Things to Do in Heaven

[Jason]

I'm going to be running a session in Heaven soon, and I was wondering what kinds of adventures folks around here might have had "upstairs" in the past. Heaven and Hell is really light on adventure ideas in Heaven, but I feel like there must still be room for intrigue and even conflict despite the lack of physical slugfests (which we tend to be light on in my group anyway).

Anyway, all war stories (or whatever stories about Heaven are called) are welcome. As for my group, the main reason the PCs are in Heaven is that an NPC who helped them earlier in the campaign is now going on trial by the Inquisition. (He has a Superior-level Word, but is not an Archangel, so I assume he's going to be tried in Dominic's courtroom in the Celestial Tribunal rather than in the main spherical auditorium before the Seraphim Council.) The PCs will be called upon to give witness testimony, and during a recess, they will have a chance to try to sway various Archangels (or their representatives) in throwing support toward their friend.

I thought about doing a side-plot about some other angels hoping to spring the guy if he gets found guilty (which the PCs could aid or combat as they see fit), but I have no idea how you'd do a jailbreak in Heaven. Presumably, angels awaiting trial have their Hearts disabled and vessels stripped so that they can't just head to the corporeal realm with ease, no? And it's not as if a physical breakout is really possible without earning a ton of dissonance. I may scrap that idea.

[Rocket Man]

In the campaign I'm helping run, one of our PC angels is "upstairs" waiting for a friend to come out of Trauma. During that time, she has also been: (fnorded for players in the campaign)

1) Talking with a "counselor" over some very difficult events that closed the last campaign, so that she can settle her heart and mind about what to do next, and:

2) Meeting and posing for a human soul in the Halls of Creation who's worried about the girlfriend she left behind, when she died of leukemia at 17. The angel has promised to return to Earth, and help the girlfriend stay on the path to Destiny if she can.



We could be headed for a trial as well; the group has an Outcast NPC that may be ready to turn himself in and throw himself on the mercy of the court after a fairly checkered past.

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Jason

Presumably, angels awaiting trial have their Hearts disabled and vessels stripped so that they can't just head to the corporeal realm with ease, no? And it's not as if a physical breakout is really possible without earning a ton of dissonance. I may scrap that idea.

Hmm. I'm thinking it's more likely they'd have their Hearts monitored. And lack of vessel wouldn't hamper a Kyriotate, if he is one - er, many.

[Andygal]

Judgement likely has relic-shackles or similar artifacts that are designed to keep the prisoners from getting away.

[Azel]

As generic things to do in heaven, I like to think anything that has to do with a sort of conflict (other facets of Truth, etc), but isn't destructive.

Things like collectors trying to run through Marc's Bazaar and haggle for each piece in a collection -- haggle for info, haggle for better prices, haggle for shipment to a specific location, etc.

Or trying to rediscover "the secret language of flowers" from the Victorian Age, but then try to get a cross-reference from Flowers themselves on how accurate is the information.

There's lots of little fun things to do, but many are on the Easter Egg Hunt, Investigation/Chronicler, or Fashion Pageant level of competition. Outright violence, betrayal, and manipulation are really not part of the Pax Dei.

For your example I would make them do real research for the defense of their friend. They could visit Yves' Library, or even seek "the best defense lawyer" Dominican. They could visit the suspect's past friends, see where he went wrong, where he can be lead back, how clemency can be justified, etc. This is a big opportunity for your group to put the combat hammer away and use that celestial noggin of theirs. If the most they feel compelled to do is duel in the Groves while waiting, well at least throw a few main and side plot hooks. If they ignore even those, well it is their loss.

Dirty Dozen jail break from heaven? Very tall order. Unless this is an epic level campaign, or key scenario in a campaign, i'd recommend against it. Judgment does know what it is doing when restraining members of the Host and has been doing it for millennia. Interfering would be, ahem, poor judgment at best.

[JCD]

Harp tuning, Halo Polishing, Psalms.

Now that that's over with:

It's a political game. I had a class with an attorney. All defense breaks down to this:

1) I did it

2) I didn't do it

3) I did it, but I have a REALLY good excuse (self defense, crazy, drugged, etc)

As far as running, where? How? Dominic probably has put a temporary restriction tattoo on his forehead so he isn't allowed to use a tether and has his heart 'in safe keeping'. A Cherub is attuned to him and if he does a runner, will be following in a very mournful but purposeful way. His triad will not be an Elohim, a Seraph and a Mercurian (A Truth Triad). More like an Ofanim, a Cherub and a Malakim (A Hunt Triad).

So, the PC's have to prove 2, find an excuse for 3, or create a NEW catagory

4) I did it, but I can do X so I'm too useful to punish (The Michael/ Gabriel Defense)

That is politics

[Andygal]

one thing you could do in Heaven is work towards solving a murder mystery.

Like say a Soldier of God gets whacked, and like most Soldiers of God goes to Heaven, the PCs are angels who are aquantied with said individual and they want to find out who whacked them so they can whack that individual back.

the logical first step is to go to Heaven and ask them the details of how they got killed, maybe they there was a gun (where's the gun and can we use it to track down the person who used it?) maybe they have a description of the shooter (did anybody else in the area see the shooter, did somebody see him get out of a car??)

Etc etc.

could even work with a mundane that the PCs knew who got killed and went to Heaven, could work better, since it's much less likely that they got killed by a celestial, and thus there isn't going to be any Disturbance to help give clues. Although in this case, the PCs are less likely to kill the guy and more likely to try to get enough admissible evidence to get him convicted in court.

[William]

I wrote up three adventures set in Heaven and posted them to the mailing list in March of 2003. They are archived here:

http://mail.sjgames.com/pipermail/in...ch/000484.html
http://mail.sjgames.com/pipermail/in...ch/000507.html
http://mail.sjgames.com/pipermail/in...ch/000546.html

[Jason]

Good ideas. The NPC on trial in my game is a former Servitor or Purity, so I may adapt some of the stuff about Uriel's Cathedral there. It reminds me of another question that may be a seed in itself:

Uriel's orphaned angels of Purity still at large in the Marches are not Outcasts, so their Hearts are still intact. A Heart can't leave the realm it was created in, however, so the things are somehow still in Heaven. At least a few Archangels (Dominic, Laurence, Khalid, Michael) might secretly support these angels and so might not want them found, however, so nobody has yet located them to rein in the rogue ethereal-slaying force.

Sooner or later, though, some Tsyadim are going to kill an ethereal in a way that makes life in the Marches harder for the Host. Or, perhaps, Litheroy will decide that Revealing these Hearts' location is his mandate. But one way or another, the hunt will be on...

[hcobb]

A human child wandered into the library and the gang need to get her back to the right place without having to explain why they're visiting the library.