It had been three months. James glanced over at the sleeping face of his girlfriend Sandra, angelic in the moonlight.
Three months since he'd made the deal; three months since he had been fully human, three months since he'd been a stupid, naive loser being pushed around in the halls.
Three months since he had been in full possession of his soul.
He sat up, careful not to wake her; it was then he noticed a flicker at the edge of his vision. Something in his mirror had... moved. He padded to the mirror and came face to smiling face with the man he'd sold his soul to.
"Hello James, fancy seeing you here. Ah, I see the missus is asleep; I should keep my voice down, shouldn't I?"
"Why are you here? Did... did I break the contract? Have I?"
"What? No, of course not James, you're a model customer! I just thought I'd pop on down and see if you want a renegotiation. Standard operating procedure, I'm sure you'd understand."
"I don't know, I've got it pretty good right now - "
"James, my good man, surely you can't be satisfied? The contract we made before was just a taste of the improvements you could make on your own life!"
James thought for a moment; the last contract had made him popular and had led to him meeting Sandra. Another one couldn't hurt, could it?
"Alright, what are the terms?"
"Oh, simple, simple! If you could just exchange, say, your girlfriend's necklace, I'm sure we could find something I'd be willing to give in exchange..."
Deals are a uniquely human thing; before mankind came on the scene, the concept of an exchange of goods and services was simply unheard of. However, the concept is here now, and with it came the Hellions.
What are the Hellions?
The Hellions are an almost-choir of almost-spirits that live in a place they refer to as the Infernum, a vast realm lodged at right angles to mirrors and behind shadows. It is an amoral place, which would be almost unremarkable except for two facts.
Firstly, it is entirely free from the influence of the God Machine; angels sent within cannot find anywhere Resonant with them, and while reality seems to function in the same way, Embeds and Exploits (or similar powers) simply do not function there.
Secondly, it holds the second greatest market in all the realms, only surpassed by the Goblin Markets of Arcadia and the Hedge.The Hellions have warped the Infernum into a marketplace-cum-investment house; they hold an economy as complex as any built by man.
The purpose? The purchase of souls, by parts and by wholes. No one is entirely sure what Hellions do with souls they own, but whatever it is, they are extremely eager to fill their coffers.
What is Fiend: the Transaction?
In Fiend, you play a person who has sold part of their soul; in doing so, you get an expansive capacity and power over the many vices and transgressions of humanity... for a price.
And a Hellion is always waiting in the wings, perfectly willing to... expand the deal.
Was ist Das?
Fiend is inspired in part by the Possessed minor template and Infernal demons; while they share some features, the majority of the material is going to be new.
Other inspirations to call out to:
Water Phoenix King: Go read it. Go read it now.
Various other things that I probably don't realize at the moment.
Before I get started on this, a little bit of an OoC glossary:
Burnout: Overcharging your infernal credit card; the result of trying to use too much Malice at once.
Eidolon: A feature that Fiends get after a while that lets them separate their souls from their body to go on a walkabout. It's pretty nifty, if I do say so myself.
Fiend: What you play (and pay) as; you made a bad deal somewhere, buster.
Hellions: Demonic Sin-Commerce Almost-Spirits, they are Ephemeral Beings that are unique to Fiend (but are still free to be used elsewhere).
Infernal Pact: A simplified (and weaker) version of Demon's pacts; much more restricted, though still nicely versatile (I hope.)
Investiture: A Fiend's core powers; they don't get many of them, but each is a scene-length (or more!) power that are custom built by the players using a set of Clauses. They come in three tiers: Common, Noble, and Regal. Each Investiture has a Sanction that makes it cheaper as long as it is followed, and which can make it very expensive if it isn't.
Malapraxis: A Fiend's core Malice and Willpower regeneration thingamajig. It is entirely focused on making Fiends tempters.
Malice: A Fiend's magic juice; they spend Malice to activate Investitures and to Invoke their Sins.
Seal: Each Malapraxis has up to 3; they further refine and individualize the whole affair.
Sin: As in the seven deadly ones; funnily enough, this is both their Power Stat and the most basic building blocks of Fiendish powers; Sins can be Invoked, in which case they function like pseudo-Influences.
Soulless: This isn't a definition; this is a friendly notice. Namely, all Fiends have the Soulless condition by default; they are lacking at least a fraction of the thing, after all. If you don't like the idea of playing someone whose soul is all fractured might not want to play a Fiend.
I currently have a first draft for the template itself and everything but the different Clauses that make up an Investiture, so...
Who wants to make a deal with me?
Three months since he'd made the deal; three months since he had been fully human, three months since he'd been a stupid, naive loser being pushed around in the halls.
Three months since he had been in full possession of his soul.
He sat up, careful not to wake her; it was then he noticed a flicker at the edge of his vision. Something in his mirror had... moved. He padded to the mirror and came face to smiling face with the man he'd sold his soul to.
"Hello James, fancy seeing you here. Ah, I see the missus is asleep; I should keep my voice down, shouldn't I?"
"Why are you here? Did... did I break the contract? Have I?"
"What? No, of course not James, you're a model customer! I just thought I'd pop on down and see if you want a renegotiation. Standard operating procedure, I'm sure you'd understand."
"I don't know, I've got it pretty good right now - "
"James, my good man, surely you can't be satisfied? The contract we made before was just a taste of the improvements you could make on your own life!"
James thought for a moment; the last contract had made him popular and had led to him meeting Sandra. Another one couldn't hurt, could it?
"Alright, what are the terms?"
"Oh, simple, simple! If you could just exchange, say, your girlfriend's necklace, I'm sure we could find something I'd be willing to give in exchange..."
Deals are a uniquely human thing; before mankind came on the scene, the concept of an exchange of goods and services was simply unheard of. However, the concept is here now, and with it came the Hellions.
What are the Hellions?
The Hellions are an almost-choir of almost-spirits that live in a place they refer to as the Infernum, a vast realm lodged at right angles to mirrors and behind shadows. It is an amoral place, which would be almost unremarkable except for two facts.
Firstly, it is entirely free from the influence of the God Machine; angels sent within cannot find anywhere Resonant with them, and while reality seems to function in the same way, Embeds and Exploits (or similar powers) simply do not function there.
Secondly, it holds the second greatest market in all the realms, only surpassed by the Goblin Markets of Arcadia and the Hedge.The Hellions have warped the Infernum into a marketplace-cum-investment house; they hold an economy as complex as any built by man.
The purpose? The purchase of souls, by parts and by wholes. No one is entirely sure what Hellions do with souls they own, but whatever it is, they are extremely eager to fill their coffers.
What is Fiend: the Transaction?
In Fiend, you play a person who has sold part of their soul; in doing so, you get an expansive capacity and power over the many vices and transgressions of humanity... for a price.
And a Hellion is always waiting in the wings, perfectly willing to... expand the deal.
Was ist Das?
Fiend is inspired in part by the Possessed minor template and Infernal demons; while they share some features, the majority of the material is going to be new.
Other inspirations to call out to:
Water Phoenix King: Go read it. Go read it now.
Various other things that I probably don't realize at the moment.
Before I get started on this, a little bit of an OoC glossary:
Burnout: Overcharging your infernal credit card; the result of trying to use too much Malice at once.
Eidolon: A feature that Fiends get after a while that lets them separate their souls from their body to go on a walkabout. It's pretty nifty, if I do say so myself.
Fiend: What you play (and pay) as; you made a bad deal somewhere, buster.
Hellions: Demonic Sin-Commerce Almost-Spirits, they are Ephemeral Beings that are unique to Fiend (but are still free to be used elsewhere).
Infernal Pact: A simplified (and weaker) version of Demon's pacts; much more restricted, though still nicely versatile (I hope.)
Investiture: A Fiend's core powers; they don't get many of them, but each is a scene-length (or more!) power that are custom built by the players using a set of Clauses. They come in three tiers: Common, Noble, and Regal. Each Investiture has a Sanction that makes it cheaper as long as it is followed, and which can make it very expensive if it isn't.
Malapraxis: A Fiend's core Malice and Willpower regeneration thingamajig. It is entirely focused on making Fiends tempters.
Malice: A Fiend's magic juice; they spend Malice to activate Investitures and to Invoke their Sins.
Seal: Each Malapraxis has up to 3; they further refine and individualize the whole affair.
Sin: As in the seven deadly ones; funnily enough, this is both their Power Stat and the most basic building blocks of Fiendish powers; Sins can be Invoked, in which case they function like pseudo-Influences.
Soulless: This isn't a definition; this is a friendly notice. Namely, all Fiends have the Soulless condition by default; they are lacking at least a fraction of the thing, after all. If you don't like the idea of playing someone whose soul is all fractured might not want to play a Fiend.
I currently have a first draft for the template itself and everything but the different Clauses that make up an Investiture, so...
Who wants to make a deal with me?
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