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Whitelaughter · 03-11-2023, 07:48 PM

The basic premise of In Nomine is the war between Heaven and Hell, with humanity (and others) caught in the crossfire.
But what can Heaven do to protect mortals from the fallout?

Demonic resonances can only be resisted if the target has 5 or more Forces; humans gain their 5th Force at adulthood. So children cannot resist. Further, the average Will of an adult is only 2-4; only 1 in 12 adults will successfully resist.

The simplest way to protect adults is by making them Servants; a Servant adds their level to resist mental influences opposed to the instructions of their superior. However making humans into Servants is normally tricky....for angels. The Will-War though is a quick and dirty way to inflict servitude on the loser, used by demons, ethereals and sorcerers. While Heaven doesn't want humans to become Sorcerers, angels are happy to use the Alchemy skill to place one shot supernatural abilities into items. So having Heavenly Alchemists enchant holy oils, wafers etc for religious confirmation is an effective use so of their powers – the mortal is forswearing the devil during their confirmation, and half expecting supernatural effects from the confirmation anyway. This could grant a +6 bonus to the roll to resist corrupting mental influences (Ethereal as well as demonic).

Another way of creating Servants is by using Geases. A Lilim could use a Geas/6 to make the target a Servant/6 for a single action, and so get a +6 modifier to resist. Why would she do this? For a Geas, of course.
Fortunately for Heaven, in addition to Brights, Servitors of Dominic can use the Divine Mediation attunement. Simply complain to the Dominican that it is unfair to have your mind meddled with, the Symphony will confirm this, and you'll have a Geas that will trigger next time you are attacked.

Children are trickier – and defending children would be the main battlefield. Demons would love never having their abilities resisted, and who is going to believe a child who says they saw a demon?
While angels would mostly patrol schools etc looking for demonic influence, there is one trick that can help defend the children. Worship Rites let anybody, no matter how weak, surrender their essence to the granter of the Rite. A Worship Rite of 'being influenced by a demon' would send their essence to whoever provides it. This would warn the angel of the attack, strengthen the angel to smite the demon, and since the child no longer has essence, the demon cannot steal it.
Similarly, the rare human who wins the contest with the Impudite and in return steals essence, cannot take more essence than they can hold: Worship Rites of 'gain essence you cannot hold' will allow the mortal to completely strip the Taker of essence.
While WordBound are normally the only angels who can develop Worship Rites, any Ethereal can, and Ethereals can be crafted with Dreamshaping. While defending a mortals dreams, an angel could craft Figments with Worship Rites.
The Figments will also provide an excellent line of defence against Shedim: the moment the human goes to sleep, the Figments dogpile onto the Shedite. A 1 Force Figment can only have/grant 1 Worship Rite; the human needs 5 Rites to defend his own essence, and another 12 for maximum stripping of an Impudite: so 17 Figments, attacking with surprise, should be able to cut down the Shedite in a single round.

03-11-2023, 07:48 PM	#1
Whitelaughter Join Date: Jun 2011	Defending mortals The basic premise of In Nomine is the war between Heaven and Hell, with humanity (and others) caught in the crossfire. But what can Heaven do to protect mortals from the fallout? Demonic resonances can only be resisted if the target has 5 or more Forces; humans gain their 5th Force at adulthood. So children cannot resist. Further, the average Will of an adult is only 2-4; only 1 in 12 adults will successfully resist. The simplest way to protect adults is by making them Servants; a Servant adds their level to resist mental influences opposed to the instructions of their superior. However making humans into Servants is normally tricky....for angels. The Will-War though is a quick and dirty way to inflict servitude on the loser, used by demons, ethereals and sorcerers. While Heaven doesn't want humans to become Sorcerers, angels are happy to use the Alchemy skill to place one shot supernatural abilities into items. So having Heavenly Alchemists enchant holy oils, wafers etc for religious confirmation is an effective use so of their powers – the mortal is forswearing the devil during their confirmation, and half expecting supernatural effects from the confirmation anyway. This could grant a +6 bonus to the roll to resist corrupting mental influences (Ethereal as well as demonic). Another way of creating Servants is by using Geases. A Lilim could use a Geas/6 to make the target a Servant/6 for a single action, and so get a +6 modifier to resist. Why would she do this? For a Geas, of course. Fortunately for Heaven, in addition to Brights, Servitors of Dominic can use the Divine Mediation attunement. Simply complain to the Dominican that it is unfair to have your mind meddled with, the Symphony will confirm this, and you'll have a Geas that will trigger next time you are attacked. Children are trickier – and defending children would be the main battlefield. Demons would love never having their abilities resisted, and who is going to believe a child who says they saw a demon? While angels would mostly patrol schools etc looking for demonic influence, there is one trick that can help defend the children. Worship Rites let anybody, no matter how weak, surrender their essence to the granter of the Rite. A Worship Rite of 'being influenced by a demon' would send their essence to whoever provides it. This would warn the angel of the attack, strengthen the angel to smite the demon, and since the child no longer has essence, the demon cannot steal it. Similarly, the rare human who wins the contest with the Impudite and in return steals essence, cannot take more essence than they can hold: Worship Rites of 'gain essence you cannot hold' will allow the mortal to completely strip the Taker of essence. While WordBound are normally the only angels who can develop Worship Rites, any Ethereal can, and Ethereals can be crafted with Dreamshaping. While defending a mortals dreams, an angel could craft Figments with Worship Rites. The Figments will also provide an excellent line of defence against Shedim: the moment the human goes to sleep, the Figments dogpile onto the Shedite. A 1 Force Figment can only have/grant 1 Worship Rite; the human needs 5 Rites to defend his own essence, and another 12 for maximum stripping of an Impudite: so 17 Figments, attacking with surprise, should be able to cut down the Shedite in a single round.