SMT And Persona's Demon Negotiating Came About Thanks To D&D Goblins

Shin Megami Tensei And Persona's Demon Negotiation System Was Inspired By A Frustrating D&D Session Published May 15, 2026, 1:44 PM EDT Joshua Robertson is an editor for TheGamer, having working in news, guides, features, and reviews since 2022. They have written thousands of news stories, ranging from industry-breaking events, to smaller, more personal community pieces, and have covered several high-profile showcases such as The Game Awards and Nintendo Directs. Joshua is considered an expert in soulslikes, horror, JRPGs and everything Final Fantasy, having written extensive coverage for massively popular online titles like Final Fantasy 14. Sign in to your TheGamer account Shin Megami Tensei's main mechanics have come in many forms over the years, whether it be in Persona, Raidou, Soul Hackers, or any other spinoffs I may be forgetting, but most of the games have come with the iconic Demon Negotiation system. This system allows the players to talk with their enemies, which often leads to baffling conversations, in an attempt to recruit or get items from them. It's a fun part of the SMT series, and actually quite groundbreaking back when it was first introduced, but it may not have actually existed had one of Atlus' developers not had a stickler for the rules as a Dungeon master in his Dungeons & Dragons group. In a recent interview with Encount (translated by Automaton), Atlus developer Kazunari Suzuki revealed that the idea for Demon Negotiation was pitched thanks to his frustrations with not being able to talk to goblins in a Dungeons & Dragons session, and his DMs insistence that talking to them was against the rules. “It never made sense to me why you can’t speak to the goblins," says Suzuki. "Goblins are also sentient creatures, right? They have a language, and form societies. But if you run into them inside of a dungeon, there is no room for negotiation – you have no option but to kill them. I really hated that." Related Sega's Latest Report Makes No Mention Of Persona 6 Or Any Unannounced Persona Games Today, Sega released its Q4 financial report, referencing Persona 4: Revival, but there is no mention of Persona 6. "After asking the Dungeon Master to let me speak to the goblins, they read the rulebook and told me, it’s not in the rules, so you can’t do it. So I thought, then make up the rules yourself. Those feelings were where Megami Tensei’s negotiation system came from." Suzuki then explains that while his idea was loved by his colleagues, it was considered too weak to hold up a game by itself, which is how SMT and Persona's Fusion mechanic came to be, inspired by the Devilman manga. Those two mechanics have been the backbone of pretty much every SMT game and spinoff ever since, and we have Dungeons & Dragon to thank for it. Systems Released October 30, 1992 ESRB t Developer(s) Atlus, Sega Publisher(s) Sega Engine CD-ROM