Let’s learn about Cherubim – The Guardians a Choir of Angels 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 Choir
- 0:41 Resonance
- 1:37 Dissonance
- 2:35 Manner and Appearance
- 3:16 Game Mechanics
- 4:21 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
They’ll be damned if they let anything happen to humans.
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, Cherubim – The Guardians, a Choir of Angels.
Discussion
Of all the choirs in Heaven, the Cherubim are commonly known to be the most reliable and fanatically loyal. The Cherubim are the knights in shining armor–guardians of things held dear.
Resonance
Resonance is both the celestial being’s nature, and the unique supernatural power granted to them by God. The Cherubim are created from the stoic forces of stability. Their connection to the Symphony is through absolute devolution. Because of that it only takes a single touch, and the Cherubim can attune themselves with something or someone who exists in the Corporeal Plane, or on Earth. From that moment on, the Cherubim will know its location and condition. If the target of their resonance is destroyed or in mortal danger, the Cherubim will know instantly.
This truly exemplifies the Cherubim through their single-mindedness, and it is the most basic expression of their nature. They are constant, solid, aware and vigilant. The Cherubim are represented in the Celestial Realm or Heaven as animal archetypes, and notorious for butting heads with Kyriotates for their multiplicity.
Dissonance
Dissonance is the celestial damage done by acting against their very nature or that of their superiors. For the Cherubim, their nature is so intense that by betraying that which they are attuned to generates notes of dissonance. Failing to remove it generates dissonance. Betrayal through rejection generates dissonance. They are the caretaker and very literally, guardian angels of those they are attuned to. They would never conceive of doing anything that would bring them harm. So the Cherubim must be mindful about who or what they attune themselves to, for only through an act of Will and the force of contact are they able to remove their attunement.
The Cherubim would never consider betraying their Superior, friends, ideals or themself. This all leads from nobility to selfish malevolence. Maintaining their single minded devolution is the simplest method to avoid cross purposes.
Manner and Appearance
In the Celestial Realm, Cherubim manifest as enormous winged animals, suffused in golden haloes. They move with intention and are ever watchful. When in the Corporeal Realm, they are typically short, stocky, compact and powerful. They believe Western artists’ depiction of themselves as cute, pudgy, winged babies was a Diabolically influenced outcome, and they do not appreciate it.
Cherubim are the best angels to have at your back, and while they don’t believe they need it, other Choirs look after them anyway. Musically, the Cherubim resonate through the Symphony as one-handed horns before sundown, and at night, they may even pull out their saxophones.
Game Mechanics
As the Cherubim’s resonance is for location, they are able to attune themselves to as many different items as they hold in total Forces. If any of those items are destroyed, the Cherub generates dissonance; but he is still attuned to it! The Cherub may detect the disparate pieces with a check digit of 6. And he can make the dissonance disappear by restoring the item. This may be difficult or impossible with a living object. They may negate their attunement with a successful Will roll, but a failure will generate dissonance as well.
When their attuned is in danger or hurt, a successful resonance roll’s check digit will tell them from what direction it is, to whether there are plans to harm it and where it is.
As you can see the Cherub is the fully actua lised guardian angel, and may be a whole lot of fun to play in any style campaign. Just make sure you think before you use your resonance, for if you spread yourself too thin, your dissonance may lead to discord, and a fall from grace.
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!