From owner-in_nomine-digest@LISTS.IO.COM Tue Nov 11 11:04:19 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 LAA15833 for ; Tue, 11 Nov 1997 11:04:19 -0600 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.8.7/8.8.5) id JAA01923 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Tue, 11 Nov 1997 09:39:44 -0600 Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 09:39:44 -0600 Message-Id: <199711111539.JAA01923@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 #466 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 Tuesday, November 11 1997 Volume 01 : Number 466 In this digest: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP Re: IN> Slayer Project update Re: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP Re: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP Re: IN> The honorable Rulius Advocatus, Esq. Re: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP IN> Couple of Questions... Re: IN> The honorable Rulius Advocatus, Esq. Re: IN> Anachronistic Words Re: IN> [FLUFF] Next week... GMING!!! Eeep!!! IN> Wording IN> Anton S. LaVey Re: IN> Wording Re: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP Re: IN> About Shedim IN> The Trial (plot seed) Re: IN> Balsy question Re: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP Re: IN> The Trial (plot seed) Re: IN> Wording ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 20:33:14 -0500 (EST) From: Pee Kitty Subject: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP Just an offer... Dissatisfied with the existing character sheets, for being too hard to copy, to small to use (just blowing them up isn't enough; more lines then have to be added, etc.), and lacking one or two additional spaces I'm used to (Experience Points, Played By), I made up my own. It's very, VERY similar to the existing ones, but with a few additions; it's best printed on a full page. It's a 640x480 B&W Windows BitMap (.BMP) file, only 38K. It prints out very nice at 8.5"x11". Anyone interested in a copy? I suppose I could just stick it on my web site, but if there was a lot of interest I could post it to the list with the Archangel of I-N-List's blessing... Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian (Married to Rev. Unibomber on 11/15/96 - be jealous ;) Meow! - -= Windows 95 =- A 32-bit patch for a 16-bit GUI shell running on top of an 8-bit operating system written for a 4-bit processor by a 2-bit company who cannot stand 1 bit of competition. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 20:33:14 -0500 (EST) From: Pee Kitty Subject: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP Just an offer... Dissatisfied with the existing character sheets, for being too hard to copy, to small to use (just blowing them up isn't enough; more lines then have to be added, etc.), and lacking one or two additional spaces I'm used to (Experience Points, Played By), I made up my own. It's very, VERY similar to the existing ones, but with a few additions; it's best printed on a full page. It's a 640x480 B&W Windows BitMap (.BMP) file, only 38K. It prints out very nice at 8.5"x11". Anyone interested in a copy? I suppose I could just stick it on my web site, but if there was a lot of interest I could post it to the list with the Archangel of I-N-List's blessing... Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian (Married to Rev. Unibomber on 11/15/96 - be jealous ;) Meow! - -= Windows 95 =- A 32-bit patch for a 16-bit GUI shell running on top of an 8-bit operating system written for a 4-bit processor by a 2-bit company who cannot stand 1 bit of competition. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 20:33:14 -0500 (EST) From: Pee Kitty Subject: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP Just an offer... Dissatisfied with the existing character sheets, for being too hard to copy, to small to use (just blowing them up isn't enough; more lines then have to be added, etc.), and lacking one or two additional spaces I'm used to (Experience Points, Played By), I made up my own. It's very, VERY similar to the existing ones, but with a few additions; it's best printed on a full page. It's a 640x480 B&W Windows BitMap (.BMP) file, only 38K. It prints out very nice at 8.5"x11". Anyone interested in a copy? I suppose I could just stick it on my web site, but if there was a lot of interest I could post it to the list with the Archangel of I-N-List's blessing... Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian (Married to Rev. Unibomber on 11/15/96 - be jealous ;) Meow! - -= Windows 95 =- A 32-bit patch for a 16-bit GUI shell running on top of an 8-bit operating system written for a 4-bit processor by a 2-bit company who cannot stand 1 bit of competition. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 22:58:57 +0000 From: "Captain Nemo" Subject: Re: IN> Slayer Project update Go on and fwing 'em this way, if you don't mind. :) I'm too much a fan-boy, and I've rather enjoyed the Slayer Project stuff. It's making campaign ideas churn in my head, which is always a good thing. :) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 01:13:57 -0200 From: "Cristiano Guião de Freitas" Subject: Re: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP > Dissatisfied with the existing character sheets, for being too hard to > > copy, to small to use (just blowing them up isn't enough; more lines > then > have to be added, etc.), and lacking one or two additional spaces I'm > used > to (Experience Points, Played By), I made up my own. It's very, VERY > similar to the existing ones, but with a few additions; it's best > printed > on a full page. > I wish somebody would have this idea before... Good idea Pee Kitty! - -- "Ancient spirits of evil, transform this decayed form to Mumm-ra! the ever-living!" ---Mumm-ra, the ever-living ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 22:08:20 -0500 From: John Dye Subject: Re: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP Pee Kitty wrote: > Dissatisfied with the existing character sheets, for being too hard to > copy, to small to use (just blowing them up isn't enough; more lines then > have to be added, etc.), and lacking one or two additional spaces I'm used > to (Experience Points, Played By), I made up my own. That's a good one for the Evangelism question: "In Nomine; for the smallest character sheets in gaming" It's very, VERY > similar to the existing ones, but with a few additions; it's best printed > on a full page. > > It's a 640x480 B&W Windows BitMap (.BMP) file, only 38K. It prints out > very nice at 8.5"x11". Anyone interested in a copy? I suppose I could just > stick it on my web site, but if there was a lot of interest I could post > it to the list with the Archangel of I-N-List's blessing... Hell, just put it on the web page, with a suitable link. Please ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 05:39:01 +0000 From: Jo Hart Subject: Re: IN> The honorable Rulius Advocatus, Esq. From: Elizabeth McCoy >And if you don't want to use dice... Don't. The Archive Malakim don't >go looking for people using house rules... Habbalahs of The Game are another matter. jo (They have failed to play by the rules and now they must SUFFER!) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 23:18:18 -0600 (CST) From: Donald G Bixler Subject: Re: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP > > Dissatisfied with the existing character sheets, for being too hard to > I wish somebody would have this idea before... Several people had, including myself. You should be able to find several of them via the INC and mine are at http://www.wiu.edu/users/mudgb4/wiu/in-nomine.html > ---Mumm-ra, the ever-living Oops da Ogre, *twitch* Thundercats *twitch* mudgb4@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 15:18:45 +1100 From: "Patrick O'Duffy" Subject: IN> Couple of Questions... G'day. Long time since I've been on this list, but now that my mailbox is working there's no stopping me! Managed to find a copy of Heaven & Hell, and some questions occured o me. 1. What's the duration of Zadkiel's Aura of Divinity? 2. Both of Zadkiel's Servitor Attunement's refer to the check digit. What's the target number? The Angel's resonance? I thought Attunements didn't require a d666 roll. Now for the tricky question. Okay, so Yves is the Destiny of God and Kronos is God's Fate. Cool, nice idea. Does that mean that celestials have fates and destinies? I had thought they didn't - previously it was stated that only humans have destinies/fates. If only humans have d/f, then what happens if you use the Fated Future/Dark Destiny attunements on someone who isn't human (like a celestial in a vessel)? Do you get a result, or a null reading? Either way, won't it handily give away whether the target is a celestial? Both those attunements are cheap and easy to use, and give the Servitors of Yves and Kronos a massive edge in the War if they can reveal another's celestial nature. Any ideas? - -- Patrick O'Duffy, Brisbane, Australia I want to go on a mountain-top With a radio and good batteries Play a joyous tune and free the human race from suffering I'm no fucking Buddhist, but this is enlightenment BJORK, "Alarm Call" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 9 Nov 1997 13:49:09 -0500 From: "Thomas Davidson" Subject: Re: IN> The honorable Rulius Advocatus, Esq. - ---------- > From: Ijon Tichy > To: In Nomine list > Subject: IN> The honorable Rulius Advocatus, Esq. > Date: Monday, November 09, 1998 12:40 PM > > Good evening. > Or whatever... :) I'm going to snip most of your message down to the nuts and bolts of it--the last paragraph. > [snip] > My point: In Nomine, in my humble opinion, calls for too many die rolls, > involves too many modifier tables to be looked up, and is generally > somewhat overladen with mechanics that, again - to me (and my players) - > hamper gameplay rather than help. I do not preach complete diceless In > Nomine, nor a stat-less In Nomine. I do preach to ignoring a healthy bit > of the rules and numbers, and employing a Dramatic System instead of a > Mechanical System. Let the GM determine action results that would best > advance the storyline. Don't let characters live or die by die rolls. Let > 'em die because of their mistakes! > Well, let me tell you as a (former?) Champions player: These rules *are* minimalist, at least *I* thought so. That's what I love about them. Like yourself, I've never been one for game mechanics, preferring to allow the drama of the moment determine many things. But I was *pleased* at how *few* mechanics there were in IN, comparatively speaking. I've talked to gamers in other parts of the world, myself, and it's my experience that US players prefer more rules than their counterparts in other parts of the world. This *could* be a generalization on my part... but somehow, I don't think so. I guess that makes me kinda odd as American players go: I search for a middle ground between not having *any* mechanics and having *too many*. Champions (both incarnations) and anything by Palladium have too many mechanics, and Amber (IMHO) doesn't have enough. IN, I think, finds a nice middle-ground. Thomas Davidson tdavidso@suffolk.lib.ny.us 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: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 05:01:43 +0000 From: Jo Hart Subject: Re: IN> Anachronistic Words At 13:03 10/11/97 -0600, you wrote: > >Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 09:43:53 -0500 >From: Earl Wajenberg > > >The Worded characters in In Nomine are likewise allegorical. They >personify their words, or at least the dark or bright sides of their >words. To have the object of your Word go extinct should be like >starving or suffocating. I do like this as an idea. The problem with the allegory is that it isn't always clear whose word covers what with any precision. eg. Imagine that there are angels of fire, sun, light, stars, warmth, comfort, illumination. They won't all be working for the same superiors (I'd put illumination under Revelations and comfort under Flowers, stars might be under Dreams), so although some of them will be taking on part of Gabriel's word and working for her, some will be in service to a different allegory. For angels this probably isn't so important as they can agree to forward a mutual concept for mutual gain, but I imagine demons prefer better demarcation so that they can build up little empires. What I was vaguely thinking was that as you go further down the chain, the words necessarily have to become smaller in scope which probably means less allegorical. ie. When you assign a word to an angel or demon, how much leeway do you want to give them as to its interpretation... (I'd assume this is something an applicant angel needs to discuss with its superior and the seraphim council). Also its fun in a generally humerous setting to have some very specific words given out (probably to demons). I can think of examples of a celestial managing to turn an insignificant word into an important allegory (such as my favourite NPC, the Demonic Baron of Red Tape -- once 'red tape' because a general allegory for bureacracy, he didn't look back), or even an extinct word. ie. Angel of the Dodo, which might have been gutted when its charges died out, but has made the Dodo synonymous with any animal driven to extinction by human activities and a symbol for a lot of conservation projects. I'm just assuming that for every example I can think of where a celestial manages to do this, there will be other examples where they don't. Maybe they do just die (or petition to be remade....). I quite like that, but then I'm Jewish so the way I've been taught to look at angels was servants who were always created for very specific tasks and then absorbed back into the divine when their task was done ;) >To take a Word, knowing it to be temporary -- "I am the Angel of >World War Two" -- would be a very gutsy thing to do, or a very >harsh thing to have forced on you. > >Last year, I think, there was an article in "Pyramid" about similar >things. It was entitled "Angels in the Architecture" and talked >about ephemeral angels of ephemeral words. I remember in particular >the example given of the Angel of Autumn, who is re-born and dies >every year, presumably in a repeating pattern with three other >seasonal angels. I'm sort of confused about what an Angel of Autumn would really need to do to promote its word, given that Autumn will happen anyway. I hope it isn't anything too cutesie like going around with a pot of paint and painting leaves red! If its an allegory, why does it need to actually die -- I'd have thought hibernation would be more the thing ;) If its promoting the concepts of Autumn, then those don't need the actual season to be present, or does it assume people only relate to Autumn during that time of year. Then.. what about the Southern Hemisphere? (OK, kill me now for being literal minded!) >That would be the most drastic form of temporary Wording. Less >drastic forms can be imagined, but I'd still think that coming to >the end of your Word could throw you into Trauma or something similar. I also think it would be a Bad Thing. Maybe the Seraphim Council are just pretty resistent to requests that they think will be so temporary in scope (although I'm sure Lucifer does it). Is there any real advantage in giving out limited words, you think? jo ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 01:29:51 -0500 From: "Thomas Davidson" Subject: Re: IN> [FLUFF] Next week... GMING!!! Eeep!!! - ---------- > From: Elizabeth McCoy > To: in_nomine-l@LISTS.IO.COM > Subject: Re: IN> [FLUFF] Next week... GMING!!! Eeep!!! > Date: Monday, November 10, 1997 5:33 PM > > At 2:26 AM -0500 11/9/97, Thomas Davidson wrote: > >Next week, I start GMing IN for the first time... > > > >And, boy, am *I* nervous about this prospect. This is the biggest group > >(about eight) of players I've *ever* GMed. And plus the fact that I will > >probably have *two* separate groups to GM.... ... > > > >Also, this is the first time I'll be GMing *anything* in... oh, about > >*five* years! Eeek! What am I going to do?!! > > Fly by the seat of your pants, keep the pace fast (hopefully), I'm not going to have to do service at a Tether of Eli for this, am I? :) > and don't let the Kyrios get you down! > I haven't seen the PC's yet, so it's a toss-up what kinda characters there will be. I *was* kinda hoping to be able to see the characters *first*, but I do know that I want them angelic, and I *do* have some generic angelic adventures running around in my head. > Have fun! > Thanks. The people on the list have been generally supportive, and that's why I came here with my concerns... Now here's to hoping that I can come up with adventure ideas... (Is that Tether of Eli available?) :) Thomas Davidson tdavidso@suffolk.lib.ny.us 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: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 01:19:32 -0500 From: "bruce dykes" Subject: IN> Wording Okay, here's my take on Wording: First, consider that Infernal and Divine words are indepndent of each other, and only superiors can grant words, so in the case of Redemption or Falling, any Word grants will likely be lost, unless the superior being petitioned can be convinced otherwise (never in the case of angelic superiors, and only rarely in the case of demonic superiors; but it's your campaign). Now that that's cleared, let's consider Infernal Words first. Infernal Words are turf, pure and simple. You fight for your Word and everything it contains, or somebody takes it from you. If your Word is becoming obsolete, you fight to extend its influence, and you fight for its replacement. If its replacement is already owned by another demon, you figure out some way to take it from him. Now for Divine Words. If an angel is halfway competent at promoting his Word, he should recognise when his Word is about to obsolesce, and petition his superior for the updated Word. If he has a good track record, and there are no other contenders, approval is mostly a formality. But angels are imperfect, and sometimes that may manifest as incompetence. Take the case of the angel of Television Drama. Shortly after the development of television, she saw the potential for its use as a dramatic medium and petitioned her immediate superior, the angel of Drama for the Word of Television Drama. But the angel of Drama considered the new device too Diabolical to be of use and denied her petition. So the angel of Television Drama went over his head and petitioned their superior, the angel of Theater, who approved her petition. The result is that the Word of Drama is split into Theatrical Drama and Television Drama, and as the audience for Television Drama outgrew the theatre going audience, so grew the prominence of the angel of Television Drama. Attention SJG: Player's guides are great, but I don't think I'm alone in wanting a GM's guide that gives guidelines for Wording, Archangel creation, and Rite, Song and Attunement creation... Bruce Impudite Captain of Cross-Licensing bdykes@intac.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 01:40:18 -0500 From: "bruce dykes" Subject: IN> Anton S. LaVey Apparently (according to the Daily Show anyway), Anton LaVey has passed on to his infernal reward. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 01:26:14 -0600 (CST) From: redneck@txdirect.net (Redneck Gaijin) Subject: Re: IN> Wording Attention SJG: Player's guides are great, but I don't think I'm alone in >wanting a GM's guide that gives guidelines for Wording, Archangel creation, >and Rite, Song and Attunement creation... > D**n straight. Redneck Kris Overstreet, will write for food... | Do not taunt Happy Fun Belial. http://www.txdirect.net/users/redneck | * * * c/o White Lightning Productions | "I love the sweet smell of http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/wlp/ | humiliation in the morning!" Webmaster for Antarctic Press | --- Kobal reaffirms himself http://www.antarctic-press.com/ | ***QUESTION EVERYTHING*** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 05:54:07 -0200 From: "Cristiano Guião de Freitas" Subject: Re: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP Donald G Bixler wrote: > > > Dissatisfied with the existing character sheets, for being too > hard to > > > I wish somebody would have this idea before... > > Several people had, including myself. You should be able to find > several of them via the INC and mine are at > http://www.wiu.edu/users/mudgb4/wiu/in-nomine.html > > > ---Mumm-ra, the ever-living > > Oops da Ogre, *twitch* Thundercats *twitch* > mudgb4@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu I got your sheet and i really liked it, tanx for your work!'bout Mumm-ra, do you know He is "best friends" with his pal Saminga? :-) - -- "Ancient spirits of evil, transform this decayed form to Mumm-ra! the ever-living!" ---Mumm-ra, the ever-living ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 03:33:58 -0500 (EST) From: "Michael C. Nutt" Subject: Re: IN> About Shedim >>>>Basically, does the Shedim go celestial, THEN jump into a new >>>>host, or does he leap from host to host without actually being Celestial? >>>>If the former, does that mean it takes two actions, or one? >>> >>>Canon on that is in minor flux, but looks to be stabilizing as: >>>"A Shedite can 'jump' from one host to another without going >>>celestial in-between." More detail will be gone into in the >>>Infernal Player's Guide. (Since Kyrios can do it, it was >>>deemed that it was unfair to Shedim not to manage it.) >> >>Hey, that's just the price they pay for indefinitely long possessions and >>"full knowledge of their host's thoughts, feelings and memories" (IN, p. >>151). They *aren't* Dark Kyrios, and looking for symmetry where it ought not >>be is unfair to anybody who has to *deal* with the damn things. Can we start >>making arguments for *Kyrios* to get the aforementioned neat stuff just >>because *Shedim* get it, and it isn't fair for it to not work both ways? > >With a resonance roll at a minus to the target number, Kyrios can >indeed get memories, similar to the automatic Kyrio of Destiny >attunement. Unless that changes from my draft copy of the APG to >the actual printed version. ArchBeth, I love ya dearly, but it's *surely* not fair to be arguing based on your draft copies of material that hasn't made it into the stores yet! Jeez... and here I was getting ready to cite a reference to IN pp.101-102 ("Kyriotates have no access to their hosts' memories."). How come this change is being made? Fer gossakes, it doesn't seem to *me* that Kyrios needed any *more* advantages! Also, it doesn't answer my *basic* point... Shedites are *not* Kyriotates. Just because a resonance works one way for an angel doesn't necessarily mean it should work the same way for a demon. Kyrios get to transfer instantly because they understand how to be in two places at once, where Shedites *don't*. >At least Shedim have to make resonance rolls to make the host do >something "evil." This may well include "shoot that person over >there (who happens to be an angel)".... Um, according to the core book, it's not a resonance roll, but simply winning a Contest of Wills. Also note that the Shedite gets to add the successful CD of his "roll to posess" to his Will for the purposes of this contest, in addition to any other bennies his Prince gives him. Given the typical mismatch between a celestial and a human, which gets blown up even further by the bonuses mentioned above, I don't see the Will-contest as a major obstacle for your typical Shedite, and it certainly isn't a major enough deal to warrant giving them extra perks. >>>Whether they wind up celestial if they "bounce" off a strong- >>>Willed host, or not, is still in flux. I think it may be leaning >>>to "no, only if they went celestial for some daft reason of >>>their own," but don't quote me yet. (Yes, I know about p. 152. It >>>*IMPLIES STRONGLY* that Shedim must go celestial between hosts, >>>but does not *state* that. All it *states* is that the Shedite >>>*may* go celestial, at will, and may then look for another host. >>>It doesn't say he can't swap hosts without going celestial.) >> >>Hmmmm. Let me quote the section I'm thinking of, then. "The demon can leave >>his host at any time, manifesting in his celestial form, but must make a >>successful resonance roll to enter another vessel." (IN, p. 152) > >Yes. It implies strongly that they must go celestial. However, >it doesn't say he *MUST*. As I said, though, it's still in flux. >When you read it in the IPG (Infernal Player's Guide), then it >will no longer be in flux. I don't see that as a simple implication. It sounds to me like a very simple statement describing what happens when a Shedite leaves its current host. They can only have one host at a time, and so they have to leave one before entering another. Does there seem to be a consensus among the Powers-That-Be that we need to add *more* complexity here? It seems like a *real* stretch to me to allow instant transfers. >And if it is, I loose the Calabim of Line Editing on the culprit. Decided that threats about "getting out the bullwhips and the leather" just weren't getting the job done, eh? Michael Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 12:02:52 -0000 From: "Hart, Joanna" Subject: IN> The Trial (plot seed) Summary: Following a spate of unexplained celestial activity in the city, there is a sudden influx of servants of Judgement and a local tether of Dominic becomes a hub of activity. After poking their noses into this, the PCs get co-opted into dropping whatever they are currently doing and helping to gather evidence for the defence council in preparation for the formal trial of a renegade. Evidently it is considered to be quite an important trial and demons of The Game are also taking an acute interest, but more information than this is available only on a need to know basis .. and citizen, you don't need to know! What's going on: Demons go renegade all the time. The careful, cunning ones could really last for quite a while before being caught and dealt with, especially if their superiors were busy with other things. Demons of The Game don't do that sort of thing though -- it would be suicide; their superior is well-informed, paranoid, extremely vengeful to traitors and checks up on each of them regularly. Except... one just has, and not just any old demon; this one is a 15-force word-bound Habbalite Baron which has plenty of blackmail material on other demons. It did that strange Habbalah thang to itself (as per wiping out its own emotions by mistake) and, strangely depressed, simply decided that it didn't want to play The Game any more (ie. Game Over, Player 1). It has been a major embarrassment to Asmodeus that the demon has managed to outwit everything he has sent after it but finally, realising that the game is up and falling into a suicidal depression, the demon is trying for one last finesse. By turning itself over to the servants of Judgement it seeks some final bitter satisfaction in depriving its former master of the pleasure of its punishment. However, rather than destroying it outright, Dominic has ordered a formal trial. The demon is bemused by this concept but is still determined not to be sent back. Its aim is to make sure the angels give it a sentence of soul-death. It is depressed to a truly annoying degree if anyone wants to interview it and takes no interest in helping its own defence council, in fact if they do find anything that might help its case, the demon will try to refute it. It is also toting more dissonance than PCs may ever have seen on a single celestial. Demons in the Area: There are a couple of demons of The Game in the area, they are supposedly working together but are slightly hampered by the fact that they are in competition with each other. Asmodeus has put the order out that whoever can bring the Habbalah back (dead or alive -- it now has no heart so dead will be tricky) will be considered as a replacement for its word; but death of any sort will probably do. It does look bad to have servants of Judgement beating them to the punch and although they haven't been ordered to save face on behalf of their superior, they are all bright enough to have figured out that doing so would be a Good Thing. (ie. if they can persuade the tribunal to accept their faked evidence and destroy the demon they can still try to make it seem in their reports as though they manipulated the angels into doing their work). Team 1. A Lilim & a Balseraph. They've decided that probably the best they can do is to take the subtle approach and simply 'aid' the course of justice. So they'll be attempting to quietly contact any angels who seem to be involved in the investigations with offers to hand over evidence as to what the accused had been up to before turning renegade - -- this is valid info, and the Lil will of course be pulling geases from it. Their next step is to begin fabricating evidence (which is where the Balseraph really comes into its own -- given a few minutes alone with any mortal it will be able to convince them that the Habbalah has done more or less anything.. and can then point the PCs in the mortal's direction); if there are any outstanding geases then PCs may find themselves geased to present this information as being highly important. There is also a small team of demons of Theft, with a couple of soldiers to help them. One of the demons is uncomfortably aware that he stole the Habbalite's heart for it from Asmodeus' stronghold but fortunately his superior has not yet found out (well, he has but he is sufficiently impressed at the stunt to not take any personal action... yet). What they would very much like to do is find a way to sneak out the accused demon from right under the noses of its warders and take it back to hell as if it were some kind of rare trophy. One of the soldiers is a high-ranking policeman and one is involved with organised crime -- they'll try anything to clear the building from bomb alerts, infestations of vermin etc etc; whatever will give them the chance they need. (If they actually manage to spring the Habbalah it won't want to go with them, and they aren't expecting that). Investigations: The defence council is an old, unworded cherub that is surprised to have been given such a prestigious job. It is conscientious in trying to do the best that it can but has no great enthusiasm for defending renegade demons. The best advice it has is that in order to have picked up so much dissonance, the demon surely must have been doing something right. It assigns a young angel to help the PCs, a mercurian which is so new that this is the first time it has been on earth. The defence council figures that if nothing else, this trial will be useful experience for it. The Mercurian makes up for its mentor by being as keen as mustard, although it gets over-excited when humans are around (ie. like a labrador puppy) -- it bombards the PCs with constant questions, especially if any of them are of the same choir. There is no real doubt that despite being cute, it will happily report any signs of lack of enthusiasm (or anything else) back to Dominic. Assuming the PCs decide to begin by trying to trace the Habbalah's recent actions before being apprehended they'll be able to find out that it had a role as a newly qualified lawyer (not its original role, but a spare low-level one it had put aside for emergencies) and had been acting for companies who faced legal challenges from employees (ie. after accidents at work). Interviewing lawyers in its firm will determine that when it started work everyone was delighted with it, it had done a great job of helping its clients avoid claims from employees who had been inhaling asbestos dust or working on poorly maintained machinery. It is also possible to find some of the corporate clients or the people who wanted to claim damages. They will all corroberate the general story. Recently though, the demon had been keeping bad hours and taking more time off sick. It was given a chance at a really big damages claim case and totally blew it. Its senior partners assumed that the pressure was getting to it. Only its secretary who is on holiday at the moment is aware that the demon was working late one night and talked to her over a coffee about deliberately throwing the case. It gave no reason why. Looking into its 'home life' will reveal that it was quiet and lived alone. Neighbours found it pleasant (if paranoid), but willing to give good legal advice (usually on how to avoid paying taxes or other such small but useful snippets). It had been getting home very late in the evenings recently. This is because it has been involved with a woman who runs a refuge for streetkids in a very rough part of town. It met her when it was checking archives at City Hall and overheard her arguing with a council official who accused her of dealing drugs to the kids and being unfit to run any kind of hostel. Although originally it had simply planned to stir things up it became gloomily impressed with her fighting spirit and decided to weigh in and help her out of a vague wish to accomplish something lasting before it was destroyed. Although the demon itself will talk this down, it is one of the few altruistic actions it has ever taken. If PCs can track her down, the woman is short, feisty, argumentative, ill-educated and a drug user. Still... she has dedicated herself to trying to stop kids from falling into the same traps she fell into, and she is very aware that the council wanted to evict her, but the demon found a legal way to stop them doing it. If told that he is in trouble she will demand to be allowed to go and speak up for her lover. It is clear that in a human court she would not be considered a good character witness. She also knows that it has been very depressed and speaks often about trying to get away from its past. The Habbalah has also been spending some time in advising other renegades on how to avoid Asmodeus' attentions. It may be persuaded to give some names to the defence team, although noting gloomily that it is ironic that doing so will seal the renegade's fate. What it doesn't know is that at least one of those demons has subsequently been redeemed. Trial: Its run under a non-adversarial system, so the prosecution and defence may well openly offer information to each other if they turn up something which will help the other team's case. The object of the trial is to determine the truth. Dominic is present and the atmosphere is very formal. Although none of the angels of judgement who are asked really think their superior will feel the need to bother with whatever oddments of evidence the PCs have collected, he listens to everything. If PCs have done good work for the defence and generally been co-operative then Dominic will be generally pleased, all involved with the trial (if it goes off well and the theft demons don't succeed in stealing the accused) will be gifted with essence and have good reports forwarded to their own superiors. Anyone who shows a keen interest in the legal proceedings may have the opportunity to learn some of Dominic's rites also. If they have knowingly presented the false evidence that the demons offered them and been found out, then this is a bad thing (being found in contempt of court when Dominic is the judge is not good), and more trials may follow. If they were fooled by the demons and the evidence is found to be false then they will be given a stern lecture on listening to demons and dismissed with a black mark on their records (this is no more than a slap on the wrists really). The actual result of the trial will depend on how much evidence the defence have managed to gather. The Habbalah is an astoundingly bad witness -- it is composed but is stoically prepared to die, and seems unwilling to consider other options. It seems to be ekeing as much drama as it can from the proceedings. It gives a speech before the summation in which it admits to everything, tells the court it is ready to be destroyed, offers to make a statement about every demon it knows who has been consorting with angels and adds as an afterthought that it doesn't regret any of the things it has done. If the woman is in the court, it will be evident to any seraphim that this last statement isn't entirely true (bizarrely, she has been acting as his conscience lately). Death is still the most likely verdict, although the prosecution will push for permanent imprisonment on the grounds that this will make it harder for Hell to reassign its word. But depending on how the trial goes, it is still just possible that the demon can be redeemed. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 08:38:05 -0500 From: johnk@lucent.com (John Karakash - Lucent ASCC) Subject: Re: IN> Balsy question On Nov 10, 7:31pm, Pee Kitty wrote: > Subject: Re: IN> Balsy question > On Mon, 10 Nov 1997, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: > > > >This doesn't appear to be covered anywhere. The mechanics for all the > > >other demons seem to suggest that a failed Resonance roll is treated as a > > >successful resistance roll, but is that right? If the Balsy fails with a > > >CD of 4, is the victim automatically immune to 'em for 4 hours? Does a CD > > >of 6 generate dissonance? > > > > I would say Sure, Yes, and No. This is the way I've been playing it and, after careful thought, it seems like a good canonical answer. The reason there is no dissonance on a CD of 6 is that there isn't someone resisting the Balseraphs personal symphony, just a failure to extend it. - -- ___________________________________________________ / \ |John Karakash - Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T) | | (919)380-4629 | | | | The power to tax involves the power to destroy. | | -Chief Justice Marshall | \___________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 08:13:16 -0600 From: John L Veazey Subject: Re: IN> IN Character Sheet .BMP I'd like to see this improved character sheet. - -- John L Veazey (Vz) | Warning: In case of accidental overdose, veazey@ebicom.net | seek professional assistance or contact jlv2@ra.msstate.edu | Poison Control Center Immediately. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 09:05:40 -0500 (EST) From: Emily Dresner Subject: Re: IN> The Trial (plot seed) I didn't include it here because it is a LONG plot seed. All I can say is wow. This is amazing. Absolutely amazing. My jaw has dropped. ... unfortuntely I can't use verbatim in my game, no matter how badly I would want to, but you never know when a good solid trial might come up. - - Em, Balseraph who doesn't take slighting the Game personally. :) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 09:27:41 -0500 From: johnk@lucent.com (John Karakash - Lucent ASCC) Subject: Re: IN> Wording > Attention SJG: Player's guides are great, but I don't think I'm alone in > wanting a GM's guide that gives guidelines for Wording, Archangel creation, > and Rite, Song and Attunement creation... Trust me, this is being discussed even now. What you will _never_ see is how to become an AA/DP, though. Uh-uh, no way. It might make an interesting climax to a campaign, but then people will want rules on how to _be_ an AA/DP and that is faaaaar out of the scope of the game! - -- ___________________________________________________ / \ |John Karakash - Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T) | | (919)380-4629 | | | | The power to tax involves the power to destroy. | | -Chief Justice Marshall | \___________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #466 ******************************* The material here is (C) 1997 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.