In nomine 5

By David Edelstein Edited by Alain H. Dawson Additional material by John Karakash Cover design by Jack Elmy Illustrated by Michael Harmon, andi jones, J. Scott Reeves, and Dan Smith Additional illustrations by Sean Murray and Ray Snyder In Nomine and Corporeal Player’s Guide are trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramid and Illuminati Online and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. Corporeal Player’s Guide is copyright © 1999 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN 1-55634-389-2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 STEVE JACKSON GAMES In Nomine was written by Derek Pearcy based on an original game by CROC, under license from Asmodée Managing Editor ✠ Alain H. Dawson Line Editor ✠ Elizabeth McCoy Production ✠ Philip J. Reed, Jr. and Alain H. Dawson Print Buyer ✠ Russell Godwin Art Director ✠ Loren Wiseman Chief Operations Officer & Sales Manager ✠ Gene Seabolt Playtesters: Christopher Anthony, Ryan Beall, Eric Burns, Eric A. Burns, Steve Dickie, Emily Dresner, Ryan Elias, Matthew Gandy, Joanna Hart, John Karakash, Owen S. Kerr, Neel Krishnaswami, Johnathan Lang, Perry Lloyd, Patrick O’Duffy, Leath Sheals, and Genevieve R. Cogman, for the Latin COrporeal PLAyer’S GuTde Some images courtesy of www.arttoday.com ™ Quality checking by Monica Stephens

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Man or Animal?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Eden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Masters of Their Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Humanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 BEING HUMAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Humans and the Symphony . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Free Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Interventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Seeing the World Through Human Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Dying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Human CharacterS . . . . . . . . . 16 FORCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Potential Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Maximum Human . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Mortals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Forces and Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Gaining Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Aging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ESSENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Focused Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Rites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 THE HUMAN BODY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Body Hits and Physical Injury . . . . . . . . . 20 Mind Hits and Ethereal Damage. . . . . . . 21 Soul Hits and Celestial Damage . . . . . . . 21 BUYING RESOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Symphonic Awareness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Attunements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Servants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Songs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Disadvantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 ReSourceS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 ADVANTAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 ATTUNEMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 SKILLS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 DISADVANTAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Corporeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Ethereal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Celestial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 SORCERY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 The Secret of Sorcery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Sorcerous Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Angels and Sorcery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Sorcerous Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 RITUALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Learning Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Ritual Performances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Ritual Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Sorcerous Artifacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Banishment Ritual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Command Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Exorcism Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Focus Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Summoning Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 The Will-War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Advanced Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Special Rituals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 ENCHANTMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Artifact Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Alchemy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Herbalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Creating Familiars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Construct Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Necromancy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 MortalS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 MUNDANES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Ordinary People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Extraordinary People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 SOLDIERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Soldiers as Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Soldiers of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Soldiers of Hell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Hellsworn – Damnation and Salvation . . . . 61 Pagan Soldiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Dream Soldiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 ROGUES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Gray Soldiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Secret Soldiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 The Uninitiated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 PROPHETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Visions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 False Prophets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 SORCERERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Sorcerers as Characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Becoming a Sorcerer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Lone Sorcerers and Cabals. . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Enchanters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Methods of Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Demons of Sorcery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Sorcerers and Celestials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Sorcerers and Ethereals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 White Sorcerers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Salvation for Sorcerers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 CROSSBREEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Ethereal Offspring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Celestial Offspring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Demi-Gods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Crossbreeds and Characters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 C ONTENTS 2 COrporeal PLAyer’S GuTde

ImmortalS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Falling from Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 DEAD SOULS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Celestial Souls – the Blessed and the Damned . . . . . . . . 79 Former Humans as Celestials. . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Ghosts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80 Dream-Shades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Dead Souls as Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 SAINTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 The Saintly Petition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Patron Saints and Famous Souls in Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Return to Flesh – Creation of a Saint . . . 85 The Saintly Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Saints and Archangels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Saints on Earth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Fallen Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Pagan Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 UNDEAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Unlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 Creating Undead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 “Good” Undead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Undead Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 The Song of Unlife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 REMNANTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 Lilith, The Only Word-Bound Human . . . . 92 Remnants as Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Restoration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Ethereal Remnants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 HumanS in the War . . . . . . . . . 94 ARMIES OF LIGHT, ARMIES OF DARKNESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Mixed Parties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Humans Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Humans and Celestials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Hunters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 THE UNALIGNED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Motivations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 THIRD PARTIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 The Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 Human AgencieS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 INVOLVEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Participation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Infiltration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Celestial Puppetmasters?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Ethereal Infiltration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 ORGANIZATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 The Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 Private Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 SAMPLE ORGANIZATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . 110 Divine Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110 The Saint Christopher Society. . . . . . . . 112 Infernal Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 The Dozen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113 Sorcerous Cabals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 The Human ArSenal . . . . . . . 115 TECHNOLOGY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Advanced Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 New Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Records Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Medical Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 Surveillance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 The Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 Barbed Wire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 SUPERNATURAL POWERS . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Symphonic Gadgets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 TOXINS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Poison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 Poison and Disease – Optional Rule . . . . . . 123 Disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 C ONTENTS ABOUT IN NOMINE Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of the In Nomine system. Our address is SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. Please include a selfaddressed, stamped envelope (SASE) any time you write us! Resources now available include: Pyramid (www.sjgames.com/pyramid). Our online magazine includes new rules and articles for In Nomine. It also covers all the hobby’s top games – AD&D, Traveller, World of Darkness, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun and many more – and other SJ Games releases like GURPS, INWO, Car Wars, Toon, Ogre Miniatures and more. And Pyramid subscribers also have access to playtest files online, to see (and comment on) new books before they’re released. New supplements and adventures. In Nomine continues to grow, and we’ll be happy to let you know what’s new. A current catalog is available for an SASE. Or check out our Web site (below). Errata. Everyone makes mistakes, including us – but we do our best to fix our errors. Up-to-date errata sheets for all In Nomine releases, including this book, are always available from SJ Games; be sure to include an SASE with your request. Or download them from the Web – see below. Q&A. We do our best to answer any game question accompanied by an SASE. Gamer input. We value your comments. We will consider them, not only for new products, but also when we update this book on later printings! Internet. Visit us on the World Wide Web at www.sjgames.com for an online catalog, errata and hundreds of pages of information. Illuminati Online supports SJ Games with discussion areas for many games, including In Nomine. Here’s where we do a lot of our playtesting! Dial 512-485-7440 at up to 33.6K baud – or telnet to io.com. You can get specific infomation about this book at www.sjgames.com/in-nomine/corporeal. Mailing List. Much of the online discussion of In Nomine happens on our e-mail list. To join, send mail to [email protected] with “subscribe in_nomine-l” in the body. In Nomine IRC.We also support online roleplaying channels for In Nomine. If you’d like to start a MOO or similar Internet environment for gaming In Nomine, please check out our policy information at www.sjgames.com/innomine/angelmush.html. 3

Johnny kicked Zeke when he tried to get up, and then once more after he stopped trying. After making sure the man wasn’t going anywhere, Johnny crouched down beside him and lifted his head by his blood-matted hair. “I’m only going to say this once, so you better listen good.” Johnny shook the fallen man’s head, and he groaned through broken teeth. “This is Steelhead territory, got it? You can push your shit anywhere east of 5th street, but not around here, understand?” Zeke mumbled an assent and Johnny let go of his head, dropping it on the ground with a dull thud. He wiped off his hands as he turned to go, then paused as if suddenly remembering something. “Oh, and for giving me the finger earlier . . .” He stomped Zeke’s hand with his heavy boots, and the cracking of finger bones was drowned out by Zeke’s screams of pain. At the entrance to the alley, Johnny saw a guy leaning inside a doorway. He looked like a skinhead and acted like he owned the street. As Johnny approached, the skinhead moved casually to block his passage. “What do you want?” Johnny shouted. He was still hoppedup from the fight and angry that One Gun had sent him on this pathetic cleanup job. “Just got a proposition, man. My superior likes your style and wants to give you a job.” “You got jobs, go to One Gun. He handles all of that.” Johnny moved to get by the guy, but the punk interposed himself again. “How would you like to be the boss . . . Johnny?” The gang member hesitated, then said “Keep talkin.’ ” He wasn’t sure why he stayed, but something about the way the punk talked was damn convincing. “We give you what you need to take charge and you help us out. Pretty simple.” Johnny barked out a disbelieving laugh. “What can you give me? Guns? People? One Gun has all of that and he’ll deal with anyone. If you want him out, why don’t you just take over yourself?” The punk sneered. “Dumb-Gun doesn’t have the right stuff; you do, Johnny. And what we got is way better than guns.” The Steelhead hesitated, thinking harder than he had in a long time. One Gun’s just gonna keep sending me on shit jobs like this ’til someone gets me. Right now, I ain’t got much to lose. Johnny finally decided and said, “Okay, prove it.” 4 The demon smiled toothily. “You got it.” I NTRODUCTION IntrOductioN

In Nomine is a game about angels and demons. Though humans figure largely in the background, and may occupy key roles in many campaigns, even as player characters, the game focuses on the exploits of celestials. Most published material assumes celestial PCs, and the game mechanics are designed around celestial characters. It’s easy to see mere mortals as cannon-fodder; boring, inept, and interchangeable, faceless extras in an actionadventure setting where supernatural beings are the stars. That’s how many angels and demons see them, too. It’s important for both players and player characters to remember that humans are the reason for everything. Demons may deny this, angels may question it, but if there were no humans, there would be no War. Humans were the catalyst for the Rebellion, and some Princes say humanity’s real significance ended there. Humans provide Heaven and Hell with Essence, both directly from the contributions of human souls who’ve entered the celestial realm after death, and indirectly through the creation of Tethers on Earth. Many Princes say their usefulness ends there. But Heaven and Hell aren’t fighting over territory, resources, or self-determination (though Archangels and Demon Princes sometimes frame the conflict in those terms). They’re fighting over a principle. The War is fundamentally about who’s right, and that can only be proven on the battlefield of the human soul. To validate their Rebellion, demons must prove that humanity is a base animal, unable to escape its fate and prove itself worthy of God’s special favor. To vindicate their faith in God, angels must prove that humanity is something special, able to reach a destiny that even the Archangels cannot understand. Callow celestials speak of military victories over the Enemy; they assume that winning the War is simply a matter of amassing enough force to siege and conquer the other side. Humans are merely tools. But the oldest veterans, the ones who remember the Rebellion, know that it’s all been for nothing if humanity doesn’t prove itself . . . one way or the other. In Nomine is a game about angels and demons, but the War is about humans. This book contains material to flesh out humans in your game, not just as characters, but as important complex beings who deserve greater consideration than many celestials give them. You can use the Corporeal Player’s Guide to run a more humanocentric campaign, or at least make humans more interesting and formidable in a standard celestial-centered one. Most important, this book will tell you why humans should make a difference in your campaign. If they don’t, In Nomine is just a game about super-powered aliens fighting a secret war on Earth. Humans matter. Origin of the SpecieS Evolution is a fact in the In Nomine universe. This does not take God out of the equation, though. From the beginning, God’s angels had a hand in the shaping of the universe, and many angels (particularly Jordi) were heavily involved in the origins and evolution of life. The first humans did not spring wholly formed from mud and clay; they were the result of millions of years of mammalian evolution. Those years were as the blink of an eye to the angels, though; celestials perceived time differently in those days. So some were surprised to see erect bipeds suddenly forming communities, talking, producing primitive works of art, and developing more efficient ways to kill the tribe that had the best spot near the river. Nobody knew whether mankind was planned or just happened (no one ever knows if God rolls dice or loads them), but the newcomers made quite a stir. MAN OR ANIMAL? By and large, the angels liked humans. Animal vessels were the only way celestials could interact with the corporeal world, and humans – who were just an unusually bright species of animal as far as most angels were concerned – had particularly nimble vessels. Not very strong, not very fast, but great for making things, and incredibly expressive. Opposable thumbs, declared some angels, were the greatest thing to come along since lungs. It wasn’t their thumbs, or their intelligence, or even their language and art that set humans apart from animals, however; it was their capacity to believe. By believing in things, they changed the Symphony. The Marches began filling with human dreamscapes, and some entities became powerful with the Essence of human belief. Tethers formed as a result of human actions – before them, only dramatic natural events could open gateways between the corporeal and celestial realms. The angels were astounded to learn that one human could affect the Symphony as much as a hurricane or a billion-year-old mountain. 5 I NTRODUCTION

Humans generated Essence, and unlike animals, humans could wield it in a directed manner. Some angels continued to argue that humans were just monkeys with large brains, but as evidence of faith – a wholly new phenomenon – spread, these arguments rang increasingly hollow. Angels knew from direct experience that God and Heaven existed. Humans were able to adore God with equal fervor, based only on what they believed. Faith was humanity’s special gift. EDEN Even recognizing that humans were different and special, not everyone was pleased when Yves announced that God had declared a non-intervention policy; that humans were so special, they were to be left alone. Jordi, master of all living creatures, was the first to defy this order. He decided that special or not, humans were too dangerous, too cruel, too detrimental to the rest of God’s creation to be allowed to live. He was fully prepared to exterminate the human race . . . but at God’s behest, Michael talked him out of it. Lucifer was neither as direct as Jordi nor as quick to back down. He took a more cunning approach, and suggested that before the corporeal realm be given over to mankind, humanity should first prove itself on a smaller scale. He proposed a microcosm, an ideal setting wherein an ideal pair of humans could demonstrate that without celestial intervention, they could achieve their destinies. God agreed. In Eden, God formed Adam and Lilith out of loose Forces. They were not the first humans, but they were created without forebears. The Eden experiment ran into its first snag when Lilith, upon understanding the role she was to play, walked away. Rather than creating a new and equally unpredictable female, God took one of Adam’s Forces and mixed it with the batch that became Eve. The test was contaminated, however – Lucifer allegedly enlisted a fixer, rather than relying on a fair outcome. God declared that it was clear celestials couldn’t resist meddling with humans, and therefore must refrain from Earthly interventions altogether. The two “first humans” in a new line were released into the outside world because Eden had served its purpose . . . but as a result of the experiment, mankind would never have the corporeal realm all to itself. Shortly thereafter came the Fall, and the War that has ensured the constant presence of celestials on Earth until the end of time. MASTERS OF THEIR FUTURE Much time has passed since then. Heaven and Hell both have their own histories, each one shaped by human events. Much of human history, of course, has been influenced by Heaven and Hell. But human history is the stage on which celestial events now play themselves out . . . not vice versa. Celestials still intervene in human affairs on a daily basis, not as openly as they did in the old days, but often with farther-reaching results. Celestials have been present at many great moments in history, and sometimes angels or demons have had a pivotal role in determining their outcome. Some famous people have been angels or demons. But most have not. And much as many Superiors would like to think that they are influencing the course of human history, usually their influence is small, a momentary eddy in a very long stream. Those nearby may get soaked when a celestial makes a splash, but downstream, no one will know the difference. The cumulative effects of many such interventions may divert the course of the stream, but there are more ripples made by people than by celestials. Celestial actions aren’t irrelevant either, of course. If angels and demons couldn’t affect society in significant ways, Archangels and Demon Princes wouldn’t bother sending their Servitors to Earth. Celestials affect history for good and for ill in innumerable small and countless large ways. They infiltrate churches and states, they have caused wars and disasters, and they have inspired great works of art, gains in knowledge, and eras of peace and prosperity. Humans have done the same thing, and it’s impossible to separate the influence of celestials from the influence of humanity. Ultimately, it’s not really important whether a celestial was responsible for a particular moment in history; what’s important is how humans reacted. Humans outnumber celestials by a huge margin, and most of history belongs entirely to mankind. The outcome of the War will ultimately be decided by the fate of mankind. Every human is born with a destiny and a fate and the ability to choose between them, regardless of influences in one direction or the other. Celestials believe that humanity as a whole has a destiny and a fate, and that the sum total of every human soul will be weighed on the cosmic scales. Angels and demons try to tilt the scales by influencing as many humans as they can, but they can’t take away choice – from individuals or from the 6 race as a whole. I NTRODUCTION

7 H UMANITY HuMAnity One Gun was in his headquarters, a formerly abandoned warehouse, lounging on a stolen recliner placed on top of some shipping pallets like a throne. He was polishing his namesake, a beautiful and deadly submachine gun. He, on the other hand, was neither beautiful nor nearly as deadly as he used to be; life was comfortable on the top and he had all the drugs and women he wanted . . . without effort.

Surrounding the chair was a circle of lights, illuminating all the goods his power had brought him and warding off the darkness of the night. Computers, stereos, jewelry, and vehicles glittered enticingly around him. The sound of a door opening made him look up and bring up the Uzi. He relaxed when he saw it was just Johnny. The guards would’ve frisked him for any guns. One Gun was getting lazy – not any less paranoid. “Where have you been, Johnny?” he asked with barely veiled menace. “I sent you after Zeke over a week ago.” His tone changed to condescension. “He didn’t give you any trouble, did he?” “No, no trouble there. I just decided to take some time off. Can’t do anything right without your head straight.” Johnny ran his hand over One Gun’s motorcycle possessively. The Steelhead’s leader snapped, “Your time is my time, Johnny! There’s nothing in your head worth having unless I put it in there! Now, what have you been doing this last week, asshole?” Johnny strode into the light with an insolent swagger. “Just getting my resume together. I think I want your job.” A wind started swirling around Johnny, even though the warehouse was closed on all sides. The gang leader purpled and raised his gun. “Go to Hell, shithead!” He unleashed a burst of bullets at Johnny. The noise from the firing was incredibly loud in the empty space. His target stood there with an amused smile on his face. “What’s the matter? Missed me?” The strange wind started picking up loose pieces of paper and dust, surrounding him in a vortex of debris. He stepped closer. “Maybe you should try again.” Johnny knew the guards wouldn’t come in because the gang leader liked to “punish” people without witnesses. More angry than frightened, One Gun held down the trigger and unleashed a barrage against the grinning man. Even after the last bullet had left the clip and the last echo had died away, he held down the trigger, dumbfounded by what he saw. Johnny stood there unharmed . . . unharmed! Not a single slug had touched him and he was within reach of the chair. “Looks like you’ve lost your touch. Maybe one gun won’t be enough this time?” The gang leader threw down his useless weapon and jumped at Johnny just as the strange wind died down. He had gotten lazy the past few years, but he was nearly as strong as he used to be. They grappled in the circle of light, each trying to choke the life out of the other. Damn, he’s strong! One Gun thought, A lot stronger than I thought he was, but not too tough to take down! He tightened his grip around Johnny’s throat, trying to squeeze that smug grin off of his face. Then he felt, rather than heard, Johnny whisper something to him and the power drained out of his muscles. Johnny bore down harder and harder, driving the gang leader to his knees. One Gun gave up on trying to hurt his assailant and tried to pry his hands away but they were like claws of steel around his throat. Just before he lost his last bit of breath, he managed to croak out, “Why?” With a final wrench, Johnny twisted the man’s neck until it snapped and dropped his lifeless body to the ground. He spat on his former leader. “Like I said, can’t do anything without your head straight.” As the demon (locally known as Rawmeat) had promised, taking over was easy after that. Compared to celestials, humans are dull and weak and very fragile. More powerful beings look on humans with pity or scorn. Even the most benevolent angel sometimes reflects on what a tragedy it is to be mortal – unable to perceive the glory of the Symphony, unable to experience the certainty of God’s presence and the waiting comforts of Heaven, condemned to a squalid and brutal life that can be cut short at any time. Few celestials appreciate the advantages of being human. Humans can allow themselves to be swept up by passion; they feel more deeply than most celestials. They never need fear that unfettered emotions will alter their fundamental natures. Humans have complete freedom to act selfishly or selflessly at will, to love one moment and hate the next, to choose virtue or vice as their mood suits them. It gives them a flexibility of thought unattainable by beings who can only relate to the Symphony through the filter of their resonance and Word. Humans appreciate the pleasures and hazards of the corporeal realm with a sensitivity foreign to beings who wear replaceable bodies to visit it. The abstract qualities of humanity are of little interest to most celestials, though. One thing they all understand is that humans are native to Earth. They belong here, they understand Earthly existence, and as natural elements of the Symphony, they can act upon it in a subtle yet profound manner. From a Superior’s point of view, humans are elegant, quiet tools in situations where celestial Servitors would be chainsaws. Of course, some humans are more useful than others, and to many a Superior’s way of thinking, they could all 8 stand some improvement . . . H UMANITY

BeiNg HumAn There are many types of human characters in In Nomine; “human,” to a celestial and to the Symphony, means anyone born human, no matter what’s happened to his Forces since. Mundanes, Soldiers, sorcerers, Saints, undead, and Children of the Grigori are all considered human for this purpose; they all relate to the Symphony in ways that other beings cannot. Being human has its advantages and disadvantages, and what some regard as a precious gift, others see as a fatal flaw. HUMANS AND THE SYMPHONY Humans are a natural part of the corporeal realm, which gives them their greatest advantage from a celestial’s point of view: their actions create no disturbance in the Symphony. Humans never have Roles, nor do they need them. The only way humans can disturb the Symphony is by consciously expending Essence, something only the Symphonically aware (p. 22) can do. If a human performs a Song or uses other celestial abilities (such as when Saints assume celestial form), it creates a normal disturbance, as does deliberately spending Essence to improve one’s luck. (Expending Essence in a focused effort, p. 20 – which even mundanes can do unconsciously – does not create a disturbance.) Even when humans do consciously expend Essence, there are no supernatural side-effects as there are for celestials (In Nomine, p. 46). Since humans are corporeal beings, celestials can’t damage or kill them (even the vessels of Saints and undead) without creating a disturbance. Most precious of all to a Superior, humans can create Tethers with their actions in the corporeal realm. They can’t do this with any reliability, even if they’re consciously trying to create a Tether, but it is an essential quality of humanity that their thoughts, deeds, and Essence can empower celestial Words. (For more details, see the Liber Castellorum.) FREE WILL No Superior has ever discovered a reliable way to force a human toward his fate or destiny. Humans can be influenced, manipulated, coerced, even led by the nose at times, but they are notoriously difficult to predict, and impossible to control. No attunement or Song discovered yet can actually compel a human to seal his fate. To some celestials, this is proof of inviolable free will; to others, it’s just another rule in a fixed game. But all agree that for fragile, not-too-bright corporeals, humans have an amazing talent for flummoxing Heaven and Hell. “Hello?” Johnny juggled the payphone receiver and the package he was carrying before giving up and dropping the box. “Mrs. Ceccarelli? Is Anna there?” “Why, yes, she is. It’s so good to hear from you again, Johnny.” The motherly voice had a hint of an Italian accent and was as soothing as ever. Johnny didn’t want to be soothed right now, though – he was too busy. “You too, Mrs. Ceccarelli. Can you put her on?” “Certainly, Johnny.” He heard the woman calling for Anna and then the breathless voice of the young lady herself. “Johnny? Is that you? Where have you been?!” “Hey, hey, sweetie! No problems. I just got a new job and I’ve been on the road a lot.” “It’s been three weeks! You could’ve called.” Johnny could tell she had been crying; she cried over all sorts of silly things, but he knew his news would cheer her up. “Long distance costs money, baby. But the job pays really good. Tell your mom she doesn’t have to worry about the rent on that place, I’ve got it covered.” Yeah, for about a year, he thought. “Oh, Johnny, that’s wonderful! This must be a great job!” He heard her crying on the other end. “Aw, honey, don’t do that. This is good news.” “I’ll cry if I want to!” She sniffed and her voice took on a longing tone. “When will I see you again?” “Actually, I’m in town now. I’ll see you in a couple of hours. Promise.” “Okay, Johnny, I’ll be waiting. This is a nice thing you’re doing for Momma. Why are you so good?” “Hey, your Mom has always treated me right, since way back when we were kids. Now that I got some, I’m givin’ a little back. Catch you in a few, sweetie.” “Bye, Johnny, I love you!” “Ditto, Anna.” He hung up the phone. H UMANITY 9

A celestial’s personality is largely defined by his Choir or Band. Celestials are “people” with varying motives, and are capable of all the emotions that humans are, but many of their reactions are hardwired into their being. Everything they think and do is tinged with the inescapable bias of their resonance and Word. This makes them consistent, and often very predictable, but it also robs them of some of their free will; there’s no Pavlovian conditioning more effective than the pain of dissonance. Humans do not resonate to the Symphony. Even those who are aware of the Symphony only hear disturbances; they can’t feel it giving them feedback as a result of their choices. Human behavior is highly variable and amazingly inconsistent from a celestial’s point of view. Acting “out of character” is a sign of serious inner conflict for angels and demons, so they naturally view uncharacteristic behavior patterns as cause for alarm. But a human can act contrary to his nature because he’s having a bad day, because he’s under pressure, or just because he feels like it. This is distressing and hard to fathom for celestials who aren’t used to humans. Humans can choose selfishness or selflessness – not just as a lifestyle, but at any given moment. Celestials are born to one or the other, and can’t move too far in the opposite direction without undergoing a painful transformation in their being. Behavior that could only stem from Discord in celestials is just a personality trait in humans. With the freedom to reach heights and sink to depths unimaginable to celestials, humans still haven’t provided the final answer in the free will debate, but it’s pretty certain that the answer does lie within them. INTERVENTIONS God and Lucifer rarely intervene directly in the lives of normal humans. Interventions for mundanes are rarely dramatic, and almost never supernatural. If a human rolls a 111 or 666, he’ll have an unusually good success or an unusually bad failure, but no sudden arrivals of helpful spirits or a brimstone stench as his problem bursts into flames. Moreover, mortals who haven’t actively taken a side in the War aren’t treated as being aligned with Heaven or Hell when Interventions occur – instead, whatever small blessing or misfortune befalls them depends on what they were doing at the time. A 111 is helpful and a 666 unhelpful if the human is acting selflessly when the Intervention occurs, while the effects are reversed if the human is acting out of selfish motives at the time. For “value-neutral” activities, humans seem to get the benefit of the doubt from Heaven and benefit from Divine Interventions, while Infernal Interventions plague them. Either of these rules can be violated as God or Lucifer wills. Sometimes a seemingly benevolent action is smiled on by the One Below, and sometimes the Holy Spirit aids humans who appear to be acting selfishly. If the GM chooses to let an ordinary human trigger a spectacular Intervention during an adventure, there should be a good reason for it . . . though the reason could be unfath- 10 omable to the humans it affects! PRAYER Any human can pray for Intervention. Even those who don’t actually believe in higher powers sometimes cast prayers out into the cosmos, out of desperation or habit. And sometimes those prayers are answered. At the GM’s option, a human who wishes fervently enough for something may actually spend Essence on his prayer – in other words, making a focused effort (p. 20). In such cases, the GM may choose to allow the prayer to be answered . . . somehow. Of course, if every fervent prayer were answered, the presence of the Divine would be much less a matter of faith, and more a matter of empirical evidence! It is strongly recommended that only a human who possesses an unusual level of selflessness, and/or who has some special significance to Heaven (whether it is a great destiny, or being the only one who knows how Saminga is about to spread a new worldwide plague) actually get a tangible benefit from prayer . . . and even then, the average person’s quota for such interventions is about once per lifetime. If the GM feels a need to randomly determine the results of a prayer, make a d666 roll with a target number equal to the mortal’s Celestial Forces. On a successful roll, something beneficial happens . . . though not necessarily immediately or obviously. God works in mysterious ways. The check digit can be a rough indicator of how quickly and/or completely the prayer is answered, but it will almost never be a concrete manifestation of Divine power. The exception is if the supplicant actually rolls a Divine Intervention. In that case, let the seas part, or describe any other miracle that suits the story. H UMANITY

A human who’s placed his lot with Heaven or Hell becomes an active participant in the War, and Interventions affect him accordingly. Soldiers of God and Hell benefit and suffer from the appropriate types of Interventions. Saints are treated as divine agents, undead are treated as diabolicals. Sorcerers are usually treated as Hellsworn, though there are some exceptions (see p. 59). SEEING THE WORLD THROUGH HUMAN EYES It’s important to remember that things humans take for granted – gravity, air, hot and cold, taste and texture, sleep – are all alien to celestials. Angels and demons aren’t usually sent to Earth in a state of complete ignorance; they’ll be equipped with a working knowledge of how to function in society, e.g., that you must wear clothes, that humans eat, how to use money, etc. But actually doing these things takes practice, and it’s still alien. Humans, on the other hand, acquire the ability to function in the world by instinct. Humans don’t need to be taught that they have to breathe, and they don’t have to learn how to sleep. They don’t need to think about how to react to physical sensations and emotions. This leads to several consequences. First, humans who are experienced at handling celestials make the best teachers for the newly Earthbound. (Humans who aren’t experienced with celestials wouldn’t know what needs to be taught, and probably wouldn’t think of explaining that commercials aren’t real, for instance.) This is the job many human servants are given. Second, humans who have experience with celestials are more likely to spot one trying to pass as human than another celestial is. Once a human knows what to look for, he’ll notice telltale signs that even an experienced celestial might not think of. These can be obvious (like someone who spends all day working in the hot sun and never gets thirsty), or apparent after some questioning (talking about high school can often be a giveaway) or detective work (celestials with female vessels often don’t think to stock their bathrooms with feminine hygiene products in case someone goes looking . . .). Third, no matter how long a celestial has been on Earth, he’s still an alien being, and he still doesn’t really understand humans. With all their experience, and the filters of their resonances and Words to extract information, celestials are still outsiders. Time and again, a charismatic, clever, or lucky human has proven to be the equal of any Archangel or Demon Prince in his ability to change the course of history. Whether this is a good thing or not remains to be seen. 11 H UMANITY

12 Johnny didn’t like walking around without his colors, but it wouldn’t have been smart on this side of town. Besides, he was really close to where Anna and her mother lived, and they didn’t know about his gang activities . . . or what he had been doing lately. The building he was heading for had no door – or rather, it had a door that was in about fifty pieces. That and the raucous music coming from inside were sure indications that this was the right place, even if he hadn’t been there a dozen times before. “Rawmeat!” he yelled over the overwhelming wail of discordant sound, “I got the package!” The punk jumped down through a hole that had rotted between the second and first floors and landed lightly next to the Steelheads’ new leader. “You don’t have to shout, Johnny, I can hear you just fine.” The voice came to him clearly as if the music wasn’t playing at all. The human shook his head. “Yeah, I know, but I can’t break the habit. I got the box.” He tossed it to the demon. Rawmeat caught it gleefully. “Awright! Now it’s time to rock!” If he noticed the beat-up condition of the package, he didn’t comment on it. He went straight to the back room, where a large object stood under a moldy tarp. Johnny followed him. “So what’s all this shit for, anyways? You’ve had me goin’ all over the place for stuff.” The demon gave him a sidelong glance. “Okay, the boss is happy with your work, so I can give you a few more details. He was real happy with how you handled the Screwhead gang, by the way.” Johnny shrugged. “It seemed quicker just to blow up their van than to shoot them one at a time.” “That’s what I mean. He likes that kind of initiative. In fact, you’ll like this since you’re pretty good with bombs.” He motioned to one wall of the collapsing building. “Y’know what’s over there?” He didn’t even have to think. “Yeah, it’s that chicken processing plant. You can smell it a mile away. What about it?” “Well, the owner of that fine establishment doesn’t like the boss. But he also doesn’t like a fellow named Belial. In fact, the big hog has even managed to bring down a Tether that belongs to Belial in the area.” As he spoke, he quickly ripped open the package to reveal a high tech gadget. He nodded and tossed it back to Johnny. “Now, Belial hates the boss even worse than Mr. Chicken, so we are going to help their relationship by blowing up the plant over there. Once they get fighting, we can move in and grab a chunk of the west side.” “Okay, so what do I do with this thing?” For reasons unknown to Johnny, Rawmeat had made him assemble the weird contraption hidden in the back room. It had taken a while since Rawmeat refused to touch it after saying he “didn’t want to jinx it.” Shit, he thought, I’ve been building a bomb! “Piece of cake. Just slip it in the last slot we messed with and turn it ’til it locks.” Johnny did so and it clicked into place. The device was about the size of a small refrigerator and had been assembled over the course of several weeks. Rawmeat had watched carefully to make sure everything was installed properly. “Okay, now the trigger’s in place. All you have to do is push the button and BOOM!” He raised his voice loud enough to be heard over the music . . . in fact, the music echoed his words with a rumbling roar of its own. “Don’t we have to get it over there?” Johnny looked at the thing and thought that it would take a half-dozen guys just to drag it over to a truck. H UMANITY

LIVING Mortals need to eat, drink, sleep, and breathe, at a bare minimum. Having any kind of a life worth living requires other things as well. This may seem obvious, but it often isn’t to celestials, who are only too willing to run their mortal servants ragged. Celestials can be on the job every hour of every day, and sometimes don’t appreciate the fact that humans need more out of existence than basic life-support. One thing humans sometimes have trouble teaching celestials is that to convincingly pass as a human, you have to do more than attend to physiological needs; you have to act human by spending time on non-essential activities. Even Saints and undead, who don’t have the same biological needs as mortals, still possess human drives. They may be obsessed with their role in the War (or with whatever personal agenda turned them into an undead) and far more duty-driven than the average human, but they still had hobbies, likes and dislikes, and probably friends and family in their previous life. None of these things disappear after they become immortal. They might become less important (and Saints are actively discouraged from maintaining contact with previous relations), but even Saints usually don’t spend 24 hours a day serving their Word, and undead don’t spend all their time plotting their next evil scheme . . . sometimes they still want to see how their favorite team is doing on ESPN. 13 H UMANITY Rawmeat shook his head and laughed until his face turned red. “Johnny, that’s a nuke! This thing will take out the north side completely. Belial has a hot temper, and he likes explosions, so Haagenti will be all over him. They’ll be fighting for years after this!” Johnny looked at the thing nervously. “The whole north side? What keeps us from getting blown up, then?” Meanwhile his mind was racing. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! This is going to take out this whole part of town! The demon took his panicked expression for simple fear of the atomic weapon. “I’ll tell you a little secret. The trick I taught you to stop bullets, remember that? Well, it’ll work on nearly anything you find on Earth – including toys like this one. The timer is set for five minutes. If you can’t get away in time, pop up a Shield and that’ll protect you from the blast long enough to get out of the radiation zone.” He smirked. “Once it gets going, I wouldn’t dawdle around too long. Traffic’s light this time of night, so all you gotta do is drive like hell!” Oh Anna, I can’t make it in time, we’d both just get caught! Johnny took a step back from the thing. “Hey, I won’t be here, trust me! Isn’t this,” he hesitated, “a little much, though?” Rawmeat looked at him as if he didn’t understand his words. “Huh? Too much?” He started laughing again. “Listen close, Johnny. NOTHING is too much! It’ll take more than a little dynamite to blow up a big Tether like that one! Now throw those left two switches and hit the red one on top and we’re outta here!” The man swallowed and stepped over to the machine. He glanced at Rawmeat and saw the implacable, almost worshipful stare in the demon’s eyes. He had learned very early that the infernal punk had no limits and, one way or another, this bomb was going off tonight. The demon noticed his hesitation. “Johnny, no more delays. If you don’t do it, I’ll kill you right now and find some patsy to push the button.” Johnny flipped the first switch and lights came on all over the device, including on a timer. Johnny steeled himself and wiped the sweat from his eyes, then flipped the second. Glowing red numbers appeared in the timer set for five minutes. “Um, what happens if someone comes back and just turns it off after we go?” “No can do, Johnny. Once it’s set, it’s gonna blow. In fact, if someone tries to turn it off, it explodes immediately.” He leaned forward, his eyes blazing with an almost lustful stare. “Now do it!” Johnny flipped up the protective plastic cover on the trigger and put his thumb on the button. He forced a smile. “Here goes nothin’.” He pushed firmly down, and just as the timer went to 04:59, a cyclone of air sprang around the man, the machine and demon. Rawmeat turned to run to his vehicle and bounced into the edge of the Shield. “What the fu . . . ?” He whirled to stare at the human and saw that Johnny had his hand on the timer switch. “NO!” he screamed and leapt for the man, but far too late. Johnny had time to whisper, “Goodbye, Anna,” just as he threw the switch. A light as bright as the sun filled the protective cyclone, instantly destroying everything inside, yet not extending even an inch beyond the borders set for it by the Song. The titanic explosion was muted, damped, subdued . . . even before the house, weakened by age and entropy, collapsed with the removal of several key supports that had been caught in the Shield.

Don’t forget that every human has his own motivations and agendas, and that even veteran Soldiers had a life before they got involved in the War. Humans shouldn’t be treated as interchangeable units. The background details of a human’s life history are essential to what makes him human. DYING The biggest disadvantage to being human is that you can die. And unlike celestials, you generally won’t come back. Most humans have a healthy fear of injury and death. Those who make a habit of tangling with celestials know all too well how fragile they are compared to what they’re up against. On the other hand, they also may possess knowledge that gives them the courage to risk death. After all, if you know Heaven exists and believe your place there is assured, how frightening can death be? (Demons, who can’t offer such a pleasant reward in the afterlife, usually lie about what’s awaiting their servants.) There are five possible destinations for a deceased human’s soul, (Heaven, Hell, the Marches, or staying on Earth as a ghost or reincarnated soul) though three of them are only postponements of the other two. (See Chapter 6 for more on the blessed and the damned, and those in-between.) 14 An elderly man walked slowly up the steps of the humble apartment. Sitting at the top was a young woman, enjoying the night air, waiting for someone. “Anna Ceccarelli.” It was a statement, not a question. “Yes?” She looked up, puzzled. “Do I know you?” He smiled and his smile warmed her to her bones. “Perhaps one day you will. I’m a friend of Johnny’s. May I sit?” “Please!” She scooted aside to give him room, which he took gracefully for one of his years. She smiled at him, trusting this person as if she had known him all her life. “It’s such a nice night. The wind is blowing away from the chicken plant. How do you know Johnny?” “I met him recently. Quite recently, in fact. He’s a brave man, Anna, very much so.” She nodded. “That’s my Johnny! Not too smart at times, but no coward.” His laugh joined hers. They stared into the evening for a while, neither saying anything. “He’s not going to make it tonight, you know.” Anna lowered her head for a moment, then raised it again. She was smiling through her tears. “I know. Somehow when I saw you, I knew. Why did it happen?” “He gave himself so that others may live. He came to a cusp in his life and he chose his destiny over his fate. More than that, I cannot say.” He rose to his feet and dusted himself off. “You won’t remember this meeting until you see him again.” She nodded. “Thank you for coming by, Mr. . . .” her voice trailed off. He leaned over and whispered something in her ear and her face lit up as if she had heard something wonderful, then it smoothed out again. She walked into the apartment as if the man were not there at all. He hailed a cab, rare on this side of town, but the cabby just happened to have dropped off a fare. “Where to?” “Downtown library, please. And take Elm. The traffic will be too crowded on Main.” The cabby shrugged. “Whatever you say.” “Indeed.” H UMANITY

Heaven or Hell As described in In Nomine, p. 67, if a human achieves his destiny, he goes to Heaven. If he meets his fate, he goes to Hell. Some humans don’t accomplish either before they die, and go elsewhere . . . Reincarnation Most people live unremarkable lives with a fair amount of selfishness and selflessness mixed together . . . perhaps a bit more of one than the other, but not enough to tip the cosmic scales toward Heaven or Hell. And some people live such extraordinary lives, they achieve their destiny and their fate. Most of these people are reincarnated . . . their souls remain intact, but are reborn into new bodies, with no memories of their prior existence. The angels say they’re getting another chance to do it right; the diabolicals say they’re being held prisoner in the corporeal realm, forced to keep playing God’s rigged roulette game. Some souls are reincarnated dozens of times before finally getting off the karmic wheel. Normally, there is no way to either recognize a soul from another lifetime or awaken its memories, but it’s happened on occasion. There may be Songs or sorcerous rituals that make it possible, and a few high-ranking Servitors of Yves and Kronos are said to be able to track a soul across multiple incarnations. Disbandment Sometimes, a soul who met neither its destiny nor its fate – or met both – doesn’t reincarnate; instead, it simply ceases to be. Its Forces disband into the Symphony, and that soul is gone absolutely and forever. (This is always the fate of undead when they die; see p. 89.) No one knows exactly what causes a soul to disband after death, but most celestials believe that it only happens to those who possess a strong desire, conscious or unconscious, to cease to be. Some blame it on atheism, too many reincarnations, or too much disappointment and despair in one life to want to come back. Ghosts Ghosts, as described on p. 80, are the souls of individuals who have met their destiny or fate, but feel so compelled to stay on Earth that they remain on the corporeal plane as ghosts. When a ghost finally lets go of his hold on Earth, he goes to the celestial plane, unless he’s forced to leave, in which case he disbands. The Marches Sometimes a human forms a strong attachment to the ethereal realm during his life . . . strong enough to stay attached after he dies. These souls are called dream-shades (p. 82). Usually a dream-shade is someone who died while dreaming. Sometimes a person forms such a strong and enduring dreamscape that it calls his soul to it after death, the two of them sustaining one other in a symbiotic afterlife. A few are sorcerers, lucid dreamers, or Dream Soldiers who know enough about the Marches to anchor themselves there. Some pagan souls are called to their god’s Domain after death. In any case, no dreamshades last forever; eventually they go on, either to Heaven or Hell, or disappear – disbanded or reincarnated, who knows? 15 H UMANITY

16 H UMAN C HARACTERS There are several types of human characters in IN NOMINE. Descriptions and character creation rules for each are found in Chapters 5 and 6. The following rules apply to all human characters, except where otherwise noted. Note: Some of the material in this and the following chapters reprints and/or revises material from IN NOMINE, NIGHT MUSIC and THE MARCHES. In case of any contradictions, this book supersedes the others. HuMan ChaRActerS

ForceS Humans are made of Forces, just like every other living being. Unlike ethereals and celestials, however, humans are born with a set pattern that determines how many Forces will attach to them naturally, and how many can ultimately be added. Most mortals are born with a single Force, and the ability to evolve to 5 Forces naturally. The exact rate at which Forces are added varies; most children have 2-3 Forces, while teenagers usually have 4, but a precocious 8 yearold might already have 4 Forces, and a lateblooming adolescent may still have but 3. Occasionally, a human is born with 2 Forces. Such infants are remarkably alert and possess strong personalities; they usually turn out to be prodigies with a higher potential than average (see below). A normal human must have at least 1 of each type of Force; 0 Forces in a realm is possible only for very young humans who still have less than 3 Forces, or those who are severely handicapped. POTENTIAL FORCES Every human has a configuration of Forces that limits how many he can acquire in the future. The vast majority of humans have 5 potential Forces; that’s all their individual pattern will allow. A few individuals have only 4 potential Forces, or even less; they are born physically and/or mentally stunted. On the other hand, some people are gifted with 6 potential Forces, the mark of an exceptional human being (and a potential Soldier). And a very, very rare few have an even higher potential – 7 or more Forces, the endowment of a truly legendary individual. Usually, a human acquires all his potential Forces by adulthood. However, those with 6 or more potential Forces will not automatically reach their full potential. Only the first 5 Forces are sure to come naturally. The rest must usually be acquired through grueling training, a dramatic event, or with a little help. The majority of humans with extra potential never achieve it. A human can exceed his potential Forces only with celestial intervention, and doing so is risky (see Gaining Forces, p. 19). MAXIMUM HUMAN A mortal cannot acquire more than 5 Forces in any realm. A human with 15 Forces (5 in each realm) is theoretically possible, but such a human would be a literal superman, physically and mentally perfect in every way. It’s doubtful more than half a dozen have existed in the history of the species. (It is believed that Adam and Eve – and Lilith – were the first humans to possess 15 Forces . . . and they were created that way.) No one knows the exact distribution of potential Forces in the human population; while Servitors of Vapula have tried to conduct studies, it’s a difficult area to research without attracting attention. The consensus seems to be that about 1 human in 100 has more than 5 potential Forces, and only a tiny fraction of those have more than 6. Beyond that, celestials can only estimate, but conventional wisdom from long observation is that at any given time, there are probably a handful of humans alive on Earth with 10 Forces. Celestials who’ve been watching humanity for centuries, and taking a particular interest in those with extra Forces, usually report that in all that time they might have met one human with 12 Forces; a human with more than 12 Forces is probably a millennial occurrence. 17 H UMAN C HARACTERS MORTALS In In Nomine, a human is anyone born human. A mortal is a human who still has a fully human body (not a vessel). Mundanes, Soldiers, sorcerers, prophets, rogues, and ethereal and celestial crossbreeds (including Children of the Grigori) are mortals. These character types are covered in Chapter 5. Dead souls (those dwelling on the ethereal and celestial planes, and those haunting the corporeal realm as ghosts), Saints, undead, and Remnants are not mortal. They are covered in Chapter 6. Unless specified otherwise, “human” refers to all the character types mentioned above (Remnants being a special case – see pp. 92-93), but “mortal” excludes the latter list. All mortal characters are subject to the stunning effect of witnessing a Kyriotate or Shedite in celestial form (In Nomine, p. 103); immortal characters are not.

FORCES AND HERITAGE Extra Forces seem to be somewhat hereditary. If your parents had a high Force potential, there’s a good chance you will too. Like intelligence and personality, it’s something that’s clearly influenced by parentage, but also subject to other factors and not readily predictable. One strong indication of the effects of heredity on Forces is that Children of the Grigori (p. 76) always have 6 potential Forces, and often more. This has given celestials ideas about breeding Soldiers. There are bloodlines in which extra Forces run in the family; such bloodlines are a common source of recruits. No one has ever figured out how to guarantee a child would have extra potential Forces, though, and no celestial eugenics program has stayed under control long enough to produce reliable results. 18 H UMAN C HARACTERS THE SIXTH FORCE 6 Forces is a benchmark for humans. The acquisition of a 6th Force doesn’t just mean being a little more potent than someone with 5 Forces; it’s also the point at which the Symphony opens up to mortals. Most exceptional human character types must possess 6 Forces or more. To summarize, a human with 6 Forces can: ✠ Become Symphonically aware (p. 22) ✠ Practice enchantment (Liber Reliquarum, p. 16) ✠ Practice sorcery (p. 32) ✠ Perform Songs (Liber Canticorum, p. 11) ✠ Receive attunements (p. 23) POTENTIAL FORCES AND PLAYER CHARACTERS Human player characters are likely to want to increase their Forces during play. Humans are normally assumed to start the game having reached their full potential; adding new Forces just isn’t an option for humans as it is for celestials. However, the GM might want to give human PCs the opportunity to gain another Force after a lot of hard work. Besides an appropriate event (see Gaining Forces, p. 19), a new Force costs 10 character points. Adding a new Force raises the characteristics in that realm, but does not give any more character points! Allowing more than one additional Force is not recommended unless the GM wants to run a very high-powered (for humans) game. Remember that having 6 Forces already makes you an exceptional human, and 7 Forces makes you doubly so. The chances of more than one human in the same group having 8 potential Forces are extremely remote! Optional Rule: Allow human PCs to buy extra potential Forces at character creation, at a cost of 4 points each. These points may be applied toward the cost of purchasing the actual Force later – but acquiring another Force should always be a difficult and time-consuming endeavor, not merely a matter of spending experience points. The GM doesn’t have to charge points for potential Forces, or set an upper limit for PCs . . . or tell the players what the limit is!

GAINING FORCES A few humans with extra potential don’t need to strive for an added Force; they are truly gifted, born with the ability to reach 6 Forces (or more!) by adulthood naturally. But most humans with the potential for more than 5 Forces have to work for them. There are two natural ways to acquire those extra Forces: through rigorous training, or by experiencing a trigger event. Either can occur at any point in a person’s life. Training Training to get a Force is accomplished by spending character points to raise the characteristics associated with that Force (see below). If you raise a connected pair of characteristics by 4 points (which is only possible if you have the potential for another Force), then your Forces in that realm increase by 1. Trigger Events A trigger event can be anything the GM considers dramatic enough to awaken a person’s potential and draw a loose Force to him, where it will spontaneously attach. The event can be a great personal tragedy or triumph, an intellectual breakthrough or a spiritual epiphany. Being exposed to celestial powers often triggers latent potential. If this happens during play, the character must also pay 10 character points for the new Force. If a human starts the game having already acquired his potential Force, the player should decide what happened in the character’s past to bring it out. Supernatural Intervention There is a third way to add a potential Force: supernatural intervention. It’s faster than training or waiting for a trigger event, but it requires that a Force be added from elsewhere. Celestials prefer humans who have reached their full potential on their own, because they won’t need to be supplied with a Force by their Superior. However, a potential Soldier is usually valuable enough to be worth the investment (see Soldiers, p. 53). Supernatural intervention is the only way a human can exceed his potential Forces. Mummies are created by a sorcerous ritual (p. 33) which adds a Force regardless of whether the human had the potential for another one. An Archangel or a Demon Prince is capable of adding any number of Forces to a human, even beyond his potential, but the more Forces added, the more unstable the human’s configuration becomes. Superiors don’t try to create 10- or 15-Force humans because it’s very expensive, it’s a waste of Forces that would be much more effective if added to a celestial Servitor, and because the human will almost never survive. CHARACTERISTICS Humans get 4 points per Force to distribute between the two characteristics in that realm. Like celestials, humans can also raise their characteristics independently of their Forces, at a cost of 3 character points each (In Nomine, p. 202). For humans, raising characteristics requires intensive exercise, training, study, or some dramatic event to justify an increase. Usually this happens during “down time” between adventures, but it can happen during play if the GM feels the circumstances are unusual enough. Unlike celestials, humans cannot necessarily gain a Force by raising the appropriate characteristics by 4 points. If a human has the potential for another Force, he may do this (see Gaining Forces, above). If he already has all his potential Forces, then he can only add a maximum of 3 points to the paired characteristics in any realm. 19 H UMAN C HARACTERS AGING Mortals deteriorate with age. This lowers their characteristics, but Forces never go away as a result of mere aging. This means that elderly humans (as well as victims of certain types of diseases or accidents) may have lower characteristics than their Forces would indicate. This is completely up to the GM, as some people remain mentally and physically fit long into their twilight years. Player characters should never be subject to arbitrary aging rules (if the campaign lasts that long!). However, with the GM’s permission, a starting human character may buy down some of his characteristics to represent advanced age; reduced characteristics give 2 character points per -1. No characteristic may go below 1, unless you have 0 Forces in that realm.

Example: William, a 5-Force human with the potential for 6, devotes himself for many months to improving his physical condition. He currently has 2 Corporeal Forces and a Strength and Agility of 4 each. He spends a total of 12 character points to raise his Strength to 7 and his Agility to 5. Upon adding the 4th point of characteristic increase, his potential Force manifests, attaching to him as a 3rd Corporeal Force. As he continues training, he raises his Strength even further, to 10. He can never go higher than that, nor can he add to his Agility, because another point of characteristic increase would require adding a 4th Corporeal Force, and William has already reached his potential. 10 is the normal human maximum for characteristics. Undead and Saints, no longer limited by their mortal configuration of Forces, may exceed this; Soldiers and other mortals may acquire superhuman characteristics only at the GM’s discretion. It is strongly recommended that this be allowed only as the result of some supernatural event, and never at character creation. Under no circumstances can a human have a characteristic higher than 12. ESSeNcE Mortals gain a point of Essence every day at noon, regardless of which side they serve in the War. (Saints and undead are sufficiently realigned that they regenerate their Essence at sunrise and sundown, respectively.) Humans (including Saints, but not including undead) who are gifted with great talents may also generate Essence by using their gift; once per day, a human who possesses a mundane skill at level 6 can get a point of Essence by succeeding at a roll with that skill. This is the only way most humans can normally acquire Essence. Humans who don’t know how to control their Essence can’t be given any from another source, and they can only use their Essence in a focused effort. FOCUSED EFFORTS A focused effort is simply a concentrated and/or desperate attempt to succeed at a single task, to the exclusion of all else. Someone making a focused effort automatically spends all the Essence he has on the attempt. Humans do this all the time, whenever they really, really want to succeed at something. Not realizing what they are giving up, mortals usually expend their Essence on trivial things, like trying to unjam a copy machine or talk a cop out of giving them a speeding ticket. The GM decides when an NPC makes an instinctive focused effort. A focused effort can be made deliberately, even by mundanes. All it requires is a Precision roll, and some kind of training that teaches them how to concentrate all their energy on what they’re doing. Some disciplines limit this ability to a particular area of endeavor – many martial artists learn how to focus their “ki” when throwing a punch, but not how to do the same thing while driving. An engineer might have taught himself to concentrate on a problem and wait for a flash of inspiration, but have no idea he could do the same thing with anything he does. A focused effort can be useful even to those who know how to control their Essence. It is a completely natural expenditure of Essence; therefore it does not make a disturbance. You must spend all your Essence on a single d666 roll when making a focused effort – and for the Symphonically aware, a failed Precision roll means you still spend all your Essence on the task, but do it as a conscious expenditure with the corresponding disturbance. Only humans can make focused efforts. RITES Symphonically aware humans can be granted Rites. Human characters who start play with one or more Rites must pay 3 points apiece for them; those they acquire during play may be given as a reward by a Superior for exemplary service. All Word-bound celestials, and some powerful ethereal spirits, have the ability to give Rites to humans, but the Essence comes out of their personal supply. Normally, only a Superior can afford to be so generous, and even they don’t bestow Rites casually. Rites can be revoked; a human who’s given a Rite will be expected to uphold his benefactor’s Word. If a human is given one of Dominic’s Rites, for example, he’ll be expected to act like a Servitor of Judgment as much as possible. If he twists the law for his own benefit, persecutes an innocent man, or ignores iniquity, he will lose his Rite (at the very least!). The HuMAn Body Humans don’t have vessels; they have bodies. When their body dies, their soul moves onward (see Dying, pp. 14-15). Humans have Body hits, Mind hits, and Soul hits, just like celestials. BODY HITS AND PHYSICAL INJURY Without vessel levels to increase, humans are usually 20 fragile compared to angels and demons, though some H UMAN C HARACTERS

can be quite hardy even by celestial standards. Mortals can buy up to 2 levels of Toughness (p. 27), at 4 points each. Saints and undead are much tougher than mortals, because their bodies are treated as vessels for purposes of calculating Body hits. Saints cannot have Toughness, but undead can. A mortal’s Body hits are equal to (Corporeal Forces + Toughness) × Strength. An average human with 2 Corporeal Forces and a 4 Strength has 8 Body hits, while an incredible human, with 4 Corporeal Forces, 2 levels of Toughness and a Strength of 10, can have 60 Body hits! Like celestials, humans fall unconscious at 0 Body hits. Mortals die when their Body hits fall below -(Strength + Toughness); undead and Saints expire at -(Corporeal Forces + Toughness) × Strength. See In Nomine, p. 62, for other effects of injury. Mortals heal injuries at a rate of 1 Body hit every (6 -Strength) days (minimum 1 day). Saints and undead heal at the celestial rate: 1 Body hit per day. MIND HITS AND ETHEREAL DAMAGE Humans have Mind hits equal to their Ethereal Forces × Intelligence, like celestials. Most humans rarely have the opportunity to take ethereal damage, but the effects are fully described in In Nomine, p. 63. Mortals heal 1 Mind hit every (6 -Intelligence) days (minimum 1 day); Saints and undead heal 1 hit per day. SOUL HITS AND CELESTIAL DAMAGE Humans almost never take celestial damage, since they cannot engage in celestial combat (with the exception of Saints). If they do, the effects are described in In Nomine, p. 64. Like every other creature, humans regenerate lost Soul hits at a rate of 1 point per week. Humans don’t acquire Discord if their Forces in a realm are reduced to 0, but they do suffer other effects, described below. All characteristics in that realm drop to 0, unless the human had invested character points in them, in which case he keeps any extra points purchased. If a human loses Forces, it is theoretically possible for him to regain them; treat the lost Forces as potential Forces, which can be reacquired the same way as acquiring new Forces (Gaining Forces, p. 19). If a human should lose all his Corporeal Forces as a result of celestial damage, he dies, unless he has extra points of Strength, giving him a positive Strength characteristic. In this case, he remains alive . . . barely. He has 0 Body hits, and will fall unconscious if he takes any damage at all, and die at (-Strength) Body hits. Toughness gives no benefits to someone reduced to 0 Corporeal Forces. Furthermore, someone with an Agility of 0 is an invalid, unable to walk under his own power. Losing all one’s Ethereal Forces turns a human into a catatonic near-vegetable, unless he had extra points invested in Intelligence. Even with a positive Intelligence, he will have lost a great deal of his intellect, and may resemble a victim of severe brain damage. Without a positive Precision, he will have a short attention span and almost no ability to concentrate. Unless he also invested extra points in Precision, he will be a complete amnesiac, and remain unable to remember much of anything . . . even if you introduce yourself every day, he’ll probably forget your name the next time you see him. 21 H UMAN C HARACTERS

Losing all Celestial Forces is less impairing, for humans. Personality, skills, and memory are undamaged, albeit muted by the lack of any driving force behind them. With a 0 Will and Perception, a human becomes devoid of ambition and almost oblivious to everything except what’s right in front of him. At the GM’s option, a human who suffers celestial damage may make a partial recovery by regaining some of his lost characteristics, enough to raise them above 0, even if he does not regain his lost Forces. There is a much higher price to pay for losing one’s Celestial Forces, however. Your Celestial Forces contain the part of you that is immortal – your soul. A human who loses his Celestial Forces has been soul-killed; what remains is meat animated by intelligence. Such soulless shells disband upon death (pp. 14-15). Buying ReSOurcES Humans can buy Resources like any other character. At creation, they have 4 × Forces in character points to spend. Some Resources are not available to all human character types, however, and some are available only to humans. ADVANTAGES “Advantages” is a catch-all label for abilities that do not fit into one of the other Resource categories. Any advantages a human possesses should be listed separately on his character sheet. Below are the two advantages described in the In Nomine rulebook; Status and Charisma. New advantages are found in Chapter 4. Status Status levels are described in In Nomine, p. 43. Every human starts with Status 1 for free; each additional level costs 2 points. Besides giving a bonus on reaction rolls, Status also affects your financial resources. There are no rules for starting assets and income in In Nomine – mere wealth only gets you so far in the War. But money can be useful, even to celestials, so someone who wants to have a lot of it should generally have a Status that justifies it. If the GM wants to allow a lowly janitor a background story that gives him a secret Swiss bank account, that’s fine. But your Status determines how much money you can readily access without unusual means, and it determines how much money you’re perceived to have by mortal society. Status is somewhat relative to one’s culture, even in modern times, but in an In Nomine campaign, spending extra points on Status should translate into an easier time being accepted even when moving between cultures. Charisma As described in In Nomine, pp. 48-49, “Charisma” refers to any personal quality that tends to make people react positively to you. Classic charisma (e.g., a forceful personality) is the most common manifestation, but Charisma can also be simple good looks, a witty demeanor, an appearance that commands respect, a good reputation, or fame. Whatever form it takes, Charisma should generate a positive reaction from most people. Certain types of Charisma might be ineffective against some individuals (good looks wouldn’t improve a blind person’s reaction, an intimidating appearance might not impress someone who’s fearless, and fame might inspire resentment in certain people), but this should be balanced by other people who automatically react positively (groupies, cowards, etc., depending on the type of Charisma). Basic Charisma costs 2 points per +1. The nature of a character’s Charisma should be described on his character sheet. A narrower category of Charisma can only affect certain people. Raw sex appeal, for example, would only affect those who are oriented toward that character’s 22 gender, and a local reputation would only impress people H UMAN C HARACTERS SYMPHONIC AWARENESS Symphonic awareness is a Resource, of a sort, but it does not cost character points and doesn’t normally need to be listed on a character’s sheet. Symphonic awareness is the ability to perceive the Symphony, including the ability to detect disturbances. Along with this comes awareness of one’s own Essence, and the ability to control it. This gives humans the ability to perform Songs and practice sorcery, among other things. Only a human with 6 Forces can become Symphonically aware. Most 6-Force humans aren’t Symphonically aware. Sometimes someone who gains his 6th Force as a result of a dramatic event (see Gaining Forces, p. 19) simultaneously gains Symphonic awareness – this is always the case for those who are being made into Soldiers by celestials. Saints and undead are automatically Symphonically aware. Without a celestial initiation, a human with 6 Forces will only gain Symphonic awareness as a result of an extraordinary event (GM’s option) or through a sorcerous ritual (Symphonic Awakening, p. 45).

living in your area. This type of Charisma costs 1 point per +1. The maximum bonus, from any combination of basic and limited Charisma, is +3. Characters may also buy up to 2 levels of negative Charisma for things such as an ugly appearance, terrible breath, social ineptness or a bad reputation. Each point of negative Charisma penalizes reaction rolls by -1, and gives the character 2 extra character points with which to buy extra Resources. You cannot buy limited negative Charisma. ARTIFACTS Humans, even mundanes, can buy artifacts at character creation if the player has a reasonable explanation for how it was acquired. The War has left many talismans, relics, and other artifacts scattered around the world. Some may be family heirlooms, and it’s possible for them to simply be found, often by people who have no idea of their true potential. ATTUNEMENTS Attunements can only be granted by Superiors. Humans can be granted Servitor Attunements and Distinctions, but only if they possess 6 Forces – otherwise an attunement won’t “stick.” It’s theoretically possible for a 6- Force human who is not Symphonically aware to be granted an attunement (in which case he wouldn’t be able to use any abilities that required spending Essence), but if a Superior gave such a human an attunement, he’d surely grant him Symphonic awareness in the process. Servitor Attunements cost humans 10 points each, while Distinctions have no point value but must be earned during play. Humans can’t receive attunements or Distinctions that depend on possessing other celestial abilities. Choir and Band Attunements Humans don’t have a resonance, so they cannot receive Choir or Band Attunements. The only exception is if a human is given a Force that comes from a celestial . . . this gives the human just enough celestial nature to allow him the Choir or Band Attunement of the angel or demon who “donated” that Force. For example, if Andrealphus stripped a Force off one of his Balseraph Servitors in order to add it to a human and give her her 6th Force, then the new Soldier of Lust could buy the Balseraph of Lust attunement for 5 character points. Even so, humans can’t use attunements that depend on having a celestial resonance, so all the other Lust Band Attunements (except that of the Djinn) would be useless to a human. Obviously, Superiors are very rarely going to take Forces from one of their Servitors and give them to a human, so Choir and Band Attunements among humans are very, very rare. Sometimes a Demon Prince who’s in the process of stripping an unsatisfactory servant down might decide to save his Forces for the next batch of Soldiers or undead. An Archangel would never do such a thing, so only if an angel volunteers to donate a Force could a Saint or Soldier of God receive a Choir Attunement. Any starting human character with a Choir or Band Attunement should have a very good explanation how he got it, and the GM is within his rights to simply forbid it. 23 H UMAN C HARACTERS

ROLES Humans are a natural part of the Symphony. They never have Roles, and never need them. A human’s public identity (or even multiple and/or false identities) is established by his background story and roleplaying. SERVANTS A servant is a supernatural Resource, subordinated to his master’s will by a Symphonic connection (see Liber Servitorum, pp. 115-125). Loyal minions are not servants and don’t cost character points, though the GM should be wary of humans who try to claim too many followers. Servants must normally be granted by a Superior. Extremely deserving Saints and Soldiers are sometimes rewarded with a celestial spirit as a servant, and sorcerers can bind demonlings or ethereal spirits to them (or be given one as a part of a deal with a Demon Prince). SKILLS Skills are mundane abilities, useful to celestials but precious to humans. In In Nomine, skills usually define a wide range of competencies. Computer Operation is the general ability to do anything computer-related; Medicine covers the skill sets of a nurse, a doctor, and an Army medic equally; Knowledge skills may be interpreted as broadly as the GM deems reasonable. Specialization is normally just descriptive detail, irrelevant to game mechanics (but see below). Humans can learn any skills that fit their background and experience, but the maximum level for any skill is 6. A strict interpretation of the rules would seem to suggest that it’s hard for a mere mortal to be competent at much of anything. Someone with an above-average Agility of 4 and a decent skill of Swimming/3 will spend a significant amount of time splashing futilely trying to do laps in a swimming pool, even allowing for a +2 very easy task bonus. The situation is worse for a Sunday driver with a Precision of 2 and Driving/1, who has a very small chance of avoiding any traffic hazards that might occur. The following optional rules even the odds a bit for humans. To represent the advantage humans have as natural players in the Symphony, it’s recommended that celestials not be allowed to take advantage of these rules! Celestials have to learn everything about the corporeal world from scratch, whereas humans assimilate a vast array of knowledge about their environment just by living in it; much of this is incorporated into their skills, even if it isn’t represented on a character sheet. Free Skills Every human automatically gets fluency in his native language for free (effectively level 3); the GM might consider offering human characters some additional “freebies” just for being raised on Earth. These should only be low-level skills that are nearly universal among adults of a particular culture, the sort of skills any human character from that culture should purchase anyway. A typical skill set for a 20th century American might include: ✠ Area Knowledge/3 (character’s hometown) ✠ Knowledge/3 (character’s profession) ✠ Knowledge/1 (a hobby or minor area of interest) ✠ Driving/1 ✠ Swimming/1 Alternatively, assign a certain number of extra points (6 is recommended) to “professional qualifications.” Let humans spend those points only on skills appropriate to their mundane occupation, with none at a level higher than 3. Look at the list of sample Roles in In Nomine, pp. 72-73, for examples. Routine Actions Humans shouldn’t be required to make a skill roll for everyday actions. Driving across town, remembering where City Hall is, or treating a cut to prevent infection is automatic for someone who possesses even a single level in the appropriate skill. Skill rolls should be required only if the character is under stress or if the situation is not routine (this definitely includes any combat situation). Even when the GM does require a d666 roll, an unsuccessful roll on a routine action does not mean an actual failure, except on a check digit (CD) of 6. It merely means that there were complications that took extra time, or the feat was not performed as gracefully as usual. Simplified Skill Resolution The GM may expand “routine” actions to include more difficult ones for humans with a higher skill level. Doing a cartwheel on a balance beam is difficult for a novice gymnast, but so routine as to be automatic for a professional. Stitching a wound might be troublesome for someone with only basic first aid training, but a good doctor can do it in his sleep. Compare the difficulty modifiers in In Nomine, p. 38, with the character’s skill level on the table below. Unless the exact degree of success or failure is important to the task (such as in combat), allow humans to automatically succeed (with a CD of 1) if their skill level is high enough. If a character wants to try for a 24 higher CD, let him roll normally. H UMAN C HARACTERS

Difficulty Skill level Sample tasks Very Tough 6 Synchronized aerial acrobatics in a jet fighter; bypass an advanced security system; open heart surgery Tough 5 Jump a chasm in a car; sneak past an alert guard at night; diagnose an obscure disease Average 4 Communicate abstract ideas clearly; do a backflip off a high dive; find a file on a large network with minimal security Easy 3 Give directions; perform a high dive; remember the exact date of a major event Very Easy 2 Basic conversation; swim laps in a pool; do a cartwheel Specialization In Nomine skills aren’t normally specialized. The GM may allow a human character to define a skill as specialized if his background justifies it. There is no point cost for specializations, but the GM shouldn’t allow more than one or two except for characters with a lot of skills. When using a skill within its specialty, reduce the difficulty level of the task by one (if using the Simplified skill resolution rule, p. 24), or give a bonus of +1 to skill rolls. Examples: Computer Operation (Specific operating system, Hacking, Hardware repair); Area Knowledge (Tethers, Bars, Freeways); Ranged Weapon (Pistol) (9mm Glock, .22 revolver). Mastery No one can have a skill level higher than 6, but even a skill of 6 may not do justice to a human whose underlying characteristic isn’t equally high. To represent a truly world-class skill, the GM may allow humans to buy mastery in any skill known at level 6, for 1 point. Mastery in a skill gives the character a base target number of 12 (i.e., automatic success) before any modifiers. In other words, it effectively raises the skill’s base characteristic to 6. If the base characteristic is 6 or higher, mastery is of no value. SONGS Symphonically Aware humans with 6 Forces can perform Songs. (Other humans can learn Songs – see Liber Canticorum, p. 11 – but cannot actually use them.) Most mortals can only perform Corporeal Songs. The Ethereal and Celestial Connection attunements (pp. 27-28) allow mortals to perform Songs in those realms, and Children of the Grigori are rumored to have a natural affinity for Songs, even non-Corporeal ones. Learning Songs usually requires being taught by another Symphonically aware being, so any human who begins the game with Songs must explain what contacts he has who taught them to him. DISADVANTAGES Humans do not get Discord. Discord is a fracture in a celestial’s nature, a tangible manifestation of his dissonance. It simply does not apply to humans. Humans can have physical, mental, and spiritual flaws, however. The game effects of these flaws may be identical to certain Discords, but in humans they are called disadvantages. Disadvantages give humans the same number of character points that they give to celestials as Discord. Unless otherwise stated, a disadvantage affects a human exactly as it is described as a Discord. Note that humans who possess disadvantages that are the equivalent of Celestial Discords do not need to roll a d666 in order to get their daily Essence. Also, normal humans cannot possess any supernatural disadvantages unless the GM gives special permission. Normally forbidden disadvantages include Discolored, Pallid, Stigmata, Vestigium, Vulnerable, Aura, Bound, Celestial Blindness, and Need. Geases are an exception to these rules. A Geas is a special kind of Ethereal Discord that even binds to humans . . . and it stays bound to their soul, so a human who ascends to the celestial plane, or becomes a ghost or dream-shade (see Chapter 6), does not lose his Geases. Removing Disadvantages Superiors can’t necessarily make human disadvantages vanish the way they can strip Discord from celestials. Most have no trouble curing physical maladies, and Archangels (and some Demon Princes) can usually heal Ethereal afflictions of the mind, but Celestial disadvantages, in humans, reflect an individual’s inner self. Tampering with them is tantamount to rewiring a person’s brain; it’s extremely difficult even for Superiors, and Archangels condemn it as interfering with free will. Unlike a celestial, however, humans don’t always need a Superior’s help to get rid of disadvantages. They can simply buy them off, if there is a good in-game justification. An Obese angel will suffer that Discord no matter what vessels he possesses, but a human can go on a diet and exercise program. Celestial Discord is a fundamental defect in a celestial’s being, but Celestial disadvantages are just human character flaws . . . which can be cured, with a lot of effort on the human’s part. 25 H UMAN C HARACTERS

The following Resources are offered to expand your campaign. Some are equally suitable for humans and celestials, others are only available to one or the other. Naturally, the GM is not obliged to allow any of them. Note: Some of these Resources have appeared in other supplements, and are reprinted here for clarity and completeness. AdvantAGeS Most advantages are only applicable to humans (though Charisma can be bought by celestials with vessels, and Status by celestials with Roles). Advantages are usually innate, and must be purchased at character creation; though the GM might allow some to be acquired during play with an unusual story. Superiors cannot bestow advantages. Blessed (10 points) Some mortals are blessed from birth with an indomitable personality – they are very difficult to affect with any power that interferes with their free will. Blessed humans double their Will for purposes of resisting any resonance, attunement, or Song that can be resisted, as well as Fast-Talk and Seduction attempts. (This does not apply to powers resisted by characteristics other than Will, but it does apply to resisting orders if a Blessed human becomes a servant!) On rare occasions, a mortal has gained this blessed status later in life, through spiritual enlightenment or extreme piety. The souls of humans who go to Heaven, including Saints (p. 83), automatically become blessed (see p. 79) – direct contact with the Divine, and the stripping away of all lies and worldly delusions, makes a soul very hard to mislead. A blessed mortal is not necessarily holy, however. While they obviously have an advantage in thwarting demons, their blessing sometimes make them more selfish than average – the force of their personality shunts aside any external influences, good or bad. Angels greatly value those blessed mortals who choose to join the fight against Hell, but demons have also recruited them – blessed humans may be hard to dominate, but they’re as vulnerable as anyone else to manipulation. Being blessed has led some humans into the ultimate exercise of Will: sorcery (p. 32). A blessed human who engages in a Will-war (p. 42) doesn’t double his Will, but he does get to add his Celestial Forces to his target number, as celestials do. The Blessed advantage costs 10 points. It normally must be purchased at character creation – undergoing the sort of transformation that leads one to become blessed later in life should be a long, soul-searching process involving months or years of prayer, study, meditation, etc. . . . not normally possible for an adventuring 26 player character. R ESOURCES ReSoUrceS

Soul Link (3 points per level) Sometimes ethereal or celestial beings acquire a special kind of Discord: a Symphonic link to a human soul that obligates them to that mortal. Occasionally pagan gods grant such links voluntarily, and it’s rumored that advanced sorcerous rituals can force one upon a spirit . . . or even a celestial. For a celestial, a Soul Link is an Ethereal Discord, but for the human, it’s an advantage, costing 3 points per level. (For ethereals, it may be an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on the circumstances.) The spirit or celestial is linked to the human as per the Djinn resonance (In Nomine p. 142), with exactly the same benefits and restrictions, but the attunement is permanent until the Discord is removed. The human will always recognize the being that is Soul Linked to him, and may ask for a favor if they meet. The other being must roll vs. Will minus the level of the Soul Link, or feel compelled to fulfill the request as if it were a Geas. These “boons” don’t disappear like a Geas when they’re fulfilled, though – the human can ask for another the next time they meet! (The human cannot demand further boons while his “patron” is still working on the last one . . . though he can ask.) Once per day, the human can voluntarily give Essence to his patron (even if they are on separate planes), up to an amount equal to the level of the Link. He may do this even if he is not Symphonically aware (in which case he’ll automatically give all the Essence he has, or the maximum allowed, whichever is less). The patron cannot send Essence to the human through a Soul Link. Toughness (4 points per level) Toughness makes humans more difficult to kill, as described under Body hits and Physical Injury, pp. 20-21. Humans (including undead if they had Toughness before becoming undead, but not including Saints) may buy up to 2 levels of Toughness at a cost of 4 points each. AtTuNEmentS All of these attunements cost 10 character points, unless stated otherwise. Celestial Connection This attunement can only be granted by a Superior; it opens a connection, through that Superior, to the celestial realm. This allows mortals to perform Celestial Songs. Because it is effectively allowing a mortal to tap into the Superior’s Forces (albeit on a minuscule scale), Archangels and Demon Princes very rarely grant this attunement, and never to someone who isn’t sworn to their service. Besides granting the ability to perform Celestial Songs, this connection also gives humans the ability to send calls for help into the celestial realm – in other words, to invoke Superiors. They use the same modifiers that Servitors do (In Nomine, p. 109). The Superior who granted the Celestial Connection, and anyone else who gives the human an attunement or who is currently paying attention to that human (as for someone on a mission for that Superior), can be invoked normally; all others are invoked at -10 (per the Universal Invocation Modifiers, In Nomine, p. 108). Celestials never need this attunement, of course; they already have an inherent celestial connection. Ethereals, Saints, and undead are already capable of performing Celestial Songs, but can be granted a Partial Celestial Connection to allow them to invoke Superiors (see below). Characters with this attunement must still meet all the other criteria for performing a Song (such as having at least 1 Celestial Force – a Celestial Connection won’t help a Remnant). Partial Celestial Connection This is a partial version of the full Celestial Connection attunement, above. Superiors can grant humans the ability to invoke them, but not perform Celestial Songs. A Partial Celestial Connection only costs 5 character points. Sometimes Saints and undead, who are already able to perform Celestial Songs, are given a partial Celestial Connection. For a mortal to perform Celestial Songs he must have a full Celestial Connection! There is no “reverse” partial connection that allows the performing of Celestial Songs without the ability to invoke Superiors. 27 R ESOURCES “Even the toughest Soldier eventually realizes that humans who fight demons are like bunnies who bite wolfhounds. Brave, but stupid.” – Colonel Howard Engles, Seagull Society

Ethereal Connection This attunement can be granted by a Superior, or by certain very powerful ethereal spirits. It allows mortals to perform Ethereal Songs (and, because of its unique connection to the ethereal plane, the Celestial Song of Dreams). Among celestial Superiors, only Blandine and Beleth normally grant this attunement. Ethereal gods also grant it to their own Dream Soldiers (p. 66). As with a Celestial Connection, non-mortals do not need this attunement. Characters with an Ethereal Connection must still meet all the other criteria for performing a Song (such as having at least 1 Ethereal Force – yes, a zombi with an Ethereal Connection could perform Ethereal Songs . . . but even Saminga isn’t likely to waste his resources like that). Infernal Pact This is the attunement that Hatiphas, Demon of Sorcery (pp. 72-73) possesses and can grant to others. It gives the ability to grant the Sorcery attunement (below) to humans, without needing to go through a sorcerous initiation (p. 70). The human must still spend 10 character points for the attunement . . . but may pay for those points with disadvantages or a Geas imposed by the demon. Accepting this “gift” requires that the sorcerer become Hellsworn (p. 59); whatever else the demon demands or gives in return, any sorcerer given his powers through Infernal Pact is almost certainly damned. The demon offering the Pact must tell the truth about this, but can lie about other things (such as promising immortality, a favored position in Hell, etc.). Supposedly this is a strictly diabolical attunement, but some powerful ethereal spirits are rumored to be able to do the same thing, bringing the sorcerer’s soul to their own ethereal Domains after death. Sorcery This attunement allows the user to practice sorcery. It can only be acquired by someone who meets the other requirements to be a sorcerer (p. 33). It opens the sorcerer’s mind to the Symphony and allows him to use Essence to manipulate the Symphony’s chords through sorcerous rituals. The attunement can be gained in two ways; the hard way is to go through an Initiation ritual (p. 45). The easy way is to be granted the attunement by a demon of Sorcery (see Infernal Pact, above). Oathtaking Oathtaking is a quick and dirty way to bestow an extra Force on a mortal. It summons an infernal Force from Hell and attaches it to the chosen human. These Forces are prepared ahead of time by the demon’s Prince for exactly this purpose; they are ready to attach to the next configuration of Forces they bump into. The Oathtaker is actually opening a conduit to Hell and requesting one of his Prince’s Forces; most Princes allow such transfers with barely a thought, but they are aware of them. The summoned Force can only be attached if the human is willing – he must be fully aware that he’s making a pact with Hell. The problem with the Oathtaking ritual is that if the summoned Force tries to attach to a human who has no room for new Forces – in other words, who has already reached his potential – it will destabilize his existing Forces, causing them to unravel. Some demons use necromancy at this point to create a mummy (p. 91); others simply let the mortal die. Oathtaking is a diabolical attunement that any Prince can bestow – it is actually a special kind of Distinction, and therefore does not cost character points. Most highranking Word-bound Servitors are authorized to induct Hellsworn Soldiers; it can be assumed that any Wordbound demon of Captain rank or higher has this attunement, unless there’s some reason why his Prince would withhold it. SkilLS Alchemy (Intelligence) Default: -4 This is actually just a Knowledge skill, and works like any other when using it to research or decipher alchemical rituals, recall the history of alchemy, etc. Many mundanes study alchemy as a hobby, or in misguided attempts to perform real alchemical rituals. Sorcerers and enchanters can use this skill to create items with real power – see Alchemy, p. 46. Dancing (Agility) Default: -2 This is the skill of dancing gracefully. It covers everything from square dances to erotic striptease – the check digit of a successful roll indicates how skillfully the dancer performs, or how quickly he learns a new dance. The GM should interpret the exact effects, since this skill is mostly of use in roleplaying situations. Under certain circumstances, the check digit of a successful Dancing skill roll might improve the target number of a Savoir-Faire or Seduction roll. An unsuccessful roll usually means the dancer simply didn’t perform very well, and the audience’s reaction should reflect this. Dancing is also useful when performing Corporeal 28 Songs sotto voce (Liber Canticorum, p. 20). R ESOURCES

Dreaming (Perception) Default: -5 This is the skill of lucid dreaming, which allows a dreamer to manipulate his own dreamscape. Only humans can learn it – ethereals and celestials don’t have dreamscapes. A Dreaming roll can be substituted for a Will roll to fall asleep or wake up. Lucid dreamers may shape their own dreamworlds with an effect similar to the Celestial Song of Dreams – this is possible only in the human’s own dreamscape. Finally, a successful Dreaming roll will allow dreamers to wander the Marches, travelling between Blandine and Beleth’s sides of the Vale, or even into the Far Marches. It does not allow entry into another person’s dreamscape. See The Marches, pp. 84-85, for more on lucid dreamers and dream-shaping. Note that undead can have this skill, but since they can’t dream, they cannot be lucid dreamers. Enchantment (Special) No Default This skill allows the character to manipulate loose Forces for various effects. No one with less than 6 Forces can learn Enchantment, and most enchantment techniques are useless without Symphonic awareness. Enchantment is the basis for making artifacts (see the Liber Reliquarum), as well as necromancy, alchemy, and constructs (pp. 46-50). Among humans, it is mostly learned by sorcerers. Enchantment is usually not based on a characteristic, but on the character’s Forces in a particular realm, or another skill, depending on what it is being used for; see individual enchantment techniques for more details. Meditation (Precision) Default: -4 Meditation allows a character to concentrate on one thing, blocking out all distractions. At the GM’s option, any action requiring total concentration may be enhanced by spending time focusing on it. Meditation requires 8 rounds, minus the check digit of a successful roll (minimum of 1). At the end of that time, the skill being focused on receives a bonus of +1 to the target number. On a failed roll, the check digit is how many rounds the character spends unsuccessfully trying to focus. Meditation can substitute for a Precision roll when attempting a focused effort (p. 20). Meditation also aids a great deal in sotto voce performances for Ethereal Songs – see the Liber Canticorum, p. 20. Necromancy (Intelligence) Default: -4 Like Alchemy (above), this is actually a Knowledge skill with both mundane and supernatural applications. As a mundane skill, it is knowledge of the art of necromancy; its history, its methods, etc. Combined with the Enchantment skill or the Sorcery attunement, it allows one to actually perform necromantic rituals – see pp. 49-50. diSADvantageS All of these disadvantages may also manifest as Discord in celestials. CORPOREAL Addicted The character has a physical craving for some substance or experience; it can be anything from drugs to sex to chocolate. The addict must feed his addiction a number of times per week equal to the level of the disadvantage. If he is unable to, or chooses not to, his Will is reduced by 1 per missed “fix” until he does. Some drugs also inflict withdrawal symptoms. Humans can lose an addiction by going through withdrawal. (See Drugs, pp. 124-126.) As a Discord, addiction can’t be removed so easily; celestials require the aid of their Superior. 29 R ESOURCES

Nocturnal This disadvantage is often associated with vampires and other supernatural creatures, but it is actually a physiological impairment that can afflict mundanes as well. Nocturnal beings have difficulty rousing themselves during the day; their natural tendency is to sleep during the day and become active at night. A Will roll, at a penalty equal to the level of the disadvantage, will allow a Nocturnal being to act normally during daylight hours, for a number of hours equal to the check digit. On a failed Will roll, the person can still remain active during the daytime, but all characteristics are reduced by the level of the disadvantage until sundown! If any characteristic is lowered to 0, the character is incapable of doing anything but lying in a stupor. (A similar disadvantage, Diurnal, works the same way in reverse, forcing the character into inactivity after sundown.) Stink Victims of this Discord emit a foul odor with their very presence. This is more than just a bad smell – the range and offensiveness of the stink extend 5 yards for every level of Discord. A level 1 Stink might be a slight smell of brimstone, or a musty whiff of decay, while level 6 can make people retch. When the Discordant person passes, he leaves behind the strong smell of sulfur and brimstone or putrefying flesh, fading after a number of hours equal to his Strength. This is a supernatural disadvantage, and is not suitable for mortals. (Optional Rule: The GM may allow mortals to purchase 1 level of Stink as a disadvantage, to represent a body odor extreme enough to qualify as a medical condition.) ETHEREAL Guilt This disadvantage requires a specific origin, something bad the character did that causes Guilt. He feels so painfully sorry for his misdeed that it keeps him from acting normally. He must perform some major act of contrition a number of times per week equal to the level of the disadvantage. Guilt fades eventually, even for celestials. Each month, a Guilty person may make a Will roll at a penalty equal to the level of disadvantage if he has faithfully performed all his required weekly contritions; success means his Guilt is reduced by 1 level. For this reason, Guilt is not appropriate as a starting disadvantage (worth character points) for celestials, though the GM might allow it to manifest as a result of dissonance earned during play. Hatred The character feels a strong, irrational Hatred for something or someone. There should be some reason for the disadvantage, either explained in the character’s background or used as a reason for turning dissonance into Hatred during play. In the presence of the object of his Hatred, a character must make a Will roll at a penalty equal to the level of the disadvantage. Success allows him to stifle his emotions 30 for a number of minutes equal to the check digit, whereR ESOURCES

upon he must roll again. Failure means he must vent his spleen, loudly and vehemently making his hatred clear, for a number of minutes equal to the check digit, whereupon he becomes empty of Hatred . . . until his next encounter. A failure with a CD of 6 means the character must take some physical action against the hated object! Soul Link See p. 27. CELESTIAL Covetous This disadvantage is like Greedy (though it can involve Lustful as well), but the character is intensely desirous of something specific, usually something that someone else possesses. It may be a particular object, or a position, or someone else’s wife . . . The character must make a Will roll, at a penalty equal to the level of disadvantage, whenever he has an opportunity to do something that might bring him closer to obtaining the object of his desire. The character will contemplate anything from theft to murder in order to obtain it. If the character should gain what he covets, then he will become obsessed with keeping it, and suspect others of wanting to take it away from him. Treat this as Paranoia, at the same level as his Covetous disadvantage. Jaded Sometimes it seems the most romantic souls become the most bitter, as time brings disappointment after disappointment. Jaded souls have lost their interest in “the greater cause,” whether for good or for evil. The effects of this disadvantage should manifest mostly through roleplaying. A Jaded character is bitingly sarcastic at best, deeply depressed at worst. He has lost hope of making a difference. The character will also treat all orders and attempts to accomplish something with disdain, even those of his superiors! A Jaded Servitor won’t necessarily tell his Prince what he feels to his face – Jaded isn’t the same as suicidal! But he won’t give orders from on high his full attention and respect, and Superiors do sense bad attitudes. Reduce reaction rolls from one’s superior (celestial or mundane) by the level of the Discord; rewards will be lessened and punishments increased accordingly. A Jaded human can rid himself of this disadvantage by finding a sideline project to work on, something that has the potential to restore his interest in the War and his place in it. This project must be something unrelated to the character’s normal duties. For example, a Jaded Soldier of Judgment who normally spends time prosecuting diabolical minions as a District Attorney might begin trying to set up a halfway house for runaway teens on his days off, seeking to get a more human perspective on what he’s fighting for. The project should last at least a number of months equal to twice the level of the disadvantage; if it is successful (GM’s discretion), the character loses the disadvantage and renews his interest in the War. Obsessed Like a physical addiction, an Obsession is an overriding compulsion, only without a physical element. Obsessed people are focused on one thing to the exclusion of all else. A number of times per week equal to the level of disadvantage, victims of this affliction must act upon their obsessions or have their Will reduced by 1 every week until they finally give in. Someone obsessed with a celebrity might send an endless series of twisted love letters, an obsession with cleanliness might have the character scrubbing his house from top to bottom several times per week, and an obsession with witnessing disasters is what leads some to chase after ambulances or tornadoes. SorcerY For as long as humans have been able to think, they have desired power. The earliest humans simply wanted the power to control the natural forces that governed their lives; animals, the weather, their habitat, etc. As man grew more sophisticated, so did his appetite for power. There is a path to power, real power, but nowadays it’s almost always a path to Hell. It’s called sorcery. Before the Fall, there was no reason to teach humans Songs or give them attunements; God made it known that He didn’t want humans learning tricks from celestials. But some humans were exposed to celestial powers anyway, and there was commerce with ethereal spirits, which the angels couldn’t prevent. However, some celestials believe the first sorcerers weren’t imitating angels or ethereals – rather, they invented sorcery all by themselves. Wherever they got the idea, humans soon understood that there were ways of making the universe do what you wanted it to. They didn’t really understand the Symphony, and they didn’t understand the power they were wielding, but ignorance didn’t prevent it from working. Not much has changed since then, except that the demons have provided a shortcut to sorcerous power and done a good job of marginalizing or eliminating every practitioner whom they haven’t co-opted. 31 R ESOURCES

THE SECRET OF SORCERY Even humans who are Symphonically aware often don’t understand the difference between Songs and sorcery – both look like magic. There are sorcerers who also know Songs, and sometimes even they believe that Songs are just another kind of sorcerous ritual with more immediate effects. Sorcery is not “magic.” It is a laborious, ego-driven method of playing Symphonic chords. This is very similar to what Songs do (see Liber Canticorum, p. 5). Many celestials believe that sorcery is simply an indirect method of performing Songs, the Song ritual buried deeply beneath layers of arcane abstraction, extraneous ceremony, and distorted perceptions of the Symphony. Sorcery is far less efficient than most Songs. However, sorcerous effects often mimic results only Ethereal and Celestial Songs can achieve, and celestials have no explanation for that. Furthermore, sorcerers are able to do some things that no known Song can do . . . sometimes things no celestial thinks a human ought to be able to do. The few sorcerers who know about the Symphony – and understand the distinction between Songs and sorcery – theorize that sorcery actually draws directly on human will, the only force that can alter the Symphony on a fundamental level. Just as humans can create Tethers and strengthen or weaken Words with their collective consciousness, some individual consciousnesses can have a direct impact on the Symphony, if their Will is strong enough. SORCEROUS REQUIREMENTS Anyone who can perform sorcery is a sorcerer. (See p. 69 for more on sorcerers.) Performing sorcery means being able to perform sorcerous rituals (see below). There are six requirements: ✠ Only humans can be sorcerers. ✠ A sorcerer must have at least 6 total Forces, at least 1 in each realm. ✠ A sorcerer must be Symphonically aware (p. 22). ✠ A sorcerer must have a minimum Will of 6. ✠ A sorcerer must have the Sorcery attunement (p. 28). ✠ A sorcerer must know one or more sorcerous skills 32 (p. 33) to perform any rituals. R ESOURCES ANGELS AND SORCERY Sorcery is a pure act of will. A sufficiently powerful sorcerer can exert his Will against demons and ethereal spirits, but angels are connected to the Symphony, and the Symphony is beyond direct human control. Divine beings can’t be Summoned, Commanded, Exorcised, or Banished. Even Essence constructs created with the Focus skill have little power over angels. This doesn’t stop sorcerers from trying, though. The few sorcerers who know anything about angels have many theories as to why sorcery won’t affect them. Some think that it’s just a matter of having a powerful enough Will – angels might not be controllable, but they can be influenced. Others believe that angels can be studied and eventually mastered. The wisest sorcerers know better than to mess with angels at all. THEURGY There is an entire body of lore about angelic beings, and the rituals used to communicate with and control them. During the Renaissance, it became known as Enochian magic, a term still used by some magicians. True sorcerers call it theurgy, and most consider it a fruitless endeavor. But there are rumors that a few sorcerers have actually had successes. It is possible to call an angel from elsewhere on the corporeal plane, of course . . . . using the Corporeal Song of Calling (Liber Canticorum, p. 31). Celestials who hear of angels being affected by sorcery assume that any such feat must have been accomplished with a Song. They also assume – correctly – that Dominic would spare no effort in finding and destroying any sorcerer who really could affect angels. The Dozen (p. 113) have many rumored powers, one of which is the ability to summon and control angels. If the GM wishes to allow working theurgic magic in his campaign, it’s highly recommended that it remain mysterious, and completely out of reach of player characters. See Advanced Rituals, p. 44, for suggestions on handling theurgic rituals.

SORCEROUS SKILLS These skills are different from normal skills. Anyone can learn them, but without meeting the other prerequisites for sorcery (p. 32), they are useless (except to teach others). There is no practical use for sorcerous skills except to perform sorcerous rituals, although some people do study them as an intellectual exercise – or more often, because they don’t understand how sorcery really works, and they believe if they study long enough, they’ll figure out how to get real power. Sorcerous skills involve a lot of esoteric knowledge, the theory and practice of arcana that goes beyond mere booklearning or hands-on practice. The GM should require a great deal of study before he allows anyone to raise a sorcerous skill. (Requiring a sorcerer to learn at least one new ritual appropriate to his current level in a sorcerous skill before he can improve that skill is a good rule of thumb.) Sorcerous skills have no default. All of them except Focus are based on Will. Banishment (Will) This skill is a prerequisite for the Banishment ritual (p. 37), which can force a demon or ethereal spirit back to its native plane. Command (Will) This skill teaches the sorcerer how to exert his Will against others. Exorcism (Will) This skill is a prerequisite for Exorcism rituals (pp. 39-40), which can force demons and ethereal spirits out of their hosts or vessels, and destroy ghosts and undead. Focus (Precision) The Focus skill allows the sorcerer to manipulate Essence into useful shapes and forms, drain it from others, and store it. Summon (Will) The Summon skill is knowledge of how to call beings from elsewhere in the Symphony, including from other realms. RituAlS Rituals are the heart of sorcery. Sorcery has been around for all of human history, so there are many, many sorcerous traditions, each of them with different ritual techniques. The same ritual to summon an ethereal spirit might be performed by a Western occultist reciting Latin phrases wearing a blood-stained robe, by a Native American medicine man offering pipe smoke to the four directions, or by a Buddhist monk spending seven days meditating and fasting on a mountaintop. The vast majority of accumulated occult lore is not real sorcery, of course. Most “magic rituals” found in the New Age section at Barnes & Noble will accomplish nothing even if performed by a real sorcerer. Conversely, even a real sorcerous ritual will have no effect if performed by a mundane – you have to meet the requirements given on p. 32. LEARNING RITUALS Every ritual must be learned individually. Rituals are complicated and demanding, requiring considerable time to memorize. It is up to the GM to determine under what circumstances a sorcerer can learn a new ritual and how long it will take. They are treasures among sorcerers, jealously guarded secrets taught only in exchange for something of equal or greater value. A chance to learn a new ritual should require roleplaying. It is recommended that each new ritual require at least a month of study – more if the sorcerer is learning it through selfstudy rather than being taught by another sorcerer, less if he has a diabolical tutor with the Infernal Pact attunement (p. 28). One new ritual for every level of improvement in a sorcerous skill is about the right rate. Sorcerers who receive formal training – from another sorcerer, in a cabal, or from a demon – usually learn the simplest rituals first, followed by more advanced ones (see p. 44), but an independent student might pick up rituals in any order. Non-sorcerers can learn rituals and teach them, even though they can’t actually perform them (not with any results, anyway). Some magicians (p. 53) do this unwittingly. Demons and ethereal spirits often learn rituals so they can offer them to sorcerers in exchange for services. Likewise, a sorcerer can learn rituals he doesn’t yet have the skill to perform, in anticipation of learning the skill later. Each ritual a sorcerer knows should be written down on his character sheet. Rituals cost 1 character point each. 33 R ESOURCES

RITUAL PERFORMANCES The details of a sorcerous ritual depend on the tradition of the sorcerer. The outcome of a ritual is the same, regardless of whether it’s performed with holy scriptures, witchcraft, mysticism, or voodoo. The actual procedures and requirements for a ritual may vary considerably according to the tradition being used. The GM is encouraged to apply situational modifiers to the performance roll; mood and setting are very important for sorcerous rituals. A druidic ritual performed amongst a grove of consecrated trees should receive a bonus, while trying to perform that same ritual in an office building should incur a penalty. The following rules and requirements apply to all rituals. Skill All rituals are based on a sorcerous skill (p. 33). Unless stated otherwise in the ritual’s description, that skill is what the sorcerer rolls against to perform the ritual. No one who lacks the prerequisite skill can perform a ritual. Each ritual also has a minimum level at which the skill must be known. It is possible to perform a ritual if your skill is lower than the minimum (as long as it’s not 0), but it’s difficult and dangerous. For each level your skill falls below the minimum, there is a -1 penalty to the performance roll, and a +1 to the CD of a failed roll. Additionally, if you fail a ritual with which you had insufficient skill, you will suffer a sorcerous backlash that disrupts your ability to connect with the Symphony. You will be unable to perform any ritual based on that skill for a number of days equal to the CD. Example: Father Bryce, a Catholic priest, has learned some Summoning rituals as a prerequisite for the Banishment ritual, but – quite unknown to his superior – he has also acquired Summoning/1. Foolishly, he decides to try summoning a demon, hoping to destroy it. Summoning a named demon from elsewhere on the corporeal plane is a Summon/4 ritual (pp. 44-45), so Father Bryce takes a -3 penalty when he tries to perform it. He fails with a CD of 4; adding the penalty makes it 7. He will be unable to perform any ritual using the Summon skill for 7 days. Of course, he’s probably better off than if the ritual had succeeded . . . Time Every ritual also has a time requirement. Spending twice the indicated time to perform a ritual will give a +1 bonus on the performance roll. There is no further bonus for extra time, though some sorcerers conduct rituals lasting days, mistakenly believing that prolonged rituals are more effective. Unless otherwise stated, performers in a sorcerous ritual must be paying attention to the ritual the entire time; it may not require absolute concentration, but they cannot sleep, engage in other activities (such as eating or talking), or spend Essence on anything other than the ritual. Risk The GM may permit sorcerers to perform a ritual more carefully, or take more chances. As described under the rules for Risk (In Nomine, p. 39), the player must describe exactly how the sorcerer is exercising unusual caution or recklessness in the ritual. Essence Every ritual has an Essence requirement. This Essence is spent at the conclusion of the ritual, whether or not it is successful. Some rituals have variable Essence requirements based on the check digit; if the performer turns out not to have enough Essence when the ritual is finished, he spends all the Essence he had, and the ritual automatically fails. Essence can come from the performer himself and from assistants and spectators (see below). The sorcerer may spend additional Essence to improve the target number of the performance roll. Disturbance Sorcerous rituals do not create a disturbance except for 34 the Essence expenditure. The results of a ritual can create R ESOURCES

a disturbance, though – summoning a demon to Earth, for example, will cause the normal disturbance for a celestial entering the corporeal plane. Controlling and Cancelling Rituals Unlike Songs, a sorcerer cannot alter the range or duration of a ritual by choosing a smaller increment during the performance. Rituals must also run their course once they are invoked; a sorcerer cannot cancel a ritual at will. A ritual can negate another ritual. The counter-ritual is performed exactly like the one to be negated (using the same ritual, skill, etc.), and if successful, is rolled as a Contest against the “defending” ritual. The only way a sorcerer can undo one of his own rituals prematurely is to perform a counter-ritual before the first ritual’s effects end. Success, Failure and Intervention Rolls If the d666 roll to perform a ritual is successful, it takes effect as described. If it is unsuccessful, usually there is no effect except that the ritual fails and all the time and Essence spent on it are wasted. Some rituals have other negative consequences for failure, though. Sorcery is not inherently diabolical, but it is inherently self-driven. Even for “neutral” sorcerers with no ties to Hell, practicing sorcery puts one at odds with the Divine. Thus, if an Intervention occurs during a ritual performance, Infernal Interventions are treated as favorable ones, while Divine Interventions are unfavorable. This contributes to the inevitable destruction or corruption of most unaligned sorcerers. The only exception to this is truly divine sorcerers who are firmly on Heaven’s side. Such sorcerers are very rare (see p. 74). They benefit from Divine Interventions and suffer from Infernal ones. Group Performances One reason sorcerers often band together in cabals is that multiple performers can pool their Essence for rituals. Not every tradition allows for group performances – some sorcerous methods only work when the ritual is performed by an individual. Whether a particular ritual can benefit from a group performance is up to the GM. In a group ritual, one sorcerer must be designated the lead sorcerer – he makes the d666 roll, and he is the only one who can spend Essence to improve the target number, which is based on the lowest skill level of any of the performing sorcerers. Assistants must be sorcerers who also know the ritual being performed. The number of assistants may not exceed the lead sorcerer’s level in the relevant sorcerous skill. Each assistant may contribute Essence, including Essence from a reliquary or spirit jar (see p. 40), to the ritual. Spectators (up to 10 times the lead sorcerer’s skill level squared) may also contribute Essence, by chanting, praying, walking widdershins around the ritual circle, etc. Anyone who is Symphonically aware (including celestials) may contribute 1 point of Essence. Mundanes can generally contribute only small amounts: 1 point per 10 spectators. At the GM’s option, this may be multiplied by a factor of 2 to 4 for special circumstances (such as when the ritual is performed on the site of a conducive Tether, the participants have been praying or meditating for days, etc.), or up to 10 (1 point of Essence apiece) for very special circumstances, such as all the spectators committing suicide upon completion of the ritual. Example: Trying to prepare a protective circle within which to summon demons, the sorcerous cabal known as the Black Order begins a group performance of the Focus/6 ritual, Permanent Ward (p. 41). The Black Order plans to spend a lot of Essence to create a long-lasting ward. The lead sorcerer possesses Focus/6 and knows the Permanent Ward ritual. He will be assisted by three other sorcerers who also know this ritual. (He could have up to six assistants, but the Black Order doesn’t have that many skilled sorcerers.) The least-skilled assistant has Focus/5 – 1 below the requirement for Permanent Ward – which means the ritual will be performed at a -1 penalty. 35 R ESOURCES

Permanent Ward is normally a 24-hour ritual. The sorcerers spend three days within the circle, not eating or drinking! They would spend longer, but that’s the limit of their physical endurance. Everything over two days is wasted time (see p. 34), but they will get a +1 to the performance roll. The lead sorcerer is going to be spending all his Essence – 6 points, plus another 4 points from a reliquary – to improve the target number of the performance, aiming for an automatic success with a bonus to the check digit. His three assistants will contribute a total of 34 points of Essence. (Two of them have spirit jars.) Additionally, 20 other members of the cabal will be assisting from the sidelines. (Up to 360 would be possible, but the Black Order isn’t that large!) Four of them are sorcerers who don’t know the Permanent Ward ritual, and thus can’t assist directly. They can contribute 1 Essence each. The other 16 are junior members, mundane “magicians” who are not yet initiated. They would be able to contribute only 1.6 Essence (rounded down to 1) with their peripheral support, but as part of the ritual, each of them slits the throat of a rabbit, goat, or chicken and uses the blood to draw the circle where the ward will be. The GM rules this is enough to double their contribution, to 3.2 (rounded down to 3). Human sacrifice might be enough to multiply it by 4. The final Essence tally is: 10 toward the performance roll, and 34+4+3=41 toward the ward. The lead sorcerer has a Precision of 5. He rolls against a target number of 5 + 6 - 1 + 1 + 10 = 21, or automatic success with a +9 to the CD. He rolls a 4, for a net CD of 13. The Essence cost for Permanent Ward is equal to 3× the CD; 39 in this case. The extra 2 points are wasted. Had the CD roll been 5, for a total of 14, the Essence cost would have been 42 . . . and the ritual would have failed for insufficient Essence! The Black Order now has a Permanent Ward that can be rejuvenated 13 times. They may need it soon, since that 51-point disturbance they made has undoubtedly attracted the attention of every celestial in the area . . . RITUAL DESCRIPTIONS The rituals below are only the most common; like Songs, there are many others, some lost to the ages, some secret, and some yet to be. The GM is encouraged to introduce new rituals into his campaign. No rules are provided for creating new rituals; this is up to the GM, who should use the rituals provided here and common sense as a guide. The names given here are functional and deliberately generic – these are not the names sorcerers use! (For most rituals, a Latin name is given – these are the names sorcerers following certain Western hermetic traditions might use.) Every tradition has its own way of describing rituals; players and GMs are urged to be creative. The rituals are arranged by the sorcerous skill on which they are based (p. 33), and listed in ascending order by the prerequisite level, as this is usually the order in which sorcerers learn them. CD is used as an abbreviation for check digit. 36 R ESOURCES SORCEROUS ARTIFACTS It is possible to make an ethereal artifact that contains a sorcerous skill, but the GM should be very wary of sorcerous talismans; they are an easy way to unbalance a campaign with sorcerers in it. Remember that most talismans are skill enhancers (Liber Reliquarum, p. 9), which add to an existing skill. Since sorcerous skills have no default, a sorcerous skill enhancer is useless to anyone who doesn’t possess at least 1 level of the skill. A skill granting talisman, on the other hand, won’t help someone who doesn’t possess the Sorcery attunement. And neither one is of much use if the sorcerer doesn’t know any rituals with which to use the skill. A relic containing a sorcerous ritual could be a very interesting artifact, and one much sought-after by sorcerers. Since rituals are neither skills nor Songs, normal rules for artifacts don’t apply – and the GM is justified in disallowing such artifacts entirely. If he allows them to exist, artifacts that simply teach the possessor how to perform a ritual should be distinguished from those that actually invoke the effects of one. Obviously, the latter would be much more powerful, and more dangerous (especially if non-sorcerers can use them . . .). Remember that since an enchanter can’t imbue an artifact with abilities he doesn’t possess himself, any sorcerous relics must have human sorcerers involved in their creation.

BANISHMENT RITUAL There is only one Banishment ritual – the same ritual can be used against any sort of being. The subject must be present for the entire time of the ritual. The target of the banishment cannot directly attack the sorcerer until the ritual is complete, but nothing prevents it from leaving, or inciting others to attack. Banish (Interdictio) (Banishment/special) The sorcerer can force a demon or ethereal spirit back to its home plane, or force a ghost or dream-shade to move on to its final destination. You cannot Banish something unless you know a ritual that can Summon it (you don’t need actual Summoning skill). The level of the ritual is based on the creature you want to banish: ✠ Banishing ghosts, dream-shades, and ethereal spirits requires Banishment/1. ✠ Banishing demonlings requires Banishment/2. ✠ Banishing demons requires Banishment/3. ✠ Banishing ethereal spirits by name (see below) requires Banishment/5. ✠ Banishing demons by name (see below) requires Banishment/6. Ethereal spirits and demons can be banished by name if you know their true name and your Banishment skill is high enough. (If you know its name but your Banishment skill is too low, you can still try to banish it according to the lower prerequisite – or at a penalty, as per a ritual with an inadequate prerequisite skill, p. 34.) A spirit or demon banished by name does not get to add its Celestial Forces to resist (below). A Banishment ritual is a Contest between the sorcerer’s Banishment skill and the target’s Will + Celestial Forces. If the sorcerer wins, the demon or spirit is forced to immediately return to the celestial or ethereal plane (the banished being does not have to make a Will roll or spend Essence), and cannot return to the corporeal plane for a number of days equal to the sorcerer’ check digit. If the sorcerer fails, he may not attempt to banish that being again for a number of days equal to the demon’s check digit; furthermore, he exposes himself to a Will-war (in effect, he has made the challenge – pp. 42-43) should the demon or ethereal spirit wish to engage him. A successfully banished ghost (pp. 81-82) is permanently banished from the corporeal plane; its soul will travel on to Heaven or Hell, as appropriate. A dream-shade (p. 82) is sent back to the ethereal plane, as per an ethereal spirit, if it was banished from the corporeal plane. If it was banished from the ethereal plane, it is forced to move on like a ghost. Ghosts and dream-shades can’t challenge the banisher to a Will-war if the banishment fails, unless they happen to be sorcerers themselves. Time: 10 minutes Essence: the check digit COMMAND RITUALS The power of Command is formidable, but too many sorcerers overestimate it. Command is not mind control, and no demon or angel can be commanded. See pp. 42- 43 for Will-war rules. Suggest (Monitum) (Command/1) One individual within sight becomes susceptible to the sorcerer’s next suggestion. The subject may resist with a Will roll plus his Celestial Forces. “Suggestions” must be plausible and not obviously against the subject’s interests, but they can be things he wouldn’t normally do. (E.g., you can ask a total stranger to go fetch you a ham sandwich, sing “I’m a Little Teacup,” or let you borrow his car, but you can’t ask him to assault his boss, give you his ATM card and PIN number, or streak down main street . . . unless he’d be willing to do those things normally.) The GM may give a bonus of up to +3 to the ritual performance if the suggestion is particularly well-worded, or something the subject would be inclined to do anyway. Time: 1 minute Essence: the check digit 37 R ESOURCES

Command Minor Ethereal Spirit (Imperandum Somniorum Minorum) (Command/2) This ritual will give the sorcerer a bonus to his Will in a Will-war with a minor ethereal spirit (one with less than 9 Forces). The bonus is equal to the check digit, and lasts only through the sorcerer’s next Will-war (if his opponent is not a minor ethereal spirit, the ritual fades anyway). Time: 15 minutes Essence: the check digit Command Demonling (Imperandum Diabolorum Minorum) (Command/3) This ritual will give the sorcerer a bonus to his Will in a Will-war with a demonling (including imps, gremlins, and familiars); it otherwise works exactly like Command Minor Ethereal Spirit, above. Time: 15 minutes Essence: the check digit Awe Demonling (Terrendum Diabolorum Minorum) (Command/4) This ritual involves using arcane phrases and invoking names of major infernal powers in an effort to convince a demonling that you are a powerful being not to be trifled with. The check digit of a successful performance acts as a bonus to the infernal spirit’s reaction roll. Time: 1 round Essence: none Command Major Ethereal Spirit (Imperandum Somniorum Maiorum) (Command/5) This ritual will give the sorcerer a bonus to his Will in a Will-war with a major ethereal spirit (one with 9 Forces or more); it otherwise works exactly like Command Minor Ethereal Spirit, above. Time: 15 minutes Essence: the check digit +3 Awe Demon (Terrendum Diabolorum) (Command/6) Similar to Awe demonling, above, but much more difficult . . . demons are a lot harder to impress. If the sorcerer can get a demon to remain in his presence while he successfully performs this ritual, he will – by equipping himself properly, saying the right things, and dropping the right names – convince the demon that he’s one of those few mortals one might not want to mess with. Add the check digit to the demon’s reaction roll. Time: 1 round Essence: none 38 R ESOURCES

EXORCISM RITUALS Exorcism requires that the subject be present for the entire time of the ritual. The target of the exorcism cannot directly attack the exorcist until the ritual is complete, but nothing prevents it from leaving, or inciting others to attack. Exorcise (Expulsio) (Exorcism/1-4) Exorcism forces a demon or ethereal spirit to relinquish its host or vessel. (It can also free such beings from a spirit anchor, p. 40.) This is treated as a special kind of Will-war (pp. 42-43). By performing the Exorcism ritual, the sorcerer becomes able to challenge an ethereal spirit or demon to a Will-war; the sorcerer’s target number in the Will-war is equal to his Will + the CD of the ritual. The Will-war is conducted normally, except that the subject of the exorcism does not have the option of breaking it off. If the exorcist loses, he becomes a servant, as usual. If the subject loses, he does not become the exorcist’s servant – instead, he is immediately forced out of his current vessel or host (even if he is Bound to it), and cannot return to it for a year! The spirit or demon may manifest a new vessel or take a new host; otherwise, it must return to its home plane as usual (or go to Limbo, if it is a Heartless celestial). Exorcising minor ethereal spirits (less than 8 Forces) is an Exorcism/1 ritual; diabolicals of up to 7 Forces require Exorcism/2; major ethereal spirits require Exorcism/3, and demons with 7 Forces or more require Exorcism/4. Dream-shades (p. 82) who have found their way to the corporeal plane can be Exorcised; treat them as ethereal spirits of the appropriate level. The sorcerer does not have to know what kind of being he is trying to exorcise, but he will suffer the appropriate penalties if his Exorcism skill is too low. If the ritual performance fails, the sorcerer cannot try to exorcise the subject again for CD months. Time: 1 hour Essence: the check digit Exorcise Ghost (Expellendum Manium) (Exorcism/1) Ghosts (pp. 81-82) can’t normally participate in Willwars (unless they happen to be sorcerers), but they can be exorcised by destroying their hold on the corporeal plane. If this ritual is successful, the sorcerer may attempt to exorcise a ghost; this is conducted like a normal exorcism (above), with the following differences: ✠ If the sorcerer loses, he does not become the ghost’s servant. He will never again be able to attempt to exorcise that ghost, however. ✠ If the sorcerer wins, the ghost is permanently destroyed. Its Forces are dispersed into the Symphony, and it does not travel onward to the celestial plane. For this reason, angels (and many humans) would much prefer to banish a ghost than to exorcise it. ✠ At the end of the ritual, regardless of the outcome, all lost Will points are restored. Time: 10 minutes Essence: the check digit Exorcise Undead (Expellendum Larvarum) (Exorcism/3) Being bound to infernal Forces makes undead subject to a special kind of exorcism. (Undead can’t normally participate in Will-wars unless they happen to be sorcerers.) The target number for this ritual is the sorcerer’s Exorcism + Necromancy skills. If successful, the sorcerer may attempt to exorcise the undead; this is conducted exactly like the Exorcise Ghost ritual (above), with the same results for success and failure. Note that since zombis have no Will and no Celestial Forces, they automatically lose Will-wars, so a successful performance of this ritual destroys a zombi instantly. Time: 10 minutes Essence: the check digit FOCUS RITUALS These rituals allow the sorcerer to store and drain Essence and create Essence-constructs. Symphonic Awakening (Focus/1) See p. 45. Protective Ward (Tutela) (Focus/1) This ritual wards an area against ethereal and celestial beings – it can also be used to contain them, like the classic sorcerer’s pentagram. The area may be a radius of up to 10 feet, though it’s not necessarily shaped like a circle. It must be demarcated in some way, whether by walls or a chalk drawing. Larger areas can be warded by performing the ritual more than once; each additional ritual expands the total allowable radius by another 10 feet. 39 R ESOURCES

The ward is an invisible energy field that will physically block ethereal spirits, demons, and angels, even those in corporeal vessels. It will not block their resonances, attunements, or Songs, however, nor does it impede any other beings or forces. Angels can easily bypass Focus constructs – they need only roll vs. Precision + Ethereal Forces. An angel can try once per round, and once he succeeds, that ward will no longer hinder him in any way. Demons and spirits must wear the ward down with brute force, by rolling vs. Will + Celestial Forces, doing damage equal to the check digit. (Angels can also use the brute force approach if they wish.) The ward can take damage from celestial battering equal to 10 × the check digit, and will last for a number of hours equal to the check digit. Time: 15 minutes Essence: the check digit Sacrifice for Essence (Potestas Caede) (Focus/2) This ritual kills or destroys things that have Essence in them, allowing the sorcerer to take the Essence for himself. A living creature must be slain; artifacts must be physically destroyed. If the ritual is successful, the sorcerer will obtain Essence equal to 2 × the check digit, or however much was in the sacrificed object, whichever is less. If this is more Essence than the sorcerer can hold, the excess will drain off into the Symphony unless he has a reliquary or spirit jar (below) to store it in. Time: 30 minutes Essence: 1 Store Essence (Deponendum Potestatis) (Focus/3) This ritual allows the sorcerer to prepare a special Essence storage device called a spirit jar. A spirit jar acts like a temporary reliquary with a high storage capacity. Physically, the jar must be a small, sealable container such as a glass jar, bottle, box, cloth or paper sack, plastic bag, etc. If the ritual is successful, the container becomes linked to the sorcerer. It can be activated at any time by some means defined by the ritual (such as exposing it to light, reciting a certain phrase, opening it, dipping it in blood, etc.). Upon activation, it can receive Essence for 1 hour, or until the sorcerer takes some back out; after that, the sorcerer can no longer add to it. Essence can only come directly from the sorcerer who created the spirit jar (though the sorcerer can obtain Essence from other sources and transfer it into the jar, of course). A spirit jar’s Essence capacity is 5 Essence × the sorcerer’s Focus skill; its duration is CD days. Only the creator can take Essence from a spirit jar (though sorcerers can use the Sacrifice for Essence ritual, above, to drain Essence from another sorcerer’s jar). Any Essence still in the jar when its duration expires leaks into the Symphony, creating no disturbance. After the duration expires or all Essence is drained from a spirit jar, it becomes inert, though the container can be reused in another ritual. Time: 4 hours Essence: 1d+3 Create Spirit Anchor (Ancorae Animae Creatio) (Focus/4) A spirit anchor is a physical object that can temporarily trap an ethereal or celestial spirit. The object may be anything from a piece of jewelry to an old shoe to a building, though most sorcerers choose small, easily portable items. Sorcerers use spirit anchors to keep spirits they’ve summoned from running away, or to trap spirits they encounter. An anchor can contain a spirit with total Forces of up to 2 × the check digit. It may be brandished against any spirit the sorcerer can perceive, but only in celestial form, or on the ethereal plane (in which case, the item used as a spirit anchor must be an ethereal or celestial artifact, so that it can be brought to the ethereal plane). A spirit currently occupying a corporeal vessel can’t be trapped. Angels (and relievers) are immune to spirit anchors, as are any demons with Hearts. The targeted spirit may resist with a roll against Will + Celestial Forces. If the spirit wins, the anchor loses its power; if the spirit loses, it is trapped inside the anchor. Spirits trapped in a spirit anchor can do nothing except regain Essence. The sorcerer who created the anchor can talk to its occupant. The stronger the spirit’s Celestial Forces, the shorter the time it can be contained; consult the chart on p. 41. At the end of the duration, the sorcerer may keep the anchor active by rolling as if to perform the ritual again, but this requires no time or Essence expenditure. The trapped spirit may roll again vs. Will + Celestial Forces to resist continued entrapment, at a cost of 2 40 Essence. R ESOURCES

Once a spirit successfully resists a spirit anchor, that anchor loses its power. If the anchor is physically destroyed, the spirit is freed. Spirit’s Celestial Forces Duration 1 3 months 2 1 month 3 2 weeks 4 1 week 5 3 days 6 1 day Time: 2 hours Essence: 2 × the check digit Siphon Essence (Ducendum Potestatis) (Focus/5) The sorcerer becomes an Essence siphon; the next being he touches must roll vs. Will + Celestial Forces or lose Essence equal to the check digit of the ritual (not to exceed either the amount the victim has in him or the amount the sorcerer can hold). On an unsuccessful performance, the sorcerer loses Essence equal to the check digit, in addition to the 2 points spent on the ritual. Time: 1 minute Essence: 2 Permanent Ward (Tutela Sempiterna) (Focus/6) This ritual creates an area of protection exactly like the Protective Ward (pp. 39-40), only much stronger. A permanent ward can have a radius of up to 50 feet (which can be extended with multiple performances, like the Protective Ward) and takes 100 hits before going down. Even after going down, a Permanent Ward can be rejuvenated by any sorcerer with the Focus skill, by spending Essence equal to half its creation cost to reactivate it. The check digit of the ritual is the number of times the ward can be rejuvenated before fading out irreversably. Time: 24 hours, during which time the sorcerer cannot eat or drink or leave the confines of the ward Essence: 3 × the check digit SUMMONING RITUALS Summoning is not inherently evil, but demons are rarely summoned for benign purposes, and even dealing with ethereals is dangerous. Summoning rituals tend to be long and exhausting . . . and they grant no power over what one summons. A summoned being’s reaction roll (In Nomine, p. 44) is very important; if it reacts poorly, a Will-war or something with which to tempt or threaten the being is needed to make it do the summoner’s bidding. See The Marches, pp. 72-73, for quick generation of random demonlings and ethereal spirits. Summon Random Ethereal Spirit (Appelandum Somniorum) (Summon/1) This ritual pulls a random ethereal spirit out of the Marches and brings it to the summoner’s location. If on Earth, the summoned spirit will have a corporeal vessel (see The Marches, pp. 110-111) and arrive in that vessel. This ritual can be performed in the Marches if the sorcerer is a lucid dreamer (p. 29), or is otherwise able to travel to the ethereal plane. In that case, the spirit may or may not have a vessel. The spirit’s Forces will be equal to the check digit. If summoned to Earth, it will appear in 1d×10 minutes; if summoned in the Marches, it will appear in 1d minutes. Time: 30 minutes Essence: the check digit 41 R ESOURCES

Summon Demonling (Appelandum Diabolorum Minorum) (Summon/2) Hell is teeming with puny infernal spirits, and a Prince won’t usually notice one of them disappearing from his Principality. This ritual will summon one. The check digit determines how many Forces the spirit has. It’s up to the GM to determine what sort of demonling it is, and whether or not it has a vessel or arrives in celestial form. It will arrive in 1d × 10 minutes, or 1d minutes if summoned at an infernal Tether. Time: 15 minutes Essence: the check digit Summon Human Soul (Appelandum Animarum) (Summon/3) This ritual summons a deceased human soul to the sorcerer’s location. It can only affect souls on the same plane as the sorcerer, which means usually only ghosts (pp. 80- 81) can be summoned. A lucidly dreaming sorcerer in the Marches could summon a dream-shade (pp. 82-83). The deceased soul can resist with a roll against Will + Celestial Forces minus the check digit of the ritual. If it fails, it must go to the summoner’s location as fast as possible, but depending on how far away the soul is and what means of travel it has, this might take minutes or weeks. 42 R ESOURCES THE WILL-WAR The most dangerous game that sorcerers play with demons and ethereal spirits is the Will-war. It is an attempt to force obedience from another being, and a sorcerer who wins a Will-war can command even a mighty Word-bound Baron of Hell . . . for a short time. A Will-war is a psychic battle in which you put your Self, the whole of your being, on the line and pit it against another being’s Will. The winner takes the loser, in every sense of the word. A sorcerer doesn’t have to initiate a Will-war with the creatures he summons, and may in fact be much better off if he tries bargaining instead. Some, however, insist on a war of Wills, out of necessity or just because they’re arrogant enough to believe they can dominate a demon and selfish enough to think this is a worthwhile accomplishment. That’s what the demons count on . . . because usually the sorcerers are wrong. Requirements Angels can’t participate in Will-wars; their being is too much a part of the Symphony to extract it and pit it against another Self. Humans must possess the Sorcery attunement – it awakens a human’s sense of self and makes it a tangible force. Ethereal spirits and diabolicals are automatically able to participate in Will-wars, but only if they have Celestial Forces. Two consenting, qualified parties can always engage in a Will-war. (Sorcerers sometimes challenge each other in this manner; demons and spirits are rarely so foolhardy.) Demons and ethereal spirits can never be forced to enter into a Will-war, and can only force one on a human who has Summoned them (summoning constitutes a challenge to engage in a Will-war, should the demon or spirit choose to accept). The Battle A Will-war is a psychic battle in which each person uses the force of his will to try to crush his opponent’s will. There is no range limit, but the participants have to be able to perceive one another to initiate the Will-war. Once it begins, the battle can continue even if something happens to put the combatants out of sight of one another. (It will terminate if one of them moves to another plane, however.) Will-war participants can talk while battling it out, but they cannot move or take other actions. The combatants hammer at each other’s psyches by rolling a Contest each turn; spirits and demons roll against their Will + Celestial Forces, while sorcerers get only their Will (though some Command rituals – p. 44 – will add to it). If a sorcerer knows the name of an ethereal spirit or demon (see Summon named demon, p. 45), it does not get to add its Celestial Forces. Either participant can spend Essence on their roll. The loser of each turn’s Contest loses 1 point of Will. If there is a draw, both participants lose a point of Will! The Will-war continues until one of the participants either surrenders, breaks it off, or is defeated. Surrender Either participant can surrender at any time. He immediately regains all lost points of Will, but becomes the other’s servant (see p. 43). Continued on next page . . .

This ritual could theoretically be performed on the celestial plane to summon a Bodhisattva or a damned soul, but it would outrage any angel, and souls usually do not have much freedom to travel in Hell . . . At the GM’s option, a sorcerer performing this ritual at a Tether (divine, infernal, or ethereal) may be able to summon a soul located in the appropriate realm to that Tether. Time: 15 minutes Essence: the check digit 43 R ESOURCES THE WILL-WAR (CONTINUED) Breaking it Off To break off a Will-war, one participant must spend one round during which he doesn’t get to attack, but his opponent does. (He can move during that round, but he still can’t take any actions, including ascending to the celestial plane.) After that, if he’s out of sight, the battle is over. If his opponent can still see him, however, it can choose to continue the war, in which case he can resume fighting back or continue trying to escape. If he successfully breaks it off, his Will must recover naturally, at a rate of 1 point per week, but his opponent immediately regains all lost Will points. If both participants choose to break it off on the same round, they are automatically successful, and both regain their lost Will points. Defeat If a combatant’s Will is reduced to 0, he loses. He is now a servant, and his Will will return at a rate of 1 point per week. The winner regains all his lost Will points immediately. Servitude The winner of the Will-war is the master; the loser becomes the servant, and is treated as one (In Nomine, p. 45). The servant’s level is effectively 0, which means he can disobey any command with an unmodified Will roll. Of course, a servant who’s just lost a Willwar has a Will of 0 (unless he surrendered). But a powerful servant with a high Will will become increasingly difficult to control as his Will recovers, and conversely, a servant with a low Will is both vulnerable to control by others and often not very useful. This is a good reason for potential adversaries to negotiate before starting a Will-war, and sometimes even once it’s underway. Bribery, threats, and bluffs are all valuable tactics to use in avoiding an all-out confrontation. Breaking the Bonds The loser of a Will-war remains a servant until one of three things happens: ✠ His master frees him. A master can release a servant at will. ✠ His master dies. If his master is a demon, he will be freed if his master goes into Trauma or Limbo. ✠ He breaks free. Once his Will has completely recovered, the servant can demand another Will-war (even from a demonic master). If he wins, his master does not become his servant; he is simply freed of servitude. If he loses, he remains a servant, and adds 2 to his effective level (e.g., after failing at three attempts to break free, he will be a servant/6!). Each level as a servant subtracts from all future Will-war rolls. If any being ever engages a former servant in a Will-war, the former master gets a +2 bonus on all Will-war rolls.

Summon Random Demon (of a Specific Type) (Appelandum Gentium Diabolorum) (Summon/3) This is actually a category of Summoning rituals; each “type” of demon a sorcerer learns to summon is a separate ritual, learned and paid for separately. “Types” are usually Bands, but not necessarily by the correct name; a “Summon Succubus” ritual might actually be a ritual to summon a Lilim, Impudite, or Balseraph, depending on the ritual and the tradition. Alternatively, the “type” might be a Superior’s Word, such as a ritual for Summoning Demons of Lust. If the “type” is a Band, then the summoned demon will serve a random Prince; a sorcerer performing a “Summon Balseraph” ritual can’t specify a Balseraph of a particular Word. Conversely, if the “type” is a Word, then the Band will be random. (The GM may allow even more specific rituals to exist, e.g., “Summon a Wrathful Demon,” which summons a Calabite of Fire.) The demon that arrives will possess Forces equal to 6 + the check digit. It will take 1d × 20 minutes for it to arrive (1d minutes at an infernal Tether). It’s up to the GM whether randomly summoned demons always have vessels, or if the sorcerer will sometimes get a demon who can only appear (briefly) in celestial form before fleeing back to Hell. Demons who live in Hell have little experience with humans except as playthings to push around. Most will treat a summons to Earth as a free vacation, with the torture or enslavement (by Will-war, pp. 42- 43) of their summoner as the first item on its itinerary. Time: 1d hours 44 Essence: the demon’s total Forces R ESOURCES ADVANCED RITUALS Beyond the rituals listed here, there are very powerful sorcerous rituals with prerequisites above 6, meaning that even the most skilled sorcerer must perform them at a penalty. If the GM wants to introduce advanced sorcery, he should not allow player characters to obtain such rituals except after a long and successful career; power like this is the “Holy Grail” of sorcery. The difficulty should be comparable to obtaining a Word for celestials. The following sample rituals are not only optional, but completely unofficial; they are suggestions for how to handle the rumored abilities supposedly possessed by powerful sorcerers like the Dozen. It is up to the GM to decide whether these rituals really exist in his campaign, and to provide the working details. Command Demon (Imperandum Diablorum) (Command/7) If this ritual exists, one can be sure that only a sorcerer who keeps it secret will live. Asmodeus (and any other Prince whose Servitor has been Commanded) would hunt down and terminate with extreme prejudice those possessing this knowledge. THEURGIC RITUALS If it’s possible to summon angels, the ability to summon a divine spirit would be the starting point; Summon Reliever might be a Summon/7 ritual. Rituals equivalent to those for summoning demons – Summon angel by type, Summon named angel – would be successively more difficult. As with demons, summoning an angel doesn’t give the sorcerer any control over what he’s summoned. An angel who is summoned will probably tell his Superior before he leaves, and no Archangel would react well to a sorcerer summoning one of his Servitors! Most angels won’t react positively either; the vast majority of sorcerers are known to be utterly selfish at best, sworn servants of Hell at worst. Summoning angels could actually be more dangerous than summoning demons, since you at least might have something to offer a demon. There’s nothing an angel is likely to want from a sorcerer. Since angels can’t, by their very natures, engage in Willwars (pp. 42-43), no amount of Command skill will give a sorcerer power over them, nor can an angel ever be Exorcised. If a sorcerer can Summon an angel, though, he might be able to Banish one.

Summon Named Ethereal Spirit (Appelandum Nomine Somniorum) (Summon/5) The sorcerer can summon a specific, named ethereal spirit from the Marches. It must be a spirit who has a vessel, or the ritual has no effect (unless the sorcerer performs the ritual in the Marches). The spirit will arrive in 1d × 10 minutes if summoned to Earth; if summoned in the Marches, it will appear in 1d minutes. Very powerful ethereal spirits, such as the old pagan gods, cannot be compelled to appear. This ritual can be used to summon Loki or Pan, but it really just requests their attention. They may ignore the summons, or be mightily offended by it and decide to teach the mortal a lesson. Dealing with such beings can be as tricky as dealing with demons. If the summoner is a worshipper, the spirit is more likely to react favorably. Time: 2d hours Essence: the spirit’s total Forces minus the check digit Summon Named Demon (Appelandum Nomine Diabolorum) (Summon/4 or 6) In order to perform this ritual, the sorcerer must know a demon’s true name. Most demons are cautious about allowing their true names to be known, though some don’t care, and welcome attempts by foolhardy sorcerers to summon them. If the ritual is successful, the demon must roll vs. his Will + his Celestial Forces, minus the check digit, or drop whatever he’s doing to answer the summons. If the demon is on the corporeal plane, the ritual is rolled as a Summon/4 ritual. The demon must use whatever normal means are available to him and make all haste to arrive at the summoner’s location, but this might take hours or days, depending on where on Earth he is and what transportation is available to him. After failing the initial roll, the demon may delay answering the summons for a day by making a roll vs. Will + Celestial Forces, minus the check digit, at a cost of 1 Essence per attempt, but he may only try once per day If the demon is on the ethereal or celestial plane when summoned, the ritual is rolled as a Summon/6 ritual. (The sorcerer doesn’t have to know where the demon is when he attempts the summoning!) The demon will arrive in 1d × 20 minutes (1d minutes at an infernal Tether). Needless to say, most demons will be highly annoyed at being yanked away from whatever they’re doing. Nothing stops them from informing others (including their Prince!) where they’re going and why, though a demon may be too embarrassed to admit a mortal has succeeded in hooking him with a petty ritual, and choose to deal with the summoner himself. The sorcerer had best be one Hell of a negotiator – the demon’s base reaction roll will be at -3. The demon may be full of Essence, and will definitely be spoiling for a fight. Almost always, such a summoning will result in a dire fate for the summoner, unless he already has a working relationship with the demon. This ritual usually announces your existence to Hell; if they didn’t know about you before, they do now. Asmodeus is strongly opposed to allowing humans to have the power to summon demons directly from the celestial plane. When he learns of sorcerers who’ve successfully performed this ritual, he usually sends Servitors to destroy the summoner, even though this may cause a conflict with Kronos’ Servitor, Hatiphas (pp. 72-73). Time: 1d+2 hours Essence: the demon’s total Forces minus the check digit SPECIAL RITUALS These two rituals are unique, in that they do not require the Sorcery attunement to perform. Symphonic Awakening (Excitatio) (Focus/1) This ritual awakens a human to the Symphony, making him Symphonically aware (p. 22). Unlike most rituals, you don’t need to know the prerequisite skill (Focus) to learn it, though you’ll suffer the usual -1 if you don’t. You do not even need the Sorcery attunement to perform the ritual. It is possible for non-sorcerers to “awaken” themselves, but it’s better for a sorcerer to help. Angels and demons often learn this ritual, even without the Sorcery attunement, so that they can awaken potential Soldiers. 45 R ESOURCES “The great problem with the creation of deathless elemental daemons to do one’s bidding lies in finding a place to put them afterwards.” – Dog Wizard, Barbara Hambly

The subject of the ritual may be the performer himself, or another person. The subject must have at least 6 Forces. The target number is not the performer’s Precision + Focus, but the subject’s total Forces + the performer’s Focus skill. If successful, the subject becomes Symphonically aware; the CD indicates how easy the awakening is. Becoming aware of the Symphony for the first time can be a maddening, traumatic experience. A CD of 1 indicates such an awakening, where the subject may be virtually incapacitated for hours. A CD of 6 indicates a smooth, almost instantaneous awakening, in which the subject becomes aware of the Symphony in a single glorious epiphany, and suffers no distress from it. On a failed performance, the ritual can’t be attempted again for that subject for CD days. If the ritual is performed by someone without the Sorcery attunement, the subject is so confused and his mind closed to the possibility of awakening that it will be CD months before he can try again. Time: 1d hours Essence: 7 minus the check digit; minimum of 2 Sorcerous Initiation (Special) This is how a person becomes a sorcerer. Unlike other rituals, you do not need the Sorcery attunement to perform it, but it’s much more dangerous to initiate yourself than to be initiated by a sorcerer. There are many kinds of sorcerous initiations. All of them are complex and arduous. The GM should make up the details of the ritual – whether it’s solving arcane riddles, ingesting hallucinogenic drugs and fasting in a cave for three weeks, or wrestling a demon on hot coals. The subject must meet all the other requirements to be a sorcerer (p. 32), and make a Will roll. If he succeeds, he acquires the Sorcery attunement (he must still spend 10 character points). On an unsuccessful performance, the subject cannot try again for a number of weeks equal to the check digit of his failed Will roll. On a check digit of 6, or on any failure if the subject was attempting to initiate himself without the help of a real sorcerer, the subject also loses 1 point of Will, permanently! If the ritual fails because the subject does not have 6 Forces or a Will of 6, he also takes Soul hits equal to the check digit! EnchAntMent Enchantment is a process akin to sorcery, often practiced by sorcerers who don’t even understand the difference. Enchanters can bind the loose Forces of the Symphony into stable configurations . . . a powerful ability, but one that requires intense study, and rituals as time-consuming and exhausting as those for sorcery. The main prerequisite for enchantment is the Enchantment skill (p. 29). No one with less than 6 Forces can learn it. Unlike sorcery, enchantment requires no attunement – some enchantment techniques can even be performed without Symphonic awareness. Also unlike sorcery, ethereals and celestials can practice enchantment. The most common uses for Enchantment are artifact creation, the similar process of alchemy, the manufacture of constructs, and necromancy. ARTIFACT CREATION Enchanters can make corporeal artifacts, ethereal artifacts (talismans), and celestial artifacts (relics and reliquaries). Each artifact an enchanter learns how to make is a separate ritual, requiring knowledge of the skill or Song to be imbedded in it. The enchanter adds his Forces in the realm of the artifact being created to his Enchantment skill to determine the base target number of the ritual; complete rules for artifact creation are found in the Liber Reliquarum, pp. 16-19. ALCHEMY Alchemy is very similar to artifact creation – it is the process of imbuing corporeal substances with Songs and sorcerous rituals. The difference is that alchemical creations don’t actually contain Songs; they contain the effects of a Song or ritual, waiting to be unleashed. Alchemical constructs are easier to make than artifacts, but less powerful and always temporary in nature, con- 46 taining limited uses and having a limited lifespan. R ESOURCES HERBALISM Alchemy and herbalism have historically been separated, but they are founded on the same basic principles: imbuing corporeal substances with “magical” powers. Herbalism and alchemy are effectively the same art with different names. The Western alchemical tradition usually involves manufacturing talismans, potions, elixirs, powders, etc., but many other cultures have developed their own traditions, working with precious metals, sacred fluids, plants and animal remains and the like. Alchemists generally accomplish with chemical compounds and talismans the same thing that herbalists do with edible potions.

Alchemical rituals all require Alchemy skill (p. 28). The base target number for all alchemical rituals is equal to the alchemist’s Enchantment skill + Alchemy skill (do not add Intelligence when using Alchemy for rituals). Sorcerers can perform alchemy rituals without the Enchantment skill, though it’s more difficult. Non-sorcerers must have at least 1 level of Enchantment. Alchemy Rituals Every alchemical creation requires its own ritual. There are many, many alchemy rituals (often called formulas or recipes), some commonly known and some secret. Except as described below, alchemy rituals follow the same rules as sorcery rituals (pp. 33-36). Most alchemical rituals simply imbed a single use of a skill, Song, attunement, or sorcerous ritual into an object. The object that can be used, and the conditions under which it will release its power, are determined by the ritual. In order to imbed a Resource into the object, the alchemist must possess that Resource himself. (Some alchemical rituals may allow group performances, as described for sorcerous rituals, pp. 35-36, with assistants who can provide the necessary skill, Song, etc.) The base time for an alchemical ritual is 1 day per level of Resource to be put into the item (which cannot be higher than the level possessed by the alchemist); attunements always take 7 days. At the end of that time, the alchemist must do two things. First, he must roll against the relevant skill, perform the Song or ritual, or use the attunement that will go into the item. He must spend all the time and Essence this would normally require, and succeed at a d666 roll for those powers that require one, noting the check digit. Failure means the entire ritual was a waste of time. On a success, the alchemist must then roll against Alchemy + Enchantment. If this second roll succeeds, the item is imbued with one performance of that Resource; failure means all time and Essence is wasted. A successful alchemical creation will hold its “charge” for a number of weeks equal to the check digit; thereafter, it becomes a mundane item again. Sample Alchemical Creations Below are generic examples of alchemical creations, including a description of their creation process; use these as a guideline to create similar rituals. Alchemical creations can be detected as artifacts (In Nomine, p. 42), but the examiner does not get to add any Forces to his Perception roll. Alchemical creations can be used by anyone who knows how to trigger them – Songs or other powers contained within them have already been performed during the creation process, and therefore do not require a new performance. Luck Talisman: This is actually a Dodge talisman; it is a necklace, and the next time the wearer attempts to Dodge, for any reason, it will give a bonus to the wearer’s Dodge roll. Creation: The alchemist is a sorcerer, with Alchemy/4, Enchantment/2, and Dodge/5. He must spend 5 days making the talisman (he could spend less time, if he wanted to use less than his full Dodge ability to make it). At the end of the 5 days, he makes a Dodge roll; he succeeds with a check digit of 4. Now he must make his ritual performance roll, with a target number of 4 + 2 = 6. He succeeds, with a check digit of 5. This particular luck talisman will remain potent for up to 5 weeks; anyone who wears it within that time will get a +4 bonus to his next Dodge roll . . . whereupon the talisman loses its power. Healing Potion: Anyone who drinks this concoction will immediately have some of his Body hits restored. Creation: The alchemist above knows the Corporeal Song of Healing at level 3. He must spend 3 days per dose. (Again, he could spend as little as 1 day, if he wanted to roll against a Song level of 1.) At the end of that time, he performs his Song, spending 1 Essence and succeeding with a check digit of 2. This will heal 3×2=6 Body hits (see “Corporeal Song of Healing,” In Nomine, p. 81). The Song will be wasted unless he makes his ritual performance roll, however. He succeeds, with a check digit of 1. This healing potion will last for only 1 week; whoever drinks it before it expires will be healed of 6 hits of damage. Love Charm: A popular money-maker for alchemists, this famous charm can come in potion form, or as a locket or some other accessory. The object of desire must drink the potion or wear the item, whereupon he must make a Will roll or become lovestruck by the next person he sees, as per the Ethereal Song of Attraction. Creation: Only alchemists capable of performing Ethereal Songs can make this item. The creator this time is a demon with Alchemy/1, Enchantment/6, and the Ethereal Song of Attraction at level 5. The demon spends 5 days making a charm in the form of a bracelet, and then performs the Song, spending 6 Essence on it. She succeeds, with a check digit of 2. This means the Song’s effects will last for 12 hours when it’s unleashed (In Nomine, p. 78) . . . assuming, of course, that the demon makes her alchemical ritual performance roll. Her target number is 6+1=7, but she spends another 3 Essence to raise the target number to 10. She succeeds, with a check digit of 6. The love charm will last for 6 weeks; the first person who dons the bracelet during that time must make a Will roll to resist, or be smitten with the next person he sees for 12 hours. 47 R ESOURCES

Stoning Rod: A very rare item that can only be manufactured by Servitors of Stone, as it contains David’s Cold Touch attunement. Anyone touched with the end of the rod is turned to stone, as described in the attunement (In Nomine, p. 113). Creation: The alchemist is an Ofanite of Stone with the Cold Touch attunement, 4 Corporeal Forces, Alchemy/4, and Enchantment/6. Since he is putting an attunement in the item, he must spend 7 days. The attunement requires 6 Essence and a Will roll, which the angel makes with a check digit of 4. He then rolls against a target number of 4+6=10, succeeding with a check digit of 3. The rod has a lifespan of 3 weeks. Anyone may use the rod to turn someone to stone, once; the victim’s resistance roll is a Contest against the creator’s activation check digit (4), and if he is affected, the duration is equal to 14 minutes (10 + the creator’s Corporeal Forces). Universal Solvent: This solution is distilled entropy; it’s very difficult and dangerous to make. The alchemist must know the Corporeal Song of Entropy. A successful performance will brew a batch of acid that can burn through any corporeal matter. The amount is 1 ounce of liquid times the Song’s check digit. Anything splashed with universal solvent loses 1d Body hits per round per ounce used, continuing for 1d rounds (the time it takes for the acid to burn through the victim and fall to the ground). No Protection will reduce damage. Anything immersed in the solvent will be completely dissolved in seconds (living beings lose 1 Corporeal Force per turn; celestial vessels lose 1 vessel level per turn!). The problem, of course, is how to store it. Only special artifacts (with the Unbreakable feature; Liber Reliquarum, p. 22) can resist universal solvent. Furthermore, an unsuccessful alchemical ritual performance causes damage to the alchemist equal to 1d plus the check digit of the failed roll, as a result of a laboratory accident. Transmutation: The ability to turn one substance into another (such as lead into gold), is one of the most difficult tricks of Alchemy. Those who learn it are said to possess the Philosopher's Stone – though some believe there is an actual stone that performs magical transmutations, the real "Philosopher's Stone" is merely symbolic. The alchemist must know Chemistry or some other applicable Knowledge skill (such as Metallurgy, Geology, etc., depending on the substances being transformed). A successful performance can turn CD ounces of inorganic matter into the same mass of any other inorganic substance. The transformation will only last for a number of days equal to the check digit of the 48 alchemical performance, however. R ESOURCES Some enchanters learn how to create vessels that ethereal or celestial spirits can inhabit. The rituals to create them are a sub-discipline of both alchemy (pp. 46-47) and construct creation (p. 49). Of course, humans can only create temporary vessels. Most rituals for creating a vessel require starting with a suitable body (such as a ritually sacrificed animal), summoning the spirit that is to inhabit it, and then persuading it to use the proffered vessel. There are several requirements for all versions of the ritual. First, the spirit must have at least as many Forces as the vessel (a cat requires a spirit with at least 2 Forces, a large dog must be occupied by a spirit with 4 or more Forces, etc.). The vessel level is considered to be 0 (i.e., it has Body hits equal to the spirit’s Corporeal Forces times its Strength). It requires Essence equal to 15 times the vessel’s Forces. The spirit may provide some or all of this Essence, including any it has in an Essence cache (The Marches, p. 110). The enchanter must roll against his Enchantment + Alchemy skills, minus the Forces in the vessel. Failure means the Essence is wasted; success allows one spirit, designated when the ritual is completed, to use that body as its vessel. The vessel does not disappear when the spirit leaves the corporeal plane. These temporary vessels require that the enchanter contribute Essence every day to maintain them – 1 point per Force in the original body – or they will fall apart immediately. Temporary vessels don’t heal (though the Corporeal Song of Healing will work on them), and must be maintained even if the spirit isn’t inhabiting it currently. Some rituals allow the creator to sustain the vessel with blood, feeding it Body hits instead of Essence . . . It is rumored that enchanters who have acquired some Primordial Clay (Liber Reliquarum, pp. 89- 90) have learned rituals to create real, fully functional vessels, for both spirits and celestials. CREATING FAMILIARS