20 years on

Whitelaughter · 11-03-2017, 09:26 PM

IN was first published by SJG in 1997 - before mobile phones, 9/11, facebook, bitcoin, the GFC, Napster, the human genome project, Walmart, Uber.
The world's population has increased by half largely because infant mortality, maternal mortality and abortion have all dropped dramatically.
Other things have been and gone (remember dotcon?) or disappeared seemingly forever, only to return: such as looking forward to the next star wars film.

I realised just how much time and passed - and how RPGs haven't kept up - when watching Wonder Woman, and wondering what system I'd run it in. Scarily, I ran a Boot Hill campaign when the system first came out, and realised that if I'd kept running that campaign, progressing at the same rate as the real world the game date would be 1917! The PCs would have seen the end of the wild west, taken part in the wars with the Spanish, helped establish Hollywood and be grumbling with Teddy Roosevelt about being too old to fight in France.

Within IN, even some Attunements are obsolete - the Balseraph and Lilim of Technology attunements should now run off mobile phones, while the existing band attunements be join the other Archaic attunements.

So - IN for a different world, a different worldview. What has changed?

Celestials are comparitively rare. With the population increasing by half in 20 years, and the Celestials not coping with it doubling every century, they are completely swamped. Everything that can be delegated to Servants etc will be. When angels and demons do come into play, they will be backed by Familiars etc to crush the problem swiftly.

Mortals even the odds with Enchantment Mortals can buy and use Artifacts - but the kicker is when they get an Enchantment Talisman with Use Features: usable by mortals lets them double their skills, while first Use must be to copy this Artifact results in a self-replicating Artifact that will swiftly be available to everyone. Mortals would mostly Enchant Talismans in their Dreamscapes while asleep, so effectively lose no time doing so. Access to Dancing, Meditation and Singing Talismans will mean that Soldiers are getting the most out of their Songs, so handling supernatural backup for their Mundane troops.

Constructs are a thing.
Thanks to Fall of the Malakim, the existence of Constructs is now widely known; while most will be 1 Force assistants for Enchantment, Heaven will be churning out symphonically aware Constructs to balance the odds against the waves of Undead and Ethereals available to Hell.

Constructs, Ethereals and Undead even the odds with Songs.
Wiping out a flock of songbirds and zombifying them creates a swarm of minions capable of researching Corporeal Songs that give Undead an affinity bonus; and in a crisis they can perform Choruses with their creator.
Meanwhile 3 Force Ethereal Figments can be ordered to Initiate and acquire Affinities, researching Ethereal Songs that grant a bonus to their Affinity. These two groups could then trade their Songs, and research the linked versions for each other. Celestial Songs would remain rare, although the completion of some Song sets would be commissioned by Beleth and Saminga respectively.

technology spirits can easily enter the Corporeal
With Celestials overstretched, and AI improving, these Ethereals are waxing strong. Once self-driving cars are normal, Car Vessels be effectively invisible, allowing technology spirits to go where ever they want.

Rites and Attunements from Lesser Word Bound become the norm
With Superiors overstretched and out of commission, and large numbers of new concepts appearing and disappearing overnight, for a Word to survive it will need to spread fast. Handed out to Free and Allied Lilim into return for a Geases for demons, or to Malakim of Trade in return for an oath for angels, will be standard - but insufficient. To succeed, a WordBound needs to be able to safely hand out their goodies to anybody.

Ethereal Discord will be normal The slaughter of Angels of Dream in Final Trumpet means that Blandine, and so Dominic, is going to have to accept Discord from ethereal 'death' as a mark of pride not shame. Some Discord will be actively encouraged! Bound makes it harder for Dream to get dissonance, Aura strengthens the Mercurian of Flowers attunement. Because Odin's One Eye attunement is actually Discord in Celestials, it can be duplicated with a Discord Bracer and made permanent by spending dissonance, allowing Servitors to keep tabs on their underlings: and can be given to Familiars with a Will roll, allowing them to do the same. Carefully chosen Vulnerabilities allow the detection of rare, valued things while a Need(Oxygen)/6 avoids needing to roll against other Celestial Discords for daily essence.

what have I missed?

11-03-2017, 09:26 PM	#1
Whitelaughter Join Date: Jun 2011	20 years on IN was first published by SJG in 1997 - before mobile phones, 9/11, facebook, bitcoin, the GFC, Napster, the human genome project, Walmart, Uber. The world's population has increased by half largely because infant mortality, maternal mortality and abortion have all dropped dramatically. Other things have been and gone (remember dotcon?) or disappeared seemingly forever, only to return: such as looking forward to the next star wars film. I realised just how much time and passed - and how RPGs haven't kept up - when watching Wonder Woman, and wondering what system I'd run it in. Scarily, I ran a Boot Hill campaign when the system first came out, and realised that if I'd kept running that campaign, progressing at the same rate as the real world the game date would be 1917! The PCs would have seen the end of the wild west, taken part in the wars with the Spanish, helped establish Hollywood and be grumbling with Teddy Roosevelt about being too old to fight in France. Within IN, even some Attunements are obsolete - the Balseraph and Lilim of Technology attunements should now run off mobile phones, while the existing band attunements be join the other Archaic attunements. So - IN for a different world, a different worldview. What has changed? Celestials are comparitively rare. With the population increasing by half in 20 years, and the Celestials not coping with it doubling every century, they are completely swamped. Everything that can be delegated to Servants etc will be. When angels and demons do come into play, they will be backed by Familiars etc to crush the problem swiftly. Mortals even the odds with Enchantment Mortals can buy and use Artifacts - but the kicker is when they get an Enchantment Talisman with Use Features: usable by mortals lets them double their skills, while first Use must be to copy this Artifact results in a self-replicating Artifact that will swiftly be available to everyone. Mortals would mostly Enchant Talismans in their Dreamscapes while asleep, so effectively lose no time doing so. Access to Dancing, Meditation and Singing Talismans will mean that Soldiers are getting the most out of their Songs, so handling supernatural backup for their Mundane troops. Constructs are a thing. Thanks to Fall of the Malakim, the existence of Constructs is now widely known; while most will be 1 Force assistants for Enchantment, Heaven will be churning out symphonically aware Constructs to balance the odds against the waves of Undead and Ethereals available to Hell. Constructs, Ethereals and Undead even the odds with Songs. Wiping out a flock of songbirds and zombifying them creates a swarm of minions capable of researching Corporeal Songs that give Undead an affinity bonus; and in a crisis they can perform Choruses with their creator. Meanwhile 3 Force Ethereal Figments can be ordered to Initiate and acquire Affinities, researching Ethereal Songs that grant a bonus to their Affinity. These two groups could then trade their Songs, and research the linked versions for each other. Celestial Songs would remain rare, although the completion of some Song sets would be commissioned by Beleth and Saminga respectively. technology spirits can easily enter the Corporeal With Celestials overstretched, and AI improving, these Ethereals are waxing strong. Once self-driving cars are normal, Car Vessels be effectively invisible, allowing technology spirits to go where ever they want. Rites and Attunements from Lesser Word Bound become the norm With Superiors overstretched and out of commission, and large numbers of new concepts appearing and disappearing overnight, for a Word to survive it will need to spread fast. Handed out to Free and Allied Lilim into return for a Geases for demons, or to Malakim of Trade in return for an oath for angels, will be standard - but insufficient. To succeed, a WordBound needs to be able to safely hand out their goodies to anybody. Ethereal Discord will be normal The slaughter of Angels of Dream in Final Trumpet means that Blandine, and so Dominic, is going to have to accept Discord from ethereal 'death' as a mark of pride not shame. Some Discord will be actively encouraged! Bound makes it harder for Dream to get dissonance, Aura strengthens the Mercurian of Flowers attunement. Because Odin's One Eye attunement is actually Discord in Celestials, it can be duplicated with a Discord Bracer and made permanent by spending dissonance, allowing Servitors to keep tabs on their underlings: and can be given to Familiars with a Will roll, allowing them to do the same. Carefully chosen Vulnerabilities allow the detection of rare, valued things while a Need(Oxygen)/6 avoids needing to roll against other Celestial Discords for daily essence. what have I missed?