I love Demon, but more than any other part of the game I have issues with the way Lore was presented. Lore seem too much like the generic powers every supernatural beastie gets in the WoD: five powers arranged in sequential levels, with a specified Attribute + Ability roll for each of them, creating a specific effect. Yes, I know it's The Way Things Are Done in the WoD, but it's been done to death, and it doesn't seem to fit the concept and breadth of angelic powers to me (even as debased as they are in the modern World of Darkness). Perhaps it's time to think outside the "five linear tiers of defined powers" box. The only way to include new Lore effects is to expand up (by adding more levels of evocations) or out (by creating rituals that combine other Lore). Maybe it's time to step outside that box a little. To that end, I'm introducing a unified mechanic that simplifies evocation rolls and can cover a far greater range of effects.
Yes, this adds a level of complexity to game play that didn't exist before. But I think that's better than a once-minister of Creation being potentially stuck with five powers for her primary Lore forever. It adds options for both players and Storytellers, allowing them to customize their characters and the Lore they wield. To mitigate this, a universal mechanic for Lores will simplify things, used for any evocation or spontaneous Lore effect.

Why Not Just Use Attributes + Abilities? The short answer: since Lore are no longer limited to defined powers, a broad mechanic is needed to cover a wide range of effects. Want a long answer grounded in the metaphysics of Demon? Fine, I can give you that. Creation as a whole, and all things within it, exists on multiple layers. Some layers are natural principles or aspects of things. An example is human health. Medical science is impressive, but only addresses the most obvious, physical "layers" of a patient: his body. Doctors are experts at addressing the biological needs of the human body, but not its spiritual aspects. Meanwhile, a holistic faith healer heals though a different principle, by bringing the person's body back into tune with the principles of life; but like someone that practices Western medicine, a holistic healer is limited in what she can do. A Scourge's Lore of Awakenings encompasses all these aspects, and thus isn't limited by mortal knowledge. As it's a completely different understanding of the body than that proposed by Western Science, a medical degree (i.e., the Medicine Knowledge) won't augment a demon's proficiency in this Lore. This doesn't mean that a host-doctor's Medicine Ability is useless to an Elohim, however. She's just as able to apply that knowledge of the human body as her host. Often it's better to rely on the medicinal principles we mere mortals are familiar with, such as when helping a woman give birth or (assuming she keeps her host's job as a doctor) operating on patients. It's just the player can't max out Medicine and expect his character to become more proficient in Lore of Awakenings. Besides making sense, this rules set fixes several problems. Knowing how to survive in the wilderness and resist adverse conditions (Survival) shouldn't help a Devil channel fire, nor allow a Malefactor circumvent space. A Slayer that was a world-class gymnast shouldn't be able to penetrate the Shroud with any more proficiency than someone with average Dexterity; that capability should be tied to a Celestial understanding of the subtle barrier between the worlds of life and death, not reflexes and raw athletic ability. And so on. Sure, players can't max out certain Attributes and Abilities to get better evocation rolls, but this isn't a bad thing in my opinion. Removing those traits from evocations removes the metagame temptation to create more effective demons, rather than choosing those traits that reflect the host's aptitudes and history. Also, no more looking up die pools for specific evocations -- if you want to use any Lore of Paths evocation, you immediately know your die pool. Simple and intuitive.

Evocation Rolls
Lore are an extension of Faith and one's angelic nature, and call upon ageless wisdom beyond mortal ken. No amount of mortal insight or aptitude, no matter how exceptional, can make up for where an Elohim's Faith and understanding of her divine purpose are lacking. But by the same token, gaps in one's mortal understandings won't limit her evocations.
Every evocation requires a roll of Faith + [Lore in question]. For Tormented evocations, roll Torment + [Lore] if Torment is higher than Faith; if this isn't the case, default to Faith. If the Tormented effect isn't evoked intentionally, any Torment dice in excess of Faith are immediately rolled, and their successes are added to any previous evocation successes to determine the final effect. No more than twelve dice may be rolled for an evocation; any dice in excess of this are lost, though other evocation descriptors (damage, range, etc.) still scale with the demon's traits.
While this yields a modest die pool for inexperienced demons, a character is guaranteed at least four dice to roll (a single Lore dot + starting Faith). A Celestial versed in a Lore and with strong Faith will invariably evoke more powerful effects than another fallen with weak Faith and less understanding of that Lore.

For example, the Scourge Eirtos, Song of the Autumn Breeze, with a Faith of 3, a Torment of 5 and Lore of Awakenings ●●● uses the Heal evocation. His die pool for all Awakenings evocations is six dice for the "normal" effects, or eight dice for tormented evocations. If Eirtos unintentionally creates a tormented effect (unlikely, considering his low Torment rating), the player will roll two more dice and add those successes to those previously rolled to determine its effect.

Spontaneous Effects
Instead of each Lore being limited to five evocations, a Lore has a wide range of possible effects based on its theme and concept. Some effects -- such as the evocations listed in the book -- are more common than others. Yet fallen have the potential to create effects outside these, as befitting the vast creative (and destructive) powers they once wielded... though this is difficult and often unreliable.
First, the player states what her demon is trying to accomplish with her Lore, with both normal and tormented effects. If the Storyteller decides the proposed effect falls under the purview of the Lore in question, he assigns a level to the effect, based on its how powerful it is -- this is a judgment call, as it relies on the narrator's understanding of the game. The effect's level determines (1) how difficult it is to create spontaneously and (2) how much exp it takes to later purchase it as an evocation. If it's within the demon's capabilities (i.e., she has the requisite dots and it fits within the Lore's range of effects), the player rolls Faith (or Torment) + [Lore], and the level of the proposed effect is subtracted from the die pool. (So an effect the ST decides is on par with a Level Three evocation means three dice is subtracted from the player's roll.) Clearly, it's more difficult to create spontaneous effects than to rely on evocations, though the player has the option to buy preferred effects as evocations later (using experience points). A botch while employing a spontaneous effect means the fallen can't attempt to recreate it, at least until she learns it as an evocation.

While visiting an injured ally at the hospital, Eirtos wants to use the Lore of Awakenings to accelerate her natural healing rates -- it's less blatant than Heal, and the Scourge wants to keep his true nature secret from the policewoman that saved him... at least for now. The Song of the Autumn Breeze lays his hands on the sleeping woman's arm, and calls upon the remnants of his angelic nature.
The Storyteller rules that this spontaneous effect fits the Lore of Awakenings, and is well within Eirtos' capabilities (as he has three dots in that Lore); she decides it's on par with a Level Two effect. The player subtracts two dice from his Faith + Awakenings die pool (as it's a Level Two effect), leaving him with four dice. The player nets a single success, a modest result. The Storyteller rules that with the Asharu's help, the Wounded cop heals within a month and without permanent debility.

New Evocations
Now that we're no longer restricted to the evocations listed in the book, I figured I'd offer some examples of alternate evocations for various Lore. Feel free to use'em as is, or as inspiration for your own ideas.
Storytellers interested in truly powerful Lore should check out Cosmic Power, where I give guidelines for evocations of truly epic scale.

Lore of Flame

●● Endure the Flame
The Devil can protect herself from the effects of fire by steeling her flesh against heat and moving the flames away from direct contact. By touching her allies, she can confer the same protection to them.
System: Every success on the evocation reduces the damage taken from flames by one level for one turn (counting as an automatic soak success even if she's not in a form that can soak lethal damage). The demon must use this evocation every turn she's exposed to flame. The Namaru can divide evocation successes between herself and those with whom she's in physical contact, though anyone that loses contact with her immediately suffers the full effects of the fire.
Torment: The tormented monster can't share the benefits of Endure the Flame with her allies (assuming she was inclined to anyway). Furthermore, this evocation protects the Devil by violently sending fire away from her, with likely destructive results.

●●● Extinguish
By severing a flame's link to Creation, she causes it to immediately go out. While Nusku Devils have little to fear from fire, this evocation is useful for preserving others' lives (who are, after all, potential thralls of their savior), as well as containing mishaps caused by unwise use of her Lore.
System: The demon actually targets a surface area currently on fire, not the fire itself, as she breaks the link between the fuel and the flame. She can extinguish ten square feet of flames for every success rolled. However, the fire has the potential to spread back to the affected areas if the character doesn't take precautions to prevent this.
Torment: The fallen actually intensifies the flame briefly by forcing the immediate and dramatic consumption of its fuel, leaving behind naught but smoking ash. For the one turn before it disappears, the damage the fire inflicts is doubled.

●●●● Flare
Before the universe was shattered and its layers and correspondences collapsed, each Devil was a star. Recalling the violent supernovas of Creation's birth, the Nusku explodes with flames, leaving her drained and everything around her in smoking ruin.
System: The player must spends one of the character's Faith points for this evocation. Every success on the evocation roll equals one level of aggravated fire damage to everyone and everything within the area of effect as a flash of roiling flame erupts outward; the radius equals the demon's permanent Faith x 5'. Allies are not immune to this effect, though the evoker is. For one day afterward, all Lore of the Flame die pools are halved as the character's internal stores recovers.
Torment: The effect above occurs, but the fallen invokes the nuclear furnace within her being and irradiates whatever is touched by her flames. Those damaged by the initial Flare attack, as well as creatures that do more than pass through the affected area, often suffer radiation burns, nausea, and hair loss, and may well develop cancer in the near future. Irradiated locations remain that way for one week per dot of Torment the demon possesses.

Lore of Patterns

Manipulate Fate doesn't circumvent fate or write new destinies for subjects, it just makes causality either favor or hinder the individual. Someone blessed by a Fiend is more likely to say just the right thing, dodge an attack, or intuit the solution to a problem; those cursed trip, stammer out damning confessions, or suffer worse wounds than they otherwise would have. But a Fiend can't lay her hand on someone (or herself) and predestine them for greatness or calamity. All even the most powerful Neberu can really do is nudge another's destiny for good or ill; actually controlling one's fate is beyond the ability of any fallen. Adding successes or botches is a useful trick, but it's not an overhauling and rewriting of destiny. However, the role Fate in store has for objects is usually pretty mundane, so it's not very difficult for a demon with Manipulate Fate to actually rewrite (or snap) the threads of destiny. Only in this case may a fallen cause determinism, but even that isn't foolproof; an item a Fiend may desire to end up on an ally's hands may be lost or stolen en route. Those people and objects already imbued with great destinies -- a messiah with great Faith, mages with Destiny, mystical talismans, the bullet that will kill the President of the United States -- often prove resistant to any form of demonic fate manipulation.

●●●●● Manipulate Fate
As the Fiend's understanding of fate, causality and the interconnectedness of all Creation improves, so does her ability to influence these sublime elements. Masters of the Lore of Patterns gain the ability to influence fate directly (as opposed to only reading and following it), by selectively pulling and coaxing threads and connections in reality itself. By doing this, they can make certain events and fortune more likely to come to pass, improving their own fortunes and those of others. While the fallen may only manipulate the fates of individuals and items, it's still a remarkable example of the Celestial's ability to control the tides of fate itself.
System: Each use of Manipulate Fate may only affect one subject: either herself, or upon an individual upon whom the Elohim has previously used Sense Congruence (Patterns ●); a subject needn't be present or willing for the power to take effect. The fallen spends a point of Faith and rolls Manipulation + Enigmas. The subject gains a number of automatic successes equal to the number of successes on the evocation roll. These are spent like points of Willpower according to the player's wishes, save that any number may be spent at a time. Once spent, these auto-successes are gone.
When this evocation is used on an item, the character makes it more likely that an object (or small group of them) will end up in a certain place, end up in certain hands, or play a certain role in the grand scheme; however, the end result must be fortuitous, as cursing items is the purview of tormented fallen. For instance, the Celestial may twist fate so as to make a written message more likely to reach an ally, increase the probability that her artwork be displayed prominently in a museum, or make a valued possession return to her after selling it. The difficulty for evocation depends how improbable the desired event would be normally: Having a specific knife more likely to return to the demon after selling it in a local pawn shop would be difficulty 7, having a specific coin return to her after putting it in general circulation would be 9. A single success is enough to make sure that the desired event will probably come to pass eventually, with more successes speeding the process along; in the case of an object returning to a demon, one success indicates the desired recipient might receive it within a year, while four or more successes would bring the object back within days. Each use of Manipulate Fate can only cause one event to come to pass for a specific item (or items), though a fallen may use Manipulate Fate on an object again after the previously manipulated event has come to pass.
Successive uses of Manipulate Fate don't stack, as the threads and eddies of fate can only be pulled, coaxed or warped so much. As long as a subject is under the influence from a previous use of Manipulate Fate, she or it can't benefit from any further use of the power. However, a Fiend may use Manipulate Fate to counter botches caused by the Tormented version of this evocation (see below), with each success negating a single botch.
Torment: Demons overwhelmed by pain find it easier to hinder and harm others than to influence fate to good ends. Their control of causality is not delicate, for they rend the tapestry of Creation with little care for the ultimate consequences.
When the tormented version of this evocation is used on a victim, a number of automatic 1s equal to the successes rolled are assigned to the victim. These auto-botches usually (though not always) affect the subject in the order that the rolls are made, with a single "1" assigned per roll. (Storytellers, beware savvy players that make needless die rolls to "burn up" the botches; assign the 1s when and how you want, not the player would have them.) Successes on the tormented form of Manipulate Fate may be used to negate auto-successes created through the non-tormented version.
The demon may use the tormented version of the evocation on objects, but can only influence things to come to bad ends. She may make a specific gun more likely to be used in a homicide, make a car more likely to crash, or have something valued be lost or destroyed. The more improbable the misfortune, the higher the difficulty of the roll, with more successes making the event come to pass sooner.

Lore of the Realms

● Havensight
A basic feat for many Slayers, this evocation allows the fallen to peek through the Shroud that and see into Haven -- the spirit realm in which the dead dwell. While the Ereshkigal visage offers this ability, there are times it's not prudent for such a Slayer to assume apocalyptic form, or a demon not of that visage may want to see what's going on in the land of the dead.
System: A successful evocation roll allows the Sebettu to look into the spirit world for a scene -- she perceives as if she were actually in Haven, though her body remains in the physical world. While looking into Haven, the character doesn't see the physical world (at least as it appears to the eyes of the living), but she can switch her perceptions back and forth at will.
Torment: The fallen beholds the very worst of the spirit world, with the decay and despair of that realm especially evident. She loses a point of Willpower as she despairs at what the ruined legacy of Charon and the Alabaster Legion. Additionally, another entity may see her in turn -- a degraded and monstrous ghost may home in on the beacon of Torment and harry the character for a scene or so.

Lore of the Wild

●● Plant Simulation
The fallen can mimic and duplicate the characteristics of plant life in his host body, though is capable of making only minor changes. Some Rabisu impart the resilience of wood to their own flesh, subsume their bodies' need for sleep and rest through photosynthesis, or exude plant-based poisons for use against foes. More radical transformations require greater mastery of the Lore of the Wild or the assumption of apocalyptic form, but a demon with this evocation still has a wide range of options open to him.
System: The potential effects of a successfully evoked Plant Simulation are fairly open-ended, and the Storyteller and player should work together to decide on effects. For example, changing one's flesh partly to bark may offer a bonus soak die or two against bashing and lethal damage, but impose Dexterity or Appearance penalties; thorny claws might inflict Strength +1 lethal damage; vegetative poisons can inflict paralysis, allergic shock or hallucinations. This evocation's effects usually last for the scene's duration, or until the Celestial wishes to dispel the effect.
Torment: The demon gains the desired characteristics, but loses control over his flesh and overwhelms it with harmful mutations, inflicting a level of bashing damage per success on the evocation; this may not be soaked. Further, the change always creates some baneful or deleterious effect related to the nature of the change: perhaps the Devourer can't stop producing poison and drips it constantly, or damages allies and thralls through incidental contact with his thorny skin.