in_nomine-digest Monday, May 20 2002 Volume 01 : Number 2646 In this digest: Re: IN> Minor Superior Relations Re: IN> little query Re: IN> Re:Celestial paperwork? And other Random Thoughts. IN> Plot seed Re: IN> Lucifer's Word Re: IN> Celestial paperwork? And other Random Thoughts. IN> Minor Superior Relations IN> Celestial paperwork? And other Random Thoughts. RE: IN> Angel of the Home RE: IN> Calabim of Technology RE: IN> Calabim of Technology IN> Another artifact ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 10:34:40 -0700 From: Arovyn Subject: Re: IN> Minor Superior Relations On Sun, 19 May 2002 16:57:38 +0000 cassandra benner wrote: You've come in just after the flambe bbq season i think.. - ---Oh? What BBQ session? >Well, seeing as she is Michaels sheild maiden, i'd say she is strongly supported by and insupport of him. In my games she is his 2nd incommand, and liases with the Sword a great deal. >---Where's that reference at? I seem to have missed it, but I would definately agree. I think its a throwaway line in her write up. I know it's also from mundane angel knowlege (IE davidsons book amongst others) - ---I once found an incredible angelogy site - Sarah's Archangels or something like that. I'll have to dig up the link and look around on this one. I think her write up mentions she was one of his servitors as well. But dont quoteme on that, its been a while since i read that now. I might have to dig out the books.. - ---I've got it in front of me (and the seam on it just broke too... It says, "Zadkiel follows the lead of her fellow Cherub and patroness, Novalis..." Zadkiel's attitudes toward humanity follows the train of thought of Eli, so in my game, Eli and Novalis created her together (after all, the implications of Eli and Novalis together are everywhere, so why not?). >---Zadkiel gets along well with everyone except David, Jean, and Jordi because of their treatment of humanity. You could easily toss Litheroy in the mix because he is too distant from them. *Nods* Really, she should have a good deal of adoration for david, buit cos he treats the monkies so tough lovish, she sees that as a bad bad thing (tm). - ---Agreed. She should realise that jean is also protecting humanity by not giving them it all at once, if he were to do so that would be damaging indeed, and protection is about damage limitation is it not? - ---Maybe it's his micromanagement... >I use Litheroy as a very brash uncaring angel, borderline disonant. >---Interesting. As a seraph, he only sees things in black and white, or rather, True and Lie. - ---*Chuckle* More like Revealed and Needs to be Revealed (for the Truth it is). Zaddy is a cherub yes? im not overly sure, but it sounds about right. - ---See above. She knows that sometimes you have to Lie inorder to protect someone. If the seraph comes charging along telling every one the Truth, then he's gonna cause a fair bit of damage that Humanity just cant handle. - ---He's prohibited by God to Reveal Heaven, Angels, Demons, and Hell specifically. Anything else is fair game. However, it is odd that Litheroy won't reveal the truth about Alaemon... Zaddy would have to lay the smackdown on litheroy to protect humanity from him, even though he's a good guy. - ---He's a Seraph. He doesn't care about humanity on a general level (and yes, that is sterotyping, but nothing shows me he's gone beyond it), only the information they receive. >*Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be Evil.* >---Oooo, I like this quote! Lots. Feel free to use it and rip it and vandalise it to your hearts content :) - ---I think I will. 8-) Cas *Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. Study hard. Be Evil.* - ---Arovyn "Perception is nine-tenths of Reality. Be careful what you perceive." - ---Christopher J. King ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 16:37:18 -0700 From: Cameron McCurry Subject: Re: IN> little query >>Had a Lilim, or Lilith herself, broker it. That is still a bit odd in my eyes, since it was established that only Lilim or Lilith can Geas someone. The way it was written implied that Furfur owned the Geas on him. However, I liked Moe's explanation. "Bad editing." >>Furfur owes the Princess of Freedom big time because she found a certain Song for him. (Ain't telling which Song 'cause it's a spoiler.) No big deal. I own Night Music and ran a group through it. They managed to stop him and let Asmodeus' team have him. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 21:36:40 -0300 From: "vez o'rama" Subject: Re: IN> Re:Celestial paperwork? And other Random Thoughts. >From: W S > > Don't forget the hordes of angels all just singing > > the praises of the > > Almighty. > >That's a lot of angels to not have any more Earthside. If it fits your campaign, perhaps you could have these hordes of angels be singing in choruses (I think that's what it's called --- see the Liber Canticorum if you've got it), fuelling projects for their respective AAs. Queering the pitch in the favor of divine intervention, perhaps, to steal a phrase from Moe Lane. ;) >While that could be, it still seems wasteful to keep, >say, Impudites or Mercurians, on Celestial duty if >they aren't activly in trouble. I don't see why... Mercurians are known as Heaven's great diplomats. So, if you play a high-politicking campaign, you'll likely need Mercurians in Heaven to handle diplomatic relations between AA's who are on iffy terms. ;) Plus, with their supernatural understanding of human behaviour, Mercurians are probably handy advisors to boot. I mean, it makes sense to keep some Mercurians on hand for strategic planning --- they understand humanity, the object of the War, better than anybody. And I'd expect a lot of the heavy War planning to be going on in Heaven (because, among other things, it's harder to conduct demonic espionage in Heaven). In addition, Mercurians are probably really great teachers. Combine this with their inherent understanding of humanity, and it seems likely that Mercurians are often assigned the task of preparing young celestials for duty on Earth. Impudites similarly might be able to act as a pretty face for their Prince, either in terms of negotiation with hostile Princes(which I concede is sometimes better left to a Balseraph), or in terms of aesthetics... sure they have other uses, although it seems to me that Impudites just don't get the respect in Hell that Mercurians get in Heaven. Impudites strike me as The Band Most Desperate For Work Earthside. :) Besides, an Impudite in Hell had better _make_ himself at least _seem_ useful to his Prince... otherwise, sure, he might be recycled into whatever his Prince thinks is most useful at the moment... :) >I can easily imagine a slightly different Laurence >forming an Order who activly hunts in the Marches, >rather than simply remaining on border patrol. First, >they get to the edge, and then they cross it, and then >they beat on some demons. Sort of a jurisdictional thing. It's hard to get around how PO'ed Blandine would be, and plus, Blandine's bunch are just plain _better_ at kicking butt in the Marches :). Would you have Laurence try to force Blandine to give attunements to his Swordies? :) I think Laurence knows that it would be unwise to push Blandine, she's pretty alienated from Heavenly politics as it is. :) - - vez _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 01:13:46 +0000 From: "Perry Lloyd" Subject: IN> Plot seed http://www.thetoque.com/020514/walkenology.htm "MARYSVILLE, CALIFORNIA-- Almost by accident, it appears, Christopher Walken has become the spiritual leader of thousands of Americans. A new religion, Walkenology, has sprouted-up and claims to base itself on sound psychological principles and hip anti-hero doctrines." something for Dominic to crack down on - silly Kobalites - -Perry perrylloyd@hotmail.com pl312993@oak.cats.ohiou.edu http://www.geocities.com/perrylloyd/ "And that's the hardest thing for a human being to do - be wrong. Do you know that people would rather die than be wrong?" - --from A Matter For Men by David Gerrold _________________________________________________________________ T鬩chargez MSN Explorer gratuitement ࠬ'adresse http://explorer.msn.fr/intl.asp. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 May 2002 19:12:04 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Lucifer's Word - --- W S wrote: > (Slight > problem- how would the First have given himself this > Word if the Word is what lets him give Words... my > head hurts...) In Lilith's case, at least, canon isn't clear on whether or not it was even Lucifer who did it. Canon already tells us (albeit indirectly) that Humans can grant Words -- that's how all Worded Ethereals got them. Such a thing requires a concensus of Humans, however; not so much a number (or populations smaller than the current one couldn't have done it) but more a critical percentage. Now, imagine how few people that critical percentage consisted of when the Eden Experiment took place... ===== Michael Walton, #US2002023848 If your principles don't inconvenience you from time to time, you don't really have any. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience http://launch.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 03:15:28 +0100 From: Sam Kington Subject: Re: IN> Celestial paperwork? And other Random Thoughts. W S wrote: > Lastly, does anyone else feel the way Shedim are > portrayed mechanically and themeatically is a bit... > off? The 'voice in the head' corrupter motif is > great, but doesn't fit well with the Sheddite's > essentially total control over the person. Yes. I view that Shedim can be either in *complete control* - in which case they have full knowledge of what's going on, they can react as quickly as their own Stats would let them, but they'll be picked up by Resonances as Songs as the active person - or they can be *dormant* - in which case they just skulk in someone's consciousness, occasionally suggesting things (which is difficult), but on the other hand are Not Really There, and will only be picked up by a particularly successful Resonance roll. I haven't written up rules for this as I haven't had to have Shedim as PCs since I decided this. I'd be enclined to mandate a Will roll (opposed, with a penalty for the human equal to the check digit of the initial possession roll) to regain control, and probably a Precision roll to duck out of cover. Sam - -- Home page: http://www.illuminated.co.uk/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 10:40:00 -0400 From: BC Petery Subject: IN> Minor Superior Relations >But then again, Revelations could be a strong word to support Protection, >all depending in how you play it. I've always thought that Litheroy was underappreciated. Much that is foul and sinister cannot withstand the light of day. Familial abuse springs to mind. Help! I'm typing and I can't logoff! BC Petery http://www15.brinkster.com/ugwump/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 10:39:59 -0400 From: BC Petery Subject: IN> Celestial paperwork? And other Random Thoughts. >> Don't forget the hordes of angels all just singing >> the praises of the >> Almighty. >That's a lot of angels to not have any more Earthside. > Somehow, I think Michael, at the least, would have a >problem with that. 'You wanna show God you love him? >You want to render glory unto the Most High? Then get >down there and take an active hand in protecting the >planet!' A reason for conflict between Michael and Laurence, Michael and Dominic, Michael and Yves? A new Faction? Efficiency vs Propriety? Can Malphas gain word strength from disputes in Heaven? *snicker* Just trying to get a scorecard. We got: War/Peace Justice/Mercy Any Others? How about adding: Destruction/Redemption Defeat Hell/Save Humans >[snip, invasion of Marches and Hell] My reason for not invading enemy territory was more mechanics oriented. When a Celestial is Soul Killed (or wounded) the disbanded Forces are sent back to the Symphony. However, the Forces tend to hang around in the Realm where the disbanding took place. This means that any angel killed in Hell will likely contribute Forces to the creation of more demons. Angels might view this as a form of Celestial corpse desecration. It would also make an interesting explanation of the current trends in reduced infant mortality and population explosion. (Yeah, I know there's a scientific explanation.) Yours in Triviality, BC Petery http://www15.brinkster.com/ugwump/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 10:32:48 -0500 From: "Brook Freeman" Subject: RE: IN> Angel of the Home > Special Rite: Enable somebody to spend two hours in relaxation. > To the Cherub 'home' is defined as that place where a person has the greatest > sense of belonging and where they feel comfortable to be themselves with no > fear of hostility from the rest of the world. I think I would change the rite to: Enable someone to spend an extra two hours of relaxation in their home environment. Two hours of relaxation could be at the water park, museum, library, sports event or whatever. If this is his special rite for his word, it could be more closely tied in with it. Brook ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 10:49:36 -0500 From: "Brook Freeman" Subject: RE: IN> Calabim of Technology > Second, the P-Web may fire without the owner's pulling the trigger. The > Calabite must make the same two rolls as stated above, but this time if > either of the rolls *fails*, the P-Web does not go off. The level of the > Bound Discord, however, *subtracts* from the TN of a successful resonance > roll! > > (Example: Ed is just walking around a Vapulan stronghold when Bob decides to > cause some havoc. He succeeds on his Will roll to fire the gun, and then > (with his 15 TN) rolls a 6 Check Digit - enough to deal 5 Body Hits (3 CD + > Bob's 2 Corporeal Forces) to whatever the gun's currently aiming at > (hopefully Ed's face).) Shouldn't his target number on the second roll be 9? Will-Discord (12-3=9) not Will+Discord (12+3=15) Brook ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 16:58:44 -0000 From: "Chris Anthony" Subject: RE: IN> Calabim of Technology Brook Freeman said: > Shouldn't his target number on the second roll be 9? Will-Discord (12-3=9) > not Will+Discord (12+3=15) Correct. I'd subtracted it from the CD instead of the TN, for some reason. - -EDG ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 May 2002 14:13:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Ryan M Roth Subject: IN> Another artifact If you were following the thread, you know where I got this idea. As before, I will leave the calculation of character point costs to someone who actually knows the rules for such things. Ryan Roth ********************************************************************** The workings of Hell are insidious. Often the damage Hell's minions do comes from crafty words spoken into the right ears, rather than direct attacks. Demons have learned to use words to carry their vile attunements, Songs and resonances. It was only natural for Heaven to look for some simple way to shield their agents from the effects. HOLY EARPLUGS OF IGNORANCE The holy earplugs are small, normal looking earplugs. When inserted in the ears, they are nearly unobservable. Like normal earplugs, they muffle sound. Unlike normal earplugs, they also protect the user from attunements, songs, and resonances carried by sound. For each lovel of the artifact, the earplugs grant an additional point of resistance to certain effects. These effects include the Balseraph resonance, Songs like the Song of Thunder, and Attunements such as Divine Logic. The level is added to whatever trait is used to resist such attacks -- the earplugs add to the user's Will for resisting Balseraphs, and add to the user's Intelligence for resisting Divine Logic, for example. Unfortunately, the earplugs also shield out noises which the user might want to hear. Each level of the artifact penalizes the user's Perception for sound-based information. This includes detecting distrubances, normal sounds, and attunement-based information, like from the Malakim of War attunement (though in that case the angel's Corporeal Forces and not Perception is penalized). Whatever trait is used to determine how much a user hears suffers the penalty. A high-level set of Holy Earplugs can render the user completely deaf to all sound. Of course, Hell eventually decided the things had some use for them too, so they began to make their own versions. Unholy Earplugs tend to be larger and more noticable, and also painful to wear for long periods. ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2646 ********************************