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Old 04-09-2012, 03:53 PM   #1
nuulak
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Coggon, Iowa
Default First time running In Nomine

over the weekend I had the oppurtunity to run a short adventure using the sorcerer's impediments adventure. I was really pleased how it turned out as it only took about 2 hours to get through the whole thing and most of that was just the players arguing the the calabim about why they broke in the door to the house with the human trying to lie through her teeth and the player playing the seraph being detained.

the players were shocked later on to find out that the woman, umah was a demon and that leads into my question. I have not seen in the book but are angels and demons able to tell when they are interacting with each other or is this something that once the essence starts flying that they figure it out?

my players did like the system and I was really glad for the intrigue aspect of the game. made things really fun and lighthearted once we got past the roll low on 2 dice and high on the 3rd unless you are failing a roll.
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Old 04-09-2012, 04:10 PM   #2
Rocket Man
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Default Re: First time running In Nomine

Glad you had fun!

To answer the question: No, angels and demons can't automatically tell when they're interacting with each other. That's part of the challenging spy vs. spy aspect, where telling friend from foe from victim can take a little work.

That said, there are several indirect ways that can work. A complete list has been posted elsewhere, but I'll bring up a few:

* If they break something and it makes a disturbance, you know they're celestial. Not necessarily angel or demon, but celestial. (OK, small chance of being an ethereal spirit, but you know what I mean -- Not A Mortal.) That's part of what makes gunfire so risky in the War; if you fire and miss your target, it still hits something and makes Symphonic "noise."

* If a Malakite gets a CD6 while resonating on someone, he can tell if they're a Balseraph.

* If a Kyriotate has difficulty possessing someone (due to number of Forces required) or a Shedite can't possess them at all (because they're not human!), you're probably dealing with a celestial.

* A Seraph who asks the right questions and gets good resonance rolls can know what she's dealing with really quickly -- and a Seraph of Destiny will know someone's true name if she can touch them.

Here's the current list, if you're curious: http://www.sjgames.com/in-nomine/faq/detecting.html
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“It's not railroading if you offer the PCs tickets and they stampede to the box office, waving their money. Metaphorically speaking”
--Elizabeth McCoy, In Nomine Line Editor

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Old 04-09-2012, 05:34 PM   #3
Archangel Beth
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Default Re: First time running In Nomine

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Originally Posted by Rocket Man View Post
Here's the current list, if you're curious: http://www.sjgames.com/in-nomine/faq/detecting.html
Note that I did that list before I had some of the rules firmly down -- Shedim, for instance, cannot possess non-humans, and so they don't get access to celestial memories. (On the other hand, if there's a Soldier in the group...)


If you're interested in seeing the Full Version (In Nomine "Hevvy") stuff for Sorcerer's Impediments, http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=5737 appears to still be up. O:>

(And I'm extremely glad you had fun with it!)
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Old 04-10-2012, 12:20 AM   #4
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Default Re: First time running In Nomine

Yep, that's always kept it fun for me. As long as you're in a body suit, they can't tell you're not human until you do something not-human. A smart and paranoid investigator/sorcerer could theoretically spot a demon in a crowd by behavior, but it's an inexact art. Unless the demon made a Noise, it's just a guess.

For instance, a servitor of Lust would be trying to score a little too desperately, a Glutton could never leave an empty plate, an Impudite would never sit alone...and none of them, unless well-experienced in counter-surveillance, would sleep eat and defecate at the proper intervals. Watch for the guy who drinks a six-pack and never leaves his chair...possibly a celestial.
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Old 04-10-2012, 03:49 AM   #5
JCD
 
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Default Re: First time running In Nomine

We had a human character who had the 'ability' to detect celestials.

Essentially, it was a matter of perception of a collage of little details. That guy who is in a business suit...wearing Doc Martens (Malakim who went to court). The girl who dressed to the nines but wore that hideous shade of nail polish (a Lilim who thought the color matched her skin...which it did, in HELL)

It was bought as a skill on her part (a pretty unique skill) but was also based on how many points a Celestial put into his role and the amount of time spent both on Earth and in that particular body (I would suggest the original MIB as a funny example of a Calabim fresh on Earth) Essentially, a newly winged Celestial was a lot easier to discover then someone who lived in Columbus for a hundred years in the same body.

One is even tempted to add a "Imitates Humanity" skill to the Celestials...just as a way to highlight the differences.

I would never let a Celestial gain that skill. It's too...ephemeral for them to relate to. THAT Co-Ed with the lime green nail polish, but with the Gucci bag and the self assured 'attitude' is obviously different from THAT girl with the lime green nail polish who is an obvious attention whore by her clothing and poise (at least to a human who is at all sensitive to psychology)

This is a matter of personal opinion.
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Old 04-10-2012, 07:29 AM   #6
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Default Re: First time running In Nomine

Quote:
Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC View Post
Yep, that's always kept it fun for me. As long as you're in a body suit, they can't tell you're not human until you do something not-human. A smart and paranoid investigator/sorcerer could theoretically spot a demon in a crowd by behavior, but it's an inexact art. Unless the demon made a Noise, it's just a guess.

For instance, a servitor of Lust would be trying to score a little too desperately, a Glutton could never leave an empty plate, an Impudite would never sit alone...and none of them, unless well-experienced in counter-surveillance, would sleep eat and defecate at the proper intervals. Watch for the guy who drinks a six-pack and never leaves his chair...possibly a celestial.
Hmmm, I've always ruled that Celestials don't need to eat or drink, but if they chose to their body still has to remove it when they are done.
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Old 04-10-2012, 09:44 AM   #7
Rocket Man
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Originally Posted by alexondria View Post
Hmmm, I've always ruled that Celestials don't need to eat or drink, but if they chose to their body still has to remove it when they are done.
I can see that -- but I've also ruled the other way in my own campaigns, that it simply gets "burned up."

When I was a little kid, I never thought about there being vacuum cleaner bags; I used to think that everything the device sucked up was just burned into nothing. Perhaps angel/demon bodies work the same way -- direct conversion of mass to energy, leaving nothing behind, unless they choose otherwise.
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“It's not railroading if you offer the PCs tickets and they stampede to the box office, waving their money. Metaphorically speaking”
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Old 04-10-2012, 10:57 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by Rocket Man View Post
I can see that -- but I've also ruled the other way in my own campaigns, that it simply gets "burned up."

When I was a little kid, I never thought about there being vacuum cleaner bags; I used to think that everything the device sucked up was just burned into nothing. Perhaps angel/demon bodies work the same way -- direct conversion of mass to energy, leaving nothing behind, unless they choose otherwise.
I told my players they DO need to excrete stuff sooner or later, but they are not compelled to do so on a set schedule the way humans are. I've never run a campaign with a Glutton, though, and I'm not sure how you could without a rule like yours...
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Old 04-10-2012, 02:33 PM   #9
johndallman
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I told my players they DO need to excrete stuff sooner or later, but they are not compelled to do so on a set schedule the way humans are.
Giving them more control is fair enough - but they still have to carry it around until they excrete. We had a case with an angel who worked as a medical examiner. A body that was in perfect health apart from injuries that killed it, but doesn't seem to have ever had anything through the gut ... is probably a celestial.
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Old 04-11-2012, 06:25 PM   #10
nuulak
 
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Default Re: First time running In Nomine

I am glad that I did all right with the players and leading them on with the demon and not letting them know that they are dealing with a full fledged demon until she was able to get the drop on them. even if they were human she was willing to throw out some disturbance
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