In Nomine Cortex Plus

IN NOMINE A Cortex Action Hack In the beginning, God created the Symphony. The Symphony is all important: it pervades, drives, reflects, and encapsulates the whole of Creation. The angels were created to act as God's direct instruments in the Symphony. To this end, each was given a Resonance, a particular ability to hear and interpret certain melodies within the Symphony as a whole. The resonance of an angel is more than this, however. It also defines his nature, and to act contrary to his Resonance separates an angel to some degree from the Symphony and the purpose for which he was created. Part of the heavenly host chose to do this. Led by Lucifer, they tried to impose their own order on the Symphony. Their revolt failed: Lucifer was defeated by the Archangel Michael and the demons were driven from Heaven and cast into Hell. They found that their connection to the Symphony was altered: instead of revelation, their new Resonances were devoted to subverting the Symphony to their own selfish desires. Then along came humans, and with the Fall of Man demons discovered that they could snatch their eternal souls from Heaven's embrace. And so the War continues...

CHARACTER CREATION Name: Pick one sufficiently angel-ly. And badass. And put an –el on the back end of it, because those sound the best. You’ve seen The Prophecy, right? Like that. Distinctions: Select two. Each is rated at a (d8) if advantageous or a (d4) plus a Plot Point if a detriment. • Choir/Superior, which is a very beneficial Asset, allows for the following actions. See the In Nomine Wiki for specific details on Choirs and Superiors. o Move between Creation, the Marches, Heaven, or Hell o Utilize your Choir’s Resonance or reflect its Dissonance o Utilize your Resonance to your Superior’s Word or reflect its Dissonance • Another Distinction of some type, the specifics of which should be decided by yourself and the GM. Notable examples include specific Artifacts or Tethers. Intentions: These are objectives for the game session, defined in play in exchange for a Plot Point. Each character must establish a minimum of one Intention per Episode. Mechanically, each is rated at a (d8) if advantageous or a (d4) plus a Plot Point if a detriment in the given situation.

Different characters may not share the same Intention, and before a new Intention can be declared within a session, the first must be Won, Lost, or Renounced. Forces: Measure your attunement to the different aspects of the Symphony. Rate one a (d10), another (d8), and the third with a (d6). • Corporeal – Actions within Creation • Ethereal – Actions within the Marches • Celestial – Actions within either Heaven or Hell Approaches: The methods you use in the service of the Symphony. Rate one (d10), two with (d8), one with (d6), and the last (d4). • Wrath – Suffering and death • Dominion – Commanding presence and strength of will • Revelation – Understanding and investigation • Subterfuge – Remaining unseen and undetected • Embassy – Persuasiveness and diplomacy

ACTIONS, SCENES AND BEATS When PCs and/or NPCs are at odds, and one side wants something the other side just won’t give them, either an invested player or the GM can declare it’s time to roll dice. The GM always gets the initial say on which Action Type—Basic, Contested, Timed—will be used. If the GM decides to use a Basic Action, the losing side can’t turn the contest into a Contested Action unless the winning side rolls a one. Then, the losing side may choose to activate the resulting Opportunity and extend the contest into a Contested Action. The winning side’s result stands and the loser rolls again to attempt to Raise the Stakes. Follow the Contested Action rules until resolved. A Taken Down result gives the winner wide sway over a defeated PC—capture and exile are just a few possible results a Taken Down character can expect (see below). Remember the “Giving In” option. Also, only a PC’s player can declare her PC dead. You can leave her for dead, but that’s the limit.

DECIDING WHAT TRAITS TO ROLL The GM always gets the initial say on which Force and Approach apply to the current action based on the situation and the players’ description of their efforts. The GM is encouraged to go for the obvious choice, guided by the “Consequences and Conditions” section.

For instance, if one character desires to physically harm another within the confines of Creation, call for (Corporeal + Wrath). In Contested Actions, players may get a chance to switch up Force and Approach dice by activating Opportunities, as described below. Basic Action: The GM first creates and rolls the opposition die pool to Set the Stakes. The GM determines the dice in the pool as follows: • Two dice from applicable Traits belonging to an opposing NPC or • One die representing a situation plus one die representing the complexity of the task or • (2d6) when no particular Traits apply. • The GM may include Distinction (d8 or d4), Intention (d8 or d4), Asset (d6) and/or an opponent’s Complication (d6‐d12) dice when applicable • Each additional opponent in a group adds his highest applicable die to the die pool Now, create the Character’s Die Pool. • Pick up the appropriate Force die & relevant Approach dice. • The GM may include Distinction (d8 or d4), Intention (d8 or d4), Asset (d6) and/or an opponent’s Complication (d6‐d12) dice when applicable Now, roll the pool and add the two highest‐rolling dice (ones are never added). • If the total is five or more higher than the GM’s total: Extraordinary Success (things go perfectly) • If the total is higher than the GM’s total: Success (things go as you expect) • If the total is equal to or less than the GM’s total: Failure (things go wrong) o If the GM rolls any ones, you get an Opportunity. o If you roll any ones the GM may give you a Plot Point and either inflicts a (d6) Complication or raise the die‐size of an existing Complication by one step. Contested Action: Both sides build and roll their die pools as above, but in Contested Actions, PCs roll first. • If the total is higher than the GM’s total, the GM decides if the opposition Gives In or attempts to Raise the Stakes. • If the total is equal to or less than the GM’s total you decide if you want to Give In or attempt to Raise the Stakes. To Raise the Stakes, pick up your dice pool again and re‐roll. • If your total is now higher than the opposition, you have Raised the Stakes and the opposition must respond. If contesting with a group, one Extra (and his die) is knocked out of the group. • If you failed to Raise the Stakes, you are Taken Down.

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If your roll Raises the Stakes by five or more, you get an Extraordinary Success; a single opponent is immediately Taken Down or two Extras (and their dice) are knocked out of a group. o If the GM rolls any ones, you get an Opportunity. o If you roll any ones, the GM gets an Opportunity. Timed Actions GM determines the number of Beats available, during which the PCs will take a series of Basic Actions: • Each Success uses one Beat • Each Extraordinary Success uses no Beats • Each Failure uses two Beats A PC can make a Basic Action solely intended to stall the opposition. • Success returns one Beat • Extraordinary Success returns two Beats • Failure prevents the character from acting again during the Timed Contest The outcome of a Timed Action is determined as follows: • Beat count = (0) before all Actions are completed: Failure, with the option to escape. • Beat count = (0) with all Actions completed: Success or a clean getaway. • Beat count > (0) with all Actions completed: Success and a clean getaway. Giving In: If you Give In, you lose the contest but leave the scene on your own terms, suffering a (d6) Complication (or step up an existing one) in the process and earning a Plot Point. Taken Down: If you are Taken Down, you lose the contest and are at the mercy of the opposition, taking a Condition.

OPPORTUNITIES AND COMPLICATIONS Remember those rolled ones mentioned earlier, the ones that cannot be used in your total? Each of these becomes an Opportunity in the current Contested Action. By spending a Plot Point to activate an Opportunity, a player or GM may: • Take a free beat to attempt to remove (or step back) a Complication being used against you, if you can provide narrative justification. • Inflict a (d6) Complication or step up a pre-existing Complication by one die size. • Take a free Establishment Flashback (see below). • Change a Basic Action to a Contested Action. • In a Contested Action, add a second Approach (that you can narratively justify) to future rolls.

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In a Contested Action, switch both parties’ Approaches or Forces dice to a new type, as narratively appropriate. In a Timed Action, switch a Force or Approach die in a way your group agrees makes narrative sense and reroll the current beat; you must take the new result.

CONDITIONS Being Taken Down bears differing result, depending upon the Approach used. • When you use Wrath and win a Contested Action, your opposition is Broken. This can mean injured, dead, incapacitated, trashed, or smashed. • When you win using Embassy, your opponent is Beguiled. This can mean impressed, delighted, enamored, rapt, galvanized, or propitiated. • When you win using Subterfuge, your opponent is Confounded. This can mean faked out, ambushed, obfuscated, evaded, robbed, or misled. • When you win using Dominion, your opponent is Mastered. This can mean commanded, exhausted, worn down, or sapped of conviction and will. • When you win using Revelation, your opponent is Revealed. This can mean outmaneuvered, captured, discerned, comprehended, or explored.

PLOT POINTS You earn Plot Points for things that drive the game forward, entangle yourself with other PCs and NPCs, and constructively engage fellow PCs in conflict. Earn them: • When you declare an Imperative. • When you Give In to end a Contested Action against another PC. • When you Defer or Renounce an Imperative. See “Ending an Episode”. • When the GM spends a Plot Point to activate an Opportunity against you. • Any time you choose to roll an Imperative or Distinction as a (d4).

SPENDING PLOT POINTS Plot Points can be spent to include more dice into your total and to create new Assets. • Include More Dice - After any roll, you may spend a Plot Point to include more dice out of those you just rolled in your total. In this way, your total may be three, four, or five dice added together. The only limit to how many dice you may add to your total is how many dice you rolled to begin with and how many Plot Points you have available. • Create an Asset - You can create a Scene Asset by spending a Plot Point. Your new Asset starts out as a (d6) and lasts for the rest of the scene. If you spend two Plot Points, you can keep it for the rest of the Mission—assuming something doesn’t happen to remove or eliminate it. This allows you to give some dramatic weight to a person, place, or thing. • Activate an Opportunity – See the above section on Opportunities.

ESTABLISHMENT FLASHBACKS Spend a Plot Point; describe a brief flashback scene and roll for your Basic Action in that scene. • If your roll succeeds, create a (d6) Asset for use in your current Scene. • If your roll fails, the GM explains why your revealed activity didn’t help your current situation.

ENDING AN EPISODE End an Episode when all PC Imperatives have been Won, Lost, Renounced or Deferred. • Won: Your PC achieved the Imperative; e.g. escaped the Temporal Thicket. • Lost: Your PC can no longer achieve the Imperative; e.g. her husband was murdered despite her efforts. • Renounced: Your PC gives up on the Imperative; e.g. “Why are we even fighting? We’re both victims here!” • Deferred: Your PC has been balked at every turn, and group consensus agrees that a good stopping point for the session has been reached.

OPPONENTS Angels and their demonic counterparts are exceptionally potent. But rather than reflect that by inflating die sizes, we reduce the baseline. For example, a typical mortal possesses all three Forces at (d4), with all Approaches at either (d4) or (d6) and possessed of no Assets (Distinctions or Intentions). Saints, undead, magi, and minor spirits either possess all Forces at (d6) or a (d8/d6/d4) distribution, possessing one or two Assets, and with Approaches rated from (d4) to (d8), most typically a (d8/d6/d6/d4/d4) spread. Nemesis-level characters such as angels, demons, and the most potent of Ethereals are created just as PCs are. More powerful opponents are subject to GM fiat, and should be used sparingly as a result.

A SAMPLE CHARACTER Name: Adoniel Distinctions: Malachite of Gabriel (d8/d4), Bears a Silver Sword (d8/d4) Intention: To be Defined in Play (d8/d4) Forces: Corporeal (d10), Ethereal (d6), Celestial (d8) Approaches: Wrath (d10), Dominion (d8), Revelation (d6), Subterfuge (d8), Embassy (d4) Plot Points: Currently None Complications: Currently None