Let’s examine the Hellraiser films and novels as a TTRPG using In Nomine as the game system. In Nomine is a role-playing game designed by Derek Pearcy and published in 1997 by @Steve Jackson Games.
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
We have such sights to show you!
Intro
Welcome to Eviliv3, the live media commentary show that answers the question, are cenobites and demons the same? Subscribe if you’re new to the channel, because today we are continuing our In Nomine series with this episode, Styles of Play: Hellraiser.
Discussion
Hellraiser is my favorite horror IP. The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker is a perfect novella, depicting the extent we humans will go for pleasure, and the cosmic consequences of it. And while on the surface it may seem like a one and done story, with little room for exploration, outside the fiction written: The Hellbound Heart, The Toll, and The Scarlet Gospels, there have been eleven films made in this universe. There have been a plethora of comics released from three separate studios, and seemingly endless contributions from other authors with crossover stories and comics. Hell, Clive Barker created his own universe when he brought his character Harry D’Amour into the Hellraiser world from his The Last Illusion short story or its film adaptation Lord of Illusions. This broadened Clive Barker’s Universe to not only include Hellpriests in the form of Cenobites, but also magic and sorcery known as The Art. D’Amour also appears in Barker’s Books of the Art which extends the universe from our Corporeal Realm, to the Celestial Realm, Hell, and even to the Quiddy, known as a dream-sea where every mortal visits three times in their lives metaphysically. This could easily be seen as the Ethereal Realm. Do you see where I am going with this?
Clive Barker’s universe as presented in Hellraiser is perfect for the In Nomine game system. Its game mechanics are simple, roll three dice and get under a target number. If contested, compare rolls, using check digits to determine levels of success or failure. At its core, that’s it. The system is separated into three realms that help immerse players in the conceptual game, which as already hinted at, fits perfectly into Clive Barker’s worlds. You don’t even need to rebrand the In Nomine game system to fit. Cenobites are demons. Those who practice the Art are Sorcerers or Enchanters. Mortals may be working with the Ethereals or Celestials as Soldiers. This grounds the In Nomine game to a human rather than celestial scale, while still presenting celestials as terrifyingly powerful creatures.
The Hellraiser comics by Boom! Studios presents a view into the Hellraiser IP that was the backbone of the story in The Scarlet Gospels. Groups of survivors coming together to try and fight back against the demons or Cenobites. This can easily be adapted into a campaign with In Nomine. You could also play as a Cenobite, summoned by a sorcerer through the Lemarchand puzzle box, then unleash your fury as desired. Or perhaps the Hellpriests have escaped hell, and angels have to discover and confront them, sending them back to Hell. There are endless narrative possibilities with themes similar to game systems like the World of Darkness and Call of Cthulhu.
With the understanding that In Nomine presents a universe with simple game mechanics at its core to use as a basis for gameplay, it’s easy to reskin it, if you don’t mind the pun, for Hellraiser. Heaven and Hell are the Celestial Realm, with their powers, or Songs and Attunements governed by that force. The Ethereal Realm is a place of mystery and magic, where the Art, or Songs can be used or granted from spirits or otherworldly beings to mortals. The Corporeal Realm is the stage where everything clashes and conflict arises. This is at the heart of any campaign, conflict resolution through investigation, role-playing, and combat. The puzzle box itself can be seen as a powerful Celestial Artifact, or Relic which contains a Song that summons a Demon or Cenobite. The chains the Cenobites use could be Corporeal Artifacts or the effect of a custom Song or Attunement. The Cenobites’ grotesque appearance could simply be the manifestation of their Vessel, a tortured Host, or a Numinous Corpus, special Corporeal Songs.
You can extend the universe to include undead, ghosts, spirits, and pagan gods, or limit them as you like, but when I reflect on the richness and diversity of Clive Barker’s worlds, and the immersiveness inherent in the game mechanics of In Nomine, there may be no other game system which fits Hellraiser more perfectly. I will be running a short game to highlight the possibilities of using In Nomine to play a Hellraiser styled game, so look for that in the future.
As you can tell, I am a pretty big fan of the In Nomine table top role-playing game. It can be used as a backbone to a vast array of truly interesting ip’s which I will be exploring in future videos, in the same way as I explored Hellraiser in this one. I will even extend it out to other game systems and present my perspective on how they would be improved by using In Nomine rather than their own game mechanics . If this type of content interests you, please leave a comment below and let me know. While you are there, let me know if you would be interested in joining me for a Hellraiser themed game session or two.
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!