Demonspawn

Version 0.13: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

This page is about the player species. For the monster, see Demonspawn (monster).

Demonspawn are horrible half-mortal, half-infernal creatures - the flip side of the Demigods. Demonspawn can be created in any number of ways: magical experiments, breeding, unholy pacts, etc. Although many Demonspawn may initially be indistinguishable from those of pure mortal stock, they will inevitably grow horns, scales or other unusual features. Powerful members of this class of beings also develop a range of unholy abilities, which are listed as mutations. Demonspawn advance slowly in experience and learn most skills at about the same rate as do Demigods. However, they are a little better at fighting and conjurations and much better at necromancy and invocations. Note that unlike Demigods, they can take on gods, although not all will accept them.

Innate Abilities

• Demonspawn deal more damage when using demonic weapons (Demon trident, Demon whip, Demon blade).
• Demonspawn are considered demonic creatures. They cannot worship any of the good gods (Zin, Elyvilon, or The Shining One), and they have vulnerability to holy damage.

Preferred Backgrounds

• Warriors: Fighter, Gladiator, Monk, Hunter
• Zealots: Berserker, Abyssal Knight, Death Knight
• Warrior-mages: Skald, Transmuter, Warper, Arcane Marksman
• Mages: Wizard, Conjurer, Summoner, Necromancer, Fire Elementalist, Ice Elementalist, Air Elementalist, Earth Elementalist, Venom Mage
• Adventurers: Artificer

Due to their demonic nature, Demonspawn are prohibited from becoming Healers.

Level Bonuses

• +1 to a random stat every 4th level.
• Average HP.
• Average MP.
• +3 magic resistance per level.
• Gain more of your "demonic ancestry" (random Demonspawn mutations) as you rise in level. The levels this occurs at are randomized, but will include at least five full-ranked mutations by level 27. Some of these mutations are available only to Demonspawn. Unfortunately, gaining mutations you already have through other sources does not cause them to stack; the mutation simply becomes irrevocable and permanent. You may even lose benefits if you already had more than a single rank when the demonic mutation kicks in.

Starting Skills and Equipment

Demonspawn begin with the equipment and skills listed for their background, adjusted for their aptitudes.

Difficulty of Play

Demonspawn are a moderately difficult race to play because of their lack of specialization, slow leveling, and demonic status. Being demonic, like being undead, makes one vulnerable to holy effects (Cleansing Flame, Holy Word, weapons of Holy wrath) and unable to worship the three good gods, but it offers none of the guaranteed bonuses of being undead (poison immunity, cold resistance, life protection, torment resistance). Instead, they receive benefits when using demonic equipment (excellent in the late game, but non-existent early on) and get random but potentially awesome demonspawn mutations.

Skill aptitudes

The higher the value, the better the aptitude.

Skill	Aptitude	Skill	Aptitude	Skill	Aptitude
Attack		Miscellaneous		Magic
Fighting	0	Armour	-1	Spellcasting	-1
		Dodging	-1
Maces & Flails	-1	Shields	-1	Conjurations	0
Axes	-1	Stealth	0	Hexes	0
Polearms	-1			Summonings	0
Staves	-1	Invocations	3	Necromancy	1
Unarmed Combat	-1	Evocations	0	Translocations	-1
Throwing	-1	Shapeshifting	-2	Alchemy	0
				Fire Magic	-1
Short Blades	-1			Ice Magic	-1
Long Blades	-1			Air Magic	-1
Ranged Weapons	-1	Experience	-1	Earth Magic	-1

History

The Demonspawn mutation system was substantially overhauled in 0.7. Prior to that version, they mutated in a generally more random fashion: mutations were only grouped into low power and high power, and Demonspawn would receive six total mutations (two low, four high power). The mutation lists, which can be found on this page, were extremely varied. For instance, "high power" mutations could be absolutely mediocre things such as 1d3 levels of negative energy resistance, or they could be potentially game breaking things such as fast movement or complete torment immunity. In addition, Demonspawn mutations had some dependence on a character's skills and deity. While the old Demonspawn may have had much more powerful mutations available to them, the lack of any coherence to the mutations, or any guarantee of getting useful ones, made them in general a much more difficult species under the old system.

Since the overhaul, Demonspawn have continued to evolve: in 0.8, they stopped receiving breath attack mutations. Later versions, particularly 0.10, have added a number of new mutations and rebalanced others.