Let’s learn about what it takes for a demon to be redeemed 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
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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
As tragic as it is to fall, you can always be redeemed
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, Redemption.
Discussion
A Celestial’s life is dominated by their resonance, and as already discussed, can be marred by going against their very nature, and generating dissonance. For angels, dissonance comes from denying their true nature, but for Demons, it comes from a failure to enforce their selfish will upon reality. The more notes of dissonance a demon generates traditionally manifests in discord, a painful fracture between their evil soul and their personal Symphony. So, while angels are padded by the very symphony itself, and for all intents and purposes seem to be protected from falling, Demons already have fallen, so it is easier to get burned by their failures.
Discord
When a Demon fails their Dissonance roll, rolling lower on all three d666 than their current total of dissonance, they generate Discord, as well as one additional note of Dissonance. The level of dissonance generated is equal to the check digit of the failed roll. They may be added to an existing Discord, or part of an entirely new one. If the demon rolls a 666 on the dissonance roll, Lucifer himself looks kindly on the demon, and wipes away all current dissonance. As an aside, a player character, or PC may trade in three notes of dissonance for one level of a Discord, and though this protects an angel from falling, they pay a grave price with the discord.
So what exactly is Discord and what does it have to do with redemption? Well first of all, without generating dissonance and falling, there would be no need for redemption. Discord is a way of mitigating the fall for angels. But for demons, who have already fallen, Discord is literally the fracturing of their soul for being ineffective. It’s a painful reminder to all that they have failed in their only true purpose, to impose their selfishness on the world. They are fighting a war after all. And while demons don’t typically care if eachother has Discord, it does make them easier to target by Angels, which is a self-preservation issue at the end of the day.
It is possible through the course of play that a demon may generate so much Discord that not even their demon prince wants anything to do with them. After all, it’s a sign of failure. It makes the Prince look bad to have them around. It isn’t unthinkable that a demon cast aside from their Prince, and in danger not just from Angels, but from their fellow Demons, may want to rejoin their angelic brothers and sisters, and be redeemed. This may be through initial selfishness and survival, or an act of genuine repentance. In either case, looking for the best in others, is par for the course of most angels and Archangels.
Redemption
There are practical reasons for Heaven wanting to offer asylum to Demons. First and foremost, they have knowledge and experience about the other side, and let’s not mince words here, Heaven is losing this war. Second, they are incentivised to stay in line and follow orders, even ones that lead to danger or questionable outcomes. They literally have nowhere else to go. The demon themself may simply be tired of getting knocked around by other angels, and prefer to join them than be destroyed by them.
Redemption begins with reaching out to an angel or Archangel and humbly asking for asylum. Only an Archangel is powerful enough to strip away the demon’s Discord, and reattune them to God’s resonance. It is important to note that not all demons survive this miracle. Though for a consistent game, PC’s should. Once this happens, the demon becomes an angel of a choir opposite to their infernal band’s counterpart. Their demonic heart shatters, not only freeing the demon from their prince, but alerting the prince to their redemption. As one can imagine, this only puts a larger target on their back, but they do have Heaven at their back so…
The new angel will have a new angelic heart created and placed in the safekeeping of their Archangel. Whenever they ascend to heaven, it will be where their heart is located. They will also begin regenerating essence at sunrise rather than sunset. But that’s not the end of it. The former demon must now prove their worthiness. Their celestial Discord may have been stripped away by their Archangel, but their Corporeal and Ethereal discord still remains. This is used as leverage by the Archangel to encourage the new angel to give their best efforts in any task assigned to them, with the promise of more Discord to be removed.
The redeemed Diabolical’s other supernatural abilities are mostly gone. They only have the Songs they knew before, and any Rites the new archangel may have granted them by virtue of their choir. They do still have the rites from their former Prince, but this is a constant temptation that could lead to absolute disaster if they give into temptation and use them. For each use of an old Rite, they generate a new note of Dissonance. But if they refrain from using them, they may become a full-fledged angel again. As an aside, the newly redeemed demon is not given advantages of the Archangel’s Choir attunements, but they are bound by the Superiors strictures concerning Dissonance.
If at any time a redeemed Diabolical fails a dissonance roll before becoming a full-fledged angel again, they are not just an Outcast, but the Archangel will never consider assisting them again. When a demon does finally have all his discord removed, they earn their Archangel’s Choir attunement and at least one Servitor Attunement, and are considered a full-fledged angel in the eyes of the Lord once again!
As you can see, it’s a long hard road out of hell for a demon, but it may be a great story to tell through role playing in a campaign. I would hesitate to offer a new player to In Nomine the opportunity of taking on such a heavy narrative, but for an experienced player, it may be one of the best and most valuable long term characters they play.
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!