in_nomine-digest Tuesday, October 8 2002 Volume 01 : Number 2807 In this digest: Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? Re: IN> Lilim and stuff Re: IN> Those Pesky Malakim Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? IN> An appropriate punishment? IN> Superiors and their Undergarments Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? IN> Digitates -- The Patterns, New Choir Re: IN> Digitates -- The Patterns, New Choir Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? Re: IN> One Last Bright Lilim Resonance Attunement Thingie Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? Re: IN> One Last Bright Lilim Resonance Attunement Thingie Re: IN> One Last Bright Lilim Resonance Attunement Thingie Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? Re: IN> Superiors and their Undergarments IN> Tofu Zombis (Crossposted to .innomine) Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? Re: IN> Digitates -- The Patterns, New Choir Re: IN> One Last Bright Lilim Resonance Attunement Thingie IN> Davidian Tether Re: IN> Those Pesky Malakim Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 16:34:35 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? Caveat: I think that Jean and Yves wanting to shut the Tokamak down is a damn silly notion in Night Music. Remove Vapula's influence(including Vilson, the Technology demon assigned to the Tokamak), yes. Destroy it, no. That said... The PCs have just ruined millions of dollars' investment and years of work at the University. Vilson, a twice-Distincted Djinn of Technology, will be fanatically hunting them down. He is likely to have the support of the entire Physics Department of the University, and in turn the majority of University faculty and thus the Austin police. If they are caught, jail is by no means a safe place to be -- Vilson will probably want them dead. If they're not caught, they're on the run. Their Roles, whatever they were, are screwed. Possibly their Vessels as well. If Jean really was all that interested in shutting down the Tokamak, then for successfully destroying it he (will? might? should?) be willing to provide replacements for each. On the other hand, given the fallout from the method used, he may be inclined not to. He might propose the PCs earn their keep in the Marches for a while. As for the indiscretion in the mundane realm: in the current media/political climate, the event will surely be interpreted as an act of terrorism. This will support, at a minimum, the Words of Baal, Belial, and Beleth in the city and nation. Vapula (who thrives off industrial and academic disasters) and Kronos (who would want Yves' influence on the University as a whole lessened) could also appreciate matters. A condition of further good standing on the angels' part could well be to rectify this as a new mission or plot hook. Investigators will also want to know why the deleterious effects of the meltdown were confined to so small a space(the Song of Shields). A brief coverup may be needed. As was mentioned in another post earlier, the University will suffer massive PR and financial problems from this event. Fixing this could also be part of the PCs' future. Indiscretion in the celestial realm: not so big a deal here. That celestials were part of such a large undertaking probably won't come as a big surprise to any of the Austinites. There may be a brief increase in hostilities in reprisal, which, depending on how stable the Austin situation is in your game, could settle down or blow the city's War back hot. However, their obvious hamfistedness with respect to Disturbance will likely merit a reprimand of some sort. I don't know about how basic In Nomine calculates Disturbance ranges, by the way, but under the GURPS system a 45-note Disturbance (about the average roll on 13d6) would be audible to the average Celestial (with a 14 Perception) as much as 200 miles away(and a few more even further out). Thus, anyone in Dallas or Houston is going to know something happened, and as these are cities of millions there are surely substantial celestial presences there. Even better, though: The average *Grigori*, with their bonus to sense Disturbances, could hear this undertaking as much as 2000 miles away! If any Grigori are left as angels in North America, the Caribbean, or the northern parts of South America, they have surely developed the habit of responding urgently to any Disturbance they sense, to remain unFallen. Austin may soon experience an influx of Grigori trying to figure out what happened -- and, as their Dissonance Condition demands, respond to it. William ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 15:46:27 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Lilim and stuff At 9:59 AM -0400 10/6/02, BC Petery wrote: >My objection to offering Bright Resonances is that you are _offering_ >Brights a perk for joining your side. It seems like an appeal to a Lilim's >inherent selfishness. The decision to work for Heaven should be one that >overcomes this selfishness. It seems to me that it cheapens what should be a >dramatic, even romantic moment. Remeber, though, that NO redeemd angel gets a Choir Attunement right off the bat. They have to _earn_ it. This applies to Lilim as well. A freshly redeemed Lilim has NO Choir Attunement, NO Servitor Attunements, and is on probation. (This doesn't stop them flittering around with big anime eyes and bursting into songs from _The Sound of Music_ or _Flashdance_, depending on the personality and the campaign's Brightness/Humor.) She gets Rites and dissonance conditions from her new boss, and that's _it._ (Indeed, the quasi-canon Bright from the Liber Servitorum does _not_ have the Lilim of Creation attunement. She has the Malakite of Creation attunement...) _Earning_ a Choir Attunement should be something for a dramatic moment, an affirmation that the Lilim is not only a redeemed, but has managed to please her Archangel -- managed to give something back for the boon that she was granted with her redemption. It's not a perk to be offered. It's an acknowledgement of sacrifice and hard effort. For any redeemed, for that matter. It's just that the angst-bait attractiveness of a Bright is that there are so few others, so everything they struggle through, there's not likely to be someone who can say, "Yeah, this is how our whole Choir feels," or "No, that's something you need to work on," or even, "I went through that when I redeemed, too." So, ironically, a Lilim goes from a dysfunctional family of her sisters and Mother -- to join the Symphonic whole, connected to everything else in creation in a metaphysial sense... and remains alone. (And a bigger target. I mean how do you pick out the ex-Impudite Joezeke out from all the other fluffwings? Is the ex-Calabite Frediah any different from the other Ofanim who serve his Archangel? But Lilim -- you KNOW they used to be demons. One little geas and it's not just an annoying angel, it's a thrice-blessed traitor...) (Did I mention that I play Lilim for the angst, and not favoritism? I mean, I wouldn't want to be HOSED, but really, they're just such angst-bait. The trick is beating their little anime backsides when they try to creep out and take over the spotlight with their angstfits.) - --Beth, arcangel@io.com / archangel@sjgames.com In Nomine Line Editor http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 15:32:35 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Those Pesky Malakim At 9:59 AM -0400 10/6/02, BC Petery wrote: >Say, I've been meaning to ask, what _is_ the average turn around time for a >Vessel killed Malakite? Whatever The GM Feels Dramatically Appropriate Provided The Malakite Has A Vessel Available. He may wait a little while for some of his friends to show up to follow him down. (Which saved my War Cherub's artic butt once; the Malakanary -- well, the prototype for them -- got hit by a truck, and brought buddies back with him/her. Said buddies had a rocket launcher. This was a Very Good Thing.) - --Beth, arcangel@io.com / archangel@sjgames.com In Nomine Line Editor http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 17:48:07 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? At 9:34 AM -0500 10/7/02, Joe Reimers wrote: >[...] The plot hook I >used to get the group to Austin was the Tokamak reactor subplot, in which I >instructed them to take it out of commission in a quiet and discreet >manner. [...] >There are 2 basic issues: first, the MASSIVE disturbance means that pretty >much every celestial in Austin knows something went down, and most probably >know what it was. Secondly, the lab assistant can identify them. So I >guess the question is, do I punish them, reward them, ostracize them, have >them sent to jail (if they can be caught)...? They made the mistake of >leaving a witness who can positively identify them. Let's see... Here's my take on it. (EDG and William Keith have good notions, too. Probably better than mine. I'll focus on the immediate debriefing by Superiors aspect, then.) This is not "quiet and discreet." The Ofanite probably needs to be yanked upstairs (smoking boots optional) and informed that his "errant disregard for the actual instructions, lack of attention to the means in favor of a blind rush to the ends, and general misconduct" has put him on Jean's personal janitor list. The only count in his favor is that the reactor _is_ down, and any Vapulans responsible for keeping it up will be in hot water with their Prince. Therefore, the Ofanite can keep a vessel (suitably modified so as to prevent apprehension by mortal police) and is assigned to do what he can to clean up the mess. If you, the GM, can figure out some very precise, exact, and specific plans, lay 'em on the Ofanite. Otherwise, put on your most scathing voice and intone, "Since you are clearly so good at 'using your initiative,' you may have a second chance to do so, and will hopefully be inspired to means more in keeping with the goals. The goals are..." (Discreet, don't get the humans' briefs in a bunch, don't tick off the celestials in the area, fix the PR problems, etc...) (Jean will probably send a Kyriotate to wipe any security records, but will have a LOT to say about someone who couldn't even hack the security cameras -- "what, did you have your Ethereal Forces lent out to someone for the day?" Jean doesn't like discredited universities, I suspect. (Unless they're totally Vapulan, but still.)) Yves may show up and look Vastly Regretful, while mentioning a few choice destinies which were derailed. Now, then there's the rest of the bunch. Lessee if I remember them. Lilim of Nybbas, right? If she was involved and Nybbas finds out, then he will not be pleased -- Nybbas and Vapula are on reasonably friendly terms. About the only way she _won't_ be running Renegade on this is if she managed to hook the angels in return for helping them. These hooks will probably be made available to Vilson, or whatever Hellsworn/demonling you have to replace him! (As in, "Nybbas fixes you with the static of his glasses and informs you that you are to find the contact in the folder you've just been handed, and make any of your hooks available to that contact until told otherwise." Or do it with a lot of smarmy "Look, babe..." stuff. O:> If she hasn't got hooks, and is part of this, there will be talk about "Career destruction," stripping her of her Role, and promising her another "real soon now, babe. My people'll call you. Ciao." Then you send in rumors that the Game is sniffing around, to get someone to blame for all this interference -- what if the cops want to know _how_ they blew up the thing, since the damage isn't right for anything but portable force shields or something? The cops aren't allowed to know things like this. Better to abscond with the Lilim and... detain her.) (You did want to make her Renegade, right? Now's the time...) Cherub of Creation... Tomas should have a little talk to him about being uncool, causing too much disturbance, etc. Emphasize how disappointed Eli'd be, that one of his own was disturbing the Peace here, instead of figuring out how the picture was being painted. Throw in catchy tunes. Lay on the guilt. Dominic (You've got a Dominican still, right?) will probably be nearly as scathing as Jean, and add in a few choice comments regarding Disturbing God's Symphony, and Why Were You Helping With This Insane Scheme Anyway? He might instruct his Servitor to turn himself over to the mundane authorities, and serve the jail time. (If this would be too long, then some other celestial might take over the Role after a Suitable Time, and free up the PC.) He might also be inclined to try to get any Creationers involved to do some jail time, too! (NOTE: if the Lilim gets mentioned too much, Dominic's Ultra-Truth-Resonance may pick up on her nature. This will also get scathing remarks about allying with a demon out of foolish ignorance.) I've forgotten who the others are with this... Basically, their Roles are probably toast, and should be. The fact that they _did_ take the thing down will save the angels from being yanked back upstairs and put on floor-scrubbing duties -- but they're going to be assigned a lot of stuff to fix what they did. Probably this will involve destroying evidence, or at least vanishing. It may involve jail time. I wouldn't give them any Roles back -- vessel makeovers, driver's licenses and instructions to spend time creating new ones, yes. And since it was angels-screwing-over-demons, they're probably going to have to do a lot of grovelling and/or pretending to be new in town again -- the local Heavenly lot are probably going to either run them out of town or make them spend a lot of "community time" doing things like washing infernal cars or otherwise soothing people's nerves. (Nothing that actually aids the cause of Hell or is _totally_ degrading, probably (unless you're doing this darker than I thought), but corporeal niceties.) And that's letting them off easy. - --Beth, arcangel@io.com / archangel@sjgames.com In Nomine Line Editor http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2002 17:40:49 -0400 From: BC Petery Subject: IN> An appropriate punishment? The meltdown of a reactor will produce a spectacular amount of energy. The Corporeal song of Shields will not allow this energy to dissipate. When the Shield falls all that energy is going to come out with a very big bang. But you might want to cut them a little slack, assuming you don't want to play a Post Holocaust RPG. (PHIN?) I'd have Jean show up, explain that he just took a big hit keeping Austin from becoming "Tartarus on Earth," and then take it out of the PC's hides. (You know, their CPs.) Also, since there were witnesses, the other Celestials in Austin WILL find out. THEY WILL want to thank the Players, PERSONALLY, for their careful forethought. The Civil and Military authorities will also be interested. How does one keep a reactor in meltdown from devastating the area? The PCs will be investigated by top men. Top. Men. NO!!! WAIT!!! It wasn't Jean. Vapula shows up, explains that the super concentrated energies caused a dimensional feedback, thanks the players for the new Tether, hands out a few Artifacts/Songs/Rites (I dare you: Forces), then asks the players if they would do him another favor. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2002 17:40:50 -0400 From: BC Petery Subject: IN> Superiors and their Undergarments Haagenti's read, "Home of the Whopper!" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2002 15:55:46 -0600 From: sirea@softhome.net Subject: Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? > NO!!! WAIT!!! > > It wasn't Jean. Vapula shows up, explains that the super concentrated > energies caused a dimensional feedback, thanks the players for the new > Tether, hands out a few Artifacts/Songs/Rites (I dare you: Forces), then > asks the players if they would do him another favor. > OH! I've read all the proposed punishments from everyone, and they all have good points and are good, but THIS is just the WORSE possible! Vapula... Tether... Rites... Songs... (Shedite) Do-it-do-it-do-it-do-it! (/Shedite) --- Sirea, Free Cherub IST Destiny, Angel who Wanders, petitioner for the Word of Eternity ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2002 17:03:19 -0500 From: Joe Reimers Subject: Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? The group in question: An Ofanite of Lightning, a Cherub of Creation, a Malakite of Judgement (who, in his defense, was told to cooperate in the plot to remove the offending reactor) and a Renegade Lilim of Drugs (who was only peripherally involved AND who has indicated a desire for Redemption.) Unfortunately, the did have the presence of mind to take care of the security cameras. They also did the deed in the wee hours of the morning. In short, there is only one human witness, and he wasn't there when they did the deed. Also, the Lilim is the only one with a Role, and she was incognito, so her Role shouldn't be compromised. Much. I have decided to have Jean make a mental note never again to leave a sensitive task like that to an Ofanite with Malakite assistance. Bad move, in retrospect. But it did get done, and they did pull it off without harming anyone or even destroying the entire facility. (Well, the elevator is toast, but that's a different story.) Vapula's servitor is understandably livid. I haven't yet decided how Zara, Wrench and Lauren are going to handle the matter, but I do know what Tomas will be doing. Also, in the group's defense, they were pretty ingenious about how they did it, their biggest mistake was doing the job themselves rather than inspiring humans to do it. That's why the disturbance. They even figured out how to deal with the radiation, and they made sure the reactor's remains were not a threat to anyone before leaving. I'm not entirely sure I made clear enough that doing it themselves would be that disruptive :/ Thus, I'm inclined to let them get arrested and deal with it in the Earthly realm and maybe have Dominic show up at some point in there for his weekly checkup. Joe At 05:48 PM 10/7/2002 -0400, you wrote: >At 9:34 AM -0500 10/7/02, Joe Reimers wrote: > >[...] The plot hook I > >used to get the group to Austin was the Tokamak reactor subplot, in which I > >instructed them to take it out of commission in a quiet and discreet > >manner. [...] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 18:35:46 -0400 From: "Josh Moger" Subject: Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? > >(Shedite) > >Do-it-do-it-do-it-do-it! > >(/Shedite) > --- And here we have a rare look at a Shedite of Dark Humor, in it's native habitat of Sirea's mind. Don't go too close now, you don't want to be possessed. Course, now I'm going to leap on top of it, wrestle it, and hopefully keep from getting my arms chewed off. Crikey. Josh (Someone needs to do a write up of the Croc Hunter. Either a servitor of Dark Humor who's on Jordi's personal hitlist or a Soldier of Jordi (The AA still having difficulty dealing with these... humans) "What? It's only been 20,000 years! David takes that long to put on a pair of pants!" "...hmm...can't argue with him.")) ------------------------------ Date: 07 Oct 2002 20:58:05 -0400 From: Gerald Sears Subject: IN> Digitates -- The Patterns, New Choir This is a new choir I am working on for my upcoming IN game set in GURPS Transhuman Space around the year 2100. I need advice on how to handle these in game and on how to polish them to fit with IN. Digitates -- The Patterns - ----------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to The Cluster @ Heaven. The name of the angel serving you is: CD1 This appears to be the first time you have logged in. Please give your name. Then press Enter. [CD1@Cluster.Heaven]#David Welcome David! Please give the name of your superior or type 'god' if you are a superior. Then press Enter. [CD1@Cluster.Heaven David]#god Verifying........................................................ Authenticating................................................... Finishing up..................................................... Superior authentication successful. Please enter a password for your account. Make sure it is more than six letters in length and that it is something that you can remember but others will not guess. If you need help please contact the system administrator. [CD1@Cluster.Heaven David]#******* - ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Archangel David looked over the strange black and white square and punched his fingers gently at the rows of keys wondering if this could really be an angel. It had been hovering beside him for a couple of weeks before Yves told him what to do with it. He had thought at first that it might be a demon or something, but Yves, seemed, to know what he was doing with them. David carefully hunted and pecked out a few more answers to the strange things questions and was greeted again by one of those things where the dots move across it in a line. Then the thing shimmered and changed; David froze wondering if he had hurt it. Then it expanded turning into a larger rectangle with the same set of keys and two round dishes on either side. It looked a lot like those things that the mortals in the corporeal realm seemed to be wrapped so much up in, and had a bunch of little pictures like the ones he had seen on Earth. Then on the screen the words "Welcome to the Cluster Desktop, David!" The same message was then spoken out from the two dishes in a monotone feminine voice. He wondered why these things kept telling him welcome; he hadn't moved anywhere this entire time. The Digitates are a choir that first had angels fledge into it around the corporeal year of 2035, coinciding with the creation of the first true AI by humans--regardless of how much Vapula claims to have done it first. The patterns outwardly seem to show the widest range of variety of any of the choirs in their celestial appearances, taking the form of anything from flashing patterns of lights, to keyboards, to rectangles looking like computer screens, to any number of other forms. The patterns above all other choirs have the least if any sense of self. Indeed each one really considers themselves as a part of the others more like a hand, foot or modem than an individual angel. All Digitates are linked together through their resonance able to access a great deal of information from their fellow angels directly. However some information is password protected. Furthermore, Digitates don't fall in the traditional sense of the term. Instead they malfunction or error, which generates resonance until, most of the time, they reach an abort or exit state. A few have been corrupted by Vapula and other forces of hell but these few are still considered Digitates, only broken and in need of repair. The core of the Digitates' being or beings is called The Cluster, a large swarm of the angels, with individuals often forming to do a task only to be dissolved back into the cluster after it is completed. Death is a strange concept to a digitate. Broken digitates if captured by their fellow choir members are brought back into Heaven and the cluster for repairs and examination to see what went wrong, an event they call debugging. Each digitate forms for a specific function be that to be a keyboard or other device to take a superior's commands or to be a relay or a device preforming some function in the corporeal realm in a digital vessel. They often accompany other choirs or human solders as guides and information sources taking the role of more mundane AIs. - -- Gerald Sears ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 21:17:31 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: Re: IN> Digitates -- The Patterns, New Choir An interesting concept. It feels to me less like a Choir than a single new entity: a hivemind (Arch?)angel, like a modified Kyriotate on a grand scale. That could explain why no Digitate Falls -- the entire entity would have to Fall at once, since any single Digitate is not an angel but an extension of some greater entity's consciousness. Are you intending to have this "Choir" be available to PCs? They seem to function more as servants -- a PC Digitate would probably need a master to function well in a campaign. I enjoy the visual description; it seems to fit well with the heavy lack of self the individual Digitates experience. William ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 21:25:06 -0400 From: "Eric Bertish" Subject: Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? > disturbance. Due to the sheer size of the thing, as well as the force of > the meltdown, I think I simply rolled 13d6 for Disturbance. Also known as 2dHandful. ;) I really don't have anything instructive to add to this thread. I just want to know one thing: Given the excruciating amount of research and preparation that went into this, why didn't someone think to perform Celestial Shields first? - -- Casca "Undead, like the senior citizens of the more traditional democracies, represent a disproportionate segment of the electorate. However, their political leanings are quite different, as the short term is essentially meaningless to one who expects to live for over 1,000 years." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 21:26:31 -0400 From: "Eric Bertish" Subject: Re: IN> One Last Bright Lilim Resonance Attunement Thingie > "Well, of course they'd have Bright Lilim Attunements. As soon as they > got a Bright Lilim, they'd want access to the Lilim resonance, like all > the other choir resonances they've made attunements for." I seem to recall this was canonically Shot Down (by whom, and where, I don't recall), as Lilith is the only Superior able to inflict geasa. - -- Casca ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2002 21:40:11 -0400 From: EDG Subject: Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? At 09:25 PM 10/7/2002 -0400, you wrote: >I really don't have anything instructive to add to this thread. I just want >to know one thing: Given the excruciating amount of research and preparation >that went into this, why didn't someone think to perform Celestial Shields >first? I presume it was the Ofanite. Corporeal Shields is *neat* to an Ofanite. *He's* a giant spinny thing that *moves*; it's a giant spinny things that *stops things from moving*. The inherent anti-types would be just fascinating. Next to that, Celestial Shields is just some smoke or leaves. ;) - -EDG ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 22:57:38 -0300 From: pbarkow@hfx.eastlink.ca Subject: Re: IN> One Last Bright Lilim Resonance Attunement Thingie On 7 Oct 2002 at 21:26, Eric Bertish wrote: > > "Well, of course they'd have Bright Lilim Attunements. As soon as > > they got a Bright Lilim, they'd want access to the Lilim resonance, > > like all the other choir resonances they've made attunements for." > > I seem to recall this was canonically Shot Down (by whom, and where, I > don't recall), as Lilith is the only Superior able to inflict geasa. I thought canon was that Geasa were discords and like all discords Superiors can inflict them on any celestial that either voluntarily excepts them or is attuned to the Word of the Superior in question. I remember this adventure idea which was previously posted featuring Novalis inflicting Geasa on a group of demonic PCs to have them go to Hell and rescue her daughter, which prompted a conversation on the topic. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 22:23:51 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: Re: IN> One Last Bright Lilim Resonance Attunement Thingie >On 7 Oct 2002 at 21:26, Eric Bertish wrote: > >> > "Well, of course they'd have Bright Lilim Attunements. As soon as >> > they got a Bright Lilim, they'd want access to the Lilim resonance, >> > like all the other choir resonances they've made attunements for." >> >> I seem to recall this was canonically Shot Down (by whom, and where, I >> don't recall), as Lilith is the only Superior able to inflict geasa. > >I thought canon was that Geasa were discords and like all discords >Superiors can inflict them on any celestial that either voluntarily >excepts them or is attuned to the Word of the Superior in question. Not to jump in with just a "me too" post, but this is explicitly the way Geases are described in GURPS: IN. As for Archangels having the Bright Lilim Resonance (or Demon Princes have the Lilim Resonance, for that matter).... enh. For once, I can see the Ensemble being far enough outside the usual patterns that Superiors wouldn't have access to, say, the Need-sensing or the ability to place a Geas-hook. Just the Geas itself, in the limited fashion described above. William ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 22:25:31 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? >I really don't have anything instructive to add to this thread. I just want >to know one thing: Given the excruciating amount of research and preparation >that went into this, why didn't someone think to perform Celestial Shields >first? > >-- Casca It only delays Disturbance, anyway. You'd need a Skulker or a Superior to stop it permanently, and neither of those are commonly available. ;^) William ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 19:33:17 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> Superiors and their Undergarments - --- Joe Reimers wrote: > Jordi prefers boxers (Pinkiel) "Yes, but what if the hippopotamus doesn't want to wear the thong bikini?" (/Pinkiel) Moe ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 09/18/02 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 19:36:05 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: IN> Tofu Zombis (Crossposted to .innomine) This is somebody else's fault; remember, I didn't think of it first, I didn't think of it first, I didn't think of it first... ;) Moe Tofu Zombis Corporeal Forces: 3 Strength: 8 Agility: 4 Ethereal Forces: 2 Intelligence: 4 Precision: 4 Celestial Forces: 0 Will: 0 Perception: 0 Vessel/3 Skills: Dodge/6, Emote/4, Fighting/4, Lying/3, Small Weapon/6 (Hatchet) Songs: Healing (Corporeal/3), Numinous Corpus/3 (tentacles) Discord: Need/3 (Human Flesh: see below) To begin with, they are not actually made out of tofu. Well, not completely made out of tofu; if nothing else, the stuff doesn't usually have Ethereal Forces. Indeed, it's a stretch to say that tofu has Corporeal Forces. It's best to think of the tofu as providing the organic matrix within which the Forces are quasi-stabilized - which isn't really what's going on, but that's how Saminga visualizes it, and who are we to argue with a Demon Prince? In its (and I use the term loosely) 'natural' state a Tofu Zombi resembles a roughly human-sized heap of vaguely white, rubbery goop that feels disturbingly warm to the touch - but don't touch it! If you do, the stuff will immediately envelop you, 'grow' some fangs, pop open your skull and suck down your brain. Then, five minutes later, it'll put on your clothing and start living your life for you. Yup, this is a shape-shifting Undead. It doesn't really realize that it's Undead, of course - in its goop state, it's not intelligent; when aping human form, it's profoundly self-delusional - so it'll continue to do the things that you'd do and act like you'd act, for as long as it can. True, without a recognizable Will and/or Perception, it'll have some problems, but everybody has off weeks, right? Well, Tofu Zombis never have anything but off weeks. The above Need is for the actual flesh of whomever the Tofu Zombi is currently impersonating: if it does not ingest at least twenty pounds of said flesh, every day, it will suffer not only the usual Body Hit loss, but also suffer severe anxiety and pain until the Need is fulfilled. Fortunately (or unfortunately), it is usually quite capable of rationalizing away keeping the corpse available for gradual consumption ... and is even able to hide it, as best it can. Of course, eventually there's nothing left to eat. If a Tofu Zombi goes more than a day without consumption, it begins to revert back; within six hours it will turn back into a glob of goop... unless, of course, somebody else wanders into range at any point during the reversion stage. A Tofu Zombi retains just enough intelligence to try to isolate another human and begin the whole process over again. Needless to say, the Host hates these things - unfortunately, Tofu Zombis can pass an eyeball check with little difficulty. The fact that they don't actually realize what they are makes things problematic, as well. The best way to detect one is by touch; a Perception roll at -3 will reveal that the skin is still slightly rubbery, and of course the standard 'shoot him in the head and see if he keeps moving' always works. Hard on the carpet, though. ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 09/18/02 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 7 Oct 2002 19:44:06 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? - --- EDG wrote: > > Did they remember to cut the video surveillance? > (PCs never remember to > cut the video surveillance. In fact, our Saturday > group could probably get > in a lot of trouble for that, although Eric's quick > thinking might have > spared us that agony.) You know, that hadn't even popped into my head. Thanks, EDG! ;) Moe "Evil GM who happens to have two weeks to think about this" Lane ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 09/18/02 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Faith Hill - Exclusive Performances, Videos & More http://faith.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Oct 2002 10:48:16 +0800 From: "Jeffery Watkins" Subject: Re: IN> Digitates -- The Patterns, New Choir > The Digitates are a choir that first had angels fledge into it around > the corporeal year of 2035, coinciding with the creation of the first > true AI by humans--regardless of how much Vapula claims to have done it > first.< > Gerald Sears WAHOO!!!!! No advice, probably don't want it from the waaay off radical of IN, but wow! This is good. I have true AIs in IN game as well, though not as prolific as in Transhuman space. Already thinking of posibilities, since one AI is a time traveler, decided that It should run the conspiracies and has been driving Alaemon insane, since It doesn't create disturbance and pulls many of the similar stunts the horde or the host does. Hints are in the timeline that it was trying to find this AI that caused Alaemon to fall in the first place. This choir is getting me to think I should allow It to have songs...particularly now, since this choir may be a way for It to get them. And as corny as it sounds, the true AIs name is Illuminati. Anyway, back to the list....I love you guys. Jeff =) Part of my insanity manifest at JCT, where In Nomine meets science fiction in the far future http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jctrinityRPG - -- __________________________________________________________ Download the FREE Opera browser at www.opera.com/download/ Free OperaMail at http://www.operamail.com/ Powered by Outblaze ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2002 20:26:51 -0700 From: Kish Subject: Re: IN> One Last Bright Lilim Resonance Attunement Thingie Eric Bertish wrote: > > > "Well, of course they'd have Bright Lilim Attunements. As soon as they > > got a Bright Lilim, they'd want access to the Lilim resonance, like all > > the other choir resonances they've made attunements for." > > I seem to recall this was canonically Shot Down (by whom, and where, I don't > recall), as Lilith is the only Superior able to inflict geasa. The GMG indicates that only demonic superiors can use demonic resonances without perverting their resonances, but any Superior can inflict Discord of all kinds, including geases. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 08:10:31 +0300 From: "Bergeron, Robert F., DS1(SW)" Subject: IN> Davidian Tether I get mail kind'a late out here, so some of ya'll may already have seen this. I was reading a "Reader's Digest" today and found an article from "Smithsonian" about a cave in Mexico where gypsum crystals have been discovered that are larger than any on earth. The smaller ones in this cave are three feet tall. Some of the larger ones are fifty feet. For comparison, a direct quote from the article says "You can hold most of the crystals on earth in the palm of your hand" This is like finding one of those geode rocks that is the size of an apartment building. The Digest article has to pictures that are awesome. It almost looks like trick photography of a man superimposed over a microscopic picture of a salt crystal. I'd be the "Smithsonian" article had some even better pics. DS1 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 06 Oct 2002 17:51:23 -0500 From: "Brian Rogers" Subject: Re: IN> Those Pesky Malakim - ----- Original Message ----- From: "William J. Keith" Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 16:09:47 -0400 To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com Subject: Re: IN> Those Pesky Malakim > Well, if he has another Vessel handy (many do), it's a few seconds before > he can descend from his Heart and jump right back in to combat. I remember reading (somewhere) that when you are Vessel-killed, your Forces are blasted apart, and coalesce by your Heart after about an hour. Brian Rogers - -- __________________________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup "Free price comparison tool gives you the best prices and cash back!" http://www.bestbuyfinder.com/download.htm ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 08 Oct 2002 01:21:54 -0400 From: Michael Nutt Subject: Re: IN> An appropriate punishment? It's up to you how you want to handle it, but you're certainly poised to screw these players over nine ways from Sunday. First off, they seem awfully certain that they got all the video surveillance. Maybe Vilson put in a special backup security system that only he knew about. Maybe drunken fratboys out playing with a camcorder got some priceless footage. Maybe some area-surveillance cameras got some unfortunate pictures of a group of people entering the building late at night. Maybe the campus cops were trying out a new system, and got more than they bargained for. Second, if they don't have Roles as faculty, how on earth did they manage to impersonate faculty well enough for anyone to let them in? "I'm Professor So-and-so. I'm new in the Nuclear Engineering faculty. These are my friends, who are all also new professors that you've never heard of." I damn sure wouldn't have let a Fast-Talk roll suffice for that, and there were probably physical security measures that needed to be handled -- coded locks, badge-swipes, biometric locks, that sort of thing. Third, if the security of the Tokamak really depended on one lame-ass undergrad pulling an overnight, or even some poor rentacop security guard, his career is screwed, as is the career of the entire Nuclear Engineering faculty, lots of the University administration, and anyone involved with Campus Security. The number of Fates that have just been assured is *astounding*. Imagine, too, the number of people who will be totally shattered by finding out what happened -- "It's a miracle we all weren't killed! I never should have gone to college! I'm going home right now, and forget that cute chick I just met in my history class!" If you do decide to go with it, I'd have some video leak out to the police, which is going to essentially make any Roles useless, and the associated Vessels are going to be on the "Most Wanted Terrorist" list. With this much disturbance and negative publicity, not to mention the windfall for Fate, I'd make their Superiors that any new Vessels and Roles out of their hide. My recommendation, though, would be to go to my players and say, "You know, I blew this. I didn't put nearly as many obstacles in your way as I should have, and there are more negative consequences to this solution than any of us expected. Let's rewind the tape, and start this adventure over. We'll call it a learning experience, and how about you guys try to be a *little* more subtle, huh?" - -- Michael ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2807 ********************************