Style Guide

Demon: The Fallen

Credits Special Thanks To:

Written By: Travis Legge Michael Lee
Art by: Tom Baxa, R.K. Post, & Chris Shy Neil Gaimen
Developer: Shane DeFreest Mike Carey
Layout and Design: Marcos M. Peral Villaverde Tom Ellis
Storytellers Vault Development Team: Shane Clive Barker
DeFreest, Dhaunae De Vir, & Matt McElroy Christopher Walken
Al Pachino
Demon the Fallen Creators: Charlie Bates, Ken
Cliffe, Michael Lee, Rich Thomas, & Steve Wieck

© 2019 White Wolf Entertainment AB. All rights reserved.

Vampire: The Masquerade®, World of Darkness®, Storytelling
System™, and Storytellers Vault™ are trademarks and/or registered
trademarks of White Wolf Entertainment AB. All rights reserved.
For additional information on White Wolf and the World of
Darkness, please, visit: www.white-wolf.com,
www.worldofdarkness.com and www.storytellersvault.com.

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Storytellers Vault Style Guide

Style Guide
Table of Contents
Demon: The Fallen 7
Apocalypse Denied (Demon 2oth Anniversary Edition) 9

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 Demon: The
Fallen
Vault
Guide

“I’m an angel, I kill first born’s while their mamas watch. I turn cities into salt.
I even, when I feel like it, rip the souls from little girls and from now until kingdom COME,
the only thing you can COUNT ON, in your EXISTENCE... Is never understanding why.”
— Archangel Gabriel, The Prophecy

Welcome to the Demon: The Fallen Storytellers
Vault Style Guide. This resource will assist you in
creating new material for the horror roleplaying
game, Demon: The Fallen. This guide will assist
new and experienced writers alike in finding the
correct tone for their Demon sourcebook. Demon:
The Fallen is unique among World of Darkness
games, in that it received only one edition. This
Style Guide will give tips for working within that
edition, but also for creating Demon: The Fallen
sourcebooks that fall in line with the themes and
feel of the 20th Anniversary Edition line of products.
Whether you decide to write a new sourcebook
detailing the Earthbound and Fallen within your
home city, a collection of thrills and cultists, or a
novel detailing a lone Demon’s search for meaning,
this guide will provide you the building blocks and
reference tools to get started.
 Storytellers Vault Style Guide
Demon: The Fallen
In the wake of a Maelstrom, the gates to the Abyss
have ben rent asunder. The Fallen have returned to
Earth in the Final Nights.
Tone: Demon: The Fallen examines the end
times of the Gothic-Punk world through the eyes
of a new creature type: the Fallen. Though demons
have been present in the World of Darkness for
some time (represented through Infernalism in
many game lines) the Fallen are a new addition
to the World of Darkness. Demon characters are
created through a fallen angel escaping from the
Abyss and binding itself to the body of a dead or
dying human. In this binding, the human’s soul
is sent to its ultimate reward and the demon’s
memories merge with those of the new host. This
process causes the demon to redefine themselves
in a new context. Some seek to regain their former
grace and glory. Others, to burn the world and
everything in it to ash.
Whereas the Fallen are new arrivals to the
Gothic-Punk world, they are not the first demons to
escape the Abyss. Throughout time many demons
were called to Earth through magic and ritual.
These demons, called the Earthbound, serve as
antagonists for the Fallen. The Earthbound seek
dominion over the Earth and the newly arrived
Fallen for their own nefarious plans. While the
Fallen have the memories and feelings of a hu-
man host to temper their demonic Torment, the
Earthbound have no such mitigating conscience.
They are Torment incarnate, unfiltered and raw
in their hatred of existence. The Fallen must
choose whether to ally themselves with the twisted
Earthbound or stand against them.
As the Fallen acclimate to their new existences
and the Earthbound gather power through newly
revitalized cults, the world grows closer to the End
of Days. Can the Fallen avert the apocalypse? Do
they even wish to? With the Omega looming,
does any of it matter? These are the questions
Demon: The Fallen can address. From examining
these conflicts on a metaphysical scale to dialing
in to the close, personal relationships a newly
risen demon has with their host’s loved ones,
Demon: The Fallen relishes in existing in a state
of impending apocalypse.
Themes: The loss of grace, redemption, re-
venge, and battling for righteousness in the face
of overwhelming odds are all appropriate themes
for Demon: The Fallen sourcebooks. Every villain
sees themselves as the hero, and this is never
truer than it is in Demon: The Fallen. From the
most penitent Reconciler, to the basest and most
violent Ravener, demons see themselves as heroic
figures. Though flawed, they are doing everything
they can to fix the terrible mistakes of the past.
Setting Advice: The world of Demon: The
Fallen is filthy, decayed, and exists on the brink of
destruction. God has abandoned humanity, taking
his angels with him. Humankind have been left to
the machinations of the Earthbound and various
monsters that stalk the night. In the wake of the
Maelstrom, the dead rise from the grave. Every
sign and portent points to the end being extremely
fucking nigh. Despite this, the majority of human-
ity doesn’t seem to care. Apathy has taken hold
and Faith, once flowing freely in humans, is now
a precious and rare commodity. If the Fallen can
harvest that, nurture the seed of Faith and make
it grow, perhaps they can turn the tide.
Recommended Media: American Gods by
Neil Gaiman (the book and the TV show), Par-
adise Lost by John Milton, The Devil’s Advocate
(1997), Fallen (1998), The Prophecy (1995) and
its sequels.
Game Design Advice: Demon: The Fallen
pulls heavily from design used in Vampire: The
Masquerade and strong parallels can be tracked
between the various Lore of Demons and the
Disciplines of Vampires. When designing new
powers, Vampire: The Masquerade Third Edition
can serve as a solid benchmark when no analogous
power exists in the Demon books. Keep in mind
that the Fallen (and to a far greater extent, the
Earthbound) are ultimately cosmic forces in small
living spaces. Their power should feel as though
it is constantly threatening to burst forth from
the constraints placed upon it by a reality that is
lacking in Faith and mutability.
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 Storytellers Vault Style Guide
Apocalypse Denied
(Demon 2oth Anniversary Edition)
Tone: Demon: The Fallen is tied very strongly
to themes of the End Times, the Final Night, and
the looming Apocalypse. An Anniversary Edition
Demon: The Fallen examines a world in which the
Apocalypse never comes. Perhaps the Final Battle
turned out to be not so final. The Earthbound have
been beaten back, God and his angels have failed to
show their faces, and the world has kept spinning.
In the absence of a final battle (or the aftermath of
one) the Fallen must find new purpose in a world
devoid of God’s presence. Will they rise to their
former glory, resuming their roles as shepherds
and guardians of humankind, or will they falter,
fail, and fall to their base desires, fostered by eons
of Torment in the Abyss.
Themes: Hubris, penance, redemption and
loss are all vital themes for a Demon: The Fallen
sourcebook examining the setting in the absence
of an apocalypse.
Setting Advice: The contrast between the
dark hopelessness of the Gothic-Punk world and
the burning light of hope provided by the Fallen is
the focal point of an Anniversary Edition Demon
sourcebook. Like any fire, though, the Fallen’s hope
and passion could burn the Earth to a cinder if left
unchecked. Who will keep the Fallen in check?
What is to stop the Fallen from overrunning the
world, turning the Earth into another Hell?
Of course, this is but one of a number of pos-
sibilities. The creative freedom of the Storytellers
Vault permits you to answer these questions as you
see fit. You may also ask questions of your own
with your works. Find the element of the setting
that most interests you and examine it through
the lens of an Apocalypse denied…or delayed.
Game Design Advice: As with all Anniversary
Editions, a Demon: The Fallen sourcebook for this
edition should focus on refining, clarifying, and
cleaning up rule contradictions and loopholes.
Anniversary edition is sleek, tested, and clean in
its design. Your sourcebook should strive to be
the same.