Starting an In Nomine game

[Jason]

Originally Posted by nicebrian

Thanks for all the ideas so far, if anybody has ideas what they would do to influence a tether if they were playing an Angel or Demon, I'd be glad to hear it. Might help me figure out the plan the PC's will be tasked to disrupt.

If I were an angel, I'd probably spend most of my time just trying to assassinate or hornswoggle demons to keep them out of the way.

If I were a demon trying to disrupt the Tether, I'd probably try to create as big a disturbance as possible in the immediate area, such as by arranging a giant explosion or murdering a human.

If I were an angel or demon trying to co-opt the Tether, I'd better be prepared for a game with a lot of politicking. :) Probably this would involve manipulating local humans to manipulate the larger populace. The suggestions above offer some good directions. One other one that occurs to me offhand:

Find a crazy guy on the side of the road to start shouting out things about how this is a privately funded venture because it's actually a secret Illuminati plot to conquer the church from within. If he gets enough other people thinking there's something fishy going on, the Tether may go to Alaemon, Prince of Secrets, instead of to Eli.

[Kelly Pedersen]

Originally Posted by nicebrian

Thanks for all the ideas so far, if anybody has ideas what they would do to influence a tether if they were playing an Angel or Demon, I'd be glad to hear it.

Well, one of the crucial elements of tether formation is the human perception of the event/area/object. Using your original church example, here's some ways various angelic Words could try to swing it their way:

Angels of Creation could play up the artistry and creativity of the design: lead tours of people interested in the architecture, get books about the architect published emphasizing his artistic brilliance, and so forth.

Angels of Stone could create documentaries on the cathedral, showing how much it's endured over the years. If there are any community groups supporting the cathedral's construction, David's angels would be trying to find them and encourage them. Also, one of the less-nice ways that David tends to work is by setting up groups against one another. Stone angels could try to find a group that didn't like the cathedral, and try to encourage them to attack it, either literally or metaphorically, and try to get the community of Barcelona to rally around the cathedral as a symbol of solidarity.

Angels of Destiny would want to emphasize how much impact the cathedral has had on people's lives for good. Find stories of important life choices that were made in or because of the cathedral, and publicize them. As a note, Destiny tethers tend to be places of knowledge: libraries, book collections, etc, and sometimes places where individuals have made very important decisions. The cathedral, unless it's famed for a collection of religious works or something, is probably least likely to go to Destiny, in my opinion.

For Trade, I'm not sure your initial rationale would work for making a Tether. Marc's Word is Trade: he's all about how fair dealing, with both sides giving the other something, leaves everyone better off. A rich person donating money simply because they feel altruistic isn't really a trade, in my opinion. Likewise, the fact that the cathedral is privately funded isn't enough to make it a trade. The people of Barcelona have to see the fair exchange that the cathedral represents for it to become a Trade tether. On that note, Trade angels could try to find some of the original private donators, and see if any of them donated the money because they felt obligated to either Barcelona or the Church; i.e. "Barcelona has given me so much, and allowed me to become rich, that I just felt I needed to give something back" kind of attitude. Alternatively, Trade angels can find out what the presence of the cathedral brings to the city - tourism, international influence, etc. - and play that up to the public as the fair trade for allowing the cathedral to be built.

I don't know if you have any of the supplementary material, but if you have Superiors 3: Hope and Prophecy, Khalid, the Archangel of Faith, would make another good candidate for stabilizing this tether. As of Superiors 3, he's willing to stabilize tethers of non-Islamic religions, and this would be right up Faith's alley, I'd say. Angels of Faith looking to swing the tether their way probably have the easiest job of all: simply emphasize that the cathedral is a symbol of a religion, a place for thousands to worship God.

[nicebrian]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm pretty new to In Nomine so my interpretations of what some of the Superiors Words cover, may have been a little off. The advice is very usefull though.

I'll just go do some more research, brain storm some ideas, and try pitching the game to players now. Thanks everybody for the help. :)

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by nicebrian

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm pretty new to In Nomine so my interpretations of what some of the Superiors Words cover, may have been a little off. The advice is very usefull though.

I'll just go do some more research, brain storm some ideas, and try pitching the game to players now. Thanks everybody for the help. :)

You bet! Let us know what you come up with, and please feel free to come back with any more questions!