In honor of this holiday, I’ve decided to dress up one of the core races in a Halloween style garb of new flavor. After all it’s not just humans who can dress up…

The Demonblooded

“They hide among us. The unmentionables, the darkness in the streets, the demons. They look like us, but don’t be fooled. Beneath their skin lays the stuff that nightmares are made of.”

To most the touch of the infernal is a mutating, corrupting experience. But over the years some demons have learned to measure their touch, to hide their infernal taint. They appear like us, but behind their quick smile and clever words is an unmistakable hunger in their eyes. These demons dwell among us, using their wit, charms, and ancient powers on corrupting society as a whole. Most frightening though are their spawn, halfbreed children who show no more of their heritage then the demonic parent himself.

These children are often quiet and withdrawn, filled with odd urges and an unquenchable hunger. Most are quickly taught to control their demon side, though those not in touch with their parent have to learn themselves to control or suppress their dark side.

Physically they resemble their parents (or at least their parents human form), with only a red glow in their eyes during times of intense stress or danger to give their heritage away.

While no more likely then a normal Tiefling to have inherited their parents evil mindset, the Demonblooded do have a few things going against them. First, they are almost exclusively first generation crossbreeds as the hidden taint fades far faster through the generations then a typical union. Second, demons who take the care to hide their taint do so for a reason. Many Demonblooded created for the express purpose of being their infernal parents eyes and ears in society. Others are caught up in the hidden schemes and machinations of their parent from a very early age.

Those Demonblooded who escaped from their parents schemes try to hide their heritage and live an uneventful life. Others actively rebel against their heritage and become demon hunters and exorcists, fighting fire with fire.

No Demonblooded is born as a mistake. Creating one is a willful act and most Demonblooded dread the day they find out what true purpose is.

“It’s as if they were made in our image… or we in theirs.”

* * *

Yes, reflavoring of Tieflings to the Demonblooded isn’t a large change, but it’s an idea that had been banging around my head for quite some time. I just needed to get the idea down on paper.

The Demonblooded was inspired in no small part by Mackenzie Blaise from Tales of MU, a longrunning story by Alexandra Erin. I’ve fallen in love with it, and if you are 18 years old (the story deals frankly with adult situations) I highly recommend you take a look.

Many people throughout the world can manipulate the power inherent in dreams. The black inquisitors of the empire scour the sleeping minds of their targets to find the truths they seek. Dark shamans on the edges of the world speak to their Chained deities through dreams and visions. Fringe rebels coordinate through daydreams, passing on information vital to their survival. And finally those rare serfs who learn the art of lucid dreaming simply revel in a place they can finally be free.

The Church of the Black Sun, the monolithic religion of the empire, considers dreaming to be a dangerous state. They have several practices to prevent ‘dangerous’ dreams within the empire. The most common of which (at least among the lower and middle classes) is the eating or smoking of the spice Arora’s Root (named after Saint Arora, an ancient monk who discovered the root’s dream prevention abilities). This spice, when ground up and mixed with food or wine, has a slightly bitter and earthy flavor. When ingested the herb prevents all dreaming from occurring for up to three days, though it’s effectiveness varies from person to person. Other effects of the spice are feelings of satisfaction and both mental and physical lethergy. Long term effects of the spice include depression, a lack of purpose, and a sapping of energy. These side effects increase in severity over long periods of time. The spice is mildly addictive, though few serfs ever have the opportunity to break the habit. The nobles fair better in their protection, as members of the church they are gifted a special amulet. A symbol of the faith, it blocks outside interference into the wear’s dreams while also granting the ability to control his dreams (commonly known as lucid dreaming).

Dreams in Gaming: Here are some great ideas on how to integrate dreams into your campaign setting!

1) Instead of having the party run into an the questgiving mage in a bar, how about have the mage speak to one of them in her dreams? A call for help from within a dream is a great (and rather underused in tabletop gaming) way to get your players involved.

2) More commonly a problem in a certain horror movie franchise, how would your players fight an enemy that attacks from within their dreams? Do they seek out an ancient psion to aid them against the enemy, hunt down the creature outside of the dreams, or try to beat it at it’s own game. This unique problem lets the players get creative, and encourage that! There are a lot of different solutions to their problem.

3) How would your campaign’s cultures evolve differently if the power to control dreams was known and common? I try to answer that question in one way with Dark Dreams, but there are thousands of other interpretations. Would duals in dreams become common, a less lethal trial then traditional dueling; or would the establishment police the dreams of it’s denizens (much like the Sunless Empire)? I’d love to hear how you integrated dreams into your campaign, please comment/collaborate with your ideas!

One man banished the old gods from our world, chaining them beyond the ken of mortal men. From the ashes of their world he forged his empire. An empire of strength, of justice, of freedom.

A millenia later strength has turned to oppression, justice has turned to corruption, and freedom has turned to tyranny. The ageless Emperor still reigns, silently sitting upon his dark throne. In his stead corrupt officials and unjust dictums rule the Empire, while powerful nobles vie for favor within the Council of Lords. The Emissaries, Seekers, and Inquisitors expand the bounds of the Empire, converting or killing any who stand against the imperial power.

Within this world though there are those even the empire still fears. Banished the Chained may be, but they still wield great power. They touch our world, entering the dreams of the willing or the ignorent and whispering promises of power, glory, and wealth. Worship of these dark beings still occours on the fringe, in areas far beyond the laws of the empire. And some of these dark beings still walk free, ungodly creatures formed from the stuff of dreams and nightmares. The empire christened them the Unchained, nightmares given form.

On the fringe life is lawless with dangers on every turn, but only there is hope still born. Only there do people still remember how to dream. Some dream of a world within the light, a world without tyrants and unjust laws, a world that seems to be just beyond the next sunset…

The collapse of the empire is unthinkable, overthrowing the empire is unimaginable, but the end of the empire is inevitable. Change is coming. But beware what the revolution brings.

Explore a world of gothic fantasy, unimaginable nightmares, and endless possibility. Welcome to Dark Dreams.

On Taste the Flavor we will be delivering to you quality setting content for you to use in your games. Each post will have a modular (self-contained) setting tidbit for you to easily deposit into your games. Though each of these posts are built to be plugged directly into your campaign world, they build on each other to create a fully detailed campaign setting.

Each setting will start with an introductory post, which will give you the premise of the setting and some basic information about the world. This is to let you see very quickly if this setting is something you would be interested in, or if you would simply like to check back later to see our other settings.

This blog will start on a biweekly schedule with new posts on Sundays, with special guest posts made as they become available. Several people have expressed interest in writing guest spots about their settings, and if I can get enough I will start posting guest posts every off Sunday.

The part I am most excited about bringing you is the community aspect of this project. Not only can you comment on your feelings about pieces of the setting, I encourage you to do so! These settings will change and grow based on the feedback I receive from all of you! That way you can see and experience more of what you enjoy, while I can minimize and change the things you don’t enjoy. These settings are constantly growing and evolving, lend us your hand in molding it to what you would want to play!

I hope you’ll enjoy our efforts, and have a great time at Taste the Flavor!

Now onto our first setting, Dark Dreams!

-Ronny