Let’s learn about the Superior: Jean, Archangel of Lightning 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 Superior
- 1:19 Dissonance
- 1:42 Choir Attunements
- 3:30 Servitor Attunements
- 4:05 Distinctions
- 4:43 Relations
- 4:56 Basic Rites
- 5:17 Chance of Invocation
- 5:59 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 lightning, the spark of life and the flash of insight.
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: Jean, Archangel of Lightning.
Discussion
About
Jean is an Elohite who manages the technology of humanity, and their knowledge and comprehension of the physical world. He appears as a middle-aged blonde man, standing just over six feet tall. His chiseled features appear to be carved with a knife. He avoids other Archangels as much as possible, preferring to operate on his own schemes and those of God. He is proud and pedantic, and a micro-manager. He likes to work hard, but will grumble a bit when summoned.
His servants control the various energies which course through the corporeal world. They are responsible for developing new technologies to reduce selfish desires and slowly doling them out to mankind. They don’t think much of humanity but recognize they do occasionally have flashes of insight.
Dissonance
Dissonance is the consequence of acting against your nature, or your superior’s word. For servitors of Jean, it is dissonant for them to let a technological secret or celestial technology fall into the hands of a human, before Jean decides that it is time. You will also earn a note of dissonance for allowing an infernally inspired technology to go unopposed.
Choir Attunements
Attunements are supernatural powers granted to servitors based on choir and favor. Most may be purchased at character creation as well. Unlike other servitors, Jean’s servants use Essence to enhance the effects of their attunements, creating collateral disturbances in the symphony, and not caring at all. Seraphim have photographic memories. For an Essence they can temporarily conjure up a floating video display and reveal to an observer anything they have seen or heard. Cherubim’s attunement is restricted. They are able to use any phone to connect to the nearest phone to those that they are attuned. If there isn’t one, they may use an Essence to manifest a cell phone temporarily! Ofamin are able to convert their corporeal vessel into electricity and travel a number of hundreds of yards in a combat round equal to their Corporeal Forces, though any suitable conductor. They will cause 3d hits of damage to their entry and exit points. Elohim are able to create circuit boards and microchips from thin air. For an Essence they can create a pocket sized computer, lasting a number of minutes equal to their Ethereal Forces. It increases the user’s Computer Operation ability by their Celestial Forces. Malakim may add their Ethereal Forces to any roll involving Chemistry, Electronics, Engineering or repairs to technology. Kyriotates are restricted. They may possess corporeal objects as their vessels for a number of minutes equal to their Ethereal Forces. And finally Mercurians know the Ethereal Song of Tongues, always succeeding in its performance.
Servitor Attunements
Faithful and productive servitors may earn servitor attunements. The first is Generator. The angel becomes a high-power generator for one second, pouring electricity into anything they touch. The Power of the attack equals the Essence spent plus the angel’s Corporeal Forces. Living targets are blinded for 10 seconds. The second attunement is Remote Control. This allows angels to mentally control any device crafted by man from a number of feet away equal to their total Forces.
Distinctions
Of course serving Jean well may also earn you distinctions like Vassal of Lightning. The angel becomes a lightning calculator, and recognizes all possible applications for any technological object. Friend of the Illuminated is another distinction. It allows the angel to detect the cause of a malfunction in any technological object. You may even predict a problem a number of rounds equal to their Celestial Forces before it happens! The final distinction is Master of the Machine. This allows the angel to heal damage to any device at the rate of 3 hits for every Essence spent.
Relations
As Jean prefers to work alone, he is not allied to any other Archangel. He is associated with Eli and Yves, and hostile to Jordi, Michael, and Novalis.
Basic Rites
Jean offers a few basic rites to his servitors which they may practice to earn Essence. The first is to rest an hour while touching the turbine of a power station. The second is to rest for two hours plugged into a wall socket. And the third is to spend an hour in a thunderstorm while standing on a cliff.
Chance of Invocation
It’s pretty easy to summon Jean with a base chance of success of three. But you may leverage some invocations to help modify your success. These include having a scientific formula on you, demonstrating mathematics, holding a microscope, being in a complete laboratory, working on a new scientific theory, and finally working on the grand unification theory.
As you can see, Jean is an Archangel of the modern age. His inclusion in your campaign could work for so many play styles, including leveraging AI in a futuristic campaign. I would suggest giving Jean a try as your angel’ s superior in your next In Nomine game.
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!