Can In Nomine be resurrected?

[Hide]

Originally Posted by Andrew Hackard

As soon as you do anything with the In Nomine game that means you're bringing in money, you have to obtain a license from us. (...)

Yes, totally agreed. I meant that one could develop his own custom content for his own personal use without violating a license (hence, personal level), for example:

(1) Making your own conversion of IN to 4E and play with your friends at home
(2) Doing some market research and benchmarking In Nomine (identifying its pros & cons) to make a formal study and then (hypothetically) make a formal proposal of work to SJG.

My point is that IN fans could push the project by doing some formal work for the company, just as another established company might do before venturing into business.

Originally Posted by Andrew Hackard

I can't see us willingly spinning up a third line and I don't think a 4E GURPS In Nomine is in the cards, either (although an *update* PDF, along the lines of ones done for Transhuman Space, might be a possibility (...) Honestly, I think the *most* likely path would be for another established game company (...) I know this is a discouraging answer. I wish things were otherwise; I like In Nomine and I wanted to see more content for it.

I do not think your comments are discouraging. I believe they help clearing some of the questions the fans may have about In Nomine’s situation. Thanks for your insight!

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Hide

(1) Making your own conversion of IN to 4E and play with your friends at home

Another thing people can do is talk about it in places beyond this forum. There all still available, at least digitally, though the lack of a category lowers visibility.

[johndallman]

I think reviving IN requires a new "elevator pitch" - the short description of what the game is about and the experience you get in playing it.

The original French game seems to have been blatant religious satire, to a degree that would never be acceptable in the US market. Derek Pearcy re-conceptualised it into a cold war between Heaven and Hell, and that succeeded because there was a strong interest in angels and demons at the time in Western popular culture, and the real-world Cold War was still recent enough to serve as a reference. But neither of those conditions apply any more.

IN is also a relatively difficult game to run IME. Not the mechanics, they're really easy. But creating a plot and story that lives up to the standard of all the cool stuff in the setting is hard work. Both the campaigns I've played in, and the one I ran, petered out with their grand themes unresolved. Difficult-to-run RPGs aren't what sells well these days.

So we need a new concept of the game, a new form of relevance to the players. Fortunately, there is a way to experiment with such ideas and develop them. The SJ Games online policy allows running IN Online Roleplaying Communities. If someone wants to do that - I don't have the time or the skills - I'll come along and participate.

[Whitelaughter]

Originally Posted by johndallman

IN is also a relatively difficult game to run IME. Not the mechanics, they're really easy. But creating a plot and story that lives up to the standard of all the cool stuff in the setting is hard work.

Stuff I've done people are free to poach:

Charlie's Lilim: Lilith has sold several of the PC Lilim's Geases to "Charlie", an unknown figure who finds jobs that are as similar to the plots of the TV and movie as possible and sends his Lilim off to resolve.

Wretch: Adam's 2nd wife has resurfaced, seeking revenge against both humans and Lilim for her rejection. Angels who seek to interact with her find that the "hands off" policy still applies, and that even thinking about directly interfering with her actions is very unpleasant, sufficiently so to realise that actually doing so will be dissonant - but she is happy to trash their fav humans, requiring subtle actions to protect them.

the Jail: demons who have been possessed by Kyriotates cannot be destroyed with dissonance, so a jail has been built to hold them. The PCs can either be demons held in the jail or angels tasked with keeping them there.

[finn]

I know I am the minority, but I would prefer a new version of GURPS In Nomine, as I would be more likely to run it. I have enough players who are comfortable with GURPS, and would be willing to try a new setting. Since they would be comfortable with the basic system, I will need to do much less translating.

A box style, powered by GURPS game like DFRPG, with ample sample characters and streamlined character creation would help a lot.

[Whitelaughter]

I'm somewhat surprised that there isn't a D20 IN game, it'd be a pretty straightforward conversion.

[dataweaver]

Originally Posted by Whitelaughter

I'm somewhat surprised that there isn't a D20 IN game, it'd be a pretty straightforward conversion.

I don't see it. D20 is a class-and-level system, and the closest that IN gets to that is its Roles, which is a fairly minor part of the game. The only other commonality I see is that D20 has six attributes and IN has six characteristics; and they don't all line up. d20's Str, Dex, and Int have clear parallels; Wis could kind of be equated with Perception. But Con and Cha have no parallels, and In Nomine's Precision and Will don't have d20 parallels (unless you consider a Wisdom Save the same as Will).

Beyond that? I don't see any straightforward conversions.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by dataweaver

Beyond that? I don't see any straightforward conversions.

It would certainly be doable, game systems are far more interchangeable than people like to admit, but it's not a particularly compelling fit.

[Attercap]

With In Nomine's overall imbalance and mechanics, I'd suggest a more narrative-driven system like Fate Core, Fate Accelerated, or FFG's Genesys. It would need some work to incorporate the quirky/fun intervention mechanic, but I think the setting of In Nomine lends itself more to narrative, rules-light systems.

[dataweaver]

While we're on the subject of alternate game engines:

Anyone remember the collapse of the Guardians of Order? The makers of Big Eyes, Small Mouth, which was nearing its third edition (written by David Pulver) when the company shut its doors due to financial mismanagement. They had also produced a variant called Silver Age Sentinels (a superhero game) and a generic “Tri-Stat dX” game engine. When the company collapsed, the owner shopped around to various other game companies to try to find someone to get BESM 3e published, finally settling with White Wolf.

I remember at the time hoping that Steve Jackson Games would pick it up; and I think that the fact that they didn't was a huge missed opportunity. In particular, and bringing this rant back on topic, I think that the Tri-Stat System would be an excellent fit for In Nomine. It uses the same body/mind/soul split that In Nomine uses; success is determined by a 2d6 roll-under mechanic, just like In Nomine (you'd just need to add a Check Digit to get the same die rolling mechanics). It's a point-buy system rather than a class-and-level system. And it's rules-light. To properly capture the feel of In Nomine, you'd need to adjust the lists Attributes and Defects, and a few additional mechanics would need to be added; but I think the net result could be a good one.