Let’s learn how to make a player character (PC) for 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
- 0:36 Creating a Character
- 0:52 Step 1. Character Creation: Character Concept
- 1:23 Step 1. Character Creation: Character Concept – Choir/Band
- 1:54 Step 1. Character Creation: Character Concept – Superior
- 2:51 Step 2. Character Development
- 3:03 Step 2. Character Development – Allocating Forces
- 3:50 Step 2. Character Development – Characteristic Levels
- 5:16 Step 2. Character Development – Pick Attunements
- 5:49 Step 2. Character Development – Select Resources
- 7:46 Step 2. Character Development – Develop Background
- 8:09 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
Like any character creation, you start with a concept…
Intro
Welcome to Eviliv3, the live media commentary show that answers the question, is it true that demons have more fun? Subscribe if you’re new to the channel, because today we are continuing our In Nomine series with this episode, How to make a character.
Discussion
Every role-playing game expands character creation options from its core book with numerous supplements. For this video, I will stick solely with the In Nomine core rules book as a reference point. While creating a character can take an incredible amount of time in research and consideration, it can also be a fast and simple exercise. Character creation can be broken down into two basic steps, Character Concept and Character Development.
The Character Concept is a joint exercise between the Player, or PC, and Game Master, or GM. Your character needs to not only be one that you want to play, but also one that fits within the adventure the GM has crafted. If the GM has an Angelic adventure in mind, it wouldn’t make sense to create a Demon or Human. This is analogous to choosing a race and class in other role-playing games. If you are creating a human, and it fits with the adventure, you can proceed to Character Development, but if you are making an Angel or Demon, you will need to consider a couple more things.
First What is your Choir or Band? Angels and Demons are members of a celestial race that is categorized in Choirs and Bands respectively. It can be seen as what type of instrument in the Symphony they are. There are seven primary Choirs of Angels and Bands of Demons. Most Bands are the fallen counterparts to an Angelic Choir. The Choir or Band holds a resonance with the Symphony, and what their physical appearance is. They will determine some fundamental aspects of your character’s nature.
Next you need to decide who your Superior is. Superiors are the Archangel or Demon Prince that holds sway over a particular aspect of the Symphony. This can be seen as the style of music you play in the symphony, as your Superior will define what type of Earthly missions you’ll be assigned, it will also partially define your perspective and motivations. Archangels rule the heavens and are protectors of a Word. Demon Prince’s are Lucifer’s lieutenants, also bound to protect their Words.
My character concept will begin with choosing to be a Demon. I will be a member of the Balseraphs, or fallen Seraphim, the greatest liars of the Abyss. My Superior will be Saminga, the Demon Prince of Death. Saminga encourages his Servitors to kill intelligent beings, and Balseraphs will not disturb the Symphony if they kill with their hands. Now that I have landed on my Character Concept, let’s begin the second step, Character Development. This includes allocating Forces, selecting levels of Characteristics, Picking Attunements, Selecting Resources and developing the background to your PC.
There are three Forces: Corporeal, Ethereal, and Celestial. Each is directly tied to the three Realms, and their place in the Symphony. Each force has a maximum of six segments, which in turn inform that Force’s characteristics. Corporeal Forces determine how well you interact with physical matter, Ethereal Forces are the incarnation of sentience, and Celestial Forces allow you to connect with the Symphony, it does not link you to the Celestial Realm however. Each character type grants you a specific number of Forces to divide as you see fit. Angels and Demons begin the game with nine total Forces, and as I want to have a balanced starting character, I will give each Force equal power.
Next we need to assign the characteristic levels. Each Force grants four levels to spend on the two characteristics associated with that Force. The Characteristis’s levels range from one which is Miserable, to twelve which is Spectacular, even for a Celestial. The Corporeal Characteristics are Strength, your raw physical prowess, and Agility, your speed and dexterousness. Your Body is the total of your Corporeal Forces plus your Vessel level, times your Strength. The Ethereal Characteristics are Intelligence, your raw mental capacity, and Precision, your focus and patience with electronics and ranged weapons. Your Mind is the total of your Ethereal Forces times your Intelligence. And lastly the Celestial Characteristics are Will, your mental Stamina, also the most important statistic for Demons, and Perception, how you process sensory input and how sensitive you are to the symphony, this is the most important characteristic for Angels. Your Soul is the total of your Celestial Forces times your Will. I will grant equal levels to each characteristic except Celestial where the majority will be in Will.
Next we get to buy our Attunements and Resources. You are assigned character points with which to purchase your Attunements and Resources, and you begin with four times the number of forces your character type grants. So Angels and Demons start with thirty-six character points. Attunements are special powers granted by your Superior. While you get your Band Attunement free, you do have to buy Servitor Attunements at ten character points each. There may be restrictions based on your Superior and Choir or Band. Resources include specific skills, Songs, possessions, Roles, Vessels and Servants. Each Resource corresponds to one of the three Forces and has a level of one to six. That level determines its cost. You may also take a Discord, or dissonance within the Symphony that manifests in your PC. Each Discord grants you extra points on a level to level basis.
As a Balseraph, I am able to convince others of my lies, and as I serve Saminga, I am granted the Band Attunement of Killing without disturbing the symphony as long as it’s with my bare hands. I purchase the Servitor Attunement of Vampiric Kiss, so I can regain essence from willing victims. I can also regain essence by performing one of my Superiors Rites once per day. As I want to walk around on Earth without revealing my Balseraph celestial form of a many-eyed winged serpent, I select a level three Vessel with two levels of Charisma. I choose to be a lawyer as my level four role with three levels of status. I also take the level three skill of fast-talking and level two of fighting. This leaves me with one character point for a Song. I chose the Corporeal variant of the Song of Tongues at level one.
You begin play with Essence equal to your total forces. This can never increase over that number but it can be used through gameplay and diminish. We will cover the Game mechanics, including combat in another video. This leaves the final touch of description left. You need to consider what your character wears, who their social circle consists of, what philosophies of your Superior do you disagree with, and how you feel about the War, Opposition and mortal realm? And that is it! You have made your first In Nomine Playing Character and you are ready to dive into this fantastic role-playing game.
Outro
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