enough information about the God-Machine to manipulate it directly in a way that it can no longer detect their presence.

Inquisitors believe Hell to be a personal, internal thing: a state of mind reached through enlightenment. This is why they gather information so obsessively: they are seeking out Hell.

Integrators

Not all Demons wanted to Fall. Some want to be Angels again, and really badly. They are loyal to the God-Machine and seek to return, but they know that if they do so right away they'd just be destroyed. As such, the Integrators (Idealists or Turncoats, depending how non-Integrators see them) are plotting to return, but there is disagreement within the ranks about the method. One group believes that they did not Fall and are instead working for some grander purpose. The second and largest faction believes that by altering the God-Machine in a way that would grant it more empathy with the human condition, they can exist without being altered. The last faction wants to return with their individuality intact and on their own terms, believing that the more "human" angels are less likely to Fall.

The Integrators are the only Agenda not seeking out Hell: they consider it to be suffering and pain, pitying those demons actively seeking it. Needless to say, those demons consider the Integrators deluded at best and actively traitorous at worst.

Saboteurs

The Saboteurs take strongly after the Raveners from Demon: The Fallen. They believe that the God-Machine ought to be destroyed at all costs, wrecking Infrastructure and killing its followers. The Saboteurs (Thugs, Soldiers) are split into two sides for this fight: one wants to reach for political action and infiltration with the occasional act of terror to attain this goal, while the other wants to make the war quite open and destroy everything as quickly as possible.

While they have no qualms about killing Angels, making them Fall is by far the preferred option. Saboteurs are driven, seeing no sacrifice too great to attain their goal, but these sacrifices are not made lightly. Were it not for the fact that they are rather disorganized (to say nothing of the more obvious risks), the Saboteurs would have been able to cause a lot more damage. Saboteurs have a very simple view of what Hell is: that what remains after killing the God-Machine.

Tempters

Tempters are alive and loving it. Something of a mix of the Toreador and the Ventrue, they are, depending on who you ask, either lazy sods who make others do their work for them, or the only ones who realize you need some kind of infrastructure (and occasionally Infrastructure) to work with if you want to face the God-Machine. Tempters (aka the Decadents or Builders) seek both pleasure and power: one for its immediate reward, and the other for what it gives them in the long run.

Through their experiences and resources, they seek to either find or build Hell, considering it a physical place; the problem is, none of them are entirely sure how to do either of those things.

Despite what you'd suggest from their nature, the Tempters are actually the most organized out of all the Agendas, finding that the structure that they give their members help attaining their goal, or at least enjoying themselves on the way.

Multiple Agendas

The Unchained can be part of two agendas if they choose to be so, giving them the Conditions of both Agendas.

• Inquisitor-Integrators seek out knowledge to either enlighten themselves or become able to rejoin the God-Machine. Either is good.
• Inquisitor-Saboteurs serve as military intelligence or secret agents, supporting the frontline soldiers.
• Inquisitor-Tempters build a network of contacts and gather money and knowledge to support the cause of either Agenda.
• Integrator-Saboteurs are something of a contradiction: their members being either desperate or deeply conflicted.
• Integrator-Tempters want to build and return to grace, hoping to use the first to attain the second.
• Saboteur-Tempters can be cutthroat businessmen or bon vivants, enjoying life to the fullest while using their influence on people against the God-Machine.