The Eden Ban
By Eric Bertish
(This is one of the most well-known and prevalent deviations from canon in the In Nomine world, to the point where the suggestion has been made that this be made canon for the (strictly hypothetical, folks) second edition of the game. I'm glad I ran across it in my archives, because I feel that it's a useful thing to have posted here, as a reference if nothing else. -- Ed.)
I mentioned this a while ago, and I have time and inclination to write it up
now. Victims of my game may be interested to know that this was my first
serious deviation from canon, and in some manner of speaking is the
wellspring from which all future heresies sprung.
Note: I've run my games with this ruling for almost four years now, and have
yet to find a player who abuses it. Not that it I'm saying it can't be
abused, mind you, just that I've not had problems.
Of course, I also think that any GM who can't squash annoying munchkin
tendencies in his players isn't worthy of the screen, so maybe that's saying
something as well.
"And The LORD spoke, and Heaven shook with the sound of His Voice, and
angels could no longer manifest upon the Earth. Such was the Will of GOD."
The failure of Eden left Heaven in a certain amount of turmoil. Some
angels were aghast at how easily humans could be manipulated and swore not
to interfere in their lives. Some angels were aghast at how easily humans
could be manipulated and immediately started interfering, the logic being
that if humanity was going to be swayed it might as well be swayed in the
proper direction. All Heavenly politics stems from this initial division.
Then God stepped in, and rendered much of the debate meaningless with what
became known as the Eden Ban. The Ban, in effect, prevents any celestial
from travelling between the corporeal and the celestial realm without using
a Tether. The only exceptions to this rule were the Archangels, who by
their positions of authority were assumed to be responsible enough to know
when to manifest blatantly and when to use more subtle means. (Later, the
Demon Princes discovered they had this ability as well. Whether God forsaw
this eventuality and permitted it anyway is a favorite topic of debate among
Elohim.)
Mechanics
Pretty simple, really. No tether, no travel. This makes tethers far more
strategically important.
For sake of balance, I ruled that celestials (including Kyrios and Shedim)
may stay in Celestial form on Earth indefinitely. This isn't the drawback
one might think, as they're constantly churning out disturbance, and it
leaves them open to soul-killing.
Songs of Projection become much more useful, as does Corporeal Dreams or the
Dream Walking attunement. Note that angels visiting the Marches via these
last two means are prevented from entering Heaven or Hell through their
respective towers, because otherwise it'd be an end-run around the Ban. On
the good side, they can converse with celestials on the dream-side of
things. This gives a deliberate advantage to servants of Blandine and
Beleth, who are underpowered on the Corporeal anyway and deserve a boost.
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