Demon
Table of contents
Which face is the lie – the friendly, or the
frightening? Perhaps neither… or both.
Overview
(Demonic form)
Average Height: 5’ 6” – 9’
Average Weight: 150 – 400 lbs.
Life span: Unknown (potentially infinite)
(Age of maturity unknown)
Skin colors: Black, Blue, Gray, Red, White
Eye colors: Any
Hair colors: Black, Gray, Red, White
Vulnerability: Light
Bonuses:
As a minor action, you may Bind (Magic) MP and (Stamina) SP, to transform from your humanoid countenance to your true demonic form. You may end your transformation as a Free Action during your turn, returning to your humanoid form.
While in your demonic form:
- You gain +2 Vitality.
- You gain +1 on all Rolls To-Hit Vitality.
- Whether or not you have wings in this form, you can fly and glide under your own power. However, Demons are not greatly skilled at flying or gliding, and are not Natural Fliers or Natural Gliders.
- When you deal damage using Combat, add half your Willpower to the damage dealt. When you deal damage using Willpower, add half your Combat to the damage dealt.
- You have a Knack for the Menace, Push, and Taunt Maneuvers.
While in your humanoid form:
- You gain +2 Concentration.
- You gain +1 on all Rolls To-Hit Concentration.
- You have a Knack for the Flirt, Low Blow, and Predict Maneuvers.
You gain one of the following Techniques or Spells for free: Doppelganger’s Movement (Technique), Dark Brambles (Spell), Threatening Blow (Technique), or Wrath’s Whip (Spell). You have access to this Spell or Technique regardless of your current form.
Play a Demon if you want…
- …To transform into a monster.
- …To intimidate and manipulate others into doing your bidding.
- …To change your combat style to suit whatever situation arises.
- …To be exiled from, and then pitted against, your own kind.
Description
In legends and campfire stories, Demons are the cause of the world’s ills, wars and strife the fruit of their labors. Many of these tales are true, but they are not the whole truth: on occasion, there are those Demons who walk a Hero’s path, for reasons that might be altruistic, selfish, or simply inscrutable.
Demons have two forms: their demonic form, monstrous and deadly; and a more benign shape, suitable for mingling with – and manipulating – mortals.
A Demon’s demonic form has leathery skin, and brightly-colored hair caught in an eternal, unseen wind. Some demonic forms might have curved horns, bat-like wings, bestial lower halves, or glowing sigils etched into their skin.
A Demon’s benign form is indistinguishable from a Hylian, Gerudo, or Sheikah at a glance. A closer look might reveal pallid skin and sunken eyes. While nothing says that a Demon’s mortal guise couldn’t be a Deku, Zora, or Fairy, they cannot effectively mimic those races’ innate talents, making them poor disguises.
A Demon only has a single benign form, and a single demonic form, designed at character creation. Whether in demonic or benign form, a Demon’s eyes are the same color – the only way to tell that it’s still the same person behind the new face.
Playing a Demon
Demons are slow to trust and slower to reveal their motivations. Those that decide to act heroically often have reason to withhold their true nature; even after performing good deeds, many people find it hard to not flee in terror at the sight of a demon, let alone to accept them into their lives.
In part because of this mistrust by most in Hyrule, many Demons prefer to work subtly around the edges of a problem, gathering information and leverage, in their mortal guises. Most Demons will wait until they have found a weakness to exploit before striking, decisively and brutally, to exploit that weakness and end the problem – by any means necessary.
Demons are well-suited to combine both physical combat and magical prowess; in their demonic forms, they can combine the might of both styles into devastating bursts of destruction. While they do not have access to this additional power in their benign form, this still makes them an unpredictable force, as likely to strike with a sword as with a spell.
Characteristics: Conniving, Duplicitous
Demon Names tend to evoke evil and negative forces. They often have a separate nom de guerre for their mortal guise, which fits that guise’s racial naming schema, but might still evoke their real, demonic name.
Demon Names: Blind, Demise, Malladus, Veran, Vire
Being a Heroic Demon
Most Demons seek to satisfy their own base urges. They seek power, adulation, or revenge, and their every action is a well-planned step towards their goals. So why would a Demon ever deign to lower themselves to committing heroic acts?
Some Demons are cursed by well-meaning wizards, forced into a lesser form until such time as they mend their ways. While their journey as a Hero might begin as a selfserving way to break their curse, they might grow into goodness as they go, making it at first a habit, and then a part of their nature.This outcome, rather than mere punishment, may be the intent of such curses.
Not all Demons need necessarily be truly evil at heart. Perhaps, like most other races, some Demons are naturally good people, and truly do want to do good things solely for their own sake.
For some Demons, though, heroism is simply an act, a means to an end. They may seek to establish themselves as a worthy heir to a kingdom’s throne, or to make themselves “good enough” to be able to wield some powerful (and powerfully warded) magical artefact. Such Demons are often faced with a crisis of conscience when they achieve their goals, forced to confront whether they are evil, good, or something else altogether.
For a few long-lived and powerful Demons, being an adventuring Hero might just be something to try for a while. After a few thousand years of conquest, destruction, or just petty curses, being a “good guy” is simply a change of pace. These Demons might stick with it for a lifetime or two before getting bored and trying something else, but hopefully, their brief time as a Hero leaves a lasting mark on them nonetheless.