Let’s learn about the Superior: Janus, Archangel of Wind 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
- 1:26 Dissonance
- 1:46 Choir Attunements
- 3:07 Servitor Attunements
- 3:35 Distinctions
- 4:04 Relations
- 4:18 Basic Rites
- 4:39 Chance of Invocation
- 5:21 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
The world is a whirlwind. It sweeps across bodies and hearts, bending the soft things and destroying the rest.
Intro
Welcome to Eviliv3 Play, a celebration of my favorite tabletop role-playing games. This 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: Janus, Archangel of Wind.
Discussion
About
Janus is a broad and brawny Ofanite, and one of Heaven’s oldest Archangels. Ironically, while his mission is to promote change, he has changed very little in the past millennia. As with many Archangels, he seems more and more set in his ways as time goes by. Janus is inherently gregarious and he is also honest, and is quick to condemn a friend as much as praise them. He is also just as quick to apologize when he steps over the line.
Janus’ angels aim to disrupt normality and cause chaos without upsetting the balance of the Symphony. They are agents of change after all. They are charged with making the static dynamic. Almost any adventure of these angels, ends with mayhem. Janus’ servants are easy to spot. They are reckless youth, hanging out of a speeding car to regenerate essence. They are known for their light fingers and bulging jackets!
Dissonance
Dissonance is what an angel earns for acting against their nature or their superior’s word. For Janus’ servitors, it is dissonant to stay in the same locale for more than three days. Servants of the Wind must keep moving! A locale can be a city or a district in a large enough city.
Choir Attunements
Attunements are supernatural powers granted by Superiors to their servitors. Janus bestows the following on his, based on their choir. They may also be purchased at character creation if nor restricted. Seraphim may add their Celestial Forces to their Fast-Talk skill roll. They cannot lie without generating dissonance, but they can sway someone’s opinion. Cherubim are restricted. They can only attune themselves to one person at a time, but they then become enthralled with the Cherub, acting as their servant. Ofanim may add their Ethereal Forces to any roll to break locks, open doors or free themselves or another from restraints. Elohim can accurately predict the weather–down to the minute–for a number of days into the future equal to their Ethereal Forces. Malakim are demolition experts. They may add their Ethereal Forces to any roll involving making, setting and using explosives. Kyriotates may assume a gaseous form, manifesting in the Celestial Realm without a host! They cannot communicate and may be spotted with a successful Perception roll. Mercurians can move through crowds like eels through coral. Humanity parts for them. They are also able to tell if an object was acquired honestly or not.
Servitor Attunements
You may also purchase servitor Attunements, or be granted them by Janus. Passage allows you to open any lock with a successful Agility roll. Swipe allows you to make a Corporeal object vanish for a number of minutes equal to their Celestial Forces. It will reappear later with the angel with no disturbance to the Symphony as long as there isn’t a witness. It costs 2 Essence and must be no heavier in pounds than their total number of forces.
Distinctions
Janus may also bestow distinctions on particularly favored servitors. Vassal of the Wind allows you to communicate in a silent language of gestures as quickly and clearly as human speech. Friend of the Unseen allows the angel to know if they are being watched, listened to or spied upon. And Master of Motion allows the angel to move silently at double their speed if flying, add 4 to a running skill roll, or to the check digit.
Relations
Any Archangel as old as Janus will have more or less favorable relations with other archangels. Janus is allied with David, Gabriel, and Michael. He is Associated with Yves, and hostile to Laurence.
Basic Rites
There are three basic rites Janus allows his servitors to use in order to generate essence. Spend one hour in 80+ mph winds, spend 2 hours meditating on a moving roller coaster, or see a vehicle flip and roll more than 60 mph, or watch a multi-story building demolished in person.
Chance of Invocation
It is very difficult to invoke Janus with a base chance of 0. But there are modifiers that may be leveraged to attract his attention. Steal a newspaper, deface a street sign, reroute detour signs, blow up a car, have a tornado in direct line of sight, or fall through the air for more than 10 seconds.
As you can see a servitor of Janus could be an explosively fun character to play. The boundaries between what is conventionally right or wrong are more blurred, and if action and mayhem is expected of them, well, it liberates the players’ inhibitions and can be a wild and crazy game. I highly recommend you give it a try.
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!