In Nomine in a Sci-Fi Setting

[JCurwen3]

I've been thinking of starting a campaign like this - set in the world of a possible (sci-fi) future. Has anyone ever tried anything like this?

Some questions came up in a discussion I had with one of my players (and sister):

(1) In a setting with time travel (technically this might be achieved via some super-secret Song or something, not just tech):

(a) what would a Cherub feel if someone to which it was attuned travelled in time? A sudden "what?! where are they?!?!"?
(b) And if that person travelled back in time to a time before the Cherub attuned themselves to them, would they "feel" the attunement, or not?
(c) Or if they travelled to a time when the Cherub already was attuned to them, but because of the time travel there'd be two versions of the same person, what sort of wonky effects / sensations might the Cherub feel?
(d) Kyriotates can possess multiple hosts, all with the same undivided mind: what happens when one host is transported to a different time than the other(s)? Should it even be possible, would it hurt if it was, or should it be seemless (as in time-spanning mental inter-communication)?
(e) In a Multiverse of Many Worlds, or at least a Universe that allows for changing the past, what would the effect be on a Seraph time traveller that literally felt the Truth change?

(2) With space travel, there are other questions (not all so sci-fi):

Communication / information flow is limited by special relativity to the speed of light, c. On Earth this will never be a problem (just fractions of a second, way beyond the resolution of any RPG), but even if we just sent another man to the Moon today, there's a time lapse of about 1.27 seconds (the time it takes for light to travel that distance). If we ever send a manned mission to Mars, there's a delay of between about 3 minutes to 22 minutes depending on relative positions of the two planets along their orbits for signals to cross that gulf. So...

(a) What happens to the Cherub attuned to the Martian astronaut? Should there be a delay in sensing danger to them? And what could it do about it - the Song of Motion might allow it to get there, but shouldn't it also be limited by c (otherwise you start dealing with creepy things like effectively going backwards in time)?
(b) what happens to the Kyriotate possessing multiple hosts across such distances?
(c) any special considerations for Ofanim, that resonate for motion?

There's also time dilation to account for - time "slows down" as your velocity approaches that of light; or maybe better put, time seems to run the same in the spaceship for the astronauts, but someone on Earth peering into the ship's window somehow would see them moving more sluggishly, clocks running slower, etc. Technically differential "time rates" are always happening, they're just so small on Earth you need ridiculously precise atomic clocks to measure the differences (even in a supersonic jet the time dilation is only a very very small fraction of a second as measured compared to the stationary clock on the ground).

(d) what is the effect on a Cherub being in a significantly different "time rate" than one or more of its charges?
(e) And on a Kyriotate in multiple hosts in different "time rates"?
(f) can an Offanite ever move fast enough to take advantage of (or be impeded by) relativistic effects?

And finally:
(g) What effects should hypothetical "faster than light" drives (that cheat the speed of light by making space move instead of the ship, or create wormhole shortcuts in space, or move in some hyperspace) have?

(3) How do celestials survive in a world of Super-Big-Brother surveilance? We're already so bombarded with CCTV cameras invading our privacy for "our safety", that it's hard to imagine that world governments aren't aware of celestials by now if they existed as in IN. What about in a future world where nanotechnology allows a worldwide cover of "smart dust" that provides universal and ubiquitous surveilance?

(4) What would the impact of cybernetics, mind uploading, cloning (combined with mind copying), replacing parts or all of the brain and / or body with technological counterparts be on the angels and demons?

(5) What would teleportation / matter transmission do to the sensibilities of the celestials? Most schemes involve scanning the body to have nigh-perfect information about how to reconstruct it, sending this data at the speed of light to the destination, reconstructing them on the receiver side, and disintegrating the version in the transmitter upon confirmation of successful transmission. These schemes also technically allow a person to be stored indefinitely in a "data state". Typically this works well conceptually if you have a strictly materialist view of the mind and soul, which we know (in IN) isn't the correct view. What happens to the soul? What happens to the celestial that tries to use such a teleport system whilst in its vessel?

(6) What about cryogenic suspension (in a world where it works)? Is this a way to keep a human soul indefinitely out of Heaven / Hell / etc.? Celestial thoughts on it (I assume Saminga wouldn't be a fan). Note that if cryosuspension works and can be reversed, then it's effectively a medical intervention (albeit right now a highly speculative and time-delayed one) where your body is put in what should by all rights be seen as a sort of "super-coma", waiting for futuristic "CPR" to resuscitate it, rather than a dead body awaiting high-tech resurrection.

(7) What would you imagine might change about the way celestials wage the War, and the various Band / Choir attunements, etc.?

I know, I know - very long, very busy post, just wanted to get it all out there and get opinions, maybe prior experience if you've ever tackled any of these issues either in game or as a matter of intellectual curiosity. And again, some like the questions regarding space travel, are technically applicable in the very near future, in the case of future missions to the Moon and Mars.

[Acolyte]

Well, I don't want to have this remain responseless, so I'll give it a stab. I've thought about some of these things a little bit, albeit within the framework of creating a hybrid setting by mashing the IN secret backstory into the awesome space fantasy RPG Fading Suns (in which, among other things, there is a Catholicesque, politically powerful Church that would be strongly supported by Laurence and Dominic [and Malphas, yukyuk]; a war with invasive and adaptable biologics that infect you with spores that make you join them, perhaps the brainchild of a Fallen or Outcast Jordi; and a noble house of decadence and body modification that probably inspires Andrealphus as much as it pleases him).

Time travel: First, you'd have to determine what laws govern time travel, including classic paradoxes, the effects of "meddling" (and ignoring meddling), or the inevitability of doing what already happened in the past. For your own sanity, it's probably safer to assume that time travel not the result of traveling very fast is impossible, otherwise you'd have angels going back in time to try to prevent the Fall by bumping off Lucifer and demons going back in time to help Vephar bump off Oannes without dying himself, shaking up everything, with both sides going back in time to try to prevent just that sort of meddling. A Superior-level intellect might be able to think clearly in those terms, but for a lesser being like a GM it's mighty difficult.

Communication in regard to the speed of light: I'd rule that most celestial-related things that say they happen instantly do actually happen instantly. A Kyriotate with a host on Earth, one on Mars, and one on an asteroid mining platform shouldn't suffer "lag"--multiplicity is their very essence (little e). A Cherub on the other side of the galaxy from her attuned (obviously a foolish Cherub) takes dissonance at the very moment of her attuned's death and instantly knows what has occurred. Ofanim make daring (and dangerous) pilots, but why bother with a shuttle when you can move in celestial form as fast as they can? Note that Gabriel does hang out in the Sun and there's a Seneschal of Janus's whose Tether moves instantaneously between hurricanes on Earth and Jupiter's Great Red Spot, so these issues aren't strictly limited to a sci-fi IN variant: a session traveling into the Sun in celestial form to find Gabriel might be an awesome departure from the norm.

Do Ofanim travel at relativistic speeds? In short, no. If we assume the average Ofanite doesn't have a resonance target number over 12, on a CD of 6 he travels 6 mi/minute in celestial form. That's 0.00000054c, which is orders of magnitude below the point where you have to worry about significant relativistic effects. Put another way, a typical supersonic fighter jet (which is not traveling at significantly relativistic speeds, obviously) might travel at mach 1.5, which comes out to about 19 mi/minute, triple the speed of a celestial form Ofanite. Even an Ofanite in a current technology space shuttle or fighter jet using his resonance to pump his roll and reduce travel time runs up against theoretical maximum speeds quickly (after that, the travel time reduction is less about making the jet go faster than letting him strap in, pre-flight, and take off as rapidly as Bond escaping an exploding Soviet aircraft carrier).

If you introduce faster-than-light ships, though, you might be able to argue that the Ofanite resonance can get whatever mechanism provides that speed to work better and ratchet up the speed past the human design specifications (I'm only barely resisting making a Scotty reference here...). In that case, you might want to add yet another use of the Ofanite resonance that allows rapid interstellar travel to a celestial form Ofanite (CD light years/hour for 1 E/hour, perhaps, or CD*Celestial Forces light years/minute but with terrible accuracy, depending on how fast human technology goes). It's easy to rationalize that Ofanim have always been able to travel that fast, but while humans were Earthbound, Ofanim on the Corporeal were expected to stay near the work and not drag race each other to Alpha Centauri (Creationers, as always, excepted). I'd start with the FTL ships you want humans to have and work backward to make celestials have a transportation edge equivalent to the way the rules work with modern technology (and remember that once there are more Tethers off-Earth, FTL travel for celestials might be as easy as popping up into Heaven from the NYSE and then right back down to the trading hub on Betelgeuse Prime).

In regard to surveillance, you can pretty well explain away things with two major concepts. First, both sides of the War have infiltrated governments and recording agencies and such with humans or low-Force celestial spirits that shuffle things about mask celestial interference. Second, people are great at rationalizing strange things away (the "bigfoot" video the reporter has on his phone of a Calabite with several Numinous Corpus Songs going really looks more like just a hairy guy in a mask with, argues the reporter's editor, and if he brings it up one more time he can just go work for the Weekly World News). It would be harder to avoid detection, yes, but in the spirit of the game it's not impossible.

Cybernetic relics implanted into Soldiers sounds like an awesome concept, unless they are Vaputech and attached to me. David might disdain their use (preferring a natural, trained body to an artificial one), but the ethical handwringing that usually accompanies such science fiction devices might easily be overlooked by celestials (much as IN states that celestials aren't overly concerned with the moral implications of human sexuality--if a glowing bear can fall in love with a giant winged snake in Heaven, two men holding hands aren't going to make your average angel blink). If you grow a clone and it responds to resonance like a human being, regardless of its memories or whatever it is a new human with a human soul distinct from the original (and making a clone isn't, from Heaven or Hell's view, that much different from just making a new baby the old-fashioned way, except that it's more expensive--and humanity's been making more humans pretty much since the beginning). Arguments about the ethics of "tampering with nature" in regard to genetic engineering (low-grav adapted humans, water-breathing humans, monstrous human vat soldiers) won't seem any stranger to a celestial than voluntary eugenics programs (once widely discussed in Western society). How such technologies are used, however, will create responses in celestials, usually depending on Word (I can see Lilith directing those currently working for her to destroy the happy-thoughts-cynetic-implant-with-government-programming industry while it is still in its infancy).

Matter transmission teleportation is, largely, silly (ignoring the vast energy required, there's nothing to stop you from rematerializing dozens of copies of whatever you sent, since data can by copied over and over again). Hole-in-space teleportation is more workable, especially when treated as a kind of transportation.

Your comments on cryogenic suspension reminded me of a science fiction book I read a long time ago, when the Catholic Church exploded from a fringe cult (which it had slowly become) to a political powerhouse when it discovered reanimation, even though their technique had a narrow window of activation. Google tells me the novel is Endymion (3rd in a series starting with Hyperion, by Dan Simmons). Back on topic, though, since current cryogenics are unlikely to allow someone to be reanimated ever, I'd say people remain dead and their souls pass on. If they are in suspended animation or a form of sci-fi cryo that really preserves life, then they are alive and the soul remains fixed to the body (a creepy plot might revolve around the Ethereal Realm created by the horrified nightmares of a group of people in cryo who ended up with dreamshades and whose communal dreamscape was located by a Djinn of Nightmares...although that also just sounds like an Elm Street movie).

Regarding the abilities of celestials, I doubt much would change. Relics might have updated forms (holy pistols might fire energy from holy powerpack and not use holy bullets, but Numinous Corpus Songs and good old fashioned swords and axes would still be the norm). Depending on the nature of your society, certain Superiors would wax or wane (even a dystopian, lockstep Big Brother society would have the upside of a weak Malphas, since it's harder to break people apart when the transmitters in their heads are all giving them the same orders--though Nybbas might well be ruling Hell by that point). You might even need new Superior Words--an Ofanite Archangel of the Horizon (who became Wordbound under Janus during Europe's Age of Exploration and who gets Archangel status when the first human colony is placed on a world outside the Sol system) might spur on exploration and colonization of new star systems while at the same time encouraging individual humans to get outside their own comfort zones and learn what they're really capable of. Meanwhile, a Habbalite of Nightmares who specialized in making people feel alone in a hostile universe successfully petitions Lucifer for the long-defunct Word of Oblivion and makes it to full Demon Prince after a giant colony ship with a billion cryo-stored humans enters a warp gate and never comes out the other side, casting a dark pall over all of human interstellar efforts (his "the unknown is scary" rhetoric also keeps people alone and isolated, afraid to leave their homes) from then on.

Well, that was a long response to a long OP! I hope it helps.

[Whitelaughter]

[QUOTE=JCurwen3;1313015]I've been thinking of starting a campaign like this - set in the world of a possible (sci-fi) future. Has anyone ever tried anything like this?

Some questions came up in a discussion I had with one of my players (and sister):

(1) what would a Cherub feel if someone to which it was attuned travelled in time? A sudden "what?! where are they?!?!"?
Shouldn't be a problem; since the resonance can detect threats that haven't materialized yet, they should be able to detect the attuned. A Djinn's resonance would probably cap out at CD days though, as that's when it fades naturally - the attuned is now too far away for the Djinn to care about them.
(b) And if that person travelled back in time to a time before the Cherub attuned themselves to them, would they "feel" the attunement, or not?
And who? There are two Cherubim:
The one in the past shouldn't, as he doesn't have a link yet
The one in the future though shouldn't have a problem.
(c) Or if they travelled to a time when the Cherub already was attuned to them, but because of the time travel there'd be two versions of the same person, what sort of wonky effects / sensations might the Cherub feel?
The Cherub in the past should now detect the attuned (twice) as any threats to the attuned are in the future of the attuned he's currently guarding. It'd probably feel like an 'echo' as any threat to the future attuned in also in the future of his current attuned; so he'd get the same threat radiating off both.
(d) Kyriotates can possess multiple hosts, all with the same undivided mind: what happens when one host is transported to a different time than the other(s)? Should it even be possible, would it hurt if it was, or should it be seemless (as in time-spanning mental inter-communication)?
Should be possible, as there's nothing to stop the host moving. Kyriotates can only operate in one realm (corporeal/ethereal/celestial) so it wouldn't be seamless.
However a Kyriotate defines himself by his personality, which grows and develops over time, so the Forces in the past wouldn't merge with the earlier version; however having two versions of himself in the same time should delight angels with a resonance for multiplicity. So I would say that both versions would enjoy the experience, but be slower as they are spending time talking when they should be working.

(e) In a Multiverse of Many Worlds, or at least a Universe that allows for changing the past, what would the effect be on a Seraph time traveller that literally felt the Truth change?
A Seraph feels God's Truth, so an 'unnatural' timeline would probably be an abomination, with changes obvious. A Balseraph though might have their personal Symphony expand: perhaps every timeline is just a mesh of Balseraph lies, that the raw universe has been tricked into accepting? A Balseraph moving mind find themself promoted to the local god, or even Redeem as their lies become True.


[/INDENT](2) With space travel, there are other questions (not all so sci-fi):

Communication / information flow is limited by special relativity to the speed of light, c.
No, IIRC speed of light only limits energy/mass. information isn't restricted. Even if it is, ordinary resonances in IN already breach that as you can get info from the future. So Cherub would be fine.

(b) what happens to the Kyriotate possessing multiple hosts across such distances?
This could cause problems, given their limits across realms, but would be limited to actions (to put it another way, the Kyrio doesn't have a problem, but the host bodies do).

(c) any special considerations for Ofanim, that resonate for motion?
Resonating while teleporting should break speed of light limits.


There's also time dilation to account for -

(d) what is the effect on a Cherub being in a significantly different "time rate" than one or more of its charges?
similar to coming out of Trauma; multiple injuries to hosts occurring due to the hosts being in fast time would only trigger a single dissonance check; otherwise as normal.

(e) And on a Kyriotate in multiple hosts in different "time rates"?
Tricky, but useful. Those in fast times could 'buff' the slower hosts, making them combat monsters in slow times.

(f) can an Offanite ever move fast enough to take advantage of (or be impeded by) relativistic effects?
Yes - they need their Vessel to be made of light; this could be a Light choir attunement (good luck getting that), the result of teleport devices etc.

And finally:
(g) What effects should hypothetical "faster than light" drives (that cheat the speed of light by making space move instead of the ship, or create wormhole shortcuts in space, or move in some hyperspace) have?
If it's cheating, then Janus will be exploiting it. I'd suggest having Swipe and similar attunements based on aspects of the laws of physics that are only discovered in your sci-fi setting.

(3) How do celestials survive in a world of Super-Big-Brother surveilance?
Angels will do well, because they've grown up with it - you can't hide from angelic resonances in Heaven. Balseraphs will not cope, as their lies will unravel too easily, ditto Calabim. Lilim and Impudites will love it.
Shedim will be 'detectable' by personality analysis programs but written off as a variant insanities that travel as memes - once this is understood:

(4) What would the impact of cybernetics, mind uploading, cloning (combined with mind copying), replacing parts or all of the brain and / or body with technological counterparts be on the angels and demons?
Part of any human's basic cybernetic package will be a drug crash that knocks them cold that is triggered by the presence of a Shedite, ejecting the Shedite and possibly causing Mind hits/Addictions.

Cybernetics would be Vapula's ongoing efforts to replace Saminga - just as Technologists can create zombis, they would create 'Mummies' by adding a Cybernetic Force. Not being attached to the human's soul, this would be comparitively benign, granting stat/skill bonuses that are lost when the human dies.
A celestial could also have a Cybernetic Force, but as it is linked to a single Vessel, this would be far less useful.

(5) What would teleportation / matter transmission do to the sensibilities of the celestials? [snip] Typically this works well conceptually if you have a strictly materialist view of the mind and soul, which we know (in IN) isn't the correct view.
Ah, but it is.
If you use the Song of Possession on a celestial, you can move their Vessel around at will; when the Song ends the celestial snaps back, no matter where the Vessel is. Teleportation would be the same - while the Vessel is being teleported, the Celestial would appear in front of their Heart and snap back the moment the process ends. Celestials without a Heart would spend an instant in Limbo - so would humans, but not realise that they are anywhere, as a split second of blackness would not surprise them. Ethereals would appear in their home Domain.

(6) What about cryogenic suspension (in a world where it works)? Is this a way to keep a human soul indefinitely out of Heaven / Hell / etc.?
Yes - it already exists, the Malakite of Stone attunement.

(7) What would you imagine might change about the way celestials wage the War, and the various Band / Choir attunements, etc.?

The supply of human souls becomes endless, resulting in a revival of the ethereals and Hell growing fat and lazy. Superiors have entire planets completely dedicated to their Word. Minor WordBound are promoted by the strengthening of every Word, but are overworked. Heaven relies heavily on Soldiers and Saints. Hatiphas starts handing infernal Pact out to Hellsworn and becomes a Demon Princess in her own right; Mummies become the default local Infernal agent. Pagan Saints become a major problem. PC level celestials no longer monitor cities - instead they have continents, and troubleshoot problems referred to them by human underlings.
Tethers finally become important, as a way to move resources between star systems.
Yves detects the first AI with a Destiny, and humanity ceases to be the focus of the war.

[Archangel Beth]

Originally Posted by JCurwen3

I've been thinking of starting a campaign like this - set in the world of a possible (sci-fi) future. Has anyone ever tried anything like this?

Well, me. For grins. With spouse alone, though, so it was mostly an amusing thought experiment.

Originally Posted by JCurwen3

(1) In a setting with time travel (technically this might be achieved via some super-secret Song or something, not just tech):(a) what would a Cherub feel if someone to which it was attuned travelled in time? A sudden "what?! where are they?!?!"?
(b) And if that person travelled back in time to a time before the Cherub attuned themselves to them, would they "feel" the attunement, or not?
(c) Or if they travelled to a time when the Cherub already was attuned to them, but because of the time travel there'd be two versions of the same person, what sort of wonky effects / sensations might the Cherub feel?
(d) Kyriotates can possess multiple hosts, all with the same undivided mind: what happens when one host is transported to a different time than the other(s)? Should it even be possible, would it hurt if it was, or should it be seemless (as in time-spanning mental inter-communication)?
(e) In a Multiverse of Many Worlds, or at least a Universe that allows for changing the past, what would the effect be on a Seraph time traveller that literally felt the Truth change?

My answers, as a GM and not From On High, would be...
1a) "WTHISMAHATTUNED????" </lolcherub> If the GM is very clever, though, the Cherub -- assuming it's attuned is "doubling" (two attuned, one time-zone, no waiting!) -- might feel two attuned in the Cherub's "present." But this is tricky to arrange.
1b) I would say that the Cherub would not feel the attunement. Cherubim of Destiny (or Djinn of Fate) might have different results.
1c) Cherub: Why do I have two attuned?? What? What? Head... splitting... It's like there are two fragments but they're not hurt...
1d) I would not allow it because it would drive the GM nuts.
1e) Well, the TRUTH would probably be (because the Seraph carries the quantum imprint of the prior Truth, and is a creature within the Symphony), "Once X was True but QRZ happened and now Y is True." It would probably not be comfortable for the Seraph, but it would not be dissonant.

(2) With space travel, there are other questions (not all so sci-fi):(a) What happens to the Cherub attuned to the Martian astronaut? Should there be a delay in sensing danger to them? And what could it do about it - the Song of Motion might allow it to get there, but shouldn't it also be limited by c (otherwise you start dealing with creepy things like effectively going backwards in time)?
(b) what happens to the Kyriotate possessing multiple hosts across such distances?
(c) any special considerations for Ofanim, that resonate for motion?

Again, as a GM and not Ex Cathedra...
2a) For the GM's sanity, I would say... No Delay. Remember, a celestial has more ways than just Song of Motion to totally circumvent the whole speed of light issue, if there are Tethers around. Voop, up a Tether on Earth! Voop, down a Tether on Mars!
2b) Again, GM sanity suggests that Things Happen When They Happen. If the GM is running two things "concurrently," then they're concurrent.
2c) I can't think of anything that jumps to mind. House rules to fit the theme are certainly appropriate, as described, though!

(d) what is the effect on a Cherub being in a significantly different "time rate" than one or more of its charges?
(e) And on a Kyriotate in multiple hosts in different "time rates"?
(f) can an Offanite ever move fast enough to take advantage of (or be impeded by) relativistic effects?
(g) What effects should hypothetical "faster than light" drives (that cheat the speed of light by making space move instead of the ship, or create wormhole shortcuts in space, or move in some hyperspace) have?

Same disclaimer...
2d) You could run it along the lines of Kyriotates on multiple planes, with loss of turns, but I would tend to assume that there is a Symphonic Time that the GM uses to determine "when" things happen. So even if the spaceship clock reads 1:34 when the attuned is threatened, and the Cherub's watch reads 4:30am the next day, Symphonic Now is still Symphonic Now, and that's when the PING goes off.
2e) Same as on multiple planes, probably. Again, the concept of Symphonic Now should be applied -- sure, they're only getting a few "turns" per in-game hour or day or whatever, but Now is Now.
2f) If the GM allows.
2g) Symphonic Now is Symphonic Now. O:>

(3) How do celestials survive in a world of Super-Big-Brother surveillance?

With Difficulty, probably. And probably nano-jammers for privacy. Jean, Vapula, and Nybbas will become very powerful...

(4) What would the impact of cybernetics, mind uploading, cloning (combined with mind copying), replacing parts or all of the brain and / or body with technological counterparts be on the angels and demons?

On the angels and demons? Probably not so much -- cyborging is cyborging, and braintaping would likely not work on celestials... or if it did, it would effectively create Remnants without any attunements, etc.! On human souls? It's a serious can of worms and the GM will have to decide if concurrent clones-and-braintapes share a soul or have different ones. Consecutive ones, on the other hand, might routinely suck souls back from Heaven/Hell! (With or without amnesia about the celestial realm...) If they can be schlucked from the Higher Heavens, that would be... interesting. Likewise, souls who'd achieved Fate/Destiny not showing up in their respective celestial destination, after death, might just be the usual occasional lag... or might be a case of "the Symphony is hanging onto this soul till the backups are all gone"!

(5) What would teleportation / matter transmission do to the sensibilities of the celestials?

Unless the GM wants to get evil, I'd say that no matter what the human technobabble is, it works effectively like a Song of Motion, and the celestials are just fine. (Unless it's about to have a crit failure/bad Intervention, and then the Cherub is going NOOOOOOOOO!)

Basically, how much of a plot point do you want to make this background stuff?

(6) What about cryogenic suspension (in a world where it works)? Is this a way to keep a human soul indefinitely out of Heaven / Hell / etc.?

Sure! But only if the suspension is actually workable. E.g., if it's done wrong, the soul goes on right then, and not when/if the revival attempt is made.

For 7... it really depends on the details. The changes in our homebrew Space game would probably be different than for a Transhuman Space setting, for instance.

[LoneWolf23k]

The original french RPG, INS/MV, actually had a "sideways expansion" in space, called Stella Inquisitorus, which could best be described a "Christian Warhammer 40,000". Worlds ruled by Heaven are a Christian totalitarian state where every action needs to be performed with proper prayers, while worlds ruled by Hell are a collection of planet-states ruled by individual Demon Princes, each of which rules his world as he sees fit.