From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Fri Nov 14 08:56:21 1997 Return-Path: Received: from lists.io.com (lists.io.com [199.170.88.15]) by pyramid.sjgames.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id IAA19924 for ; Fri, 14 Nov 1997 08:56:21 -0600 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.8.7/8.8.5) id IAA10938 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Fri, 14 Nov 1997 08:40:28 -0600 Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 08:40:28 -0600 Message-Id: <199711141440.IAA10938@lists.io.com> From: owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com (in_nomine-digest) To: in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Subject: in_nomine-digest V1 #471 Reply-To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk in_nomine-digest Friday, November 14 1997 Volume 01 : Number 471 In this digest: Re: IN> Wording IN> New Prince. Re: IN> Excuse me for my ignorance Re: IN> IN : Adventure : AIRPLANE!!! Re: IN> IN : Adventure : AIRPLANE!!! Re: IN> Excuse me for my ignorance IN> The Politics of Heaven IN> Sin and Dissonence Re: IN> IN : Adventure : AIRPLANE!!! IN> Adventure Seed - the Old City Card Games ( was Re: IN> Wording ) IN> Questions philosophical and practical... Re: IN> Anachronistic Words Re: IN> Anachronistic Words Re: IN> IN : Adventure : AIRPLANE!!! Re: IN> Questions philosophical and practical... Re: IN> The God Spot Re: IN> Wording IN> Adventure Discussion on the List ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 15:20:36 -0600 From: Bob the Dancing Monkey Subject: Re: IN> Wording At 02:05 PM 11/13/97 -0500, you wrote: >On Nov 12, 3:01pm, Emily Dresner wrote: >> Subject: Re: IN> Wording >> >> > >> > Would you settle for a probably-never-to-be-published non-CCG >> > that I'm working on? I'm trying to capture the feel of In Nomine >> > with a much-reduced set of rules (like it has maybe five different >> > mechanics). Each player takes the role of one AA or DP and manipulate >> > the doings of angels/demons/humans/etc. in order to complete their own >> > ineffable goals. >> > >> >> I've instantly decided that if you publish a CCG, I'm going to feel an >> overwhelming need to call out the Dogs of the Game, and drag you back >> kicking and screaming to Hell from whence you came. :) >> >> "Okay, boys. His crimes are many against Humanity, and Creation in >> general. Sick 'em." :P >> >> Ugh. Just what the world needs. More collectible card games. Kind of up >> there with more holes in the ozone layer, more congregations of the >> Klu Klux Klan, and more lima beans. Things we must accept, but not be >> real happy about. I almost hesitate to mention this, but there _is_ a CCG in France based off of INS/MV already in publication. I really do wonder what the mechanics are like... - -Drew ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 15:59:37 -0800 From: The Saint of Killers Subject: IN> New Prince. I hope that I'm not suggesting something that's already been done. If I am, I apologize. Sort of. Well, not really, not unless it was mentioned in a book someplace and I missed it. Fezek tried not to cower under the hot glare of Lucifer, but when it's the Morningstar who is doing the glaring, it's the glaree's job to tremble and whimper. The gathered Princes either snickered or did their best not to pay attention. Finally, Lucifer spoke. "Fezek, Balseraph of Factions, Captain of the Broken Promise, I grant unto you a Word..." Fezek, not hearing the ... let out a long sigh. "...but not, however, the Word you had hoped for. This day and forward, you are hereby granted the Word of Wrath and the Princedom that goes with it." A pale whimper, "Oh shit." FEZEK - DEMON PRINCE of WRATH The world is anger, begging for release. After the fall, the title of Wrath was just saught after and important as today's most recognizable words. Wrath was a principle sin of not merely the humans on the globe below (or above, depending on perspective) but also of the demons and Lucifer himself. The cherub Ezrael, who faught along side of Lucifer against the Malakim of Michael, and who struck the treacherous blow to Michael's back, preventing Lucifer's death, was named Prince of Wrath. Ezrael ruled over the Word of Wrath quite successfully until he had a misunderstanding with Belial. He good naturedly compared the rising of anger in wrath to the power of flames when they come across something especially combustable. Belial assumed that Ezrael had intention to steal his Word. What was left of Ezrael could be put into a plastic baggie. Lucifer was angry, but not angry enough to punish Belial. The other Princes were disgusted (and perhaps somewhat rattled, for Wrath was a powerful word) but Belial had done this sort of thing before, and no one was quite stupid enough to call him on it. Twice since then, Lucifer has crowned another demon with the Word of Wrath, and both times Belial has destroyed them. Not because of something they said, but because he remembered what Ezrael had said. Baal taught Belial the importance of a pre-emptive strike, and Belial believed in it whole-heartedly. After the first one had been immediately toasted, most of the Princes assumed that anyone else assumed to the doomed position would be put there for Lucifer's amusement. So, when a second attempt was made at refilling the seat of Wrath and was turned to ash, nobody paid much attention. It was, however, the last time Lucifer gave out the word for nearly a thousand years. Fezek was a Balseraph of Factions, a favorite of Malphas (a Prince known among other Princes as having few favorites) and absolutely Wordless. Originally, Fezek had been a servitor of Saminga, but quickly discovered that Saminga had no sense of style. Fezek enjoyed getting two people so angry at each other, either through trickery or lie, that they'd get in a fight and, of course, kill one another. Saminga didn't care about the how, just the result. Death was part of the fun to Fezek, but just a small part. When his discontent with Saminga started to show, Malphas offered him a place under a Word that would suit him better. Fezek immediately took him up on it. Early on March 3rd of 1991, Fezek started to work on what would be his masterpiece. He was determined to get a Word for himself, and he knew which one he wanted. He just needed the right catalyst and everything would fall into place. The work wasn't easy, he'd not allowed himself to tell his companions, for fear that one might try to take credit and take his Word. The cops were pathetically simple, needing only a brief conversation with an 'old friend' of theirs before heading into the office. The 'old friend' shared concerns that the drug problem in Los Angeles was caused by 'them damn negroes'. I'm sure you've figured out just who the 'old friend' was. It took more than a year for one event to lead to another. The six policemen, with Fezek's lies imprinted on their minds, beat a careless speeder nearly to death. An anonymous cameraman just happened to be at the right place at the right time. (Coincidence be damned.) The tape went public. The police were arrested. Most of them were subsequently aquitted, and on April 23rd of 1992 the riots started. Fired, murder, looting. Every Prince was impressed by the damage caused by one lowly Belseraph. The Nemesis was similarly impressed, it seems. When the riots had been subdued, Fezek petitioned for his word. He'd hoped to be given the Word of Demon of Riots. He was in for quite a shock. So was everyone who watched the event take place. PERSONALITY AND OUTLOOK Fezek is honestly terrified. He's made it through his first five years with help from Malphas, but soon Malphas is going to stop stepping forward for his friend, and Fezek will have to support himself. Even though Fezek isn't sure, Malphas knows that he'll do well. Fezek is very good at his job. Wrath is everywhere in the world. From the barroom brawl caused by one man bragging about 'banging' another's girlfriend, to the Brazillian football game that ends in tragedy because a goalie wasn't doing his job well enough. Gangfights, prison riots and the first time a man hits his wife. These are all Fezek's to watch over, care for and nurture. Despite his Word's association with passionate violence, it doesn't show in Fezek himself. In front of anyone other than Malphas, he acts with complete confidence. Intelligent and cool, Fezek is a plotter and a schemer, not one likely to fall for his own traps. Anger, unless it is the anger of others, is usually the last thing on his mind. FEZEK'S WORD Anger. Rage. Violence. Acts committed in the proverbial 'heat of passion' are Fezek's dominion. When someone is so mad that they lash out without giving themselves time to fully think their act through, they have committed an act of wrath. Cold blooded murder, planned assassinations and drunken driving do not reflect wrath. Of course, that which comes afterward can. DISSONANCE Servitors of Fezek gain dissonance when they allow themselves to become angry enough to act on the anger alone. Fezek demands that his demons think about their actions. An action made in anger helps no one but Fezek himself, though having a discordant demon walking around doesn't help anyone but the angels. Dissonance gained by letting ones passions lead to violence can be removed if the demon can get an angel to do the same. ORGANIZATION Since Fezek is so new to the scene, he doesn't have nearly as many servitors as the other Demon Princes. Malphas has allowed those in his Word who feel they can best serve Factions by following Wrath move under the guidance of Fezek. Several of Fezek's most loyal are demons who followed his lead, leaving the mindless Death of Saminga for the plotting sneakery of Wrath's demons. Fezek grants the following distinctions. Knight of Anger, Captain of Rage, Baron of Catastrophe. If he has any distinctions above Baron, he has not yet given them out. TETHERS Wrath has few tethers, aside from those left over from previous Princes. Places where cataclysmic events occured because of the wrath of a few people become tethers of Wrath. The freeway in San Fernando where Rodney King was beaten, the Simpson estate and the sight of tsar Nicholas murder are all examples. On the battlefield, brief but powerful tethers to Fezek's City of Dis are often created. POLITICS As stated before, most of Fezek's politics are done through Malphas. He's still learning the game, and has no desire to get burnt before he knows the rules. Most of the Princes expected Fezek to be extra tasty crispy by now, but Belial was so appreciative of the fires spawned by the LA Riots that he has become like a big brother to Fezek. A big, dumb, scary bully of a brother, but a brother nontheless. Fezek watches the Princes debate and argue, power change hands and his old friend factions being made and healed. When he finally decides to step out from Malphas' shadow, his ponderous nature and penchant for getting people angry will most likely make him a power to be reckoned with. Andrealphus: Oh, he may -say- passion, but he doesn't mean it. There's a difference between a good spanking and beating a man to death. Asmodeus: He is good at what he does. He has not learned to play our game, though. I do not look forward to the day that he turns his Word on us. Baal: Wrath has its place both on the battlefield, and the War's battlefield. It is good to know that every time Michael loses control, one of our own gets a little bigger. Belial: Unlike Razael, he's shown no interest in my Word. I like him. Anger burns bright like fi- oh, wait, now I get it. Damn. I owe someone an apology. Beleth: Anger overwhelms terror, and allows people to ignore their fears. I hate him for that. Haagenti: Who? Wrath? Whatever. Kobal: I gotta say, this guy getting his position was the funniest joke I'd ever seen Lucifer play. Unfortunately, Belial has yet to incinerate him. I'm afraid that this time the joke will be on us. Kronos: Fezek himself shows a keen understanding of Fate, the way one event can turn into a catastrophe. The way a single moment in time can lead an entire city to damnation. Lilith: I haven't made any deals with this bastard, and I don't plan on it. I'm no fool. Anyone who trained under Malphas is bound to get the better end of the stick. Malphas: My favorite student. He is a prodigy. Despite his Word, I think there is still more Factions left in him than there is Wrath. I look forward to the day that I can loose him on our brothers and sisters in Princedom. Nybbas: Where would Action News be without this guy? It's Mike Tyson, OJ Simpson and Xena: Warrior Princess all rolled into one. Too bad he's so boring in person. Saminga: I don't think you really understand how I feel about him. Not only did he betray me, but he's caused some of my own to betray me. I will kill him. No, I won't just kill him, I'll -really- kill him. Deader than dead. When his forces disband, I'll hunt down each one of them and kill them again! I'll show him wrath. Valefor: Can we say looting? I knew we could. Usually a good old fashioned fight isn't good for much, but he's got a magic touch. I like a good riot. Vapula: Pardon? Wrath? Oh. No. I hadn't realized. I was too busy working on my rectal neuro-desensetizer. Er. How did you get in here? BAND ATTUNEMENTS Due to his recent rise to power, Fezek hasn't fully realized his new abilities. He has a habit of changing attunements every week. He'll decide that an attunement is good one day, then the next he'll think of something 'cooler'. At its core, many of his attunements are carbon copies of Malphas' own. Balseraphs A Balseraph can use his resonance on as many people at once as he has Etherial Forces x 5. Balseraphs of Wrath are the perfect rabble rousers, able to incite the masses to revolution, riot or worse. Djinn A Djinn can sense the amount of anger in anyone he is attuned to, and where the anger is directed. One of Fezek's favorite servitors was a Djinn who used this attunement to gain the Word Demon of Disgruntled Postal Employees. Calabim Fezek's Calabim can use their resonance to destroy the moral code that prevents people from acting out in anger everytime they get a little upset. At worst this can cause someone to flip the bird in traffic, at best it can lead someone to whip out their .45 in traffic. Habbalah When using their resonance to cause anger, a Habbalah's target number is always two easier, and his check digit is always two higher. Unfortunately, a Habbalah who suffers wrath backlash will take dissonance from their band dissonance, and dissonance from their Prince. Roll twice. Lilim Lilim who serve Wrath have a tendency to be the object of a fight. She uses his resonance to make two men lust for her so much that they'll gladly kill any other suitors. Of course, if the two men are willing to share, this can really really backfire. Shedim Fezek's Shedim, like Malphas', can drive away their host's mind entirely. No will rolls need be made to assert control. They retain the host's memories while posessing him. Shedim of Fezek are the least subtle of the entire group. Impudites Impudites can feed on anger. For every ten levels of damage done in the name of Wrath, an impudite may roll his resonance to feed. SERVITOR ATTUNEMENTS Imbroglio It works exactly like the Malphas attunement on page 174 of the main In Nomine book. Temper This works like Imbroglio, but inside out. It can be used to make one specific person absolutely foul tempered for the rest of the day. He will take everything he hears wrong, assume personal slights when things don't go just perfectly, and generally be an asshole to everyone he comes across. The target gets a will roll to resist. DISTINCTIONS Knight of Anger This works the same as 'Knight of Deception' on page 175 in the main In Nomine book. Captain of Rage After a successful use of the Distinction of Anger, a Captain of Rage can intuit the proper actions that would lead to an out and out brawl between the two targets. Baron of Catastrophe Belial appreciated the fires of the LA Riots so much that he taught to Fezek the attunement Domino Effect. Fezek passes it on to those followers who prove to themselves that they're masters of the subtility required for some really good wrath. RELATIONS Allied: Malphas, Belial. Associated: Baal, Valefor. Hostile: Beleth. Enemy: Saminga. Basic Rites * Help two people start a fight. * Help ten people start a fight. (2 essence.) CHANCE OF INVOCATION: 3 INVOCATION MODIFIERS +1 A barroom brawl. +2 A wrath inspired murder. +3 A football riot. +4 Standing in an area where at least five people died due to wrath. +5 A prison riot. +6 A race riot. Note: Fezek just loves LA. Any demons in LA get an automatic +1. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 17:57:40 +0000 From: "Nathaniel Eliot" Subject: Re: IN> Excuse me for my ignorance > >Is the Janus-Valefor connection mentioned in any published IN book? > > Besides the main book which says that some people just don't trust > Val because he's thematically similar...? It's also implied through the similarity of their Attunements, Distinctions, and Dissonance. Their Rites and Invocation Modifiers are a little different, but not much... Nathaniel Eliot temujin9@ix.netcom.com "It's the eternal question, really; to be a slave in Heaven, or a star in Hell. But sometimes Hell doesn't look like Hell. On a good day, it can look like LA." - Playing God ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 18:08:49 -0800 From: The Saint of Killers Subject: Re: IN> IN : Adventure : AIRPLANE!!! Highway Star wrote: > Hmmm...and how would Angels get guns on planes (for whatever nefarious > purpose they need them for on there)? > > I'm fresh out of ideas. I hate having given up caffeine.:( > > SeanMike Since demons are deception and angels are perception, I'd be quite a bit tougher. Of course a Kyriotate could do the same as the Shedim. The Ofanite would plot a course into the airplane that didn't involve a security guard. Mercurian: "Gun? Do I have a gun? Bob, remember the time when you were a child, and your father taught you how to use guns?" Bob the Guard: "Gosh, you're right." *sniff* "Move along." Depending on the Malakite in question, and how much of a bastard he is, the old 'honor sensing' trick could offer great blackmailing opportunities. Malakite: "Bob, do you really want Earl to know what you're doing with his wife on Thursdays?" Of course, the Seraph would be screwed. Bob: "Is that a gun?" Seraph: "Yep. D'oh!" Bob: "You're goin' to jail, bwoy." Seraph: *slaps his head* "Yes." Then there's the Elohim... Bob: "Sir, it seems you have a gun in your bag." Elohim: "I prefer to think of it as more of a metallic device created with the express purpose of utilizing the kinetic force of an explosive shockwave to send a small alloy slug out of a length of small piping at high velocity to cause mild to great concussive damage against the target." Bob: "Uh... well, that's alright then!" Of course, I might just have a really low opinion of security guards. sok ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 18:42:21 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> IN : Adventure : AIRPLANE!!! At 4:41 PM -0500 11/13/97, Highway Star wrote: >Hmmm...and how would Angels get guns on planes (for whatever nefarious >purpose they need them for on there)? Kyriotates: "Okay, pass through." Kyriotates of Jean: Um...... - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 18:15:23 -0800 From: The Saint of Killers Subject: Re: IN> Excuse me for my ignorance Emily Dresner wrote:...Yadda yackity... > > says 'angels shouldn't steal.') I think Janus and Valefor are the same > > sad celestial, switch hitting. > > Sad? He looks pretty happy to me. > Sad as in pathetic. Lucifer probably thinks of Saminga as sad, cos he's so easy to keep happy. I'm sure that if Asmodeus and Dominic were to find out that Janus/Valefor were the same, every Prince and Archangel in the Symphony would agree that he was a pretty sad person. (Especially after the Justice Squad got done with them.) > On the other hand, as already pointed out on the list, Janus/Valefore > might just be Kobal, for all we know. :) > New to the list. Sorry. Though if we want to get into all sorts of crazy 'this person is that person', then Yves is God and Dominic is Lucifer. Look at all the trouble Dominic caused with Gabriel, and is now causing with his Christio-centric ideas. Of course, Yves approves of the spreading of many ideas, and just really wishes everyone'd get along. (He's also got the George Burns thing going.) sok ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 18:56:25 EST From: Neel Krishnaswami Subject: IN> The Politics of Heaven Here's a little something I wrote up. - ---- Malphas is not the only one who plays the faction game...GMs do too. I've decided to break down some of the political tensions that seperate the archangels in my game. Hopefully, this will at least help people fill in the shifting coalition politics that determine the will of Heaven. I've picked a couple of philosophical axes, and decided at which end of the axis the various archangels fall. Notice that this is largely independent of the alliances in the book; some archangels that loathe each other have very similiar views, and some philosophically opposed archangels are on very good terms. Militancy/Pacifism: Some of the angels are more eager than others in their prosecution of the War. This reflects the relative importance the archangel places on stopping diabolic activity. While no archangel would permit a demon to scheme unhindered, the militants are much more in favor of using lethal force on demons. While the war party is much larger than the peace faction, it is so torn by internal conflicts that the peacers have a disproportionate amount of influence in Heaven. Strongly militant: Michael, Laurence, David, Dominic, Gabriel Weakly militant: Janus, Jordi, Jean Weakly pacifist: Marc, Yves, Eli Strongly pacifist: Novalis, Blandine Hierarchy/Anarchy: This is a measure of how much each archangel values such things as tradition, law, and place. A strongly hierarchical angel tends to prefer universal institutions and well-defined lines of command, whereas the anarchic angels tend to prefer situational judgments and independent action. Strongly hierarchical: Dominic, Laurence, David Weakly hierarchical: Jean, Novalis, Blandine, Yves, Marc Weakly anarchic: Jordi, Eli Strongly anarchic: Michael, Janus, Gabriel Interventions: On Earth, angels do more than fight demons. They also intervene in human affairs, doing their best to tip human history onto a more divine path. This is a hot question among angels; failing to act in the face of mortal suffering is clearly wrong, but removing the consequences of every action is an equally clear violation of mankind's divinely granted free will. (This one is the one most likely to vary; sometimes even Michael will agree it's time to intervene, and other times even Yves will agree that Destiny can best be achieved with a hands-off approach.) Strongly active: Yves, Gabriel, Laurence, Blandine, Jean, David, Marc Weakly active: Eli, Dominic Weakly laissez-faire: Janus, Jordi Strongly laissez-faire: Michael, Novalis - ---- Neel Krishnaswami neelk@alum.mit.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 20:24:03 -0500 From: John Dye Subject: IN> Sin and Dissonence I may be tapping a dry well, but I'll put it in anyway. Angels and Demons have dissonence. But if you think about it, humans do too. There are interesting parallells. I'll use Catholicism for example. A person commits a sin, feels bad and disconnected, goes to Confession (the Archangel), and performs an act of contrition (burns off his dissonence in service). It's when you have folks who no longer care that you get folks like serial killers, IRS agents, mimes etc. Most cultures share near universal "sins", and most religions have various purification rituals to atone. Just a thought. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 02:28:38 +0000 From: Jo Hart Subject: Re: IN> IN : Adventure : AIRPLANE!!! At 16:52 13/11/97 -0600, you wrote: > >From: "Kirt A. Dankmyer -- aka Loki" > >>Opinions welcome, as ever. > >I like it. One question, tho (similiar to one I had when reading _Feast of >Blades_): How did the Demons get the weapons on board the plane? It's >difficult to do on the mundane level, and using supernatural abilities >would cause a Disturbance... > Maybe one of the demons or soldiers has a role as a diplomat! Diplomats have this natty thing called the 'diplomatic bag' which means they can take just about anything small and portable through customs without having it checked (as long as they can show a diplomatic passport). I think checks on this can be a little tighter depending on what country you are from but its a great plot device ;-) I love the hijack thing as an idea (when I was running my demon/civil-service game, the PCs were accompanying their ministers to a junket in the Seychelles when the plane got hijacked by mundanes.. unfortunately the mundanes were a bit amateurish and the PCs ended up deciding to help them save face ;) ) jo ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 13:17:07 +1100 From: "Patrick O'Duffy" Subject: IN> Adventure Seed - the Old City G'day. This adventure seed deals with a sorcerer, and I haven't read The Marches yet, so it may not be kosher under the rules. If not, it shouldn't be hard to adapt (I hope) to the One True Way. - --The Old City-- A mortal sorcerer lives in the campaign locale. This sorcerer is very old, and lived in the locale in the last century. In love with the place at that particular place and time, he vowed never to lose the world he loved. After a great ritual, he took a 'temporal snapshot' of the place - a moment frozen in time, compressed into a physical form. This snapshot is kept in a pride of place within the sorcerer's home in the present day. It is possible to enter the snapshot, and live within the city at that time. You can spend as long as you wish there, and time passes in the 'outside world' while you're inside the snapshot. Ever time you enter, the city is 'reset' to the moment when the snapshot was taken. Since that time, the sorcerer has entered the snapshot often, exploring this pocket world, righting wrongs and enjoying himself (rather a nice old guy). Of course, there's a catch. The snapshot runs on a sort of 'temporal energy', and spending time within the snapshot exhausts this energy. To 'refuel' the snapshot, the sorcerer must channel the life energy of others into it, stealing years from their lives to replenish the time spent inside. This isn't anything icky like blood sacrifice - the sorcerer just needs to touch people with an enchanted object (something small like a ring or symbol) to steal a few years from the end of their lives (ie if he steals 2 years, you die at 81 rather than 83). It doesn't work on everyone - the sorcerer scries to find suitable subjects for the theft. You don't feel the loss, he spreads the theft around so no-one loses to much, and everyone's happy. Especially Kronos. The sorcerer has been tricked rather nastily by Kronos, who fed him the knowledge of how to take the snapshot in the first place. It works as advertised, no problem there, but it doesn't take the years stolen from the end of the subject's life - it steals the period when the subject would have met their Destiny. Kronos steers the sorcerer towards those people with important Destinies, and the sorcerer ends up stealing that destiny to fuel his snapshot. Over the last century, the sorcerer has neutralized the potential of a lot of mortals. Angelic PCs might get involved if they're guarding a mortal with an important Destiny. They check the mortal one day, Destiny in place - the next, it's gone! This old man did touch the mortal once, but nothing odd seemed to happen... the angels will have to track down the sorcerer and regain the mortal's Destiny before it flows back to Kronos. Demonic PCs... hmm, don't know. Any ideas? During the course of the adventure, the PCs will probably have to enter the snapshot, arriving in the campaign city in the 1800's. Once inside, they have to track down the sorcerer. Inside the snapshot, there's a bonus - disturbance caused inside isn't heard outside! This gives PCs a chance to flex their muscles without pressure to keep quiet, and should be fun for the players. Of course, there are traps for the unwary... Kronos bound a Shedite into the snapshot when it was first taken. This Shedite makes sure that the sorcerer keeps caught up in things by complicating matters, staging fights, drawing things out so that the sorcerer has to stick around longer to work things out, thus draining the snapshot's power further. The Shedite's being doing this for a while, and is _really_ bored... And there could be other celestials there as well, part of the snapshot, reset to normal every time the snapshot is entered. There could be a lot of confusion there... and if characters have been in the area for a while, the PCs could meet an earlier version of an NPC - or a PC... This adventure _sorta_ has time travel. There are no paradoxes to worry about, since the characters don't actually travel in time, just interact with a sliver of time that the Symphony has since forgotten. Still, there's potential for wacky fun. If the snapshot is destroyed... well, lots of things could happen. The temporal energy could be released in an explosion! It could just quietly flow back into those mortals who were robbed of their Destinys. Or it could play havoc with time in the area for a while, with paradoxes and general weirdness. The sorcerer could be killed by his own time loss. He might swear revenge on the PCs for destroying his beautiful city. Or he might set up to take revenge on Kronos for fooling him all those years... Well, any comments? - -- Patrick O'Duffy, Brisbane, Australia I want to go on a mountain-top With a radio and good batteries Play a joyous tune and free the human race from suffering I'm no fucking Buddhist, but this is enlightenment BJORK, "Alarm Call" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 03:10:31 +0000 From: Jo Hart Subject: Card Games ( was Re: IN> Wording ) At 16:52 13/11/97 -0600, you wrote: > >From: johnk@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com (John Karakash - Lucent ASCC) > > Hey, read the paragraph! It's a NON-ccg. Really just a >card game with some ccg-ish mechanics. I pinch my nose and wince >at most of the CCGs out there and wouldn't want to add to the >pile. Sounds cool. Some of the most fun games I've played have been Non-CCG like Family Business, Illuminati (yes, it was a while ago, before it turned collectable ) and Lunch Money (has anyone else apart from me heard of or played that I wonder). jo ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 12:53:01 +1100 From: "Patrick O'Duffy" Subject: IN> Questions philosophical and practical... G'day. Some things I'm wondering about. 1. What Song can cure disease? Healing would make sense, but doesn't make allowances for some diseases being harder to cure than others (AIDS, cancer etc). 2. How could you _appear_ to cure someone without doing so? In the adventure I'm working on, demons create a false cure for cancer, and I want to work out just how they're doing it. Song of Healing that only temporarily heals? An illusuon using Balseraph resonance or other methods? Any ideas are appreciated. And a point for discussion: How do some Superiors negate the Symphony? There are a number of Servitors (Calabim of Belial, servitors of Jordi etc) who get to ignore disturbance in some situations. I don't care about the mechanics, but this seems to contravene the basic rules for disturbance, and I wonder how the Superiors get around it. The Symphony is the divine plan of God for humans, right? So even Superiors shouldn't be able to ignore the problem of Disturbance. If they petition God for an exemption, I can accept that - but how do the Demon Princes get away with it? And what happens to that muffled noise, anyway? Does the Superior absorb it? Does it get 'heard' somewhere else? These are just things I'm curious, feel free to let theories fly. Thanks y'all. - -- Patrick O'Duffy, Brisbane, Australia I want to go on a mountain-top With a radio and good batteries Play a joyous tune and free the human race from suffering I'm no fucking Buddhist, but this is enlightenment BJORK, "Alarm Call" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 22:41:32 -0500 From: Jesse Rooney Subject: Re: IN> Anachronistic Words > You can only get a Word if you ask for it. No one is >'drafted' for the position. So 'avoidance' is a simple matter >of not asking! ;) Wait, can't Lucifer asign different Words to Demons pentioning him for a certain one? - -Jesse ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 23:26:50 -0600 (CST) From: redneck@txdirect.net (Redneck Gaijin) Subject: Re: IN> Anachronistic Words >> You can only get a Word if you ask for it. No one is >>'drafted' for the position. So 'avoidance' is a simple matter >>of not asking! ;) >Wait, can't Lucifer asign different Words to Demons pentioning him for a >certain one? Yes, but you have to ask for a Word before you get one- even if that Word isn't the one you wanted. Redneck Kris Overstreet, will write for food... | Do not taunt Happy Fun Belial. http://www.txdirect.net/users/redneck | * * * c/o White Lightning Productions | "I love the sweet smell of http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/wlp/ | humiliation in the morning!" Webmaster for Antarctic Press | --- Kobal reaffirms himself http://www.antarctic-press.com/ | ***QUESTION EVERYTHING*** ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 23:47:55 -0700 (MST) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> IN : Adventure : AIRPLANE!!! > Bob: "Sir, it seems you have a gun in your bag." > > Elohim: "I prefer to think of it as more of a metallic device created with the > express purpose of utilizing the kinetic force of an explosive shockwave to > send a small alloy slug out of a length of small piping at high velocity to > cause mild to great concussive damage against the target." > > Bob: "Uh... well, that's alright then!" "But, hey! You can't get on board with that screwdriver, pal!" (Honest. They get very edgy about screwdrivers. Presumably on the grounds that you might threaten to dismantle the plane in mid-flight. *shrug* In our experience, anyway. Small knives are generally O.K.; screwdrivers, no.) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 13 Nov 1997 23:51:55 -0700 (MST) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> Questions philosophical and practical... > And a point for discussion: How do some Superiors negate the > Symphony? There are a number of Servitors (Calabim of Belial, servitors > of Jordi etc) who get to ignore disturbance in some situations. I don't > care about the mechanics, but this seems to contravene the basic rules > for disturbance, and I wonder how the Superiors get around it. > The Symphony is the divine plan of God for humans, right? So even As I read it, the Symphony is the divine plan, period. Servitors of Jordi do it essentially through having very high Level roles; Calabim of Belial can get away with it because between being Calabim and serving Belial, blowing things up is what they're -FOR-...so it kind of wraps around to being okay again. (Mind, I expect a lot of demons who roll 111s on their Songs and whatnot find that what they're doing just doesn't happen, and they hear a soft voice in their ear say, "Shhhh!") ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 20:25:27 +1100 (EST) From: Peter Frederick Subject: Re: IN> The God Spot Tom wrote: >Peter Frederick wrote: >> >> At 11:49 PM 12/11/97 +0000, you wrote: >> >> >has anyone else seen the reports that some researchers in >> >> >Virginia have found a spot in the brain that becomes electrically >> >> >active when people think about God? >> >> >> >> This sounds a lot like a Weekly World News report. >> >> >> >> What was the source for this? >> > >> >I saw something similar to this in Newsweek - epileptics have higher >> >amounts of brain activity during discussions about religeon than >> >normal. Normal people, even pious ones, have higher activity on >> >subjects like sex. The speculation is that the epileptic fits give >> >the impression of spiritual presences, and over a long period of time >> >make the brain more attuned to spiritual subjects. >> >> That's the report. The article I found it in was in London's Sunday Times. >> It was also a fluff piece on the local youth radio station. >> > >Of course, being an epileptic and a former pre-ministerial student >doesn't do _anything_ to disprove the point. Does this have any thing to >do with spikes in the activity of the temporal lobes that is _one_ of >the diagnostic symptoms of epilepsy? I believe that's where they started. Spikes in brain activiety of certain areas in the brains of epileptics who reported religious/mystic experiences. Then they looked at the same areas for "normal" folk while focusing their thoughts on similar themes and found some similar brain activiety. All a bit thin, but interesting enough to inspire something game related, maybe :) . Yours Peter. Reply to peterf@wr.com.au What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 08:26:24 -0500 (EST) From: Emily Dresner Subject: Re: IN> Wording > > Ugh. Just what the world needs. More collectible card games. Kind of up > > there with more holes in the ozone layer, more congregations of the > > Klu Klux Klan, and more lima beans. Things we must accept, but not be > > real happy about. > > Hey, read the paragraph! It's a NON-ccg. Really just a > card game with some ccg-ish mechanics. I pinch my nose and wince > at most of the CCGs out there and wouldn't want to add to the > pile. > Ooooooh. It's a non-collectible collectible card game! I'm seeing the insinuous evil. :) Although, I'd groove on it if it was a one-time purchase of just a deck. - - Em, Happy Demon ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 07:06:18 -0500 From: Nana Yaw Ofori Subject: IN> Adventure Discussion on the List I know, it's been almost half a year since "Feast of Blades" was published, but there are still some of us who haven't quite completed the adventure yet., but still read the mailing list., and would prefer not to read any discussion of published adventures, to not lessen the enjoyment of said adventure. I'm not asking that all discussion of these adventures stop, far be it from me to ask such a thing. I'd just appreciate it if (Spoilers: Feast of Blades/No Diniero/Demon Prince of Rock & Roll/etc.) would appear in the subject line of posts, so that the (Admittedly, quite few) of us who haven't read the adventure because the GM is running it presently could be warned before accidentally reading the text. If not that, please at least change the subject of the thread to reflect that the adventure is mentioned. Thanks in advance. = http://www.io.com/~beholder ===================== nofori@pop3.utoled.edu === Nana-Yaw "The Fish" Ofori, Freelance Soldier of Gosh, presenty serving Toniel, Ofanite Vassal of Flowers, the Angel of Breakfast Cereals. ===== ><{{"> ============ "Life's a Fish, then you Fry." ======= <"}}>< ====== ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #471 ******************************* The material here is (C) 1997 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.