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DEMON after 2012 - your thoughts?


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This is just for fun, and not related to any official future treatment of DEMON.

 

In the official Champions Universe timeline, DEMON's master plan was supposed to come to fruition in 2012. Apparently it didn't.

 

Obviously this can be dealt with by moving the timeline along a bit, so it doesn't happen until whenever it is convenient for a GM's campaign. Even so, though, eventually things hit the fan, and presumably The Plan fails.

 

It would be interesting if it didn't. Fixing that mess would be... challenging. We can discuss that here.

 

But what I mainly had in mind was: what was left of DEMON after the failure? What were the ramifications? What did the remnants do?

 

What would post-Master Plan DEMON look like in your campaign?

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I personally don't have a firm opinion yet, but I suspect there wouldn't have been much left of their core leadership.

 

An Inner Circle member or two might have survived, but I would probably postpone that decision until it was dramatically interesting. The main problem would be needing to know exactly what happened during the ritual.

 

I'd probably leave it up to the Morbanes to lead the reconstruction. Obviously a lot of them will have gone down too, both in combat with DEMON's enemies, and through backlash from the failure. Asking why the survivors survived would be useful.

 

DEMON would still be a pariah after the failure. In particular, they would be on the outer with the Descending Hierarchy, so they would have trouble summoning demons. Add that to their generally limited grasp of magic, and you would have a magic based group with only fairly limited access to magic!

 

Anyone for the 80s/technological version of DEMON? It could be an option! Of course such heresy would be rejected by other factions of DEMON.

 

A general issue would be: why stick with the DEMON brand name?

 

The most obvious point is that it only just failed. Next time it might succeed, even if it isn't entirely clear at what.

 

And DEMON are cultists. Just because their leaders failed doesn't mean they will all walk away from the cult. Some factions might change the name, but others are likely to stick with it, particularly since, in magic, names are power.

 

So there would still be a DEMON. Quite likely more than one. Probably more than there are GMs wanting to use them...

 

(I kind of like the "new" techno-DEMON. I might think about it some more.)

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Champions Universe 2017 (Earth - QM) 

 

DEMON's Inner Circle and Leadership were dominated by the Kings of Edom. They were slain by the Circle of the Scarlet Moon. 

The DEMON organization continued to function on inertia. However Mystic Beings on Champions Earth and Extradimensional Beings looked upon Champions Earth with malicious intent.

After a period of infighting a New Inner Circle was born. It's New Leader, a Mystic/Magician named...

 

"What you did not think it would be that easy did you. A simple technomagical ritual and my name vanished from you technological dependencies. True Names are Power, granting you control over them and their works. "He who shall not be named" seems trite. They are simply call me Archmage of DEMON. The Inner Circle call me Master and soon so too shall you."... 

 

...the Archmage is a practicing magician who draws his powers from mystical entities such as Carreau (Powers), Oleillet (Dominions), Asmodeus (Revenge), and Leviathan (Deceit), who lend their energies for spells. The Archmage also wields mystical artifacts including ,  Eye of Pythius, the Book of the Furies, - a grimoire which contains knowledge of soul magic.

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Every group that predicts dooOOOOoom at a certain date and fails to have it take place always just says "oh I forgot to round a number" or pretends it never happened and sets another date, so maybe DEMON does that.

 

Very reasonable, but a lot more mundane than you usually get in a comic-book storyline. ;)  What DEMON's founder, Luther Black, was working toward is one of the most epic plots ever for a mastermind supervillain, and it really deserves an epic outcome and consequences.

 

As others have pointed out on these forums, the closest we currently have to an official account of events on February 29, 2012, is on pp. 156-57 of DEMON: Servants Of Darkness. According to that Luther Black's end game was spectacular, but a spectacular failure, resulting in his demise and that of the Inner Circle. Assuming that the entire leadership of DEMON also perished in that event, it would be most logical for DEMON to fragment, with each Demonhame going its own way; but some of the more powerful Morbanes might compete for supremacy and the opportunity to reorganize DEMON around themselves. But in that scenario the group would probably still be in relative chaos today, and a significantly reduced threat to world security; although the war between rival Morbanes could spark all manner of local crises for heroes.

 

However, I noticed that the account in D:SOD doesn't mention that the Inverted Trinity also perished with the other leaders. Assuming that isn't simply an oversight, the way I would handle the situation is this: at the moment of Black's extinction, his control over the Black Shepherd slipped, allowing the consciousness of Aganju Lambo to cast out the demonic Imhullu that Black had placed in him to control him... and cast them into the Left Hand. Lambo regained his free will while retaining the powers of the Black Shepherd, and the Left Hand became his slave.

 

This would put the Black Shepherd at the head of the Inverted Trinity, and in a position to take effective control of DEMON. No one knows more about the inner workings of DEMON, including the role the Morbanes' Soul Gems played in Black's monitoring of them. The Morbanes were already accustomed to receiving their orders from the Shepherd on behalf of DEMON's mysterious leader, so most might not even be aware of the change in leadership. DEMON could thus go on much as it had before, but with a greater focus on acquiring worldly power than it had under Luther Black... which could make it an even more aggressive foe.

 

The only necessary structural change would be to fill a new Inner Circle to lead the Maleficia; probably by "promoting" Morbanes to those roles, as Dyer van der Bleek had been. However, it would not be unreasonable to keep Demoiselle Nocturne and her Night Terrors, since she could have escaped to the Dreamzone before being consumed with the other Inner Circle members.

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However, I noticed that the account in D:SOD doesn't mention that the Inverted Trinity also perished with the other leaders. Assuming that isn't simply an oversight, the way I would handle the situation is this: at the moment of Black's extinction, his control over the Black Shepherd slipped, allowing the consciousness of Aganju Lambo to cast out the demonic Imhullu that Black had placed in him to control him... and cast them into the Left Hand. Lambo regained his free will while retaining the powers of the Black Shepherd, and the Left Hand became his slave.

 

This would put the Black Shepherd at the head of the Inverted Trinity, and in a position to take effective control of DEMON. No one knows more about the inner workings of DEMON, including the role the Morbanes' Soul Gems played in Black's monitoring of them. The Morbanes were already accustomed to receiving their orders from the Shepherd on behalf of DEMON's mysterious leader, so most might not even be aware of the change in leadership. DEMON could thus go on much as it had before, but with a greater focus on acquiring worldly power than it had under Luther Black... which could make it an even more aggressive foe.

 

I like that handling of the Inverted Trinity post-Leap Day. 

 

I do, however, have a question concerning their regeneration ability, which was specifically tied to Luther Black being alive.  Are you saying that the backwash of the ritual's failure gave the Black Shepherd enough points to buy that limitation off (so to speak) in addition to casting out Imhullu?

 

As an aside, the fate of the Inverted Trinity was something I wrestled with when plotting the TASK FORCE version of the Leap Day working.  I had almost resigned myself to them surviving the ritual in my version until I noticed that limitation with all three of them.

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I like that handling of the Inverted Trinity post-Leap Day. 

 

I do, however, have a question concerning their regeneration ability, which was specifically tied to Luther Black being alive.  Are you saying that the backwash of the ritual's failure gave the Black Shepherd enough points to buy that limitation off (so to speak) in addition to casting out Imhullu?

 

As an aside, the fate of the Inverted Trinity was something I wrestled with when plotting the TASK FORCE version of the Leap Day working.  I had almost resigned myself to them surviving the ritual in my version until I noticed that limitation with all three of them.

 

Glad you like it. :)  As to your question, I see three ways of looking at it. One, the Inverted Trinity are noted as fighting the attacking superheroes during Black's apotheosis attempt, and since they weren't a component of that ritual, they could easily have been elsewhere when Dyer van der Bleek blew up Black and the Inner Circle. They may have lost their Resurrection with Black's death, but didn't need it to survive the events of that day.

 

Two, "Luther Black's consciousness and his soul -- everything that made Luther Black who he was -- was subsumed in Sharna-Gorak's monstrous being." (D:SOD p. 157) It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Black didn't "die" in the conventional sense, and so that proscription on the Inverted Trinity's immortality didn't apply. As long as Sharna-Gorak lives, Black can be said to live too.

 

Three, your "backwash" suggestion wouldn't be nearly the strangest coincidence to occur in a comic-book world. ;)

 

(Actually, there's a fourth way to look at it. Champions Online greatly changed the details of Luther Black's endgame and its outcome for use in the MMORPG, and I don't know if Hero Games would be required to follow that version. I didn't think it appropriate to bring that up here, but we can discuss it if anyone's interested.)

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The only necessary structural change would be to fill a new Inner Circle to lead the Maleficia; probably by "promoting" Morbanes to those roles, as Dyer van der Bleek had been. However, it would not be unreasonable to keep Demoiselle Nocturne and her Night Terrors, since she could have escaped to the Dreamzone before being consumed with the other Inner Circle members.

 

Now that my mind is on this subject, I'm thinking of how the Inner Circle might be filled by more unique beings than Morbanes, to keep something of the flavor of the original. GMs who want to make the effort can design their own, of course. It would also be fairly easy to update the Inner Circle from the Fourth Edition version of DEMON in Classic Organizations, although fitting them into the roles defined in D:SOD would require some tweaking. However, I believe the existing precedents in the current official setting open a path to inserting other published characters into those roles quite comfortably.

 

Assuming Demoiselle Nocturne did survive Luther Black's failure, she'd probably be too powerful, too useful, and too knowledgeable about DEMON, for the Black Shepherd to easily get rid of. She'd be his most dangerous rival for control of DEMON, which she aspired to even while Black was in charge.

 

It was strongly implied in D:SOD that the witch Chantal, from Shades Of Black, is the fifth Inner Circle member whom Black never found, and whom Dyer van der Bleek filled in for. I would have the Black Shepherd finally find her -- or rather, the enchanted dagger to which her soul is linked. With that, the Shepherd would surely have the occult knowledge to incarnate Chantal in a new body, and place her in charge of the Wandering Magi... while keeping her dagger, its link to her being a threat he can hold over her to keep her in line.

 

For leader of the Bogeymen I'd revive a character from the Fourth Edition version of DEMON, the Chameleon (last seen in Classic Organizations). In the current official DEMON, one class of the Demon-Bound are "Dopplegangers," able to duplicate the powers of their opponents -- just as the Chameleon can do. The example of the supervillain Morningstar (from Champions Villains Vol. 3) shows that the effect of the demon-binding can on rare occasions become permanent. A master spy like the Chameleon would make a more natural leader for the Bogeymen than the Dalang did.

 

As to the remaining two Inner Circle members, I was thinking that the Black Shepherd could "poach" them from other groups. Specifically, I'd have him recruit Gyre, of the Devil's Advocates villain team (see CV Vol. 2), to head the Black Scientists. As one who combines magic with advanced science, Gyre coexists uneasily with the other Advocates, but would fit naturally with that branch of DEMON. Having a whole cadre of researchers and spies whose goals are compatible with hers at her command, would have to appeal to her. She's far too devoted to her quest to uncover the principles of the Universe to spend much time plotting for power, which should suit the Black Shepherd.

 

For leadership of the Moneylenders, I might go with Eric Marburg, aka Archdruid Airetach of the Circle of the Scarlet Moon. (Also in CV Vol. 2)  Marburg is a very accomplished financier, as well as a knowledgeable occultist; but his limited personal magic power may make him seem less of a threat to the Black Shepherd's leadership. DEMON's resources would greatly increase Marburg's power in both the Mystic and Financial worlds, while DEMON would gain a mole at the upper levels of the Scarlet Moon hierarchy. (Circle members routinely scheme against each other, so I doubt Marburg's conscience would be troubled.)

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The Inverter Trinity becomes the rulling party of DEMON, but now they take there orders from the King of Edom which absorb Black. Which means the orders need not follow rime or reason.

 

Since the Kings of Edom don't care about DEMON much (all in all, Morbains are just food for it), they leave them alone. Which means the group splinters. Except that they all follow the orders of the Invented Trinity, even if they don't understand the orders.

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I think Marburg is too savvy to be drawn into DEMON. He'd probably have had his suspicions about its true goals before 2012, being one of the ringleaders of Black's previous organization. I don't see him getting involved in a cult dedicated to freeing the Kings of Edom, particularly if much more powerful leader figures were making recruitment attempts and his chances of steering the group to his own ends were slim to none. Though he might poach resources and personnel from fragmented cells for his own use.

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That's a very reasonable perspective, Matt. Yeah, I wasn't completely sold on Marburg either. I was trying to simplify the rebuilding process for GMs by pulling the best fitting characters from what's available.

 

I see two broad paths for a GM to take DEMON post-Black: either find people to put in the leadership who can keep as much of the existing organization together as possible; or let it break into splinter factions, and either coalesce under new leaders after a power struggle, as was the case with VIPER in the past, or eventually dissipate into minor gangs, some of which would be absorbed by existing groups and villains.

 

I could even see several rival factions, each claiming to be the new DEMON, coalesce around powerful, charismatic supernatural supervillains from outside DEMON, such as Black Paladin, Dark Seraph, Zorran the Artificer, Rictus, even Takofanes. If Shadow Destroyer was still active on Champions Earth, he'd be the most logical being to take over DEMON, since he secretly led Black to the Liber Terribilis to benefit SD's own Qliphothic masters. But in Champions Online SD lost to Dr. Destroyer and Champions Earth's heroes, and the direction the MMO has taken him doesn't really fit with renewing DEMON.

 

Another option that occurred to me would be to put Sharna-Gorak the Destroyer at the head of DEMON. D:SOD says that the essence of Luther Black was absorbed into the Destroyer, giving him everything that Black knew. That wouldn't necessarily free Sharna-Gorak from the dimension his body has been in for millennia; but perhaps he could send Black's body back to Earth as his avatar, physically healed and with all Black's knowledge, and the fragment of the Destroyer's power it had contained -- but occupied by S-G's consciousness. DEMON would now have the overall goal of freeing Sharna-Gorak's true form, and either finishing the destruction of the world S-G sought at the end of the Atlantean Age, or completing Luther Black's apotheosis scheme, but now to benefit the Destroyer.

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I could see something like what happened with VIPER, the group fragments for a time into individual mystic terror cells and then re-consolidates under a new leader.

 

If I was going to pick a new leader, I'd go with Archimago. From his 4th Edition write-up in Creatures of the Night: Horror Enemies, he was in debt to the Kings of Edom. Perhaps they could welcome him back as the new leader of DEMON.

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Oooh... that's a very interesting suggestion, Steve! After all, Archimago is part of current official CU history. Surely there was enough supernatural mojo on Luther Black's birthday that Archimago's soul could tap into to overcome the bars to his return to Earth. Or perhaps as you say, the Kings took that opportunity to deliberately send him back. Maybe he could possess the body of a Morbane through which he could gradually bring the others into line -- not one of them could come close to matching Archimago's knowledge and power.

 

Hey, Dean Shomshak, if you're reading this, whaddaya think?

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I could see something like what happened with VIPER, the group fragments for a time into individual mystic terror cells and then re-consolidates under a new leader.

 

If I was going to pick a new leader, I'd go with Archimago. From his 4th Edition write-up in Creatures of the Night: Horror Enemies, he was in debt to the Kings of Edom. Perhaps they could welcome him back as the new leader of DEMON.

 

5th Edition had him pledged to the Solipsist at the time of his death (The Mystic World, p. 54).

 

Having said that, I'm with Lord Liaden on this one.  Given the nature of the entities involved ([cough]Sharna-Gorak[/cough]) and the rather spectacular nature of the canonical working's failure, it's not that much of a stretch to see something like this happening.

 

Even worse, have both Archimago and a surviving Black Shepherd competing for control of the remains of DEMON.  You all thought the Leap Day working was bad...

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Well, if anything could bring Archimago back, the Leap Day Working could be it. And considering Archimago's prophetic talents, he might have planned for it all along. The mightiest black magician of a thousand years, tied to multiple cosmic entities, dies of a heart attack?

 

The greatest trick of the Devil is to make you think he doesn't exist.

 

As Segerge suggests, you could have multiple entities of power struggling with each other as they try to claim and rebuild DEMON. For an extended story arc, there'd first be a quiescent period as the survivors of the Working hide out and take stock of their situation. Some survivors would fall to other enemies, both heroic and villainous.

 

Before long, though, you might get a wave of fierce conflict and violence as lieutenants strike out to build their own factions and battle each other for dominance, as in that Mexican Mafia gang (the Zetas? I don't remember offhand) after the capture of El Chapo.

 

Other malevolent mystic groups that laid low from fear of DEMON might also make plays for power. (For a model, see the Dresden Files and the aftermath of Harry Dresden destroying the Red Court.)

 

In sum, lots of small but vicious threats erupting in all directions instead of one big menace plodding slowly toward one goal.

 

In the next act, new leaders emerge: some of them former DEMON officers such as the Black Shepherd, some of them outside players that have taken control of DEMON factions. Some of these leaders would disguise their identities, leading to horrible surprises when heroes penetrate the layers of mooks and misdirection and reach the boss battle. (Bonus points if the GM can arrange for the heroes to show up just as two "bosses" are about to throw down... and both bosses reveal their true identities.)

 

Where does it go from there? That should probably depend on the heroes. I'd give a chance for PCs to thwart the resurgence of DEMON, while leaving some splinter groups in reserve for later storylines. For instance, maybe Gyre takes over the Black Scientists as LL suggests and sheds the DEMON name, creating a new wave of technomagical menace.

 

Dean Shomshak

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5th Edition had him pledged to the Solipsist at the time of his death (The Mystic World, p. 54).

 

Indeed he was. But in his 4E incarnation in Creatures of the Night, Archimago was also pledged to the Solipsist, but in addition, carried the debts of all the other promises he made to demons, dimension lords, and the Kings of Edom. And that holds true for his 5E version. In CotN the price of his return was having to pay all of his debts. That's what makes Archimago's return such a frightening prospect: he has to make sure that Hell feasts on human souls; that the Kings of Edom are freed; and that Earth's universe falls to Unbeing.

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I've only run DEMON a couple of times, once for Target: Hero, and once for my Golden Age campaign where they went from a small group of daffy cultists to a real power when suddenly magic woke up in the world.  The scenario was fun, though.  I set it up for a whole year, with DEMON killing one person a month.  They had a radio show that was supposedly a serial killer on the loose and the cops tracking them down, including frightening parts where someone died.  It was a huge hit, and frightened the whole city.

 

What they were doing was a complex ritual that required 13 kills over a year, and building fear through the radio show for extra power.  The heroes only found out about it because they caught a kid stealing from their base, getting food for his family.  His mom had just left home and never come back, and the brother was trying to care for the sisters.  The baby had died, they thought it was just asleep.  Overall it was a very sad story and very dark, but the heroes managed to stop the evil ritual.

 

The final kill, of course, was October 31 :)

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With what we now seem to be calling the Leap Day Working having occurred in Mexico City due to its pre-Columbian magic significance, I have to think Tezcatlipoca would have noticed and tried to take advantage of it. Perhaps he siphoned off some of the magical energies unleashed to augment his own power, or to save for some great ritual. In its aftermath he may have taken steps to place the three Demonhames in the city under his control, integrating them with his own nagual cult. (Luther Black had one of those Demonhames propitiate the Aztec gods, according to D:SOD p. 127.)

 

However, since the Leap Day Working invoked the energies of the Qliphoth, whatever Tezcatlipoca intends for its power may warp in ways he can't anticipate or control.

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Ah !

 

Actually I'm running a large scenario including DEMON and Qliphotic schemes, which is frightening all Vibora Bay, and my players .

 

Surely, a new DEMON sourcebook would be in order after the failure of Luther Black !

 

As for access of powers, I imagined this. Either you keep DEMON's powers linking from the Kings of Edom, either the real Demons take over the organization after eliminating all the Qliphotic followers.

 

I think the main issue is to decide which way to go. Or maybe both at the same time, making DEMON a loosy organization with two branches fighting each other to oblivion ?

 

Whatever the outcome, I personally ever imagined that fighting DEMON would cost several major heroes (PCs included), their lives. Afterall, that's what they are made for : win and die in the process, for thebeter good. But you can use that as a tool for the next generation of DEMON. See Devil Dog or Jack Fool villains, they maks a good example of what a hero soul can become after some nasty rituals been performed on it. And what more horrific than fallen heroes, turned to malevolent entities ?

 

As a conclusion I'd say : why don't we all check if such a project would be followed on a crowdfunding, and work on it as a team of passionate CU people ? :)

 

just my 2cents

 

Horrific Opale

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