In Nomine solutions
Thanks for the private and public email, advice, encouragement and
face-slaps about my In Nomine problems. They were all very useful. I
think I'm now in a position to work out what I want to do with the game.
I'm writing it down to help clarify it, and I'm posting it here to show
the outcome to those people who responded to my first mail, and to
invite comments and suggestions from anyone who's interested. I'd
especially like to find out if there are other people on this list
who've been playing IN with a similar approach, as I'd like to swap
stories and ideas.
Please bear in mind that what follows is not intended to prescribe
the ideal In Nomine game -- it's just a proposal for what I want to run
for my own play group.
Thanks again,
Mark
Proposal
A series of one-off (`one-shot') In Nomine games about the war for
control of humanity's destiny, enacted through celestial influence of
pivotal social events, and emphasizing the personal costs of success,
and the growth from failure. They'll be one-shot games because this
will let us take more risks with story and character, and explore areas
that a campaign might not touch, and because it'll let me team up
different groups of players more easily. The emphasis is based on my
own interests, and on what I know of the interests of my play group.
My take on celestials
(for the purpose of this game proposal)
What's the purpose of Celestials?
Celestials don't have a job, exactly. Their purpose is to be
themselves, and to do as their natures bid them. They have no
separation between doing and being, since each action is an expression
of a celestial's identity. On the other hand, they are organized, and
are apportioned individual tasks. All celestials tend something or
other all the time -- there are no vacations, (although there is `sick
leave'). Everything in the Universe is tended directly or indirectly by
some celestial or other.
Word Bound Celestials are no different from any other kind, except
that they have additional affinities. Celestials without word bindings
are just as responsible for their own tasks as Celestials with word
bindings.
The Universe is changing -- new concepts appear and old concepts are
forgotten. As the universe changes, so the tasks Celestials undertake
change too. It is clear that Celestials have the capacity to create
change in the Universe, and also to moderate change.
Celestials and Free Will:
Celestials are not deterministic -- for instance, nobody can tell
just by looking if a celestial will Fall, or when. On the other hand,
they lack the human facility to defer the consequences of their actions
indefinitely. Where humans can build up a mass of karma that defers
until their deaths, celestials always experience karmic consequences
immediately. Their powers change, their affinities change, even their
forms change -- depending on what they've done. Unlike humans, they
can't stick their heads in the sand about consequences, and so humans
say that celestials have `no free will'. For Celestials themselves
though, the question is moot.
What's the relationship between Angels and Demons?
Demons are not broken or second-rate angels, and they're not simply
alternative-life celestials. They are embodiments of principles in
every sense that angels are, and they are mandated to exist while those
principles exist within the Universe. The basic principle dividing
angels and demons is the principle of an individual's opposition to its
own suffering and destruction -- a principle that demons uphold, but
which angels do not. Angels do not consider demons evil -- merely
disruptive of the Symphony. The notion of `good' and `evil' is a human
artifact, arising for the human desire for survival and prosperity.
In the angelic scheme, demons disrupt the Symphony. This mandates
their assimilation or destruction. In the demonic scheme, angels are a
clear and present threat to their individual `rights' to comfort and
safety. This mandates their subornment or destruction. How angels and
demons go about assimilating, suborning and destroying depends on their
own natures. From a human perspective, some will seem filled with
implacable hatred for their opposition. Others will seem mild and
tolerant of their foes. This depends on the celestial's nature, and
ascribing human emotions or temperament to these interactions is really
a homocentric simplification.
Why the war over humanity's destiny and fate?
Actually, humanity isn't the only possible battleground for angels
and demons to war over -- but it is a most fertile ground for angelic
and demonic conflict. Humans have intrinsic value to demons because
they are a source of power (e.g., essence), and tools for demonic
protection. Humans have no intrinsic value to angels, except as just
another part of the Symphony. Some angels may consider humans
`special', but that is a function of the angel's own nature -- there are
angels that look after rocks, trees and stars too, who don't consider
humans `special' at all. For play purposes we will focus largely on the
war over humanity, because that's where the market audience lives, but
there will also be many celestials who consider humanity utterly
irrelevant.
Animate or inanimate, all mundane objects have fates and destinies.
Their destinies are written uniquely into the Symphony, and this is the
`best' outcome for that object, because it carries the greatest harmony
with the Universe. However fates are not unique, because they come from
the private symphonies of diabolicals -- which are each directed towards
the diabolical's own best benefit. The reason that demons can agree
over human fates at all is the mediating presence of Kobal.
Just to reiterate: demons are not working directly for mankind's
destruction. They're working directly for mankind's integration into a
diabolical tool to preserve their own interests. It happens that this
process is antithetical to the self-interest of most humans --
especially weak and powerless humans. Angels aren't working for
mankind's salvation -- they're working for mankind's reintegration with
the Symphony, since any disruption is unacceptable to them. This is a
more attractive proposition to humans who are weak, but may be quite
unattractive to humans who are powerful. On average, it's more likely
that an angel will seem kind to a human and a demon will seem malicious,
but this isn't always the case -- for instance, consider angels of
retribution, or Djinns in bottles.
The purpose of this approach is to make both angels and demons
playable without becoming `good guy'/ `bad guy' caricatures, and to keep
humans from becoming tools and objects in the game. Some humans will
naturally want to side with heaven; some will find it better for
themselves to side with hell -- these should both be considered
reasonable and sane choices, from a human perspective.
The purpose of dissonance and discord
Players in this game should expect to generate and lose dissonance
and discord during the course of the story. This is part of the purpose
of the game -- to see how the characters will respond to different
challenges, and to see how they fare with the consequences. Some angels
will Fall, some demons will be redeemed, and some may be destroyed, or
move on to greater things. Not every character will achieve its own
goals, but in succeeding or in failing, each should contribute to an
enjoyable and absorbing overall story.
What kinds of characters are suited for this game?
Because the focus of the game is celestial interaction with human
history, human history plays a big part in the character hooks for a
celestial. There's little scope for playing `blow in' characters, fresh
down from heaven to do a single job before disappearing again. There's
more scope to play characters with a long involvement in human affairs,
who've played pivotal roles in past events, and who have built up
knowledge, skills, friendships, enmities and attachments for people,
places and things. Characters can be re-used from earlier stories, but
there is no guarantee of long term playability or survivability of any
individual character. Characters are expected to come with a history of
successes and failures to help create story and character hooks.
There's no problem with playing a diabolical character. For
diabolicals in this game the important thing is to focus on the threats,
fears and aspirations of such a character, and how it responds to these
threats. While it may take delight in causing human suffering, that
delight should be related directly to the basic demon instinct in this
play framework: to survive and prosper.
Human characters -- especially powerful humans, also have a strong
place in the game. Their own choices can have as much of an effect on
the War as the choices of celestials.
Mechanics, Power levels and House Rules
Because the games are all to be one-shots, power balance is not a
big issue. It should be easy to create characters with Distinctions,
with extra Resources etc... if the concept suits the story line we're
running. Similarly, it should be possible to mix gremlins with Soldiers
with Celestials, if that would help the story line. Likewise, the
mechanics may be loose or tight depending on what we need. Mechanics
are not guaranteed to be consistent between games. In some games we may
dispense with the rules for Essence, say, because they get in the way of
the issues. In other games we might do lots of Essence bookkeeping if
the story is about being pushed right to the edge of your resources.
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Elizabeth McCoy <[email protected]>
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