From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Thu Feb 19 20:00:27 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 UAA11491; Thu, 19 Feb 1998 20:00:26 -0600 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.8.7/8.8.5) id TAA24891 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Thu, 19 Feb 1998 19:41:07 -0600 Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 19:41:07 -0600 Message-Id: <199802200141.TAA24891@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 #635 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 Thursday, February 19 1998 Volume 01 : Number 635 In this digest: IN> Character Names Re: IN> Portrait of an Elohite, reflective. Re: IN> Character Names IN> Mobile Malakim Re: IN> Satire IN> The Daily Epiphany -- What's in a Word? Re: IN> Re: IN- Re: IN- The Bigger Hammer, a silly adventure Re: IN> Banishment IN> A very old personal project of mine... Re: IN> Mobile Malakim Re: IN> Portrait of an Elohite, reflective. Re: IN> Hitler, a latter day Job Re: IN> Satire Re: IN> Words or names? IN> mailing list Re: IN> Re: IN- The Bigger Hammer, a silly adventure Re: IN> Satire Re: IN> Satire IN> [Choir] of [Word/Superior] Re: IN> The Daily Epiphany -- What's in a Word? Re: IN> Banishment Re: IN> Satire Re: IN> Feast of Blades Jean's Kyrios (was Re: IN> Feast of Blades) Re: IN> Feast of Blades IN> Archangel of Purity (Long) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 12:18:43 From: "CA Smith" Subject: IN> Character Names Hows about this one then A Balseraph of Kobal called Christian >;-) "Sodomy non sapiens," said Albert under his breath. "What does that mean?" "Means I'm buggered if I know." - -- Mort and Albert are facing a problem (Terry Pratchett, Mort) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 13:01:24 -0000 From: "Hart, Joanna" Subject: Re: IN> Portrait of an Elohite, reflective. - ---Kevin Walsh wrote: > > I am not one of them by my birth, > > but I must be more human than many have hoped to be. > > My congratulations. I am (briefly) humbled. Quick someone, take a photo ;-) I liked the character portrait very much also. And Maya's beat-walking demons. It gives me a nice warm feeling to think that my scummy unworthy town might also be the subject of such .. err.. concentrated watchfulness. (Apart from mine of course) jo "If there are such things as angels, I hope they are organized along the lines of the Mafia." -- Kurt Vonnegut Jr. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 13:09:21 +0000 From: Kevin Walsh Subject: Re: IN> Character Names On Thu, Feb 19, 1998 at 12:18:43PM +0000, CA Smith wrote: > Hows about this one then > > A Balseraph of Kobal called Christian >;-) Ironic names are a Good Thing(tm). Anything with the suffix -el or -iel is a must. Names of Archangels are also very cool. Alternatively, names of biblical heroes are good. Examples including Moses, Joshua, and a popular variant of the latter, Jesus. Yes, I am very bored today. Kevin Walsh, Balseraph of Nitpicking, Demon of Off-Topic Trivia. - -- "as for their relations with others, that is a long story, but it can be expressed shortly and clearly by saying that of all people we know the Spartans are most conspicuous for believing that what they like doing is honourable and what suits their interests is just." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 09:54:07 -0600 (CST) From: Martin Leslie Leuschen Subject: IN> Mobile Malakim : Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 18:17:18 -0500 : From: Jesse : Subject: Re: IN> Mobile Malakim : : >In either case moving the Mal is difficult, but not impossible. To : >make moving the Mal impossible, you have to throw out a lot of : >physics and common sense... : : Some people might make the arguement that when you admit the existence : of angels, demons, and fae you have already done that. : : - -Jesse There's common sense and then there's common sense. There's accepting the wierdness of the genre and then there's rewriting reality every session to satisfy dramatic necessity. 'Suspension of disbelief' is not the same as 'throw away everything you know,' although the latter has possibilities in other games. Angels etc. are part of the genre. `Magic,' as manifested by the Symphony is as well. Cartoon physics beyond that is not required, and absolutely immobile anything are cartoon physics. OTOH, "Bigger Hammer" is pretty cartoony, and I have no objections to you running your game however you want. I just wanted to make my physicsy point. Regards, Martin Leuschen martinl@rice.edu ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 10:55:34 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: Re: IN> Satire I *like* Ash, the Angel of Satire. Of course, I am always in favor of fracturing the "humorless celestial hit-man" stereotype of Malakim. Earl ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 11:27:13 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: IN> The Daily Epiphany -- What's in a Word? I'm posting it because it's funny. I'll justify it by pointing out that "The Daily Epiphany" would be a great name for a bourgoise heavenly newspaper. Earl http://users.aol.com/chancew1/epiphany/12.htm The Daily Epiphany Thursday, February 12, 1998 Pudding in the mix We don't know who discovered water, but we're certain it wasn't a fish. - ----John Culkin After the usual mirth-filled day I settled down this evening; looking forward to relaxing and hammering the keyboard a bit. Suddenly I remembered that I had drawn my boss's name in the birthday drawing and I had to make a cake for him to take in tomorrow. So I threw on some grubby sweats and messed up my hair (had to fit in at the nighttime grocery store) and drove down to get a mix and some ready-made frosting. I had to make a major decision on which brand of German-Chocolate cake mix to get. This is not altogether trivial, it is not good to get your boss as a birthday-person. The usual stale cupcakes won't cut it with the dude that signs off on any salary increases. I noticed that every single cake mix box, from all manufacturers, featured the word MOIST in large print, usually in a different typeface than any other lettering. Candy and I have done enough focus groups to know what goes on. I can perfectly visualize a room with about fifteen people, one-way mirror-wall on one end. These folks are shown a series of cards, with words written on them, they have to rate how well they associate those words with delicious cake. They obviously rated MOIST as a better word than, say, DANK (which my thesaurus returns as a synonym for MOIST), or RECTAL, or even something useful like, "CONTAINS FEWER INSECT PARTS AND NO MORE RODENT FECES PARTICLES THAN THE LEADING BRAND!" I made my decision, picking the obvious choice. Not only was this box a dime more (indicating its finer quality) and had the requisite MOIST, but the word SUPREME (in a different type face) was right under it. A yellow banner proclaims, "Jell-O Pudding in the Mix." But best of all, down in the corner, there stands a fat, happy lil' white guy (and I mean "white" not in the racial sense, not as in Caucasian, but as in really white in color) munching on a generous slice of German Chocolate Cake. He is bisected by another yellow banner with the powerful and mysterious phrase: Irresistibly MOIST MMM, MMMM, must be good cake! ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 11:56:09 -0400 (EDT) From: gantr@NKU.EDU Subject: Re: IN> Re: IN- Re: IN- The Bigger Hammer, a silly adventure On Tue, 17 Feb 1998, Andrew Frades wrote: > >The demons obviously ripped up a *big* chunck of concrete (or rock, or > >whatever) to move him, then. Nothing is immovable. Some things just > >require a lot more motivation. > > Why do you accept that Angels and Demons are in a battle for the souls > of humanity but can not accept that Malakim of David in their hardened > form CAN NOT BE MOVED. There could be many arguments that would allow > you to move them and many that wouldn't. Why can you accept that they > are indestructable (another impossible thing), but not immobile. Geez. Chill out, man. I was just trying to come up with an off the cuff answer so that I could get on with running "The Bigger Hammer". I didn't mean to challenge all of your beliefs and assumptions about In Nomine and metaphysics in general. Relax already. Rich Gant "Would a smiley have helped?" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 14:18:03 +0000 From: Julian Breen Subject: Re: IN> Banishment On Wed 18 Feb, Elizabeth wrote: >Hummmmm... Obviously it sends them away... Successful roll's >CD in days? (If they later return to the corporeal realm, *before* >the duration, they have to use a Tether or follow another demon/ethereal; >the Banisment thingy keeps them from that one spot.) > Is it just from that one spot then? I thought that it was from the corporeal plane entirely. CD in days seems to work fine BTW. Thanks, - -- Julian jules@bigjules.demon.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 17:41:25 +0000 From: Kevin Walsh Subject: IN> A very old personal project of mine... A long time ago, I said I'd do it, and this is most of the work. I might do writeups of Lucas and the First One (I suggest having Lucas be 11-Force and the First One being 8 Force, because you don't really want your PCs blowing them away in an instant, right?), but no promises shall be made. Here it is, anyway. I hope it blurs your moral lines and adds grey to your personal Symphony. OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER NOTICE. Nothing within these pages should be interpreted as being in any way creative. The characters, situations, and events portrayed below were all either based on real people, or on the works of other people. The author reserves the right to complain at length to anyone who gives him any credit for this work. History. A long, long time ago, Kronos set out to pervert the spirit of the most potentially powerful men and women through offering them the very power which might have made them great. He gave them the ability to summon demons and spirits, to create circles of protection, to extract the Essence from others, even to banish possessing spirits from the Corporeal Realm, and so ensure their Fall. And thus was Sorcery created. And for a long time, ignorant of the consequences of what they were doing, mortals walked the Paths of Power, all the while bringing themselves and the world to their ultimate Fate. Now, however, something seems to be going wrong. The number of Sorcerors at large in the Corporeal Realm appears to be greater than ever before, but the number reaching the Gates of Hades diminishes with each passing year. Sorcerous knowledge is coming from sources uncontrolled by Hatiphas or her human or diabolical minions. And demons of Sorcery are starting to disappear in mysterious circumstances. Whispers among the Sorcerous community speak of the Dozen extending their grasp in order to bring Hell itself under their control, and though demons scoffed at the idea at first, some of them are beginning to wonder how much of the lies they have bandied about are true. The Order of the Seal. The Order of the Seal is a secretive and paranoid organisation. While this is typical of all cabals of Sorcerors, the Order has more reason than most, and carries it much farther. The Order of the Seal was founded in order to secure humanity's independence from demonic forces. To this end, it seeks to teach knowledge of Sorcery, which it considers to be a human invention, so that it may be used as a weapon against demons. The Order has infiltrated a number of cabals, though never overtly, and has prepared files on their activities. Cabals which serve Demons directly are always destroyed at some stage or another. Others are weaned away from demons by receiving Sorcerous knowledge through channels controlled by the Order, thus lessening their dependency on Demons for their lore. So far, the security of the Order has not been compromised, and traitors have a tendency to disappear before they can betray any secrets. Most members of the Order are naturally wary of Internal Security, but it seems to be fair enough so far, though no one is quite sure how it manages to keep an eye on all its scattered members. Organisation: Make this up yourself. Make up the numbers yourself. Must I do everything for you? And while you're at it, make up how old they are. What I will say is that there is a High Council (make up your own name if you have a better one), and the members of this High Council do not reveal their identities to other members. Allegedly, there are thirteen members, and they are apparently immortal. Naturally, it is speculated that they are the Dozen, or that one of the Dozen is among their number at any rate. These rumours are officially denied by the Council. One of the members is charged with control over Internal Security, and is said to have authority to arrest even another member of the Council, even the First One him/herself, on his/her own authority, and no one has the right to gainsay his/her judgement. Laws: The Order has no objection to the use of Sorcery for one's own ends. However, any use of Sorcery or Magics (Songs) which endangers the safety of the Order or innocent life is strictly prohibited. For that reason, the use of the Focus ability Sacrifice may not be used on humans, or so frequently on animals that the suspicion of mundanes is aroused. Promotion of the worship of Lucifer or any of his demons is also forbidden. For these reasons, any text which includes such incantations is censored, if not destroyed. An analysis of the various rituals used for Sorcerous skills shows that there is no greater effectiveness from different styles, other than the degree of concentration they promote. It is the Will which is the path to power, not the Word. Finally, congress of any kind with demons which is not sanctioned by the Order is grounds for immediate trial. If found guilty of treason, the punishment is execution. Obviously, these are only the most serious matters, but I'm not being paid to write a 100 page sourcebook, so I'll leave the basic constitution up to the GMs concerned. The Truth: It is indeed the case that the head of Internal Security has absolute jurisdiction over all members of the Order. There is good reason for this. As a Malakite, he is eminently suited to the task. He uses his resonance to monitor the rest of the Council at frequent intervals, and also to monitor the scattered members of the Order through their dreams. He is ruthless in his desire to keep the Order as pure as human frailty (and inevitable Sorcerous selfishness) will allow, and so far he seems to be succeeding. He dreams of the day that the Order will have wrested Sorcery into its own hands, and entirely out of Kronos', but in the meantime, it is still a powerful weapon against demonkind. His angelic nature is known to all the members of the High Council, and if any of them disagree with his aims in private, they have not made that fact known in public. Of course, Lucas, as he prefers to call himself, could not have founded the Order on his own, especially as his theoretical knowledge of Sorcerous skills is not augmented by any ability to use it. The reason he keeps his position is because of the support of the First One. The First One is just that, the first Sorceror Lucas recruited in his personal crusade. There are, however, good reasons that the First One is the head of the order rather than Lucas. For one thing, Lucas makes the other members of the Council uneasy. He is far too obviously fanatical, violent, and basically inhuman for them to like him very much. The First One, however, has motives they understand, even if they don't necessarily agree with them. Possible plot twists and things to consider. Somewhat ironically, there are demons within the Order, and Lucas and the Council know about them. Over the course of the Order's existence, Lucas has found it hard to keep watch over all the people within the Order. So he did the obvious; he recruited Outcast Angels and Renegade Demons to the cause. Maybe now these Renegades are no longer working for hell, and are honourably helping the Order, they no longer count as evil, or at least aren't as evil as the evil they fight routinely. Or maybe Lucas is burning with Dissonance and Discord. You decide. The obvious consequences should PC Order members find out about demonic involvement are left as an exercise to the GM. The Order looks cool if you have the right perspective, but realistically, it contains Sorcerors. And Sorcerors are egotistical and selfish almost by definition. So there's bound to be politics and blatant abuses of power, even if we ignore such hackneyed ideas as traitors and infiltration. Just how bad is this problem? Is it relatively harmonious, or are the various members of the Council all but on the edge of knifing one another? And given that you have one secret order, what's to stop there being 10 or twenty more secret sub-orders? The purity of their hearts? How strong is the Order? Does it number in the hundreds with 10 or so Celestials involved? Or is it significantly smaller? Also, how effective is it? Does it have access to Advanced Sorcery? Can the Celestials involved teach Songs to Sorcerors/each other? (One certainly hopes so, otherwise Sorcerors in general are just being stupid.) How kick-ass are the Celestials, and how effectively can they monitor the Order? Does it have stocks of artifacts? Does it stay on the defensive, or does it make an active effort to go out and hunt demons? The issue of what Kronos knows about the Order is, one might think, somewhat important. Does Kronos even know it exists? Does Kronos permit it to continue to exist because: a) he isn't sure how big the problem is and wants to wait until he does, b) he doesn't quite have the resources to wipe it out, and doesn't want to just push it further underground (this assumes that the Order is genuinely strong, and really is a threat to his plans), c) he knows all about the Order and thinks (in)correctly that it serves his purposes, d) some combination of the above or e) none of the above: something else entirely? The question of whether Kronos can, as he claims, click his fingers and remove Sorcery from existence is also somewhat important. Does the Order do odd-jobs for Angelic Superiors? Or if you're really into Darkness and Backwardness, Demon Princes? Laurence and Dominic obviously wouldn't do such a thing, and Beleth is probably pissed off by the idea of _humans_ interfering with HER Marches. But how about the others? Michael, Baal, Janus/Valefor, Lilith, Blandine? Do its patrons know what it actually is? And don't forget hostile reactions. What about the Ethereal Gods? Surely they have some opinion on the matter. Is Lucas right? Probably your players shouldn't get to know this, but you should. Kevin Walsh, Balseraph of Nitpicking, Demon of Off-Topic Trivia. - -- "as for their relations with others, that is a long story, but it can be expressed shortly and clearly by saying that of all people we know the Spartans are most conspicuous for believing that what they like doing is honourable and what suits their interests is just." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 12:57:20 -0500 From: Sean Michael Whipkey Subject: Re: IN> Mobile Malakim At 21:19 -0500 2/18/98, Dan Ozdowski wrote: >Screw the rules - run the campaign because it's fun. Yeah! >Angel of Trying-to-make-rules-lawyers-happy-but-not-caring- > if-you-don't-succeed-because-hey,-who-cares-about- > the-rules-anyways. I could have used you when I used to play Car Wars more...:) It does remind me of a line from one supplement - "Is it munchkinism to giggle and shoot things with your shotgun all the time when that's all you're created to do?" 0r something to that effect. I definitely can't wait to give "A Bigger Hammer" a try.;;;) SeanMike - -- Sean Michael Whipkey, smw4s@virginia.edu Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, Publications Div. 804/924-4185 (or -4188) voicenet, 804/982-5536 fax http://www.virginia.edu/~cpserv/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 12:07:49 -0600 From: tom timberlake Subject: Re: IN> Portrait of an Elohite, reflective. Hart, Joanna wrote: > > ---Kevin Walsh wrote: > > > > I am not one of them by my birth, > > > but I must be more human than many have hoped to be. > > > > My congratulations. I am (briefly) humbled. > > Quick someone, take a photo ;-) > > I liked the character portrait very much also. And Maya's beat-walking > demons. It gives me a nice warm feeling to think that my scummy unworthy > town might also be the subject of such .. err.. concentrated watchfulness. > (Apart from mine of course) > As someone who sets his TV system to catch "Mike Hammer" [with Stacy Keach as the title character] on Sat nights/Sun. mornings, I, of course, liked it very much. I think we have found IN's Mickey Spillane [sp?]. *g* Seriously, I wouldn't mind reading more along this line, so please feel free to continue writing this up and sending it along. I certainly am not going to cry foul, after all, it is about a character in an IN campaign, so it couldn't possibly be off-topic. Once again, well done. tom timberlake, role of James, Stone Malakim and Heaven's Quai Chang Cain---I am James; I will help you [to help yourself]. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 10:18:50 -0800 (PST) From: Querent Subject: Re: IN> Hitler, a latter day Job - ---Jesse wrote: > > >> It's important to remember that Archangels are just as politicly > >> motivated as any mortal, perhaps more so. They seek to enforce God's > >> will, and their word, in the Symphony. God's not around for an > >> interview, leaving their word a primary motivator. > > Well not all Archangels are politically motivated. Politics and > religious issues might have stopped Lauerence and Michael from killing > Hitler, but how would that have stopped Christopher, Gabriel or Janus > from killing Hitler. Gabby's Seraphim and Kyrios would have been all > over Hitler and Janus would have taken the opportunity to promote a > change in the German political system, removing Hitler. Christopher > would have wanted to get rid of Hitler and the Nazi system as a whole > for what they did to his kids. > I've mixed opinions on that one. Granted, I think Hitler more closely endorsed Belial than Gabriel. Such perversions of her word would piss her off like nothing else. But then, for every Malakim of Fire sent to stop him, there'd be a Calabim or Djinn of Fire to protect him and let him carry on his work. Janus? I don't know for sure...you have to admit that WWII had such sweeping changes, the face of Europe was completely altered for decades. Numerous planes bombed cities on both sides, thus the air became a medium for sudden chaotic change. Christopher, I agree would want Hitler down, but how powerful is Christoher? And who's opposing him. When I originally offered this idea, it was not so much that Heaven or its inhabitants endorsed Hitler. Rather, there's just enough reason for some of the key players to pause before striking. That pause was what we called World War II. To an Archangel, it's a very brief time period where a little backstage planning took place before actions were taken. In the mean time, mankind took it's destiny into its own hands and mounted an attack against both Germany and Japan. My problem with these posts is that our human history was, historicly speaking, our HUMAN history, devoid of intervention. I don't want every major event to be tainted by Celestial influence. Even Saminga's description illustrates that man is his own greatest motivator. I think if an Archangel isn't vehemently passionate about a certain task, he may pause to see how things play out. These pauses are the great moments of *human* history. == --Querent, Angel of Widescreen. Mercurian Servitor of Creation. _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 12:28:28 -0600 From: tom timberlake Subject: Re: IN> Satire Hart, Joanna wrote: > > (NB. I'd still quite like ot see Peter's angel of laughter ;-) In the > meantime here is another...) > > Three men were sitting around a large polished table. The sheen on the > veneer glowed a warm rich brown, reflecting the last bloody rays of the > dying sun which smeared through half-closed blinds to stain the room red > and ochre. > {big snip} > > Vows: (In addition to the usual two, it has taken the following oaths) > I will use the weapons of my enemies to strike them down. > > I will help at least one author per month who is combatting a cruel > system to improve their written skills via constructive criti Uh, I hate to be a pain, but could this be re-posted? As you can see, my copy is not _quite_ complete. *g* [paging an angel of Jean: please run a security sweep--part of the system seems to have a minor infestation, an Imp of Vapula probably, by the looks of things. *g*] Humor is important--it keeps you from tearing your hair out in great huge handfuls when life sucks, when irritations and jinxes stand closer to you than your own shadow. Laugh--it is a gift of Heaven, and can save your sanity when all else fails. tom timberlake, y'all know my spiel by now.... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 10:46:40 -0800 (PST) From: Querent Subject: Re: IN> Words or names? In general, the word is used more often than the superior in all of the published work. I suppose it's technically correct either way. I personally prefer words. Angels love their archangel's word. It's part of who they are. It also allows them to be in service elsewhere. For example, a Mercurian of the Sword, in service to Dominic is currently reporting to Dominic as his current Superior, but the word of The Sword is who he *is*. - ---"Leath." <938269@wrpc.riv.csu.edu.au> wrote: > > SurturZ wrote: > > > BTW, are angels described by Archangel or Word. Eg. is "Mercurian of > > Stone" or "Mercurian of David" more correct? Or doesn't it matter? > > No idea what canon prefers, but personally I use the Words. Often I > have characters refer to their Superiors as if their Word and Names > are inter-changeable. Depending on the Superior of course. But it's > not uncommon for a servitor to say "Yes, Judgement," etc. > > Leath. > == --Querent, Angel of Widescreen. Mercurian Servitor of Creation. _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 14:23:47 -0500 From: Charity Davis Subject: IN> mailing list i would like to be put on your mailing list, thhanks ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 11:56:53 -0500 From: "David C. Shadle" Subject: Re: IN> Re: IN- The Bigger Hammer, a silly adventure > > >Oh, god. This is great. I've got to run this at TotalCon... I'm running it next Saturday. I'll let you guys know how it went. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 12:05:06 -0500 From: "David C. Shadle" Subject: Re: IN> Satire > I *like* Ash, the Angel of Satire. Of course, I am always in > favor of fracturing the "humorless celestial hit-man" stereotype > of Malakim. Does this Ash have a chainsaw for his arm, aka Army of Darkness? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 15:35:49 -0500 (EST) From: Dan Ozdowski Subject: Re: IN> Satire According to David C. Shadle: > > I *like* Ash, the Angel of Satire. Of course, I am always in > > favor of fracturing the "humorless celestial hit-man" stereotype > > of Malakim. > > Does this Ash have a chainsaw for his arm, aka Army of Darkness? This is my BOOM STICK!!! Any questions? Who wants some? :):) great flick Dan Ozdowski - -- I shall henceforth be referred to as: Lord of Chaos ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 13:55:14 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: IN> [Choir] of [Word/Superior] At 5:32 PM -0800 2/18/98, David Streeter wrote: >BTW, are angels described by Archangel or Word. Eg. is "Mercurian of >Stone" or "Mercurian of David" more correct? Or doesn't it matter? The prefered usage in the books is "[Choir/Band] of [Word]" -- e.g., Mercurian of Stone. However, that's just for the character sheet entries. Saying "Mercurian of David" is equally correct (just not as preferred in certain circumstances). In-game usage is probably interchangable. After all, if you're Word-bound, you *are* your Word... And it's "[Choir] of [Word], in service to [Superior]", for some reason. (Don't ask me why -- that's just how most of the things worked out, so I canonized the usage as it seemed to be established...) Oh, and that's *Singular* [Choir] of [Word], for attunements. (The Elohite of Stone attunement, not the Elohim of Stone attunement (unless somehow you are talking about several of them at once). [Choir] of [Superior] is also acceptable, though not preferred.) Also note that "angel of [Word]" is someone's Servitor, while "Angel of [Word]" is supposed to be a Word-bound. (This one gets tricky, especially if the editor hasn't caught a wrong capitalization...) For clarity, "angel of [Superior]" is preferred in cases where it would be otherwise confusing. Note that "Choir" is not used in an exclusive sense, but should be seen as a placeholder for either "Choir" or "Band", much as the masculine pronoun "he" is assumed, in non-specific cases, to include the feminine "she". (Mind you, it's clearly the other way around... And Kyrios and Shedim ought to be "it" anyway.) Ahhhhh, Essence. - --Beth, Demon Princess of Nitpicking http://www.sjgames.com/in-nomine/articles/INChar/Demons/Prince.Beth.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 14:01:40 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> The Daily Epiphany -- What's in a Word? At 11:27 AM -0500 2/19/98, Earl Wajenberg wrote: >I'm posting it because it's funny. Ah, but you forgot to make the obvious Nybbasian connections! Shouldn't post off-topic without making the on-topic stuff blatent... (Otherwise I might eventually be left going "huh"?) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 14:02:45 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Banishment At 2:18 PM +0000 2/19/98, Julian Breen wrote: >On Wed 18 Feb, Elizabeth wrote: > >>Hummmmm... Obviously it sends them away... Successful roll's >>CD in days? (If they later return to the corporeal realm, *before* >>the duration, they have to use a Tether or follow another demon/ethereal; >>the Banisment thingy keeps them from that one spot.) >> >Is it just from that one spot then? I thought that it was from the >corporeal plane entirely. If you've been banished, and your Prince drop-kicks you up a Tether, I think the Prince wins. Better to just let it be from that general area in the first place. > CD in days seems to work fine BTW. Good. Thanks. I'll send it to Errata. - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 16:38:20 -0400 (EDT) From: gantr@NKU.EDU Subject: Re: IN> Satire On Thu, 19 Feb 1998, David C. Shadle wrote: > > I *like* Ash, the Angel of Satire. Of course, I am always in > > favor of fracturing the "humorless celestial hit-man" stereotype > > of Malakim. > > Does this Ash have a chainsaw for his arm, aka Army of Darkness? Frighteningly enough, there *is* a Malakite in my campaign named Ashe, who uses a flaming chainsaw as a weapon. It isn't his vessel's arm, but the player claims that Ashe got the idea from Army of Darkness. He's going for the Word of Strength in my campaign. If he gets it, I'll post his stats. Rich Gant ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 12:31:05 +0000 From: Sam Kington Subject: Re: IN> Feast of Blades Walter Milliken wrote: > Fortunately (or unfortunately) the Kyrio came up with his > now-famous "Acid-spitting Pants Trick". That won't work for anyone but > a Kyrio of Jean, though, and it probably shouldn't work even for them -- > I'd previously ruled that Numinous Corpus could be applied to inanimate > hosts, and that was a grave mistake that I'm now pretty much stuck with, > at least for that campaign. Dunno, I'd allow it. But if you're spitting acid at someone from his clothing, the clothing is going to get some damage from the acid as well; similarly, if you poke claws out of them, the clothes are going to get bloody. Both of these I would classify as harming the host. The Kyrio is going to have to do some serious needle-work/dry-cleaning after the fight is over - if it's lucky enough to stay in the clothes that long. Sam - -- Home page: http://www.illuminated.co.uk/ INWO Homebrew: http://www.illuminated.co.uk/cgi/illuminati Not my employer's opinion, no snappy quote ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 16:36:52 -0800 (PST) From: Querent Subject: Jean's Kyrios (was Re: IN> Feast of Blades) Personally, I don't allow Jean's Kyrios into clothing. My rule of them, you can jump into any inanimate object that runs on electricity. From hearing aids to movie projectors. The trick is that it has to harness the power of lightning. It doesn't at all conflict with the wording in the book, and seems to fit very well with the spirit of Jean's servitors. - ---Sam Kington wrote: > > Walter Milliken wrote: > > Fortunately (or unfortunately) the Kyrio came up with his > > now-famous "Acid-spitting Pants Trick". That won't work for anyone but > > a Kyrio of Jean, though, and it probably shouldn't work even for them -- > > I'd previously ruled that Numinous Corpus could be applied to inanimate > > hosts, and that was a grave mistake that I'm now pretty much stuck with, > > at least for that campaign. > > Dunno, I'd allow it. But if you're spitting acid at someone from his > clothing, the clothing is going to get some damage from the acid as > well; similarly, if you poke claws out of them, the clothes are going to > get bloody. Both of these I would classify as harming the host. The > Kyrio is going to have to do some serious needle-work/dry-cleaning after > the fight is over - if it's lucky enough to stay in the clothes that > long. > > Sam > -- > Home page: http://www.illuminated.co.uk/ > INWO Homebrew: http://www.illuminated.co.uk/cgi/illuminati > Not my employer's opinion, no snappy quote > == --Querent, Angel of Widescreen. Mercurian Servitor of Creation. _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 12:05:43 GMT+10 From: "Leath." <938269@wrpc.riv.csu.edu.au> Subject: Re: IN> Feast of Blades > Walter Milliken wrote: > > Fortunately (or unfortunately) the Kyrio came up with his > > now-famous "Acid-spitting Pants Trick". That won't work for anyone but > > a Kyrio of Jean, though, and it probably shouldn't work even for them -- > > I'd previously ruled that Numinous Corpus could be applied to inanimate > > hosts, and that was a grave mistake that I'm now pretty much stuck with, > > at least for that campaign. I'd rule that various Numinous Corpus can only be used by a kyrio of Jean (or any non-living host kyrio) if the object inhabited has the facilities to utilise that power. For example, IMO pants wouldn't be able to use acid, but a water pistol or syringe could. Likewise, only vessels with arms or legs etc. would be able to use claws (toy robots as an example). And something would need a mouth-like orifice to use teeth (even if it's just a stuffed bear with a goofy grin). All in my oopinion, of course. Leath. Leath. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Feb 1998 20:30:48 -0400 (EDT) From: gantr@NKU.EDU Subject: IN> Archangel of Purity (Long) Submitted for the consideration of the mailing list, here is my take on Uriel as a Superior. He will be getting introduced in my campaign at some point in time, so comments/criticisms/sugestions would be appreciated. Now, without further ado, may I present: URIEL ARCHANGEL OF PURITY "The world has become corrupt. It must be made pure and holy in the sight of God." The youngest angel of the first creation, Uriel was charged with preserving the purity of the Symphony. Created as a Cherub, he embrased this charge in a spirit of love and protection. As stars and worlds came into existence he was there, examining each for the false note that would reveal it as imperfect and unfit for inclusion in the Symphony. When the War came upon Heaven, Uriel was outraged. Discord had entered into the pure Symphony as the result of deliberate action, something which had never before happened. His injured Word resonated within him, and he was forced to act. He sacrificed his protective nature as a Cherub to become the first of the Malakim, a living instrument of vengence and the wrath of God. His transformation brought a change in method, if not in purpose. He wa no longer content to watch for imperfections in the Symphony. Instead, he began to activly seek those imperfections and destroy them before they could threaten creation. For millenia his efforts were directed against Hell. But then he became aware of a new source of disturbances in the Symphony, coming from the Marches. Heaven had always known of the Ethereals; some of the spirits wer as old as the Earth itself, and they had slowly become more active in the Corporeal realm. Eventually the disturbances they caused in the Symphony and the interference they created in the lives of mortals grew too great. Uriel acted. Much has been written about the Purification Crusade, but the reasons for it have never been explained. The Ethereals, by meddling in the affairs of mortals, had become a greater threat to the Symphony than Hell itself. When diplomacy failed to persuade them to leave, Uriel was left with no choice but war. Slowly the Ethereals were driven from the Corporeal realm to the Vale of Dreams, and then from the Vale of Dreams into the Far Marches. Then victory was snatched from him. The last thing Uriel expected was to have to answer to the Seraphim Council for the Crusade. He was stunned, and his Servitors enraged, that he was to face trial for promoting his Word. He argued eloquently in his own defense, unable to comprehend why this was happening. Understanding came, but from his own Servitors, not the Council. He learned that Laurence, Angel of the Sword and his most faithful Servitor, was ready to lead the Angels of Purity into war against Heaven if he was condemned, and he realised just how much his actions had divided the Host. Unwilling to be the cause of such discord in Heaven he called out to God in desperation, seeking help. Whether in response to Uriel or Yves, God answered. Uriel was summoned into the higher Heavens. Uriel's return from the higher Heavens has brought more questions, and reopened old wounds. He speaks little of the Crusade, saying only that it was necessary. He insists that he seeks no special authority or position, claiming only his rights as an Archangel. Of his experiences in the higher Heavens he says nothing. DISSONANCE It is dissonant for Servitors of Purity to allow evil to go unchallenged. There is no dissonance for failure to prevent the evil or for being truely unaware of the existance of the evil. Dissonance comes from being aware of the evil, and choosing to do nothing. It is also dissonant for Servitors of Purity to act against the pure nature of their Choirs. They gain double their normal dissonance for acting against the nature of their Choir. CHOIR ATTUNEMENTS Servitors of Uriel have been purified and refined, focusing their resonances and their natures in a more precise manner. Each Choir has two attunements available to it. Only one is awarded at creation; the other must be purchased like the attunement of any other Choir. Seraphim 1) A Seraph of Purity may extend his resonance for truth to another. On a successful resonance roll the individual targeted may only speak the truth as he believes it to be on the next statement he makes. He may resist this with a Will roll, at a penalty equal to the Seraph's check die. 2) A Seraph of Purity may automatically use his resonance. If he chooses this option, he will automatically succeed with a check die equal to his Celestial Forces. If he chooses to roll anyway and fails, he may not use his resonance against that individual for a number of minutes equal to his check die minus his celestial forces. Cherubim 1) A Cherub of Purity may add the appropriate Forces to any roll made to protect the subject of his attunement. If the threat is Corporeal, the Cherub adds Corporeal Forces. If the threat is Ethereal, the Cherub adds Ethereal Forces. If the threat is Celestial, the Cherub adds Celestial Forces. 2) A Cherub of Purity may choose to attune to a single entity of no more Forces than are posessed by the Cherub. If this option is chosen, the Cherub automatically succeeds on his resonance and both special resonance use rolls with a check die equal to the Cherub's Celestial Forces. Ofanim 1) An Ofanim of Purity may use his resonance to gain extra actions. On a successful resonance roll, the Ofanim gains a number of extra actions equal to half of his check die (rounded up). This must be used in place of a standard resonance use. 2) An Ofanim of Purity may "lend" speed to another living being by touch, granting a bonus to the target's Agility equal to the check die rolled. This attunement may be used on more than one individual simultaneously, but the total Agility granted may not exceed the check die rolled. Malakim 1) A Malakim of Purity may add his Celestial Forces to his Will to resist any atempt to persuade or force him to break one of his oaths. 2) A Malakim of Purity may swear on Oath to accomplish a certain deed. Until this deed is complete, the Malakim gains a bonus equal to his Celestial Forces on any roll which helps him complete that goal. The Malakim suffers dissonance for any instance in which he can work towards completion of that oath and he refuses. Once the Oath is completed it is no longer of any concern to the Malakim. This Oath must be specific; "I swear on my honor and my Archangel that I will hunt and kill the demon Furfur" is acceptable, while "I swear that I will destroy the forces of Hell" is not. Kyriotates 1) A Kyriotate of Purity does not need to make a Will roll to posess a willing host. The Kyriotate automatically succeeds with a check die equal to his Celestial Forces. 2) A Kyriotate of Purity may form a partnership with a willing host instead of just posessing the host's body. During this time they are treated as if they were a single entity, with access to the skills, songs, attunements, Essence, and memories of both beings. If the host is slain during this time, the Kyriotate will find himself in Heaven suffering from Trauma, regardless of how many other hosts he was posessing at the time. Mercurians 1) A Mercurian of Purity may add the check die of his resonance roll to any roll made to interact socially with the subject, for a number of minutes equal to his total Forces. 2) When using any Song of Healing on a mortal, a Mercurian of Purity adds double the appropriate Force to the level of the Song to determine what he rolls against. SERVITOR ATTUNEMENTS Perfect Pitch When the angel detects a disturbance in the Symphony, he automatically knows who caused it and why. Unshakable Resolve Once the angel becomes committed to a course of action he believes is correct, he may add his Celestial Forces to any roll to resist being persuaded or forced to turn aside from that course. Be aware that being "forced to turn aside" means such things as posession, geasa, etc., and not physical intervention. DISTINCTIONS Vassal of Cleanliness By spending one Essence, the angel may purge a single object of any imperfections it posesses. Gems become flawless, food becomes perfectly cooked and edible, and so forth. If used on a living being, it negates the effects of any Discord the individual is suffering from for a number of minutes equal to the Vassal's Forces. Friend of Holiness By spending three Essence, the angel may radiate a divine light (visible only to Celestial perception) with a radius equal to the Friend's Forces in yards, which lasts a number of 5 second rounds equal to the Friend's Will. No being with Forces equal to or less than the Friend's Forces may take any action which would cause a disturbance in the Symphony while in this area. Multiple Friends may combine this distinction to increase the number of Forces required to ignore this distinction. Master of Purity The angel may burn Discord from a willing individual. The individual loses 1 Force for every 3 levels of Discord (or fraction thereof) removed in this fashion. RELATIONS Uriel has not been back long enough to form any relations one way or the other. The ones he has are based on old memories and individual perception of his actions. These may change, but it will not happen soon. Allied: Gabriel, Laurence Associated: David, Dominic, Michael Neutral: Eli, Janus, Jean, Marc, Yves Hostile: Blandine, Jordi, Novalis BASIC RITES *Clean an area which has been made filthy by deliberate action. *Spend one hour persuading mortals to repent and serve Heaven. *Kill a demon. CHANCE OF INVOCATION: 3 INVOCATION MODIFIERS (I don't have any good ideas for this. Suggestions appreciated.) - -Rich Gant ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #635 ******************************* The material here is (C) 1997 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.