Customizing the Revelations Cycle

[Jason]

And speaking of that Renegade figuring into further adventures...

Maybe I just need to reread The Final Trumpet more closely, but can anybody explain to me why on Earth Malphas binds Mira's last Ethereal Force into a cat instead of just destroying her outright?

From a gaming standpoint, I can see the sense of keeping her intact so that the players have some evidence to track down later. Even from a narrative standpoint, I could imagine a reason not to kill her outright, if he thought that Lilith would notice a lost Geas and intervene to screw things up for Malphas -- but in that case, wouldn't he also want to keep around a celestial Force, as presumably Mira would register as "dead" anyway as soon as she became a remnant? And if Malphas knows that Neck witnessed this (FotM p. 116), why not just kill Neck too?

[Archangel Beth]

Malphas binds the last one into a cat because every villain needs a cat to hold and stroke while intoning, "No, Angel Bond, I expect you to die." Especially a cat who vaguely remembers being a not-cat, and is helpless to get away from something she fears and hates. In other words, it's Evil. She betrayed him. He can't keep her around as a functioning angel, and may not trust that he could make her Fall (or that he could keep her; an imprisoned angel would be too much of a tempting distraction for other Princes!), but he can make her zombie-shadow-self suffer, cut off from everything she ever learned how to love.

He may also be hoping that this Force will let him create a Lilim sometime in the future, or something interesting, or that it will be tradable to someone later. Waste not, want not!

As for not getting rid of witnesses... That, I'd have to peer very closely at, and the book is a bit inaccessible for me at this moment. About the best I can say is: he's Factions. What divisiveness could be accomplished by someone knowing that information?

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Archangel Beth

Malphas binds the last one into a cat because every villain needs a cat to hold and stroke while intoning, "No, Angel Bond, I expect you to die." Especially a cat who vaguely remembers being a not-cat, and is helpless to get away from something she fears and hates. In other words, it's Evil. She betrayed him. He can't keep her around as a functioning angel, and may not trust that he could make her Fall (or that he could keep her; an imprisoned angel would be too much of a tempting distraction for other Princes!), but he can make her zombie-shadow-self suffer, cut off from everything she ever learned how to love.

He may also be hoping that this Force will let him create a Lilim sometime in the future, or something interesting, or that it will be tradable to someone later. Waste not, want not!

As for not getting rid of witnesses... That, I'd have to peer very closely at, and the book is a bit inaccessible for me at this moment. About the best I can say is: he's Factions. What divisiveness could be accomplished by someone knowing that information?

I struggled with the first part of this answer awhile before going back and rereading parts of the Game Master's Guide on how Superiors think. I was thinking of this in terms of: "Why would someone with an Intelligence of 12 or higher leave any witnesses at all that could foil his plan?" Perhaps I should have been thinking of it in terms of: "What would the very personification of the concept of Factions do when presented with this situation?" He may be brilliant, but he is what he is. Some the very core of him may need to leave a witness just for the sake of turning that witness against its master.

(Also, as long as you're putting in the effort to erode everyone's confidence in the purity of Malakim, it might be handy to erode everyone's confidence in the lowly human Princess's monopoly on a useful Band. Why would Factions share a victory with a human, of all things?)

[Archangel Beth]

Originally Posted by Jason

Perhaps I should have been thinking of it in terms of: "What would the very personification of the concept of Factions do when presented with this situation?" He may be brilliant, but he is what he is. Some the very core of him may need to leave a witness just for the sake of turning that witness against its master.

Yes. Yes, exactly. Superiors are super-intelligent, but they are also intensely driven by their Words (and by their Choirs and Bands! even dirty-tricks Michael is still a Seraph, and on some levels, he won't do what, say, a Kyriotate would, or an Elohite, or a Malakite...).

Malphas splits things apart, turning people against each other. And he corrupts.

I'm not going to say that every adventure is perfect in this regard! But when considering motivations (either for keeping something as written, or for adapting), don't just focus on that Int 12. Add the Choir/Band, and especially the Word.


If using the adaptation that the PCs were involved in Mira's redemption, then leaving a witness -- or otherwise finding a way to notify them of her fate -- might be a very Factiony thing indeed. "There is nothing you can take into your Heavenly collective that I cannot split back out of it, Angel Jones."

(And, as a message to dark Lilim: "Archangels cannot protect you. Your Mother cannot protect you. No one can protect you when a Prince wants you gone. You are alone."

Consider that message and then consider why

Spoiler:  

Lilith would be willing to help Blandine re-create a Bright. Though I'd strongly suspect that Mira 2 got/gets the same, "Bound, Free-with-debts, or dissolved?" question that any other newborn Lilim gets... Because, y'know, Word-stuff. O:>

)

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Archangel Beth

If using the adaptation that the PCs were involved in Mira's redemption, then leaving a witness -- or otherwise finding a way to notify them of her fate -- might be a very Factiony thing indeed. "There is nothing you can take into your Heavenly collective that I cannot split back out of it, Angel Jones."

Great point. Given that take, I might even add that when the PCs talk to Neck, he'll basically report, "Um, and Malphas says hi." He isn't just leaving witnesses; he wants these relative low-level Servitors to squirm, knowing that he took back their friend, and there's nothing they can do to stop his master plan.

[Archangel Beth]

Yessssss! Now you see!
*hands you the Evil GM cookies; they're very nummy!*

[Jason]

So, an update:

Just ran "The Demon Prince of Rock and Roll" today as a one-shot. I think there's maybe more going on than I could actually fit in a a 6-hour session after all, especially because my players kept charging down dead ends (which could have been side plots if we had time to explore them), but we had fun.

The players rather flummoxed my plans to discourage their demon-slaying (or at least demon-scaring) agenda. They didn't actually get into any fights at all, but they were so hostile and inquisitive toword absolutely every character they met -- either for being a demon or for being buddies with demons -- that they permanently scared away the demons who I wanted to introduce them to Mira Klein. As it was, I still worked Mira into the adventure, but the players felt like she was kind of tacked on. It would've fit better if only my Malakite hadn't chased Lauren into a women's bathroom and Hugo into a Tether. Oh well. Hilariously, though, they didn't even know Wrenchial was a demon until after the adventure had ended simply because he's such a genuinely fun and helpful guy. They actually liked him much better than Tomas, their main (official) contact in the city, but there's no way they would've guarded the band for him if they'd known he was a demon, as the original adventure recommends. Giving them a reason to guard the band (i.e., orders from Israfel) was the best thing I could've done for myself.

Another major change I ended up making that worked well was to actually use more scenes that were supposed to have happened "in the past" in the book. Tomas actually brought the PCs along in his visit to Wrench where Wrench gives him Furfur's tape, and Druiel's violent outburst toward Hugo (about his girlfriend dying with pink foam on her lips) happened while the PCs were around to witness it. This made it a lot easier for the players to figure out what was going on (though they still had a challenging time getting a handle on everything overall).

Anyway, thanks again for all the suggestions before. I hope you'll chime in again when I come back here later looking for advice on customizing Fall of the Malakim...

[Jason]

Oh, and if you similarly decide this adventure needs some actual music, I recommend this Lacuna Coil's "Heaven's a Lie" as the Song that summons Lucifer. It's very catchy, and has both a part for Donna Moore and a male vocal part in the chorus for Furfur.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixxtnrWb17Y

[Archangel Beth]

Thanks for the feedback! Pity Mira's intro didn't quite work out as planned.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by Archangel Beth

Thanks for the feedback! Pity Mira's intro didn't quite work out as planned.

Eh, my own fault. I didn't think quick enough on my feet on how else to integrate her, but I think they'll still appreciate the continuity between adventures when she comes back up again later.

That said, she was actually playing a role in the greater plot: She was using her Factions attunements to try to break up Donna's band to screw over Furfur's plot, thinking it would be a good "letter of application" when making a bid for Redemption. She didn't realize that the PCs were actually trying to ensure the band would play...