GBT2: God Bless Texas II

GBT2 is being run on Dreamlyrics. The name is based on the previous In Nomine game set in Texas, GBT, run by Miles2Go.

The Setting

GBT2 is set in Dallas. Unlike Austin, where a truce exists between infernal and divine forces, there is no peace in Dallas, no "gentleman's agreements," no fraternization with the Enemy. The War is low-key but hot here; militant Archangels and Princes dominate North Texas, and their Servitors have no interest in preserving the status quo; they want to win!

The only thing preventing open warfare is the desire by both sides to minimize disturbance (read about Dallas for the reason). If not for that, celestials in Dallas would probably be going to Trauma on a regular basis, and even with the mandate to "keep things quiet," violence is not uncommon.

Campaign Information

For the most part, GBT2 will use the "canonical" In Nomine setting. The events of Night Music (which were alluded to in GBT) occurred, resulting in the recent rise of Furfur to Prince status. The Prince of Hardcore is still making ripples in the infernal lowerarchy as he tries to establish a power base. GBT2 takes place approximately a year after the end of GBT.

GBT2 is, in In Nomine-jargon, high-contrast, moderately low brightness.

Contrast

High contrast means that the lines in the War are fairly clear-cut. For the most part, angels are Good and demons are Bad. Heaven is a benevolent place that humans would like to go to where they die; Hell is a very, very bad place that humans (if they have any inkling about it) want to avoid.

This does not, however, mean that all angels are nice or that all demons are "evil." Angels can be condescending, arrogant, and rude, especially to humans. Under certain circumstances, they can even be cruel, at least from a human perspective. Many angels are said to love humanity, but not be particularly fond of humans. Especially among angels who rarely leave Heaven, humans are sometimes regarded almost in the abstract; in principle, the War is about humanity, but individual humans and even large groups of humans are seen as pawns to be pushed about to further Heaven's cause. Some angels also find it much easier to "make sacrifices for the greater good," and feel no moral qualms about killing innocents. (But any killing risks being charged by Judgment with Murder.)

Demons are, by definition, selfish. Any demon acting with selfless motives is headed for dissonance and either is on the difficult path to Redemption, or is going to be in trouble with his Prince or the Game eventually. But demons do have feelings, and sometimes actually like other people (other demons or even humans). A large percentage of demons never have any positive feelings, and are sociopaths or worse, but some (particularly Lilim and Impudites) much prefer Earth to Hell and even feel a little sorry for humans (though they'll keep such sentiments carefully hidden!).

A demon is generally not a nice person, though, and most who do seem "nice" are only acting. For every demon who has a "nice side," there are a dozen who would boil babies alive without batting an eye, if this were useful in some way.

Brightness

Moderately low brightness means that in general, the War is not going well for Heaven. Heaven may have the upper hand militarily, which is why no demon wants to hear the Final Trumpet sound yet, but selfishness is claiming far more souls for Hell than are being won by Heaven. A steady stream of souls does file through the Pearly Gates, but every day the Gates of Hades are choked by throngs of the Damned, newly arrived.

There are occasional bright spots in the War, and most angels are optimistic that they can still turn things around, but more and more are becoming seriously worried. The world of GBT2 resembles the real world, for the most part. It is not a uniformly dark and scary place, but there's a lot more dark than light.

Characters

Player characters may be celestial (angel or demon) or mortal. Other character types (such as ethereal spirits, Saints, sorcerers, or undead) may be considered, but mostly I want celestials and/or Soldiers. Human PCs will be "exceptional" humans (i.e., Soldier material), although the character may begin the game unaware of his or her exceptional nature.

Standard In Nomine character creation rules apply. You may consult with the GM if you're not familiar with In Nomine rules.

Read the background on Dallas. Servitors of any Superior can find a role to play in Dallas, but I would like characters that fit into the setting easily, as opposed to characters that will have difficulty being made to work. Take the Superiors situation into account when creating your character's background. For example, if you want to play a Gabrielite, then your character should either be newly arrived in Dallas, or you should think about what relationship your character has with Iahmel, the other prominent Angel of Fire in the city. A demon of the Media should be familiar with the SouthforkRanch Tether (though not necessarily someone who works out of it or even visits often), and so on.

Angels

Remember that Dallas is a militant city. Angels serving the militant Archangels (Laurence, David, Dominic, etc.) will have more support available to them, but will also be expected to be good team players and follow orders. The less popular Archangels (particularly Blandine, Novalis, and Gabriel) will be pretty much on their own. Heaven really wants a major Tether in Dallas, which means while there is a fair amount of violent confrontation with diabolicals, the emphasis in Heavenly strategy is to win hearts and minds, make Dallas a more divine city, and thus encourage the formation of a divine Tether. This also means that loud disturbances are very much frowned upon, and Dominic's permanent roving Triad enforces this disapproval. Most Servitors assigned to Dallas have abilities that emphasize quiet interaction with the Symphony. Leave your Song of Thunder at home!

Demons

Demons in Dallas are upbeat, because they seem to be winning at the moment. However, they have no major Tethers, and Hell really wants one. Also, the angels almost certainly outgun the demons in the city; none of the diabolicals want to escalate the conflict because that would mean a lot of demons going into Trauma fast. Asmodeus has his spies all over, which adds to the tension in the diabolical camp, and demons who make too much disturbance are dealt with. As with the angels, diabolical Servitors in Dallas should be good at getting their job done without a lot of Essence. Songs are less useful than resonances. Hell's strategy is similar to Heaven's; avoid direct confrontations with the other side (but when you have a good shot, take it...), and focus on bending mortal hearts and minds to your will. Dallas is considered an "easy" assignment for many demons (as long as you know how to avoid the angels), but not a career-enhancing one. However, it could easily become a career enhancer for the lucky demon that finds a Tether, or undermines any divine loci.

Humans

Humans have an important role to play in Dallas, because unlike demons, they can do violence without creating a disturbance. There are a lot of Soldiers in Dallas on both sides, and fighting in the War accounts for a minority but significant percentage of Dallas's annual homicides. Demons and angels can try to take each other out directly, but they often send their human servants to strike at the other side's mortal minions. (Demons also like sending their human servants to attack angels... better than risking their own corporeal hides...) Not all human servants in the Metroplex are warriors, but most are, by necessity. The combatants get a lot of perks -- easy access to weapons and lots of celestial support -- but this comes with a lot of danger. Non-combatants also have important work to do, but tend to be assigned more tedious duties and are not catered to as much. Neither angels nor demons in Dallas teach their Soldiers many Songs, but they may be given artifacts and other benefits.

How to Create a Good Character and Make the Game Fun

GBT2 is intended to be largely character-driven. I may have some loose meta-plotting in mind, but mostly I will work with what's given to me in the way of story hooks provided by the PCs. That means PCs must come with some story hooks. A character who's just "An Angel of Lightning" might be easy to arbitrarily stick somewhere in the Dallas setting, but that doesn't make him interesting. I would like characters with a history, an interesting background, and NPCs that I'd find entertaining to roleplay. I've found, after running many, many online games, that some PCs grab me immediately and some don't. The ones that grab me, I find it much easier to put into situations and create new NPCs for. The ones that don't often leave me struggling for inspiration. I can't distill exactly what is possessed by the ones that grab me, but at the very least, the character has to be more than a collection of attributes (whether game or descriptive attributes) and "Why this character is in Dallas...."

I tend to be a very character-oriented GM. I love my NPCs (even the evil ones) and expect players to love their PCs, and if either of us is just "phoning it in" when it comes time to write a post, the game will suffer. One thing that seems to be possessed by the most successful PCs is enthusiasm on the part of the player. If I sense you really like this character and are looking forward to seeing what kinds of trouble s/he can get into, I'll probably like the character too. If you just find the game setup interesting, came up with a character idea you think will fit, and are hoping that in the course of play, you'll become attached to your character, well, usually I can sense that too.

That said, I rarely turn anyone down. There have been times when a PC that didn't immediately spark my imagination grew on me, and developed into a real asset to the game, generating threads I truly loved. I'm sure sometimes it took the player a while to really warm up to the PC. And if a character or a thread is leaving me a little cold, I regard it as the GM's job, in part, to make it more interesting.

That said, the more successful experiences I've had have usually been with PCs I liked from the start. It's your job and my job to make the game fun for both of us, and if you take all of the above comments to heart, we're both more likely to have fun.

So, I am probably not going to tell you "Your character really doesn't interest me." I may make some suggestions as to how the character would "play" in GBT2 better (but I do this for characters I immediately like too, so if I make suggestions for improvement, don't panic and think it's because I secretly think your PC sucks and am trying to make it more interesting!). In rare cases, I may say "This character really doesn't work." But I don't arbitrarily reject PCs because they don't immediately spike my enthusiasm-meter. But spiking my enthusiasm-meter is still something you should strive for. ;)

House Rules

For the most part, I am using standard In Nomine rules. I do use a few optional rules described below.

Note that I am not using the rule that disturbance causes damage and penalties to resonance rolls that was used in GBT. The setting of GBT2 imposes its own punishments for excessive disturbance. Also, assuming celestial form does create a disturbance.

Skills for Humans

Human characters benefit from all the optional rules in the Corporeal Player's Guide (pp. 24-25). This includes a set of free skills that every human character gets which do not count against his starting Resources.

Band/Choir Attunements

When an angel or demon is given a Choir/Band attunement other than its native one, its Superior is actually investing a little bit of that Choir/Band's nature in the celestial. This should manifest in the character's behavior. For example, an Elohite with his Archangel's Malakite Choir attunement will be a little more militant and a little more concerned with honor than most Elohim. A Cherub with a Seraph attunement will tend to put a high value on the truth. A Calabite with the Lilim resonance will be more sociable and fun-loving than one would expect from a Calabite (but her idea of 'fun' will still tend to be destructive), and a Balseraph with the Impudite resonance actually likes humans, or at least likes hanging around them.

There is no rule change to represent this effect, and the character does not gain extra dissonance restrictions! (An angel with his Superior's Seraph attunement will dislike lying, but he won't earn dissonance for it.) But if your character has multiple Band or Choir attunements, they should be reflected in his or her personality, at least a little.

Improved Dodge

I am using the Improved Dodge rule from the Game Master's Guide (p. 120). This gives non-combat monsters a somewhat better chance of staying alive, since with standard combat rules, a powerful attack by a skilled opponent will do damage no matter how well you dodge.

Free Will

I'm fond of the optional Free Will rules in the Game Master's Guide, but they are quite restrictive, especially for demons. So instead, Will-based resonances work normally, but demons (and Kyriotates) are more effective when they aren't fighting against a victim's free will. The "standard" use of a resonance is sometimes known as forcing your resonance, whereas many demons prefer to use a "light touch" as their normal method.

In addition to the other benefits listed below for using one's resonance lightly, it is said that these uses of Will-based resonances either do not disturb the Symphony at all, or do so with much less noise, such that the Grigori (who supposedly could hear the disturbance made even by a Balseraph's lies) would not hear it. Whether this is true or not is unknown, unless one asks a Grigori...

Kyriotates: If a Kyriotate possesses a willing human (one who does not attempt to resist the possession), then once it has successfully possessed that human, it can move in and out of that human at will without needing to make a new possession roll! This continues indefinitely, or until either (a) the human stops being willing (in which case, the next time the Kyriotate attempts possession, it will have to make a normal possession roll), or (b) the Kyriotate has been out of the host for a number of days equal to its last possession CD, which will require a new possession roll even if the host is willing. This means servants are very valuable for Kyriotates, as easy, failsafe hosts.

Balseraphs: A Balseraph may use his resonance as if it were simply the Lying skill. However, if successful, the Balseraph's lie is immune to the Detect Lies skill (because the Balseraph doesn't actually believe he's lying)! In other words, Balseraphs can tell lies with perfect honesty. However, Detect Lies only determines whether the listener can discern a lie -- failing a Detect Lies roll doesn't automatically mean the listener believes what he was told, only that the speaker seems to be telling the truth. Thus, this use of the resonance will not compel someone to believe something that is obviously untrue. The Balseraph will earn dissonance if his lie is exposed in his presence (e.g., he tells someone "Brenda isn't here" and then Brenda walks into the room). This dissonance can be erased if the Balseraph spins a plausible explanation for the "lie" ("Well, I ithought[/i] she wasn't here, she must have slipped in when I wasn't looking!")... or iforces[/i] his resonance to convince his audience that he didn't lie.

This "light touch" use of a Balseraph's resonance will not fool a Seraph's resonance.

Habbalah: A Habbalite using his resonance "lightly" has the same effect as usual, except that the emotion is merely a strong feeling, but not a compulsion. Someone afflicted with Fury, for example, will probably only become violent if he is naturally inclined towards violence when angry. Victims still suffer penalties to their Intelligence or Precision. However, if a victim resists the Habbalite's resonance with a higher CD, the Habbalah only feels a controllable backlash that temporarily affects his mood; he does not have to take dissonance in order to absorb it.

Lilim: Lilim can use their resonance lightly by getting their victim's consent before hooking a Geas. The victim must explicitly understand that in return for whatever the Lilim is offering, he will owe her a favor in the future, and agree to this. The Lilim does not have to tell him she's a demon or explain exactly how she will collect on the favor, but perceptive mortals often get a feeling about these deals and know that the favor must be repaid. The Lilim has to decide before satisfying the Need whether or not she is "forcing" her resonance; if she chooses to ask for the victim's consent, and he says no, then she cannot fulfill the Need and claim a Geas-hook anyway.

If the victim does agree, however, the level of Geas is increased by 1 -- or possibly more, depending on how open-ended the victim's agreement to repay was... "Yes, I owe you one" only increases the Geas by 1. "I'll do anything you want if you do this for me!" will increase it by 2, and if the Lilim were to reveal herself as a demon and have the victim sign a contract (blood signature optional), that would be worth 3 extra Geas levels!

Regardless of the level, the victim can still try to resist the Geas normally when the Lilim collects, but at the increased level.

Shedim: Shedim can ride their hosts "lightly," dwelling in the victim's mind as an evil counselor whispering ideas into his ear, but not compelling him to act on them. As long as the Shedite does not force his victim to do anything, there is no Contest of Wills. The victim gets a normal daily Perception roll to realize that there is something in his head, but this Perception roll does not accumulate bonuses over time. Furthermore, the Shedite must talk his host into doing something corrupt each day, but it doesn't have to be something worse than the previous day. This allows Shedim to ride hosts much longer, corrupting them little by little. There are generally two kinds of Shedim; those who take this approach, and are much subtler than their peers, and those who prefer to just make their hosts do evil things.

At any time, a Shedite possessing someone can use his resonance normally to force a Contest of Wills and make his host do something, but thereafter all the normal rules for Shedite possession will apply to that host (unless the demon exits the host and repossesses him).

Impudites: An Impudite can use his Charm ability to simply increase another character's reaction roll by the CD of his resonance roll. Since reaction rolls only happen when the GM rules it, this won't make a hostile person turn friendly. However, it's considerably easier to do this, since the Impudite does not get penalized by the victim's Ethereal and Celestial Forces when using his charm "lightly." The Impudite must still force his charm on someone to steal their Essence.

Attunements: Most Servitor or Band/Choir attunement that forces a reaction from the victim will also usually have a "light" version. For example, Andealphu's Dark Desire attunement can be used without spending any Essence. Without the Essence expenditure, the victim still gets a Will roll, but if s/he fails, the Dark Desire becomes a strong urge, but not one that prevents the victim from doing anything else. (For example, normally, Dark Desire could force a heterosexual to engage in wild, unabashed homosexual sex for the duration of the effect. If used without Essence, the victim will feel a strong urge to try engaging in homosexual acts, which he or she may interpret as "bi-curiosity," but whether s/he'll actually do it would depend on how strongly that individual feels about homosexuality, what opportunities are presented, etc.)