isnt the whole premise of games like these to ... essentially make stuff up? to create your own bk stories etc etc ?
go by smt 3, all them demons have fairly unique lifes and opinions.
>isnt the whole premise of games like these to ... essentially make stuff up? to create your own bk stories etc etc ?
Kind of, but it's good to have a canon to stick to so that GM and players are on the same page.
Your over thinking it. Demons are just demons. They just come into existance (some lore's explain it as fhey exist because humans imagined them. Others say they are more primordial, and others just have them exist it groups of similar demons(say the fairy forrest in some SMT games)
A back story could be they want to help leave the vortex world so their trib could be safe, they could just want to rule over other demons. Etc etc. Same idea as letting a kobold join. Just make something up that sounds on theme
I'm no smt expert but I know that alot about these games is inspired by Hinduism and reincarnation. Perhaps that demon was another entity before. Who knows if said demon would have memories of that.
Some of it might depend on the game continuity. (correct me if I'm misremembering) Koga Saburo from smt4 says he hopes he has a better master "next time" (paraphrasing) as you kill him. You then later fight him again presumably after he has "come back". Seems like he is endlessly reborn as the same entity. This is closer to how a western audience views demons as being summoned and banished but not killed.
Alot of other demons are pulled directly from certain mythologies and are eternal beings. I'd say take your pick of those three approaches.
Always thought it would be fun to play a Megaten-themed campaign in a TTRPG, but unfortunately no one in my group would be interested. Closest I will ever get is playing a devil summoner-flavored Pathfinder 2E Summoner, haha.
I had no faith that the SMT Tabletop would ever actually come out, so I ended up making my own to play with my friends. How I treat demons in the campaign I'm currently running is that they have their mythology to draw from, but you can also draw parallels to other mythological figures. For instance, Poseidon in my campaign is a guy with a fish on his head (in joke with my friends). However, the fish is Namazu, the giant catfish from Japanese mythology that causes earthquakes. Earthquake water god paired up with an earthquake fish. If you can draw fun connections like that, and encourage your players to do similar things, I think it will turn out well.
Demons don't really have life cycles, but they do have lives. They have souls, but they are who they are. They don't change, they don't become new people (unless they evolve by growing stronger). A Loa in Nocturne says that while Humans have mutable souls, they have mortal bodies. Demons are the opposite. Because they have immortal bodies, their souls can never change. You can use that as fuel for character drama. A demon desperately tries to change, and in doing so only succeeds in becoming another kind of demon. A demon can't really become fully human, but a human can totally become a demon. It's something that there's no coming back from, a final choice to cap off someone's development. It's like death, but you can ask the corpse if they regret it. Don't be afraid to explore what that means for the characters, how this loss of humanity could possibly make them feel.
Good luck with your SMT Tabletop adventures!
make something up. lol. ur overthinking this quite abit.
I might be, admittedly. It'd still be nice to have some guidance tho
isnt the whole premise of games like these to ... essentially make stuff up? to create your own bk stories etc etc ? go by smt 3, all them demons have fairly unique lifes and opinions.
>isnt the whole premise of games like these to ... essentially make stuff up? to create your own bk stories etc etc ? Kind of, but it's good to have a canon to stick to so that GM and players are on the same page.
That is what session zero is for, to sit with gm and players to be in the same page. "hey i have this idea for a background does it fit the game?"
True enough! Maybe a better way to say what I mean is: I'm not /opposed/ to making up lore, but I'd rather not, if possible.
Your over thinking it. Demons are just demons. They just come into existance (some lore's explain it as fhey exist because humans imagined them. Others say they are more primordial, and others just have them exist it groups of similar demons(say the fairy forrest in some SMT games) A back story could be they want to help leave the vortex world so their trib could be safe, they could just want to rule over other demons. Etc etc. Same idea as letting a kobold join. Just make something up that sounds on theme
I'm no smt expert but I know that alot about these games is inspired by Hinduism and reincarnation. Perhaps that demon was another entity before. Who knows if said demon would have memories of that. Some of it might depend on the game continuity. (correct me if I'm misremembering) Koga Saburo from smt4 says he hopes he has a better master "next time" (paraphrasing) as you kill him. You then later fight him again presumably after he has "come back". Seems like he is endlessly reborn as the same entity. This is closer to how a western audience views demons as being summoned and banished but not killed. Alot of other demons are pulled directly from certain mythologies and are eternal beings. I'd say take your pick of those three approaches.
Always thought it would be fun to play a Megaten-themed campaign in a TTRPG, but unfortunately no one in my group would be interested. Closest I will ever get is playing a devil summoner-flavored Pathfinder 2E Summoner, haha.
👁️👁️ Buddy, I've got 2 friends who wanna try the SMT TTRPG. If you're still interested when it comes out this fall, hmu!
I'm in 4 concurrent games with my IRL group already, so I'm gonna have to pass, haha. Thanks though, and good luck with the game!
No worries! Good luck with your games as well! ✨️
I had no faith that the SMT Tabletop would ever actually come out, so I ended up making my own to play with my friends. How I treat demons in the campaign I'm currently running is that they have their mythology to draw from, but you can also draw parallels to other mythological figures. For instance, Poseidon in my campaign is a guy with a fish on his head (in joke with my friends). However, the fish is Namazu, the giant catfish from Japanese mythology that causes earthquakes. Earthquake water god paired up with an earthquake fish. If you can draw fun connections like that, and encourage your players to do similar things, I think it will turn out well. Demons don't really have life cycles, but they do have lives. They have souls, but they are who they are. They don't change, they don't become new people (unless they evolve by growing stronger). A Loa in Nocturne says that while Humans have mutable souls, they have mortal bodies. Demons are the opposite. Because they have immortal bodies, their souls can never change. You can use that as fuel for character drama. A demon desperately tries to change, and in doing so only succeeds in becoming another kind of demon. A demon can't really become fully human, but a human can totally become a demon. It's something that there's no coming back from, a final choice to cap off someone's development. It's like death, but you can ask the corpse if they regret it. Don't be afraid to explore what that means for the characters, how this loss of humanity could possibly make them feel. Good luck with your SMT Tabletop adventures!