From 73407.515@CompuServe.COM Tue Mar 4 18:10:49 1997 Date: 04 Mar 97 02:08:44 EST From: Moriah - Steve Jackson Games <73407.515@CompuServe.COM> Reply-To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com Subject: IN> Human Types Canon, rev. H. CHARACTER CREATION FOR HUMAN PCs (they have a corporeal soul) 1. Humans, no matter how many Forces: a) Can use a Talisman (an Ethereal Artifact which gives a bonus to a skill use) b) Do not disturb the Symphony on the Corporeal realm (unless they consciously spend Essence, which only those with 6+ Forces are able to do) c) Can have any type of Discord appropriate for a human d) Always retain a human soul, they don't graduate to becoming a celestial -- at least, we don't know of this happening e) They get a free Corporeal Form whose level is equal to their number of Corporeal Forces; the Vessel level can be 'bought up' at creation time from the base level (p 48) f) They have no Celestial Form, and thus, can't assume it or ascend to the Celestial Realm g) They do not buy a Role. They do have to buy any Skills they want. They do have to buy any Status above level 1 at 2pts/level. h) 1 Essence regained at noon each day i) They may serve in a Tether or use it as a base un/knowingly j) Never become Word-bound, though, possibility of Patron Distinction from a Word-bound angel 2. Gaining the Sixth Force is rare, it represents: a) Experience and involvement with the War; possibly a traumatic event that generates additional notes in their personal Theme of the Symphony (IOW, character points) 1) consciously -- they discover the existence of celestials, or, the celestials reveal themselves to the human 2) uncounsciously -- they pursue a clear Good or selfish Evil without awareness of the realities of The War b) Aspiration to growth, to some higher way of being, to transcend oneself, to exceed physical, mental or existential limitations, to fight for some greater purpose -- even if these goals are perverted and twisted, e.g., the desire for power, immortality, to be loved at any cost, an obsessive and fanatical goal c) An innate talent or gift, possibly from having a celestial parent or ancestor -- natural potential 3. How the Sixth Force is acquired a) Naturally -- Experience, desire, and natural potential come together (traumatically or gradually) such that the human acquires a sixth Force 1) =Mechanic= After successful role playing, the player uses his character points to buy the Force for his PC, with GM's approval (p 202), or, the PC starts out with 6 Forces (such as a Soldier) with this explanation of what led up to gaining the 6th Force. b) Celestially -- The PC has Potential for an extra force and a *Word-bound celestial* adds it to the PC 1) =Mechanic= The GM gives the Force to the PC as a reward, or, this is a game world rationale for why the player may buy (or start out with) an extra Force for his PC (p. 202) 2) Can only be done by a Word-bound celestial onto a human with Potential (this is why it is rare) 4. What can be done when you get the 6th Force a) Consciously decide how to spend Essence, and how much at one time b) Learn and use Songs, Rites, and Attunements. Which ones you can learn depends on who you are; how your Forces are configured; and from whom you learn them; ordinarily they can only be learned from Superiors. 5. Perceiving the 6+ Force Humans a) Can't tell by sight or simple Perception how many Forces a human with 6+ Forces may have or what Side they serve. They look and feel like Mundanes. b) Humans with 6+ Forces don't disturb the Symphony unless they spend Essence c) Although... witnessing these humans use powers that have miraculous effects are clues that they might be something more than a mundane human. 6. (Possible) types of Humans with 6+ Forces a) Soldiers of God and Soldiers of Hell (part of IN NOMINE canon) b) Sorcerers, Worshippers/Idolaters, Nephillim/The Cursed, Mages (planned for future supplements -- please don't ask about their mechanics until it is published; we wouldn't tell even if we knew) c) Blessed, Damned, Pawn in the Game, Touched, Mystics, Mages, Psychics, Geniuses, Dreamers, Singers, Adepts, Neutrals (only possible ideas at this point) 7. Mundane Humans a) 5 Forces, at least one Corporeal b) No Songs, no conscious use of Essence (they blow it all at once unconsciously for something they really, really want) 8. Soldiers: They've taken a side in The War a) They *knowingly* *serve* a *celestial* (although, their understanding and amount of free-will may be compromised in some way). If there is no celestial supervision, they are not a Soldier, they are some other type of human with more than five Forces. 1) compelled or tricked (psychologically, emotionally, psychotically, blackmailed, etc...) -- compelled or tricked soldiers can sometimes be untrustworthy 2) willingly (see below for why a human may willingly pick a Side) -- most of these Soldiers are trustworthy, but they may have their own personal agenda and ethics which differ from their celestial patron b) Soldiers may be of God, or, of Hell (see descriptions below) c) They must have at least 2 Corporeal Forces and one each of Celestial and Ethereal d) Can only learn Corporeal Songs e) Can use Relics (i.e., Celestial Artifacts) that have Corporeal Songs only. f) Can use Reliquaries g) Can have the Servitor Attunements of the Word-bound celestial under whom they serve; may later earn other Attunements h) Can use Rituals -- must be taught by a Word-bound celestial i) Can be given Distinctions by any Word-bound celestial (for a good reason) j) Can not summon Superior or any celestial (after all, one celestial can not invoke or summon another celestial) 1) However, there may be a Song which would allow that, please wait for future supplements. In the meantime, get a pager. k) Can detect disturbances in the Symphony in the same way a celestial can l) Not necessarily fighters m) Can be recruited from among the few humans who do naturally obtain a 6th Force; or can be made into a Soldier by a Word-bound celestial if the human has Potential (both rare) n) Almost never reports to Superiors or Word-bound celestial -- mostly supervised by Servitors regularly -- lots of interaction between a Soldier and his celestial supervisor (for role playing reasons) o) May purchase Servants as a Resource -- As a game world rationale, a Soldier may only command other characters if that is the will of his celestial supervisor, or, if he has role played gaining their trust, or, has a place within an organization's hierarchy p) Due to the small numbers of Soldiers, it is rare for them to organize on a large scale. A small group of Soldiers may run an organization of several hundred Mundanes as an upper limit. Most work in smaller groups or individually. q) How they are treated by the celestial they serve varies greatly on the Section of the celestial and the celestial's own personality r) How can Soldiers be important? 1) They don't disturb the Symphony -- that's very important for both Sides (disturbing the Symphony attracts your enemies and angers your Superior) 2) Unlike celestials, they don't get extra vessels on Earth -- they have the added drama of death being very decisive -- this gives human characters a different set of moral choices to make 3) They are generally more free to do as they please; they do not gain Dissonance or Discord for disobedience to themselves, their supervisor, or their Superior's Word. They can do things that their celestial supervisors simply won't (or can't) do. 9. Soldiers of God a) Why they willingly chose the Side of God 1) Messianic Complex -- serving Good out of a psychological need 2) Martyr -- Is so sure of a higher way and eternal life, that they will willingly die for their cause if they have to 3) Fear of damnation 4) Love of God 5) Sense of Justice and Duty b) Any Soldier of God also may purchase Laurence's two Servitor Attunements (The Blade Blessing of Laurence, and Hunt) (p. 32) 1) Laurence allows this no matter the religious affiliation of the Soldier since he is the Leader of the God's Earthly Army 2) Naturally, if Laurence appears and gives a command... 10. Bodhisattvas & Saints a) Human souls who hang out in Heaven rather than ascend to Paradise are Bodhisattvas. b) If they are deemed worthy, they are given a vessel by a Word-bound Superior to continue their fight in the War on earth 1) The Superior 'buys' the vessel out of his own character points for the Saint. Superiors pay for the vessel as if they were buying it for themselves to occupy. Kyriotate Superiors 'pay' an ally of another Choir to create the vessel for their Sainted Servitors. 2) The Superior chooses any Role or Status the vessel may have. Faithful Saints are given important and powerful vessels; Saints who have made too many mistakes or engaged in questionable activities are given very humble vessels. a: Superiors are not dumb, they won't give a Saint who has Intelligence/1 the Role of Lawyer. But anyone can be a Sanitation Engineer/1. b: The level of the vessel is equal to the Saint's Corporeal Forces. The player can spend character points at the time of the vessel's creation to increase its level or buy or increase skills (but he can't alter the Status or Role that his Superior chooses). 3) This keeps a Saint character in line with who they are. They don't generate Dissonance, but they can have their Superior refuse to give them a new vessel if they don't behave correctly. c) When Saints die 1) Each re-experience of death causes Trauma for the Saint, which works a little differently than Trauma for celestials. 2) Upon 'death', roll (with no modifiers at all) v. (Level of Will + Level of Celestial Forces - Number of times the Saint has died (including the first mortal body death)) 3) If successful, then the Saint needs to recover Check Digit days before being sent back to earth 4) If the roll fails, the Saint is filled with the desire to give up this veil of tears and ascend to the higher planes of Heaven... Paradise 11. Soldiers of Hell a) When a Soldier of Hell gains an 8th Force, he gains the unwanted attention of demon masters and Superiors who regard him as a threat. Best not to let on that you're growing in power. b) Often, a demon will recruit a Soldier with the old 'sell your soul' trick. It keeps the Soldier feeling hopeless. How the deal is done plays on the target's fears, hatreds, and superstitions. 12. Undead a) Making an Undead is an attempt to add another Force to create an immortal human b) The human's soul is now attached to the Corporeal body in such a way that when the body is destroyed, so is the soul c) This forcing of the restructuring of the human can backfire, and the target of this attempt can actually loose Forces and receive Discords, thus creating Vampires and Zombis d) A Saminga Attument can create other types of Zombis from the freshly dead (Mmmmmm.) (p 178) Peace, Moriah