A few naive questions

[Bayesmeant]

I'm technically not a newbie since I've played a long time ago, but I was thinking of picking it up again, and realized I don't know some very basic things.

1. How do Kyriotates split forces? Let's say there's a 9-force Kyriotate with 4 corporeal forces (strength 10). He occupies a human and a wolf. Do both human and wolf have strength 10, 40 body hits, and get to fight simultaneously? Or does the Kyriotate have to split up her attributes between the bodies? If the latter, does this mean you need to give any body at least one corporeal, ethereal, and celestial force in order to be capable of seeing/thought/motion? If the former, does this mean a Kyriotate of Jean can have 9 GI Joes attacking with strength 10 simultaneously?

2. In fact, is the Kyriotate's body hits calculation "you don't have a vessel, you do have corporeal forces/strength"? Or is it "use the human's level as a vessel as your level of a vessel in the calculations"? Or "use your calculated body hits or the vessel's, whichever is greater?

3. Is the whole ethereal realm divided into Blandine's/Beleth's domains? Like if a teacher is having a delightful sex dream about a student, does that put him in Blandine's realm since it's pleasant or in Beleth's since it's wrong? Or does Andrealphus have his own portion of the dreamscape that is subject to neither Blandine nor Beleth?

4. Can Calabites use their resonance in addition to other forms of combat, or is it "instead of"?

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by Bayesmeant

3. Is the whole ethereal realm divided into Blandine's/Beleth's domains? Like if a teacher is having a delightful sex dream about a student, does that put him in Blandine's realm since it's pleasant or in Beleth's since it's wrong? Or does Andrealphus have his own portion of the dreamscape that is subject to neither Blandine nor Beleth?

The ethereal plane is much bigger than the Vale of Dreams. With the caveat that geography is not fixed and is highly variable and subjective, the geography as I understand it is:

Gabriel's Volcano is at the bottom tip of a "V" of mountain ranges. At the top ends of the "V" are Blandine's Tower of Dreams and Beleth's Tower of Nightmares. The volcano and the towers extend all the way from the ethereal plane "up" to the celestial plane.

The valley between the mountains is the Vale of Dreams, divided down the middle between Blandine and Beleth. Dreamscapes float around like giant soap bubbles, moving from one side to the other as the dreams change.

I think there is a angelic defense line of sorts across the top of the "V" to try and keep the the ethereals out. Basically a line of stone cairns patrolled by angels. Don't know if it extends into Beleth's half.

Beyond the line is The Marches where there are all sorts of things. Anything you can think of is out there, and a lot of gray plains for the stuff no one has thought of yet. Realms* exist where ethereals live, including the lands of pagan gods and such.

Edit: Don't know the answer to your Andrealphus question.

* Not certain that is the proper name.

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Bayesmeant

I'm technically not a newbie since I've played a long time ago, but I was thinking of picking it up again, and realized I don't know some very basic things.
1. How do Kyriotates split forces? Let's say there's a 9-force Kyriotate with 4 corporeal forces (strength 10). He occupies a human and a wolf. Do both human and wolf have strength 10, 40 body hits, and get to fight simultaneously?

Close. The human and the wolf will both have Strength 10, and can fight simultaneously. They both will probably have 2 Corp forces though, so they'll have (Host Corporeal Forces+Angel Corp Forces)x Strength, or 60 Body hits.

2. In fact, is the Kyriotate's body hits calculation "you don't have a vessel, you do have corporeal forces/strength"? Or is it "use the human's level as a vessel as your level of a vessel in the calculations"? Or "use your calculated body hits or the vessel's, whichever is greater?

Hosts are treated as a Vessel with a level equal to their Corporeal Forces, so while possessed they'll have ((Host Corporeal Forces+Angel Corp Forces)x Angel Strength) Body Hits. Note that this is likely to be higher than what they ordinarily have, so if you leave without healing them, they may die (you'll get Dissonance if you leave without healing them anyway).

3. Is the whole ethereal realm divided into Blandine's/Beleth's domains?

The Vale of Dreams, also known as the Near Ethereal, is divided between Blandine's and Beleth's side. The Far Ethereal is beyond where most dreamers go, and is the domain of the old gods, free-willed dream sprites, and the myriad new Ethereal incarnations of human obsessions.

Like if a teacher is having a delightful sex dream about a student, does that put him in Blandine's realm since it's pleasant or in Beleth's since it's wrong? Or does Andrealphus have his own portion of the dreamscape that is subject to neither Blandine nor Beleth?

That might go on the border, but probaly in Beleth; there would always be the accompanying fear of discovery, knowledge of social dissapproval, etc. AAs and DPs other than those two haven't got their own Ethereal domains, they have portions of Heaven or Hell, so it wouldn't be in Andrealphus' realm, but an agent of Andrealphus could certainly be involved.

4. Can Calabites use their resonance in addition to other forms of combat, or is it "instead of"?

On any given turn, characters generally get one action, so the Calabite can use a Resonance or attack in some other fashion.

[cptbutton]

A idea of my own is that there are locations in the vale where dreamscapes congregate by theme:

A Greek style open air theater filled with the sound of mocking laughter and the dreamscapes of "naked in public" nightmares, the Exam Hall of Unpreparedness, the dark labyrinth of flight from unknown pursuers, etc.

[William]

Originally Posted by Bayesmeant

3. Is the whole ethereal realm divided into Blandine's/Beleth's domains? Like if a teacher is having a delightful sex dream about a student, does that put him in Blandine's realm since it's pleasant or in Beleth's since it's wrong? Or does Andrealphus have his own portion of the dreamscape that is subject to neither Blandine nor Beleth?

Whether it's right or wrong doesn't matter. What matters is whether the dreamer finds the dream pleasant or unpleasant, bright or fearful. "Delightful" means Blandine's side. And angels of Dreams understand that humans can work their subconscious out in a lot of ways. Fortunately, dreams don't hurt anyone -- except maybe the dreamer, and that's where the angels try to help.

Regarding Andrealphus, Blandine and Beleth both have a very wide variety of Word-Bound Servitors who oversee dreams of specific types, often corresponding to other Heavenly or Hellish words. For instance, there is a Cherub Word-Bound to Dreams of Love. Andrealphus is interested in Lust dreams, but will send Servitors to work in the Vale only with Beleth's permission or covertly; it is her fiefdom, as granted by Lucifer. Other angels, even those not on great terms with Blandine, will still typically let her organization know.

Finally, in addition to Blandine and Beleth's Towers, the Vale of Dreams between them, and Gabriel's Volcano on the Vale's border, there is the Far Marches, which as Dalillama points out is beyond where most dreams go (the Vale is the majority of the Ethereal, and is split between Blandine and Beleth), and is where ethereal spirits congregate. There the more powerful spirits have Domains, which are similar to the places cptbutton talks about. Pagan afterlives such as Hades and Penglai can be found here, with the surviving old gods occasionally able to draw their worshipers there temporarily after death. There are stranger places where dream-physics are in control.

For much, much more on the Marches and Ethereals, the Ethereal Player's Guide is one of the best of the In Nomine supplements.

4. Can Calabites use their resonance in addition to other forms of combat, or is it "instead of"?

In addition to. It's like a weapon or a martial art.

[Bayesmeant]

Thanks all!

So to clarify:
A 9 force Kyriotate of Jean with a bag of toys is essentially an unstoppable killing machine since he can occupy 9 toys at a time, attack with each with his full strength, and not care if you kill any?

And Blandine and Beleth don't care at all about the moral implications of dreams, only how fun they are for the dreamer? Like a scary dream that calls an evildoer to repentance will take place on Beleth's turf, and a dream that soothes or inspires an evildoer is Blandine's provided that the emotions during the dream itself are more pleasant than unpleasant?

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Bayesmeant

Thanks all!

So to clarify:
A 9 force Kyriotate of Jean with a bag of toys is essentially an unstoppable killing machine since he can occupy 9 toys at a time, attack with each with his full strength, and not care if you kill any?

Yes and no; the kyriotate is limited by the nature of the toys in question. A bag of GI Joes could move around and grab things, but they're still GI Joe toys and weigh about half a pound, and all the strength in the world doesn't help when you've just been flung out a window, say. A bag of rag dolls is going to have less mobility, and a bag of superballs can only roll and bounce.

Originally Posted by Bayesmeant

And Blandine and Beleth don't care at all about the moral implications of dreams, only how fun they are for the dreamer? Like a scary dream that calls an evildoer to repentance will take place on Beleth's turf, and a dream that soothes or inspires an evildoer is Blandine's provided that the emotions during the dream itself are more pleasant than unpleasant?

Broadly speaking, yes.

[Matthias Wasser]

Huh. You know, before now I really had no idea how Kyriotates worked. Thanks.

Originally Posted by Bayesmeant

So to clarify:
A 9 force Kyriotate of Jean with a bag of toys is essentially an unstoppable killing machine since he can occupy 9 toys at a time, attack with each with his full strength, and not care if you kill any?

That seems to be the implication. I would either force Dominions of Lightning to get Dissonance as with normal hosts or switch up the way Kyriotates work.

And Blandine and Beleth don't care at all about the moral implications of dreams, only how fun they are for the dreamer? Like a scary dream that calls an evildoer to repentance will take place on Beleth's turf, and a dream that soothes or inspires an evildoer is Blandine's provided that the emotions during the dream itself are more pleasant than unpleasant?

My interpretation here would be that the Words don't care, but that the way the Marches are carved out politically doesn't have to hew to this.

[William]

Originally Posted by Bayesmeant

Thanks all!

So to clarify:
A 9 force Kyriotate of Jean with a bag of toys is essentially an unstoppable killing machine since he can occupy 9 toys at a time, attack with each with his full strength, and not care if you kill any?

Allow me to introduce you to the 'Net's amazing collection of Stupid Kyriotate tricks.

And Blandine and Beleth don't care at all about the moral implications of dreams, only how fun they are for the dreamer? Like a scary dream that calls an evildoer to repentance will take place on Beleth's turf, and a dream that soothes or inspires an evildoer is Blandine's provided that the emotions during the dream itself are more pleasant than unpleasant?

The dream is on their side of the Marches. They will care to the extent that if, for example, one of Blandine's angels notices that a dream on her side of the Vale may be leading a dreamer toward Fate (this is going to be more noticeable if the angel has been working with that dreamer for a while), they may try to nudge it in a brighter direction. This is extremely tricky to do without losing the dream to Beleth's side or backfiring badly in Fate/Destiny terms, so Dreams angels are renowned for their subtlety.

Nightmares demons are, uh... not.

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by Matthias Wasser

That seems to be the implication. I would either force Dominions of Lightning to get Dissonance as with normal hosts or switch up the way Kyriotates work.

Another factor to keep in mind is that Dominons of Lighting usually have a job to do other than kicking ass and taking names, which isn't really what they're around for, and may have to answer some pointed questions about why they're spending time doing that instead of their jobs.