In Nomine
RPG
Steve Jackson Games
208pp - [sterling]16.95
We've been waiting for SJG's game of angels and demons for some time now - 3
years, actually. In Nomine, based on the French RPGs "In Nomine
Satanis" and "Magna Veritas" has been held up by creative differences and the
boom in CCGs. The rulebook is beautifully presented with vivid artwork
throughout. Organisation is topsy-turvy however (no glossary till p69) and the
thing's a bitch to use in play - you're flipping back and forth all over the
place.
In Nomine posits PCs who are Celestials, that is current or
former angels or diabolicals (demons to you). Players create a Celestial
through a fairly simple point allocation system, choose an Angelic Choir
or Demonic Band to belong to and an Archangel or Demon
Prince to work for, design an earthly Vessel for their assignments
in the Corporeal Realm and equip themselves with a variety of Skills, magical
Artifacts, loyal Servants or miracle-working Songs.
The dice mechanic is lovely: the d666. This is three six-siders, one
different from the other two, all thrown at once. Two of the dice tell you if
you've succeeded (by rolling under the target number) or failed, while the odd
dice tells you how well you've succeeded or how badly you've blown it. Fair
enough. Roll three 1s and God intervenes (good for angels, bad for the other
team) while on a roll of 666, well, I think you can figure that out . . .
The concept is quite engaging. The totality of God's creation is known as
the Symphony and the angels are charged with protecting it; the demons,
rebelling, are trying to substitute their own personal symphony, rather than
accepting their place in someone else's. Any celestial intervention in the
Symphony is, to say the least, jarring, so if you break down a door or shoot a
dog or (heavens forbid!) kill a human being, the disturbance this causes in the
Symphony will be picked up by other Celestials for miles around. Actually,
that's not really true, because the game mechanic for determining if
disturbances in the Symphony are detected is awkward, impractical and
completely inappropriate during play. You've got to scrap it and concoct your
own house rules here, I'm afraid.
This musical motif continues. All Celestials have a Resonance with some
aspect of the Symphony, granting them extra powers through their Choir or
Demonic Band, or through the Archangel or Demon Prince they serve. Act
contrary to your celestial nature (or your Superior's commands) and you
generate Dissonance; if you diverge too far from your true resonance,
you start acquiring Discord, which manifests as physical mutations or
psychological hang-ups. You can find yourself flung out of Heaven (or Hell),
on the run, hunted by your former bosses and, yes, angels can turn into demons
while demons can seek redemption.
Dynamism in play comes from the interaction between your Superiors. Naturally,
the Demon Princes don't like each other much, but the Archangels are such
blinkered fanatics that the infighting and politicking in Heaven can be just as
scary. PCs may find that each of them, Paranoia-style, has been given a
different (and conflicting) mission from their boss. Add the Archangel
Dominic and Prince Asmodeus, who respectively run the heavenly and
infernal secret police, and you have angels inquisiting other angels and demons
spying on each other. A group of demonic PCs would make for particularly zany
play, as each tries to betray their comrades while lining their own pockets all
the time. Angelic play is, ironically, darker: the virtuous angels don't
resemble much that humans would call "good" and when the minions of
Gabriel start purging the world of wicked people and David's host
start whipping humanity into better shape with some divine tribulations, well .
. . value judgements start getting questioned. This game can be
thought-provoking.
Not all of the game is as well-considered. Servants of the Archangel
Janus or Prince Valefor are unable to spend more than 3 days in the
same city: tough on a poor GM who's slaved away on a detailed setting. More
problematic are two demonic Bands: the Habbalah and the Shedim.
Habbalah feel divinely ordained to punish mortals; this means someone
will be roleplaying a superhuman sadist whose goals consist of inflicting
suffering on any NPC mortal they can. Distasteful. Shedim possess
people but only so long as they can make the victim do increasingly evil
things: stealing a biro from work, building up to serial killings, adultery,
rape and torture. Can't speak for everyone, but there's no place for this sort
of thing in my campaigns. Shame too, since the other demons, like the lying
Balseraphs, obsessive Djinn and mental Calabim, are an
entertaining bunch and don't have this repugnant behaviour "built into" them.
Obviously, some critics may go further, decrying the whole product as
blasphemous and irreverent. Personally, I think the game can stand up to
criticism; it's a mature approach, mixing black humour with existentialist
dilemma; it discreetly avoids addressing God or any "real" issues of ultimate
good or evil. Role-playing angels and devils turns out to be another way of
addressing the human condition, and this is as it should be.
Regrettably, the setting is hinted at rather than explored. There's Heaven and
Hell, the dream realms, pagan spirits, undead and a whole history which gets
only cursory coverage. This rulebook gives you Character Generation, the rest
will (doubtless) follow in supplements.
Overall: In Nomine is well worth the wait, since it's clearly one of
the most innovative and adventurous RPGs on the market. It's a game under
development, not just in the haphazard layout of the rules: a lot of work
needs to be put into the cosmology, politics and history of the War, as well as
the earthly settings. Future supplements may well reshape the game
considerably, but this is an exciting start and I for one am definitely
hooked.
Reviewed by Jon Rowe
Product supplied by Caliver Books
