From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Wed May 27 14:22:24 1998 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 OAA17364 for ; Wed, 27 May 1998 14:22:23 -0500 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.8.7/8.8.5) id OAA12540 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Wed, 27 May 1998 14:19:45 -0500 Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 14:19:45 -0500 Message-Id: <199805271919.OAA12540@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 #798 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 Wednesday, May 27 1998 Volume 01 : Number 798 In this digest: IN> Calabite Resonance (Re: The Hottest Computer.. plus a question) Re: IN> The Hottest Computer.. plus a question Re: IN> When to Summon, When They Appear Re: IN> The Hottest Computer.. plus a question IN> My Superior can beat up Your Superior IN> Calabim resonance questions Re: IN> Two questions, two comments (Superiors) IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) Re: IN> Two questions, two comments (Superiors) Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) Re: IN>Demon Prince Auditions Re: IN>Demon Prince Auditions Re: IN> The Hottest Computer.. plus a question Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) IN> Celestial Beasts Re: IN> Celestial Beasts Re: IN> The Hottest Computer.. plus a question Re: IN> Celestial Beasts Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) Re: IN> My Superior can beat up Your Superior ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 17:22:39 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: IN> Calabite Resonance (Re: The Hottest Computer.. plus a question) At 1:12 PM -0400 5/26/98, John Karakash - LUCENT ASCC wrote: >Kevin Walsh wrote: >> On Mon, May 25, 1998 at 11:10:49PM -0400, Pee Kitty wrote: >> > On Mon, 25 May 1998, Gruzzle wrote: >> Secondly, the wording is along the lines of "can do nothing except >> continue to lash out". Does this mean that the Calabite can't dodge? Use >> the Art of Combat attunement? I would rule that that is exactly what it >> means, but I'd like an official ruling. > > My assumption has been (and is official unless Beth disagrees) >is that the Calabite must attempt their resonance each round til >they succeed. If they stop, voluntarily or not, they eat the >dissonance. They can still do whatever else is allowed in a >combat round (such as dodging, but not ACTIVE dodging) as long >as it doesn't interfere with their use of the resonance. I am not disagreeing with Karakash. I am thanking him for writing it. (And more, for remembering that blighted Dodging vs. Full Dodging rule that I always forget.) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 17:22:36 -0400 (EDT) From: Sheep Boy Subject: Re: IN> The Hottest Computer.. plus a question On Tue, 26 May 1998, David.Evans wrote: > What, may I ask, does "IANANR" stand for? My guess is: I Am Not A Net Rep. There was another interesting one a while back, which was IDHMBIFOM which I surmise to be I Don't Have My Book In Front Of Me. Can anyone help me out with IANSTAAFL? Thanks, - Stavro, Collector of Cryptic Acronyms :) stavro@interport.net http://www.users.interport.net/~stavro/ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- "God does not play dice with the universe, but we do." _In_Nomine_ rulebook - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 98 17:38 EDT From: Walter Milliken Subject: Re: IN> When to Summon, When They Appear >>I've been arguing that this attitude is not consistent with what the >>game mechanics say is possible. One or the other has to give, or things >>don't make sense. > >I don't understand this, I fear. Yes, it may be semi-easy to call a >given Superior. This does not follow that you *should* do so for >every little thing (or even every big thing), but that when the REALLY >BIG THING shows up, the Superior is easy enough to call. Exactly. I *could* call the president of BBN, if I really needed to. But that doesn't mean I'm going to, in the regular course of my job, unless I run into something that *really* needed his attention, and it was urgent enough that passing it up the chain of command wasn't suitable. "Favored" (=PC) celestials probably have a bit more leeway, but I wouldn't bet on a whole lot more.... - ---Walter ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 18:03:31 -0400 From: "Mark McKenzie" Subject: Re: IN> The Hottest Computer.. plus a question Sheep Boy wrote: > > On Tue, 26 May 1998, David.Evans wrote: > > > What, may I ask, does "IANANR" stand for? > > My guess is: I Am Not A Net Rep. > > There was another interesting one a while back, which was > IDHMBIFOM which I surmise to be I Don't Have My Book In Front Of Me. Can > anyone help me out with IANSTAAFL? > TANSTAAFL = There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Either the "I" is a typo, or they mean something else. - -- Mark McKenzie E-mail: markadv@kinekom.com ICQ 7946364 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 17:19:05 -0500 (CDT) From: Martin Leslie Leuschen Subject: IN> My Superior can beat up Your Superior > From: Elizabeth McCoy > Subject: Re: IN> Two questions, two comments (Superiors) > > At 1:01 PM -0500 5/22/98, Martin Leslie Leuschen wrote: > >involved in their affairs. What are the Superiors doing? Administration > >seems a waste of their talents. > > Admin is *not* a waste of talents... (Keeping everyone from tripping > over each other is less easy than I have thought...) Administration is not a waste, I agree it is highly important. However, Superiors are Big Guns, who can accomplish things impossible for lesser celestials. I didn't think Administration fell into this category. Standing corrected, I shall assume they capable of acts of Administration beyond the ken of lesser celestials... > >Comment1: Superiors apparantly do not mind being summoned to chat > >occasionally. > > UR? I've read that they sometimes *drop in* to chat, on their own > initiative. I don't think it's ever been said that they get > *summoned* to chat! Most PCs in my experience summoned their Sup to report in. Personal bias. Still, that leaves Superior summoning as something that sane PCs never do. You're not supposed to do it to report, you're not supposed to do it to get backup/muscle. Why is there a mechanic for it in the first place? At least call it a "Superior cheezing-off roll," instead of a "summoning roll". (At least one listmember suggests stripping PCs of Forces when they summon their superior.) (UR?)? > >b) AAs and DPs apparantly show up on the Corp. Plane in person to talk to > >their Servitors quite regularly, making a big honking Disturbance when > >they do so. [...] > > As others have mentioned, Superiors may wander over with an instatiation > of themselves (no noise), use a Song of Projection (or varient thereof), > use a Song of Tongues (Ethereal or Celestial) or varient thereof, use the > Celestial Song of Motion (minimal disturbance), send Email, send a reliever > with a message, send a message via their Tether, etc. They *can* do all these things, sure. (Suggestion: It might just be simpler to make a Cononical list of things Superiors *can't* do.) However, the IN core rules give a BHD number for Superior appearance, which implies this is the default, not the exception. > And the personal apperances are more likely to happen to a few favored > Servitors -- not *all* their Servitors. Except for Dommie. :::> In any case, in a cold-war IN, certain Superiors confronting each other is Bad News. It must seem plausible to the players that this never happens. Example: Fire Angels and Fire Demons apparantly rumble quite often, and hate each other with a deep and abiding passion. However, if Bel abd Gab went at it, it would be Bad. (Of course, that might explain Krakatoa...) Regards, Martin Leuschen martinl@rice.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 20:43:14 -0400 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> Calabim resonance questions These are my opinions -- they aren't official. >>>Firstly, nothing is said about what happens when the resistance roll has the same check digit as the resonance roll. In the general section on resistance, it's said that such a score can be considered a draw. Is it true that there is no result when this occurs? Can the Calabite refocus its resonance on that target?<<< p. 39 -- a draw means the opponents can roll again the next round, or one person may choose a different action the next round. So yes, there is no result until the following round when they try again (or not, as the Calabite chooses). >>>Secondly, the wording is along the lines of "can do nothing except continue to lash out". Does this mean that the Calabite can't dodge? Use the Art of Combat attunement? I would rule that that is exactly what it means, but I'd like an official ruling.<<< I'd say the Calabite _must_ use an action every turn to invoke his resonance. If time allows him to do anything else in the same turn, he can. >>>Thirdly, there is no clarification of what happens if the initial resonance roll is backlashed, and subsequent attempts to lash out fail. Does the energy dissipate, manifest as dissonance, or be treated in the same way as a backlash? The official wording implies the latter, but is aspecific.<<< I'd say the latter. >>>Fourthly, what happens if the Calabite is stunned or killed while attempting to deflect a backlash?<<< He should probably take dissonance in the case of stunning, and if he's sent back to Hell in Trauma, whether you want to inflict a note of dissonance as well depends on how cruel you're feeling... >>>Fifthly, concerning the Calabite of Factions attunement, which is explicitly resonance based. If an attack on a particular relationship is backlashed, can the Calabite attack another relationship held by the same person?<<< No, if the target resists his resonance roll, use the normal rules -- he can't attack that target again for a number of minutes equal to the CD of the resistance roll. >>>Is the target the person or the relationship?<<< The person, since it's the person who makes the resistance roll. >>>Can the backlash be manifested as an ordinary resonance roll, or must it be the same type?<<< I'd say the former. >>>Sixthly, if the Calabite is attempting the invisible resonance trick from the IPG, must subsequent attempts to deflect the backlashed resonance be of the same type, ie, with the -4 penalty?<<< I'd say no. >>>Seventhly, what happens if a Calabite runs out of alternate targets?<<< He can either attack the ground, himself, or take dissonance. >>>Firstly, why isn't the idea of specific focusing there instead of invisible resonance as a special schtick in the IPG? With perhaps the caveat that something similar to the Indiscriminate Discord effect will occur if the roll fails only due to the penalty. I think it's much more appropriate than the invisible damage.<<< You're free to create any new rules you like, and if they're good, even submit them to Pyramid. Everyone has their own opinion about what would be the "most appropriate" expansion for a given resonance. >>>Secondly, for something largely unrelated, why does the IPG describe the Balseraph of Fire attunement as resonance based? It didn't say it for Balseraph of Lust or Balseraph of Factions, but says it for Balseraph of Fire?<<< You don't have to treat it as resonance-*based* (i.e. unavailable to other Servitors of Fire). The rule that the demon's resonance roll CD is subtracted from a Will roll to hold onto the heated object is a reflection of the fact that the Balseraph attunement is basically "lying to the Symphony." If this bothers you, you can always change the penalty to the demon's Corporeal Forces instead. - -David ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 17:55:47 -0700 From: Thaddeus_Howze@bmug.org (Thaddeus Howze) Subject: Re: IN> Two questions, two comments (Superiors) I was looking at the discussion of why Superiors do not show up regularly and it occured to me that this is actually very similar to why dieties do not show up in regular fantasy campaigns. 1. Since none of us are divine beings with "semi-phenomenal cosmic essence" we cannot be sure exactly what Superiors are actually engaged in. It could be the simple divine paperwork that keeps the universe in cosmic balance or lending their energies to other struggles that take place in the higher levels of Heaven. This could be literally the maintenance of the universal symphonies beyond the realm of mortals and even lesser Angelics to even be aware of. 2. If any of you have read the Elric Saga by Michael Moorcock, you have seen the Chaos dieties and how they behaved regarding their agent Elric. They would often just modify Elric, change his surroundings, make knowledge available to him that he might have had to work harder for, to help him solve problems that would further their chaotic goals. 3. There might be a cosmic balance that says that every time a Superior of either side shows up then that makes it possible for one of the other side to further their own goals. So each side wishing to help the other as little as possible lends no personal aid that requires that they show up. Such visitations would allow a member of the other side to directly effect the consequences of circumstances that the other side might not want furthered. 4. Superiors may have to answer to higher powers as to why they are squandering vital essence making earthly visitations. This may be energy that may be, one day, directed to the Armageddon War that is rumored to one day return Hell back to Heaven and destroy all of the demonic hordes. Of course, the diabolicals say the same thing... 5. It is obvious that the war of Heaven and Hell entered a cold war for a reason. Perhaps it is as simple as God (and Lucifer) having said, Enough: you shall no longer engage in direct combat. You may wage war through proxies, lesser angels, mortals, spirits but enough direct combat and I shall be forced to take issue with the offenders, none may destroy the realm that I created. I image the direct energies of the Superiors causes problems with the Symphony and its Harmonies. Perhaps a local unraveling of the Universe in a small area. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 21:27:40 -0500 (CDT) From: redneck@txdirect.net (Redneck Gaijin) Subject: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) In the days before the Fall, when God was just beginning to reveal His plans to His creation, there was Kobal. Kobal, in his beginnings, was a small and fairly nondescript Mercurian who, for some reason, didn't quite seem to get on with the rest of the angels. He wasn't annoying, or brash, or otherwise unpleasant to be around... he just wasn't all that interesting. He seldom spoke when the Creation was discussed, and when he did speak nobody listened to his quiet, unassuming voice. One day, God saw Kobal and said, "Kobal, why do you not work on your portion of Creation?" "My Lord," Kobal whispered, "I do not know what my portion is." "You are Laughter," God replied. "Go forth, child, and bring to My children the gift of humor." Kobal would have blinked at God if God had been facing him. "Why?" "I can't tell you," God said. "It would spoil the joke." With that, God's presence turned away from Kobal, and the young Angel set to work figuring out what Laughter was. During the Fall, the advent of Man, the long history of the War, from Babylon to Vaudeville, Kobal brooded over this cryptic exchange, contemplating every possible reason for what God had said and done. As time went on, pieces began to fall into place, one by one, usually when something that Kobal had engineered turned completely away from what he'd intended. (Oedipus Rex, the Cantebury Tales, A Lytle Jest on Robyn Hoode, the map to Prester John's kingdom Marco Polo bought, all these are examples of where Kobal's influence totally backfired.) In the 20th Century AD, Kobal felt incredibly close to a breakthrough. He began to resent any interruption of his thought, even to serve his new Word of Dark Humor, and to the other Celestials on both sides of the War he began to seem disconnected, preoccupied, and unusually quiet. Finally, on the day of the Last Battle itself, as the forces of Hell stormed the Eternal City, Kobal and Haagenti stood together in the Groves, Kobal distractedly leading their combined forces while Haagenti devoured everything in his path. As Kobal ordered his forces on against the disorganized Servitors of Animals, Flowers, Protection, and others, his mind raced faster and faster, trying to resolve this, ALL of this, with how everything had begun for him, with that one talk with God. And Then Kobal Got It. In one sudden, blinding flash of insight, the inherent absurdity, the great chaotic Cosmic Joke, shone through Kobal's mind and soul. Every last nuance of the Joke lay explained to Kobal, from the great slapsticks down to the - -real- reason why the chicken crossed the road. In four breaths, all of the following occurred, in rapid succession: Kobal Redeemed, spontaneously, fledging into a brilliant and beautiful Mercurian, with a friendly smile and a twinkle in his eyes both innocent and knowing, the very embodiment of a perfect human laughing for the joy of laughter. Kobal shared a glimpse, just a glimpse, of the Cosmic Joke to every last one of his Servitors, at once. A great many also spontaneously Redeemed, at the worst possible time, and were hewn down by the demons surrounding them. Others simply fell into confusion and disarray, not able to comprehend the whole of the Joke, and remained Demonic but fundamentally changed. Haagenti reared up, his maw stretching wider than ever before, and swallowed the Archangel Kobal whole, not even chewing. The few surviving servants of Kobal, confused and leaderless, fled all fronts of the Great Battle and went into hiding, trying to figure out what exactly had happened. They were neither Outcast nor Renegade nor Orphaned, but their Rites and Attunements and Distinctions had subtly changed to reflect something many of them couldn't understand. They no longer served Dark Humor, but all forms of Laughter. They no longer served Hell, but Heaven no longer existed. Hunted by stray refugee Angels and Saminga's liquidation squads, they are the most wanted Celestials by both sides of the War... dead or alive. DISSONANCE Servitors of Laughter cannot go a day without making someone laugh, by whatever means, dark or light. ATTUNEMENTS Each Band/Choir (for those who Redeem and survive) has a peculiar Rite, as before. However, the bonus for 'laughing in their face' is gone. BALSERAPH - as in the rulebook SERAPH - Kobal's Seraphim would, theoretically, gain Essence from inducing laughter by retelling a humorous anecdote or story. They gain +2 Essence (and take no Dissonance) if they made up the story. DJINN & CHERUB - These Servitors of Laughter gain Essence from playing their Attuned as a straight man. By causing a scene, cracking wise, or playing off their Attuned to some humorous result, they recover Essence. CALABITE - as per the book OFANITE - Ofanim of Laughter gain Essence from chases, the more silly or improbable the more Essence is involved. Smashing through a fruit stand is only worth one Essence; driving a compact car through the corridors of a hotel with police vehicles in hot pursuit is worth as much as three. ELOHITE - Elohim of Laughter gain Essence by using logic to demonstrate the inherent absurdity of the world. HABBALITE - as in the book LILIM - Kobal's surviving Lilim can now gain Essence by successfully daring a human to do anything which causes others to laugh. SHEDIM & KYRIOTATES - These Servitors of Laughter gain Essence from guiding their hosts into doing silly things. Kyriotates are limited to bright expressions of silliness, while Shedim are limited to darker expressions. MERCURIANS & IMPUDIRES - The Friends of Man who serve Laughter gain Essence through practical jokes. However, any joke which ends in the death or destruction of a human gains -no- Essence. DISTINCTIONS* (*Of course, these only apply to characters who had equal distinctions before the KNIGHT OF LEVITY Kobal's Knights can lighten the darkest hour of a person's life by showing them the humor in their situation. CAPTAIN OF WIT Kobal's Captains can use any straight line, no matter how grave or serious, to create a hilarious joke. BARON OF HYSTERIA as per the book BASIC RITES * Make someone laugh just before they die (must not have caused that death) * Make a majority of the PCs (and GM) laugh at something done IC * Make 30 or more people laugh at once INVOCATION: Impossible (Kobal is gone, ceased to be, an ex-parrot.) NOTE: Despite the death of its main champion, Laughter is a more powerful Word than ever in the times after Armageddeon- not because there's more of it, but because it is so rare that every instance of laughter becomes that much more potent. Of the warring sides, only Haagenti has taken it upon himself to preserve any of Laughter's Servants... he believes laughter aids digestion, and, according to him, "Besides, they aren't very filling snacks anyway." - --- Redneck Kris Overstreet, web pages beyond belief http://www.txdirect.net/users/redneck - Redneck Gaijin Online http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/wlp/ - White Lightning Productions http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/dvpbem/ - In Nomine: Dark Victory PBEM http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/milkmaid/ - The Magnificent Milkmaid ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 12:13:13 +0900 From: Dave Conrad Subject: Re: IN> Two questions, two comments (Superiors) Thaddeus Howze wrote: > I was looking at the discussion of why Superiors do not show up regularly and it > occured to me that this is actually very similar to why dieties do not show up > in regular fantasy campaigns. I thought of it as more 'why General Officers don't take a personal hand in combat' than anything else. The War is more or less like any other war. The PCs are somewhat like a squad of mundane troops, even if they are more like members of a scout/recon platoon, or Special Operations folks or what have you. If I, in my role as SGT Conrad, and my squad were pinned down somewhere, I might call back to Divison Artillery and ask them to drop some rounds on the other team.. I wouldn't dream of calling my Division Commander to get bailed out though. Superiors are kinda like Generals in charge of various parts of the war. Their job is to coordinate campaigns, allocate resources and keep track of where things are going. Their job isn't to bail out each and every soldier under their command when things get rough. Every once in a while, a situation may merit their direct intervention, but it shouldn't be often, and the guys in the trenches shouldn't be too thrilled about it when it does. - -- Dave C. iN*T*x "To break the rules is to break the spell" - C. Lasch ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 20:33:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Graveyard Greg Subject: Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) - ---Redneck Gaijin wrote: > And Then Kobal Got It. > > In one sudden, blinding flash of insight, the inherent absurdity, the great > chaotic Cosmic Joke, shone through Kobal's mind and soul. Every last nuance > of the Joke lay explained to Kobal, from the great slapsticks down to the > -real- reason why the chicken crossed the road. > > In four breaths, all of the following occurred, in rapid succession: > > Kobal Redeemed, spontaneously, fledging into a brilliant and beautiful > Mercurian, with a friendly smile and a twinkle in his eyes both innocent and > knowing, the very embodiment of a perfect human laughing for the joy of > laughter. > > Kobal shared a glimpse, just a glimpse, of the Cosmic Joke to every last one > of his Servitors, at once. > > Haagenti reared up, his maw stretching wider than ever before, and swallowed > the Archangel Kobal whole, not even chewing. > > The few surviving servants of Kobal, confused and leaderless, fled all > fronts of the Great Battle and went into hiding, trying to figure out what > exactly had happened. They were neither Outcast nor Renegade nor Orphaned, > but their Rites and Attunements and Distinctions had subtly changed to > reflect something many of them couldn't understand. > > They no longer served Dark Humor, but all forms of Laughter. > > --- Redneck Good! More Dark Victory is good! Thanks, Redneck! Graveyard Greg, Malakite of Creation _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 22:59:20 -0500 From: Uncle Wolf Subject: Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) Redneck Gaijin wrote: [much snippage, as I practice my Rite of the Wordbound of Bandwidth] {good stuff, Redneck} > DJINN & CHERUB - These Servitors of Laughter gain Essence from playing their > Attuned as a straight man. By causing a scene, cracking wise, or playing off > their Attuned to some humorous result, they recover Essence. Considering their dedication to their Attuned, I personally think it would make more sense for them to gain their Essence from being the straight man *for* jokes by their Attuned, making themselves the victim of a joke that causes their Attuned to laugh. Just MHO, of course, YMMV. tom timberlake, cadre Cherub of Heaven ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 26 May 1998 23:28:25 -0500 (CDT) From: redneck@txdirect.net (Redneck Gaijin) Subject: Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) >Redneck Gaijin wrote: > >[much snippage, as I practice my Rite of the Wordbound of Bandwidth] >{good stuff, Redneck} > >> DJINN & CHERUB - These Servitors of Laughter gain Essence from playing their >> Attuned as a straight man. By causing a scene, cracking wise, or playing off >> their Attuned to some humorous result, they recover Essence. > >Considering their dedication to their Attuned, I personally think it >would make more sense for them to gain their Essence from being the >straight man *for* jokes by their Attuned, making themselves the victim >of a joke that causes their Attuned to laugh. Just MHO, of course, >YMMV. Sticking close to the original book on these. In either case, their Attuned is unlikely to have the innate talent for two-man comedy that the Kobalite would. Redneck Kris Overstreet, web pages beyond belief http://www.txdirect.net/users/redneck - Redneck Gaijin Online http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/wlp/ - White Lightning Productions http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/dvpbem/ - In Nomine: Dark Victory PBEM http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/milkmaid/ - The Magnificent Milkmaid ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 May 1998 13:02:09 -0500 From: "David C. Shadle" Subject: Re: IN>Demon Prince Auditions > > > Vapula: John Lithgow or "Q" from the Bond films (IIRC, it's always been the > > same actor) > > 16 of 19 Bond films and I forget his name right now. He would be nearly > perfect, especially if you picture him when he was younger. Desmond Llewellyn, (I hate trying to spell Wesh last names) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 24 May 1998 13:09:24 -0500 From: "David C. Shadle" Subject: Re: IN>Demon Prince Auditions > Valefor: Brad Pitt (Not a fan of his, but just saw the Saint) Thats Val Kilmer, who is a lot better than Bra "Cool World" Pitt ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 03:41:12 -0400 (EDT) From: Pee Kitty Subject: Re: IN> The Hottest Computer.. plus a question On Tue, 26 May 1998, David.Evans wrote: > Pee Kitty sayeth: > > > > Now, IANANR, of course, but here's what I think... > > What, may I ask, does "IANANR" stand for? You may not, sorry. Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian Meow! | "Fuck 'Em If They Can't Take A Joke is more than just a meaningless | | slogan; it's actually a pretty serious statement, and one that I hold | | true to, with a cream pie in one hand and a chainsaw in the other..." | | -- Me | ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 04:25:38 -0400 From: Thomas Davidson Subject: Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) Redneck Gaijin wrote: > OFANITE - Ofanim of Laughter gain Essence from chases, the more silly or > improbable the more Essence is involved. Smashing through a fruit stand is > only worth one Essence; driving a compact car through the corridors of a > hotel with police vehicles in hot pursuit is worth as much as three. > Hmmm... sounds like Ofanim of Kobal might be more fun at parties than Ofanim of Janus! And you wouldn't have to watch your silverware. :) TTFN - -- Thomas Davidson tdavidso@suffolk.lib.ny.us http://wwp.mirabilis.com/7789233/ UIN: 7789233 http://www.accessdenied.net/cgi-bin/main.cgi?userid=326&newuser=profile MUSIC: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Rush, Jimi Hendrix GAMES: Champions (old and new), In Nomine, Nephilim TV: The X-Files, the Simpsons, Superman, The Tick, the Animaniacs OTHER: Religion, Philosophy, mysticism, the runes, the Tarot, writing. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 12:15:59 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: IN> Celestial Beasts It seems there are no celestial animals. Oh, there are the souls of animals in Heaven, and the Force-stripped dehumanized souls in parts of Hell, but those aren't native celestial animals. Here are some proposed examples: Demon Horse / Celestial Horse / Spirit Horse -- All the same horse, just from different pastures. Comes in black with occasional gold markings, white with occasional black markings, blood red with occasional black, and pale green with occasional blood red. It has brazen hooves and teeth and is supernally fast, firey but not evil. -- Powers: disturbance-sensitive, instinctive Numinous Corpus (wings), instinctive Song of Motion, immune to fire and heat; can be trained to carry a rider off the Corporeal plane Leohippus -- A lion-headed horse with a serpentine tail, white-&-gold, gold-&-black, or white, or black, or gold, often wreathed with heatless flame. Favored as mounts by some angels. -- Powers: disturbance-sensitive, instinctive Song of Motion, fire-breathing, immune to fire and heat; can be trained to carry a rider off the Corporeal plane Ammit -- Described by the Egyptians as a hippo with the head of a crocodile. A modern might call it a small sauropod with no tail, a rather short neck, and a crocodilian head. They come in gray, gray-brown, and gray-green. They are slow but powerful and tough. -- Powers: They are energy vampires, and can drain all the Essence from a character, then start stripping Forces. They can store more Essence than their own Force-levels would normally permit, and a tame ammit can be "milked" of excess psi. Apocalypse Locust -- A horse-sized insect as described in Revelation -- a giant locust with human face and scorpion tail. In addition to the iron teeth, it's exoskeleton is brass. The "human" face is a low-browed, bug-eyed caricature, and the mouth can open awfully wide. Fast-breeding and voraciously herbivorous, bright and long-lived only if compared to a grasshopper. -- Powers: It is very free with its tail-sting, which does no damage but causes pain requiring an Endurance roll vs. d6 minutes of stun and drains one point of Essence. Behemoth -- Cattle the size of blue whales (*before* enlargement), usually black with brass horns and hooves. Very rare, found in pairs if at all, and legend says there are angels charged with keeping them off Earth. Commoner legend says their meat will be served to the blessed at the victory feast of Armageddon. -- Powers: Instinctive Song of Healing (self) and enlargement (twentyfold) Hell Hound / Hound of Heaven / Spirit Dog -- A mastiff-like beast, glossy black, bronze, gold, or silver, with brass teeth and claws, and yellow or red eyes. Popular with magic-workers who like their familiars robust. A *great* attack dog. -- Powers: Instinctive Song of Healing (self), disturbance-sensitive, tracking by attunement; can be taught songs of Motion Hell Cats / Ghost Cats / Celestial Cats -- Famously black, of course, but also silvery, with brass teeth and claws, and yellow eyes. A classic familiar. -- Powers: Instinctive Songs of Healing (self) and Motion, disturbance-sensitive; can be taught to "carry" Essence and Songs like a living relic or reliquary Multicapital Cats -- Big cats -- lions, tigers, leopards -- with brass teeth and claws, in the habit of shapeshifting to forms with two to four heads, for attacks. -- Powers: instinctive Song of Numinous Corpus (extra heads). They can be trained to do more heads, or to add horns or wings. Blood-Beasts -- Giant amoebae in various shades of red. They can weigh up to a ton and reproduce by budding. They are not very "blobby" and so somewhat resemble the "rover" balloon from "The Prisoner." Like it, they are predatory. They are both blood and Essence vampires. Used as hunting beasts by both demons and angels. -- Powers: tracking by attunement; hideously tough Hell Hawks / Celestial Hawks-- Black with occasional gold markings, coppery or gold with occasional black markings, silver, or pale metallic blue, with brass beak and claws. They are used as hunting beasts and couriers. -- Powers: instinctive Songs of Motion ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 18:45:17 +0200 (DFT) From: Anders Gabrielsson Subject: Re: IN> Celestial Beasts Nice ideas, though I'd label most of these Ethereal creatures, hunted to (near-) extinction during the Purity Crusade. Anders Gabrielsson anders@stp.ling.uu.se The contents of this message belong to me and nobody else. So there! Geography is just therapy for imperialists. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 19:23:13 +0200 (MET DST) From: David Skogsberg Subject: Re: IN> The Hottest Computer.. plus a question On Tue, 26 May 1998, Mark McKenzie wrote: > Sheep Boy wrote: [Cryptic Acronyms] > > Can anyone help me out with IANSTAAFL? > TANSTAAFL = There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. > Either the "I" is a typo, or they mean something else. I Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch, of course... ObInNomine: But never say that to Haagenti. cd - -- d97skog@dtek.chalmers.se | cd skogsberg ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 13:23:15 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: Re: IN> Celestial Beasts Anders Gabrielsson wrote: > Nice ideas, though I'd label most of these Ethereal creatures, > hunted to (near-) extinction during the Purity Crusade. Thank you. I did not want them in the Ethereal slot, though. The cat and the dog are obviously based on folklore bogey-beasts, but except for the blobs (which are just invention), the other creatures come from specifically theological contexts, mostly the books of Daniel and Revelation. Earl ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 13:26:49 -0500 From: Bob the Dancing Monkey Subject: Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) At 09:27 PM 5/26/98 -0500, you wrote: > >In the days before the Fall, when God was just beginning to reveal His plans >to His creation, there was Kobal. Ah, DV returns at last! Thank you, Redneck. - -Drew [O] Drew Johnson - CLA - Office of Info Tech [O] x5-4885 - http://www.econ.umn.edu/~djohnson/ [O] djohnson@cla.umn.edu - ICQ: 10800645 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 20:30:27 +0200 (DFT) From: Anders Gabrielsson Subject: Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) On Wed, 27 May 1998, Thomas Davidson wrote: > Redneck Gaijin wrote: > > > OFANITE - Ofanim of Laughter gain Essence from chases, the more silly or > > improbable the more Essence is involved. Smashing through a fruit stand is > > only worth one Essence; driving a compact car through the corridors of a > > hotel with police vehicles in hot pursuit is worth as much as three. > > > > Hmmm... sounds like Ofanim of Kobal might be more fun at parties > than Ofanim of Janus! And you wouldn't have to watch your > silverware. :) You might not have much of a house left afterwards, though... But then again, that's the case with most Servitors of Wind as well. :) Anders Gabrielsson anders@stp.ling.uu.se The contents of this message belong to me and nobody else. So there! Geography is just therapy for imperialists. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 19:52:03 +0100 From: Jo Hart Subject: Re: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Kobal, Archangel of Laughter (Deceased) At 21:27 26/05/98 -0500, you wrote: > > >The few surviving servants of Kobal, confused and leaderless, fled all >fronts of the Great Battle and went into hiding, trying to figure out what >exactly had happened. They were neither Outcast nor Renegade nor Orphaned, >but their Rites and Attunements and Distinctions had subtly changed to >reflect something many of them couldn't understand. Surely all of his remaining servitors must be demons? They were demons when he got eaten, and if any redeemed they'd have been redeemed by other archangels. And he isn't around to either create new angels or have other angels pledge to him... jo "In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing." - -- Oscar Wilde ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 27 May 1998 15:20:52 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> My Superior can beat up Your Superior At 5:19 PM -0500 5/26/98, Martin Leslie Leuschen wrote: >> From: Elizabeth McCoy >> Subject: Re: IN> Two questions, two comments (Superiors) >Administration is not a waste, I agree it is highly important. However, >Superiors are Big Guns, who can accomplish things impossible for lesser >celestials. I didn't think Administration fell into this category. >Standing corrected, I shall assume they capable of acts of Administration >beyond the ken of lesser celestials... > > No, I was made Line Editor because #1: I read everything in first draft mode and make comments that often (if not always) correspond to what SJ would have said, and #2: I work *CHEAP*. And, well, keeping 6-12 authors per book straight is *not* easy. Yes, admin is something lesser beings can do. However, the way of the celestial hierarchy is that the Powerful Beings are usually also smart ones. In a quasi-military organizatin, orders are supposed to come from one point and filter down, to keep the individual bits from working at cross purposes. >> >Comment1: Superiors apparantly do not mind being summoned to chat >> >occasionally. >> >> UR? I've read that they sometimes *drop in* to chat, on their own >> initiative. I don't think it's ever been said that they get >> *summoned* to chat! > >Most PCs in my experience summoned their Sup to report in. Personal >bias. To report in, is one thing. To *chat*? Well, Eli and Novalis might not mind... >Still, that leaves Superior summoning as something that sane PCs >never do. You're not supposed to do it to report, you're not supposed to >do it to get backup/muscle. Why is there a mechanic for it in the first >place? At least call it a "Superior cheezing-off roll," instead of a >"summoning roll". (At least one listmember suggests stripping PCs of >Forces when they summon their superior.) It's the hotline for emergencies. For when you've picked up the Sanguine Painting and people are hot on your tail and you want to make sure it's safe. (It's quite true that if we hadn't had an Ofanite of Lightning and a local Lightning Tether, Jean might have shown up at the Grand Finale of Feast of Blades. Or Yves or Janus.) It's for when the Tether is beseiged, or you discover that there's a silent enemy Tether forming in the basement of the building you poked your nose into during a routine patrol. It's for when you *absolutely can't do anything else* in the course of a mission. If your Superior gave you instructions, then those instructions may well have included, "Call me when it's done." (Or that may be an understood thing for some groups of PCs.) >(UR?)? (Exclamation of befuddlement at the notion of *summoning* a Superior to merely chat.) >>>b) AAs and DPs apparantly show up on the Corp. Plane in person to talk to >>>their Servitors quite regularly, making a big honking Disturbance when >>>they do so. [...] >> >>As others have mentioned, Superiors may wander over with an instatiation >>of themselves (no noise), use a Song of Projection (or varient thereof), >>use a Song of Tongues (Ethereal or Celestial) or varient thereof, use the >>Celestial Song of Motion (minimal disturbance), send Email, send a reliever >>with a message, send a message via their Tether, etc. > >They *can* do all these things, sure. (Suggestion: It might just be >simpler to make a Cononical list of things Superiors *can't* do.) >However, the IN core rules give a BHD number for Superior appearance, >which implies this is the default, not the exception. I don't think that's necessarily a default -- the last 4 paragraphs on p. 109 give that impression, but the last 2 paragraphs on p. 157 suggest other trickeries. The APG and IPG have some suggestions about when/how Superiors show up and how much noise they make when they do. >> And the personal apperances are more likely to happen to a few favored >> Servitors -- not *all* their Servitors. > >Except for Dommie. :::> True. And Azzie. }:| Of course, those happen whether you want them or not... >In any case, in a cold-war IN, certain Superiors confronting each other >is Bad News. It must seem plausible to the players that this never >happens. Example: Fire Angels and Fire Demons apparantly rumble quite >often, and hate each other with a deep and abiding passion. However, if >Bel abd Gab went at it, it would be Bad. (Of course, that might explain >Krakatoa...) I suspect that if Gabriel shows up and lays into a Prince, one of her Guardian Cherubim yells for Yves pronto. - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #798 ******************************* The material here is (C) 1997 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.