DEMON: Servants Of Darkness

[Steve Long]

Here’s our back-cover text describing DEMON:

UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS...

...the evil cultists and sorcerer-priests of DEMON work their evil! The world thinks of DEMON as a Satanic cult with delusions of grandeur, but in truth the organization has a far more sinister and deadly purpose. Can your heroes discover DEMON’s secrets in time to put an end to its foul schemes?

DEMON includes:

—a complete history of DEMON, with plot seeds for every important era of the twentieth century

—a review of the organization’s structure, philosophy, beliefs, and approaches to its true goal

—information on DEMON’s leadership, including character sheets for the leaders and their most important servants

—complete details on DEMON’s three levels of members (Brothers, Initiates, and Morbanes), with archetypes, power and spell templates, and other resources for each

—descriptions of DEMON’s Demonhames (secret cult centers and places of power) and Profane Regalia (enchanted items)

—advice for GMing DEMON and using the group in many types of campaigns

Inject a new dose of villainy into your game with DEMON!

ISBN: 1-58366-035-6
SKU: DOJHERO213
Price: $24.99 US

You can buy this book in our Online Store.
You can buy this PDF in our Online Store.

[Steve Long]

Here’s a copy of ghost-angel’s review of DEMON. Feel free to post other reviews, or links to them, if you like!

The Upside:

DEMON: Servants Of Darkness is a villain organization source book, the default setting is a Superheroic Game. DEMON is a mystic cult, and the most sinister villainous organization Hero Games has presented. A warning however, the entire source book is aimed at GMs, player knowledge of DEMON is found in many other source books, this is the real story.

Chapter One - A History Of DEMON. DEMON starts with a man named Luther Black finding a book, the Liber Terribilis. A book detailing the Kings Of Edom, creatures so ancient they were trapped in prisons long before the Earth even formed. Unlike Demons from the Netherworlds, these creatures want only to destroy. DEMON is set up to summon these creatures from their eternal prisons and into this world. Chapter One details how Luther Black set up and organized his cult throughout the twentieth century, from its first incarnations to its current form. Throughout the Chapter we're given comments on specific incidents in DEMON's history. But more useful to a game are the blocks detailing possible plots and uses for DEMON in various genres and subgenres. There's a section for a more pure Satanist Cult of DEMON for used with a Pulp game, and various ways to use DEMON in Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age comic books.

The history itself can also serve as various plots and story lines that show DEMON going from laughable threat to extremely dangerous enemy.

Chapter Two - The Organization, Goals, And Structure Of DEMON. This short chapter describes how DEMON relates to the rest of the Mystic World (or doesn't rather), and other cults dedicated to EDOM. And most importantly for those Heros who capture a DEMON member which level of member knows how much. It also describes the Goal of DEMON, both the one the members at large are working towards and the higher Inner Circle are working towards. For those who want some hard numbers to work with and want to know just how big DEMON is worldwide, there's a side bar that provides just that information in this chapter.

Chapter Three - The Leadership Of DEMON. Starting from the top down, this chapter covers the upper echelon of DEMON. The top includes Luther Black and his personal cadre known as the Inverted Trinity. We also get details on Luther's plan for DEMON.

Next is the Inner Circle are the five members of DEMON that the rank and file believe control the entire organization, Luther Black is a name unknown to much of the cult. The Maleficia details the network of each member of the Inner Circle and the specific roles they play within the group and how they relate to each other.

The group is nicely set up with two heads, giving more versatility to the organization. DEMON, as it stands, is a very sinister group and possibly much more deadly and serious for many games. If you need a more regular cult of Dark Worshippers it's set up that removing Luther Black from the group reduces them to a credible, but not world ending, threat. On the other hand, keeping Luther Black in the mix can provide something more than a simple run of the mill "take over the world" adversary.

Chapter Four - Members Of DEMON. This is goes from lowest to highest, starting with recruitment methods and what DEMON looks for in a member. Recruits belong to local cults, always under different names and generally short lived. Once they're elevated they become Brethren, the lowest member of DEMON itself, this is actual rank and file of DEMON itself. Above that are the Initiates, who take a hand in leadership roles, planning and lead the Brethren in criminal activities. The Morbanes run a Demonhame, or cell, of DEMON, some Demonhame's are run by more than one Morbane.

With each of the three levels of actual DEMON members (Brother, Initiate, and Morbane) a basic Character Write-up is provided. For the Brothers there are Types Of Brothers which provides some packages to customize the basic Brother Character for more detail and to set one apart from the other. The Initiates there are what is called Demon-Bound, the Initiates are the ones that perform almost all the actual summonings of demons, and they perform the ritual that binds a demon soul to a persons body, so this section lists the various kinds of demons they might summon and bind to a person for various reasons. The Morbane's provide the basic Morbane character as well as several packages to customize the kind of magic they specialize in.

All the variant character packages are useful if DEMON is going to be a main or recurring villain group, they'll help prevent each Demonhame from being cookie-cutter outfits. It also provides some ideas to help customize a Demonhame to face the Players, either as a tougher fight or to take advantage of weaknesses.

Chapter Five - Demonhames. This chapter details the base of a DEMON cell itself. It starts by describing what an average Demonhame contains and might look like, and then provides two full examples of Demonhames, one in New York and one in Hollywood. DEMON Around The World covers where the cult exists, how large holdings are and where they would like to expand. It also covers how the cult fits into each society around the world it has worked its way into.

Chapter Six - Infernal Devices And Malevolent Magic. The Profane Regalia is what DEMON calls its tools of the trade, various magic items, spells and devices it uses to even the odds with Superheroes and overcome the police. It's a short chapter but does a good job of providing a variety of magic items for DEMON to use in its fight against good.

Chapter Seven - A Gamemaster's Demonic Designs. The previous chapters outlined the organization, it's members and inner workings, devices and locations. This chapter covers using all that in a campaign. Demonic Campaign Advice discusses adjusting the threat level of DEMON from the Mooks Of The Mystic World to something much more sinister and deadly. Anatomy Of A Black Magic Plot is guidelines for a DEMON story arc. Starting with the motivation, the hook, structure of a satanic ritual, and preparing for the climax. Of all this the best advice is definitely in the Structure Of A Satanic Ritual which details how you can roleplay out the whole event from start to end, which can be a fun roleplaying experience.

The Champions Universe details how DEMON relates to specific organizations and other members of the supervillain world within the Champions Universe. Even if you don't use that setting it provides some groundwork on how to have DEMON interact with other groups.

Demon Genre By Genre is some advice on how to use DEMON in genres outside Superheroes and Pulp (the two most obvious genres to use the group with from Chapter One). It looks at adapting the cult to Dark Champions and more realistic modern action games. DEMON 3000 reintroduces the cult for use in a Galactic Champions game, as well as providing the future history of the organization through its apparent demise in 2012 in the Champions Universe (relating directly to Luther Blacks plots). Fantasy Hero and Star Hero both get taken a look at as well. Under Star Hero it looks specifically at CyberHero and Post-Apocalyptic Hero.

The Downside:

The goal of DEMON as presented may not appeal to some gamers, being one of the darker and more sinister organizations introduced for Hero. Also, it comes with a set end-date for the group to either succeed or fail in its goals. While this isn't all bad it requires some work to make DEMON either a more impending threat.

There isn't much more I could want out of this book though, it's thorough and well thought out. Either you're going to want a satanic world-ending cult or you won't in your games.

The Otherside:

DEMON is an extremely detailed and useful organization, either as is or adapted into a more traditional satanic cult. The threat level is easily turned up or down depending on where you want to place them in the world as well. The concepts, organization and ideas in the book are easily portable to any system of choice, just a small amount of work is needed to convert the few character sheets provided or provide your own cultists.

I think it's one of the best organization books out there. DEMON is versatile, adaptable and comes with a myriad of ways you can use it to confront the PCs either as a sub plot, single story arc or complete campaign focus. I definitely recommend it, if for no other reason than it provides an excellent framework for setting up a tiered and celled organization with a secret leadership.

[Sketchpad]

Demon: Servants of Darkness is a supplement for Hero Games/DoJ, Inc. Hero System (specifically Champions, though it could be used for a multitude of other genres). With that said, let me say that Demon is an interesting read. Within the 120+ pages, one would find a detailed organization that’s perfect as opposition for mystic heroes.
Looking through the book, Allen Thomas, the author, starts the reader off with a serving of Demon’s history. Covering the organization from it’s inception to present day, this chapter also gives many plot hooks for the various ages of superheroes (from Pulps to the Bronze Age, including some info on the eighties and nineties). It’s here that we’re introduced to Luther Black, Demon’s founder, and told of his strange and dark life, as well as information on various other members, some detailed within the book, while others are not.
Moving forward, Chapter Two details Demon as an organization, noting who knows what, Demon’s goals and various principles that they adhere to. I felt this chapter to be a bit light, as I would’ve liked to see more information on the agents here, as well as some extra package deals (mind you, there are package deals here … more on that later). Chapter Three begins to give us the meat of the book, introducing us to Demon’s leadership and giving us more details on its leader, the mystical Luther Black. It’s also within this chapter that stats for the various characters begin, all detailed with the normal Hero System format. As an added bonus, Mr. Thomas has included package deals for “The Maleficia”, the Inner Circle’s eyes and ears in the “normal world.”
Like Chapter Three, Chapter Four gives a series of stats for Demon’s soldiers and independebt agents. While there are no true package deals for the few soldiers/cultists available (a trend that was done quite well in Hero’s Viper and UNTIL books), there are notes on recruitment and cultist types (giving packages for various stereotypes). Though the packages are a bit weak, the representation of power groups was very well done, giving sample spells and powers for GMs to give to the various soldiers. Of the cultists listed, one of the staples of Demon past gets a bit of a face-lift: The Morbanes. Speaking as an old Champions fan, I remember the Morbanes from the old “Primus & Demon” book and can easily state that these are not the Morbanes of old. Finally we get a small sampling of super-villains that have some pretty interesting ideas behind them (The Devil Dog).
What good would an organization be without an evil lair? That’s exactly what Chapter Four gives … a small sampling of bases that Demon uses, including detailed maps and some interesting builds for base features. Of the ones given, I’ve found the idea of a vacated movie studio as one of the most unique ideas presented, especially with Keith Curtis’ great cartography. In addition to the lairs, there’s also a brief overview of Demon’s bases worldwide, giving some clues to where some other bases could be.
The last two chapters give the reader something that’s become expected from a Champions organization: Gadgets and Plot Ideas. Though not as substantial as some of the other sections, Chapter Six gives a nice smattering of equipment that Demon members (or even other characters) may carry. A nod to Mr. Thomas needs to be made here, as the treatment of Demon Bones was both interesting and a good build. The final chapter, Chapter Seven, presents various ideas on how to use the organization, some intriguing plot hooks and, as with all Champions books, how Demon fits in with various genres.
Overall, the book is a good read, especially for fans of the “Iron Age” of comics. The graphic design follows the uniform of typical Hero System books, though the illustrations were a bit lower quality in many regards. On the plus side, fan-favorite, Storn Cook, created an incredible cover. On a personal note, though I found the book an interesting read, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in the content. Allen Thomas has created an intriguing organization that would appeal to fans of DC’s Vertigo line. Unfortunately, I’m not within that demographic. Demon has always been a favorite of mine since it was first created back in the ‘80s and, though it’s always been depicted as a creepy mystical organization, I think that the 5th edition version is too dark for my taste.

[Lord Liaden]

This is probably my favorite supplement of the 5E Champions line. Allen Thomas struck IMHO a masterful balance between gothic horror and four-color superheroics. The multilayered organization of DEMON, the many types of operatives, magic spells, and artifacts, and the customizing options given for same, make for great variety in the foes PCs can encounter. And it features one of the grandest comic-style villainous master plans ever conceived.

[FenrisUlf]

This is probably my favorite supplement of the 5E Champions line. Allen Thomas struck IMHO a masterful balance between gothic horror and four-color superheroics. The multilayered organization of DEMON, the many types of operatives, magic spells, and artifacts, and the customizing options given for same, make for great variety in the foes PCs can encounter. And it features one of the grandest comic-style villainous master plans ever conceived.

Same here, though I'm hoping that Book of the Destroyer and Monster Island give it a run for its money.