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Old 04-12-2013, 03:30 AM   #11
tHEhERETIC
 
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Default Re: How to avoid broadcasting Choir/Band

Oh oh oh, I know this one!

Part of the backstory of my PbP is that Ruby the Lilim got Ryuki the libertine/sorcerer on the hook despite his being basically cautious of such things. She just sat too close to him at a bar so he couldn't get anything done. Annoyed the guy. "What will it take to make you go away?" Mind you, he knew she was a demon but not what Band. She slipped him her phone number. "Call me." "Yeah sure, okay, whatever." In his mind, a brushoff. To her, a hook. Very subtle.

On a more PC level he's always trying to guess Choir/Band by behavior. Methariel as Shenmachel played the obvious Seraph, throwing fits when he lied (which was more often than not). Mitchem, also a Seraph, kept quiet. It took months IC for him to figure out that Mitch was not a Mercurian.

(Roundabout these posts you can see the contrast http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread...hel#post466022
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Old 04-12-2013, 05:21 AM   #12
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Default Re: How to avoid broadcasting Choir/Band

I've also found it much more effective for trapping angels in games I run if the lilim is up front about what she is. "Well you could send me back to Hell if we weren't in such a crowded place full of humans and I do know where that demon is keeping mortal X that you would like to rescue and what's more they have a whole warehouse full of artifacts there that you can clean out and I'll even tell you as long as you promise to bring me the box that fits x description and of course the contents in it just as they are right now." Have them do that a time or 2 with items and things that don't really matter and well then people start to fall into a lull and don't realize it when she's upped the stakes to something really bad.

So like in the above situation she's making them bring her the box and the item, but nothing says they can't look at it. So say they do look at it, it's not even an artifact, but it's a picture of some poor mortal that died centuries ago. Might even be some schmuck she doesn't care about, but the first thing pcs are likely to think is that it's a mortal that she used to care about. Now they've been set up to think that maybe she's got a soft side they can exploit as angels and maybe get a bright by the end of it.

Last edited by alexondria; 04-12-2013 at 05:24 AM.
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Old 04-12-2013, 12:59 PM   #13
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Default Re: How to avoid broadcasting Choir/Band

Oh an off the wall question?


is a Nybassian satisfying the demands of his Princes Word by taking a roll say as a teenage hot guy, going out and saying "you need X , X will make you feel good, if you dont have X your nothing"

a lot of people believe "someone they know" more then osme faceless newspaper collumn


(Yes this would be a task more likely given to to some minions minion, but still is a valid question)
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Old 04-12-2013, 04:26 PM   #14
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Default Re: How to avoid broadcasting Choir/Band

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Originally Posted by PenitentDemon View Post
Oh an off the wall question?


is a Nybassian satisfying the demands of his Princes Word by taking a roll say as a teenage hot guy, going out and saying "you need X , X will make you feel good, if you dont have X your nothing"

a lot of people believe "someone they know" more then osme faceless newspaper collumn


(Yes this would be a task more likely given to to some minions minion, but still is a valid question)
Nybbas' Word is "The Media" - I suspect he'd prefer this demon was working at least on the Internet rather than face-to-face.

Mammon's word is Greed - he might send somebody out on this sort of mission...
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Old 04-12-2013, 07:22 PM   #15
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Default Re: How to avoid broadcasting Choir/Band

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Nybbas' Word is "The Media" - I suspect he'd prefer this demon was working at least on the Internet rather than face-to-face.

Mammon's word is Greed - he might send somebody out on this sort of mission...
It's also a great one for Malphas -- remember, if he's recruiting for an in-group, that means there's an out-group to look down on. :)
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Old 04-13-2013, 05:16 PM   #16
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Default Re: How to avoid broadcasting Choir/Band

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Any idea how to Make things more subtle.
This is why I like to play Mercurians. It's easy for them to blend in.
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Old 04-15-2013, 03:17 AM   #17
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Default Re: How to avoid broadcasting Choir/Band

I really support the "keep 'em guessing with extra humans!" advice. It's so tempting to jump into all these alien personalities that you forget that celestial rarity matters. That and humans can be just as eccentric and alien-seeming as some celestials. Humans are pretty good all on their own to cause complications and throw off standard celestial tells.

I try to keep my campaign's celestial rarity ratio in mind when running, just in case I'm tempted. A mere handful of celestials in a city can cause enormous amounts of damage (repercussions?). Often the last thing they would want is to be bothered by interruptions. A city packed with 'em? Likely diminishing returns for Superiors.

Yet if only calculating dissonance worked in a more user-friendly manner...
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Old 04-15-2013, 11:46 AM   #18
Rocket Man
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Default Re: How to avoid broadcasting Choir/Band

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Originally Posted by Azel View Post

I try to keep my campaign's celestial rarity ratio in mind when running, just in case I'm tempted. A mere handful of celestials in a city can cause enormous amounts of damage (repercussions?).
Much agreed. The players in my Boulder campaign can tell you just how few celestials have popped up on the radar (on either side!), and how interesting or potentially troublesome certain human locals have been.

Even though Boulder is a university town, and thus somewhat Tether-heavy for its size (pop. just under 100,000), active celestial operatives tend to be few and subtle. Especially since this is a city with a strong pagan presence, constantly raising the possibility of a three-cornered battlefield.

Soldiers, on the other hand, have an easier time blending in. Any sort of weirdness can show up in Boulder without seeming especially remarkable.
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Old 04-20-2013, 04:29 AM   #19
Azel
 
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Default Re: How to avoid broadcasting Choir/Band

I'm beginning to think one of the game's unspoken... erm, let's say un-emphasized conceits is how celestials are expected to run more than one vessel. It's a great Character Point sink, helping to keep advancement rates to manageable levels. And the return is fantastic as it: a) is a fail-safe to keep you immediately in the game, b) help maintain discretion for roles, espionage, etc., and c) can open new access otherwise unreachable.

A few celestials in a city with even just a "carry-on luggage" worth of vessels has a lot of options. Throw in human contacts, friends, functionaries, blinds, etc. and you can have screens upon screens of humanity in the way. The level of machination potential could mean it'd be layers upon layers to reach the heart of a real conspiracy.

Which makes Malakim resonance actually far more important than their combat prowess, doesn't it? In the face of so many humans getting in your way, knowing who's just petty evil (most of humanity at its worst) is a frightening radar system. The ferocity matters too I'm sure, but I think it bothers demons more that getting lost in the crowds with vessels and tricks becomes less of an option when the Malakim are waved in.

A Cherubim needs to attune a nemesis target first, after heartbreaking failure. :(
A Malakim makes the white noise of humans and vessels almost impotent (well, for Balseraphs at least). ;)
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Old 04-20-2013, 08:32 AM   #20
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Default Re: How to avoid broadcasting Choir/Band

oh curious is it dissonant for a Servitor of Mammon to Give or Loan the Cauldron of plenty to a mortal?

or to give ostensibly free assistance in financialy exploiting other mortals in service to the cause of greed?


Answer im leaning towards is "yes, but Mammon will probaly remove the dissonance for free if he's happy with the results"
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