VV - There are two links in the initial post that go over the backdrop to In Nomine. It is set in the real world, with important twists.
Before I get into this, now is a good time to stick in the disclaimer: In Nomine can be disturbing, which is unsurprising for a game where people can play demons. It does play fast and loose with some theological concepts, which can be very disconcerting to those who know how those concepts work in the real world. If this is going to bother anyone playing or reading, I apologize, but In Nomine is really not the game for you. Also, if any of you have come specifically to explicitly describe torture, extreme sadism, forcing people to do certain things against their will, or other adult-rated material,
leave. Those things may happen in game due to it being in the nature of certain characters, but they will only happen off-screen.
Quick and dirty summary of the setting:
Heaven and Hell are very real, and the Judeo-Christian tradition is more or less right (though IN adds many very important details and interprets some things differently.)
The way the Roper bit works is the stipulation that important ideas can gain power and sentience, becoming Ethereals. For lack of a faster way to describe it, they are effectively animated dreamstuff. Ethereals usually are only spawned from concepts that are neither particularly angelic nor particularly demonic, or are worshipped as pagan deities (for example, War is such a huge concept that there an Archangel, a Demon Prince, and several ancient pagan deities might all be considered embodiments of it . . . though obviously emphasizing different aspects of war.)
DnD has a lot of players; those players dream dreams . . . voila, a dream of a roper somewhere gains sentience and power.
Ambrus said:
Heh. Although I admire you desire to run such a unique concept, I can't say that it particularly appeals to me. I can't even imagine how I'd go about making an appropriate character.
Well, it's a weird job. You don't need to make abnormal characters, really; that's part of the point. ("We have to go WHERE and do WHAT?")
Now if you were running a D20 Modern game in which the PCs were opposing groups of democrats and republicans trying to win over a non-partisan manatee in Florida I'd be all over that game. Kidding.
Heh. I know it seems equally bizarre; the hook is . . . if all those politicians really WERE swarming a manatee in FL, wouldn't you want to know what was going on?
As more of the story reveals itself, we will probably include trips to the Corporeal Plane. I just want to make it clear that a lot of important stuff happens in the Ethereal so I don't get "Here's my character: a 10-force Malakim of Lawrence with maxed combat skills and the perceptiveness of a dumber-than-average rock."
And the omens, of course, have their own reasons for existing . . . )
