From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Mon Mar 24 15:25:49 1997 Return-Path: Received: from lists.io.com (majordom@lists.io.com [199.170.88.15]) by deliverator.io.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id OAA19969; Mon, 24 Mar 1997 14:26:20 -0600 (CST) Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) id OAA29745 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Mon, 24 Mar 1997 14:29:38 -0600 Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 14:29:38 -0600 Message-Id: <199703242029.OAA29745@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 #89 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 Monday, March 24 1997 Volume 01 : Number 089 In this digest: Re: IN> IN character sheet IN> In Nomine FAQ (3/24) Re: IN> IN character sheet Re: IN> IN character sheet IN> Definition of "abandoning vessels"? Re: IN> In Nomine: Rules Questions ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 10:56:50 -0500 (EST) From: IQJason@aol.com Subject: Re: IN> IN character sheet TSRInc@aol.com >Thanks! >- Sean (posting from work) Would it be flippant to ask if you made provisions for the ba'azetu and tana'ari bands? ;) yours, and the deva choir, too... - -j ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 11:25:08 -0500 From: "John Karakash - Lucent ASCC" Subject: IN> In Nomine FAQ (3/24) - --PART-BOUNDARY=.19703241125.ZM6995.ascc.lucent.com Content-Description: Text Content-Type: text/plain ; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Zm-Decoding-Hint: mimencode -q -u In Nomine FAQ Copyright =A9 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. GENERAL QUESTIONS What is In Nomine? In Nomine is a game about the ultimate struggle: between the selfless and the selfish, between good and evil, between God and Lucifer. Ultimately, though, it comes down to angels and demons both trying their damnedest to sway humanity to their side. Annoyingly though, humanity and its precious free will keep spoiling plans of both the diabolical and the divine. In the game, you can play anything from a human just awakened to the Struggle, a Soldier who is a little more powerful and a lot more in the line of fire, an undead creature or, as most do, an angel or demon. Where can I get a copy? Isn't it still being worked on? Not at all! After a lengthy delay (no doubt the work of the Fallen Ones), it is out. The book was primarily delayed to make sure that it was the best possible book that could be produced. It went through extensive playtesting and revision to try to keep the quality top-notch. What is this In Nomine hardback I keep hearing about? The limited hardback version of IN NOMINE will ship to distributors in mid to late March (we're experiencing a printer delay). Suggested retail is $29.95. There are two versions: white pseudo-leather cover with angel cross, and black cover with demonic (inverted) cross -- both with red foil. Contents of both versions are identical to those of the softback. Isn't In Nomine just a translation of the French game by Croc, In Nomine Satanis/Magna Veritas? More correctly, In Nomine (the SJG version) is an adaptation of Croc's game. The basic concept is very similar, but if there were a true 'translation' of INS/MV into English, the differences would be obvious. There was a direct translation into German for those who are interested. Will there be supplements? Seven supplements are planned for the year after In Nomine's initial release, one of which (the GM's screen) was ready in February. There is a LOT of material waiting to be published, fear not! Even with just the original book, though, you can run many, many adventures in a very complex, highly detailed world. Some of you know it as earth... ;) (Nearly any Bible can make an excellent source of adventuring ideas!) What is the name of that cool headline typeface? SKREETCH CAPS. Is there a GURPS conversion? Yup. Look for it at http://www.io.com/sjgames/in-nomine/gurps/ or you can FTP it from http://www.io.com/~ftp/sjgames/in-nomine/ or you can FTP from ftp.io.com in pub/sjgames/in-nomine/. Is there a mailing list? Indeed there is, and it's quite active! Send a message to in_nomine-l-request@lists.io.com with subscribe in the body of the message. There's this angel/demon mentioned in Blake/Milton/Dante/the Bible/this cool book about Angels I have. Why is he described differently in In Nomine? We've taken bits and pieces from a lot of different myths, traditions and literary sources in putting together the In Nomine lineup of Archangels and Demon Princes. In many cases, these sources disagree. So, ultimately, we've gone with what feels right to us and helps us tell better stories and make a better game. We don't claim to be consistent with any specific source, though we hope the general feel of what we've done is consistent with the tone of the overall culture of celestial beings, as we imperfect humans perceive them. Who's who in In Nomine right now? o The original author of INS/MV is Croc o The publisher is Steve Jackson Games o The designer/author of the SJG version is Derek Pearcy o The line editor is Mike Sullivan (Moriah) o The main netrep is John Karakash o The GURPS conversion is by S. John Ross o The errata coordinator is Hunter Johnson o A notable mention is Jason Newquist who has a delightful In Nomine rules page. He credits many people on that page... check it out! RULES QUESTIONS Angels SERAPHS Can a Seraph of Yves tell that a 'person' is a demon by using their servitor attunement? How about the Word of a Word-bound Celestial? Their choir/band? Yes, but let the check digit determine how much information is given. KYRIOTATES Kyriotates of Jean can inhabit objects, how many Forces does a non-living object have? One Force per object. Can Kyriotates of Jean inhabit any object? Any non-living object within reason except for plants. That's Novalis' area. 'Within reason' depends on the GM, but an entire building or a battleship would probably be out of the question. Does the object have any senses? Each object gets sight, hearing and touch for free, plus any special senses the object might have (e.g. a radio can 'hear' radio waves). Can the object speak? Depends on the object, much like when a Kyriotate inhabits a living vessel. A rock won't have much chance of communicating, a lawn mower could rev its engine suggestively, but a radio or a TV could speak with no problems. Can the object move? Also depends on the object. Anything designed to bend or move will be able to do so. So a door could open and close, a car could drive around, a ball could roll, a puppet could walk around. But, for example, a candlestick couldn't move around on its own since it is inflexible. Certain Songs can give movement abilities, however. For example, Numious Corpus: Wings and that toaster Vessel . . . Does possessing the object require a Will roll? Yes. Normally Attunements don't require a roll, but this particular one is an extension of Kyriotate's Resonance which does require one. Can you continuously inhabit the same object? Yes, but remember that if a roll is failed, the possessor is ejected and cannot repossess that object until the proper time has passed. Also intervention will eventually catch up with any Kyriotate foolish enough to try this for any extended period of time! Does damage to the object 'vessel' cause Disturbance if the Kyriotate of Jean deliberately damages it? Yes. Artifacts CORPOREAL ARTIFACTS How much does a Corporeal Artifact cost? Why should I buy it at higher then Level/1? The cost is 1 point per level and the only reason to get it at a higher level is to make it easier to find. Is the level of the artifact the chance it will 'turn up' at the right time? No. It means that your chance to find your Porsche in a crowded parking lot is easier, not that your Porsche will happen to be in any random parking lot you are in. ETHEREAL ARTIFACTS: TALISMANS Who can use a talisman? Anyone. Why does a Talisman cost 2 points when the matching skill would only cost 1? One point per level is for the skill, and the other is for the attunement to the object. Keep in mind that Talismans can boost skill above 6 and provide an object with which to use certain skills! (Try to use your Large Weapons skill without a large weapon handy...) CELESTIAL ARTIFACTS: RELICS AND RELIQUARIES How much is the cost of a relic/reliquary? The rules were a bit scattered (between p. 42 and p. 71), but here they are. o A Relic costs 3 character points per level o A Reliquary costs 3 character points per level o A Celestial Artifact that is both but the Essence can only be used for Song in the Relic costs 5 character points per level. o A celestial artifact that is both but the Essence can be used for other purposes costs 6 character points per level. Can soliders use relics/reliquaries? Soldiers can use Corporeal Songs in a relic, any normal reliquaries, and reliquaries that power a relic for the use of Corporeal Songs. Celestials What gender are Angels (or Demons for that matter)? Angels don't have an innate gender. They do take on a physical gender while using a Vessel, but the essential nature of an Angel is Celestial. Everything else is just window dressing. Can anyone recognize a Celestial in a Vessel? Even with a Perception roll? No. Celestials have to 'tip their hand' by disturbing the Symphony or exercising powers; but then again, Soldiers do that, too, when they disturb the Symphony... so, in other words, not by sight or Perception. Celestial Forms Can someone disguise while in their Celestial form? (e.g. looking like a Lilim when you are a Balseraph?) or change your shape temporarily or permanently? In Heaven, no. In Hell, perhaps . . . this will be addressed in HEAVEN AND HELL. Character Creation Can a starting character convert character points to characteristic points or Forces? If they buy a Force, does this mean their total character points go up? Officially, the purchase of characteristics and Forces is not a part of character creation. As always, GMs can make their own ruling on that. And, no, you don't get more points when you raise your Forces! Combat and Damage Hey! Strength gives almost no bonus to damage, but directly increases the chance to hit! What gives? Strength is used for dukin' it out and for large weapons. In the latter case, it's pretty obvious why this statistic was chose. As for the former, in the long run we are talking about a game that is much more superheroic than realistic. In a world like that, it matters little if the strong guy hits a few times with a lot of damage and the quick weak guy hits lots of times with almost no damage, the end result is the same: The strong guy does more damage. It's possible that a new skill (Judo perhaps) based on agility will be included for those martial artist types. Those angels are using guns! They certainly are. While Celestials have access to powerful Songs, when they are fighting on the Corporeal plane (i.e. Earth), it makes less Disturbance and is frequently more effective to eliminate their opponent's Vessel using Corporeal means. They'd probably use hand-grenades and rocket-launchers more often if it didn't generate so much noise (in several senses of the word). It seems that even an 'average' human can take a lot of hits. A way to simulate the ability to take out mortals easily is to allow double or triple damage for killing attacks (such as guns) when dealing with normal humans (not celestials, soldiers, saints or the undead). What if someone switches Vessels in the same combat round that they get hit? All things are simultaneous in a round in basic combat. So, both happen, the celestial gets hit and switches vessel (in other words, the original vessel is the one damaged). Whenever that celestial switches back, that celestial will find their body in the condition as if the hit took place. This might mean that the body is unconscious or even dead. In advanced combat, follow the order given on p. 68 or on the GM's screen. In this case, switching Vessels is a supernatural power which happens before getting hit. Remember that each Vessel has their own supply of Body hits, making an alternate Vessel much more attractive a choice! Does physical damage cause pain/shock effects? Yes. Stunning (p. 62) occurs when you take hits of more than 25% of your Body in one round." D666 Why is it that someone with a total skill of 10 and someone with a total skill of 4 have the same chance for a spectacular (6 on the check digit) result? Actually, they don't. The person with a 10 is much more likely to succeed, then get the six on the check digit, while the person with the 4 skill has a hard time succeeding at all! So in this example the first person has a 11 chances out of 72 to get the spectacular result while his unskilled counterpart only has a 2 in 72 chance for the same result. Do I have to use the check digit? What about situations where the check digit wouldn't apply? Except where the rules specifically mention it (and not even then for you gung-ho GMs), the check digit need never be consulted. In most other cases it can just be used for color at the whim of the GM. Also remember that a '6' success for an olympic athlete might be different than that of a couch potato! (Until we get to the channel surfing event...) 'Color' judgements should take the performer's skill into account. Ummmm... isn't '666' supposed to be a satanic number of some sort? Yes and no. It was mentioned in the revelation according to Saint John the Divine as the Number of the Beast. If anything, it was a warning as a way to recognize 'the Beast', whomever or whatever it might be. But for this game, it's just a fun way of representing a different dice convention. It couldn't just call it 3d6, and 2d6/d6 doesn't quite the same ring to it. Demons GENERAL Where are those popular demons of legend, the Incubi and Succubi? You can make servants of Andrealphus or Beleth serve this role (or some of the Lilim, of course). At the moment, there are no plans for these to appear in the game as distinct Bands. CALABIM What does it look like to observers when one of the Calabim uses his resonance on an object? It depends on who the fallen angel is working for. The resonance of Belial's demons burns its targets, or appears to - -- neither flame nor heat is actually created, that's just the closest that the Symphony can come to representing the effect. Saminga's Calabim cause materials to rust, rot, shrink away into nothingness. Some other suggestions have been posted on Joel Cardella's page. LILIM The check digit determines the "level" of the desire that someone has, right? Nope. The level of difficulty that the victim would have in granting their own desire. The Lilim doesn't get a selection to choose from, just a desire of the appropriate level. The check digit also reduces the victims Will roll to resist the Lilim's Resonance. What is the plural of 'Geas'? Geasa. How does a Lilim handle two people calling in favors at once? Heh. A very, very clever Lilim would try to work it out, somehow, that both are satisfied. More likely she will experience dissonance and possibly discord from the conflicting favors. Other avenues might include trying to re-negotiate the favor so they don't conflict or asking someone else to help resolve the situation (which might involve yet another favor being issued). How does someone collect a Geas from a Lilim? How does a Lilim collect her own Geasa from those who owe her? The holder of the Geas must track down the person to redeem it. Fortunately, the Geas-holder has an Attunement to the person who owes the favor, much like that of a Cherubim. When you want to call in a favor, use a perception roll with the level of the Geas as a bonus. If successful, use the Cherub attunement roll Check Digit chart (p. 96) ignoring hazard status -- just for location. If a failure, the Check Digit is the number of hours to wait before trying again. Note that the favor must be redeemed when using this method. It will only work if the Geaser truly wishes to call in the favor. Demon Princes GENERAL The French and German games of INS/MV had Demon Princes for Cold, Ocean and Illness/Plagues. Will they be introduced in forthcoming supplements? The French game-world includes, by now, more than 100 Superiors. Not all will make it into our version. We will be introducing some new ones in supplements, and explaining why some of the others are no longer part of the Symphony . . . " Disturbance Does switching to a Celestial Form cause the same degree of Disturbance in the Symphony as the act of moving between the Celestial and Corporeal Realms? Yes, but see the next question. Remember, that the Essence is paid (and the Disturbance created), only when a successful Will roll is made to change to a Celestial Form. (p. 55) Does the 2 Essence required to change into Celestial form add to the Disturbance? Yes. (p. 54-55) So how much noise does swapping between Corporeal Vessels make? Going from one Corporeal Vessel to another costs one Essence, requires no roll, and makes the same amount of noise as going Celestial. Does a Celestial going to the Celestial Realm cause double the disturbance (once for changing form, and again for leaving)? Yes, although entering doesn't cause double since one enters the Corporeal Realm directly into a vessel. As a general guideline, GMs should always make the Disturbance rules side with celestial powers being as noisy as possible. Celestial powers make celestials hot stuff on earth, but there is always risk involved -- being noticed. The 2 Essence is added since there are times when a celestial doesn't have to spend that Essence, e.g., transforming in a Tether (although, compared to the noise a Tether makes, who would notice?). Falling An angel can become a demon just by rolling badly?! Not at all. If you never generate Dissonance, you cannot fall. Also angels have a 'safety net' of sorts. The first time they 'fall', they become outcasts and can try to regain their former divine status. It's the second time that takes them on that long plunge hellward. Also the odds are astoundingly skewed against falling as long as you have fewer than 5 points of Dissonance. Three points or less can always be converted to Discord, staving off the reckoning for some time. When an Angel falls, I guess his/her celestial appearance changes, but what causes that change? Can it be somewhat controlled? Metaphysics. Angel are creatures whose nature is attuned to some part of the Symphony - their Choir, their Superior, their own Word. By rejecting that nature, their Resonances change... they strike a new chord. Their outward appearance reflects the Resonance of a Dark Angel. It says here that Malakim can't fall at all! Can this be right? Yup. Malakim don't Fall. However, they do gain Dissonance everytime they act dishonorably, especially by breaking one of their oaths. If they succeed on their Dissonance roll, they just get one more note of Dissonance. If they fail a Dissonance roll the first time, they become Outcast (and gain another note of Dissonance). Yes, they can be Outcast. For each time an Outcast Malakite fails a Dissonance roll, they gain another note of Dissonance and a level of Discord. While Malakim can't Fall mechanically, who knows, maybe some day an Outcast Malakite with Dissonance and Discord coming out the wazoo will choose to Fall. For that reason, Outcast Malakim are on the top of Dominic's and Laurence's hit list. As well as on the top of every other Malakite hit list. Good luck! Forces If a character has no Forces, how are the characteristics determined? He has 4 times his Forces in the area, which is zero. So his total characteristics are zero in both stats. Hell of a life isn't it? In the case of Remnants, the only reason a stiff Celestial breeze won't just blow such a wretch away is that they are protected by their Corporeal Vessel. Hearts Can a Heart be moved from Heaven to Hell? (e.g. You WANT to fall so you take your Heart from Heaven before Dominic's pals get it and you move it to Hell... I don't say it has to be easy... just want to know if it's possible or completely impossible). Hearts are something your Superior provides so that you have a celestial home. When you Fall/Repent your heart self-destructs since you have broken a metaphysical contact with your Superior, and your Superior no longer supports your heart. You can swipe (or be given) your heart from your Superior and put it anywhere you want, except for the Celestial Realm of the Other Side -- as long as your Superior supports it. Eli gave all his servants their hearts to do with as they please. Beleth and Blandine keep their servants' hearts in their respective towers. When the rules give restrictions about hearts not leaving the Celestial Realms, that's only because the Superior will stop supporting your heart if you go that far (as with the Archangels). BTW, If you swipe your heart, your Superior will be swiping the floor with your downy butt, plus you'll get a note of Dissonance. Also, keep in mind, there is no advantage to having a heart on earth, except for becoming very hard to locate by your Superior (yes, with some Superiors, that's a blessing). Can you have more than one Heart? (e.g. Oooops Dominic got my Heart and kept it locked somewhere to track me and now my Demon Prince made me a new one?) If you can convince more than one Superior that your are their faithful Servitor, sure. Good luck. The Symphony will be happy to accept your disbanded Forces once one of your Superiors find out. Don't forget that a fallen angel's heart shatters... What is the process for creating a Heart? Can an Angel/Demon with his/her own Word create a Heart for him/herself? for another? Or is that the exlusive realm of ArchAngel & Demon Princes? The Latter. There are no rules, the GM makes the call since the mechanics of being a Superior are outside the scope of the PCs. Hearts can't leave the Celestial plane... where are the Hearts of Beleth/Blandine servitors? See above. The hearts of their servants were created in the Marches, and thus, never have the opportunity to leave the Celestial Realm. Obviously, B/B might stop supporting your heart if you (try) to remove it from their Towers. How about a Lilim's heart? Lilim serving a Superior would have a Superior-forged heart in some Principality of Hell. Lilim who are 'free' don't have a heart (grin). They could, if a Superior or Lilith were willing, trade a favor in order to have that Superior create and keep a heart for her. Creating hearts is a heavy Essence expense on the part of a Superior, and they don't do it lightly. This would be 6 levels of Geas for sure. And another 6 levels of Geas in payment to have the Superior 'liberate' her heart and let her put it where she wants. Possession What is the range for a Shedim/Kyriotate's Possession Resonance? How about for Song of Possession? Use the Resonance modifiers on p. 57 with the limitation that is common to most Demonic resonances (i.e. you can't use a recording of any sort, but live transmission are alright). Remnants Why doesn't someone fix all those Remnants? This is a very complex question with a variety of reasons. Depending on who you ask in Heaven or Hell, you will get a different answer. o Not worth the time and effort (this one is popular with demons). It takes an enormous amount of Essence and time to restore such a creature since the most elevated part of the Remnant, the Celestial, Forces, have been destroyed. Most of the time the such a creature might be looked upon as a failure, making the expenditure even less likely. o That angel/demon no longer exists. The being that used to exist has been destroyed. If you managed to give a Celestial Force to a Remnant, what you would have is a new creature that might have some twisted and fragmentary memories of a previous existance. It would not be the same Celestial, however. o They are 'lost'. With no heart and no Celestial Forces, it's very easy for a Remnant to just wander off with no way of finding them. As far as anyone knows, they are just dead. o The attempt simply fails. It happens. They are just broken beyond all repair. Rites GENERAL Some rites seem rather deadly to the performer. For example, how can angels of Jean perform the 'two hours plugged into the mains' ritual? How come Belial's servants have to already be immune to fire to perform his 250-degree ritual? The performance of the Rite itself grants immunity during the duration of the Rite unless the rite specifically specifies otherwise. Roles How do humans buy Roles? The rules on p. 72 seem to be wrong. They are indeed inconsistent; please use the following (some repeated from p. 43): Humans don't buy a Role. They can buy levels of Status/x at the cost of [(Status - 1) * 2] with the first level of Status being automatically added for free. In other words, each level of Status beyond the free one costs two points. The cost of a Role for Celestials is the [(Role's Status * Role's Level) / 2], rounded up if necessary. Can a Celestial in an animal vessel have a Role? Yes, and the cost is the same for human Roles. It is very hard to justify a Role above Status/1 however! Remember that Roles are based on how much reality and influence you have in human society. Soldiers Who do soldiers serve? And what powers do they gain thereby? Two different parts of the text (p. 32 and p. 190) seem to have conflicting ideas about this. Soldiers serve a side -- Heaven or Hell. They are directly supervised by a Superior's Servitor. It is possible for a Soldier to receive the Servitor Attunements of the Superior they are serving under (directly or indirectly). So they could directly serve Joe the Angel, but get Joe's Superior's attunements. Laurence is charged with coordinating the Soldiers of God on earth. He makes his Servitor Attunements available to them (regardless of who else they may serve or whatever religion they may be). Does this give the soldiers of God and edge? Well, yes, but they need it since they are rather outnumbered. Does a soldier using a Song cause a Disturbance? All focused Essence expenditures cause Disturbance, though the source is unrecognizeable as angelic, demonic or human. The default use of Essence by untrained humans does not cause a disturbance. Songs GENERAL Does Essence spent to improve the chances of a Song to succeed also improve other aspects of a Song? For example, Song of Charm's range is determined by the amount of Essence spent and it specifically mentions that "...but like all skill rolls, each point of Essence spent (beyond the first) also adds +1 to succeed". Each extra Essence spent either improves a Song's effects (if the Song allows that) or increases the chance of success, not both. CLAWS Why are higher levels of this Song less accurate than lower levels? It has to do with the length. The longer claws do much more damage, but are unwieldy, hence the lower accuracy. You can always use the smaller claws if you want a better chance to hit and are willing to have reduced damage. HEALING Can the Corporeal Song of Healing used for any Corporeal object? Yes, it can be used to heal any sort of Corporeal damage. NUMIOUS CORPUS Is this one Song or many? Do I have to buy them all? Each feature under Numious Corpus is a seperate Song and must be paid for individually. What is the degree of Disturbance for this Song? Beyond the Essence required, none. If you switch Vessels, can you still make the enhancements appear and disappear within the duration of the Song? Yes. Words What kinds of Words are there? Vices, virtues, ideas, ideologies, causes, things of the world. There will be in an upcoming supplement, an outline of Words that have been compiled based on Scholastic/Aristotelian theo/philosophy. Archangels and Princes seem to have much shorter names, is this because they are more powerful? No, cooler. They got the world to call their abstract causes by one Word. Sort of like Cher. Do words get shorter (and more abstract) as the celestials influence increases? Possibly, but not necessarily. Celestials don't lightly change Words. They're more likely to be stripped of a Word than to change it. The Word you first get is you. You are uniquely tuned to it. To try to change it on your own goes against nature. You must promote the Word which is yours, not shop around for cooler one. BACKGROUND QUESTIONS Are there more Angels or Demons? Lucifer's Forces were originally outnumberd 2 to 1 in the War and, one must presume, he lost more of his host than God did. Afterwards, though, he started creating new demons as fast as he could, as described on p. 155. The current situation seems to be that there are more demons than angels, but demons are generally weaker. Notice how scared the demon was in A Dark Dream when he heard an angel was in town? This is how a vast number of the infernal hordes feel about the average angel. If demons can't enter Heaven, but angels can go into Hell, why haven't all the angels gotten together and gone and kicked the demons' collective butts? Good question. And one that is asked at the highest levels of the angelic hierarchy (and the middle levels and probably all the way down to the bottom)! One answer is that fighting someone on their home territory, especially masters of deception and lies, is probably a bad idea tactically. Another answer is that they might lose the very thing they were fighting over: the souls of all those humans. Some Celestials (on either side) don't give a hoot about humanity, but a whole lot do. And The Boss seems to care a great deal. Undoubtably, such a fight would have major consequences on those that inhabit the earth. Good and Evil aren't really mentioned in the book, what is all the fuss about then? (i.e. Why are the Angels and Devils fighting?) Angels are trying to follow God's plan to the best of their flawed perceptions. Demons are trying to chart their own course of selfishness which means, nearly by default, they have to work for Hell (the rebel's rebels are quickly hunted down and, at best, killed). Do angels have free will? Do humans? This is purposely left as a question mark in IN. Let the players figure it out. :) Are angels and demons the hidden masters of a helpless humanity? Is this another 'humans are helpless pawn of unknowable forces' game? Hardly! The celestials (on either side), are doing their best to influence humanity toward their way of thinking, but most of their efforts are spent combating each other. Humanity with its wonderful free will can choose their own Destiny... or Fate. =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Steve Jackson Games * In Nomine - -- = ___________________________________________________ / \ |John Karakash - Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T) | | (919)380-4629 | | "A fundamental principle of economics is that the | | more you tax something, the less you get of it. | | In this country we tax success most of all." | \___________________________________________________/ - --PART-BOUNDARY=.19703241125.ZM6995.ascc.lucent.com-- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 12:40:54 -0600 From: "adrienne l. travis" Subject: Re: IN> IN character sheet your .PDF character sheet has a font that some of our computers can't read - -- it seems to be called "Berolina" ? can you do something about this, by any chance? At 10:40 3/24/97 -0500, you wrote: >I've uploaded an IN character sheet to my personal web page. >Please check it out, let me know if you like it and let me >hear any suggestions you have for it: > > http://users.aol.com/skreyn/ > >Thanks! > >- Sean (posting from work) > > ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 14:37:22 -0500 From: Shawn Goldman Subject: Re: IN> IN character sheet TSRInc@aol.com wrote: > > I've uploaded an IN character sheet to my personal web page. > Please check it out, let me know if you like it and let me > hear any suggestions you have for it: > > http://users.aol.com/skreyn/ > > Thanks! > > - Sean (posting from work) What is with your e-mail address TSRINC isn't that tthe old tsr homepage address? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 11:29:11 -0800 From: Steven Feldon Subject: IN> Definition of "abandoning vessels"? Michael's Kyriotates can generate vessels. . . but can't abandon them. Laurence's Kyriotates are bound into the vessel of a warrior who died too early. . . but can't abandon them. What's the proper and total definition of "abandoning a vessel"? Does this mean that each of these Kyriotate vessels exists, on Earth, 24 by 7? That they can't ever dematerialize? That they constantly count against the limited number of forces that the Kyriotate can inhabit? So even when the Kyriotate goes Celestial, they're still _always_ in that body? And a starting Kyriotate of Michael or Laurence will not be able to inhabit (a word I like much better than possess) a human until they get their tenth Force? steve ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 14:02:34 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> In Nomine: Rules Questions At 11:09 AM -0500 3/22/97, John Karakash - Lucent ASCC wrote: >On Mar 21, 4:52pm, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: >> Subject: Re: IN> In Nomine: Rules Questions >> At 12:04 PM -0800 3/21/97, Clinton Wolf wrote: >> >Greetings, >> >> >1) Shedim "have full knowledge of their hosts' thoughts, feelings, and >> > memories" (p. 151)... does this include Skills? What about songs >> > and attunements? >> >> I would say yes. It might have trouble with Basic Rites, though. > > I would say no on attunements and I'm wavering on Songs. >Attunements are new strings in a person's soul, if you will. >In other words, the only way to access those abilities is to >_be_ that person. Songs are trickier since they act sorta like >skills, but, at their basis, they are more like Attunements. I >would say no for Songs as well. But Marcus, using the Song of Possession, was able to access the "munch anything I want" Servitor Attunement of Gluttony. Why wouldn't a Shedim be able to do as much? >> >2) Since it never mentions otherwise in either the Shedim or Kyriotate >> > descriptions, I assume that they may possess celestial vessels as >> > well as "mortal" ones, with the only limitations (barring superior >> > attunements) being a living host (for Kyriotates) or a human-shaped >> > vessel (for Shedites)... > > My personal opinion, separate from my netrep position, is >that they can't. It may take awhile for me to reason out what >my gut instinct is telling me, though. They certainly couldn't possess someone who had gone celestial -- though they might snag a vessel. It shouldn't be easy, though, IMAO. At 1:11 PM -0800 3/23/97, Raven wrote: >On Fri, 21 Mar 1997, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: > >> And that's if you *don't* take the Leaving Host to be a case of >> "Leaving the Corporeal Plane" (p. 55), which would be an additional >> disturbance equal to the Shedite's total Forces! > >Actually, the rolls to sense the disturbance of a celestial form and the >roll to actually see it are two different rolls. Good point -- so it's Perception + CelForces + 2 to see it, and another roll, at Perception + TotalForces, to sense the disturbance, which is Right On Top Of You and may even add to the check digit... Two rolls -- somebody's gonna notice. At 11:55 PM -0800 3/23/97, Clinton Wolf wrote: >[ The Shedite sneaks from its host... and creates the Celestial > equivalent of crashing a Mac Truck through a Zildjian Cymbal > sale... ] Basically. It doesn't matter so much with humans -- they have a lousy Perception anyway and will probably blow it off as a bad dream. But you do it around angels, and... >> > your idea better! ("Oh, my, what's this crawling around my psyche? Looks >> > like a Shedite. I thought we sprayed for those last week. Oh, well. >> > Let's go walk the Shedite. It needs its exorcise.") >> > You deserve to be censered for that pun, you Nave. Your brain is > heavily altared and we should pulpit. Hey, don't aim that canon over in my direction! I'll have to hymn and haw and ac-choir someone else to blame it on. Probably a Shedite -- that ought to be easy to band-y about and have believed. At 11:55 PM -0800 3/23/97, Clinton Wolf wrote: >Elizabeth McCoy wrote: > > [ Example of poor, innocent, defenseless Shedite being cruelly tricked > into a tether by heartless angels deleted... ] [] I don't think *any* Shedite is "innocent." [...] >> (First treatment for suspected possession. Go to nearest Divine >> Tether. >> If he won't go, knock him out and have a celestial Malakim squad >> waiting nearby...) >> > Are you sure you're not a Lilim of Kobal? Frotz! My cover's blown! I knew I should have been more careful about the puns! > Angel #1: "Hey, did Tyrafael pay for that pack of gum?" > Angel #2: "I dunno..." > Angel #1: "Hey Tyrafael, c'mon, lets go grab a brew at the tether!" > Tyr: "What, now? But I was just on my way t-" > Angel #1: HE'S POSSESSED JUMP HIM!!! > Tyr: "Wha-? AIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" > [scuffle. POUND. *thud* drag...] [ What, don't you think that's funny as all getout?] > If the forces of Good ever become this paranoid, I think it's safe > to say the ol' Lightbringer's about filled out his BINGO card for > ownership of Creation ;) Only if they really kill him -- but if you think there's a Shedite in the area, It's The Only Way To Be Sure... Carry bottles of chlorform (sp?). (As opposed to chlorphyll , which is Novalis...) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com // emccoy@jade.mv.net GURPS characters, Roleplayers; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #89 ****************************** The material here is (C) 1996 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.