So you've got your Vapulans. And your average Vapulan tends to want to make something _special_ for the Genius Prince, right? Something that will unlock one of the Ineffable Secrets Of The Universe. Well, they've succeeded.
Sort of.
Through various deus ex machinas/GM fiats that are full of technobabble and lots of flashing lights, a group of Vapulans have done the unthinkable. They've captured a Malakite (Superior optional) and a Habbalite (probably of the War), and... glued them together into one being, with a whole new personality -- and resonance.
The Habbikite is, naturally, a rather pathetic thing, with most of its Forces at least a little mangled. And it's really quite, quite mad. But no matter. The Vapulans have installed a remote-control collar on it. They're going to use it to take out some annoying Jeanites, and then, standing over the bodies of their archenemies, their creation by their side, they're going to call their Prince and reap rewards untold!
Well, the untold part will do. During the battle, the remote-control collar is fried. (Mmm, Generator!) So when the Vapulans show up to claim their creation, their creation waxes _them_, too. Whee, now there's a rogue _thing_ stomping around.
This would be a simple "round up and/or kill" operation for PCs, much akin to the FotM final adventure. (Beth pauses for people to spit; it's been known to happen.) However, the Habbakite isn't _just_ a stupid killing machine.
It's three personalities in one body.
Personality #1 is the "fused" one, which is a bit stupid, more than a little destructive (though not really more than the average Calabite), and possesses ample low cunning. Its resonance is, interestingly, more for strength than emotion-forcing. I.e., it uses the Malakite Resonance Table, substituting "strong" for "noble" and "weak" for "ignoble." It then desires to pound on anyone it finds who has a view of himself as "weak." At the GM's option, it may also have the ability to impose "strength" on someone already in a mode of standing his ground -- either like Malphan Habbalah, or simply driving any brave souls into a berserk state if they fail a Will roll against it. The Habbakite also has access to any Servitor Attunements and Songs of the original pair, as well as any skills the GM thinks would be amusing. No Choir/Band Attunements, though. At least, none that depend on any resonances. Have fun.
Personality #2 is the Habbalite, who is naturally PO'ed.
Personality #3 is the Malakite, who is also PO'ed.
Now, while the Habbakite has been in control of the shared vessel, the Habbalite and the Malakite have been catfighting in the subconscious and finally came to a truce. (Not a surrender. We must be clear on such things.) They figure that it's going to take a Superior to get them untangled. They also figure that the group-entity is going to be hunted down like a miniLegion as soon as it's realized that a couple of celestial groups were iced. They would rather not get destroyed. (They share a celestial form, too -- think something sort of like a Hindu deity, with extra face(s), weird and fit to make your players uneasy.)
So the pair of subsumed personalities have teamed up and can, sometimes, swamp out the Habbakite. This requires one to "drive" the body, and one to sit on the Habbakite personality and keep it from getting back into the driver's seat.
Unfortunately for them, they can't decide which Superior to go to. Prince or Archangel? If Prince, _which_ Prince? Maybe they should just stall for time and see if they can gang up on the Habbakite personality and destroy it, and then let the best "angel"/angel win the resulting war of attrition. The Malakite holds out a faint hope that it can convince the Habbalite to seek redemption -- while the Habbalite is trying to figure out if it can sell the Malakite down the river to Baal.
The Habbakite is just trying to get free -- which happens if the "sitting upon" personality gets distracted enough, such as in a bid for control of the vessel...
So there you have the setup. If the Habbakite is an NPC, run according to taste with your usual gaming group. Or, if you only have a couple players, stick _them_ with the roles of Malakite and Habbalite! (We use Malakite here both for the Coolness Factor, and because it lets us handwave around the "but wouldn't the angel Fall?" question -- if you want to let a PC use something else, hey, have fun. The Habbalite was chosen for maximal annoyance to an angel; also season to taste.)
If you have 3 players, give someone the Habbakite -- maybe it is more than the psychotic nutcase that the Vapulans were hoping to create, once it gets free and starts learning!
Suggested Mechanics
(Warning, warning, these have probably been inspired by a Wild Cards or GURPS Wild Cards writeup of some kind. I forget which, but I have this hint of flavor-memory.)
There are three "levels" to the composite being: Driver, Squelcher, and Squelched.
The Driver, obviously, is the one in control of the composite being. It can use all the Songs and attunements it brought into the mix, but no others. The Habbakite composite gets Servitor Attunements and Songs as above -- the Vapulans made sure that it would have access to those "hardwired." It can use its own resonance, but not that of the others. (It can _request_ that one of the others use its own resonance or attunements, and tell it the results (if Perception-based only!)!)
The Squelcher is the one responsible for pinning down the Squelched. It can use Perception-based resonance & attunements, and make side comments. It can also try to assert control of the body.
The Squelched can use Perception-based resonance & attunements and make snide comments. O:> It can try to reverse positions with the Squelcher, usually in a bid for control of the body.
The Squelcher and Squelched _can_ team up, becoming roughly-equal!
If all three personalities are making a bid for control, roll 1d3 to see who gets it. Any other Will roll mechanics are just too hairy.
If any personality wants to swap places with another, who is unwilling that this should happen, roll a Contest of Wills. (Contests are on page 30- something of the main book, IIRC, next to the d666 mechanics page.) If the third personality isn't doing anything pressing, like combat or a Song, it can give a CelForces boost to the target number of one (not both!) of the others.
(The above is how a Driver can be unseated with teamwork -- the would- be Driver does the Contest, while the would-be Squelcher adds his Cel Forces.)
If Driver and Squelcher want to swap places for some reason, give the Sqelched a Per roll to see if it spots an opening! If it does, it can try to take the role of Squelcher instead of Squelched, and await an opportunity to try for full possession!
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Chris Anthony <[email protected]>
Angel of Information Dissemination