Let’s learn about the various bands of demons 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
- 1:17 Balseraphs, Serpents, The Liars
- 2:13 Djinn, Binders, The Stalkers
- 3:04 Calabim, Freaks, The Destroyers
- 3:54 Habbalah, Horrors, The Punishers
- 4:45 Lilim, Daughters, The Tempters
- 5:46 Shedim, Fleshless, The Corruptors
- 6:39 Impudites, Charmers, The Takers
- 7:27 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 demon’s bands are often twisted mirror images of angelic choirs.
Intro
Welcome to Eviliv3, the live media commentary show that answers the question, do demons smell bad? Subscribe if you’re new to the channel, because today we are continuing our In Nomine series with this episode, Bands of Demons.
Discussion
While not every Band of Demon is a mirror to their angelic choir they fell from, most do line up as infernal opposites. Six of the bands initially appeared in the Fall. There are many more lesser bands, created originally as demons, but we won’t be going into those in this episode. Bands of demons typically vary more among themselves than their angelic counterparts as well. They are more of a category than social circle, with many demons not having great relations with others in their band. The following are sorted by the furthest distance from humanity to the closest. In descending order they are the Balseraphs, the Djinn, the Calabim, the Habbalah, the Lilim, the Shedim and the Impudites. We will be going into more detail about each band in future episodes, but for now let’s take a birds eye view of each band of demons.
Balseraphs
Fallen Seraphim, the Balseraphs are the greatest liars of the Abyss. Second only to Lucifer himself! With schemes that last millenia, western civilization being their greatest, you can never discount their tenacity. Their resonance is to share their unified and paranoid version of the Symphony. Ironically they are unable to lie, so their twisted perspectives are as much truth to themselves as to those they distort. If their target pierces through their perspective to see its lie, it creates dissonance. They appear as a many eyed winged serpent in the Celestial realm and dress smart, taking care to present the best face in the Corporeal realm. They trust no one, to the point of paranoia. They are able to distort reality in others but if they contradict themselves, it creates dissonance, never more than one note in any individual however.
Djinn
Fallen Cherubim, the Djinn have forsaken love as guardians. They are now more stalkers than anything terrorizing the Celestial Realm. They refrain from showing emotion and are sarcastic and disdainful. Their resonance lies in attuning to others. They struggle with their refusal to care about others, while having an innate need to be cared about. While attuned they are unable to harm it. His obsession to the attached is their dark desire, causing dissonance if they hurt it. In the Celestial realm they appear to be distorted dark animals. In the Corporeal realm they refuse to put effort into their appearance. They prefer to sit in dark corners than be the center of attention. They prefer their own band as company, though they wouldn’t admit it aloud. No one understands how difficult it is to be a Djinn but other Djinn.
Calabim
Fallen Ofanim, the Calabim resonate with chaos and destruction. They are able to manifest a field of entropy that is nigh irresistible. They are uncontrollable and feared by Angels and Demons alike. Their resonance is in breaking down order and structure. If their attempt at disorder is rejected, it flies back at them causing dissonance. This Is often redirected as destruction around themselves, making them dangerous as companions. They all seem to carry some form of Discord, they use it as a tool rather than a wound. Their celestial appearance is filthy, leering demons, red and bat winged. In the corporeal realm, they prefer rough-and-tumble vessels. Always wearing dirty and wrinkled clothing. They don’t hesitate to start smacking others around if they don’t like what they hear either.
Habbalah
Fallen Elohim, the Haballah are able to control emotions in others, if not in themselves. Known as the Punishers, they are convinced they still work for God to shape souls for a new and more perfect world. They believe they are the only true Choir of angels, serving God as the abattoir. Their Resonance is emotion, and specifically determining which emotion will cause the most harm, then letting it loose, causing incredible psychic damage. If the emotional attack doesn’t work, they gain dissonance by burying their own madly-raging emotion about it. They hold true disdain for other bands of demons. They appear as beautiful and sexual beings in the Corporeal Realm, while in the Celestial Realm they are mangled and mutilated. Habbalah can be seen as Psychic Surgeons, carving and shaping the souls around them.
Lilim
Never having fallen, the Lilim are all devilish tempters with a resonance for desire. Everyone is a creation of the Princess of Freedom Lilith, they know what you want and will give it to you if you ask, for a small favor. Their resonance is to do just that, extract a favor in exchange for a service, called a Geas. This is a form of Discord for Celestials. They gain discord if the victim resists the geas, disappearing if she snares the victim again. Lilim are party demons, sensuous, and fun. Not all are female as some prefer male vessels, but they refer to themselves as female. In celestial form, they look much like their corporeal vessels, but with green skin and tiny horns. New Lilim may not serve a Prince, but rather owe Lilith a Geas equal to their total forces. These Geas’ may be traded to other Princes by Lilith, thus referring to it as Free Lilim.
Shedim
Fallen Kyriotates, the Shedim are all corruptors. They possess the bodies of mortals forcing them to do all manner of despicable and destructive acts. They cannot generate a vessel, so they convince their possessed that the perversions they commit were their idea. This is their resonance, convincing someone to do something despicable. Their Dissonance is not to commit this act daily to their host. It doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, but something to further denigrate them. Failing this, they need to leave the host or take a note of dissonance. They are known as true devil worshippers, spray painting or carving pentagrams and obscenities. They care nothing for their bodies, running them into the ground. In Celestial form they appear as a shimmering black cloud of limbs, wings, eyes, and other pulsing organs.
Impudites
Fallen Mercurians, Impudites are the most human of the Bands. They delight in mankind and feed off of them. They also avoid other demonic bands when possible. You may be best friends or even married to one and not know it! Known as the people’s demons, their resonance is to charm and suck away mortal essence. Their dissonance is a reflection of their true love of mankind. They cannot kill a human or they will take a note of dissonance. They dress comfortably, and radiate good will and harmlessness. They ingratiate themselves into a group and feed, and if they are discovered, they simply leave to another group. They enjoy Western Society as they no longer believe in demons. Its Celestial form is their most recent host with leathery wings, horns and a dark halo.
And that is the basic description of each demonic Band.
Outro
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And as always, remember that evil spelled backwards is live, so get out there and Be Evil!