Steve Jackson Games - Site Navigation
Home General Info Follow Us Search Illuminator Store Forums What's New Other Games Ogre GURPS Munchkin Our Games: Home

Go Back   Steve Jackson Games Forums > Roleplaying > In Nomine

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-25-2012, 03:04 PM   #1
PenitentDemon
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Default wordbound NPCS and overdoing it

curious is their a way to know if im 'overdoing it" on a NPC?

as legitimate arguments can be made that an angel millenia old can know all kinds of rare songs and attunements, and furthermore that even with many takign long hiatuses to do mroe menial jobs occasionaly...


Ive noticed most Statted NPCS have only a few songs and skills even the powerful ones, any thoughts on that?
PenitentDemon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2012, 03:59 PM   #2
Rocket Man
Petitioner: Word of IN Filk
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Longmont, CO
Default Re: wordbound NPCS and overdoing it

I think in the end, you just have to have a clear picture of what you want the Wordbound to look like and design the character to fit that picture, regardless of what the final power level comes to.

One thing to remember -- ancient characters can also have lost Forces in battle as well. Likewise, old skills may have been put to one side or forgotten, attunements may have been revoked or suspended for a few centuries as punishment for a mishandled assignment, and there's always the possibility of Discord. Even a completely virtuous angel may still have acquired Ethereal Discord after getting its Mind whomped in The Marches.

On a similar note, if a particular Wordbound (or any celestial NPC) has been doing the same sort of job over and over for centuries, they may have few or no abilities outside that job specialty. If you're the Angel of Hammerhead Sharks, Driving (Auto) may not come up often enough to be worth learning.

One great example in Night Music is the Old Guy, a Malakite Seneschal who may be old enough to remember dinosaurs. Despite all that, the old veteran only has 9 Forces, partly because a human succeeded in poisoning his Tether, the "Treaty Oak" near Austin, Texas. Skills and songs he still has in plenty -- not to mention cunning -- but the raw power just ain't there anymore.
__________________
“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

Author: "What Doesn't Kill Me Makes Me Stronger"
Rocket Man is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2012, 04:27 PM   #3
PenitentDemon
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Default Re: wordbound NPCS and overdoing it

point.

Was writing up (mostly out of academic curiousity) the "angel of curtseying" (that is to say the act of doing so)

I decided the word fell under Laurence since Its a part of ettiquite, and he has the angel of Ettiquite serving him.



But hmmn any skill other then Savoir Faire and Dance that would probaly work with that Job?

I at first almost gave her 4 or 5 roles as Socialites in various conservative parts of earth, but decided to give her 2 roles that Traveled a lot instead.


What I thought up for backgruon is someone who ONCE worked a job almost completely unrelated to their current one, not something widely encouraged for obvious reasons, but probaly happens on both sides, someone who gets tired of acting as a secretary for 19 millenia wants to go to earth, or someone assigned to combative roles wants to work in a more people oriented position.

Alon with a nifty talisman or two again for Savoi Faire, and the Ethereal song of opening. Anything Im missing?

Last edited by PenitentDemon; 03-25-2012 at 07:42 PM.
PenitentDemon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2012, 08:01 PM   #4
tHEhERETIC
 
tHEhERETIC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Life imitates art--I'm in Pohang
Default Re: wordbound NPCS and overdoing it

Quote:
Originally Posted by PenitentDemon View Post
point.

Was writing up (mostly out of academic curiousity) the "angel of curtseying" (that is to say the act of doing so)

I decided the word fell under Laurence since Its a part of ettiquite, and he has the angel of Ettiquite serving him.



But hmmn any skill other then Savoir Faire and Dance that would probaly work with that Job?

I at first almost gave her 4 or 5 roles as Socialites in various conservative parts of earth, but decided to give her 2 roles that Traveled a lot instead.


What I thought up for backgruon is someone who ONCE worked a job almost completely unrelated to their current one, not something widely encouraged for obvious reasons, but probaly happens on both sides, someone who gets tired of acting as a secretary for 19 millenia wants to go to earth, or someone assigned to combative roles wants to work in a more people oriented position.

Alon with a nifty talisman or two again for Savoi Faire, and the Ethereal song of opening. Anything Im missing?
Forgive my two cents, but an Angel of Curtseying IMHO will have an extensive understanding of the physics of skirts, especially of the boned and hooped variety, since women curtsey because bowing would create unfortunate incidents.
__________________
Criminy...these two have enough issues, they can sell subscriptions! (ladyarcana55, in a PM)
tHEhERETIC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2012, 08:14 PM   #5
PenitentDemon
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Default Re: wordbound NPCS and overdoing it

True enough, lol.

Thoughts on the "Someone doing a job totally unrelated to one they did for millenia" bit?

as a way to justify potentialy ludicrously over qualified wordbound.


As some people may take a strong interest in a relatively minor word, which though their superiors may sigh a bit, if their over qualified for it, I doubt theyd try to stop them.

Heres special power I came up with "add corporeal forces, to Savoi-Faire rolls, towards anyone she curtsey unironcily to"

Last edited by PenitentDemon; 03-26-2012 at 05:54 AM.
PenitentDemon is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-26-2012, 10:30 AM   #6
Archangel Beth
In Nomine Line Editor
 
Archangel Beth's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Frozen Wastelands of NH
Default Re: wordbound NPCS and overdoing it

Quote:
Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC View Post
Forgive my two cents, but an Angel of Curtseying IMHO will have an extensive understanding of the physics of skirts, especially of the boned and hooped variety, since women curtsey because bowing would create unfortunate incidents.
Hee hee hee. Knowledge (Dressmaking) would probably cover that pretty well? Dancing might be useful, too...

An Angel of Curtsying would probably want to exemplify the elements of Grace, Courtesy, and Respect. (It's otherwise a pretty trivial Word -- how would the Seraphim Council be convinced that assigning an Angel to this Word would serve the Symphony?) As curtsying is assigned as a "female" behavior (...what do people in kilts do?), the angel might also, depending on its personal religious beliefs (and if they align with Laurence's), have certain beliefs on the Ideals of female obedience to the head of the household. (Much as angels should be obedient to their Archangel... What, what, it's different for some humans, what???) So skills would reflect what curtsying means, as ideals which the angel is striving to model/teach humans in order to promote harmony, beauty, and respect for each other -- and probably respect for (fair, just) authority.

Though it would probably be non-combat, as a Servitor of Laurence, it'd almost certainly have some amount of weapon-skill with a blade -- though it might be a dagger, not a sword, and it might not be much skill.

(I'd suspect Mercurian. This is an intensely social Word. The "sword-play" would more likely be with words and witty banter.)

Ugh, that's disjointed. Sorry. Still sick. O:(
__________________
--Beth
Shamelessly adding Superiors: Lilith, GURPS Sparrials, and her fiction page to her .sig (the latter is not precisely gaming related)
Archangel Beth is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-24-2017, 05:14 PM   #7
sir_pudding
Wielder of Smart Pants
 
sir_pudding's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Ventura CA
Default Re: wordbound NPCS and overdoing it

Quote:
Originally Posted by PenitentDemon View Post
Ive noticed most Statted NPCS have only a few songs and skills even the powerful ones, any thoughts on that?
Something it has taken me a long time to understand as a GM is the concept of conservation of detail (or conservation of fiddly bits). Most published game stats, for any system and especially for simplified systems like In Nomine aren't anywhere near as complex as they could be, and this is a good thing. Sure the Angel of Textiles could have tons of specific esoteric skills involving cloth, Roles in every aspect of textile production and usage, and every song even vaguely related to her Word, but that really is just wasted detail (and wordcount) when the important thing is to that the Angel can fix the Shroud of Turin when the PCs bring it to her.
sir_pudding is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
theories, word-bound

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Fnords are Off
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:45 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.