From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Mon Jun 23 03:14:22 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 DAA21748 for ; Mon, 23 Jun 1997 03:14:21 -0500 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) id BAA28578 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Mon, 23 Jun 1997 01:42:54 -0500 Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 01:42:54 -0500 Message-Id: <199706230642.BAA28578@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 #224 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, June 23 1997 Volume 01 : Number 224 In this digest: Re: IN> Have I mentioned I hate computers - last attempt at this bloody post... Re: IN> Not exactly a WoD crossover... Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? IN> Re: big bombs!!! (And Disturbances of Ungodly Size) Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? IN> Mixed Troupe - The First Troubles... Re: IN> Mixed Troupe - The First Troubles... Re: IN> ...Running a Mixed Troupe. Re: IN> Charisma Re: IN> Speaking of bombs! Re: IN> Malakim Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? IN> Screwin' with the Seraphim Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? IN> Character Sheet in PDF Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? Re: IN> ...Running a Mixed Troupe. Re: IN> Screwin' with the Seraphim Re: IN> Screwin' with the Seraphim IN> Humor me, it's a character... IN> New Demon Prince: Boss Smiley IN> Re: In Nomine on the brain.. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 12:13:18 -0300 From: Andre Ribeiro Subject: Re: IN> Have I mentioned I hate computers - last attempt at this bloody post... Patrick O'Duffy wrote: > Okay. > No messing around with attachments, no word processors. I'm just > going to paste the wretched thing into the message and let fly. If > this > doesn't work, my head will explode. Good you kept your head where it is...:-) The story arrived (at last!) and it's a fine piece of work, by the way... Andre ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 12:21:49 -0300 From: Andre Ribeiro Subject: Re: IN> Not exactly a WoD crossover... Patrick O'Duffy wrote: > G'day. > So there's a Camarilla group operating in my city - you know, the > live-action Vampire game - and it's run by friends of mine, so I > decide > to play. Where I live, we're about to play an IN LARP campaign, in a way similar to Camarilla's - you know, based in your own city and with other groups in other cities playing as well... I'm just finishing some touches concerning the LARP adaptation of the rules and we'll go for it. I just can't wait...! Andre ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 11:23:52 -0400 From: John Dye Subject: Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? Kingsley Lintz wrote: > > > If the Malakite got Baal summoned and then instantly detonated the bomb, my > > guess is it does not do celestial dammage. If it does, Baal will survive it > > and the PCs won't. > Hm..just speaking for myself, I have to admit; if the players were > actually able and willing to set a trap like that up, and were willing to > give their lives for it, I'd be inclined to let them kill Baal, or at > least have a chance at it. Snip Has anyone wondered about the fact that a few hundred to thousand mortals will also snuffeth? If they don't die celestially, then they will die when Dominic gets through with them. I for one, would be glad to join the Triad... ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 11:37:33 -0500 From: Nana Yaw Ofori Subject: IN> Re: big bombs!!! (And Disturbances of Ungodly Size) > >Date: Sat, 21 Jun 97 00:58:02 UT >From: "Hermes Trismegistus" >Subject: Re: IN> big bombs!!!! [SNIP] > >question 2: If a demon commits an act of terrorism such as the Lockerbie >disaster, by planting a bomb on the plane, is the disturbance in the Symphony >centred on the location of the blast, or the location of the demon that >caused >it? This could be used by a cunning demon to make his getaway before the God >Squad crash in. > Judging from the text on pIN55, it radiates from _both_. So about half of the celstials who note the Disturbance and decide to track it down will stumble acrosss the site of the explosion. The other half will find the Demon. But if you want _Huge_ disturbance...try Kyriotates of Creation. I'll explain. Note that the following is something that would happen Once, in all of History , become a Celestial Legend, and probably noone would ever try it again. Kyriotates of Creation can perform the Celestial Song of Form on their hosts, at no essence cost. Now I'm assuming that this means that they can automatically use it, without rolling for success. Said song lasts for Check Digit Minutes, and has a Degree of Disturbance equivalent to the Check digit. Disturbance only occurs after the song's effects abate. So imagine a Kyriotate of Creation who possesses a human, and instantly performs the song of Form on the host, and doesn't let the song's effects abate (by singing it again every few minutes) until he has to leave the host. Assuming an average 3.5 days of possession, that's a +5040 disturbance. Equivalent to killing 240 5-Force Humans. Every Celestial on Earth will Hear it, on an Automatic Success. And they'll continue to Hear it for at least the next three and a half days. Said Kyriotate will probably not survive the Celestials who decide to investigate _that_. But if you want to distract people from God taking Celestial Form on Earth, that might be the way to do it. = http://www.io.com/~beholder ===================== nofori@pop3.utoled.edu === Nana-Yaw "The Fish" Ofori, Freelance Soldier of Heck, presenty serving Monty, Lilim Captain of Media, the Demon of Game Shows. ===== ><{{"> ============ "Life's a Fish, then you Fry." ======= <"}}>< ====== ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 10:59:54 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? > Has anyone wondered about the fact that a few hundred to thousand > mortals will also snuffeth? If they don't die celestially, then they It did occur to me, but it's not an absolute. They've detonated many nuclear warheads without killing anyone - immediately, anyway - in tests. Aboveground tests, before those were banned, and then underground ones before those were. (Hey, Jacque Chirac won the Ig Nobel Peace Prize for comemorating the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima with nuclear bomb testing in the Pacific...) Now, Novalis and probably Jordi are going to be upset with you wherever you do it; even places like "Death Valley" support thriving and entirely unique ecosystems. The best you might be able to arrange there would be to be sure it's someplace they've been done before, so that you'll be adding as little damage as possible. But it should be possible to manage without killing any humans. (Besides - killing humans DOESN'T necessarily annoy the Superiors. They've had cities turned to salt, and even going on the assumption that they were smaller cities than we have now...well, one bomb can hardly compare with the Flood, can it?) {Well..yes, it can, if they don't make provisions to avoid panicking the governments and starting a major nuclear war, but governments aren't really as prone to panic as they're often portrayed as being...largely, I think, because they ARE about as callous as they're often portrayed as being...so they're not just going to launch everything they've got because of one unplanned detonation. They'd do at least some kind of investigation first, even without Celestial nudging..} ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 15:31:51 -0300 From: Andre Ribeiro Subject: IN> Mixed Troupe - The First Troubles... Well, who said it would be easy...? Specially with a Kyrio *and* a Sheddim! My Sheddim player is a real psycho - both the character *and* player - and after having his sexual fantasies satisfied he decided to posses the senator - *The* senator! -, 'just for fun'. The case is, the senator has a Cherubim of David attuned to him. Does the Cherubim perceive there's something wrong going around? And also, this Sheddim serves Malphas - thus he has an attunement which lets him do anything he wants with his host, with no will roll. Is it really thus?? The campaign is going ok - Marc was the first Archangel who appeared, a little interested in getting his Seraph servitor, who raise funds for the senator's campaign, into the White House. By the way, the arrival of an Archangel is like a bomb to a city's Symphony, isn't it? Do the Celestials know what happened or they just get stunned and wondering what happened?? I made them perceive (according to each one's check digit, of course) that a Superior had been around - but I didn't reveal even his celestial allegiance. They were scared - that was good! Stay tunned, Andre ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 14:51:48 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> Mixed Troupe - The First Troubles... Andre Ribeiro said.. > posses the senator - *The* senator! -, 'just for fun'. The case is, the > senator has a Cherubim of David attuned to him. Does the Cherubim > perceive there's something wrong going around? As far as I can tell, only if he thinks to use his Resonance, in which case any Check Digit of 2 or more should do it..(being possessed by a psychotic Shedim should at least qualify under "hazards which aren't immediate or life-threatening", if I wouldn't quite put it under the "immediate, mortal danger" they sense without even trying.) So no, he wouldn't know straight off, but chances are the next time he has to wonder where the Senator is, he'll realize. > And also, this Sheddim serves Malphas - thus he has an > attunement which lets him do anything he wants with his host, with no > will roll. Is it really thus?? Yup. Though it does, I'd think, make them a little easier to notice...(more likely, for example, for a Seraph to notice something as `lying', since it's now the Shedim actually using the body as a Vessel and therefor lying if it claims it's the Senator, rather than the Senator actually being in control and just being influenced by the Shedim..) Effectively, once the Shedim of Malphas is in there, the Senator is his character for the duration of his stay... > funds for the senator's campaign, into the White House. By the way, the > arrival of an Archangel is like a bomb to a city's Symphony, isn't it? If they appear in a Corporeal Vessel, it's noted as a +20 disturbance...if it's all that happened, it'd be easily noticed by anyone in the vicinity, and I guess possibly, but much less automatically, around the city... > check digit, of course) that a Superior had been around - but I didn't > reveal even his celestial allegiance. They were scared - that was good! By the rules, anyway, I think even that's pretty generous...only, I believe, Malakim of Yves can automatically tell which SIDE made a Disturbance, let alone exactly what it was...(With a decent Check Digit, I'd give one a Perception or Intelligence-based shot at working out, from how far away it was and how strongly they felt it, about how strong it must've been, which gives some good clues but still isn't as specific as, "It was a Superior.") From a personal standpoint, especially given the recent discussion on just how powerful Superiors are, I would be inclined to make them a little more `obvious' and give at least that much to anyone who senses it reasonably well...but that's purely a GM-call. {On a quick note to the guy who still wanted an idea how many Forces a Superior might have, though, I do notice that the "Perceiving the Symphony" section could give a hint - if it's "+number of Forces entering or leaving" to detect someone taking Celestial form or returning to a Vessel, and Superiors manifest with a +20 to +30...it COULD be presumed that Superiors average about 25 Forces, which gives them an estimate of about 8 in each category for average attributes of around 16. Personally, again, I still wouldn't bother making the above presumption, but if you want to, there's a start..} ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 17:00:26 -0500 From: Charybdis GreyDragon Subject: Re: IN> ...Running a Mixed Troupe. [Charybdis GreyDragon] >> Does the senator, and thus his daughter, move around enough to >> satisfy a servitor Janus's requirement to move all the time? How old is the >> Seraph's vessel, just out of curiosity? Does the senator know that his >> daughter is an angel ( in the literal sense )? [Andre Ribeiro] > They are in campaign, you know. They are going to >merry-go-around the whole country!! And she just loves riding horses >and... parachuting - for his dad's despair... I *love* it. [Andre Ribeiro] > The Seraph has just turned eighteen and his father - in spite of being circled by celestials - >doesn't has the slightest hint that she - or anyone - is an angel. I >thought it would be better than a Soldier Senator - the PCs will have a >lt of trouble getting their asses out of problems to maintain their >masquerade... Yeah, that does make it that much more interesting... I just wondered about the logistics of Roles... With a relationship as strong as a father-daughter relationship, without the father knowing, does that mean that the Seraph's vessel really was born as an infant, and that she's spent 18 years establishing the Role? [Andre Ribeiro] > The players choose their type of celestial, their Band/Choir and >their Role - and believe me: It worked! The senator fell like a glove to >everybody and the fact that he's running for the White House just adds >excitement - and peril. After that, I told them what they were and they >went on finishing their characters. Sounds like a good compromise. I may have to try something along those lines... [Andre Ribeiro] > Our first session will be tomorrow - wish us (ME!!) luck... Good luck-- though you'll likely get this after the fact... And let me know how it goes... Peace, Charybdis GreyDragon karydbis@phoenix.net ** "I have a simple rule. I hope you'll follow it too. Never eat anything smarter than you." ** ** from "The Moose Song" ** ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 17:07:12 -0500 From: Charybdis GreyDragon Subject: Re: IN> Charisma [Elizabeth McCoy] >Sex Appeal that affects only those-who-find-females-attractive >would probably focus on things like hips and bosom; Sex Appeal >targeted for those-who-like-guys may be harder to figure, but >likely has things to do with a nice voice, muscles, lots of >hair/bare, sleaze appeal... You left out the most important part-- a really cute butt! Peace, Charybdis GreyDragon karydbis@phoenix.net ** "I have a simple rule. I hope you'll follow it too. Never eat anything smarter than you." ** ** from "The Moose Song" ** ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 17:13:03 -0500 From: Charybdis GreyDragon Subject: Re: IN> Speaking of bombs! Speaking of bombs in In Nomine, I got to blow up the Galleria in last week's session! It was so satisfying somehow... :) The poor PCs were so upset! (Especially the Ofanim of Janus-- she got to see the whole thing, but she was already full of essence!) They have still yet to pick up on any of the real clues as to who did it and why... They are still looking for demons when the survivors have *told* them that the terrorist claimed to have been taking their orders from angels... :) Peace, Charybdis GreyDragon karydbis@phoenix.net ** "I have a simple rule. I hope you'll follow it too. Never eat anything smarter than you." ** ** from "The Moose Song" ** ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 17:04:53 -0500 From: Charybdis GreyDragon Subject: Re: IN> Malakim [Earl Wajenberg] >Is there any reason a Malakite couldn't resemble James Bond, or >Mrs. Peel or John Steed of the "Avengers"? It seems to me that >those characters could be re-written as Malakim without a lot of >distortion. If they don't shoot every infernal agent on sight, >it's because it is not up to them -- they are under orders to >exercise a certain discretion. And when did ANY of them give up, >or stop trying to escape if captured? Cool idea! I like it.. I may have to sit down and do stats for an Avengers style Malakite tomorrow! :) Peace, Charybdis GreyDragon karydbis@phoenix.net ** "I have a simple rule. I hope you'll follow it too. Never eat anything smarter than you." ** ** from "The Moose Song" ** ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 20:54:41 -0400 From: John Dye Subject: Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? I wrote > > > Has anyone wondered about the fact that a few hundred to thousand > > mortals will also snuffeth? If they don't die celestially, then they Lindsey wrote > It did occur to me, but it's not an absolute. They've detonated > many nuclear warheads without killing anyone - immediately, anyway - in > tests. Aboveground tests, before those were banned, and then underground > ones before those were. (Hey, Jacque Chirac won the Ig Nobel Peace Prize > for comemorating the 50th anniversary of Hiroshima with nuclear bomb > testing in the Pacific...) Fine > Now, Novalis and probably Jordi are going to be upset with you > wherever you do it; even places like "Death Valley" support thriving and > entirely unique ecosystems. The best you might be able to arrange there > would be to be sure it's someplace they've been done before, so that > you'll be adding as little damage as possible. But it should be possible > to manage without killing any humans. Okay so far. > (Besides - killing humans DOESN'T necessarily annoy the Superiors. > They've had cities turned to salt, and even going on the assumption that > they were smaller cities than we have now...well, one bomb can hardly > compare with the Flood, can it?) EENNK! Wrong Answer. I believe we can safely assume that most of the major disasters from the Bible involving huge loss of life got quite a bit of authorization from, say, the Big Guy before it went through (or at least a mess of Superiors, because despite what you may feel, even They are accountable to someone {remember Uriel and Michael}) Snipped anti-government propaganda ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 19:29:15 -0700 (PDT) From: nightgaunt@earthlink.net (Alexander Shearer) Subject: IN> Screwin' with the Seraphim This thought came to me as I was working in lab... A Seraphim of Yves walks into my lab, grabs one of my eppendorf tubes and dabs a bit of its contents on his finger. Now, using his Attunement,does he sense the "true name" of the contents as: A.) E. Coli B.) DH5-alpha competent cells C.) Transformation efficiency DH5-alpha competent cells D.) F, [phi]80dlacZ[delta]M15 [delta](lacZYA-argF)U169 deoRrecA1 endA1 hsdR17(rk-, mk+) phoA supE44[lambda]- thi-1 gyrA96 relA1 ...and, of course, since I transformed it, does it become a new thing with Su(Hw) 340 @EcoR1 in pBR5 (sk+) added to the name? Not that I see this ever coming up in a game, but it did occur to me. Alexander Shearer nightgaunt@earthlink.net gaunt@uclink4.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 21:40:31 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? > Lindsey wrote Well..close, I suppose... I (Kingsley) noted; > > (Besides - killing humans DOESN'T necessarily annoy the Superiors. to which John Dye replied; > EENNK! Wrong Answer. I believe we can safely assume that most of the > major disasters from the Bible involving huge loss of life got quite a > bit of authorization from, say, the Big Guy before it went through (or > at least a mess of Superiors, because despite what you may feel, even > They are accountable to someone {remember Uriel and Michael}) Define `huge'. But more to the point...Yes. Yes, yes, and absolutely YES, the major disasters involving huge loss of life must have had the authorization of (if not coming directly from) the Superiors or THE Superior. If you recall, that's pretty much what I said. If they were dead against the idea of killing mass amounts of humans for a good enough gain in the War, they wouldn't have done it themselves several times in the past, no? How involved the "Big Guy" might be in things anymore is a question for the individual GM, of course, but my point stands. Several of the Superiors strike me as potentially willing to give up a fair chunk of humanity for a good strike against the Demons, especially if it happens to be a chunk of humanity they don't like anyway. They've done it before. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 00:11:20 -0400 From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Jean-Fran=E7ois?= Dufresne Subject: IN> Character Sheet in PDF Hi, I tried to download the two character sheets in the ressourse section of the In Nomine web site, but the reader sais that there is an unrecognized token in both files as well as several parsing errors. Thank you for reading. Neat web site by the way :) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 01:39:58 -0300 From: Andre Ribeiro Subject: Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? John Dye wrote: > I believe we can safely assume that most of the > major disasters from the Bible involving huge loss of life got quite a > > bit of authorization from, say, the Big Guy before it went through (or > > at least a mess of Superiors, because despite what you may feel, even > They are accountable to someone {remember Uriel and Michael}) I think he's right - Afterall, God Himself ordered the fall of Sodoma & Gomorra, the Flood and all. They're not disturbing the Symphony - - they *are* part of the Symphony. Since the Symphony is conducted by God, of course... Andre ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 01:35:59 -0300 From: Andre Ribeiro Subject: Re: IN> ...Running a Mixed Troupe. Charybdis GreyDragon wrote: > I just wondered about the logistics of Roles... With a > relationship as > strong as a father-daughter relationship, without the father knowing, > does > that mean that the Seraph's vessel really was born as an infant, and > that > she's spent 18 years establishing the Role? Yup, that's it!! Actually, she was adopted - but as a baby. She did it to learn more about the human world - the last (and first) time she came down here she ended up in an orgy with two demons thanks to her ingenuity in... you know... things of the flesh... And that's a 6 level Role - according to Strack's Role Table, she had to live all her life anyway... > Good luck-- though you'll likely get this after the fact... > And let me > know how it goes... > Well, you must've already seen how it's going (see 'The First Troubles') - the players are having fun - and I'm going nuts to keep the rules in my head (you know, a new system and all...). I'm perceiving now how the IN universe is so full of possibilities - and to make things harder (C'mon, I like it!) we're planing to make the next session - the 18's birthday party of the Seraph girl - LIVE!! It will be in the Djinn's nightclub, Trauma, and we'll all go to a real club to do some live action... It will be fun and it's going to happen maybe this wednesday... Andre ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 22:54:09 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> Screwin' with the Seraphim > A Seraphim of Yves walks into my lab, grabs one of my eppendorf > tubes and dabs a bit of its contents on his finger. Now, using his > Attunement,does he sense the "true name" of the contents as: Given their comment that the Name has to be "in a language the Seraph knows", I'd say it depends on how much Chemistry they've got... ('Course, it'd be fun if they dabbed something out of this tube on their finger and the GM said, "It's named George." In astonishment, the Seraph of Yves sits down heavily. "The chair is Ed, by the way, and very pleased to make your acquaintance.") ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 23 Jun 1997 15:26:01 GMT+10 From: "Leathal Weapon" <938269@wrpc.riv.csu.edu.au> Subject: Re: IN> Screwin' with the Seraphim > A Seraphim of Yves walks into my lab, grabs one of my eppendorf > tubes and dabs a bit of its contents on his finger. Now, using his > Attunement,does he sense the "true name" of the contents as: > > A.) E. Coli > B.) DH5-alpha competent cells > C.) Transformation efficiency DH5-alpha competent cells > D.) F, [phi]80dlacZ[delta]M15 [delta](lacZYA-argF)U169 deoRrecA1 > endA1 hsdR17(rk-, mk+) phoA supE44[lambda]- thi-1 gyrA96 relA1 > You left out the most important one: E) Fred, which is what his friends call him. Leath. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 21:55:58 -0700 (PDT) From: nightgaunt@earthlink.net (Alexander Shearer) Subject: IN> Humor me, it's a character... I'd appreciate comments on both the game-rule workings of this char, and concept thoughts. I'm just going to toss the stats out (no long background writeup). This is just a personal thing, but I have a lot of trouble coming up with demonic chars I enjoy and would want to play...This is the one and only so far, but it's a cutie... Name: Hypaeos Band: Balseraph Prince: Kronos Word: Fate Corporeal: 2 Strength- 4 Agility- 4 Ethereal: 3 Intelligence- 6 Precision- 6 Celestial: 4 Will- 10 Perception- 6 Resources: Computer Operation/1 (Intelligence) Detect Lies/2 (Perception) Driving/1 (Precision) Medicine/2 (Precision) Ranged Weapon (Pistol)/2 (Precision) Savoir-Faire/2 (Intelligence) Song of Charm (Celestial)/5 Song of Healing (Celestial)/5 Song of Healing (Corporeal)/6 Song of Tongues (Corporeal)/5 Attunements and Distinctions: Balseraph of Fate (Kyriotate) Impudite of Fate Discord: None (This is, among other things, a check to see if I understand the character creation process.) BTW - any IN people in Berkeley? Alexander Shearer nightgaunt@earthlink.net gaunt@uclink4.berkeley.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 22:50:33 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: IN> New Demon Prince: Boss Smiley This was inspired by the Boss Smiley from Sandman, "World's End", but ended up well modified (extrapolated, actually, since you only see a bit of him there anyway...) for the In Nomine universe in general, so he should be usable in any campaign that wants him...(I did have the one focused around that Senator in mind a bit - if you want a surprise factor for the campaign, you're welcome to use this one..) In any case, mostly for fun, I'd like to introduce you all to.. Boss Smiley, Demon Prince of Politics "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing" --Edmund Burke The world is all a give and take. Just be sure you take back anything you have to give away. The first note regarding Politics is that it is by no means a Demonic invention. Politics is human, and while both Heaven and Hell certainly try to influence it, neither has ever had absolute control...the closest there's been has been the vast political influence of the Pope (though I leave which side he's on to the decision of the individual campaign. ) Boss Smiley, however, is out to change that, and that's why he's a Demon Prince. A Habbalah, he believes that if humanity keeps voting in oppressive governments, then they obviously deserve what they get. It's the perfect system for a Punisher; if the criminals choose their own punishment without knowing, the punishment will always fit the crime. The Boss appears as a human male in a suit, with a large, perfectly spherical head and an overlarge "smiley-face" expression. He had been a Servitor of Kobal, watching over a small section of Shal-Mari...he gave his souls an empty sense of power, letting them buy votes for Essence. None of it was even counted, of course, but people liked to go pull the levers anyway. Kobal found this amusing enough that he mentioned it once to Lucifer...who almost immediately assigned Boss Smiley to work on humanity. After he engineered Reaganomics and influenced Congress to authorize the unlimited funding of something ephermerally termed "Star Wars Research" - a project Vapula had been pushing for for years with no success - Lucifer awarded Smiley with his own Princedom in Hell. Boss Smiley sits in a silver city with gigantic, shroud-wrapped `angelic' figures, behind huge golden gates, the floor constantly covered over by a coating of silvery white smog. The souls of his realm are locked in small rooms where they will not disturb his Serenity and contemplation; they may give up an Essence point to make a vote on whatever poll is passing through that day; those who don't receive electric shocks. Smiley uses the polls to gather some kind of opinions on how people feel about things, and shares them freely with Nybbas...sometimes they yield useful information about the deeper psyche of humanity, though more often they reveal how the ancient Incas might have felt about Watermelon vs. Motor Oil flavored bubblegum. Perhaps the single most important note I can make about Boss Smiley is that, unlike other Habbalah, he doesn't believe he serves God. He firmly believes he *IS* God. Dissonance It is Dissonant for a Servitor of Politics to not take a stand on an issue. Any issue, even if they've never heard about it before. This goes beyond merely having an opinion; they must put forth their opinion and defend it as though the fate of the world rests upon the toppings for today's pizza. Being overruled is alright, of course, though probably annoying. Attunements: Balseraph: A Balseraph of Politics may use his Resonance Perceptively to determine what a person WANTS to hear. He can then add his Ethereal Forces to a subsequent roll to convince them of it. They gain no Dissonance if these lies contradict, of course - this is a question of telling a person their own Symphony, not the Balseraph's. (They are, however, still subject to being trapped in what they believe themselves.) Djinn: The Stalkers of Politics are nasty, assigned as bodyguards, servants, lovers, etc. of politicians who -aren't- cooperating. They may act as a focus, adding their Celestial Forces to the check digit of any OTHER Demon attempting to use Resonance or an Attunement on a subject the Djinn is Attuned to. If the Djinn is also Attuned to the demon, the Djinn may invoke his Resonance at the same time to directly channel the other's action through themselves. (This primarily has the effect of allowing the Djinn, who presumably is closer, to act for range modifiers...allowing, for example, the Djinn to channel a Servitor of Lust's "Kiss of Death" Attunement while the Djinn is the one having sex with the target..) This can be risky, however; if the Djinn successfully invokes his Resonance with a check digit of 1, he attracts their Resonance but cannot channel it, and is therefore directly effected as the victim instead. Note also that if channeling a Calabim's destruction and the Calabim is resisted, they will get a +2 to their target number if they choose the Djinn for their next try. Calabim: Boss Smiley gives his Calabim the subtle ability to focus their Resonance against a group...if they succeed, the gathering will quickly break up as people hurry off to other things, even in the middle of a sentence, their Freedom of Assembly violated. Those who were part of the group targeted will avoid each other a number of minutes equal to the Check Digit. The Resonance is resisted usually by the highest Will in the group, but if there is a clear focus, it falls to them instead, regardless of what their Will is. The Calabim's target number is at -1 for every full ten people targeted, though breaking up an important part of a group can work just as well on the rest. (Note that some circumstances may warrant a bonus to the effective Will of the resistance...such as a squad of riot police who'll be torn to pieces by the mob if they break phalanx.) Habbalah: The Habbalah of Politics are given an Attunement similar in mechanics to the Calabim; they may use their Resonance to inflict an emotion on a large group, again at -1 per ten people, and again resisted by either the highest Will or the clear focus. If the Habbalah IS the clear Focus, then the highest Will is reduced by the demon's Celestial Forces for purposes of resisting. They're renowned as Hell's greatest orators. Lilim: Lilim choosing to serve Politics may add their highest Forces to their Resonance or any seduction attempt focused against a politician, or their lowest Forces for the same against anyone just `involved' (bodyguards, spouses, family, etc.) Shedim: The Corruptors of Politics, though possibly redundant, subtract their Celestial Forces from their victim's Will in any attempt they make to guide how their host votes. They may also avoid Dissonance through working to corrupt bills (passing crippling amendments, etc.) or people around them, as well as just making their direct subject do things. Impudites: An Impudite of Politics can invoke both Charm and Essence Draim simultaneously, rather than consecutively, doing both in one roll, using the same check digit, through touch (usually a kiss or a handshake). They may also hold -extra- (as in, more than nine) Essence for up to a minute or until their next usage of this Attunement. They excel in local politics or as front men. Distinctions: Knight of Demographics Demons of this Rank can judge at a glance what general social group a person falls into, with likely insight into their income level, political party, and `social caste'. Captain of the Polls A Demon granted this Distinction can, on first touching a subject, determine their position on one subject for every Ethereal Force the Captain has. It will not work on the same target again until their next `meeting' (running into each other again at the same party doesn't count; at another party a week later does, though `meetings' become harder to establish over time.) By `position', this means basically `pro/con', so a Captain of the Polls with 3 Ethereal Forces can determine that the person they just shook hands with is pro-gun control, anti-nukes, and ambivalent on animal rights, but not what their favorite color is. Baron of Statistics Boss Smiley's Barons can instantly and automatically cite any statistic for any subject. There's usually at least one source out there to support any position. (To some people, this can be as convincing as Divine Logic. Others know how much statistics reallly mean.) Relations Allied: Kobal, Nybbas, Vapula Associated: Valefor Neutral: All others Enemies: Malphas Rites: Cast the deciding vote Spend 6 hours keeping up with current events Invocation: +3 (0 on a national election day) +1 Gallup Poll +2 Caucus +3 State Convention +4 UN, Congress, White House +5 National Convention +6 Major International Gathering 'Couple of comments; Calabim can be really annoying, used well; people can't plot against you if they can't even get together, though breaking up a conference call will get the -2 Check Digit for having to operate through the phone. The Shedim advantage would be useless in influencing even a local election, unless it was -really- tight...but can be devastating when one gets into a Committee, or in a similar small but powerful group where one vote can make a difference. Their ability to corrupt the things around them makes them a lot harder to track down, which can be vital in the high-profile rolls they're often called upon to occupy...the Angels KNOW there are Shedim of Politics floating around Congress, but they're harder to find when you can't just watch for a declining Senator. If one doesn't mind building up a definite slow-rolling-thunder effect in the Symphony, an Impudite can Charm a room full of important people in a matter of minutes, using the Essence from one to boost the roll for the next... And note that the "cast the deciding vote" Rite can be pretty hard to set up; it's not just a matter of casting A vote. You have to be voting last, and first there has to be a tie. And yes, Boss Smiley and Malphas could probably work pretty well together, if they didn't hate each other...but they work in contradictory ways. Boss Smiley relies on building coalitions, while Malphas tears them down. Boss Smiley HATES Malphas. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 23:09:30 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: IN> Re: In Nomine on the brain.. Had an amusing run of coincidence the other night. We went down to the video store to rent The Prophecy (we'd seen all but about the first fifteen minutes and wanted to see the rest, and all the talk about Uziel's eyes prompted us to find out who the heck this Uziel person was...) So as we're walking in, they've got a big poster up for "Dear God" - - the one about the postal workers answering God's mail. And their little magazine with discounts and announcements is featuring "Michael" - the Travolta one about an angel. We chuckle a little and walk around..snag "The Prophecy", and start looking along the new releases. And there's "Dear God" again, having one shelf to itself...seven boxes for it, of which six are missing, with the one in the middle prominently thrust forward. Not ones to ignore omens like THAT, we pick it up. We passed by "The Preacher's Wife," which we'd had some interest in before and figured `what the heck'...(well, or the other place.) Then we went over to add our customary Anime, and, without even thinking about it, MaBarry picks up "Battle Angel." I shrugged and comment, "Well, I guess it fits our theme..." She almost dropped it. I dunno. Having In Nomine on the brain is one thing, but when it starts sneaking into your LIFE like that... (Though we've had stranger coincidences around games we've been in...Amber, especially.) {On a somewhat related note, we ran our first actual session of In Nomine the other night. {YES, I've been offering up all these rulings based on no actual experience with the game...what did you think? } Had a 111 (on a, "Can I spot this guy drinking his beer?") and a 666 (on a, "Can I say `What's up, doc?' before he does?") in about the first fifteen minutes. It's something about us personally being Servitors of Mortijingle, I think. Anyway, my only other comment at this stage is that the Seraph and Ofanite Attunements of War go -REALLY WELL- together...and given that the two PC's he's hanging out with are both of Novalis, I'm glad neither of THEM is a Seraph.} [Just to clear up for anyone who's wondering...on the 111, I not only spotted him taking a drink, but also found out he was a Cherub attuned to me...(we had little quips like, "You wouldn't be with the Guardian Angels, would you?", "I've a relation named Novalis...might you know her...brother, Michael?" (my response, "Heard of 'im.") And, checking a bit to see just who this Cherub's superior was, "That's pretty good work there, doc...are you Ivy League?") The 666 had the Ofanite prestidigitator {not a Prestidigitatorr per my Mage spoof} choking on a scarf...though just a few minutes later he was back to Ofanite charm, commenting, "So..why don't we go out and do something?"] ___ _ | | | |HE |_INTKIN|_\--------------------------------------------------------| | Gaming Coordinator: Anaconism III: http://www.xpert.net/ibecc/anacon/ | | Lifetime Member of IBECC / SysOp: TAG (303) 722-6881 / Mortijinglist | | Home Page http://www.a-ztech.com/lintking/ * jIg nOIr mELt productions| |_______________________________________________________________________| ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #224 ******************************* The material here is (C) 1997 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.