Those Crowned In Bone

from Demon City

Those Crowned In Bone

Demons of the Eighth Order

Art by me, acrylic on paper. Click to enlarge

The Angels of Death, The Samael, The Wailing Ones, The Divine Poison, Handmaids of the Eighth King are summoned to enforce contracts. Their aspect is impersonal, implacable. Once activated, they cannot be recalled. Plants grow strange and curling black shoots in their wake. Their faces are bone.

They may be summoned by impaling eight victims from three directions at right angles with iron rods such that they can be and are then placed at the vertices of a large cube of these rods set within an octagonal ritual perimeter. Their names, such as Destroyerannihilator and Destructorexterminator have eight syllables.

Design Notes:

(from “Demons” in "Kinds of Horrors" section)

Demons always appear attached in some way to some NPC. They are personifications of sin and, as such, are not being fully utilized unless they, in some way, emphasize the sins of ordinary humans. Most demons named here are quite powerful and so should only be sprung on the party once they have thoroughly investigated the more mundane corruption that the demon’s presence invites and cultivates.

The chaos caused by the influence of demons may at first appear to be the work of a serial killer, or a mass delusion—there will be repeated themes and symmetries, and things to look up in occult texts.
The first encounter with the actual demon may go quite poorly for the party (some are essentially invulnerable) and the Host should design the adventure such that there is at least one way s/he can think of that the party could escape (whether they think of it, or a better solution, is up to them). One way or another, however, it should be made clear that these things can be defeated, or at least driven off—and the adventure should also be designed so that its clear a second encounter with a more prepared party might go better. Be generous with occult information from Contacts and other NPCs—even with it, the fight will be a challenge. There are more details on how exorcism rituals can work in the Supernatural Abilities section of the Library.

Calm: 10
Agility: 8
Toughness: 9
Perception: 9
Appeal: 0
Cash: 0
Knowledge: 9

Calm Check: 9
Cards: Death (15), Emperor (4), Justice (11), Eight of Swords, Two of Swords

Special abilities:

Demonic: Demons don’t need to breathe or digest, don’t age, and are immune to poison, etc. and cannot be mentally controlled with psionic abilities. Animals will avoid the demon in any form.

Sixth Sense: All demons are supersensitive to danger, hostile emotions and signs of past trauma or the supernatural.

Flight: These Demons move at running speed in the air.

Sword: Those Crowned in Bone carry swords which do Overwhelming Damage.

Invulnerability: These demons can only be harmed be directly harmed by magic.

Weaknesses:

The holy symbols of any faith causes a demon to make a Calm check or flee until they are out of sight. The intensity of the calm check is equal to the degree of fervor of whoever is wielding it (1-9). In the case of an incidentally encountered symbol (a glimpsed church steeple, for instance) the intensity is 2.

Touching a holy symbol, including holy water, does damage to a demon as an ordinary physical attack.

Speaking the true name of demon causes it great pain, and the creature must make a Calm Check against the speaker’s Calm each round to avoid obeying the attacker.

The Samael cannot see anyone except their prey—those who have failed to fulfill their side of a contract.

These demons come only at night.

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