From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Mon Apr 14 16:59:57 1997 Return-Path: Received: from lists.io.com (root@lists.io.com [199.170.88.15]) by deliverator.io.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id QAA01449; Mon, 14 Apr 1997 16:26:36 -0500 (CDT) Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) id PAA20017 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Mon, 14 Apr 1997 15:29:02 -0500 Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 15:29:02 -0500 Message-Id: <199704142029.PAA20017@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 #117 Reply-To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk in_nomine-digest Monday, April 14 1997 Volume 01 : Number 117 In this digest: Re: IN> Why conceal? Re: IN> Why conceal? Re: IN> Other Campaigns (was More Heresy) Re: IN> Other Campaigns (was More Heresy) Re: IN> Dreamscapes Re: IN> Why conceal? Re: IN> Dreamscapes IN> Characters for Fire in the Yucatan IN> Adventure: Fire in the Yucatan IN> God's game RE: IN> Dreamscapes Re: IN> Angel of Garden Statues (fwd) Re: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #115 Re: IN> God's game IN> Interesting quotes Re: IN> Other Campaigns (was More Heresy) IN> Adventure Seed: In All of Creation... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 10:13:29 -0400 (EDT) From: Gregory Littmann Subject: Re: IN> Why conceal? On Sun, 13 Apr 1997, Andrew Thompson wrote: > I am a GM setting up a campaign and I was wondering why God would want > the celestial conflict n Earth to be hidden from the mortals. The fact > that there are ANGELS and DEMONS would do much to promote faith in the > monkeys and there would still be free-will in that the monkeys could > choose between the two sides of the conflict. > I think that the best thing is for the players *not* to have an explanation. Working for God *ought* to leave one wondering "what on Earth is He up to?", "Why does He demand *this?" and maybe even "At what point, if any, should you stop obeying orders that you don't understand the need for?". ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 09:02:45 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: Re: IN> Why conceal? Perhaps the motive is not directly to conceal powers from mortals, but to avoid escalation at this point in time. If Heaven puts more angels on Earth and lets them use more SFX, Hell does the same and (being what it is) probably a little more. Heaven ups the ante in return, and round and round it goes until you quickly get to Armageddon. The problem is "quickly." There is a proper time and place for Armageddon, and it isn't yet. Until then, the Celestials are throttled down. (As best I understand it, this is more or less the premise of a roleplaying game called "The Rapture," put out by Quintessential Mercy Press. Only THAT game is staged in the seven years prior to Armageddon, when the Celestials ARE escalating, and life on Earth is getting rapidly weirder and weirder (and nastier and nastier).) Earl Wajenberg ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 10:01:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Gregory Littmann Subject: Re: IN> Other Campaigns (was More Heresy) On Mon, 14 Apr 1997, Peter Frederick wrote: > Acutally one variant that I thinkn IN screams out for is the Historical > Campaign, with settings in other historical periods. In fact to go the > whole hog you can have a group of players who are assigned to work together > could only be mobilised every 20 to 50 years when needed. I can see the > players leaving families of servitors behind to make sure they have support > when they get sent back to Earth the next time. Start them off about 800 AD > and bring them up through history 50 years at a time. Great idea, but if you are going to go for it, you may as well go for it. Start them in 6,000 B.C. at the creation of the world (Demons can then plant those nasty misleading fossils). Play them at whatever historical intevals you find interesting - you could even have backflash games if you want. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 09:11:06 -0400 From: "John Karakash - Lucent ASCC" Subject: Re: IN> Other Campaigns (was More Heresy) On Apr 14, 7:40pm, Peter Frederick wrote: > Subject: IN> Other Campaigns (was More Heresy) > Dear Andrew and List > > ain't life grand I may never have to buy another game :) . > > Acutally one variant that I thinkn IN screams out for is the Historical > Campaign, with settings in other historical periods. In fact to go the > whole hog you can have a group of players who are assigned to work together > could only be mobilised every 20 to 50 years when needed. I can see the > players leaving families of servitors behind to make sure they have support > when they get sent back to Earth the next time. Start them off about 800 AD > and bring them up through history 50 years at a time. Good idea. I've used this in two other campaigns. It's an _excellent_ way to run immortals (or effective immortals) to avoid the kludge these people are sticking with each other, constantly, for centuries. - -- ___________________________________________________ / \ |John Karakash - Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T) | | (919)380-4629 | | "A fundamental principle of economics is that the | | more you tax something, the less you get of it. | | In this country we tax success most of all." | \___________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 10:01:11 -0400 From: "John Karakash - Lucent ASCC" Subject: Re: IN> Dreamscapes In article <5ijjsh$36q$1@news.fas.harvard.edu> you wrote: > If a Kyriotate inhabiting multiple hosts performs a song of Numinous > Corpus, does it apply only to one host or to all of them? Oh, my. And I had thought that all the difficult possession questions had already been asked. I would rule that it only applies to one, but you can switch which one it applies to by making it vanish from one host and then add it to another. The image of hundreds of bumblebees with 6-inch long claws is a bit frightening, I must say! ;) Actually, even ONE with 6-inch long claws is kinda scary! > Do Kyriotates need to make sure that their hosts eat, sleep and fufill any > other human needs or are the host bodies treated like vessels while > inhabited? Similarly, how are the Body Hits calculated. To the first question: no maintenance is necessary, other than breathing. The second, for now, is that you use the standard formula with the Level of the vessel, but he Strength and CorpForces of the possessor. This May Change Soon. Stay tuned! - -- ___________________________________________________ / \ |John Karakash - Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T) | | (919)380-4629 | | "A fundamental principle of economics is that the | | more you tax something, the less you get of it. | | In this country we tax success most of all." | \___________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 09:06:40 -0400 From: "John Karakash - Lucent ASCC" Subject: Re: IN> Why conceal? On Apr 13, 11:47am, Andrew Thompson wrote: > Subject: IN> Why conceal? > I am a GM setting up a campaign and I was wondering why God would want > the celestial conflict n Earth to be hidden from the mortals. The fact > that there are ANGELS and DEMONS would do much to promote faith in the > monkeys and there would still be free-will in that the monkeys could > choose between the two sides of the conflict. > > I realize that if the celestials did not have to conceal their powers > somewhat the game may become a superheroes vs. supervillians type game. > I am just looking for a logical reason to tell my friends when they > roleplay their characters. Simple. Both sides have independently determined that it is in their own best interest to keep things quiet. Perhaps Demons fear they would lose ground on earth if _everyone_ knew there was a literal hell awaiting them. Perhaps Angels fear the chaos that would erupt if word of the War got out. Or to put it more bluntly, both God and Lucifer WANT it hidden for ineffable reasons that lesser minds can't comprehend. These two are like chessmaster using an infinite board with many, many pieces. The individual moves might not make sense to any of the pieces. - -- ___________________________________________________ / \ |John Karakash - Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T) | | (919)380-4629 | | "A fundamental principle of economics is that the | | more you tax something, the less you get of it. | | In this country we tax success most of all." | \___________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 09:03:31 -0400 From: "John Karakash - Lucent ASCC" Subject: Re: IN> Dreamscapes On Apr 13, 10:52am, Matthias Mueller wrote: > Subject: IN> Dreamscapes > Hi everybody, > > I'm not sure my first message reached the list, so here's my question again > : > > The following problem turned up while I created a Servitor of Beleth. It > looks like entering > a humans dreamscape via Dreamwalking or Corporeal Song of Dreams lets you > stay just > a couple of minutes in your targets dream. So how can an Impudite of Beleth > stay in a dream > for a hour or more, to benefit from his its band attunement ? > First I thought that every demon could enter dreamscapes, but couldn't > affect anything inside. > Now, having looked closer at that part, it seems they can only observe > dreamscapes from outside > when not using song or attunement. > > Who can help me there ? > -How many ways are there to enter somebodys dream ? > -How long is the maximum time you could stay ? Hmmmm... thinking... thinking... This is a good opportunity to expound on how answers get generated by me (I can't speak for anyone else in the In Nomine universe, btw). If you are offended by gardening analogies, please skip this post! I take fresh questions over to my backyard. Some are easy and I can just plop them in the ground. Answers spring up, each according to its species. Others require more specialized care, extensive amounts of fertilizer and attention. These answers might take quite a bit longer. And some are hopeless, so I throw them on the compost pile and mostly ignore them. =) In this case, I am going the second route and see what kind of fruit it bears. - -- ___________________________________________________ / \ |John Karakash - Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T) | | (919)380-4629 | | "A fundamental principle of economics is that the | | more you tax something, the less you get of it. | | In this country we tax success most of all." | \___________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 10:54:03 -0400 (EDT) From: "Paul F. Strack" Subject: IN> Characters for Fire in the Yucatan Here are the pregenerated characters I handed out for the Fire in the Yucatan adventure. None of them are very deep, but they could be used for some quick NPC angels or demons. All of them are balanced starting characters. Omri Seraphim Servitor of War Omri is an honorable soldier of Michael. His word is his bond and he follows a warrior code not unlike that of the Malakim. Although somewhat inexperienced, Omri hopes to grow in power and earn a place of leadership in the armies of God. Corporeal Forces - 4 (Strength 9, Agility 7) Ethereal Forces - 2 (Intelligence 4, Precision 4) Celestial Forces - 3 (Will 5, Perception 7) Vessel: Human/2 Songs: Form (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/3, Celestial/3) Skills: Fighting/2, Dodging/2, Large Weapon/4, Tactics/3 Attunements: Seraphim of , Malakim of War, Ofanim of War Hadoram Mercurian Servitor of Lighting Hadoram is a Servitor of Jean, and is obsessed with machinery. He is particularly enamored with the amazing and interesting devices that humans come up with to make their lives easier. He is quite good at making and fixing machines of all types. Corporeal Forces - 2 (Strength 4, Agility 4) Ethereal Forces - 4 (Intelligence 7, Precision 9) Celestial Forces - 3 (Will 6, Perception 6) Vessel: Human/2 Songs: Harmony (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/3, Celestial/3) Attunements: Mercurian of Jean, Remote Control Bernice Ofanim Servitor of Wind Bernice is a trickster, like most Servitors of Janus. She likes to open mortals eyes, often by "creatively rearranging possessions". Bernice's considers a locked door an invitation; after all, the person must have something interesting to hide. With her Attunements, few locks can bar her for long. She sometimes engages in "Robin Hood" thefts, stealing from those who have too much and giving to those who have too little. Corporeal Forces - 3 (Strength 5, Agility 7) Ethereal Forces - 3 (Intelligence 5, Precision 7) Celestial Forces - 3 (Will 5, Perception 7) Vessel: Human/2 Songs: Motion (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/3, Celestial/3) Skills: Dodging/2, Small Weapon/3, Move Silently/3, Acrobatics/3 Attunements: Ofanim of Wind, Passage Henoch Elohim Servitor of Trade Henoch is a skilled negotiator and regular wheeler and dealer. Sometimes a salesman, sometimes a diplomat, Henoch will get the job done. Henoch has a perfect poker face, and with his Resonance, often knows exactly how the other side is feeling. He prides himself on his fairness, but once a deal is made, it should be iron-clad. He sometimes uses his Divine Contract Attunement to make sure all parties stick to the bargain. Corporeal Forces - 2 (Strength 4, Agility 4) Ethereal Forces - 3 (Intelligence 5, Precision 7) Celestial Forces - 4 (Will 7, Perception 9) Vessel: Human/2 Songs: Shields (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/3, Celestial/3) Skills: Dodging/2, Ranged Weapon (Pistol)/2, Savoir Faire/4, Fast Talk/3 Attunements: Elohim of Trade, Divine Contract Sopheria Lilim Servitor of Fire Sopheria loves her freedom, and hates any impositions imposed on her (except through Geases). Like many servants of Belial, she is fascinated by fire, and lives her life with a burning passion. She loves to draw in mortals and lead them on an exciting ride, dumping them when they are no longer of use. Corporeal Forces - 2 (Strength 3, Agility 5) Ethereal Forces - 3 (Intelligence 6, Precision 6) Celestial Forces - 4 (Will 9, Perception 7) Vessel: Human/2 Songs: Charm (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/3, Celestial/3) Skills: Dodging/2, Ranged Weapon (Pistol)/3, Seduction/3, Lying/3 Attunements: Lilim of Fire, Incendiary Ahuzzah Balseraph Servitor of Fate Ahuzzah is very serious for a demon. With insights granted by Kronos, he is aware of how important the Celestial War is to demon kind. When given a mission, he works tirelessly until it is completed. He has little respect for demons that work for Princes other than Kronos - they simple don't understand the scope of their actions. Corporeal Forces - 3 (Strength 6, Agility 6) Ethereal Forces - 3 (Intelligence 5, Precision 7) Celestial Forces - 3 (Will 7, Perception 5) Vessel: Human/2 Skills: Dodging/2, Ranged Weapons (Pistol)/3, Tactics/3, Detect Lies/3 Songs: Tongues (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/3, Celestial/3) Attunements: Balseraph of Fate, Temporal Projection Jezriel Djinn Servitor of War Jezriel lives for war, and cares for nothing else. She obeys her Prince Baal without question, but is unhappy unless she is being sent into battle. When not fighting, she is practicing the arts of war. Jezriel is often sent of strike missions, using her Resonance to track one of her enemies back to his base, and then destroying it. Corporeal Forces - 4 (Strength 9, Agility 7) Ethereal Forces - 3 (Intelligence 6, Precision 6) Celestial Forces - 2 (Will 5, Perception 3) Vessel: Human/2 Songs: Entropy (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/3, Celestial/3) Skills: Fighting/2, Dodging/2, Large Weapon/4, Ranged Weapons (Rifle)/3 Attunements: Djinn of War, Art of Combat Tarpelite Calabim Servitor of Gluttony Tarpelite revels in greed and destruction. He delights in slowly enhancing mortal desires until their lives collapse under the weight of their overwhelming needs. Tarpelite is not a subtle demon, lying and cheating and fighting until he gets what he wants. When all else fails he releases the destructive power of his Resonance and sits back to enjoy the fireworks. Corporeal Forces - 2 (Strength 4, Agility 4) Ethereal Forces - 4 (Intelligence 7, Precision 9) Celestial Forces - 3 (Will 6, Perception 6) Vessel: Human/2 Songs: Light (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/3, Celestial/3) Skills: Dodging/2, Ranged Weapon (Rifle)/3, Fast Talk/3, Chemistry/3 Attunements: Calabim of Gluttony, Consume Discord: Greedy/3 Paul Strack | Madness takes its toll. pfstrack@math.unc.edu | Please have exact change. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Web Page - http://www.math.unc.edu/Grads/pfstrack/wod.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 10:52:24 -0400 (EDT) From: "Paul F. Strack" Subject: IN> Adventure: Fire in the Yucatan Fire in the Yucatan I wrote the following scenario for a game I ran at a convention. It is designed to work with angels, demons or a mixed group. This adventure is based on the recent Zapatista uprisings in the Yucatan peninsula. I've take some rather extreme liberties with the truth, in the hopes of telling an interesting story. Introduction The player characters, demons and angels alike, are summoned by their various superiors and told to go to Mexico City. Something important has arisen in Mexico that must be dealt with immediately, and the PCs are the best that are available on such short notice. They are supplied with plane tickets and reservations in a upper class hotel in the center of the Mexican capital. There they are met by the representatives of Heaven and/or Hell, the Seraphim Madiah and the Shedim Abel-Boalah (who possesses a bellhop). They explain that there have been disturbing rumors originating in the Yucatan peninsula. One of the old Aztec gods has been gathering power and worshipers from the descendants of the native population living in the region. Worse yet, spirit servants of the god have escaped from the Marches and are roaming on Earth. To top it all off, there is evidence that they in tend to open a tether to god's realm in the Far Marches. The ritual opening the Tether will require tremendous power, and nothing less fifty human hearts. Fortunately for the Celestials, the ritual is also very time dependent. If it does not happen within the week, it will not happen for another decade. The Celestials are to go to the Yucatan peninsula, seek out the worshippers of Aztec god, follow them back to the source and prevent the ritual from happening. The angels will of course be strongly motivated to prevent this heinous act of human sacrifice. Demonic motivations are a bit more complex. It boils down to this: Hell needs to keep the old gods in Beleth's realm quiet and dependent on Infernal mercy. They can't get the idea that they will ever return to Earth without Hell's help. Beside, the demons don't need any competition claiming damned souls. Most importantly, neither Heaven or Hell can allow the existence of a Tether to any other realms. Such a Tether is a step in the process of elevating that realm to the Celestial plane. Whether or not this is good or bad depends on your perspective, but neither side wants a third major force entering the war. If both angels and demons are present, they are given specific orders to work together. Time is precious and resources are limited; only cooperation will lead to success. Of course, if only one side is present, this isn't a concern, although the possibi lity that the enemy will take advantage of the situation adds some additional urgency to the issue. The Situation As is often the case, reality is a bit more complex than the mission briefing. The worshippers of Aztec god are also members of the Zapatista liberation movement, an organization of indigenous people in the Yucatan peninsula struggling for freedom and equality against the Mexican government. Frustrated by lack of progress in negotiations with the government, a few Zapatistas are willing to take more drastic measures to win their liberty. Under their leader Ramone Delpuente, this subgroup of Zapatistas have reached out to some of the older gods of Central America, and have been answered by Huehueteotl (hoo-weh-hoo-weh-tee-ott-ull, said quickly so that the syllables run together), Aztec god of fire. The deity has promised them fiery retribution in exchange for their worship. Delpuente has changed his name to Xichal, and leads a secret cult within the broader Zapatista movement. Xichal believes the native population must hearken back to o ld ways, and hopes to oust the current leaders of the Zapatista movement in favor of his own more reactionary outlook. The current Mexican governor of the region, Eduardo Robledo, is notoriously corrupt. He got his position by appointment from the Mexican government, not popular election. Robledo's elite forces have terrorized the native people of the Yucatan in the hopes of demoralizing the Zapatista movement. Some of his soldiers are little better than death squads. Recently, however, the Zapatistas have had some success, and captured most of a company of Robledo's goons. Delpuente/Xichal has convinced some of the Zapatistas that an example needs to made of the captured troops. It is these soldiers that Xichal hopes to sacrifice to Huehueteotl - though he has yet to tell this to any but the secret cult members. Not all the Zapatistas agree with Delpuente's plans, however. More moderate members of the movement hope to exchange the soldiers for Zapatista prisoners. It was Xichal's followers that captured the Mexicans, however, and he has control of them. In fact, Huehueteotl's spirits helped Xichal's men win the night battle against the Mexican troops, harrying the soldiers with flames that moved of their own accord. Without outside intervention, Xichal and Huehueteotl are likely to get their way. Searching the Yucatan The Celestials should proceed to the Yucatan peninsula soon after their meeting. They must take a train south, and then a bus; convenient air travel is not available. The Celestials should quickly become aware of the squalor and poverty the natives live in, compared to the luxury of the upper class Mexican's. Note that journey down is a good time for Celestials to receive "private messages" from their superiors about how the Aztec god should be handled. How the Celestials proceed is up to them, but they should soon learn of the tension between the natives and the government. Hopefully they will make their way to the Zapatistas. If they are able to earn the rebels' trust, they may learn of the capture of the Mexican soldiers, and that Delpuente is planning something big soon, to prove to the government how serious the movement is. Moderate Zapatistas will express misgivings about Delpuente, worrying that he will go too far and draw in more government troops. Delpuente's followers themselves will not willingly give any information to slick gringos sniffing around their turf. Only Delpuente's men know where the Mexican soldiers are being held. One of them must be captured or followed as he heads back into the jungles. Still, clever Celestials should have little trouble finding Delpuente eventually. The Tecpatl The Tecpatl are fire spirits that serve Huehueteotl. Like Celestials, they can hear (and make) disturbances in the Symphony. If the player characters get carried away with Songs or mayhem, they might attract the Tecpatl. The Tecpatl may attack while the Celestials are still in native territory, in the jungle on the way to Delpuente's camp, or any time the GM wants to spice of the story. The Tecpatl are spirits with no Vessels; Huehueteotl is not yet powerful enough to give bodies to his servants. They can possess flames, however, just like Shedim of Belial. They spend most of their time on Earth hanging out in small fires like cigarette butts, manifesting Celestially and flitting to a new fire when they need to (like Shedim, they make no disturbance to the Symphony when they leave their "host"). They are also able to ignite flammable substances, as with Belial's Servitor Attunement: Incendiary. This allows them to create host flames in a pinch. In Celestial form, the Tecpatl appear as amorphous balls of fire. Their touch burns, and is a Power 3 attack. The stats of Tecpatl are as follows: Corporeal Forces 3 - Strength 7, Agility 5, Body 21 Ethereal Forces 2 - Intelligence 3, Precision 5, Mind 6 Celestial Forces 2 - Will 4, Perception 4, Soul 8 Skills: Fighting/4 Attunements: Shedim of Fire, Incendiary Note: While possessing flames, water does Body damage to the Tecpatl; the Power depends on the amount of water. Delpuente's Camp Delpuente's camp is well hidden deep in the Yucatan jungle. There are over 200 well-armed Zapatistas in the camp, too much even for ambitious Celestials. Subtlety will be required. Unfortunately, Delpuente and most of the captured soldiers are gone, getting ready for the big ceremony. Only a handful of Mexican soldiers are left in the camp - Delpuente plans to send them back to the government with proof of his activities. The Mexican goon squad are insulting and crude, threatening to hunt down the families of the Zapatistas if they are not released. They are not exactly the sort of men your average Celestial would go out of his way to rescue. There are also two Jesuit priests, Felipe Carlos and Raymundo Triere, being held prisoner in the camp. They have learned of Delpuente's plans, and he captured them before they could warn anyone. Delpuente respects the priest - the Jesuits have been a great help to the Mexican poor in the past - and is only planning on holding them until after the ritual. The priests know where Delpuente has gone, and can tell the Celestials this if they are rescued. Most of the Zapatistas in the camp are unaware of Delpuente's exact plans. Many of them know where he has gone, but don't know what he is doing. If approached correctly, they might be willing to share that information. Failing that, one of them could always be captured and interrogated. Uxmal Delpuente has gone to one of the Mayan ruins littering the Yucatan landscape. Uxmal is not quite as famous as some of the other ruins, but is still an important site. Delpuente is atop the central pyramid of the ruins, with a huge bonfire roaring at the top (to receive the sacrificial hearts). As soon as fighting breaks out, he will take cover behind masonry and blast his foes with his staff. Delpuente is insane and cannot be convinced to stop. If called by name, he will maniacally and cry "Delpuente is no more; I am Xichal!" At the foot of the pyramid are two dozen of Xichal's secret cultists. They are fanatically loyal and cannot be swayed. They guard the sixty prisoners (a few extra in case anything goes wrong). The prisoners are roped together, and tied to stakes so that they cannot escape. If the Celestials have been tardy, half of the soldiers have already been sacrificed. The Zapatistas will open up with assault rifles should Uxmal be attacked. Finally, there are several Tecpatl in the area, one for each of the Celestials. The fire spirits will swarm to attack. The ritual can be stopped in several ways. Killing Xichal would work, but he will drop under cover once fighting starts. Freeing the prisoners would work as well. If too many of the Zapatistas are killed, the Tecpatl will try to burn the prisoners where they stand. If the prisoners are freed or the battle goes badly, the fanatic cultists will fling themselves into the fire in the hopes of freeing their god. If the GM likes, Huehueteotl himself can partly manifest at a dramatic moment, to add a little tension to the scene (the god can do nothing until the ritual is complete). Zapatista Soldiers Corporeal Forces 2 - Strength 4, Agility 4, Body 16 Ethereal Forces 2 - Intelligence 3, Precision 5, Mind 3 Celestial Forces 1 - Will 2, Perception 2, Soul 2 Skills: Fighting/2, Range Weapon (Rifle)/4, Survival (Jungle)/3, Move Silently/3 Delpuente / Xichal Xichal is a soldier, able to control his expenditure of Essence. Corporeal Forces 2 - Strength 4, Agility 4, Body 16 Ethereal Forces 2 - Intelligence 3, Precision 5, Mind 6 Celestial Forces 2 - Will 5, Perception 3, Soul 10 Skills: Fighting/2, Ranged Weapon (Rifle)/4, Survival (Jungle)/3, Move Silently/3, Language (English)/2, Tactics/4, Knowledge (Aztec Ritual)/4 Artifact: Staff of the Fiery Serpent - This carved and feather-decorated staff is imbedded with the Celestial Song of Light. It is also a level 4 Reliquary (only for powering the staff). The user must bear the make of Huehueteotl in order to be able to the staffs powers. Huehueteotl Huehueteotl appears as an immense flaming serpent, with burning wings. The Aztec god is extremely powerful, almost equal to a Superior, and will easily defeat the Celestials if the ritual is completed and he is able to fully manifest. Aftermath If the Celestials were successful, they need only clean up after their mess. Some of them may want stick around for a while to help - or take advantage of - the struggle between the Zapatistas and the Mexican government. If the Celestials failed, Huehueteotl will drive them from the Yucatan, probably destroying their Vessels with fire and flinging them back to Heaven or Hell. The forces of God and Satan will have a tough battle ahead to eject the god's influence from this world. Complications The Celestials may have mixed motives going into the Yucatan, especially if they are a mixed group of angels and demons. They may receive some special instructions from their superiors about how to handle the situations. Some possibilities are: * More hard-line Archangels will want the situation resolved completely. They will insist that as many of the cultists be destroyed as possible, especially Xichal. * Softer Archangels may want to try and sway some of the Tecpatl away from the Aztec god. If the Tecpatl are integrated into the Heavenly host, they may eventually become Ofanim. * The two Jesuit priests are not Soldiers of God, but they show potential. A Celestial's Superior could insist that they be kept safe at all costs. * The leader of the Mexican soldiers is a particular brutal man, possibly a closet Satanist. An Archangel could order his Servitor to make sure he won't survive the battle. * Some Demon Princes, particularly Belial, will want as many of the Aztec spirits destroyed as possible. That way they can't go back to the Marches with information about what its like on Earth. * Other Demon Princes will hope to recruit the Tecpatl and possibly Huehueteotl himself. They will ask their Servitors to do everything they can in this direction short of letting the Aztec god establish his Tether. * One Prince may have a particular grudge against the two Jesuits, and order his Servitor to slay them. * Another Prince may be cultivating the leader of Mexican soldiers as a follower, and insist that his Servitor save the man. Paul Strack | Madness takes its toll. pfstrack@math.unc.edu | Please have exact change. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Web Page - http://www.math.unc.edu/Grads/pfstrack/wod.html ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 13:08:48 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: IN> God's game John Karakash likened God and Lucifer to a pair of chess players. This reminded me of a quote from "Good Omens" by Gaiman and Pratchett. Running strictly off memory, it goes something like: "As is well-known, God does not play dice with the universe. Rather, He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the viewpoint of the other players (i.e. everyone), to playing poker for infinite stakes, with blank cards, in a darkened room, with a Dealer Who never tells you the rules and _smiles_all_ _the_time_." Earl Wajenberg ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 09:55:57 -0700 From: Steven Feldon Subject: RE: IN> Dreamscapes While we're working on hard Kyriotate questions, imagine this situation. Kyriotate of Michael has chosen to generate more than one of his own vessels. (In this case, a human, a cat, and a bird.) The rules specify that it takes no Essence to move to the Corporeal Plane, but the Book never specifies how much if might cost to materialize a body if you already have one on Earth. It _does_ say that it costs one Essence to switch from one vessel to another, though, which shoots down the thought that it might be free to shift forms in and out. . . John? Moriah? Free, one Essence, half an Essence, you can't do that in the first place, or leave me alone? steve > -----Original Message----- > From: John Karakash - Lucent ASCC [SMTP:johnk@ascc01.ascc.lucent.com] > Sent: Monday, April 14, 1997 7:01 AM > To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com > Subject: Re: IN> Dreamscapes > > In article <5ijjsh$36q$1@news.fas.harvard.edu> you wrote: > > If a Kyriotate inhabiting multiple hosts performs a song of Numinous > > Corpus, does it apply only to one host or to all of them? > > Oh, my. And I had thought that all the difficult possession > questions had already been asked. I would rule that it only applies > to one, but you can switch which one it applies to by making it > vanish from one host and then add it to another. > The image of hundreds of bumblebees with 6-inch long > claws is a bit frightening, I must say! ;) Actually, even ONE > with 6-inch long claws is kinda scary! > > > Do Kyriotates need to make sure that their hosts eat, sleep and > fufill any > > other human needs or are the host bodies treated like vessels while > > inhabited? Similarly, how are the Body Hits calculated. > > To the first question: no maintenance is necessary, other > than breathing. > The second, for now, is that you use the standard formula > with the Level of the vessel, but he Strength and CorpForces of > the possessor. This May Change Soon. Stay tuned! > > > -- > ___________________________________________________ > / \ > |John Karakash - Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T) | > | (919)380-4629 | > | "A fundamental principle of economics is that the | > | more you tax something, the less you get of it. | > | In this country we tax success most of all." | > \___________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 14:26:48 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Angel of Garden Statues (fwd) At 10:10 PM -0500 4/11/97, Shadowcat wrote: >My lady wants to know if there is an angel of Garden Statues, is there a >demon of Lawn Butts? Demon of Pink Flamingos and Lawn Jockies. - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com // emccoy@jade.mv.net GURPS characters, Roleplayers; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 14:38:20 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #115 At 9:09 PM -0500 4/13/97, RogueLdr wrote: [...] > > >> Phasekiel, >> Elohim of Destiny, >> the Angel of Heresy. > >I'm sure that you and Dominic get along just famously. Or at least get together for tea every other weekend, to ... discuss matters. Then again, if I were a Seraph, I'd consider being scared to use my resonance on someone like this. What if I got a 6 CD and some of it were *True*?? - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com // emccoy@jade.mv.net GURPS characters, Roleplayers; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 15:32:37 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> God's game At 1:08 PM -0500 4/14/97, Earl Wajenberg wrote: >John Karakash likened God and Lucifer to a pair of chess players. >This reminded me of a quote from "Good Omens" by Gaiman and Pratchett. >Running strictly off memory, it goes something like: > >"As is well-known, God does not play dice with the universe. Rather, >He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be >compared, from the viewpoint of the other players (i.e. everyone), >to playing poker for infinite stakes, with blank cards, in a darkened >room, with a Dealer Who never tells you the rules and _smiles_all_ >_the_time_." Now you know what those blank INWO cards are for. - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com // emccoy@jade.mv.net GURPS characters, Roleplayers; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 15:26:09 -0400 From: "John Karakash - Lucent ASCC" Subject: IN> Interesting quotes George Washington: Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire,--conscience. Thomas Carlyle: In books lies the soul of the whole Past Time: the articulate audible voice of the Past, when the body and material substance of it has altogether vanished like a dream. (Good quote for Yves or servitor, eh?) Publius Syrus: (This is the rolling stone/moss guy, btw) A god could hardly love and be wise. Rowland Hill: Why should the Devil have all the good tunes? - -- ___________________________________________________ / \ |John Karakash - Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T) | | (919)380-4629 | | "A fundamental principle of economics is that the | | more you tax something, the less you get of it. | | In this country we tax success most of all." | \___________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 14:40:19 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Other Campaigns (was More Heresy) At 7:40 PM +1000 4/14/97, Peter Frederick wrote: >Dear Andrew and List > >ain't life grand I may never have to buy another game :) . > >Acutally one variant that I thinkn IN screams out for is the Historical >Campaign, with settings in other historical periods. In fact to go the >whole hog you can have a group of players who are assigned to work together >could only be mobilised every 20 to 50 years when needed. I can see the >players leaving families of servitors behind to make sure they have support >when they get sent back to Earth the next time. Start them off about 800 AD >and bring them up through history 50 years at a time. And then run it up through the cyberpunk era, and/or a Federation style era... Angels in starships! I love it! (And then there was the IOU comment my spouse made, about a Seraph of Destiny touching some non-human alien/other-universal and going and rocking in a corner... "What's wrong? What was that? A Demon?" "It was an alien from outer space. Go away.") - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com // emccoy@jade.mv.net GURPS characters, Roleplayers; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 15:15:25 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: IN> Adventure Seed: In All of Creation... Okay, this will probably trip all over the Creation cycle, next year, with hobnailed boots. Details, details. I hereby authorize anyone from SJG to take any elements of it that they might want and use 'em, though of course I'd like an itty-bitty credit in the book some- where... O;> I got this out of a dream, sort of... - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dominic has been very annoyed recently over the matter of "the AWOL Archangel," Eli, Bright Lord of Creation. The practice of investigating the Servitors of Creation has not yielded promising results -- overall, they seem little more inclined to Trip or Fall than those who have responsible Superiors. And there is, as of yet, no direct evidence that Eli himself is in danger of either, despite his (rather heretical, to Dominic's mind) dereliction of duty. However... Dominic has successfully petitioned the Council of Seraphim to hold another Word-contest -- for the Word of Creation. It is Dominic's hope that Eli will either fail to show up (forfeiting) or be unable to demonstrate that he's been tending his Word and keeping it from being twisted to suit demonic plots. (Or, well, Dominic fair enough to admit that if Eli showed up and *proved* that he wasn't forsaking Heaven...) If Eli can't defend his Word, Dominic will insist that the Mercurian be stripped of it, and hence of his status as Archangel. The troublesome Servitors of Creation would have to settle down under new masters, more than likely (a new Angel of Creation would not be likely to have the experience to rise to Archangel status immediately, and would be busy working towards that), and the Servitors of Judgment could track down and question Eli as they pleased. Various Word-bound and Archangels have managed to get a fair "notification period" arranged -- (probably) a few months -- so that the "reigning champion" can be found and alerted. Meanwhile, candidates have been coming out of the celestial woodwork -- e.g., a Kyriotate of Dreams who's been unsuccessfully trying to get "Creativity" for the past decade; a Mercurian of Destiny who was looking at "Art" but will gladly aim higher; at least a dozen Servitors of Creation (most in service to other Archangels) who think the Word should stay "in the family" if Eli can't be reached; etc. And then there's the "find Eli" team... A group of angels (probably including at least one Servitor of Creation [NPC if necessary], or of an Allied Superior) has volunteered or been tapped to track down the AWOL Archangel himself and tell him about this little matter. A Servitor of Judgment has also been assigned to go along and report on the quest (and the methods used, the state in which the Subject was found, etc.); either a PC or NPC will work here. So, you're on a quest to find -- in all of creation -- the Archangel of Creation. Where do you look first? Will Songs work? Do Archangels have Heavenly Hearts? If so, *where*? And even if Eli is found, he's been acting weird -- will he understand the importance of showing up? Does he even recall who and what he really is this week? *Can* he defend his actions and right to his Word? Or will the Council go ahead with their Word-Quest? And what trials will they choose for the honor (or is it a headache?) of the Word of Creation? At least the reigning holder will have an advantage -- which probably means he'll get a tougher quest -- *if* he's "in his right mind"... (Will PCs be allowed to help? Would PC demons get wind of this and start working to sabotage the deal? Or would they get orders to *help* Eli's faction -- covertly or overtly? And why? To toast his PR, or to preserve a sympathetic view...?) - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This will all probably require the GM to make up stuff that will be covered next year, but it was just such an interesting sort of adventure seed that I couldn't resist... - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com // emccoy@jade.mv.net GURPS characters, Roleplayers; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #117 ******************************* The material here is (C) 1996 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.