The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The Corporeal Players Guide is Steve Jackson Games' latest players guide offering for In Nomine, completeing the set started by the Angelic Players Guide and the Infernal Players Guide. It's a nifty book that does a good job of fleshing out rules left somewhat vague in the main In Nomine rule book, and providing enough information for humans to take a meaningful and active role in an In Nomine game. Every In Nomine GM will benefit from this book, even if his campaign doesn't center on humans.

The first section of the book is a short chapter on "Being Human." Perversely, I found this chapter more useful in understanding celestials. Real life gives me some idea about the human perspective on the world; reading what In Nomine has to say about the human perspective helps through the angelic and infernal perspective into higher relief.

The bulk of the book is composed of rules. In and of itself, this can be a good thing, or a bad thing. In the Corporeal Player's Guide, it is very much a good thing. These are not rules which are supplanting the rules you've been using, throwing in gratuitous complexity, or otherwise modifying the core system. Rather, they are cool new things that people can do. A complete new system of sorcery is introduced. The new sorcery rules are flexible and make sense, and are far more satisfying than the forgettable rules from The Marches which they replace. There is information about how many forces humans have and can have, how humans can become Soldiers, how humans can become aware of the Symphony, etc. There are rules for Saints (human souls who return to Earth after having been in heaven), ghosts (people who die but hang around on Earth), and Undead (including rules for how sorcerers may create them). (Note that the rules for ghosts were originally written by Kris Overstreet; unfortunatly, his name was inadvertantly omitted from the title page of the book.)

The "rules" chapters of the book are well written, and like most of the In Nomine line, are a good read. You don't feel like you're reading a bunch of dry game mechanics. Indeed, while reading some of the sections (such as the section on sorceres), I was inspired to think about how I could use all of this as a focus for an adventure or even a campaign.

There are a couple of shorter chapters on setting information. How do human agencies interact with the War? How do Soldiers and other humans really get used in the War? All of this helps to make humans more than just an afterthought which, by the way, are the whole reason for the War.

The final chapter, "The Human Arsenal," is not quite what you might think; it's not simply a list of big weapons to give humans a fighting chance against more powerful celestials. Rather, it is a short but value-filled chapter that consists of rules for a number of things which should be useful to any GM or character. There are well-written rules, in the lightweight and cinematic flavor characteristic of In Nomine, for explosives, sneaking past survelliance and security systems, poisons, diseases, and drugs.

As mentioned above, the Corporeal Players Guide is a good read. It not only gives you the information you need to let humans take their due role in your In Nomine campaign, but does provide inspiration for what might be done in an In Nomine game. The book is typeset in the two-column format (with some inset supplementary boxes) used throughout the line. The black and white art is average, with some pieces being quite good (and some which will look familiar to those who've read other SJ Games products). The cover is excellent; the mood and theme it evokes is just about perfect for a book on humanity's role in the In Nomine universe. It is probably my favorite In Nomine cover to date.

The Corporeal Players Guide does seem to be the first step in the obselesence of the Revelations Cycle. This book replaces, and does a better job at, a lot of the rules which originally appeared in Night Music and The Marches. My guess is that future In Nomine releases will continue this trend.

I recommend the Corporeal Player's Guide for any GM who is running or wants to run an In Nomine Camapaign. If you can only get one of the three player's guides, this is the one to get. This is partly because angels and demons are covered much better than are humans in the main In Nomine rule book, but also because this book provides much more useful information and play enhancing rules than either the Angelic or Infernal Player's Guide.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Corporeal Player's Guide
Author: David Edelstein Category: game Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Line: In Nomine Cost: 19.95 Page count: 128 ISBN: 1-55634-389-2 SKU: 3315 Capsule Review by R. Knop on 09/06/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Modern_day Superhero	The Corporeal Players Guide is Steve Jackson Games' latest players guide offering for In Nomine, completeing the set started by the Angelic Players Guide and the Infernal Players Guide. It's a nifty book that does a good job of fleshing out rules left somewhat vague in the main In Nomine rule book, and providing enough information for humans to take a meaningful and active role in an In Nomine game. Every In Nomine GM will benefit from this book, even if his campaign doesn't center on humans. The first section of the book is a short chapter on "Being Human." Perversely, I found this chapter more useful in understanding celestials. Real life gives me some idea about the human perspective on the world; reading what In Nomine has to say about the human perspective helps through the angelic and infernal perspective into higher relief. The bulk of the book is composed of rules. In and of itself, this can be a good thing, or a bad thing. In the Corporeal Player's Guide, it is very much a good thing. These are not rules which are supplanting the rules you've been using, throwing in gratuitous complexity, or otherwise modifying the core system. Rather, they are cool new things that people can do. A complete new system of sorcery is introduced. The new sorcery rules are flexible and make sense, and are far more satisfying than the forgettable rules from The Marches which they replace. There is information about how many forces humans have and can have, how humans can become Soldiers, how humans can become aware of the Symphony, etc. There are rules for Saints (human souls who return to Earth after having been in heaven), ghosts (people who die but hang around on Earth), and Undead (including rules for how sorcerers may create them). (Note that the rules for ghosts were originally written by Kris Overstreet; unfortunatly, his name was inadvertantly omitted from the title page of the book.) The "rules" chapters of the book are well written, and like most of the In Nomine line, are a good read. You don't feel like you're reading a bunch of dry game mechanics. Indeed, while reading some of the sections (such as the section on sorceres), I was inspired to think about how I could use all of this as a focus for an adventure or even a campaign. There are a couple of shorter chapters on setting information. How do human agencies interact with the War? How do Soldiers and other humans really get used in the War? All of this helps to make humans more than just an afterthought which, by the way, are the whole reason for the War. The final chapter, "The Human Arsenal," is not quite what you might think; it's not simply a list of big weapons to give humans a fighting chance against more powerful celestials. Rather, it is a short but value-filled chapter that consists of rules for a number of things which should be useful to any GM or character. There are well-written rules, in the lightweight and cinematic flavor characteristic of In Nomine, for explosives, sneaking past survelliance and security systems, poisons, diseases, and drugs. As mentioned above, the Corporeal Players Guide is a good read. It not only gives you the information you need to let humans take their due role in your In Nomine campaign, but does provide inspiration for what might be done in an In Nomine game. The book is typeset in the two-column format (with some inset supplementary boxes) used throughout the line. The black and white art is average, with some pieces being quite good (and some which will look familiar to those who've read other SJ Games products). The cover is excellent; the mood and theme it evokes is just about perfect for a book on humanity's role in the In Nomine universe. It is probably my favorite In Nomine cover to date. The Corporeal Players Guide does seem to be the first step in the obselesence of the Revelations Cycle. This book replaces, and does a better job at, a lot of the rules which originally appeared in Night Music and The Marches. My guess is that future In Nomine releases will continue this trend. I recommend the Corporeal Player's Guide for any GM who is running or wants to run an In Nomine Camapaign. If you can only get one of the three player's guides, this is the one to get. This is partly because angels and demons are covered much better than are humans in the main In Nomine rule book, but also because this book provides much more useful information and play enhancing rules than either the Angelic or Infernal Player's Guide. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)