By Derek Pearcy

From Pyramid #8

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Welcome to a new feature in Pyramid Magazine, ``Angels in the Architecture'', a regular column discussing Steve Jackson Games' new roleplaying game, In Nomine.

We'll be printing all sorts of things here, from rules variants to additional background, material we should have originally put in a book and material we really couldn't put in a book (for whatever reason....)

The game will be in stores at the end of the summer, a few months after this issue of Pyramid hits the stands. We've been having a lot of fun with In Nomine, and we hope to share some of it with you here.

What is It?

In Nomine, to quote our marketing propaganda, is an entirely new roleplaying game where the players take the roles of angels or demons, fighting the ultimate battles between selfishness and selflessness, evil and good, despair and hope.

It utilizes a three six-sided dice system (jokingly refered to as the d666).

Why Not GURPS?

Well, because as good as GURPS is for simulating reality, depicting the frequently epic struggle between the ultimate forces of good and evil just doesn't lend itself to a ``realistic'' game system. In Nomine's game mechanics assume all the players will at least be of celestial potency, and while this makes things difficult for the average human, it does fit the genre better.

Of course, for those to whom GURPS is the be-all and end-all of RPG design ... we do have conversion rules in the back of the book.

And the Background?

The game takes place in the modern day. PCs are typically angels or demons, working for the Archangel or Demon Prince of their choice. The nature of their superior determines the type of mission they'll be involved with -- for example, a demon serving Baal, Demon Prince of War and Treaties, would have different duties than one who was a disciple of Kobal, Demon Prince of Dark Humor. Right now, the demons appear to be winning; Demon Princes outnumber Archangels almost two to one. For your previewing pleasure, see the listing of Archangels.

A great deal of the conflict in the game will stem from the differences in philosophy between the various superiors, all of whom have their own ideas about how the War should be waged. There are, of course, other Celestial beings much greater than the Archangels and Demon Princes, but they have their own games going on and are seldom bothered with the maneuverings of the lesser beings. Ultimately, there is the fantastically malevolent creature called Lucifer, the Adversary, on one side, and on the other side an unknowable, omnipotent being called God.

As merely angels, the characters won't interact much with God. He has other things on His mind -- by definition, He has everything on His mind. Lucifer, on the other hand, is another story. Here is one tale of Lucifer, as told to us by Nergal, the Demon of Infernal Internal Affairs.