Hi!

So, I recently read this online story called A Room in Hell, written by a guy I'm in contact with, and I think its setting is extremely interesting for a RPG.

The basic idea is that at some point during the worst moments of WWII, somebody unwillingly opened a gateway to Hell. Demons started pouring through, turning Europe into a nightmarish wasteland, killing everyone to drag their souls in Hell.

Unfortunately, demons are immune to mundane weapons: they can slow them, but not kill them, so another tool was needed to fight them back.
A tool that the demons themselved provided: men and women of exceptional willpower, called Summoners, when properly trained, could actually bargain for the services of a demon, damning their souls but gaining the help of a creature that could destroy other demons. The exact price of each demon, other than gaining the soul of the summoner after their death, changes depending on the contract but is usually something of great significance to the summoner: the ability to feel a particular emotion, one of their virtues, a prized ability or something even more exotic.

Demons are OK with this because, given their fracturous and vindictive nature, they're more than happy to fight each other and find the concept of corrupting ther human "masters" very amusing.

So, the players would take up the role of a small team of summoners. Each of them has their own demon familiar and a price they paid for it.

As for the actual adventure, I have no clue about it, which is why I'm actually looking for someone willing to GM a game with this setting.

Finally, I thought M&M or WoD could be good systems for a game like this.
This message was last updated by a moderator, as it was the wrong forum, at 16:48, Mon 16 Mar 2015.

Sounds fun. For system either of those two would work but there is a system built around this concept called Sorcerer. It is literally made for demonic bargains and damning yourself for power. See here: http://adept-press.com/games-fantasy-horror/sorcerer/

Anyway, more on the setting. There's three main kind of settings for this kind of game.

The demon-controlled lands, most of Central Europe, are a wasteland where demons roam free, killing everything that moves. Unfortunately, they're also a valuable source of knowledge on demons themselves, so humans have to stage expeditions there from time to time. A game set there would be basically a survival horror.

Then, there's the rest of the world which is, thankfully, still under human control. This doesn't mean that demons don't try infiltrating these places too: careless humans often get tricked into summoning a demon they can't bargain with, and they usually end up in thrall of the creature who then is free to go on a murderous spree or, even worse, to go into hiding and start influencing mortals. Specially trained police forces are constantly on the watch for this kind of threat, and a game set in "civilized" lands is likely to be based on investigation.

Finally, there's the frontlines. There, WWII never truly ended. Fresh troops are constantly sent to the front to counter the demons' advance, but the huge cost in human lives is barely enough to stall them. A game set there would be war-themed.

In more civilized lands, people are tested at a young age for magical potential. Those that test positive are drafted in the military as summoners in training, and are taught how to best bargain with a demon in preparation for their binding ritual.
On that night, the would-be summoners undergo a ritual in which they summon a demon using their blood. In most cases, something answer the calling and shows up for bargaining.

Most of those that summon something manage to bind it, one way or another, although less bright recruits might bargain poorly. A few botch the ritual; the demon gets free and kills them before being put down by the instructors. And some more don't manage to attract anything. These "orphaned" summoners end up on the frontline as foot soldiers, equipped with a magical blade. Ranged weapons can't be enchanted because the required symbols need to be etched on the ammunition, and they deform when fired, so these guys are sent to fight demons in melee. As you can guess, their life expectancy is minimal.