The Plight of the Devil + Basic American Gods Rules

The first Fall was the mightiest of acts of Falling; it happened, when Sin sprang like wisdom from the head of Satan, and he was cast down from the limitless heights of heaven to the bottomless depths of hellfire by God's wrath. The fall here is twofold. The physical fall was surely grand; but Satan performed a great and unprecedented act before that, in creating Sin wholly anew from his mind, fathering all Falls from then on into eternity.

This, surely, was the greatest Fall. But this puts Satan and his demoniac followers in a difficult spot; for if war with heaven is to be waged by inspiring further Falls, and this first fall was not great enough to topple the Almighty, how do they ever usurp that loathsome, limned throne?

Satan's first try was to consign all of humanity to sin, through the temptation of humankind. But the Son of God came down to earth, died for their sins, and returned to heaven to settle that score. And so the creative space within which Satan has to operate tightens like a noose, and as their power waned, they became closer and closer to mortality.

Now, the brilliant and devious minds of hell came together to discuss what they might do. Their power was waning, as the names and deeds of demons are forgotten in ancient tomes of demonology. Demons disappeared from hell, as fear of their influence diminished and popular theology guaranteed a spot in heaven for all those who had any reason to believe in hell in the first place. What demons remained languished as their powers waned, remembering with ironic fondness the days of Solomon and Jesus, the days of possession and the evil eye and crucifixes clutched in fear of those beings of the night.

Beelzebub spoke first, musing that another race of creatures might become sentient and learn to fear devils and God, and their plight might be assuaged. But Satan dismissed this offhandedly; they would be exposed to the very modern theology which has choked the devils to their current impotence, and nothing would be solved.

Mammon suggested that the devils rebrand, seek worship through exposure and consumption. Some demons, such as Asmodeus, would secretly pursue this path; but most demons recognized that the power which came from genuine fear of demons as Temptation could not be compensated for by brand-names and popular recasting.

And so Satan suggested a third option: that demons make themselves known by expression of power. That they roam the world, even in their weakened states, and remind people of what the Fall looks like, and why they should fear it. And the devils and demons roared and flew on fiery wings up past the bridge paved by Sin and Death and out into the real world.

Had they known the difference between Temptation and Falling, they might have seen their folly. For in their rush to gain worship for themselves as Tempters of their kind, their victims became offerings to Satan as well, the father of the Fall. 

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Campaign Element: Demons in the World

Demons live among humankind, in nearly-human flesh. Those of the Christian faith who are inclined to believe in demons recognize them on the spot. Moloch is a gang-banger with fiery eyes and a notorious vicious streak; Mammon is a tax collector with waxy, clammy hands that leave you sick to your stomach when you touch them.

Most demons are expressions of their associated Temptation. Moloch is sustained if people succumb to rage and bloodlust and attribute it to demons. He's invigorated if they attribute it to Moloch directly. Same goes for most other demons.

Some demons walk the earth and freely express their power. They set fire to buildings with a look, or possess devout and troubled monotheists. This kind of behavior draws the attention of other, more powerful, less friendly gods, and that can mean trouble. As such, many stay under the radar, working their malice subtly, transforming slums into warzones and factories into functional servitude.

Satan is different. Satan takes many forms, wears many disguises. He has no explicit tells; he is just a man, or an old woman, with something wrong about them. He appears to the religious as a reminder of the Fall, and feeds on that fear. If they Fall despite seeing him, that invigorates him too. For how much sweeter is it for someone to Fall knowing that Satan is trying to influence them, than it is for them to Fall and be agnostic in attribution?

(This idea draws influence from the incredible American Gods by Neil Gaiman, from Paradise Lost by John Milton, and from The Devil Swims Across the Anacostia River by Edward P. Jones. All of these are fantastic reads.)

Campaign Element: How Immortal are the Gods?

All gods exist. The more powerful ones are less mortal. 

1. If a God is recognized by name [among an esoteric group / among an ethnic group / by most people], they gain 1-3 points. 
1. If they have popular memetic depictions, they gain 0-2 points as if by name, except only if they accept the Conceptual Bargain for that depiction.
2. For every 5 popular epithets they have, they gain another point (rounding up; Zeus Hypsistos gains 1 point). 
2. If a God is attributed with power over something [specific / categorical / grand / divine-creationary] they gain 1-4 more points. Half as many to each individual if they have power over it as a group of Gods. Multiple specific things counts as categorical.
3. If someone is alive who has an intense personal relationship with the God, the God gains 1 point. 
4. A ritual which is no longer associated to a deity but traces its roots back to a deity generates 1-2 points, depending on if the ritual is closer to [infrequent and unpopular] or [frequent and popular]. Popularity has precedence; if a ritual is popular enough, it doesn't matter how infrequent it is.
5. If they are specifically considered unkillable, invincible, mighty, or everliving, they gain 1 point. This doesn't include deities to whom death doesn't really seem relevant.

0-1 Point deities: completely mortal. Have one cantrip or minor power. Can bless or curse people very infrequently, with inconsistent efficacy.

2-4 point deities: mortal, but seemingly quite lucky. Have a decent amount of power.

5-7 point deities: clearly more than mortal, but killable. Have considerable power.

8+ point deities: immortal. Have lots of power.

Campaign Element: The Conceptual Bargain

The popular depiction of deities changes with time. If Gods want to continue being worshipped under their new depictions, they must accept new worship under new depictions, and thus have their identity changed. Gods are intensely aware of how they're viewed in popular culture. 

Some Gods will not accept this bargain. The worship from those worshippers will go to waste, or if it is substantial enough, a splinter deity will form.

Conceptual Gods

When a God of Love is worshipped, Love is also worshipped. These Conceptual Gods do not usually have physical forms, and if they do, they're often mistaken for their instantiations (as Aphrodite or Cupid or what have you). They're quite powerful and generally not inclined to interact with humans transactionally, as humans generally don't interact transactionally with them.

Conceptual Gods cannot be killed. They can fade into irrelevance, which is extraordinarily painful for them, but they cannot be killed.