Shedim of Malphas are just... wow...

[Edman]

Seriously, that attunement, in combination with the demons Malphas typically breeds, should've sent humanity over the brink a long, long time ago. Possessing parents, who corrupt their kids with Imbroglio and whatnot, seems to be a War-winner.

[Rocket Man]

One key fact that probably stands in the way of that: a demon can't force a Fate onto someone -- if the act is of the demon's Will instead of the mortal's, it doesn't count in terms of Fate/Destiny, and can end up hurting Hell's war effort. That means Shedim have to use a lot of subtlety, which can run counter to its Band's need to "Corrupt them NOW!"

(That said, a subtle Shedite can be one of the most dangerous opponents in the game. I had one orchestrate the near-destruction of a Protection Tether before the PCs finally tracked it down and cornered it.)

[Archangel Beth]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

One key fact that probably stands in the way of that: a demon can't force a Fate onto someone -- if the act is of the demon's Will instead of the mortal's, it doesn't count in terms of Fate/Destiny,

Not only does it "not count," but the Symphony tends to have a backlash to the attempt, resulting in the opposite effect of the desired reaction -- or at least an orthogonal one, with the chance of collateral damage to the Cause.

Servitors of Fate and Destiny have a reputation for a subtle touch because the penalties of screwing up are pretty high, for them. (There may be angels among Destiny who think that the Redemption Squad Malakim of Destiny have an easy job, since they don't mess with humans very much! O:D )

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by Rocket Man

(That said, a subtle Shedite can be one of the most dangerous opponents in the game. I had one orchestrate the near-destruction of a Protection Tether before the PCs finally tracked it down and cornered it.)

Oh yeah, I remember that, and believe me, it sucked.

And who figured it out? The flighty Bright. I'm still trying to figure out how that happened.

[Archangel Beth]

Shedite Needs are pretty obvious when you spot them?

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by Archangel Beth

Shedite Needs are pretty obvious when you spot them?

No. In this case she figured out that the other Bright had been geased to help him

[Phoenix42]

Yeah, I'm having a lot of fun with the Shedite Captain of Factions Seneshal running the local Malphas Tether in my campaign. Mostly not because of the Shedite attunement though (which is handy, but with a certain Will level, whether you have to make rolls to persuade a lowly human becomes pretty much neither here nor there anyway), but because of the fact that every time he makes a public appearance (at the pcs' parties, preferably) everyone starts picking fights. The players really hate him, it's a gas... :)
But then, I really enjoy that tether (It is a Shedite, it's the local IRS office, could it be any more obvious *sing*).
Sadly, my Shedites don't always command that amount of respect. My players started singing "Shedim, Shedim! lalala lalala lalala lala, Shedim Shedim!" last time they killed one, and it's turning into a running joke... oh well...

As for the war-winner: one has to remember that no matter how useful the attunements of celestial, humans always have a knack for being difficult. That goes for both sides. Making humans hate each other while you're in the room with them, or messing up their childhood, is one thing - but there's always the demons getting drunk at the Happy-Eternity bar in Shal-Mari because a human went on to be a swell person despite all the crap they put them through. Just like the angels over-eating on celestial croissants because despite their thoughtful nurturing, their charge turned out to be a total dick. But that's humanity for ya...

[Archangel Beth]

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

No. In this case she figured out that the other Bright had been geased to help him

Ooooo, even better! Yay, Bright Power! O;D

[Edman]

A smart Shedim could just possess a parent, convince a child to stab his brother, and then leave. The parent would suffer from blackouts at the worst possible time, one child would be severely injured and the other confused and blaming his parent. If then the other parent comes home, discovers this mess and the first parent's excuse is "I had a blackout, I don't know what happened" and the perpetrator child claims "Daddy told me to do it" I'm thinking we have one very messed up family, and it's done in less than ten minutes. A Shedite could wreck a whole town, without causing a single note of Disturbance, within a day. That's just one Shedite, and one tactic.

The defence against that is that it doesn't count for purposes of Fate? Three things.
1) Malphas may not care if he pisses off Kronos if he can strengthen his Word in such a major way.
2) In this particular case, it's the fallout, the lack of trust and the despair of the family members that causes the most trouble, not the demon's infernal will.
3) If that's how the game works, the side that influences the humans the least wins - that doesn't seem right.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by Edman

3) If that's how the game works, the side that influences the humans the least wins - that doesn't seem right.

I read it more as "The side that most subtly influences the humans wins." Obviously both sides are trying to encourage humanity their way ... but grabbing the wheel from the passenger seat very rarely works out well for anyone involved.