Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - It would be nice to have some AD&D style demons and devils

LoneWolf23k · 10-03-2017, 09:52 AM

Honestly, I like the simplification of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy online having only one major group of "Fiends" in the form of Demons. But that doesn't mean you can't have different "subgroups" of Demons with different unifying traits. One old third party 3E D&D supplement, "Demonology", offered a unique mechanic for summoning Fiends, wrapping up all the Fiend types under the name "Demon", and then splitting them up into different "Families" based on the names used in 2nd Edition: Tanar'i, Baatezu, Yugoloths, etc.

So I suppose if you want to have your cake and eat it too, just say that all Evil Celestial Beings are called "Demons", but that the term "Demons" encompasses a large number of different groups, with different personality types, powers, motivations and weaknesses. And that adds a layer of difficulty that makes Demon-summoning all the more dangerous; many an Apprentice Summoner has died at the hands of a Malebranche he summoned, only learning too late that a circle for binding an Incubus won't work on them.

10-03-2017, 09:52 AM	#57
LoneWolf23k Join Date: Sep 2004	Re: It would be nice to have some AD&D style demons and devils Honestly, I like the simplification of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy online having only one major group of "Fiends" in the form of Demons. But that doesn't mean you can't have different "subgroups" of Demons with different unifying traits. One old third party 3E D&D supplement, "Demonology", offered a unique mechanic for summoning Fiends, wrapping up all the Fiend types under the name "Demon", and then splitting them up into different "Families" based on the names used in 2nd Edition: Tanar'i, Baatezu, Yugoloths, etc. So I suppose if you want to have your cake and eat it too, just say that all Evil Celestial Beings are called "Demons", but that the term "Demons" encompasses a large number of different groups, with different personality types, powers, motivations and weaknesses. And that adds a layer of difficulty that makes Demon-summoning all the more dangerous; many an Apprentice Summoner has died at the hands of a Malebranche he summoned, only learning too late that a circle for binding an Incubus won't work on them.