From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Tue Nov 23 15:11:12 1999 Return-Path: Received: from lists.io.com (lists.io.com [199.170.88.15]) by pyramid.sjgames.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id PAA01064 for ; Tue, 23 Nov 1999 15:11:11 -0600 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.9.3/8.9.1a) id PAA13478 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Tue, 23 Nov 1999 15:06:37 -0600 Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 15:06:37 -0600 Message-Id: <199911232106.PAA13478@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 #1428 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 23 1999 Volume 01 : Number 1428 In this digest: IN> Beating up Marco (was One Tough Taker) Re: IN> Judgement dissonance IN> Celestial Combat (was One Tough Taker) Re: IN> Dissonance for Stoners Re: IN> Beating up Marco (was One Tough Taker) Re: IN> Judgement dissonance Re: IN> Beating up Marco (was One Tough Taker) Re: IN> IN Heresy Survey Ends Re: IN> Shedite Assassins (was: Bright Bands) Re: IN> Shedite Assassins (was: Bright Bands) IN> How Do I start Playing In Nomine? Re: IN> How Do I start Playing In Nomine? IN> Re-up Re: IN> Re-up Re: IN> Shedite Assassins (was: Bright Bands) Re: IN> Malakim and Dissonance (was One Tough Taker) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 20:28:13 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: IN> Beating up Marco (was One Tough Taker) How to take out that tough Taker. Marco's detailed stats are in the Digest at http://www.sjgames.com/ftp/sjgames/in-nomine/digests/1999/11/1-1422.txt - -- under the post "One Tough Taker". >>>Song of Thunder is your _friend_! >> >>The high-will demons are probably still standing. The humans are mostly on >>the ground, but still in the way... > >So step on them a little. A few bruises can be cured by the Song of Healing. Well, the Mercurian in the party just fell to the ground screaming. As did the Servants of Flowers (not that they were much use in a fight anyhow). And the Flamer is looking a little shaky -- isn't it kinda cruel to let those innocent humans suffer...? But okay, that still leaves plenty of PCs to charge the demons, yes. >>>And Ethereal Attraction, >> >>Resisted with Will, so the demons are probably fine. > >Use it on the humans (or some of them) and get them to move out of the way. >(It will at least confuse them, even if they're charmed -- and it lasts >for a lot longer than the Charm resonance.) Sure. But it's not a cure-all in this situation. >Alternatively, blow a bunch of Essence on it. (Though it's the Vapulan >Impudites who excel at that. "Word-bound Malakite wants to pound me? >AIE! Use 15 Essence!") Snort. I think other Impudites would tend to be pretty jealous of the Techies. "Knock his glasses off" would likely be a real popular game... [Celestial Song of Motion] >Just do it yourself with your honking big sword, stab >the little guy in the back, and (if you're a Malakite) ignore the humans >beating on your vessel. If you've got a good nasty vessel, chances are >that you'll have diced the annoying Impudite pretty well before The annoying Impudite has 90 body hits! Even a REALLY big sword is going to take more than one swipe to do much harm... >>And all your friends have to have it to come in with you. > >Nah -- they can hang around or get sniper angles. In an ethnically homogenous neighborhood where strangers are quickly noticed, and where almost everyone likes and admires the Impudite. This could get interesting... >Which is, really, the very _best_ solution. Have a few angels distract >the main crowd, while the Precision monster gets on a nearby rooftop. Well, actually, I agree with you. Keep in mind that I originally designed Marco for two reasons: 1) To invite some comments on whether he was a balanced, interesting, and Canonical character (since I'm an isolated IN GM, having no contact with other GMs except through this mailing list); and, 2) To meet the challenge of building a kick-butt "bruiser Impudite". Marco is a hand-to-hand combat monster. If PCs fight him straight up, on his terms, he can take any two average angels. OTOH, *smart* angels won't fight on his terms; they'll stand off at a distance, throw Songs at him, use long-range weapons and hit-and-run tactics. Hey, he's just one 9-Force demon; he's not going to withstand a determined attack from a clever party. But my point is, he could give a foolish or incautious party a really bad time... especially if they think, "oh, Impudite, easy out. I hit him with my flaming sword." >> IMC it's not a terribly common Song, though it's >>certainly not unheard of. > >It's a common Windy Song, at the least, where I come from... (Now, now, >can't argue "it's not a threat because IMC" -- you can argue "it's not >a threat IMC" but that's sort of cheating.) No, no. I was just trying to get a handle on how common it is in *other* peoples' campaigns. >>And you need a high check digit, otherwise you're "bamfing" in from the >>next room, or just down the block. > >Sure -- find the demon, find he's surrounded, bamf in behind him. Down the >block or shorter. Again, note that a well-dug-in Impudite -- especially one with the Paranoid Discord -- is going to have the equivalent of a neighborhood watch working for him. "Hey man, I just saw some guy --" "Tell Marco. He always wants to know about anything strange in the 'hood". >>And a demon with 90 Body hits is going to take more than one whack on the >>head. > >Okay, two. [choke] Just running the stats... Marco has 90 Body hits, Agility 6 and Dodge 3. He also has the Corp Song of Form, and it's stated that in a fight he'll take a round at the beginning to sing it, blowing some essence to bring his Armor up to 4. But let's say that the angels jump him by surprise. Okay, Crankiel "bamfs" in with the Song of Motion and opens up with his sawed-off shotgun. Let's give him a free shot in the first round, with no Dodge. Marco takes d6+6 damage. We'll say 12 points. This would be enough to stun most Celestials (since most have less than 48 Body hits, and 25% causes stunning), but in Marco's case it's just enough to make him really annoyed. Round 2, Marco sings his little Song. Crankiel fires again; we'll say he makes his hit roll. 10 more points. Ow. Round 3, Marco charges, snarling. Crankiel fires. Marco's Dodge is 9. Say they both make their rolls. 10 again, but Marco's check digit on his Dodge is subtracted, bringing it down to 6... and then his Armor is subtracted from _that_, bringing it down to 2. He probably doesn't even notice it. Round 4, Marco has closed with Crankiel. He swings a roundhouse blow, with an accuracy of -1 and a power of +1 (pg. 39). He connects (with Strength 10 and Fighting 6, he'll always connect except on a failed Intervention) for 5 points. I rule that Crankiel can no longer use the gun since Marco is right on top of him, so he'll have to either whip out a melee weapon or go at it barehanded. Now, against a demon with Strength 10, Armor 4, a Dodge roll of 9 and (still!) 66 Body hits, Crankiel is going to have a rather difficult time of it. The average angel has Strength 6-8 and between 30 and 50 body hits, and Fighting-6 is pretty rare. In a hand-to-hand battle, Marco can kick the snot out of your typical 9-Force angel... it is, after all, what he was designed for. Now, of course, the angel might just "bamf" out again after a round or two of combat. Marco would then burn some Essence on Corp Healing (which he has), go out and work the neighborhood for more Essence, and repeat until fully healed. He'd then surround himself with human bodyguards; the next time Crankiel popped in, he'd be met by shotgun blasts. Or, given the limited range of the Song of Motion, and Marco's neighborhood watch, he might well be ambushed himself as he gets into position... >And use Numinous Corpus: Barbs. Or maybe Acid. But Barbs is >Really Really Scary. (did to a Balseraph, using Barbs, in celestial combat> ) ? Barbs? You mean Tongue? As to Acid... mm, unless it's at level 5 or level 6, Marco's bare-handed attacks will do more damage than he takes from the acid (since his armor will be soaking up 4 points per round). Which means that the angel will probably get whittled down to 0 long before Marco. Again, a clever and determined group of angels could certainly take out this demon. I see Marco as quite vulnerable to certain sorts of clever, indirect assault. This makes a handy teaching tool for angelic parties who are a little too quick to charge in swinging... Doug M. . ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 19:36:42 -0600 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN> Judgement dissonance From: "The Alien" > > What do you think? I think that Malakim Dominic is a lot scarier than Seraph Dominic. *g* Extremely well-written post, btw. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 20:39:25 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: IN> Celestial Combat (was One Tough Taker) [an angel, discovering that a lowly Impudite is actually a combat monster, goes Celestial...] >Still, if you've got high Perception, you can still dodge or run till it's >managed. (Checks stats.) Oh, man, Perception 3? 'ey. Building an Impudite who's also a combat monster, something's gotta give. And I noted in the writeup that he's aware of this weakness... he's saving points for another Cel Force to get that 3 up. >Let's see. His celestial move is 3 x 6 yards per second (18), while a >dead-average angel has 6 x 6 yps (36). Yep. Tough. >If you have buildings to zip >through, that means the maximum range he can see the angel at is 18 >yards (two times Per+CelForces). > >Unless my math is horribly, horribly wrong, an angel who wants to vamoose >here can be out of range in 2 seconds? Yep. Actually, it's worse. The angel can try a round or two of Cel combat, to see how things go, and *then* run away. This leads to a problem that has popped up once or twice IMC. Since perception translates into movement on the Cel plane, angels tend to be quite a bit faster than demons there. Now, demons tend to be stronger -- since Will generates both the attack roll (Will + Cel Forces) and the Soul Hits (Cel Forces times Will). But that doesn't matter as much as it should, because the angel can usually choose to run instead of fighting. I've slapped a patch on this by adding a "grab" roll to celestial combat. You can spend one combat round to make a grappling attack, which does no damage but gives you a firm grip on the enemy if it succeeds. Thereafter, combat proceeds normally, except that he can't escape without first winning a contest of Wills (i.e. breaking your grip). This seems to balance things pretty well; the angels can still escape a bad situation by going Celestial, but they're a lot less likely to try a Parthian shot... which seems fair. >>>Malakim aren't _stupid_, after all. Losing means letting the enemy live, >>>which is dissonant, if they ignore a way where they can stave off losing. >> >>True. OTOH a novice Mal may have to get dinged a few times before this >>particular lesson is well learned. > >Oh, sure. Throw in _novice_ celestials, and there's no end to the >stupidity they can come up with! (Throw in novice _PC_ celestials, >and that goes double!) So true. Heh heh heh. Doug M. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 20:47:33 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: Re: IN> Dissonance for Stoners >>My impression is that David's people can act once the attack is underway, >>but it must already have begun... that is, the knife has been drawn, the >>finger is starting to tighten on the trigger, the first syllable of a >>hostile Song has been sung, what have you. Pre-emptive strikes are >>dissonant, though. > >I'd say the knife needs to be drawn and in mid-swing. A knife held defensively >isn't an _attack_ -- it's a threat of attack if someone else moves first. >(Stand-off! Stand-off!) Heh. Experienced demons could have some fun with this. "Ohh, you must work for *David*. Hey! How many Cherubs of Stone does it take to change a light bulb?" >Using a demonic resonance, if you figure out that's what it is, counts >though. O:> > >Balseraph: "You don't want to hurt me!" >Stonie: "Wrong!" [happy laughter] Habbalite: "You feel -- " Stoner: "Great!" Doug M. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 18:48:47 -0700 From: Tim Groth Subject: Re: IN> Beating up Marco (was One Tough Taker) >? Barbs? You mean Tongue? Its in the Liber Canticorum. Its very malicious, and with Tongues/Barbs it greats really twisted. Timothy, Angel of Rambling If you have a hankering for waffles or chicken i know the place for you: http://d106-h032.rh.rit.edu/~tim/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 21:13:44 -0500 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: Re: IN> Judgement dissonance At 4:54 PM -0800 11/22/99, The Alien wrote: >An idea I just had...this isn't meant to restart the Dominic flamewar. >It's just another idea. It's not canon and I believe it's COMPLETELY >incompatible with canon. So don't Judge it (haha) on that basis. > >You notice that some of Dominic's angels have their Choir dissoanance >muffled to some degree. In pretty major ways in some cases. The end >justifies the means? Seems awfully unanglic ... for a Seraph. > >So here is the idea: Dominic takes the dissonance of his Servitors on >himself in such situations. Of course, it's painful. And he would >probably Fall rather quickly or use vast amounts of essence...if he wasn't >a Malakite. Which in turn can give us a Discord or two -- who's to say Dominic doesn't *believe* he's a Seraph.... > > >What do you think? Veeeeeeery interesting. - -- Eric Alfred Burns It was then I felt my heart break like a in-sabre@annotations.com fragile Scooby Snack upon the harsh teeth of http://www.annotations.com Reality -- and it's been broken ever since. http://www.annotations.com/~journal --Johnny Bravo ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 21:13:48 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: Re: IN> Beating up Marco (was One Tough Taker) >>? Barbs? You mean Tongue? >Its in the Liber Canticorum. Its very malicious, and with Tongues/Barbs it >greats really twisted. Wups, didn't get that one yet. Doug M. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 17:54:07 +1100 From: bichwa@telstra.easymail.com.au Subject: Re: IN> IN Heresy Survey Ends >Okay, folks, I'm ending the survey; I haven't received anything in several >days, and I think I have a representative vote. So? Is the news good news or bad news? And were there any interesting thoughts or are we all completely dull? Kris ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 17:54:08 +1100 From: bichwa@telstra.easymail.com.au Subject: Re: IN> Shedite Assassins (was: Bright Bands) >> Now there's an atypical character concept. A Shedite 'Terror Trooper' >>or something. Get the Will up -fairly- high, pump up Corp Forces and take >>some Vessel levels (I -think- they correspond to extra HP, least that's >>how I've seen it run) and you have the -ultimate- sneak-attack assassin. >>Bodyjump someone, slave them down, and attack your target, then leave >>when things are done. Hard for anyone to track and terrifying enough to >>engender -major- paranoia in anyone who knows 'something's not right, >>here.' > > I'd figure a Shedite is about the worst thing to have chasing >you. Sure, a Malakite may be big and mean, but at least you can >recognize him (unless he's been using the Song of Form or has extra >vessels you've never met), and while he may be Trauma-proof, he still >has to round up a new vessel before he can come after you again, >giving him a turnaround time of at least a few hours. A Shedite on >your trail, on the other hand, means you can trust no one. Even if >he can't possess you directly, he can be anyone you trust, and even >if he's not strong-willed enough to overcome aversions towards >hurting you, he could get the host to "accidentally" do all sorts of >minor things that have much nastier consequences. Plus, killing him >is almost futile. Even if you do it quickly enough, all he gets is a >point of dissonance, and he'll be back with a new host before the old >one is done bleeding. Kyriotates are almost as bad, except that they >actually need to care for the host, rather than being able to run it >into the ground. Is it just me, or is anyone else reminded of the Agents from The Matrix? They were almost exactly what I thought Shedim (shedites?) would be (hugely powerful body hoppers with massive physical strength, speed and skill that as soon as they're killed come back in another form) except for the fact that they're AI. Of course that would mean that Hugo Weaving (I think it was him) would be dissonant what with that whole humanity is a virus that must be wiped from teh face of the earth thing. Or not actually, this is Shedim (shedites?) that we're talking about. I suppose the lady in red could be a lustie. Or maybe a gamester. Is it just me who sniggers at the relationship between lusties and the Game? How in Sheol would you torture a masochist (giggles at the thought of Zaza facing interrogation). Why do I get the feeling that Asmodeus is always perplexed as to why Andre keeps asking if he can borrow his equipment? I can so see some lusties and gamesters getting together to exchange notes. Kris, who's had way too much caffine right now and is sort of just typing now but is probably going to crash in a couple of hours when it finally catches up with me but I'm not writing anything coherant now so I'll shut up. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 24 Nov 1999 02:02:26 -0800 From: Steel Angel Subject: Re: IN> Shedite Assassins (was: Bright Bands) bichwa@telstra.easymail.com.au wrote: > > Is it just me, or is anyone else reminded of the Agents from The Matrix? They were almost exactly what I thought Shedim (shedites?) would be (hugely powerful body hoppers with massive physical strength, speed and skill that as soon as they're killed come back in another form) Bingo, working on the writeup as we speak. Hope everyone likes it when I'm finished. > How in Sheol would you torture a masochist Two words: Force Stripping. Masochists like pain, permenant -damage- doesn't usually figure into it (Note, I said -usually-.) Just start whacking Soul Hits away and then pause -just- before they're about to lose a Force. It takes a fair deal of effort to get that high on the Hellish totem pole and no one is gonna want to be sent back to the beginning. - - Abracax: Shedite of Riots ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 10:30:53 -0500 From: David Chaundy-Smart Subject: IN> How Do I start Playing In Nomine? ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 11:28:36 -0600 From: "Dennis Groome V" Subject: Re: IN> How Do I start Playing In Nomine? wow. what an open ended question. well, first you're going to need the usual supplies, only thing worth mentioning here is you will need 3 six sided dice, two of similar look, one different. you're absolutely going to need the main rulebook (simply titled In Nomine). after you've read and digested that you're going to want to pick up the Player's Guide series. there are four books, the Angelic Player's Guide (APG), the Infernal Player's Guide (IPG), the Corporeal Player's Guide (CPG), and the God Player's Guide (actually, it's called the Game Master's Guide [GMG] but the cute joke fits into the series). you may want to invest eventually in the Liber series of books: Canticorum (Songs), Castellorum (Tethers), Reliquorum (Relics), and Servitorum (Servants). The just out Superiors series (Book One, Truth and War [I still say it sounds better as Truth and Honor] has just been released, and Book Two, Sins of the Flesh is almost finished playtesting) will be invaluable for understanding the complex mindsets of Archangels and Demon Princes. not fitting anywhere else is You Are Here, a neat little resource, it's filled with interesting locations. last we have the Revelation Cycle books. they're really only good for the complete collector; most of the rules in them has been modified and reprinted in the CPG, the expanded Superior write-ups are in the process of being reprinted, and the adventures in them are a little....broken. But they do have some nice resources on (collectively) two cities, the Marches, Heaven, Hell, and Limbo (by far the nastiest place IMO). I hope that helps. - -Dennis Groome V / "Amo Nympham" http://evm-gamers.freeservers.com ICQ: 11430261 "I think I woke up screaming, 'cause I had a dream that you still loved me." -Stabbing Westward, ACF - -----Original Message----- From: David Chaundy-Smart To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com Date: Tuesday, November 23, 1999 9:30 AM Subject: IN> How Do I start Playing In Nomine? > > > ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 13:25:42 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: IN> Re-up One morning in the life of an Impudite. This is Marco again. Those of you who missed his appearance a little while back can find him in the Digest at http://www.sjgames.com/ftp/sjgames/in-nomine/digests/1999/11/1-1422.txt - -- under the post "One Tough Taker". * * * * * So I was running a little low on Essence. Couple of reasons for that. First, I was working out with some of the guys up at the gym. Now, I'm three times stronger than most of them and about twice as fast too, so I don't usually feel the need to show off... in fact, most days I'm pulling my punches. But once in a while, you know, you just want to put on a show. Bunch of tough hombres like this, just Charming them doesn't really give you the best results. Throw one of them across the room now and then, though, and they'll follow you anywhere. So I burned some Essence there. No, nobody got hurt... well, not really hurt. I don't believe in hurting them unless there's a reason for it, you know? But yeah, some of them are a little sore this morning, and all of them are *real* impressed by my moves. So then it's after midnight, and I'm closing up the gym, and all of a sudden Rique Lopez comes staggering in. Oh, was he a mess... big cut on his face, another one on his arm, and slashes and welts all over. Turns out that Rique and a few other young chicos from the 'hood had paid a visit to this gay bar just off of Clark Street. Rique and his friends waited just down the block, and when two guys walked past holding hands, the boys jumped 'em. (What? Oh, of course it was my idea. What do you think? I've been siccing Rique and his dumb buddies on that bar for weeks now. That boy hasn't resisted my resonance in, oh, must be six months; he thinks everything I say is the wise advice of a caring friend. Yeah, right, exactly. So I've been telling him that it's his job to protect the 'hood from corruption by showing those queers who really rules the streets...) (Hm? No, no particular reason. Well, except that they're different, of course. That's always a good reason, the best reason. Heck, back Downstairs in the Earth School it took me forever to figure out what this 'gay' business was about. I mean, the ways they find to divide themselves... we couldn't come up with this stuff, you know?) So anyhow, Rique and his homies had these guys down and were giving them a good working over when three or four more suddenly show up. Figure Rique wasn't paying any attention to his back, which would be typical. One of them had a knife. The other boys got away clean, but Rique got cut up some, and he thinks they got a good look at his face, too. So of course he comes running to *me*, his good and trusted friend. Really. These creatures... they only think of themselves, especially when they're scared. Did he even consider the inconvenience for me? Selfish little wretches, one and all. If I didn't know Rique so well, I'd wonder if he were _trying_ to make trouble for me... But no. He's just stupid, is all. But I have a Role to maintain, so I welcomed him in, cleaned him up -- he was pretty shaky with blood loss -- gave him one of my "magic potions", and put him to bed in the upstairs room. (Which reminds me, I *must* get that place cleaned up. Nzhagrasp spent just one night there last week, but somehow he managed to burn out all the lights, scratch the paneling, ruin the carpet, knock a hole in one wall, and do something to the mattress that left a really _weird_ stain. Calabim, right? Great to have around in a fight, but....). So then I sang the Song of Healing over him a couple of times. No, I don't like wasting Essence on them -- it's supposed to go the other way! -- but Rique's not what you'd call bright, and I couldn't risk the police tracking him down; I've kept my hands clean in this neighborhood so far, and I want to keep it that way. (Hmm? Oh, no, of course not. He was asleep. That was the "magic potion" - -- sleeping pills, brandy, and some V-8 juice. Told him it was a special recipe that I'd learned from my grandma, who was a _bruja_ back in the old country. In the morning I'll tell him that he must have panicked over just a little scratch, which will leave him confused, which is fine. Whatever story he ends up telling will help my rep as a smart, special, scary dude. And, oh, the police will be looking for a man with a big cut across his face, which boy Rique no longer has. So it's worth a little Essence.) So, what with one thing and another, I was down to about half a tank. Which was not an acceptable situation. Time to recharge the batteries, replace the lost Essence, replenish and rejuvenate and refuel. Time to re-up. Walking down the street on a bright November morning, hands in the pockets of my leather jacket. There's Old Man Torres at his newspaper stand. I walk up to him, pull out some change, and -- A Habbalite once told me that using his Resonance felt like slapping someone, hard. Ours isn't like that. It feels more like... putting a key into a lock, to see if it will click and turn. Except that the key and the lock are both moving, vibrating you might say, and you're *willing* the key to fit. It doesn't always work. It doesn't work more than about half the time, actually. And even if you've built up your Will until it's sharp as a razor and hot as a laser, sometimes it still can fail. There's a hard little nugget of me-ness in the weakest, silliest mortal soul... something that resists being forced to like someone, or to give to someone. My old professor at Earth School said it was selfishness, which proves that the Boss is right. Makes sense to me. But anyhow, I walk up to Old Man Torres, pick up the new edition of _Muscle_, lean towards him, smile and say "Good morning," and... Bzzzt. And nothing. I've Charmed him before, even nailed him for Essence once, but not this morning. This morning he's thinking about something else, and I can't turn the tumblers of his soul. Which is not to say he's unfriendly. Thank Lucifer, they don't know when we're trying to get at them. He smiles back -- he likes me, thinks I'm a good hard-working fellow -- and wishes me a good day. And I walk on. Homeless man halfway down the block, shuffling past. I pat him on the shoulder... Bzzzt. Nothing. Hmm, that's the third time this week he's resisted. Maybe he's more than he appears? He could have a little accident sometime... Well. I walk on. Woman with a shopping bag. Bzzzt... and Click! Ahaha. "Oh, hello, Marco! So nice to see you!" "Nice to see _you_, Mrs. Camacho." Try for some Essence: bzzzt... bah, nothing. The wretched little creature is holding her Essence tightly close this morning. But she's still Charmed. So we chat about the warm weather for a moment, listen to a story about her daughter's new school (hmm, she's not happy about a teacher there, keep it in mind, always good to watch for new fractures), move on. Boy on a skateboard. "Yo, Joey." Bzzzt. Nothing. "Oh, um, hi Marco." Like most of the neighborhood kids, he's a little in awe of me. I smile at him as he skates on. Next time. Around the corner, and -- ah! -- old lady with a walker. "Mrs. Gutierrez! Good morning, ma'am!" Bzzzt... click. Yess. Mrs. Gutierrez is one of my regulars; she's so old and frail that she has hardly any resistance, and I've been hitting her up once or twice a month for a year now. The old lady's eyes light up; she just adores me, and this chance encounter has made her morning. "Oh, Marco! How nice you look! And isn't this a lovely morning?" "Oh, yes, ma'am. I was just saying..." and I put my arm on her shoulder and, bzzzt... click! Ahhhh, yes! Jolt of pure Essence rushing through my Forces! Oh, humanity, how I love you! Mrs. Gutierrez is blathering on about her arthritis. I let her talk for a few minutes, just enjoying the lovely rush, then I gently detach, kiss her withered cheek, and move on. Mrs. Gutierrez totters off, smiling, happy... looking distinctly more rickety than shed did a few minutes ago. It occurs to me that I should be a little more careful. Mrs. Gutierrez is getting pretty frail. Nobody every died *directly* from being drained, but if she was already sick, it could push her over the edge... and the last thing I need is Dissonance. (What's it like for them to lose Essence? Well, from watching them closely, it seems to be somewhere between a very mild flu and missing a couple of hours of sleep... combined with a funny tendency towards clumsiness and bad luck. They use it instinctively, you know, to get themselves out of trouble. Then when it isn't there, they stumble.) (Flunk a test for no good reason? Tongue-tied in front of your boss? Couldn't perform with your girlfriend, couldn't finish the big assignment on time, couldn't somehow get things in gear? Could be you've met one of us.) Stopping at the coffee shop for a hot cup (we don't need to drink, of course, but it's part of the Role and, you know, I kinda like the taste). Filipina girl behind the counter... bzzzt, nothing. Hm, that's the third time in a row she's resisted me. And she didn't even smile at me. What nerve! Hmm. Teenage girl, immigrant family, hard-working, getting good grades in school, working hard. Young, but smart and strong-Willed. Not my kind of human at all. Perhaps I should suggest to some friends that the dirty Filipinos are moving in, taking over the 'hood. She wouldn't look so clever after she'd been worked over by a few... ah, wait, here's Luis Reyes. "Luis! My man!" "Marco!" Bzzzt, click. Luis is another one of my regulars. Big, dumb, and gullible, that's how I like 'em. "Hey, how's work? How's the wife?" And bzzzt... nothing? Awww. But there's more than one way to pick up Essence. Luis is talking about his job now, how the foreman has been riding him about coming late, how they won't even let a guy have a beer over lunch hour... I reach out and grab his shoulder firmly. "Luis," looking straight into his eyes, "you don't have to take this bullshit. If the foreman keeps hassling you, man, you should settle it with him... like a man." I give his shoulder a little squeeze, letting some of my strength show. Luis winces, but his eyes never leave mine. "You tell him to put up his fists, man. An' if he won't fight you fair, well, you give him something to remember you by." I let him go, and he staggers a little. "No job is worth your self-respect, man. Not ever. And a smart hombre like you can always find work." "Uh..." Luis shakes his head. "...uh...yeah. Yeah, Marco, you're right. A man's gotta have pride..." He straightens up. "I'm on my way there now. Hey, thanks, man. You're a real amigo." And... ahhhh. Essence flowing into me, not from Luis but from the Symphony itself. "Oh, Luis, man, any time, any time." The Boss' favorite Rite: setting two humans at conflict with each other. Always good for an Essence hit when all else fails. (Someone once asked me which felt better, Essence from resonance or Essence from rites. Well, they both feel *great*. But, yeah, getting it from resonance is... particularly pleasant. Maybe it's because, when we drain Essence, we're serving our real, innermost nature. Or maybe it's because we get to drag one of them down a little. But either way, hey, Essence is Essence.) So then it's down to the donut shop and... well. Do you need to hear the rest? More of the same. In just under an hour, I meet and talk to fourteen people, charm six of them, and drain Essence from three of those. With my master's Rite, that brings me up very nearly to full; my tanks will top off at sunset, I can feel it. So that's all right. And I've checked the neighborhood for danger. Strange people, strange occurrences... hey, you never know when the Other Side might get up to something. And Our Side is just as bad, really. Another demon tries to move in on your turf, you have to be watching all the time so you can get him first before he gets you... but anyhow, nothing going on this morning. As far as I can tell. And, of course, my morning stroll has helped build my Role in a dozen different ways. My Charmed friends will spread the image that I'm cultivating... tough but tender Marco, a real hombre macho but with a caring heart underneath, a brawler but a strong friend who's always there to listen. A diamond in the rough. Boring? Oh, no, no. Humanity is endlessly fascinating: their petty jealousies, their stupidities and hatreds and greeds, and most of all, the infinity of ways that they find to divide themselves up. I'm really, truly glad I work for the Boss; he's so *right* about them. So it's back to the gym to wake up Rique, give him some nonsense story, toss him out... mm, start fixing up that spare room... fix that one Nautilus machine... talk to some boys about a revenge attack against the queers who beat up poor 'Rique... maybe mention that dirty homeless guy, how he might be dangerous to kids and... oh, wait, maybe I should mention the Filipinos instead... hmm... I love my job. Doug M. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 11:50:54 -0700 From: Tim Groth Subject: Re: IN> Re-up Great story, I especially love the part about the Calabite (as a cautionary note Calabim do not make good dinner guests, especially if your making a souffle). Timothy, Angel of Rambling If you have a hankering for waffles or chicken i know the place for you: http://d106-h032.rh.rit.edu/~tim/ ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 15:10:01 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: Re: IN> Shedite Assassins (was: Bright Bands) > Is it just me, or is anyone else reminded of the Agents from The >Matrix? They were almost exactly what I thought Shedim (shedites?) would >be (hugely powerful body hoppers with massive physical strength, speed and >skill that as soon as they're killed come back in another form) Oh, yes. Corporeal damage doesn't carry over to their next host body, which means a Shed can come at you again and again, whittling you down. Fighting Sheds in human form is particularly hard on the poor Mercurians; they can't hit back without causing themselves dissonance! The *simplest* tactic when fighting these bad boys is to shove the Mercurian to the back of the party, blow away the host body, and then have everyone go Celestial and jump the Shed en masse. But this is crude (and very, very noisy). > Of course that would mean that Hugo Weaving (I think it was him) >would be dissonant what with that whole humanity is a virus that must be >wiped from teh face of the earth thing. Or not actually, this is Shedim >(shedites?) that we're talking about. He's a Shed of Saminga. Or of Malphas. Or Vapula, even. Doug M. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Nov 1999 16:08:59 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Malakim and Dissonance (was One Tough Taker) At 7:38 PM -0400 11/22/99, Douglas Muir wrote: >>>IMC Mals don't like to break their given word; it's not *automatically* >>>dissonant, but it can be, and in any case it's just not something most Mals >>>are comfortable doing. >> >>To a demon? Main book's pretty clear on that -- they don't keep promises >>to demons that involve suffering evil to live. > >Main book's clear on _that_ point, but not on the more general question of >word-breaking and treachery. If they can break that one, they can break the others. Doing it to someone who was honorable may get them in social trouble, or make them upset, but no more dissonant than a Seraph who stands by and lets his friends lie for him. [Snip: Malakite screws up] >Now, what happens to the Mal? Aside from losing his friendship with the >heartbroken Cherub, that is. >The rules say this wouldn't cause dissonance, and I'm inclined to agree. >OTOH, "Gosh, I feel just awful" doesn't seem nearly strong enough. It >seems to me that this Mal has violated his inner nature in a fairly >significant fashion. > >(This actually happened IMC. Tell you how I handled it, but first I'd like >to hear how you would have). Okay... I'd figure that he feels really awful. Not dissonant -- he didn't swear an oath -- but really, really bad. Not to mention PO'ed because his inactions aided evil. Possibly even physically ill to some extent (stress ulcer!). He'd _certainly_ want to repair the damage somehow, which would probably manifest as a case of Intense Demon Hunting. He might, depending on his nature (Laurencian likely would; a Windy might not), swear another oath about not betraying friends with laxness or kill a demon a month, or something. Why didn't the Cherub get DANGER warnings in Heaven so he could descend and locate his attuned, though? The "If it is destroyed, or in immediate mortal danger, he will know instantly" p. 95) always suggested that while a Cherub'd have to roll Perception to _find_ said attuned, he'd know that he needed to do it, RIGHT NOW. >>>Both the main book and the APG fuzz this point, BTW... that is, they don't >>>tell us whether Mals should get dinged for breaking promises, lying, >>>cheating, and what have you, other than for breaking their permanent oaths. >> >>They don't. The only dissonance is breaking an oath, or Superior's >>dissonance conditions. > >Eh, waitasec. It's canon that Mals have codes of honor, "a framework of >integrity more sacred to them even than their own lives". Now, are you >telling us that the ONLY honor a Mal has is in his oaths? It's the only reading _I_ can make from the main book's comment about how they'll whap demons even if they promise not to. Mind, some of that is the clash between INS/MV and IN/SJG. But the only _dissonance_ is from their oaths. The rest... Well, if you have a sucky roleplayer, then yeah, you should slap dissonance if they behave like a twerp enough times. Otherwise, it really depends on circumstances; the more dishonorable the victim, the less guilt a Malakite feels about fighting dirty (in general). >Because that would lead to the conclusion that Mals with more oaths are >more honorable. And that way madness lies. But they are more honorable -- or at least more bound. Laurence has, what, four extra oaths? (3 of which are very close and get bundled in Superiors 1.) David gets an extra one, but he's an ex-Cherub. >I view the oaths as the core of a Mal's honor-code, showing the things that >are most important to him... but I don't see them as completely exclusive >of all other forms of honor. A Mal who gets in the habit of lying and >betraying demons can easily slide into the same behavior towards humans and >then fellow angels... and that's *gotta* be stopped somehow, otherwise the >idea of "angels of honor" becomes a complete mockery. That's what the Dominicans are for... O:> But the only constraints are social and psychological, not dissonant/game mechanics. Which is, really, necessary to preserve the range of IN campaigns. The original INS/MV was, well... Demons had leather wings and angels had feathered ones, and that's about the only way you could tell the difference. Even IN/SJG should be a bit "gray" here and there, for those who want the demons to be good guys, or at least to have the option of making things _really_ muddy. (The GMG, excellent book that it is, devotes a chapter-chunk to adjusting the "Brightness" and "Contrast" in a game, not to mention discussing dissonance and when to apply it. A really high-contrast game might apply dissonance for _any_ "against nature" behavior (such as a demon behaving nicely!). Myself, I like the notion that Malakite honor (or, as demons put it, "honor") isn't necessarily human honor. That they have certain angelic, or even Word-related, social constraints which influence what _they_ each think of as "honor." Which may or may not match up with what humans think of as honor. "YOU JUST RAN OVER THAT INNOCENT BYSTANDER!" "Yeah. Had to. The demon was on the other side. Spatted real nice." "But! But!" "Hey, chill. If the human was good, he'll wind up in Heaven, and that's the best thing, right?" - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #1428 ******************************** The material here is (C) 1999 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.