Let’s learn about the Superior: Eli, Archangel of Creation 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
- 0:31 About the Superior
- 1:43 Dissonance
- 2:05 Choir Attunements
- 3:30 Servitor Attunements
- 4:26 Distinctions
- 4:38 Relations
- 5:04 Basic Rites
- 5:23 Chance of Invocation
- 6:09 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 creation, the application of will against entropy, bringing life and beauty from the void.
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: Eli, Archangel of Creation.
Discussion
About
More so than any other Archangel, Eli personifies contradiction in the hearts of angels. He is known as both a creator and a destroyer–full of life and hope. While his future may be wide open, he is believed to be out of control and out of his mind. Eli is the quintessential Mercurian. However a few decades ago, he abandoned his divine mosque, stripped himself of his memories and disappeared on Earth. He is rarely if ever heard from, even by his Servitors, who are afraid of what he’s become. And while he no longer seems to care about his Word, it is in no danger. It has an entropy of its own!
His servitors embody the Earth’s primal creative forces. They may be both casual and disorganized, but they remain makers of beauty and servants of Heaven. At the beginning of the century, Eli granted dominion of most of his Servitors to the other Archangels. So they may be angels of Eli in service to Gabriel, for example. While they may have earned attunements from Eli in the past, any new ones must be granted from their new Archangel. Only Eli’s favored servitors still work for him, but it’s often in a random and esoteric manner. They keep their own hearts in Heaven.
Dissonance
Dissonance is the result of acting against your very nature or Resonance, but Servitors of Archangels may also earn notes of dissonance by acting against their Superiors will. In Eli’s case, as he is an absentee Archangel, he doesn’t seem to care what his Servitors do. They don’t even generate dissonance from their temporary Superiors!
Choir Attunements
There are choir attunements that Eli may have granted an angel before he left to Earth. The Seraphim are able to recognize gifted individuals. They are sort of Celestial talent scouts. On a check digit of 6, they know their full potential in a skill. Cherubim have a partially restricted attunement. They are able to hold an object and know exactly who made it and when. Ofanim are able to slow down or speed up the aging process. With contact they can age something up to their Precision, and are also able to heal a number of hits per day equal to their Corporeal Forces. Elohim knows the secret of binding songs into objects, creating Relics or Reliquaries. This is done at a rate of one month per level of the song and/or number of Essence. The Angel must also know the Transubstantiation servitor attunement. Malakim are able to use anything they pick up as a weapon. It has power equal to the check digit of their Perception for the duration of combat. Kyriotates are able to perform the celestial song of Form with no Essence cost! The song ends if they abandon their host. And finally Mercurians are able to make talismans. It takes one month for every level of the skill the artifact is imbued with, and the angel must know the skill they are imbuing it with.
Servitor Attunements
There are only two Servitor Attunements Eli has awarded faithful servitors in the past. The first is Abracadabra. You are able to create base matter from nothing! For every Essence spent, a tenth of an ounce of rare mineral, one cubic foot of common metal or material, or one cubic yard of simple, mundane, and common Earthly substance is created. It is created up to one hex away, but it must be within sight, and there must be enough room for it. The second servitor attunement is Transubstantiation. The angel may imbue inorganic elements with complex organic energies of life. Meaning that for each point of Essence spent, they may convert one quart of common liquid into a complex organic solution like wine or blood, or a cubic foot of common material into common organic patterns like bugs.
Distinctions
Eli does not offer distinctions to his servitors. Any servitor working for another archangel has to work twice as hard to be recognized to be awarded a distinction from them!
Relations
Ever since Eli abandoned Heaven, his reputation and influence has plummeted. Many celestials see Eli’s servitors to be latter-day Grigori, corrupted by the delights of the flesh. Dominic has cracked down on archangels in the last decade, and his eyes are firmly set on Eli and his servitors. Eli is allied with Jordi and Novalis. Associated with Janus, Yves, and Blandine. And hostile to no one.
Basic Rites
There are three basic rites that Eli grants for his Servitors to regain Essence. The first is succeeding at three Precision based skills in a row. The second is to spend an hour having consensual sex, and the third is to calm a group of more than three crying children.
Chance of Invocation
It is not common for anyone to be successful in invoking Eli. The GM should roll a die and that is the base chance for the day. There are some modifiers that may aid in his invocation however. You may have a paint brush or musical instrument on you, hold some form of unused birth control, help a human family get along with each other, have a blueprint of a building you are standing in, have the work of a blind sculpture, or have a unique plant, animal or mineral on you.
As you can tell, Eli is a bit of an absentee superior, but that may be the perfect superior for your game session or character concept. I would definitely recommend having Eli as your character’s superior, after all, you could still work for another.
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!