From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Sun Oct 11 11:11:42 1998 Return-Path: Received: from lists.io.com (majordom@lists.io.com [199.170.88.15]) by pyramid.sjgames.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id LAA07147 for ; Sun, 11 Oct 1998 11:11:41 -0500 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.9.0/8.9.0) id KAA02299 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Sun, 11 Oct 1998 10:57:33 -0500 Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 10:57:33 -0500 Message-Id: <199810111557.KAA02299@lists.io.com> X-Authentication-Warning: lists.io.com: majordom set sender to owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com using -f From: owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com (in_nomine-digest) To: in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Subject: in_nomine-digest V1 #973 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 Sunday, October 11 1998 Volume 01 : Number 973 In this digest: Re: IN> Shedim Re: IN> kyrio of eli question IN> The Nature of Lilith Re: IN> Re: IN- Song of Possession / Dark Dream (WAS: RE: Shedim) RE: IN> Shedim Re: IN> Song of Possession / Dark Dream (WAS: RE: Shedim) Re: IN> Song of Possession / Dark Dream (WAS: RE: Shedim) IN> Question on Shedim Re: IN> Freewill, Damnation Re: IN> IN - Boston Help? IN>Enjoy it I did Re: IN> IN - Boston Help? Re: IN> New combat idea Re: IN> Shedim Azazel and the Seirim (was Re:IN> Shedites of the Game) Re: IN> IN - Boston Help? Re: IN> Shedim IN> [NPC] Ibhar, Habbalah of the Game IN> campaign bits Re: IN> IN - Boston Help? Re: IN> Question on Shedim ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 10:05:24 -0400 From: John Karakash - Lucent ASCC Subject: Re: IN> Shedim Stephen Gingell wrote: > > > Felipe Pereira wrote: > > > > > > Taking advantage of the debate on shedim, I would like to ask some > > > questions: > > > > > > 1. In the song of possession, if the vessel is killed during the > > > possession, the individual that is possessing suffers trauma? And the > > > possessed? > > Just remembered something, THIS HAPPENS IN DARK DREAM! Do stories count > as cannon? If so it seems that, for the possessor at least, there are > no ill effects, Marcus just snapped back to his waiting body (and a nice > cold brew), with no ill effects (dissonance, discord) mentioned and > certainly no trauma. Doesn't say what happened to Adam though... Hrmph. Now that you mention it, that DID happen. *sigh* While the stories don't 'officially' count as canon, we try to work with them whenever we can. My only bugaboo about it is that this is an ugly way to totally hose another character (PC or NPC) since Song of Possession doesn't carry the limitations that the Shedim or Kyriotate resonance do. One quick possession and then put a bullet in your head. Hmmmm... maybe the 'effect' is a load of ethereal hits. He did make sure to have some comfort supplies on hand after his trick. - -- ___________________________________________________ / \ | John Karakash - Lucent Technologies/Bell Labs | | (919)388-2665(COOL) MIB2300 | | | | The power to tax involves the power to destroy. | | -Chief Justice Marshall | \___________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 11:46:18 -0400 From: Nana Yaw Ofori Subject: Re: IN> kyrio of eli question >Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 21:53:03 -0400 >From: Marc Moirez > >hi, > >i'm sure this has been asked many many times, but i can't find the answer: > >the kyrio of eli gets to sing song of celestial form for free. does this >cover the cost of the various changes themselves, or just the initial song >cost? The way I've been working it, is that it applies to both the song cost, and the various changes. However, the Song still has limits. The Kyriotate gets to work as many changes on his Host as he forces, as if he were full up with Essence, It's just that he doesn't have to /pay/ that Essence. Avoids the "22 building-sized cats march on Washington" problem. Or at least makes it a little harder to pull off... - -- Nana Yaw Ofori nofori@pop3.utoledo.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 11:43:46 -0400 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> The Nature of Lilith >>>Do you not think that it's maybe inevitable that as soon as anything in a game universe gets expanded, it's likely to move away from your personal model, unless the author is on exactly the same wavelength that you are...?<<< Well yes, but I have as much right as anyone else to complain when I think the canon model is fluffy and shallow. Welcome to my opinion -- if you don't like it, I'll be happy to refund the purchase price. :) - -David ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 15:03:57 -0400 From: Kirt Dankmyer Subject: Re: IN> Re: IN- Song of Possession / Dark Dream (WAS: RE: Shedim) > His Stats are given at the back of the book he is a Balanced starting > Char. So I would say that any balanced starting Char.can do this. Perhaps the fact he has the Habbalah of Death attunment, which does odd things with the Song of Possession, has something to do with it? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 13:52:55 -0400 From: "Matthew Stein" Subject: RE: IN> Shedim > They bounce back to their bodies, scott free. For >both game balance and other reasons, I'm rejecting this one. Isn't that what happened to ... um ... Marcus, I think, in "A Dark Dream" in INC? He possessed Adam's body, got himself killed by Nicole, and his conscience flew back to Marcus's original vessel, where he had a beer, got up, and continued to deal with things. Matt. [Angel of Weird Ideas, servant of Eli, kind of kicking it for now.] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 11:24:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Stephen M Gingell Subject: Re: IN> Song of Possession / Dark Dream (WAS: RE: Shedim) On Fri, 9 Oct 1998, Shadowstar wrote: > Okay? He's an Impudite of DEATH. Perhaps that might explain it? You > never know what little tricks Saminga will teach his servitors. That is, > if they can convince the idiot that they actually will further his word... > Which is even how Marcus describes it (something about Saminga showing him a few tricks about "how souls attach to bodies") but I had allways assumed that just meant Saminga had taught him the song of possesion (which is all that is mentioned on his writeup in the characters section). If John (or whoever is ultimatly responsible) ends up deciding that bouncing back scott free is letting possessors off too lite, then adding some sort of uncommon attunement to Marcus would probably be the most graceful way to avoid inconsistancy with "Dark Dream" - -Stephen Gingell ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 15:20:22 EDT From: MarkDEddy@aol.com Subject: Re: IN> Song of Possession / Dark Dream (WAS: RE: Shedim) In a message dated 10/9/98 4:17:58 PM, shadowstar@centuryinter.net writes: >On Thu, 08 Oct 1998, at 23:37:48, >Stephen Gingell spoke: > > > >>Just remembered something, THIS HAPPENS IN DARK DREAM! Do stories count >>as cannon? If so it seems that, for the possessor at least, there are >>no ill effects, Marcus just snapped back to his waiting body (and a nice >>cold brew), with no ill effects (dissonance, discord) mentioned and >>certainly no trauma. Doesn't say what happened to Adam though... > > > > Okay? He's an Impudite of DEATH. Perhaps that might explain it? You >never know what little tricks Saminga will teach his servitors. That is, >if they can convince the idiot that they actually will further his word... > >- Tafka J. >= shadowstar@centuryinter.net ># Balseraph Marquis of Fate, Demon of Delusions of Grandeur > Actually, if you read the story carefully, Marcus has a Body Bag, which is how he avoids the entire trauma thing. hope this helps, Mark Eddy ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 10:59:10 -0700 From: FrontPage Subject: IN> Question on Shedim Hello all, Our Angels have been having a lot of trouble with Shedim lately, and I thought I would ask a few questions. 1) When a Kyriotate possesses a person it is explicitly stated that their soul goes to the Marches. But a Shedim's host goes into "a dream-like state." Does the Shedim's host get displaced to the Marches or not? 2) The host of a Shedim gets rolls to percieve that they are being "ridden" and also to break free of the control. Can the mortal spend (by necessity all of their) Essence on either of these rolls? 3) Could a Celestial lend Essence to the mortal specifically for either of these rolls? Any other advice on dealing with Shedim, besides just tying them up or bonking them on the head, is also appreciated. Jason Vester Las Vegas, NV ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 14:19:52 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Freewill, Damnation At 1:45 AM -0400 10/9/98, John Karakash - Lucent ASCC wrote: >Walter Milliken wrote: >> I think the canon answer (from the core book) is that people who reach >> their Fate go to Hell, and people who reach their Destiny go to Heaven. >> (For those who do both, it's probably the latest one that counts....) >> Those who reach neither are either recycled or dissipated. > > Not exactly, AFAIK. Those that reach their Fate or >Destiny have a guaranteed destination, but those that were >just generally good or evil can make it to Heaven or Hell >(or reincarnate or dissipate, as you mentioned). So _few_ >people reach their Fate or Destiny, IMO, both heaven and hell would >be somewhat lacking in souls to process! One can presume that, but canon says nothing one way or the other about what the *other* criteria for HorH might be. If a GM wanted to be evil, reincarnation could be the "default" by a *LONG* shot... The percentages of humans who get processed in may be a trivial percentage of all the humans who died... (Or it may not! Ha!) (Yes, I'm in a strange mood. I'm sorry.) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 20:04:54 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> IN - Boston Help? At 6:33 PM -0400 10/9/98, WCLove@aol.com wrote: >Greetings, everyone. I'm new to the list, and to In Nomine in general. I'm >gearing up to run a campaign in Boston (as I went to college there) for three >angelic PCs - servitors of Michael, Laurence, and Gabriel, respectively. > >I'm trying to figure out some tethers - I plan on playing one for Michael at >Lexington, at the Green. Second bloody attempt on this one... There's Concord Green for Freedom (that's in the Liber Castellorum). We have the Harvard Tether for Destiny, and the MIT Media Lab for Lightning (Seneschal is Bezekiel, Kyriotate). There's a Vapulan one somewhere around, but we don't know where yet. (Us PCs, that is...) There are undoubtedly a few others around, but they keep a low profile. We also have Boston as being recently angel-dominated, so the demons there are subtle... (And then there are our NPCs, just for fun... We have Sensei, a little old Chinese (yes, called Sensei) martial arts master who knows *all* the martial arts people in the city. He walks with a cane. He is really a Malakite of War with Proficiency: Unarmed Combat. We have Ash, Kyriotate of Fire, in the area. "Barb" Wolfe, Private Investigator, teaches self-defense in a local womens' shelter. Cherub of Fire. A Soldier or Cherub of Stone, down in the Projects. (My PC doesn't know which.) A Shedite of Death in the downtown police station morgue. Lots of zombis. Amanda (from Feast of Blades). The Demon Cop Car From Hell. (A Balseraph of Theft called the cops with the cellphone in his stolen Beemer 'cause we were chasing him. He got a 666. We got an acid-spitting cop car.) And then there's the PCs, but you don't want them, probably!) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 00:58:26 +0100 From: "keyvan ahmadi" Subject: IN>Enjoy it I did Once upon a time, a perfect man and a perfect woman met. After a perfect >courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course, >perfect. One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve, this perfect couple were driving >their perfect car (a BMW328) along a winding road, when they noticed >someone at the side of the road in distress. Being the perfect couple, they >stopped to help. > >There stood Santa Claus with a huge bundle of toys. Not wanting to >disappoint any children on the eve of Christmas, the perfect couple loaded >Santa and his toys into their car. Soon they were driving along delivering >the toys. > >Unfortunately, the driving conditions deteriorated and the perfect couple >and Santa Claus had an accident. Only one of them survived the accident. >Who was the survivor? > >(Scroll down for the answer) > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >The perfect woman. She's the only one who really existed in the first >place, Everyone know there is no Santa Claus and there is no such thing >as >a perfect man. Women, end e-mail here. > >Men, keep scrolling....... > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >So, if there is no perfect man and no Santa Claus, the woman must have >been driving. This explains why there was a car accident. By the way, >if you are a woman and you're reading this, this brings up another point. >Women never listen either. > - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - The path of the righteous man is beset from all side By the equity of selfish and triny of evil man Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will Shepherd his brothers through the valley of darkness for he is truly his brothers keeper and finder of lost children And I shall strike upon thee with vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers AND YOU SHALL KNOW MY NAME IS THE LORD WHEN I LAY MY VENGEANCE UPON THEE - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - BEST WISHES KEYVAN AHMADI keyvan@rantilous.demon.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 19:38:56 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> IN - Boston Help? At 6:33 PM -0400 10/9/98, WCLove@aol.com wrote: >Greetings, everyone. I'm new to the list, and to In Nomine in general. I'm >gearing up to run a campaign in Boston (as I went to college there) for three >angelic PCs - servitors of Michael, Laurence, and Gabriel, respectively. >I'm trying to figure out some tethers - I plan on playing one for Michael at >Lexington, at the Green. That will be interesting with the Concord Green one for Freedom (in the Tether-book)... If you use it, of course. In our campaign... The Harvard Library is Destiny, the MIT Media Lab is Jean (with Bezekiel, the Kyriotate Seneschal). Our Boston has recently become weighted towards angelic dominance, and I don't think our PCs have found the demonic Tethers yet. There's certainly a Vapulan one somewhere, and maybe an Andrealphan one, too. There's some speculation as to whether the vandegraf (sp?) generator in the Museaum (sp!) of Science might *also* be Jean -- if it is, it's a secret backup Tether that nobody uses... (We also stuck in... "Sensei" (sensai?), a little old Chinese-seeming guy (yes, called Sensei) with a cane who is really a Malakite of War with a Proficiency in unarmed combat. Ash, a Kyriotate of Fire that hangs out around the area. Somebody of Stone -- Soldier or Cherub, my character thinks. A Shedite of Death in the downtown police morgue. With lots of zombis and fun with the people there. Amanda (from Feast of Blades) The Demon Cop Car From Hell (a Balseraph called the cops 'cause we were chasing him in his stolen Beemer, and got a 666). "Barb" Wolfe, Cherub of Fire who's teaching self-defense at one of the womens' shelters as well as being a PI. And the Foo.Bar.Com (a chain of bars/coffee bars/cafe's that's run by Lightning, caters to the techies and gives Lightning Servitors a chance to watch over the humans)... But I'll let my spouse-GM elaborate on all this. (He has all this stuff in his head, of course.) And, of course, there are the PCs, but you probably don't want them.) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 09 Oct 1998 13:50:34 -0400 From: John Karakash - Lucent ASCC Subject: Re: IN> New combat idea Matthew Stein wrote: > > I love it! (Except for a little fuzziness about songs and roles - what if > there's a legitimate reason for the role to cover up disturbances in the > Symphony (okay, I'm a little out of it, so nothing leaps to mind, but I'm > sure one exists). Does the celestial's actions, given open practicing of the > song, maybe by just clouding someone's perspective with smoke during battle > lead to massive disturbances, if someone is standing there idly fanning a > fire that suddenly rears up with massive amounts of smoke (seen it happen, > which is why I'm asking)? The only masking a Role does for Disturbances are non-Song ones anyways. A detective might pull out a gun and shoot someone (possibly masked by a Role), but they don't typically summon Forces From Beyond to blast people (or do anything else supernatural)! ;) - -- ___________________________________________________ / \ | John Karakash - Lucent Technologies/Bell Labs | | (919)388-2665(COOL) MIB2300 | | | | The power to tax involves the power to destroy. | | -Chief Justice Marshall | \___________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 14:23:50 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Shedim At 12:31 AM -0300 10/9/98, Felipe Pereira wrote: >Taking advantage of the debate on shedim, I would like to ask some >questions: > >1. In the song of possession, if the vessel is killed during the >possession, the individual that is possessing suffers trauma? And the >possessed? The possessor goes back to his own vessel. (If it's dead, he goes to Trauma.) The possessee, unless he's previously gotten back to the corporeal in a spare vessel, goes to the dead vessel and then to Trauma. (Human souls go whereever the GM wants -- the Marches, Heaven, Hell, recycled, dissolved, etc.) (This is all based on the BrightDream/DarkDream vignette, which holds more of the Song of Possession mechanics than I like.) >2. Can a Shedite possess a body of a celestial? No. Nor animals. (Unless Jordi Falls and becomes the Prince of Beasts or something.) >3. Does Holy Bullets kill angels? And human beings? What would happen if a >holy bullet is placed in an unholy pistol?? Can an unholy pistol be used by >an angel? Yes, yes, it wouldn't work, yes. (Aren't those in the FAQ? Heck, aren't some of those answers in the description itself?) As others have said, (Un)Holy Bullets damage *vessels* more than non- supernatural human bodies, who only take normal bullet damage. - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1998 19:24:47 +0100 From: Julian Breen Subject: Azazel and the Seirim (was Re:IN> Shedites of the Game) >> >> >The IPG also discusses how Shedim can *ooze* from one host to the next with >> >physical contact, and this makes no Symphonic disturbance. I don't know >> >about everyone else, but that creeps me out to no end. >> >> Oh yes. Wasn't there at least one movie about this recently? I remember >> the trailers, but not the title. >> > >"Fallen", with Denzel Washington, and some other guy I don't remember. >Haven't seen it but I've heard some good things about it... > John Goodman? Azazel in 'Fallen' actually oozes *very* quickly, far faster than your typical Shedite. Whatever lore you associate him with though he's very *old* and has undoubtedly learned a trick or two. ;) Note that in canon, Azazel is a Djinn. This fits in with Azazel as referred to in Leviticus and 2 Chronicles as chief of the Seirim (lustful goat-demons). Also in canon, Azazel is 'Lucifer's personal secretary'. That's kind of neat because it might be why the Lightbringer has often been portrayed as satyr-like himself. He's just been confused with his 'switchboard' ;) Anyhow, I am going somewhere with this, and some time ago Akumsa asked whether or not celestials can change choirs/bands? To which John Karakash replied 'No, because choir/band is not a job, its the celestial's very *being*'. I can see 'exceptional circumstances' though where it might be permissable, such as the Outcasting of the whole Watcher choir, and subsequent Fall of some of them. In Enochian lore, Azazel is one of the rebel Watchers, along with Semyaza (now the Balseraph Demon of Heresy). If this is how you want to go then you could say that; a) Those Watchers who Fell became Seirim (a minor Band). b) Those Watchers who Fell had no opposite Band (*) and were transformed into other Bands by Lucifer himself. (*) the Outcast Watchers may simply have been so heavily discordant that they were merely referred to as 'Seirim'. - -- Julian - (waiting for canon Grigori stuff :) ) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 22:33:46 -0400 From: Neel Krishnaswami Subject: Re: IN> IN - Boston Help? WCLove@aol.com > >Greetings, everyone. I'm new to the list, and to In Nomine in general. I'm >gearing up to run a campaign in Boston (as I went to college there) for three >angelic PCs - servitors of Michael, Laurence, and Gabriel, respectively. > >I'm trying to figure out some tethers - I plan on playing one for Michael at >Lexington, at the Green. I plan on making the servitors of Malphas, Andre, >and Saminga particular foils for the character (with Belial thrown in, of >course). So far, I've got a tether for Michael, and a tentative one for >Malphas - do any of you enlightened folks have any ideas to throw at me for >the others? Thanks. Here's a quickie: MIT Media Lab -- Tether to Nybbas The Hype: "MIT's Media Laboratory, founded in 1985, carries on advanced research into a broad range of information technologies including digital television, holographic imaging, computer music, computer vision, electronic publishing, artificial intelligence, human/machine interface design, and education-related technologies. Our charter is to invent and creatively exploit new media for human well-being and individual satisfaction without regard to present-day constraints. We employ supercomputers and extraordinary input/output devices to experiment today with notions that will be commonplace tomorrow. The not-so-hidden agenda is to drive technological inventions and break engineering deadlocks with new perspectives and demanding applications." - -- From the MIT Media Lab webpage The Reality: Nybbas's empire burns through buzzwords at a furious pace. What was phat one day is square the next, and running out of jargon is an ever-present danger threatening Hell's grip on humanity's media. In the early 1980s, this process was reaching a critical point, and so he called on his Balseraph idea men. One of them pointed out that the simplest way to control the future would be to invent it themselves, and a second one added that it would be even better to get the humans to pay for it themselves. This second was sent to Earth, and materialized on the MIT campus. In a spirit of irony, he decided that it would be perfect to build his jargon-creating lab in the center of a bunch of real ones, and the rest is history. Physically, the Media Lab is housed in a three-story tall building covered in white ceramic tiles known formally as the "Wiesner Building" and informally as "the toilet bowl." Among the students, it is said that the only science advanced at the Media Lab is the science of shaking down giant corporations to the tune of millions of dollars. This is true: the Balseraph seneschal spends his days jetting from one conference to another, convincing human businessmen that paying millions of dollars to research electric violins and robotic Legos is critical to maintaining their corporation's competitive edge. (In his spare time, he writes books and articles full of vague bloviation to convince the general populace that a high-tech nirvana is just around the corner....) (Okay, I'm being wholly unfair. But that's half the fun!) - -- Neel Krishnaswami neelk@alum.mit.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 21:10:56 +0300 From: Yossi Gurvitz Subject: Re: IN> Shedim At 01:39 10/10/98 , you wrote: >>2. Can a Shedite possess a body of a celestial? > >No, nor animals. What happens if a Sedite attempts to possess a body already possessed by a Kyrio? Yours, Yossi ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 09:46:24 -0400 From: Neel Krishnaswami Subject: IN> [NPC] Ibhar, Habbalah of the Game This NPC is loosely enough coupled to my setting that I was able to put him into a form suitable for posting to the list. - -*-*-*- Ibhar ("Shawn Jefferson") Habbalah of the Game Corporeal Forces 3 -- Strength 6 Agility 6 Ethereal Forces 3 -- Intelligence 6 Precision 6 Celestial Forces 3 -- Will 10 Perception 2 Vessel: Human Male/2, Charisma +2 Role/6, Status 4 (Shawn Jefferson, hotshot lawyer) Skills: Fighting/3, Dodge/3, Guns/2, Lying/6, Knowledge(Law)/6, Detect Lies/6, Fast-talk/6 Songs: None Attunements: Habbalah of the Game [Ibhar is a valid starting character.] Appearance: Shawn Jefferson is a tall,solidly built, very handsome black man. He doesn't dress flamboyantly -- his suits are typically dark blue or brown -- but they are very well-tailored and set off his good looks and physical power very well. Story: Shawn Jefferson is a local boy made good. After graduating from high school, he went to Harvard on a full scholarship and got a degree in criminology. Then he stayed on to get a degree in law and has just come home to a job as an assistant DA. 25 years old, good-looking, and well-liked by all his peers, it looks like the sky's the limit for this young man. Too bad he doesn't exist. Instead, there's really Ibhar, one of the Habbalah of the Game. Ibhar believes that humanity is collectively guilty of God's murder on the cross, and that all the angels of Heaven are guilty of negligently standing aside. There is no one, no one in the entire universe, that does not deserve the torments of the Pit. He is very fair, though: he holds himself and his fellow Habbalah equally responsible -- though they do His will by punishing the guilty, they too are condemned to Hell for their complicity in His death. As "Shawn Jefferson," he is in a position to ensure that at least some humans suffer for their sins. While he would prefer to personally turn his hand against men, he finds corrupting the legal system to be far more efficient. Innocent men will suffer, and those who wink at the corruption will be drawn down to Hell after their deaths. He's a terrifyingly effective prosecutor -- he is well able to twist any fact to suit his case, and if that's not enough he can easily fill the jury full of hate and revulsion for the accused. It is really bad news when a Habbalah is subtle, and Ibhar uses his resonance like a scalpel, precisely slicing away all the mercy and compassion in his targets. - -- Neel Krishnaswami neelk@alum.mit.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 1998 08:20:07 PDT From: "Martin Arnold" Subject: IN> campaign bits G'day cobbers… I'd like to share the basic outline (so far!) for my campaign (which one day I may well finish - or even start!). perhaps those of you who have any helpful suggestions would be good enough to contribute also. Especially when it comes to tightening the plot! Here we go: The premise of the first adventure is to reveal to Lucifer (via Our Demon in Hades - Asmodeus) the existence of Adam; yes, Adam - the first man. Adam is currently working with one of the Grigori, known as Semjaza. Semjaza produces Manna, in secret, for Heaven who grants him amnesty in return. (A whole 'nother tale of course!) Adam's 'role' - that of 'mysterious rich investor type' allows him to help distribute the Manna to various tethers on earth on Semjaza's behalf, where it is then transported to Heaven. However, neither Heaven nor Hell know of Semjaza's mysterious ally, or are even aware of his continues existence (which is the crux of the campaign). Only two other people know this fact: Gebbeleth, former Prince of secrets, now trapped inside the Dagger of Blythnia (yes I want to run Feast of Blades); and his top Wordbound Djinn, Vrotch (Hmmm, dunno about the name!). Vrotch is the Demon of The Secret of Immortality - a secret first discovered by Adam! The background being that, after Eve's actions condemned both her and her husband to a mortal existence, Adam was determined to find some sort of Elixir - which he did, but only after eve herself passed away. Adam consumed the elixir and then made a deal with Gebbeleth to keep the recipe a secret forever. Vrotch was the Demon he assigned to ensure that anyone else who would stumble across this secret didn't! This is how Adam has managed to continue across the ages, living in secret. (Don't ask how Heaven or hell are unaware of this!) Anyway, the point t of this adventure is to uncover Adam's existence, through the Manna operation which Asmodeus has been interested in for a long time (of which he knows very little, other than the stuff exists and is being manufactured on earth somehow). Once Asmodeus learns of this he will tell Lucifer who will then devise a plan to defeat Adam (not sure why he would want to do that either!). a plan using the soul of the first damned human ever - Eve! Lucifer will force Eve to return to earth (under close scrutiny of course) and meet with Adam. The pair will then REALLY meet, and hopefully, thinks Lucifer, Eve will conceive his child. It's the child's soul that Lucifer wants, only he hadn't counted on some outside interference, her name being Lilith! For her own purposes Lilith wants that soul, she will use that as a bargaining chip against Lucifer to gain more freedom. To get it she will help Eve escape Lucifer's own Geas (which binds her from escaping), in return she too wants the child. The problem is sod does Eve; Adam too!* Now here's where Vrotch comes in; in order to free his beloved master Gebbeleth (he's been after the Dagger for ages) he needs to sacrifice a young baby using the blade itself as the weapon. Very unpleasant, but this will hopefully transfer Gebbeleth's essence into the infant and incarnate the demon Prince once again. (Damian, watch out!) The baby concerned is of course Adam's offspring. The poor kid's real soul will then get blasted into the Marches to be found later - hopefully! The fundamental part of the story will then come into play as Adam will seek revenge for the 'murder' of his child (unaware that the child isn't really dead!). He will call on Somme of the universe' most powerful forces as agents of his vengeance: the Furies (I've wanted to make use of them ever since I read 'The Kindly Ones' by Neil Gaiman). They will set about threatening the destruction of Heaven (as Lucifer will trick Adman into believing it was angels that were responsible - not some stupid Djinn!) The Furies are supposedly unstoppable - not even God may come between them and vengeance! This will cause the AA's to factionalise as they try to save Heaven. On one side are those desperate to fight the Furies, on the other, led by Yves, are those who accept this as part of the Ineffable Plan, and are seen by the others to be doing nothing. This could very well lead to another civil war, which the Demons will see as the perfect opportunity to strike back at Heaven. This may well bring about Armageddon! Especially if Gabriel cant leave her horn alone. What are my players to do! Marnie - playing the 'may I help you riff!' ICQ on 19005332... 'Men plan, God laughs' ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 98 11:44 EDT From: Walter Milliken Subject: Re: IN> IN - Boston Help? >I'm trying to figure out some tethers - I plan on playing one for Michael at >Lexington, at the Green. I plan on making the servitors of Malphas, Andre, >and Saminga particular foils for the character (with Belial thrown in, of >course). So far, I've got a tether for Michael, and a tentative one for >Malphas - do any of you enlightened folks have any ideas to throw at me for >the others? Thanks. In our Boston game, *Concord* Green is a Freedom Tether. Lexington might be a War Tether, but I use the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") for that. There are enough war-related sites in Boston to have a plausible one for Laurence, though the Revolution wasn't really Laurence's sort of combat, at least in Boston. His people may use the War Tethers there, anyway. The Bunker Hill Monument is the other obvious Tether-possibility; I don't currently use it. I don't have any Tethers to Saminga in Boston, though there are probably some possibilities. Maybe the site of one of the Indian massacres (of or by...). I gave Malphas the site of the Salem witch trials as a Tether. Andre *used* to have one in the Combat Zone, which is now pretty much gone. He might still have one up in the North Shore area (there's a pretty big strip club on US1 near the intersection with I-95). And Andre's operations are generally pretty low-profile, there might be a "house" anywhere around the area. - ---Walter ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Oct 98 11:56 EDT From: Walter Milliken Subject: Re: IN> Question on Shedim >1) When a Kyriotate possesses a person it is explicitly stated that >their soul goes to the Marches. But a Shedim's host goes into "a >dream-like state." Does the Shedim's host get displaced to the Marches >or not? Not (except Malphan ones). The host is still present (since he can object to actions the Shedite suggests, using Will to shake it off). The way I play it, the human mind is in charge, but very suggestible by the Shedite -- sort of like being in a hypnotic state. If the Shedite gets too ambitious, the human sort of "wakes up" and throws off the control for a bit. But otherwise, they go along with what the Shedite is "whispering" to them. >2) The host of a Shedim gets rolls to percieve that they are being >"ridden" and also to break free of the control. Can the mortal spend (by >necessity all of their) Essence on either of these rolls? If they want it badly enough, I would say yes. Essence is generally allowed on resistance rolls. It's certainly possible that a Soldier would do this, and it seems reasonable that a mundane would also, if he's that upset about the suggested action. >3) Could a Celestial lend Essence to the mortal specifically for either >of these rolls? That's rather tricky -- I would rule it would have to be done before, or at the exact instant of, the attempted resistance. And you can't give Essence to anyone who is already full, nor use it to help someone else's action. >Any other advice on dealing with Shedim, besides just tying them up or >bonking them on the head, is also appreciated. There are a number of useful relics in the Liber Reliquarum that are nicely applicable to Shedim. - ---Walter ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #973 ******************************* The material here is (C) 1997 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.