Let’s learn about the Superior: Asmodeus, Prince of The Game in the tabletop role-playing game In Nomine. In Nomine is a role-playing game designed by Derek Pearcy and published in 1997 by @Steve Jackson Games. You can learn more on the official website here: http://www.sjgames.com/innomine/ or the Wikipedia page here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Nomine_(role-playing_game). You can buy In Nomine products here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/12199/Steve-Jackson-Games/subcategory/28908_30775/In-Nomine?affiliate_id=50797
Time Stamps:
- 0:00 Intro
- 0:29 About the Superior
- 1:53 Dissonance
- 2:10 Band Attunements
- 3:46 Servitor Attunements
- 4:43 Distinctions
- 5:24 Relations
- 5:49 Basic Rites
- 6:08 Chance of Invocation
- 7:06 Outro
About In Nomine
Written by Derek Pearcy + Illustrated by Dan Smith
Edited by Jeff Koke, Steve Jackson, and Susan Pinsonneault
Cover art by John Zeleznik (first printing) and Christopher Shy (second printing)
In Nomine is a modern roleplaying game in which the players take the part of celestial beings – angels and demons – as they struggle for control of humanity and themselves. The celestials, powerful though they may be, are merely pawns in a much larger game being played by their Superiors, the Archangels and Demon Princes. Based on the best-selling French RPG by the wonderfully diabolical Croc!
In Nomine won the Origins Award for Best Graphic Presentation of a Roleplaying Game, Adventure, or Supplement of 1997.
Transcript
Cold Open
The world is a game, whose rules must be followed.
Intro
Welcome to In Nomine, a celebration of my favorite tabletop role-playing games. This In Nomine YouTube channel is a sister channel to Eviliv3. Subscribe if you’re new to the channel, because today we are continuing our In Nomine series with this episode, Superiors: Asmodeus, Prince of The Game.
Discussion
About
Asmodeus, the Prince of The Game, is a Djiinn. He usually appears as a tall man with burning eyes. The very personification of the Inquisition. He is also the second most powerful Demon Royalty in Hell after Kronos. He is widely feared and hated by his peers, as he and his servitors are Lucifer’s secret police. They are responsible for hunting down renegades and other traitors to the Infernal armies. Among their duties are slaying the corporeal vessels of all renegades. Renegades are loosely defined by the secret police as a demon who acts against the expressed and implied wishes of their Prince. This also includes any demon with a Celestial Discord, or if their actions call their loyalty into question. As one can imagine, this means there is a lot of wiggle room, leaving more than one Prince shy of a servitor from time to time.
More than the renegade mandate, Lucifer uses Asmodeus to weed out any demon who might defect to the angels or threaten his plans in any way. Asmodeus becomes a nice counterweight to the unrest Malphas may stir up at any given moment. All Demonic Princes are able to call upon servitors of Asmodeus, but most prefer to keep their private business in house, avoiding scrutiny as much as possible.
Dissonance
Gaining notes of dissonance for acting against your resonance, or nature, is a serious consequence, even in Hell. The servitors of Asmodeus may generate dissonance by disobeying any direct orders or by aiding a renegade in escaping judgment.
Band Attunements
All Servitos of Asmodeus are able to attune themselves with members of their own band, identify them, and their dissonance if present, with a perception role. In addition to that, they receive twelve extra character points upon character creation to spend on a Role, or skills for that Role. Asmodeus also offers band specific attunements only available to his servitors. Balseraphs typically take cover identities which rely on creative lying like stockbrokers for example. Djinn chose roles requiring them to keep track of people’s comings and goings like police officers. Calabim’s attunement is restricted, and as they enjoy physical labor, they typically take roles where they can destroy with impunity, like construction workers. Habbalah take roles that allow them to be overly inquisitive without raising suspicion like private detectives. Lilim adopts roles that allow them to get kinky like strippers or substitute English teachers. Shedim’s attunement is partially restricted. They aren’t required to pervert their hosts, as their attention must be directed elsewhere. They may stay in a vessel for a number of days equal to the successful resonance roll’s check digit. And they do not generate dissonance when they fail to corrupt their host. Finally Impudites adopt roles which allow them to ‘help’ endless streams of people like doctors.
Servitor Attunements
In addition to band attunements, servitors of Asmodeus may be granted Servitor Attunements like Dissonance Binding. They are able to bind a celestial to their dissonance, which creates a ghostly chain restricting their movement. Their Agility is reduced by their notes of Dissonance plus the Celestial Forces of the binder for a number of hours equal to the binders total forces! This prevents them from generating essence as well! Another attunement is Humanity. It allows a demon to pass as a human to anyone except for Lucifer. For the cost of a single Essence, it is activated for twenty four hours. In addition, nothing the demon does creates ripples in the Symphony! However his vessel will now require human needs and they cannot perform Songs or generate Essence naturally or assume their celestial form on Earth.
Distinctions
Servitors who please Asmodeus may also be awarded distinctions. Titles which come with specific powers. Like Knight of Judgement which allows the servitor to inspire confidence in the humans he meets. They will also respect his opinions and never dispute his judgements. The Captain of Integrity allows the demon to compare a persons spoken word against their secret feelings, determining if they are a liar or hypocrite. Baron of Justice grants the demon the ability to identify whose opinions are fair, just and accurate. His Celestial forces determine how much detail they receive about their judgment.
Relations
Again, most demons do not appreciate Asmodeus for how critical he and his Servitors can be. Sometimes they might let treason in a hostile force fester, just to see who else they can smoke out. But he is allied with Kronos, he is associated with Baal, neutral with Beleth and Malphas and hostile to all others save his enemy Valefor.
Basic Rites
Asmodeus does offer some rites that if performed by his servitors, they will generate essence after the performance. At sunset, all of his Servitors generate two Essence rather than one, and if they eliminate a renegade demon, they generate three Essence!
Chance of Invocation
The chance of invoking Asmodeus is slim to none even by his Servitors, but there are modifiers that can be invoked to help. Remonstrating a child, attending an important legal suit, using exhaustive evidence to bog down a trial, bringing an innocent to trial and seeing them convicted, defending a criminal and proving them innocent, and even clearing the name of a Nazi war criminal! Of course Asmodeus makes a point at checking in on his Servitors monthly to assess progress and determine if they’ve generated any notes of dissonance.
As you can see, Asmodeus is not a Prince to fool around with, as he can ruin your Superiors day as easily as he can end yours. However, servitors of Asmodeus are given a lot of power and leeway to exercise their will in the Corporeal World. They are definitely a good choice to play in any Demon centric campaign.
Outro
Thank you for watching today’s In Nomine episode. Subscribe and ring the bell if you are new to the channel. Don’t forget to click the like button and comment to let others learn about this award winning role-playing game and this channel.
And as always, remember that evil spelled backwards is live, so get out there and Be Evil!