Etherjammer Design Group

Where do you get adventure ideas?

2005-12-22T14:57:08Z

(Cross-posted from the SJGames forums.)

Anywhere and everywhere. I have unabashed Nerd Attention Deficit Disorder (and chronic Repetitive Information Injury), and this puts me in contact with all kinds of new and interesting (or old and interesting) ideas - and all the while, I'm thinking about how what I'm reading or hearing could fit into an adventure or campaign. Among the adventures I've written or had in progress, I've borrowed from children's movies (Adventure Pizza: Giant Robot!), my own phobias (Creatures of the Night: Anamiae), anime (the work-in-progress pastiche Adventures of the Mini-Lilim, and The City of Lost Memories, among others), sports stadiums (What's In A Name?), and Disney theme parks (my current project).

One of the websites that I find particularly inspiring - YMMV, of course - is The Urban Legends Reference Pages. In particular, their Random feature is a fantastic boon; just skip through a few and let the stories sift through your head. Here are a few examples off the top of my head (I didn't come up with any of these ahead of time):

Was Soviet Premier Nikita Kruschchev denied permission to visit Disneyland? - The situation between Heaven and Hell roughly corresponds to the détente between the Soviet Union and the United States during the Cold War. You could escalate this similarity in your campaign; suppose that an Archangel is visiting Horde-owned territory on a goodwill visit, but is denied access to one of the Horde's most well-known and popular recreational areas on what looks like a trumped-up excuse. When the Archangel orders some of his entourage - the PCs, naturally - to find out what his Demon Prince host is hiding, hijinks ensue. (And who knows - maybe the Demon Prince really is hiding missile silos beneath the racquetball courts...)

A miraculous car that gets 200 miles to the gallon is reclaimed by the factory and never seen again after its owner calls to congratulate the manufacturers about its fabulous performance. - Jean forbids allowing humans to have access to Divine technology before they develop it on their own - but an angel of Lightning, in a deep Role, has been killed, and his Jeanite supercar left to his mortal and unaware widow, who sells it before Jean's angels can get to it. The GM can decide what characteristics the car has - but whatever they are, the PCs could be the angels sent to re-acquire the car, the mortals who've bought the car and are wondering why these people seem to want it back so badly, or the demons who see a golden opportunity to get their hands on some Heavenly technology... (For added fun, you can combine this with The $50 Porsche: when the widow lists the supercar at an absurdly low price in the classified ads, suddenly even more groups are trying to get it - including some who don't even know what the car can do...)

"There's room for one more" - A rogue Malakite of Destiny née Dreams, with the Choir attunements of both, is wandering the Marches, looking for humans who are due to die soon and stepping into their dreamscapes to warn them. Yves, the Archangel of Destiny, has sent a group of angels to bring him back to the fold; meanwhile, a group of demons, seizing on the Malakite's behavior, are trying to drive him farther into madness by tracking down the humans he warns and killing them anyway.

Mostly so I can remember it

2005-09-29T01:26:56Z

Malakim
Michael's Virtues are notoriously difficult to kill. Their vessels are no tougher than other angels', but they heal much faster: an unconscious Malakite of War heals one Body hit per round until he reaches 1 hit, at which point he begins healing normally.

New attunements

2005-07-10T00:05:37Z

Both Servitor Attunements, both for Michael's angels.

Wear Your Skin Like Iron (War)

An angel with this attunement positively reeks of confidence on the battlefield - so much so that it discourages any foe who comes against him. The attunement costs between 1 and 6 Essence to activate; for the duration, any enemy who attacks the angel has a penalty to that attack roll equal to the Essence spent. An enemy may make a Will roll before the first attack to avoid the penalty, but this Will roll takes the same penalty as an attack roll would! On a failure, the attunement is functional (and that enemy may not try again to resist that use of the attunement); a success means that the foe is immune to the attunement's effects for 24 hours. Wear Your Skin Like Iron lasts for the angel's total Forces in rounds, plus his vessel's level if he is currently wearing one.

Fast As Polished Steel (War)

This attunement dramatically improves its user's reaction time, sometimes allowing Soldiers to rival even Ofanim in their speed and dexterity. The attunement costs between 1 and 6 Essence to activate; for the duration, the user's Agility is increased by the amount of Essence spent, but only for the purposes of initiative and Dodge rolls. (This can increase Agility above 12, but will never allow its user to act before an Ofanite of War.) The attunement lasts for rounds equal to the user's total Forces.

Darán - Kobolds

2005-05-18T23:05:37Z

Kobold - -15 pts.

The kobolds of Darán are the elves' counterparts; they are connected to the animals of the world in much the same way that the elves are connected to the plants. Kobolds are short and thin, with sharp teeth and fearsome claws, but they prefer to fight with weapons and in armor. Kobolds are not as intelligent as the other major races, but they make up for it with strength and toughness; unfortunately, their lifespans are markedly shorter even than those of humans.

Although the kobolds had reached a point of détente with the other major races, the Great War five hundred years ago changed that; while the dwarves, elves, and humans banded together to fight off the usurper, the kobolds sided with the rebels, but backed off once the magic fell apart and it was clear that they were fighting on the losing side. In the interim, however, they have begun to move into the old haunts of the dwarves and elves, and now hold both Mirkwood (the elves' ancestral home) and Carcánnan (the mountain fortress of the Àgrathar).

ST 11 [10]
DX 10 [0]
IQ 9 [-20]
HT 11 [10]

Advantages: Animal Empathy [5], Claws (Blunt) [3], Discriminatory Smell [15], Hard to Subdue +3 [6], Teeth (Sharp) [1]

Disadvantages: Intolerance [-10], Mating Season (winter) [-10], Restricted Diet (meat) [-10], Seasonal [-5], Short Lifespan -1 [-10]

Darán - Òkolóe (Ocean Dwarves)

2005-04-30T02:33:57Z

Òkolóa (Ocean Dwarf) - 23 points

It was in the ships of the ocean dwarves that those dwarves and elves who escaped the great war made their way to their new home, far from the lands of man, and it is in the descendents of these ships that the Òkolóe ply the seas around that island. Unlike their cousins the Àgrathar, they have bronze skin, only the faintest and shortest of hair on their bodies, faces, and scalps, and small webs between their toes and fingers; also unlike their cousins, they are not unwilling to enter the field of battle offensively. Overall, however, they are not aggressive; their clans occasionally have skirmishes, but they don't go out of their way to start fights.

The Òkolóe spend most of their lives on or in the water; in fact, their civilization, such as it is, exists mainly on ships and rafts, a vast fleet close off the northern coast of the island. Despite having originally dwelt strictly on the surface, the ocean dwarves have adapted to underwater life. They can withstand pressures and temperatures far beyond the reaches of other races, and can stay beneath the surface, under good circumstances, for nearly an hour before coming up for air. However, their voices and hearing have also adapted, and are no longer as efficient above water - and they have entirely lost the ability to smell or taste.

Advantages: Absolute Direction [5], Amphibious [10], Breath-Holding +5 [10], Extended Lifespan [4], Hard To Kill +2 [4], High Manual Dexterity +2 [10], Nictitating Membrane +2 [2], Pressure Support +2 [10], Speak Underwater [5], Temperature Tolerance +3 (+3xHT degrees to low end) [3]

Disadvantages: Curious [-5], Disturbing Voice (-25%, above water only) [-7], Hard of Hearing (-25%, above water only) [-7], No Sense of Smell/Taste [-5], Social Stigma (outsider) [-5], Truthfulness [-5], Workaholic [-5]

Darán - Àgrathar (Volcano Dwarves)

2005-04-30T01:08:45Z

Àgrathin (Volcano Dwarf) - 18 points

The volcano dwarves are in the minority of the dwarves of Darán, comprising perhaps a quarter of the total population. They once filled the mountains of Darán and built the great Imperial Halls that now lie in ruin in Hytrachon, as well as countless other wonders. Since the war five hundred years previous, when the rest of the world - save the elves, and their cousins the ocean dwarves - thought they had been killed to the last, the Àgrathar have retreated to the mountains of the same massive island southeast of the mainland to which the elves and Òkoloe fled.

The Àgrathar are short and swarthy as a whole; the males have full beards after the age of majority (females have no facial hair), and both genders sport full heads of hair with no tendency toward natural baldness, although some - especially those who work in the forges themselves - are clean-shaven both in face and scalp. Although they are short - 4'6" on average - they are as strong, on average, as a human, and considerably harder to kill. (They do not, however, fight, as a general rule, except to defend themselves.)

Advantages: Absolute Direction [5], Damage Resistance +3 (-40%, heat/fire only) [9], Extended Lifespan [4], Filter Lungs [5], Hard To Kill +5 [10], Nictitating Membrane +2 [2], Night Vision +3, Temperature Tolerance +5 (+5xHT degrees to high end) [5]

Disadvantages: Code of Honor (Professional) [-5], Compulsive Carousing [-5], Pacifism (Self-defense only) [-15], Social Stigma (outsider) [-5], Truthfulness [-5]

Elves in Darán

2005-04-29T23:42:04Z

This replaces this entry, which no longer applies.

Elf - -9 points

Elves were thought dead by the human population of Darán (and strictly mythological by some) until very recently; they have not yet had time to integrate with human society, but there is a sizeable elven population in some of the larger cities.

The elves of Darán have green skin and faintly luminescent blue eyes; their skin changes from a light green in summer to a very dark green in winter. In addition, the elves have a mating season in the spring; this causes colorful "tattoos" to form on their skin, in a pattern unique to each individual elf. These tattoos appear at the beginning of the mating season, and disappear afterward, over the course of a few days. While they are an indicator of fertility, and first appear around the age of 25, they do not fade entirely once an elf passes beyond the age of fertility, although they do grow dull and dim in color. (It is worth noting that although elves are sexually compatible with other humanoid races, they are not cross-fertile.)

Finally, elves have the ability to generate a bark-like substance on their skin to protect them from harm, which requires an hour of concentration to grow. The bark lasts for three hours, or until the elf has taken a significant amount of damage; in the former case, the bark turns to dust at the end of the three hours, while in the latter, the bark simply flakes off as the damage is taken. If the bark is worn away by damage, the elf must heal 2 HP before the bark can be regrown; if it is worn away by time, the bark may be regrown immediately.

Advantages: Attractive [4], Damage Resistance +2 ("barkskin") (-10%, limited duration (3 hours); -50%, requires an hour to grow the bark; -20%, semi-ablative) [2], Reduced Consumption +3 (-50%, food only) [3], Extended Lifespan +1 [2], Flexibility [5]

Disadvantages: Dependency (sunlight, weekly) [-10], Mating Season* (spring) (-50%, non-exclusive) [-5], Seasonal** [-5], Social Stigma (outsider) [-5]

* Mating Season: Your race has a specific time of the year during which they are fertile. If you are a fertile adult (older than 25 and younger than 150), you gain the Lecherousness disadvantage during these times. Non-exclusive: your race is fertile year-round, but especially at this time of year. You still gain Lecherousness during this period, but related self-control rolls are at +2. -50%

** Seasonal: Like Lunacy (p. 143), but it is the seasons of the year that affect you. Treat summer as a full moon, winter as a new moon, spring as waxing, and autumn as waning.

Somnia

2004-07-11T16:28:46Z

This, on the other hand, is pretty much IN-only.

Somnia (Corporeal Discord)

Although it can and does appear among Servitors of any Word, Somnia most often crops up in those serving Dreams, Nightmares, Trade and the Media. (It is rare, however; it appears with only one third the frequency of other Discords.) Somnia's effects are simple: it requires that its victim sleep for twice the Discord's level in hours, once every 24-hour period beginning with natural Essence collection. These effects only occur when the celestial is on the corporeal plane, although they begin immediately when the celestial manifests, counting the period between manifestation and Essence collection as a full 24-hour period. (It is thus considered wise for celestials with this Discord to not enter the corporeal plane until just after Essence collection.)

Although the Discord requires that its victim sleep, this requirement can be ignored, although doing so has consequences. After a 24-hour period when the celestial has not slept, all of his rolls are at a cumulative -1 penalty (in other words, he takes a -1 penalty the first day, a -2 penalty the second day, and so on), and he must treat the Discord as if it were a Celestial Discord when he attempts to regain Essence naturally on any day during which he has such a penalty. (The roll to determine whether the character regains Essence is not subject to the penalty.) Fulfilling the Discord's sleep requirements reduces the penalty by 1 for every (Discord level * 2) hours that the victim sleeps.

The sleep imposed by this Discord is not normal sleep for a celestial; in fact, most celestials don't have any memories of what happens between falling asleep and waking up. Those who do remember a vast void all around them, with nothing to do and no one with whom to interact, as though the sleep took them to Limbo or a similar quasi-place. A sleeping celestial can be woken up through external stimuli, but cannot wake up on his own until the Discord's duration is up.

As an example, Fred the Impudite has Somnia/2 (from a minor disagreement with his Superior, the Princess of Nightmares). He slept yesterday, but today he's working with some new demons from Technology and doesn't want to admit the weakness of needing to sleep. As soon as dusk rolls around, Fred receives his normal Essence, but immediately begins taking a -1 penalty to all of his rolls. Since this is a long project, Fred doesn't get a chance to sleep the next day either, and when dusk rolls around again, he has a one-in-three chance of not regaining Essence (since his player must roll better than a 2 - his Somnia level - in order for Fred to regain Essence), and his penalty increases to -2. Finally, the project is finished, and the participants go their separate ways; Fred, exhausted, falls asleep for four hours, wakes up (with his penalty reduced to -1), and decides to sleep for another four hours to catch up completely. He'll regain Essence normally at dusk, and won't take a penalty to any further rolls unless his sleep schedule is interrupted again.

Spirit Gum

2004-07-11T00:43:45Z

This is a relic for In Nomine, but it could just as easily be ported over to pretty much any system, since it has no actual mechanics other than a Will roll.

Spirit Gum comes in opaque plastic rounded-square jars with screw-top lids; the colors vary, but the dimensions are always the same: the jar, with lid, would fit perfectly inside a three-inch cube. The label on the jar is invariably decorated in cheerful primary colors, with the "SPIRIT GUM!" logo on the front, images of ghosts and skeletons on the sides, and a trademark and patent listing on the back. The gum itself is actually a paste; each jar contains two doses, although the first dose is "however much the user uses" and the second is "however much is left". Multiple doses used at the same time don't have any additional effect. The jar is just a regular jar.

Speaking of effects, Spirit Gum is, quite simply, used to transport ghosts. It doesn't do so directly; rather, it has the uncanny ability to transfer a ghost from one anchor to another. Use of Spirit Gum requires that the name of the ghost in question be invoked (and that the user be at the ghost's current anchor), and that the user smear the new anchor with Spirit Gum. Even the thinnest coat will do, but the entire exterior surface of the new anchor must be coated. At the end of the ritual - when the new anchor is completely covered in Spirit Gum - the ghost may make a Will roll to avoid the transference; failure means that the ghost is now attached to the new anchor, while success means that the ghost is unaffected. Also, the new anchor - whether or not the ritual worked - may be cleaned off with no ill effects.

The secret of making Spirit Gum has, for all intents and purposes, been lost; the only way to acquire a jar is to petition one's Superior - who may or may not have a stockpile, and who will charge 5 CP for a jar - or to acquire it from another celestial.

Well, there's a third way: it's occasionally - due to an extra box mysteriously appearing in a shipment and on an invoice - stocked at costume stores, where it's priced at $14.95 per jar.

What's in a name?

2004-07-08T18:00:55Z

Modified slightly from its original posting on the In Nomine mailing list to reflect critique.

You'd think that a football team that's reached the Superbowl twice in its eight-year history would be able to keep a name on its stadium. Unfortunately, the Baltimore Ravens have had to get used to double-checking the side of the stadium every time they use its name, and nobody was surprised last week when a corporate sell-off resulted in the name of the field being changed again. On the other hand, some people are surprised at the nature of the change: this time, it's from M&T Bank Stadium to Corvorum Stadium, which feels odd because "Corvorum" isn't the name of the company who owns the controlling interest. George Peskin, the president of Peskin Consulting, LLC, stated in the press conference at which he announced the new name that he simply "thought the name was euphonious", although people who know a little Latin will probably be amused that it translates to "Ravens Stadium".

None of which would be particularly remarkable if April Meckley hadn't been at Peskin's right hand. Meckley is fairly well-known around Baltimore as a lawyer who botched a major real-estate deal in the harbor district some five years back (even a CD 2 on a relevant Area Knowledge roll will pick this up); in supernatural circles, she's also known as a Soldier of Hell who's been out in the cold since the real-estate deal went bust. Her presence at the Peskin press conference, in a position with obvious connotations of influence within Peskin Consulting, implies that she's up to something, probably in an attempt to get back into favor with her boss, the Prince of the Game.

Some elementary research will reveal that Peskin Consulting, LLC, is a private detective firm, specializing in finding missing persons and people who don't want to be found; April Meckley is their chief counsel, and has been employed by the company for several months. (She replaced their previous chief counsel, Emmett Fryson, who had been with the company since George Peskin founded it eight years ago and who was killed during a mugging at the beginning of the year.) While Peskin Consulting is based in Baltimore, there are branch offices in many major United States cities, including Los Angeles, Atlanta, Louisville, and Minneapolis - and anyone who can get their hands on the contract between Peskin Consulting and the Baltimore Ravens will discover that one of the conditions of continued use of the field is that Peskin Consulting be allowed to send an agent along with the Ravens on every road trip, ostensibly to maintain relations.

Closer examination will reveal even more oddities. Peskin Consulting, LLC, has an 80% success rate in finding their targets, and George Peskin has a 99% success rate - including his previous work with other detective agencies - and the only person he has failed to find is the mugger who killed his friend Emmett Fryson. (Peskin and Fryson had known each other since undergraduate school, where they were assigned to be roommates their first year.) It is known that shortly before his death, Fryson had made noises about leaving the company, but Peskin had talked him out of it; an unfinished resignation letter was found in Fryson's desk after his death. Peskin himself has apparently changed slightly since his college days; ever since he started Peskin Consulting, his demeanor has been more brusque, and minor physical changes have led some to speculate that he has undergone some cosmetic surgery.

Over the course of a thorough investigation, the truth will come out. George Peskin is a Role for Kanjiramunye, a Djinn of the Game; Peskin Consulting, LLC, is mainly concerned with hunting down Renegades and vanished Soldiers, although they do take on conventional cases in order to keep up appearances. Emmett Fryson was not, as it happens, about to hand in his resignation - and he wasn't a Soldier, either (in fact, he had only five Forces, and no further potential) - but Peskin didn't want to take any chances and had him killed. (The killer was a mortal lowlife who was more than happy to kill a lawyer for the thousand dollars that Peskin paid him.) The trick is that April Meckley doesn't actually know any of this; she joined Peskin Consulting in order to turn it into a front for tracking down Renegades, not realizing that that's what it already was, and Kanjiramunye has chosen to keep her ignorant of both his and the company's true natures. If she finds out, she'll be embarrassed; if word gets out that she tried to co-opt an existing Game organization, she'll be further disgraced in the eyes of the Game and might soon have a hit squad after her in order to stop her perceived incompetence from spreading. (Of course, if the PCs were instrumental in exposing her, the hit squad might target them as well, as punishment or as a preventative measure to forestall future investigations...)

New IN skill

2004-05-19T13:11:00Z

Makeshift (higher of Precision or Perception, default -3)

This skill allows a character to fashion just about anything, including weapons, out of the materials at hand. The check digit of a Makeshift roll determines the effectiveness of the makeshift item in the following ways:

- For skills which cannot be used without equipment, makeshift equipment allows the skill to be used, but limits the check digit of the skill roll to the check digit of the Makeshift roll used to create the substitute - or the lowest check digit, if more than one substitute is used.
- For skills which can be used without equipment at a penalty, the check digit of the Makeshift roll reduces the penalty to the skill roll, to a maximum of -0.
- For skills which are normally used without equipment, but for which equipment provides a bonus, the check digit of the Makeshift roll determines the bonus granted by the substitute, to a maximum of the bonus granted by standard equipment.
- For makeshift weapons, add the check digit of the Makeshift roll to the standard weapon's Power - 6. (In other words, a short sword's Power is +2; for a makeshift short sword, add the check digit of the Makeshift roll to -4 to get the makeshift weapon's Power.)

The check digit can also reduce the time needed to create a substitute item. Typically, Makeshift requires (5 x the check digit) minutes; if the character wants to make a quick and dirty simple item, the excess on the CD represents the reduced time in minutes. (A character making a shiv, who states that he only wants a 1 check digit, rolls a CD 5 on his Makeshift roll; he can either make an amazing shiv, taking 25 minutes, or he can reduce the time needed to make a simple shiv by 4 minutes.) A generous GM might allow a character to split the difference (make a medium-quality shiv - CD 3 - in 13 minutes).

The GM should feel free to limit the check digit of a Makeshift roll depending on the materials present (creating a computer on the fly is going to be much easier in a computer lab than in a jail cell), but she should also take into account creative explanations by the player! The GM may also require a minimum check digit in order to create complex equipment or weapons with moving parts.

A Malakite of Creation with this skill may not use it to increase the Power of an object turned into a weapon using her Choir attunement.

In Nomine attunement

2004-05-13T19:20:06Z

There's Gotta Be A Pony In Here Somewhere (Revelation)

An angel with this attunement is lightning-quick at ferreting out a single objective among a lot of chaff - assuming that it's actually there, and that the character knows that it's there - although he doesn't necessarily have to know exactly what it is. For 3 Essence, the Revealer can immediately discover (and retain) the location of his objective, if it is within (Celestial Forces) yards of the angel. (If it isn't, the Essence isn't spent.) This attunement can also be used on information; in this case, the angel must have direct access to the source of the information (an encyclopedia or a computer network, for example). The GM should judge whether use of this attunement is appropriate; a beginning PC should not be able to unerringly search the entire Internet, for example.

Wealth in In Nomine

2004-04-20T12:46:34Z

I have a feeling I'm going to be working on this post for quite some time. Constructive comments are welcomed and appreciated.

Wealth

Wealth in In Nomine is largely a function of a character's Role: specifically, the Status of that Role. However, this fails to take into account both characters with low profiles but large amounts of personal wealth and characters with high profiles but little personal wealth. In addition, this hampers both characters without Roles (who can still amass a great deal of personal wealth) and human characters, who only nominally have a Status trait.

Wealth is a new trait that exists alongside Role and Status, and represents both the character's total assets and his liquid assets. Wealth is ranked from 0 to 6; a character with a Role, or a human with Status, automatically gets Wealth equal to his Status, although he may increase his Wealth by spending points (or receive points by reducing his Wealth!).

0: The character has almost no personal wealth. His total assets are valued at less than $100, and his liquid assets are $20-50.
1: The character has little personal wealth. His total assets are valued at about $1,000, and his liquid assets are around $200-400.
2: The character has low personal wealth. His total assets are valued at about $5,000, and his liquid assets are around $1,000-2,000.
3: The character has average personal wealth. His total assets are valued at about $20,000, and his liquid assets are around $4000-5000.
4: The character has above-average personal wealth. His total assets are valued at about $75,000, and his liquid assets are around $15,000-20,000.
5: The character has excellent personal wealth. His total assets are valued at about $250,000, and his liquid assets are around $50,000-75,000.
6: The character has superior personal wealth. His total assets are valued at over $1,000,000, and his liquid assets are around $200,000-400,000.

(Cautious GMs may introduce higher levels. These characters rate their assets in the hundreds of millions or billions of dollars, and have essentially unlimited liquid assets. Be careful when allowing this level of wealth, as characters with access to large amounts of money can often buy their way through even the most cunning obstacles, if only by hiring mobs of faceless NPCs.)

A character with no Role draws no functional distinction between liquid and total assets; his total wealth is equal to his liquid assets. (A character with no Role and Wealth/6 has total assets of around $200,000-400,000.) Such a character who gains a Role (and attaches all of his Wealth to that Role) must wait a number of months equal to his Wealth level in order to accumulate the full total assets. The sole exception to this is Wealth/0, which allows the distinction between total and liquid assets regardless of Role, since the total assets of someone with Wealth/0 are likely carried on their person at all times and do not need identification to be stored.

Wealth costs 2 CP per level; characters with Status who wish to decrease their Wealth gain 2 CP per level, to a maximum of the cost of their Role (if any) and Status. (A character with a Role/1, Status/1 gains only 1 CP for decreasing his Wealth to 0, while a character with a Role/3, Status/2 gains 3 CP for reducing Wealth to 0.) Wealth can only be purchased normally at character creation. During play, a player who wants to increase his character's Wealth must arrange with the GM to increase that wealth through gameplay, much like increasing Role and Status.

A note to GMs: It is advised that you ask players with high Wealth but low (or no) Status, or with low Wealth but high Status, to justify this. It is entirely possible for a Status/1 character to have received a massive inheritance, or for a Status/6 character to suddenly lose all of his assets to a stock market crash, but you and the player should work closely to examine the implications.

Another Day, Another Discord, Another Attunement

2004-02-20T19:09:51Z

Discord: Why Do We Even Have That Lever? (Corporeal)

This Discord, while being of the Corporeal variety, doesn't affect the victim's vessel so much as it does the things around him. While on the corporeal plane, any created object that the victim touches will have some extra feature - a button, a switch, a dial, or something easily manipulable by the celestial - which will, upon manipulation, deal damage to the celestial. The celestial must, in fact, make a Will roll, at a penalty equal to the Discord's level, to avoid turning the dial, flipping the switch, etc., and the check digit of a failed roll is the number of Body hits that the celestial takes. (After the feature is discovered, it remains, albeit subtly; it will require a Perception check to find it again, although anybody new to the situation - who has not seen the feature in action - gains a bonus to their roll equal to the original discoverer's current Discord level.)

Large, complex items, like a car, a computer, or a battleship, will only have one feature to be manipulated, regardless of size. Simple items with no moving parts, like a sword or a hand-carved block of wood, are still affected by this Discord, but only ever deal a maximum of 1 Body hit.

Attunement: By All Accounts, It Doesn't Make Sense (The Wind, Theft)

When the character with this attunement is involved in a chase or a race of any sort - so long as it is a physical contest, and not, say, trying to track down the creator of a virus online or calculating digits of pi - his party will arrive first. There isn't necessarily going to be a logical explanation for it; his car could explode violently on the freeway and, as long as he survived the explosion, he'd arrive at the destination before the person or people whom he was chasing (or racing against). Death, of course, negates this attunement if the celestial cannot immediately return to the race. (This attunement can be used in the Marches or on the celestial plane; in these cases, death is rather more permanent than on Earth and should disqualify the unfortunate celestial.) If two or more celestials with this attunement are racing against each other, they arrive in order of the number of Celestial Forces they have, highest to lowest.

Note that this attunement does not preclude the other party breaking off the race; the celestial will arrive before the other party *should* have, even if the other party has decided to give up.

New In Nomine Resource

2004-01-19T19:39:55Z

Master (New Resource)

Many mortals know the benefits of being allied with someone with greater power and resources - even if it means sometimes having to do something distasteful. Some of these have managed to forge a deeper connection with their masters, although they might not know they've done so; those who have created such a link have, in In Nomine terms, a Master.

Only mortals (including undead!) can create these connections, and they can only be formed willingly; although forced master-servant relationships exist, they are not in the same class as those covered by this Resource. The benefit that a Master gives to a mortal is dependent partly on the power level of the mortal in question, and partly on the amount of control which the mortal is willing to cede to his Master; the Master's level as a resource is the penalty which the Servant must take to his Will to resist a command that the Servant doesn't want to follow!

To calculate the CP granted to the Servant for creating the connection, double the Master's resource level (described above), divide this by the difference between the Master's total Forces and the Servant's, and round up. (Later changes in the total Forces of either the Master or the Servant, or changes in the Master's resource level, can raise the amount of CP granted to the Servant, but will never lower that amount.)

Short Story: The Effect Of Starlight, Part 1

2003-12-30T16:29:13Z

The Effect Of Starlight

Cabath came to in a cemetery. It was old, and other than Cabath and the bodies that he presumed were buried beneath the hundreds of gravestones, it was uninhabited. A tree, bare of leaves, stretched its branches to a sky that was strangely black. Following the line of the tree up, Cabath rolled onto his back and looked into the sky above him. It was full of stars, and that, for a moment, took him completely aback.

As he lay there looking at the stars, the patterns entirely unfamiliar to him,he noticed that a moon, too, sat in the sky above him. In defiance of everything he knew about Earthly cosmology, at least, it danced slowly around the dome, seeming to move between the stars almost at random, which disturbed Cabath so greatly that after a few minutes he couldn't stand to watch it anymore and got to his feet.

The cemetery, it now became apparent, was on a hill overlooking a town. From what Cabath could see, it was only barely that; it had only a few thousand inhabitants at most. Still, those inhabitants might at least be able to tell him where he was, so Cabath headed down the hill, toward what appeared to be an all-night diner. As he walked, he noticed that the shifting moon made for shadows and light patterns that shifted eerily, and to avoid being bothered further by it he fixed his eyes on the diner and didn't stop walking until he was inside the front door.

"You're new here," said the hostess who greeted Cabath inside the door. She was tall and slim, in a shirt, tie, and slacks, with long black hair and the green tint to her skin that marked her as a Daughter of Lilith. "What's your name, hon?"

"Cabath," he said, looking around. Most of the rest of the denizens of the diner seemed to be demons as well, and those whose shape Cabath didn't recognize were certainly not human. "Call me Cab. Where am I?"

The Lilim smiled and gestured, with the menu in her hand, to a table. "Right now? Gyorcz's Place. And that one's free, because you gave me your name. Sit down, take a load off. Welcome to town."

Cabath blinked at her and sat at the indicated table. "No, I mean, what's the name of the town?" he asked, looking up at the Lilim as she handed him a menu.

She laughed and winked, then met his gaze. "This one's not free," she said quietly. "What'll you give me for it?"

"What's your price?" he asked. Dealing with the Daughter was familiar territory, and prolonging the conversation helped him get his wits about him.

She smiled. "Something small. A favor, a mote."

Cabath paused a moment while he did some mental math. "I'll trade an hour's work for six questions."

It was the Lilim's turn to pause, but she nodded after a few seconds. "Done. Ask away."

"You know the first one," he said. "As for the rest, I'll ask them after you're off duty. Don't want to keep you from your customers." For emphasis, he gestured back to the door, where a ragged serpent had just arrived.

"I'll be waiting," she said, leaving the menu on the table and standing up. "Don't forget. And the name of the town is Socan."

Elves in Darán

2003-12-22T19:30:13Z

The mountain elves of Darán are a dying race. Although they were once vibrant and full of life, they suffered through a massive war with the humans in recent decades that reduced their population to less than five percent of its antebellum level. They make their home on the surface of the mountains within which the dwarves dwell, and enjoy a mutual support network (in fact, it was the dwarves who kept the humans from wiping out the elves utterly) - but even the dwarves cannot save the elven race at this point.

Elves

Attributes: ST +1, DX +1

Advantages: Acute Hearing/1, Charisma/1, Composed, Extended Lifespan/4, Hard To Kill/2, Hyper-Reflexes, Night Vision, Perfect Balance

Disadvantages: Dying Race, Intolerance (Humans), Lunacy, Weak Immune System

Total cost: 47 points. Elves in human society should take the additional disadvantage Social Stigma (Minority Group), which lowers the racial cost to 37 points.

New In Nomine attunement

2003-12-16T03:58:16Z

Prophet Sharing
Servitor Attunement - Faith

The recipient of this attunement is granted all three of the Songs of Symphony, each at a level equal to his Celestial Forces, but with one caveat: the Songs may only be invoked by a mortal who does not know the Servitor's divine status. The request for information must be made in person, the required Essence is automatically drawn from the mortal questioner (if he has too little Essence, the Song simply does not work, and the mortal should be asked to come again another day), and the Servitor is compelled to respond with the information the Symphony has given him. Note that the mortal does not need to know or believe that the Servitor has this ability in order to invoke it! Any such request made in sincere faith will trigger the attunement.

As a reward for the additional responsibility which this attunement imposes, any time this attunement is used, Khalid allows the Servitor in question to gain one extra Essence when the Symphony normally replenishes him.

In Nomine Creation attunement

2003-12-10T19:57:15Z

Five Fettucini Noodles In The Back Of The Cupboard (New Creation Servitor attunement)

By spending 1 Essence and thirty minutes in preparation, the user of this attunement can prepare a healthy, good-tasting meal from nearly anything solid or liquid - even garter snakes and motor oil, if the situation calls for it. The volume of the finished product won't be any greater than the volume of the original ingredients, but any poisons in the components will be utterly neutralized.

In Nomine Discord

2003-11-05T14:43:49Z

Inspired by a Star Wars discussion on the List:

DISCORD: STICKY-BUN

This Discord primarily manifests in Servitors of Gluttony (who don't tend to last long after acquiring it), but it also appears with a startling degree of regularity in celestials who take themselves too seriously. The Discord mainly affects the vessels of its victims, but their celestial forms suffer its effects as well; reduce the level of the Discord by 3 when applying it to celestial forms. (In other words, a demon with Sticky-Bun/5 will suffer the effects of Sticky-Bun/5 in his vessels, and of Sticky-Bun/2 in his celestial form.) The effects of the Discord increase with level (each level's effects also apply to higher levels):

Sticky-Bun/1: The celestial begins to take on vague visual characteristics related to sticky-buns. In one well-known example, the victim's hair pulled itself into the shape of sticky-buns on either side of her head.
Sticky-Bun/2: The celestial begins to smell of honey and cinnamon at all times; this is detectable with a Perception roll, at a bonus equal to the victim's Sticky-Bun level but at a penalty equal to -1 per yard distance from the victim. The victim's senses of smell and taste are also penalized by her Sticky-Bun level at all times.
Sticky-Bun/3: The celestial's skin takes on the texture of slightly-overcooked pastry dough. Her sense of touch is penalized by her Sticky-Bun level - 1; anyone touching the celestial must immediately make a reaction roll at -3. (Elohim must make the roll, but do not take the penalty.)
Sticky-Bun/4: The celestial's skin becomes sticky, as though it were coated with honey. She cannot lose her grip except on a critical fumble, but must roll Agility to dislodge anything incidental that sticks to her skin. (GMs are invited to be creative.) This does not convey the ability to actually stick to surfaces, and it does not allow the celestial to lift anything that her Strength would not normally allow her to lift. Anyone touching her must now make a reaction roll at a penalty of her Sticky-Bun level. (Again, Elohim must roll but are immune to the penalty.)
Sticky-Bun/5: The celestial gains the equivalent of a Need/1: 1/4 pound per day of refined sugar. Incidentally, the celestial's body also now fulfills Needs for refined sugar or honey at the same rate as the actual substance would.
Sticky-Bun/6: The celestial is, at this point, effectively made of sticky-bun substance; her Strength and Agility are both decreased by 3, and any failed Strength roll to lift an object deals damage equal to the check digit.

Off the top of my head...

2003-09-25T16:40:20Z

...trying desperately to get on-topic on the INML.

Skill: Celestial Shortmouth

Celestial being what it is, the speaking of words and names, which can be up to several billion syllables long in the cases of some of the older Archangels (or very, very young angels who haven't yet grasped the concept that we aren't quite working with the same amount of eternity that we had at the beginning of time anymore), can take a rather long time. Thus was developed Celestial Shortmouth, as much to save time as to save the patience and endurance of heralds. (One of these, the Elohite Dahathiel-Yates-upon-Hergozis, having set the divine record for reciting a single name at four and one-half full eons, required an extensive stay in the hospital section of the Glades due not only to excessive exhaustion but shock at discovering that the angel he was announcing had in fact died several thousand years previous to the conclusion of the announcement.)

Celestial Shortmouth is therefore a way to condense names and particularly long words into short, easily-digestable parcels. It is a skill, based upon Intelligence, which defaults to -3; all Heavenly celestials automatically possess this skill at level 3 (with the exception of the very newly-born or -created, who learn the skill at the rate of 1 rank per week; Archangels can, however, choose to instill the Celestial Shortmouth skill as a reliever or angel is created), and all diabolicals at level 1. Anyone who wishes to learn the skill *must* be on the celestial plane when doing so, which disqualifies most humans and ethereals. (Those who do make it to the celestial plane are eligible.)

It is perhaps worth noting that some older angels and demons disparage the use of Celestial Shortmouth and insist on pronouncing the full extent of the names and words they choose to use, and are therefore often quite miffed to discover that after a lengthy speech their audience has changed entirely from those interested in the content of the speech to those interested in seeing how long the celestial in question can keep talking.

In Nomine combat monster

2003-09-12T14:24:45Z

In response to a post on the INML, I present

Dajiel
Ofanite of the Sword

Corporeal Forces: 6
Strength: 12
Agility: 13*
Ethereal Forces: 1
Intelligence: 2
Precision: 2
Celestial Forces: 2
Will: 1
Perception: 7

* Extra level of Agility from Ofanite of Faith, which does allow stats to go above 12 in certain circumstances.

Skills: Dodge/6, Fighting/6, Knowledge (Area (The City/3), How To Be A Bodyguard/6), Language (English/3)

Attunements: Ofanite of the Sword, Mercurian of the Sword, Ofanite of Faith, Ofanite of War

Talisman: Dodge/6

Vessel: Human male/6 (144 Body hits)

Role: Bodyguard/6/2

Discord: Angry/5, Ugly/5

For what it's worth, Dajiel has a Fighting target number of 24 (auto-success, +12 to the check digit), a Dodge target number of 31 (auto-success, +19 to the check digit), always goes first in a combat round (even though it's pretty much a moot point with his Agility), and - when he's acting in his capacity as a bodyguard - only makes disturbance when doing corporeal damage to a mundane target if he rolls an Infernal Intervention on his Role roll.

Dajiel is a balanced starting character.

GURPS ex-PC

2003-09-12T06:34:57Z

I just finished a campaign with this character that ran nearly a year (the date on the sheet is 10/24/02), and wanted to post him here as a potential NPC for any of you who happen to be GURPSheads. :)

Note that the name should technically be "Aphax, Baron <whatever>", but I can't for the life of me find the name of the Barony.

Baron Aphax
(208 points)

ST: 9 [-10]
DX: 13 [30]
IQ: 15 [60]
HT: 10 [0]

Skills: Accounting-12 [1/2], Acting-18 [8], Alchemy-15 [6], Appreciate Beauty-12 [1], Area Knowledge-14 (The Castle Grounds) [1/2], Area Knowledge-14 (Saromatia) [1/2], Brawling-13 [1], Breath Control-13 [2], Climbing-15 [1], Dancing-11 [1/2], Diplomacy-15 [4], Disguise-19 [10], Escape-14 [1], Fast-Draw-13 (Knife) [1], Fast-Talk-14 [1], First Aid-14 [1/2], Heraldry-13 [1/2], Holdout-13 [1/2], Knife-15 [4], Knife-Throwing-13 [1], Language-13 (Dwarven) [1/2], Language-14 (Ehosian) [1], Law-14 [2], Lockpicking-16 [4], Performance-13 [1/2], Pickpocket-12 [2], Poison-14 [2], Riding-11 (Rhacos) [1/2], Running-8 [1], Savoir-Faire-15 [1], Savoir-Faire-15 (Ehosia) [1], Savoir-Faire-15 (Servant) [1], Scrounging-15 [1], Shadowing-14 [1], Shield-13 [1], Shortsword-13 [2], Stealth-15 [6], Strategy-12 [1/2], Streetwise-14 [1], Survival-14 (Urban) [1], Tactics-12 [1/2], Theology-13 (Ehosian) [1], Throwing-12 [2], Tracking-19 [2], Traps-17 [4].

Advantages: Absolute Timing [5], Acute Hearing +2 [4], Acute Vision +3 [6], Alertness +1 [5], Breath Holding +1 [2], Double-Jointed [5], Legal Enforcement Powers +2 [10], Literacy [10], Night Vision [10], Patron (Countess) [20], Rank +2 [10], Status +1 [0].

Disadvantages: Duty (15-, to the Countess) [-10], Enemy (9-, former Captain of the Baroness's Guard) Insomnia [-10], Migraines (8-) [-10], Necrophobia (Mild) [-10].

Quirks: Dislikes sleeping close to windows [-1], Dislikes wearing bright colors [-1], Occasionally forgets he has official duties [-1].

Alchemy: Aphax knows the following elixirs (from GURPS Magic): Ares, Argus, Atalanta, Chiron, Epimetheus, Eris, Heracles, Janus, Morpheus, Orion, Orpheus, Philemon, Philoctetes, Phobos, Tyche.

Background

Aphax began life as an orphan on the streets of Joyeuse, the City of Minstrels, although by now he has made up so many stories about where his parents are that perhaps even his orphaning is a myth. At a young age he joined a group of thugs known as the Eccentrics, and quickly became their inside man due to his talent for disguise and impersonation. While a member of the Eccentrics, he met and fell in love with the girl who became their leader, who would identify herself only as Tiona. At the age of 18, after discovering that she was, in fact, the daughter of a minor noble lady, and that he was being hunted by said lady's guards for having this knowledge, Aphax stole away in the night, fleeing to the county seat of Lari for safety. (It took Tiona seven years to catch up to Aphax and get an explanation for why he had left.)

Over the course of the next two years, Aphax was discovered, taken in, and trained by Sir Beatritz, the Countess's guardmaster and spymatrix, as a diplomat, spy, and assassin. He honed his talent for disguise and infiltration, and used them to great effect in several local missions before joining with a group of Agents of the Countess sent back to Joyeuse to investigate possible malfeasance and corruption in the city government. While there, Tiona caught wind of Aphax's arrival and he narrowly averted being killed by his ex-girlfriend, discovering in the process that he was still in love with her.

During the next five years, Aphax stayed with the same group, maintaining and improving his acting and legerdemain and also picking up the rudiments of alchemy, a skill he enjoyed greatly. When the neighboring theocracy, Ehosia, initiated official trade and diplomatic negotiations with Saromatia, Aphax was part of the delegation sent by the Countess to escort the ambassador to the Queen's castle, and on the way helped to thwart several assassination attempts and kill a dragon, as well as investigating rumors of corruption in a neighboring county. While doing so, Tiona finally caught up with him, he finally explained his reasoning behind running away seven years prior, and she began on the path to forgiving him, in the process revealing that her mother was the same baroness he was investigating for corruption.

By the time the group returned to Lari (with Tiona and a foreign sorceress, formerly part of the ambassador's delegation), Tiona had become pregnant by another member of the group, but by the time the child, Armand, was born, Tiona and Aphax had struck up a tentative relationship, and Aphax took responsibility for the raising of the child. During this time, Tiona's mother, the Baroness Odette, had also named a new heiress - Gabrielle, a rather cruel and sadistic young woman who constantly surrounded herself with torches and light. (It was later discovered that, rather than being a pyromaniac, Gabrielle was afraid of the dark.) Tiona and Aphax attended the marriage of Gabrielle to the ex-brother-in-law of yet another member of Aphax's now-regular adventuring group, and when Tiona was captured, Aphax broke her out of the dungeon, earning the enmity of Gabrielle herself.

At this point, Baroness Odette began to grow truly power-hungry, and staged a revolt against the Queen, killing her Countess (not the Countess whom Aphax served) and attacking the capital city of Saromatia. Aphax was instrumental in getting dwarven assistance to defend Riton's borders against the Baroness's troops, and then infiltrated County Cascaronne with his group (sans Tiona, who had stayed in Lari to raise Armand) and, after a series of adventures, helped to kill Gabrielle, destabilizing and demoralizing the region. The revolution ended quickly thereafter, with both Baroness Odette and the Countess Riton dying in battle, and Tiona was installed as the new Baroness. Immediately afterward, she asked Aphax to marry her; he accepted, and became Baron at her side.

Personality and Current Activity

Aphax is a skilled and talented spy and infiltrator, as well as a trained diplomat. He can fit in nearly anywhere given a few minutes to observe the situation, and is just as at home at court as he is on the streets. Although he is officially a Baron under the Countess Cascaronne, he maintains his relationship with the Countess Ritone and her spymatrix Sir Beatritz, both diplomatically and as an agent of the county, and often serves as the official liaison between Counties Cascaronne and Ritone. While there may be no substance to them, there are rumors afoot that the Countess Cascaronne may be considering tapping Aphax as her spymaster.

Although Aphax often comes across as genial and friendly, this is not always the case; the Baron has a shrewd and calculating mind, and has no compunctions about using his considerable alchemical ability, stealth, acting experience, and skill with a knife to get the job done, if such is required. He has also overseen the defenses of his wife's castle, knows every inch of the grounds with an extraordinary degree of recall, and is not above leading enemies or attackers into carefully-laid traps. Occasionally, he is employed by the Barony or either County as a spy or counter-spy, and on at least one occasion he has been called upon to track a traitor into the Cascaronne woods.

Using Aphax

Given Aphax's position and duties, it is conceivable that he could be encountered in nearly any situation, and he is as likely to appear at a formal banquet for the Queen as he is to show up as a beggar on the street. It is relatively easy to uproot the Baron from Saromatia and place him into a generic fantasy campaign (replace Riding (Rhacos) with Riding (Horse), and Area Knowledge (Saromatia) with Area Knowledge (<the local kingdom>)); converting him to a more modern or futuristic setting should be hardly more work. Although the Baron's allegiance to good or evil may be in doubt - he is, after all, a spy and assassin at heart - he works tirelessly to uphold order, and will not willingly betray his wife or anyone else to whom he has sworn his loyalty.

Although the PCs may first interact with Aphax in any one of his myriad disguises (three of his favorites are Felix Pendezec, a foppish swashbuckler; Victor Garat, the weary, grizzled widower of a female knight; and Brother Jalal, a low-ranking but trustworthy cleric from an ancient, monotheistic desert religion), they are equally likely to encounter Aphax, the friendly husband of the Baroness who enjoys entertaining guests and giving them "copper tours" of the castle, or the Baron, a cold, silent figure who stalks the castle grounds and defends it against trespassers after dark.

Adventure Seeds

A woman in a black cloak and battered armor gives the PCs a piece of key information: the local Baroness is a usurper, who killed her sister in order to take the title. The PCs are hired to investigate and bring back proof - but they'll need to survive the castle and its sharp-eyed, shadowy Baron first...
In an inn along an old country road, the adventurers encounter a man named Pendezec ("...Felix Pendezec"), who is more than happy to entertain the crowd with wild tales of swordsmanship and sorcery, of brave knights and foul witches. He offers to travel with the group, wherever their destination might be, and while he seems to be rather sluggish and tired during the day, letting his donkey do most of the work, the adventurers begin to notice both that Pendezec seems quite a bit more active at night (and, in fact, insists on taking the night watch so that the party can get some rest) and that the bandits who are supposed to be rampant throughout the area have yet to make an appearance...
The party are hired as escorts for a diplomatic envoy, a Baroness and her entourage, and make the acquaintance of Aphax, ostensibly the envoy's personal guard. When the group uncovers an assassination plot against the Baroness, will Aphax trust them enough to allow them to assist him in defending her, and what will he do when he finds out that it's an old enemy of the adventurers who is planning the assassination?

Note: Some of Aphax's skills, Advantages, and Disadvantages - Law, Running, Savoir-Faire, Savoir-Faire (Servant), Shield, and Shortsword; Legal Enforcement Powers, Literacy, and Patron; and Duty - are part of the GM's "Agent of the Countess" package, and did not count toward the the character's point total when he was created. I have included them in the point total here.

New Discord for In Nomine

2003-09-11T20:21:45Z

Corporeal Discord: Delayed Reaction

The sufferer of this Discord doesn't act with quite the same speed of others with his Agility. Although this is not often noticeable outside of combat situations, it can be dangerous or lethal in a fight.

In combat, the victim declares his action as he normally would - but the action does not take place at that time. Instead, the victim actually takes his action as though his Agility were at a penalty of the level of this Discord. (If he is attacked, the victim may Dodge normally, but his Dodge is penalized by the level of the Discord as well.) The victim's Agility is not actually penalized, and any rolls based on it (save Dodge as above) take no penalty due to this Discord.

If the modified Agility score (as above, for purposes of determining when the action actually takes place) drops below 1, subtract the remainder of the Discord's level from 12; this is the Agility at which the victim acts in the *next* round. (In other words, count down as though 1 were immediately followed by 12.)

An Ofanite with this Discord must add the level of the Discord to all dissonance rolls!

Example: Edward has Delayed Reaction/3 and an Agility of 5. He declares his action as normal, but the action does not actually occur until characters with Agility 2 would act.

Example: Edward has sinned some more against his nature and risen to Delayed Reaction/6. Again, he declares his action as normal; however, since his Agility would go below 1, his action actually takes place in the next round, when characters with Agility 11 would act.

Example of play:

Round 1:

Initiative Count 12: George (Agility 12) runs to one of the enemy demons and attacks.
IC 11: Nobody acts.
IC 10: Robert (Agility 10) does the same to another demon.
IC 9: Nobody acts.
IC 8: Frank (Agility 8), a demon, attacks George, who has just attacked him.
IC 7: Nobody acts.
IC 6: Don (Agility 6), another demon, attacks Robert, who has just attacked him.
IC 5: Edward (Agility 5, Delayed Reaction/6) declares that he is going to attack the third demon, but does not do so. His action is delayed by 6 initiative counts.
IC 4: Hal (Agility 4), the third demon, sees that Edward is going to attack him and runs over to attack Edward. (5 counts left until Edward can act.)
IC 3: Nobody acts. (4 counts left until Edward can act.)
IC 2: Nobody acts. (3 counts left until Edward can act.)
IC 1: Nobody acts. (2 counts left until Edward can act.)

Round 2:

IC 12: George attacks Frank again. (Edward can act on the next count.)
IC 11: Edward finally attacks Hal.
IC 10: Robert attacks Don.

...and so on.

In Nomine Weird Table: Secretly Replaced...

2003-08-28T18:27:19Z

The question (regarding Kobal's Secretly Replaced... attunement):

> What happens to the item being Secretly Replaced? Does it vanish, and/or
> appear in the demon's possession? Does it simply transform into what the
> demon wants? Help would be appreciated.

<not even remotely canon>

The GM should roll 2d6 and consult the table below.

The Secretly Replaced... Results Table

2: The item vanishes into nothingness, replaced by the alternate.
3: The item vanishes into vesselspace (see Scabbard), replaced by the alternate.
4: The item transforms into the alternate.
5: The item appears in the demon's possession.
6: The item appears in the demon's possession, but in vesselspace; it costs 1 Essence to retrieve, and may not be thusly stored again without further application of the attunement. Regardless of whether or not it is retrieved, it reappears normally when the duration expires.
7: The item is displaced three feet to the left (or into the closest empty space to that point), at which time all natural laws resume their function upon the object.
8: The item replaces the demon, who is unconscious for the duration.
9: The item disappears, only to reappear in a random warehouse within a number of miles equal to the demon's total Forces (if there is no warehouse close enough, roll again). If the item is removed from the warehouse, it does not reappear when the duration expires.
10: The item appears next to the demon's Heart (if he has one; if not, roll again). It reappears normally when the duration expires.
11: The item slowly fades away, causing 1d6 Mind hits to anyone witnessing the effect. It reappears normally when the duration expires.
12: The item explodes for 2d6 Body hits. For every full foot in distance from the item, the damage is decreased by 1 hit. The item reappears when the duration expires.

</nerc>