in_nomine-digest Tuesday, June 11 2002 Volume 01 : Number 2669 In this digest: Re: IN> Yet more Undead Re: IN> Judgment Attunement Re: IN> Stones of David Re: IN> A new minor choir, Part 1 Re: IN> Stones of David Re: IN> A new Minor Choir (Part 1 of 2) RE: IN> Stones of David Re: IN> Stones of David Re: IN> Dead Prince #1: Makatiel RE: IN> Stones of David Re: IN> A new minor choir, Part 1 IN> Rocky Horrors IN> The Guf(sp?) IN> A new minor Choir (Part 2 of 2) Re: IN> The Guf(sp?) RE: IN> Rocky Horrors Re: IN> A new minor Choir (Part 2 of 2) IN> Rocky Horror Demon Show Re: IN> A new minor Choir (Part 2 of 2) IN> Minor Interventions Re: IN> Minor Interventions Re: IN> Minor Interventions IN> Stones of David IN> A new Minor Choir (Part 1 of 2) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 20:56:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> Yet more Undead - --- Eric Bertish wrote: > > (*hee hee hee* Moe, that's twisted. So, what does > Friend of the > > Gardeners do to these things? Crown of Joy?) > Seriously? I'd say that the latter'd be like holy water to them, or something; I don't remember what the former would do and my books are upstairs. > For that matter, what happens if you use these *in* > a Crown of Joy? The target's head explodes, but in a good way? ;) Moe ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 04/13/02(this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 00:11:02 -0400 From: "Eric Bertish" Subject: Re: IN> Judgment Attunement > Oh, I hope Casca applies this to VO4- I like this a LOT! Um... okay. It's not like any of you are playing Dominicans (any more), and practically every Seraph Judge has this by default *anyway*.... - -- Casca "Many people hear voices when no-one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing." --Margaret Chittenden, writer ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 17:08:35 -0500 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN> Stones of David From: "Bergeron, Robert F., DS1(SW)" > > Being a refined individual who _NEVER_ goes for jokes > that involve male sexual organs, I will of course > refrain from pointing out that the above sentence can > be taken in a completely ribald (dare I say, kinky?) > way...* What, no Little Saminga jokes at *all*? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 12:20:57 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rev. Pee Kitty" Subject: Re: IN> A new minor choir, Part 1 These guys seem rather powerful to me as well... in my gaming group, EVERYONE would want to be them. I'd suggest a few changes to tone them down.... 1. Have the dissonance conditions of the previous Choir carry over into the next day. IOW, at any given time, the angel will be operating under TWO Dissonance conditions. That would make them more of a serious thing. 2. At least one Malakite oath should be constant... I'd do Two Standards, One Fixed, One Mutable, and encourage them not to take flippant Oaths - as a GM, I'd make sure doing so came back on them. 3. I would leave the minor Choirs out altogether, frankly, and just roll a d6 every morning. Since there are only seven Choirs, one of which they already are, that leaves a perfect number of six possible Choirs to change into! 4. Keep the Kyrio restrictions. It makes them MUCH more balanced. Regarding their GURPS:IN cost, I'd like to point out that quite a while back, on the newsgroup, I posted rules for "Variable Power Pools in GURPS Supers". They went over very well and would fit this situation perfectly. Figure the costliest Choir (which may or may not be the Kyrio, with that restriction), then apply a base +125% enhancement to the cost (for the VPP), with the restrictions "-25% No Control Over Time of Change", "-70% Seven Configurations Only", for a final modifier of +20%. Apply that to the most expensive Choir cost and you've got a price. Then, if you're using my first suggestion, I'd take the mildest Dissonance conditions (point-wise; don't have my books with me to say) of the seven choirs and apply that as a flat reduction to the point cost. That'd be fair. BTW, sorry I've been off the list for the past few months - I moved, and had a hell of a time just getting Internet access, then my mail server wasn't properly accessible until just last week. I nuked everything from February through most of April and just now got caught up on the past few weeks. Good to see you guys again! :) - -- Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian, Q4B4L! Meow! "There he goes - one of God's own prototypes. A high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production... too weird to live, too rare to die." -- Hunter Thompson, "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 11:55:29 +0200 From: Mark Subject: Re: IN> Stones of David Rocky Horror Picture Show??? Andre of course! Mark the Habbalah ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 11:55:26 +0200 From: Mark Subject: Re: IN> A new Minor Choir (Part 1 of 2) Well I think they're too powerful for a minor choir!!! And... well I don't like them so much, 'cause they're not so original, they simply mimics the other choirs... Mark the Habbalah ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 19:48:06 -0400 From: "S.D." Subject: RE: IN> Stones of David >In fact, making jokes that involve sexual >organs of any sort, or even organ grinders and their monkeys, gives me an >orgasmic rush of lust. Rose tint my world, keep me safe from my trouble and >pain. Rocky Horror Picture Show: Kobal or Andre? Discuss. ^^ ~S.D. Ryukage ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "And crawling...on the planet's face...Some insects...Called, the human race." Yeah, that's an Impudite... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 19:56:05 -0400 From: Amanda Kilgore Subject: Re: IN> Stones of David > *OBIN Content? Well... > > Do you really want me to go there? > > ;) Moe... you went there. You dragged us all with you. And still you groaned when the sick puns didst fly. Or aren't you ready to tell the list about your little campaign? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 16:50:44 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Dead Prince #1: Makatiel At 10:24 AM -0700 6/8/02, Michael Walton wrote: >--- EDG wrote: >> I still haven't settled on a pronunciation of his name: >> Mah-kah-teel or Mah-kah-tee-ehl? > > I believe that the latter is correct. 'Show I intend to pronounce it. (Seems about right -- Gabriel is "ree-el," after all...) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor RPG links; Random name list, Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 07:24:10 -0400 From: "Bergeron, Robert F., DS1(SW)" Subject: RE: IN> Stones of David - -----Original Message----- From: Mark [mailto:santaro@inwind.it] Rocky Horror Picture Show??? Andre of course! Mark the Habbalah *** Give yourself over to absolute pleasure Swim the warm waters of sins of the flesh Yeh, that's Andy alright. Kobal's just responsible for all the audience remarks. DS1 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 05:43:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> A new minor choir, Part 1 - --- "Rev. Pee Kitty" wrote: > BTW, sorry I've been off the list for the past few months We're just glad you're back. I'm sure that Moe was getting tired shouldering the burden of list wierdness alone. };> ===== Michael Walton, #US2002023848 "Be aware that most people are operating on a highly condensed version of the 10 Commandments... the part about murder." -- Mark Bricklin __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 05:44:36 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: IN> Rocky Horrors - --- "S.D." wrote: > Rocky Horror Picture Show: Kobal or Andre? Andre after losing a bet to Kobal. ===== Michael Walton, #US2002023848 "Be aware that most people are operating on a highly condensed version of the 10 Commandments... the part about murder." -- Mark Bricklin __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 10:04:37 -0400 From: "Roger Williby" Subject: IN> The Guf(sp?) I saw a movie a while back, one of those movies about Revelation. I forget most of the plot but there was this neat story told by one of the main characters. The story was about a place in Heaven where all human souls reside prior to being born. On a personal note, as a small child I claimed to have memories of Heaven(since forgotten). At any rate, I think this place would make a great plot device. _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 10:11:58 -0400 (EDT) From: Ryan M Roth Subject: IN> A new minor Choir (Part 2 of 2) Thanks for the input, people. Here's the rest of it. Ryan R. ************************************************************************* FALLING Like most other angels, Grunothim can fall. When they do, one of two things happen. If they fall while emulating most Choirs, their Fall locks them into that Choir/Band diad, and they become a full version of that Band. The process of Falling destroys the delicate balance the angel needs to maintain to have access to all the angelic aspects. If, afterward, they Redeem, they become the Choir that they orginally emulated -- they are Grunothim no longer. The other case happens when the Grunothim falls when emulating a Malakite or a Minor Choir with no Infernal analog. This has only happened a few times, and the Jacks are believed to have died during the descent, torn apart by the Symphony. But there are rumors of a very rare breed of demon which can force other celestials to change their resonances and dissonance conditions temporarily. If true, they would be highly sought after, for what Demon Prince wouldn't want a demon capable to changing Malakim into Mercurians, or, say, a pack of Impudites into raging Calabim? GRUNOTHIM AND THE ARCHANGELS After the first Jack was created, Janus started getting many different relievers who all had the same predicament. Janus began to fashion more of the Choir from them. The Archangel of the Wind was pleased at the way their nature resonanted with his Word, and was happy to see that they were finding places for themselves in Heaven. Eventually, some of the Choir started asking permission to serve other Words, and Janus was happy to trade them. Janus enjoys seeing his creations bringing change and a bit of randomness into the other Archangels' organizations. While not a very large choir, Grunothim can be found serving nearly every Word nowadays; most Archangels have created Attunements for them as well. Grunothim of Dreams (partially Restricted): To avoid unintentional dissonance, Blandine gives the Jacks serving her a special Dream Catcher artifact. If the Jack turns Kyrio and cannot find a host within five minutes, the Jack can possess the artifact to avoid going celestial. The Jack can then try to possess anyone who touches the artifact with a +2 bonus to their resonance roll. When the KyrioJack switches to a new Choir, his vessel forms around the artifact. Whether or not the Jack is a Kyrio at the time, the artifact grants 8 points worth of Skills, like an Ethereal Talisman, chosen at character creation. Grunothim of Stone: David was initially skeptical of the ability of the Choir to serve his Word, and so always tests the character of those Jacks to petition to serve him. The attunement he grants them allows them to temporarily boost their Strength attribute. By spending 3 Essence, and making a Strength roll, the Jack can boast his Strength by the check digit. However, at the same time, their Agility is lowered by the same amount. The Jack can turn the effect off at any time during the four hours, but must spend Essence again to reactivate it. Don't try activating this attunement while it is already on -- it won't work. This attunement cannot lower a statisitic below 1 -- if the roll calls for it, the celestial gets a lesser amount of Strength increase. For example, Frediel has a Str of 8 and a Agility of 4. His check digit is 5. For the next four hours, his Str is 11 and his Agility is 1. This attunement can raise Strength above 12 for purposes of calculating Body hits only. Incidentally, as a Malakite Superior, David requires all Jacks serving him to swear the same oaths every time they resonate into MalaJacks. Grunothim of Judgement (restricted): While on an assignment, Jacks of Judgement can, at dawn, chose to retain the resonance they are emulating for one more day. This was meant to encourage the angels to use their judgement to determine if the resonance they have is going to be useful over the course of the next day. However, the angel must roll for a new resonance on the third day, though the roll may let them keep the resonance again. This attunement cannot be used again until the Jack switches resonances at least once. Grunothim of Fire (partially restricted) Jacks of Fire are attuned to those who are cruel in more than one manner, or who delight in being cruel in many ways. They can detect these people on sight. In addition, if they resonate as a Seraph, Cherub, Elohite, Kyriotate or Mercurian at dawn, they can spend one Essence to gain the ability to see that type of cruelty for the next 24 hours as well. For example, Frediel resonates as a Cherub at dawn. He decides to spend a note of Essence. For the next day, he will at a glance detect any betrayers he sees, in addition to those who are cruel in many ways. Grunothim of Wind (restricted): Once a day, for 1 Essence, the Grunothim can cause their resonance to shift as if it were dawn. This allows them to discard an aspect in the hopes of getting one more suitable for the present task at hand. But it is still a random process, so they may end up with another aspect that isn't helpful, or even the exact same aspect. Many Jacks retain this Attunement regardless of their current Word. Grunothim of Lightning Jean views the Jacks as angels which have integrated seperate resonaces into a single whole. He therefore teaches them the best way to integrate technology. Jacks of Lightning receive their Ethereal Forces as a bonus to any Engineering or Electronics roll, or any roll which attempts to combine two or more seperate technologies. Examples include adding a clock to a toaster, or a camera to a computer, or a pair of machine guns to a Camaro. Some Jacks of Lightning love working on intregrating biology with technology, and are very much into cybernetic research in the Halls of Progress. Grunothim of Animals (restricted): Jordi has yet to accept any Jacks into his service. While most Jacks hope that Jordi might teach them the Kyrio trick of multiplicity, other speculate that it is far more likely that he would work them in as caretakers of animals which undergo metamorphosis. Grunothim of Trade: Marc is fond of the Grunothim, as he can always find a place for a good generalist in his organization. He gives his Jacks the ability change mortal currency at will. Basically, they can take any currency from any government and shift it to to another denomination automatically. This may not sound like much, but Marc considers numbers in bank accounts, bonds, stocks, etc, to be currency. So, the angel with this attunement can change dollars into stock certificates for a given company, then into bearer bonds, then into a bank check, and then into a pile of gold pennies. The exact value remains the same, according to current exchange rates. The attunement can be used to pull money out of or put it into an electronic bank account, provided that the angel has access to the account (a PC could be used as a quick ATM machine, for example). Each shift of $1000 of currency (roughly - exchange rates change) costs one Essence, with a minimum of one. Angels with a large supply of Essence and a good knowledge of the current exchange rates can make a small fortune given enough time. Marc, however, requires that the angel only use this ability on currency he actually owns -- it can't be used to tinker with other people's bank accounts. Grunothim of War: Like Marc, Michael appreciates the Grunothim and always has a mission ready for any Jack who wants to serve the Word of War. The randomness of their resonance allows them to surprise their opponents frequently, and Michael makes good use of their talents. To assist them, Michael augments their combat abilities; like their resonance, the effect is random to further suprise opponents. Every dawn, roll 1D6; the cooresponding skill on following table is increased by 4 for the next 24 hours. 1 = Dodge 4 = a random, common Small Weapon skill (GM's choice) 2 = Tactics 5 = a random, common Large Weapon skill (GM's choice) 3 = Fighting 6 = a random, common Ranged Weapon skill (GM's choice) This attunement will not select a weapon skill that requires a weapon not readily made or found. Knives, Axes, Swords, and Pistols are fine. Blowguns are pushing it. Laser Rifles are right out (unless they are common in your campaign). ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 10:23:57 -0400 From: "Eric Bertish" Subject: Re: IN> The Guf(sp?) > I saw a movie a while back, one of those movies about Revelation. I forget _The Seventh Sign_, with Demi Moore and Jurgen Prochnow. > to have memories of Heaven(since forgotten). At any rate, I think this place > would make a great plot device. Or the Cathedral for the Archangel of Souls. (Yes, I'm currently writing her up.) - -- Casca "Many people hear voices when no-one is there. Some of them are called mad and are shut up in rooms where they stare at the walls all day. Others are called writers and they do pretty much the same thing." --Margaret Chittenden, writer ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 10:07:33 -0500 From: "Brook Freeman" Subject: RE: IN> Rocky Horrors > --- "S.D." wrote: > > Rocky Horror Picture Show: Kobal or Andre? > > Andre after losing a bet to Kobal. or what happens if between 'completion' and official release Kobal gets his hands on one of Andre's projects and then some of his servitors go on an ... original promotion campaign on earth. Brook ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 10:44:48 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> A new minor Choir (Part 2 of 2) - --- Ryan M Roth wrote: > If they fall while emulating most Choirs, > their Fall locks > them into that Choir/Band diad, and they become a full > version of that Band. Ah. This I like -- maintains game balance much better. > The other case happens when the Grunothim falls when > emulating a Malakite > or a Minor Choir with no Infernal analog. I'm pretty sure that all minor Choirs have infernal analogs, with the possible exception of the Heavenly Choirs (which would not be available for the Grunothim to emulate anyway). The one canonical example certainly can Fall, and most of the non-canonical minor Choirs I've seen have at least mentioned demonic counterparts. > there are rumors of a very rare breed of > demon which can force other celestials to change their > resonances and dissonance conditions temporarily. If true, they'd only be suitable as NPC's; this ability is not only way too powerful, but messing with someone's character concept that way can create out-of-game bad blood. > Eventually, some of the > Choir started asking permission to serve other Words, and > Janus was happy to trade them. I'm going by the one canonical example here, but I believe that part of the limitation on minor Ensembles is that Superiors who can't make them can't make Attunements for them (I, for one, would like a canon ruling on this). That said... > Grunothim of Dreams (partially Restricted): This is pretty cool and very thoughtful of Blandine. I'd leave off the skills, though. > Grunothim of Stone: This is even better -- very balanced. And I like the idea of David requiring his MalaJacks to swear the same Oaths repeatedly. > Grunothim of Judgement (restricted): Eh. It's playable, but it didn't knock my socks off. > Grunothim of Fire (partially restricted) As written, this basically gives the Grunothim all of the Fire Choir Attunements except for Malakim and Ofanim. In other words, it's vastly overpowered. They should have an active Attunement like Wheels and Virtues or one type of cruelty to detect like everyone else. > Grunothim of Wind (restricted): This one makes perfect sense for Janus. > Grunothim of Lightning Counterproposal: how about a bonus to _modify_ a technological device (i.e. turning an AM/FM radio into a 2-way communicator)? Fits with their Resonance for change. > Grunothim of Animals (restricted): As intriguing as I found this, it covers too much ground; _all_ animals metamorphose at some point in their life cycles. The difference is that some do it in ovo or in utero and others do it in vivo. Since I'm assuming that you meant those that change in vivo, that still leaves insects (already covered by Jordi's Kyrios), fish (Seraphim of Animals have those), crustaceans (see above) and amphibians (which may fall under Elohim). > Grunothim of Trade: This is interesting and quite useful for Traders. I like the fact that the Attunement doesn't allow the angel to circumvent exchange rates. > Grunothim of War: I also like this one, though I think I'd find it hard to run. Overall, I don't much care for the Grunothim. The basic idea strikes me as too powerful for a minor Choir. Their variable abilities could also make them a pain in the neck for a GM. I do like some of the Attunements that you came up with, though. They'd work quite well for a more balanced Choir. ===== Michael Walton, #US2002023848 "Be aware that most people are operating on a highly condensed version of the 10 Commandments... the part about murder." -- Mark Bricklin __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 11:07:31 -0700 (PDT) From: trupke@captainamericafans.com Subject: IN> Rocky Horror Demon Show > Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 19:48:06 -0400 > From: "S.D." > > Rocky Horror Picture Show: Kobal or Andre? Discuss. ^^ > There exists, among the younger servitors of Dark Humor, an activity known as "The Impossible Prank". Basically a bunch of Jesters get together and start tossing around ideas for jokes that would require superior-level resources (at least) to pull off, and laugh about the imagined results. Kobal permits this; while he would prefer his demons actually doing something, these discussions do occasionally produce some amusing ideas. One time, the discussion focussed on what would happen if certain Princes got their Words replaced, merged, or contaminated by other Words. Of course, no one had any idea how to do that, but that wasn't the point... Most of the best ideas seemed to focus on the affects the Word of Lust would have on other Princes. Baal-Andre got chuckles. Belialphus got guffaws. Andremodeus would have been popular, if they all weren't afraid of laughing at that one. But the most popular concept was what would happen if Vapula suddenly got a taste for Lust, and turned his research toward more... special interest pursuits. As luck would have it, that was when the young demons were shooed off the doorstep, sent off to do various errands. One of them, a Shedite, was told to make an anonymous delivery in London. It did so, chuckling at the concept of Andrepula all the way. Apparently, it stuck. Imagine the surprise when the person the Shedite possessed went on to write a musical based on the idea. _________________________________________ ComicBookResources.com - The comic site you have to visit. Free e-mail for Comic Book Fans at http://www.cbrmail.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 14:33:47 -0400 (EDT) From: Ryan M Roth Subject: Re: IN> A new minor Choir (Part 2 of 2) On Tue, 11 Jun 2002, Michael Walton wrote: > > The other case happens when the Grunothim falls when > > emulating a Malakite > > or a Minor Choir with no Infernal analog. > > I'm pretty sure that all minor Choirs have infernal > analogs, with the possible exception of the Heavenly Choirs > (which would not be available for the Grunothim to emulate > anyway). The one canonical example certainly can Fall, and > most of the non-canonical minor Choirs I've seen have at > least mentioned demonic counterparts. I wasn't quite sure, so I left open the possibility that there were Minor Choirs that had no demonic counterpart. One possiblity is a new Minor Choir who have yet to have a member to Fall -- since the demonic counterpart hasn't yet come into being, one might say the choir has no infernal analog. Depends on your point of view. > > > there are rumors of a very rare breed of > > demon which can force other celestials to change their > > resonances and dissonance conditions temporarily. > > If true, they'd only be suitable as NPC's; this ability > is not only way too powerful, but messing with someone's > character concept that way can create out-of-game bad > blood. This was meant to be either a rumor to scare players with, or a possible villan type character. If I were to actually write it up, the resonace would be on a very short time scale (a CD of 6 might cause a change lasting 15 minutes) and the new resonance would be random as well. Divine resonances would remain divine, infernal would remain infernal. So the demon wouldn't be incredibly powerful, really -- it would just have the means to _temporarily_ replace one set of powers for another. The effect would wear off quickly, so it is about as bad as being hit with a song in combat. I can see this as being a good tool to use -- a good GM could use it to force his players to think of some other way of solving a problem. It could also get them thinking about the benefits of other Choir resonances as well, if the player sees no point in ever playing anything other than a Malakite, for example. But this is all moot anyway, since the band is only a rumor. > > I'm going by the one canonical example here, but I > believe that part of the limitation on minor Ensembles is > that Superiors who can't make them can't make Attunements > for them (I, for one, would like a canon ruling on this). > That said... I knew of no such limitation. The main book (which is the only book I currently have access to) makes no such stipulation, so I thought it would be fine. Then again, the main book doesn't mention Minor choirs at all... :/ > > > Grunothim of Dreams (partially Restricted): > > This is pretty cool and very thoughtful of Blandine. I'd > leave off the skills, though. If the skills are removed, then this attunement is useless the 7/8ths of the time the Jack is not a Kyrio, which makes it underpowered. > > Grunothim of Fire (partially restricted) > > As written, this basically gives the Grunothim all of the > Fire Choir Attunements except for Malakim and Ofanim. In > other words, it's vastly overpowered. They should have an > active Attunement like Wheels and Virtues or one type of > cruelty to detect like everyone else. Points: 1) it costs essence to gain the second effect, which (at least in every game I've been in) is something of a precious commodity. 2) The second effect carries with it Fire's dissonance conditions, so the Jack would be forced to punish a wider range of people. 3) the Jack would at most only have 2 effects at a time, and the second is of a random catergory. 4) the attunements we are talking about don't grant much in the way of power -- they just let the angel see the cruel. That's it. Am I mistaken, or wasn't there a discussion on this list some time ago about how Gabriel's Choir attunements, as they were written, were _underpowered_? Given all of this, I just don't see what I have written here as being that unbalancing. > > > Grunothim of Lightning > > Counterproposal: how about a bonus to _modify_ a > technological device (i.e. turning an AM/FM radio into a > 2-way communicator)? Fits with their Resonance for change. Good idea. > > > Grunothim of Animals (restricted): > > As intriguing as I found this, it covers too much ground; Again, this is moot, because Jordi hasn't actaully created anything yet. I was working from the stance that Jordi would probably organize his angels according to the role the animal takes in the natural order, rather than its species. Since Jacks are a minor Choir, they should take over a minor role, perhaps supervised by one of the major choirs. > > Grunothim of Trade: > > This is interesting and quite useful for Traders. I like > the fact that the Attunement doesn't allow the angel to > circumvent exchange rates. What I didn't put in was the suggestion that Essence be considered a unit of currency (which is directly stated in the main book, p.50). So, it follows that Marc would have people who monitor the current Essence-to-US dollars exchange rate. One might base this on the Head of a PIN effect (1 Essence = $100), but that attunement states that the cash comes from money lost or destroyed, so I imagine that that attunement carries some significant overhead cost. Thanks for the input. Ryan R. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 14:49:32 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: IN> Minor Interventions Here is a mechanics frill that might suit some IN games, where a small number of Superiors an intense interest without actually being on stage all the time: Just as a roll of 111 means God takes a hand, and 666 means Lucifer's attentions, let other three-of-a-kind rolls mean an intervention by one of the Superiors concerned in the plot. For instance, if you have demons of Vapula and Nybbas pitted against angels of Jean and Blandine, you could let: 555 = Vapulan intervention 444 = Nybbasian intervention 333 = Blandian intervention 222 = Johanine intervention A Superior intervention need not mean the Superior appears on stage, though it could; rather, it means a miracle or turn of strange luck with all the earmarks (Wordmarks?) of being engineered by that Superior. Thus, for Vapula or Jean, an intervention might mean your equipment performs beyond wildest expectations, or the foe's equipment breaks spectacularly, or you find an enormously handy gadget in your backpack that you KNOW you didn't pack. Blandine's interventions might take the form of great ideas coming to you out of the blue, or coming from unexpected NPCs saying, "Hey, I dreamed about something like this last night!" or simply an unexplained upsurge of hope, quickly justified by the next turn of events. Nybbas's interventions could take the form of handy ideas coming over the media, or of the media paving your way for you - "Hey, I heard about you guys on the radio just now!" - or disasterous publicity for your foes - "Be on the lookout for ." To simplify the frill further, 555 could be an intervention from the Demon Prince whose servant is on either end of the roll, while 222 could be an intervention by the immediatley relevant Archangel. Thought? Earl ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 21:08:15 +0200 From: Mark Subject: Re: IN> Minor Interventions Hey this can be useful, even if I think that a lot of people will choose when somethings happen... for example when a superior will appear or act... anyway it's simple and I think I'll use this method in the next adventures... Yeah, it's cool! Mark the Habbalah ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 12:20:39 -0700 (PDT) From: W S Subject: Re: IN> Minor Interventions Nono, 555 is reserved as the Erisian Intervention. Golden apples fall from the heavens (or hot dogs without buns on Fridays). Sacred Chaos moo ominiously. Etcetc. :) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 16:06:31 -0400 From: BC Petery Subject: IN> Stones of David >"You've got the Stones of David" Reminds me of a Succubus I had in GURPS Technomancer. She used the spell of Partial Petrification (Grimoire p22) to [interesting effect] on certain [male clients]. They found it most frustrating when their equipment seized up at a critical juncture. An idea worthy of Distinction to Andrealphus? "50% of wisdom is an intelligent question." -Anonymous Pete, Demon of Misinformation http://www15.brinkster.com/ugwump/IN/index.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 17:25:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Ryan M Roth Subject: IN> A new Minor Choir (Part 1 of 2) This is my first stab at a new minor Choir; this is the rough, rough draft, so comments are welcome. Sorry if it's a little long, Beth. Ryan R. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Nicolae entered the small room where the Mecurian was chained to a chair and shut the door behind him. The angel looked up when he entered the room, but said nothing. Nicolae still couldn't believe his luck. He had been working as an apprentice for his coven for a decade now, and still had not been given a chance by his masters to possess real power. All he had been given in return for his loyalty was hard work, insults and beatings. The last time Nicolae had asked his masters to initiate him into the cadre of Hellsworn, he had nearly died from the punishments they inflicted on him. And he had come crawling back -- when he was able to crawl. For the longest time, all Nicolae could do was take out his fustratation on defenseless animals and infants. Now, it would seem the Symphony itself had given him a chance for real power. The problem was, Nicolae wasn't sure how to use the angel he captured. It was dumb luck that he recognized the angel and realized that it was a Mecurian. It took more than a few tazer shots to take it down -- for a bit, Nicolae thought that it might not go down. But it did, and now it was chained up in his kitchen. And Nicolae wasn't sure how to proceed from here. He could hand it over to his masters and hope for a reward, but he knew that they would just take the angel and hand it over to their demonic masters, and take all the credit. He wanted to contact a demon himself, but he didn't have the skill to summon one. And there was always the chance that angel might have something or know something that he could use. Nicolae sat there, brooding, when the angel spoke to him. "Do you realize what you are doing is evil?" Nicolae sneered. The angel had been trying to talk him out of being evil ever since it woke up. "What do you mean, _angel_?" Nicolae spat out the last word. "That it's evil for me to want the power others have abused me with my whole life? That it's evil to be willing to do anything to achieve that power? That the fact that I will do whatever I want with you is evil? Please, spare me. I am going to take the power I deserve and I am going to use you to get it." "Then there is no way I can persuade you to give this up, and try to reclaim your soul before it is completely cast away?" "There are no such things as souls. Only power in this lifetime matters. Now be silent. I need to think." The angel sighed, and then turned his head to the nearby window, where the first rays of dawn were filtering in. Softly, the angel began to speak to himself. Nicolae looked up, frightened and angry. "What was that?" Nicolae ran over to the angel, and grabbed its face, forcing it to look at him. "You better not be trying to sing a Song, angel. Tell me what you said!" The angel looked him in the eye. "It was angelic. It means, 'I will suffer no evil to live when it's my choice.' " The chains exploded around the angel as he burst from the chair, hoisting Nicolae up by the throat and tossing him across the room. Before Nicolae had a chance to realize what happened, the angel was on him, picking him up and pressing him hard against the wall, which began to crack from the pressure. Stunned, Nicolae tried to deny what was happening through broken teeth. "You--You're a Mercurian. You aren't allowed to hurt me." "Wrong, buddy boy. Yesterday I was a Mercurian. Today I am a Malakite. And my third oath is 'I swear I am going to spend the rest of this morning kicking your ass.' " ************************************************************************ Once upon a time, there was a reliever who was about to fledge. It had done very well serving Heaven, and most that knew it were anticipating a very bright career. However, this reliever had a problem. It simply could not decide what choir it wished to belong to. Many days passed as it tried to decide, but it couldn't. It's despair grew, because it thought that the fact that it couldn't decide was a failure on its part. And then Janus found it crying. Janus asked the reliever what was the matter. "Well, Mister Janus." (The reliever had a habit of calling everyone Mister or Ma'am -- most found it endearing.) " I don't know who I want to be. I mean, there's the Seraphim, and they are so regal and majestic. And the Cherubium have such a great job. And Ofanim like yourself are so cool with all that speed and stuff. Elohim are so respected. Malakim get to kick demon butt. Kyriotates get to be everywhere at once. And Mercurians are so much fun. And then there's all the minor choirs -- too many to mention. How can I decide to be just one?" Janus thought for a moment, then said, "Well, why not be all of them?" Then, with the reliever's permission, the Archangel gathered the reliever up and made him into the first Grunothim, a minor choir whose resonance was for, well, resonances. Grunothim aka, the Jacks (as in 'Jack of all Trades') RESONANCE A Jack's resonance is for angelic resonances. Every day, at dawn, they take on a new, random angelic aspect. The aspect from the previous day is lost, and in it's place the angel acquires the ability to mimic another Choir's resonance for a day. The Jack also is contrained by that Choir's dissonance conditions. Upon assuming a new angelic aspect, the Jack will know instinctively what it's new resonance and dissonance conditions are, even if it's for a minor choir that the angel has never heard of. DISSONANCE The Grunothim acquire a new dissonance condition each day, identical to the condition of the angelic aspect they are duplicating. When resonanting as a Seraph, Jacks take dissonance from lying. When resonanting as an Elohite, they take dissonace from acting from emotionally. Once the angel aquires a new aspect, the former dissonance condition no longer holds. A Jack who was a Seraph yesterday but isn't today can lie at will without dissonance. MANNER AND APPEARANCE Grunothim tend to carry with them the 'always ready to help' attitude prevalent among relievers. They very sincerely want to help others as much as they can. However, their personalities are rather mercurical, colored by whatever choir they are emulating that day. For example, a Jack emulating a Seraph will have some tendancy to act as a Seraph would in any given situation. His personality would shift slightly the next day, when he is emulating an Ofanite. Celestially, Grunothim appear as brightly glowing relievers, who are surrounded by a translucent image/hologram of the choir that they are presently emulating. Typically, Jacks will pick up a lot of different skills over time -- they are generalists, not specialists. Rarely will any Jack study any skill or Song long enough to master it -- they prefer to know a little about everything rather than a lot about a few things. Jacks tend to prefer Attunements to Songs, since Attunements don't have to be studied in detail and practiced. MECHANICS At dawn every day when the angel gains his daily essence, roll 3D6, one at a time. The first two die results determine which table to use -- the third selects the choir. (The table design was set up so that equal weight is given to all major choirs). As this is not a standard roll, no Interventions are possible. When the result indicates 'Minor Choir', the GM selects the choir the Jack emulates (obviously, emulating a Grunothim is redundant and therefore impossible). As an example, at dawn, Frediel the Grunothim rolls a 3, a 5, and a 1 in that order. For the next day, he will emulate an Ofanite. At the next dawn, he rolls a 5, a 2 and a 6. He losses his Ofanite speed to take on the possession abilities of a Kyriotate. First Die (Table 1): 1-3 Use Table 2 4-6 Use Table 3 Second Die (Table 2): 1-3 Use Table 4 4-6 Use Table 5 (Table 3): 1-3 Use Table 6 4-6 Use Table 7 Third Die: ********************************************************** Table 4 Table 5 Table 6 Table 7 1-3 Seraph 1-3 Ofanite 1-3 Malakite 1-3 Mercurian 4-6 Cherub 4-6 Elohim 4-6 Kyriotate 4-6 Minor Choir Upon selecting the new Choir, the angel takes on that Choir's dissonance conditions. If the angel was in the middle of an action which would be dissonant to his new Choir, he stops by reflex before he gains dissonance. For example, if Frediel was in the middle of lying when dawn comes and decides he needs to be a Seraph today, he will immediately stop talking. He may then continue to speak, but risks dissonance for lies. A similar thing happens if a Jack is in the middle of acting emotionally when dawn turns him into an Elohite. Naturally, this effect can be quite embarassing, so Jacks try not to be doing anything really important when dawn comes around. SPECIAL NOTES on certain choirs: Cherubium: Jacks emulating Cherubs can form attunements. These attunements dissolve on their own when the Jack switches Choirs. If the Jack later emulates a Cherub again, he can reform the attunements as usual. If the Jack remains a Cherub for two days in a row, his attunements do not dissolve until the Jack is something other than a Cherub. Since the attunements typically only last a day, the Cherub-Jacks tend to use their resonance for short-term gains, like tracking missions (rather than security missions). Malakim: Jacks do not gain the Malakite immunity from Trauma nor their immunity to Falling. They only gain access to their resonance for honor. When a Jack emulates a Malakite, the third and fourth oaths he swears do not have to be the same every time, but the Jack must have at least four oaths, like any Malakite. If the MalaJack swears more than four oaths, they cease to be binding when the Jack switches choirs. True Malakim take a very dim view of this practice, as they believe a code of honor should be rigid and not s u b j e c t to random change. Other angels (like Micheal) note that the temporary nature of the oaths can be used to great effect. In any case, MalaJacks typically either pick the same oaths every time or choose oaths that are by nature of short-duration (ie, "I will spend all of today hunting demons of Lust"). Kyriotates: KyrioJacks can the Kyriotate ability to possess others, but not the ability to split themselves up. When a Jack first emulates a Kyriotate, his Vessel (if he was using one) fades into potentiality over the course of five minutes. The Jack has that much time to find a host to possess. If he doesn't, his Vessel fades and he takes Celestial form. He then has the normal amount of time to find a host before being ejected to Heaven. (If you are using the Eden Ban, he remains Celestial, making disturbances, until he can find a host). If a KyrioJack is in a host when dawn swtiches him to another choir, a random Vessel of his will materialize within twenty feet of the host and he will enter it without needing to roll. If he has no Vessel, the Jack assumes Celestial form when ejected. SIDEBAR: Most Jacks are very interested in learning the Kyriotate trick of multiplicity, since they think of themselves as having multiple natures. Most think that a Kyriotate Archangel would be able to fashion an attunement which would enable them to learn the trick of it, but so far Jordi hasn't seen a reason to. As a side effect, most Jacks will go far out of their way to help save animals and promote the word of Animals, hoping that someday Jordi will be pleased enough to reward them with multiplicy. While Jordi smiles upon their efforts, it hasn't been impressed enough yet to give them what they want. But that doesn't keep them from trying. Minor Choirs: Jacks can emulate any Choir of angel that ever existed, but only randomly. This includes every Minor Choir. It is possible for a Jack to emulate the resonance of a choir which no longer exists. Jacks also occassionally emulate the Grigori resonance as well. No Jack has ever managed to duplicate the Bright Lilim resonance though -- it would seem that the hand of Lilith is required for that particular trick, as always. One might suppose that a Jack could buy the resonance from her, but none so far are willing to pay the price. It is rumored that a Jack once emulated the resonance of a Minor Choir Lucifer created when he was still an Archangel -- the Jack died shortly afterward. Now emulating that particular choir is seen as an incredibly bad omen. {More to follow tomorrow) ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2669 ********************************