Here are the basic rules to Tyranny, presented in a question and answer format for easy reference.
Player characters may not be any higher than 3rd generation demons (also known as Half Demons). While it is recommended that most PCs be the child of a Beast and a Human, werewolves, vampires, ghouls, Evils, enchanted swords, Lesser Demons (4th generation), and even normal Humans are all acceptable. The children of two demons may also be allowed by some GMs, within reason.
Next players choose what powers they inherit from demonic parents, and are assigned a dormant weakness by the GM.
Finally, players decide how their characters have lived their life to this point. Starting at a base age of 20 years, add 5 years to the character's age for each child they have, to a maximum of 5 children. If the character raised any given child personally (hopefully instilling some loyalty), add an additional ten years. Gaining the trust of a small village adds 10 years. Instilling fear in a small village adds 5 years. In order to maintain such reputations, the character must return at least every 5 years, or leave behind a child at least 20 years old. The total age of any character cannot exceed 120 years at creation. Furthermore, for every 10 years beyond the starting 20, characters acquire a secret nemesis.
All children and nemeses of any character are created by the GM. While characters should have full knowledge of all details concerning their children, they should not know even so much as the race of their enemies. Said enemies should however know a good deal about the character, as well as have a sound reason for hating them, based on the character's experiences. Whether said enemies are mortal, Half Demon, Demon, or even Arch Demon is solely up to the GM's discretion, as well as how what degree of vengeance it will take to satisfy them.
Every demon has a certain number of power points to spend on various powers. One point equals Minor, two points equal Major, and three points equal Full.
When demons have children, those children inherit one third of their parent's powers. One third as many points to be spent on powers, with no one power at a higher level than the parent has it. Children of two demons receive one third of their combined powers. For example, if a 9 point demon and a 3 point demon have a child, that child will have 4 points to spend on any power possessed by either parent. Furthermore, if both parents share any given power, their children may spend the sum of their points on it. So, to continue the example, if both parents have Minor Regeneration, the child may inherit Major Regeneration. Which traits are inherited at which levels depends on the circumstances of the birth. For example, the child of a fox demon and a mortal fox would almost definitely inherit fangs and claws at some level, while the child of said fox demon and a human would be more likely to inherit some of his less feral powers.
Demon children also acquire weaknesses with each new generation. The child of a demon will have more pronounced versions of the parent's weaknesses (Dormant->Minor->Major->Full). They will also have new weaknesses depending on the other parent. Children of two demons simply inherit both parents weaknesses. Those with one mortal parent will instead gain a new dormant weakness based on the mortal's own weaknesses.
Strengthening and weakening temporarily adjust the level of each of a demon's powers. The increments of strengthening and weakening are worth one third of a power point. For example, if a demon with Minor Electrification is strengthened, his shocking touch will be agonizingly painful. If he is greatly strengthened, he will be able to throw small balls of lightning, and if he is supernaturally strengthened, he will have Major Electrification for all intents and purposes. A demon with Major Electrification will follow the same path in reverse with various degrees of weakening.
Generally speaking, a demon can do everything a human can. They can also speak and understand all human languages, and make themselves understood to animals. The exception to this rule is artifacts, which have all the abilities of their non-demonic equivalents, the ability to sense their surroundings as well as any other living being, and the ability to impart knowledge to those who wield them.
The Beasts procreate in the mortal fashion. Any couple of the same race including both genders can bear a child. Those without the ability to shapeshift can only reproduce with others of their own most apparent species. Those with Minor Shapeshifting have the options of any of their forms. Those with Major Shapeshifting have the added luxury of being either mother or father to any given child. Demons with Full Shapeshifting of course can mate successfully with any creature capable of procreation. Regardless of what forms such demons may be in, the resulting child's makeup is solely dependant on their true forms. So for example, if an half-human half-fox and a half-human half-oak were to mate in the form of gibbons, the resulting child would be 50% human, 25% fox, 25% oak, and 0% gibbon. Were it to inherit only Major or Minor Shapeshifting, it's available forms would include the bizarre mix of its true form, the hybrid forms of each parent, fully human, fox, and oak, but no purely fox and oak hybrid form, as none of its ancestors sported that particular mix. As a final note, while even a half-demon has sufficient magical energies to insure that a child will always result from any union, even a species that normally has hundreds of children at a time will generally never bear more than a dozen demonic offspring, and no multiple births ever occur among full blooded demons.
The Crafted are created by the Artifice power. Some are golems, beasts made of unliving material. Others are enchanted items, usually possessed of their own intelligence but unable to move on their own. For purposes of genealogy, the craftsman or tool possessing the Artifice power is considered the father, and the supplier of raw materials is the mother. So if a male wolf demon were to have a sword crafted from one of his fangs, forged by a female demon, he would be considered the mother, and she the father.
The Evils, and Undead are usually created by the Corruption power. A corrupted demon begins it's life as something else, usually a mortal, or a demon from another family. After being corrupted, they are effectively reborn as the child of themselves and the demon who corrupted them, for purposes of powers, and family loyalty, but their ancestry is unchanged. As with the Crafted, the corrupter is always considered the father and the corruptee the mother for purposes of genealogy. If said mother is a demon, the weaknesses of the corrupted demon are those of the mother, along with more pronounced versions of the father's.
Any demon which does not fall into one of the above categories is generally known as a spirit. While it is unclear how they come into being, some spirits do seem to have an additional means of having children.
Demons are bound in fealty to their parents. Any direct command from a demonic parent, be it spoken or simply thought in close proximity, must be obeyed, and no demon may act to kill their either of their parents be they demonic or mortal. This also means that no corrupted demon may take its own life under any circumstances. While some demons respect their parents and serve them willingly, many resent their situation and conspire with cousins to have a parent killed.
Demonic grandparents cannot be killed by their children, much like mortal parents. Beyond this, they have no innate control over their descendants, aside from powers like Call Kin.
No magical bonds whatsoever exist between demonic siblings, thus no absolute statements can be made about their relationships. In many cases, siblings are bitter rivals, stopped from killing each other by their parent's will if at all. Some however, particularly those rare pairs that share both parents, can be quite amiable.
More distant relations are always unpredictable. Some demons identify with their ancestors and act accordingly. Others resent their heritage and lash out against their kin. On the whole however, the motives of demons are even less consistent than mortals, perhaps because in the grand scheme of things, they simply haven't existed long enough to settle into any real pattern.
With obvious exceptions due to powers such as Sole Weakness or Indestructibility, demons aren't very much harder to kill than mortals. Those without the Mortal weakness cannot by harmed by mortals or mortal weapons, but in general terms any demon will die if it loses too much blood, is rended into pieces no larger than a quarter of it's total mass, or has it's vitals (brain and heart or blade and shaft) separated from each other or destroyed.
Should a demon ever die, they usually will invoke a Death Curse, the effects of which vary of which depending on the power of the demon. Apart from this, demons and mortals are treated equally. Their souls are sent to the land of the dead, where Arthan the Judge decides their fate.
Souls deemed unworthy of further existence are occasionally devoured by Garzhuul the Gatekeeper, thus being totally removed from existence. It should be noted however that this is an extremely rare occurrence.
A few souls are granted a chance to return to the mortal plane temporarily in order to accomplish a particular quest. Such an opportunity comes by way of Garzhuul the Gatekeeper opening a portal to the mortal plane, and thus is also a rare event. After accomplishing their task, or failing as the case may be, such souls are returned to the land of the dead, by Morteth the Reaper if need be, to be judged again.
The majority of souls are reincarnated after spending some time in the land of the dead, during which they suffer from the full version of the Unliving weakness. Exactly how much time varies depending largely on how interesting the soul in question is. A whiney teenaged Human for example will usually spend several hundred years at least in the land of the dead, while a Fox Demon who creates a massive war between two large kingdoms through resourceful trickery will likely be granted a much shorter stay.
The form taken by a reincarnated soul is chosen entirely at whim. A Wolf Demon is just as likely to come back his own younger brother, or grandson, as he is to return as a snake demon, or even a female human. While there is no concrete pattern in these reincarnations, Arthan is somewhat fond of irony, and will often send souls back as the thing they hate the most.
When demons are reincarnated, it is not uncommon for them to keep their memories and powers, although these are usually dormant and must first be rekindled, usually by being reunited with a person place or thing of particular significance to their former life. Even with this, all such regained powers recover quite slowly, with time, beginning at greatly weakened, Minor levels, and improving with use over time. Furthermore, while such carrying over frequently yields demons with more power than they would naturally be born with, a soul which is constantly reincarnated as a Half Demon will not eventually become as powerful as a Full Demon. As a general rule, a reincarnating demon has a number of power points equal to what their most powerful incarnation began with to spend on dormant versions of the powers they had in their last life. These points cannot be combined with the active points of the demon's new form. So, if in his last life, a demon had Major Shapeshifting and opts for it to carry over as a dormant power, and he is reincarnated as a demon with Minor Shapeshifting, he will begin his new life with Minor Shapeshifting, and be able to cultivate it to Major Shapeshifting, but never Full.
Another notable aspect of death is that it can be escaped with the help of still living friends. Should a still living soul come into contact with Garzhuul the Gatekeeper, Arthan the Judge, or Morteth the Reaper, they may either exchange their life for a dead companion, or gamble with their own life in hopes of winning back their friend's life by defeating one of the aforementioned three demons in a contest.
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