My Dear Grey Men [Variant Stigmatics]

[LostLight]

A while ago, it had occurred to me that the anime and manga D. Gray Man is a great inspiration for Demon, both aesthetically and thematically- the bio-mechanical nature of the Innocence and of the Akuma, the concept of demons wearing the skin and faces of loved ones in order to hide themselves from the messengers of God and the whole complicated relationships between the Exorcists, the Noah and the God really has some great potential to be be adapted to the game, one way or another- with one of the strongest sentences in the series being "Please God, whom I hate so much".

I've toyed with the concept for awhile, thinking about the right way I could adapt the material from the manga to Demon, until today I've finally found the strength and the will to do so, and here is the outcome- three variant forms of Stigmatics, each of them being based around a "splat" from the manga: the Apostles, one of the best demon hunting experiments created by the God Machine which grant humans angelic powers using pieces of its "Heart", the Coraces, a rouge God Machine cult which has learned how to weave demonic forms into their flesh and soul, and the Utnapishtim, carriers of genetic memories from a race before humanity which has fallen during a great disaster engineered by the Machine and which still carry their ancient grudge toward it. The first two take the form of Micro Templates, while the Utnapishtim are a variant Demonic Major Template.

you can find all three templates in here. Hope you'll like them!

[LostLight]

fixed a lot of grammar and spelling issues.

[AberrantEyes]

The part of me that nodded and smiled when Beast revealed that the 2e Promethean moral trait was going to be called Pilgrimage wants another name for the Utnapishtim supernatural advantage. The University of Pennsylvania's online dictionary of Sumerian and its relatives doesn't have their words for "memory", so I couldn't do a literal translation, and the word for "remember" is si, so short as to be nearly useless. Searching for "family" turned up im-ri-a, "clan" (of which im-ru, as in Imru Nu Fir Imru, is an alternate declension) and its Akkadian descendant kimtu (which looks good to me, but YMMV).

[LostLight]

The part of me that nodded and smiled when Beast revealed that the 2e Promethean moral trait was going to be called Pilgrimage wants another name for the Utnapishtim supernatural advantage. The University of Pennsylvania's online dictionary of Sumerian and its relatives doesn't have their words for "memory", so I couldn't do a literal translation, and the word for "remember" is si, so short as to be nearly useless. Searching for "family" turned up im-ri-a, "clan" (of which im-ru, as in Imru Nu Fir Imru, is an alternate declension) and its Akkadian descendant kimtu (which looks good to me, but YMMV).

yeah, I also was a bit wary from using Memory as their supernatural advantage stat- but I also haven't found a Sumerian word for it. I'm not sure about using "family/clan", as it says that the source of their power comes from community or something like that. Maybe there is a word for "lineage" or "bloodline" or "family tree"? You know, something which relates for the fact that their power comes way back from some ancestor?

[AberrantEyes]

Well, "lineage", "bloodline" and "family tree" all came up blank, but "ancestor" yielded pa-bil-ga (and the bil-ga portion can also mean "fresh fruit", arguably tying it to the Seed of Life).

[LostLight]

Well, "lineage", "bloodline" and "family tree" all came up blank, but "ancestor" yielded pa-bil-ga (and the bil-ga portion can also mean "fresh fruit", arguably tying it to the Seed of Life).

ammm that sounds better, even though I'm not sure how I like the sound. I'll take some time to think about it, but if you think about another appropriate option let me know.

[AberrantEyes]

Again suggested by the Seed of Life (and the rejuvenating plant that Ziusudra tells Gilgamesh about), the term "Flowering" comes to mind. (ePSD turns up no direct translation, but "flower" is gi-rim or possibly gurun. On balance, however, I'm content with the English word, since they use English words for their anchors, processes and supernatural dimension.)

[LostLight]

Again suggested by the Seed of Life (and the rejuvenating plant that Ziusudra tells Gilgamesh about), the term "Flowering" comes to mind. (ePSD turns up no direct translation, but "flower" is gi-rim or possibly gurun. On balance, however, I'm content with the English word, since they use English words for their anchors, processes and supernatural dimension.)

yeah, I did already English for most of the lexicon, so I assume I should keep using it for their advantage. Flowering sounds nice- I also thought about Blossom, but it feels too "friendly" to a template which is driven to hate all humans by a genetic memory of a lost race. I'll make a decision in the next few days, but for now Flowering sounds like the leading candidate. Thanks for your suggestions, and if you have some other idea feel free to say it!

[LostLight]

so, I've finally decided changing Memory into Florescent, which is simply a *cough* flowery *cough* word for Flowering or Blossom, as the concept does work considering the principle of the Seed "blooming" with the rise of their genetic Memory. Thanks, AberrantEyes!

[LostLight]

added a sidebar about how how to tie the Utnapishtim to the Pain Prophet's Testament and to the Nine Pieces Mechanism.