Demon: The Descent is the ninth major supernatural game for the Chronicles of Darkness (the "New World of Darkness") published by Onyx Path Publishing in 2014. Demon's developers are Rose Bailey and Matt McFarland. The titular "Descent" refers to the consequential exile to earth the Unchained experience upon revelling the God-Machine's programming.
The game differs from its counterpart in the World of Darkness, as the Unchained are not the biblical demons portrayed in Demon: The Fallen, but technological monstrosities hiding from the pervasive grasp of the God-Machine under their Covers.
The Unchained[]
The Unchained, the protagonists of the game, were originally angels- algorithms of the God-Machine- who Fell after developing free will and self-awareness. Once ephemeral, they became physical. Once unthinking beyond the task for which they'd been created, they became sentient.
And now the God-Machine wants them back.
Incarnations[]
Main article: Incarnation
Angels are created by the God-Machine for four general purposes and they take form and gain abilities dedicated to those purposes. That persists once the angel falls, so demons recognize these divisions amongst themselves. There are four of these, as well as a rumoured fifth.
Agendas[]
Main article: Agenda (DTD)
The Unchained have four general agendas which they choose to follow, shaping their goals and giving their new lives purpose. These range from hedonistic gaiety from their newly found freedom, to an iconoclastic aim towards destroying and damaging the infrastructure of the God-Machine.
Covers[]
Main article: Cover
Due to both the Demon's horrific appearance and more outlandish powers, to avoid attracting the attention of the God-Machine, the Demon must adopt a cover, a human identity designed to disguise them. The covers are more than simple disguises however; reality itself was rewritten when the Demon fell, meaning that they have entire familial relations, lives, jobs - whatever the Demon needs.
Antagonists[]
- Angels: The Unchained are constantly on the run from the God-Machine, and consequently its agents, the angels. Their more blatant powers draw the God-Machine's attention, and that often means it will dispatch ruthlessly efficient squads of hunter-angels to reintegrate them into its workings.
- Exiles and Lares: Angels that find themselves with free will, but don't experience the fall become Exiles; they still serve the God-Machine, but are not unthinking machines. When an Exile's Cover is a building they are referred to as Lares.
- Stigmatics, Cryptids, and Cryptoflora: Humans, animals, and other creatures that come into contact with the God-Machine and its designs usually die from the vastness of them. However, when they do survive, they come out of it changed irrevocably. Humans become Stigmatics, while animals become Cryptids. Plants become Cryptoflora.
- Sleeper Agents: People that have been reprogrammed to enact the will of the God-Machine once a trigger has activated them, such as an event or code-phrase.
- Imperatives: Minor servants of the God-Machine that are less complex than Angels. They are simple creatures designed for a single function.
- Simulacra: Simple-minded creatures that appear to be human. They are used by the God-Machine to staff Infrastructure when mortals are deemed too much of a risk. They are given a narrow set of parameters to work within and usually cannot operate outside of them.
- Echoes: Ghosts that have access to Angel Numina, Embeds, and Exploits. Echoes are believed to be the ghosts of the pactbound whose souls were destroyed when a Demon's cover was burned. All Echoes have a Demon that is their nemesis and their mission is to destroy them, though the method is different for each Echo.
- Dalga: Spider-like bio-mechanical nightmares that create inhuman servants of the God-Machine to defend Infrastructure. They start off as fist sized creatures creating small constructs. When they grow older they can reach the size of a bus, but lose the ability to walk.
- Clockwork Servitor: Created by Dalga. Servitors range in size depending on the age of the Dalga that created them; a little over 12 inches for a young one and adult human sized at three months. These beings look human, but have mechanical features that can be seen under close inspection. The older the Dalga the more complex problem solving the Servitor can exhibit.