Backgrounds for Angel/Demon: The
Rapture
By Jack Rogers ([email protected]) for Angel/Demon: The
Rapture
Author's Notes
I would like to give credit to some people who helped me with this:
Ben (for his ideas for demonic artifacts and some of the backgrounds)
Justine (for reminding me that there were ways that this should not be
done)
Next, the response.
It's good, very good indeed. The secondI read it I decided to include them
in my Storyteller game and frankly I will be most disappointed if Guardian
Angel and Witches do not appear soon. The only problem I have with it is
the ridiculous amount of successes needed to enter a human with no effects.
Please modify this in the 3rd edition.
As for the backgrounds for angels and demons: how can you say that you can
not think of any? It took less than a minute for my friends and I to come
up with ideas for backgrounds... Here:
Angel Backgrounds
Holy Artifact
A holy artifact is an item that for some reason is a part of the angel. It
has been ordained by a greater force that this item shall be needed by the
angel to perform the tasks that will confront it. These items can only be
conjured up with the expenditure of a willpower point and last until
banished by the user. They appear as glowing (or fiery) outlines of what
they should look like. They should only be visible to particular
supernatural creatures (Storyteller discretion) and those with true
faith.
Examples:
- Sword of faith
- Shield of love
- Trumpet of Jericho
- A branch from the Burning Bush
- A basket from the shores of Galilee (feeding of the 5000)
- A lock of Samson's hair
I won't define what they are because that is the choice of the player and
the Storyteller but if the ones above are chosen, I personally would think
them to be 4-5 point artifacts if they do what I think they should
do.
Divine Knowledge
An angel should be able to call upon a certain amount of divine knowledge.
This can take the form of answered questions and knowledge of Talents,
Skills, and Knowledges. In effect, it is similar to Dream (see Mage: The
Ascension).
Precognition/Postcognition
Timeless as they are angels, should be able to see from the past and
predict the future. This is not the laying of cards or gawking at teabags;
they just know. It is closely linked to the Divine Knowledge background
and should not be bought higher than Divine Knowledge.
Following
A Following is a group of people who believe in and when shown, recognise
the character. They know when he is on the earth and will try to help
him/her (it?) and generally at least one of them will have True Faith.
This is a combination of the Backgrounds Allies, Contacts, Retainers and
Herd. When with his following the angel will regain Willpower at 1 per
half an hour (Herd). If with them in a religious ceremony and giving
worship the angel will be at -1 difficulty to any dice roll made
(Retainers). They are not bound to him at all but they are the
equivalent of good friends. They will have friend who have friends (Allies
and Contacts). This background is purchased on a 2 points for 1 point
scale for both freebies and starting points. For every dot you have in
following you have 3 followers. Only 1 person in the following will have
True fFaith for it is a rare thing in the World of Darkness.
Justice
This power is not flaunted by the angels and only becomes available to them
at certain times. By simply looking at the person or persons, the angel
will then call upon God to call judgement upon them. An evil man will see
his evil and despair at what he has done: the misfortune hatred, pain, fear
and loathing he has done to others is inflicted on him in one go. Few
survive the ordeal and those who do are forever changed for they have been
judged now and know where they will be going.
This power is not available unless it is asked for by the Storyteller and
then only rarely. For an example of how it might be used, consider a tramp
who has become an ally of the PCs gets caught in an explosion while saving
a young child. He is close to death so the Storytellers says that Justice
be done and the tramp be allowed to know his fate. A look of horror
crosses the tramps face as he looks past the players, but slowly the horror
fades and the peace of angels comes over his face; his last selfless act
has saved his soul and he shall be with god at the appointed time. The
flip side of the coin is calling Justice on a Hitler or a vampire; then you
will see some of the worst effects of justice imaginable.
Sleep of Angels
This is a strange power but useful nonetheless. By rolling Charisma +
Sleep of Angels, an angel is able to enter into the sleeping mind of the
person and give him peaceful dreams. With 5 successes, this can be done on
an entire town. The difficulty in the World of Darkness is rarely less
than 7 but in some places it may be lower. This cannot be done when the
angel is entrance of someone.
Patronage
For some reason, the angel is linked to the patrons and is able to call
upon their talents when they are in entrance of someone. Example patrons
include St. Nicholas, St. Patrick, St. George, etc. It requires a
Patronage roll, difficulty 9 - the planet that you have risen to (Luna = 1,
Venus = 2 and so on). The effects are decided upon by the Storyteller and
depend on the saint you call. It does require a player do some research on
some saints so that he knows "who he's gonna call."
Demon Backgrounds
Demons have powers similar to the angels but they use different names and
have slightly different effects.
Infernal Artifact
The Belial's answer to the Holy Artifact. For ideas, consult the Book of
the Wyrm. Other artifacts are perverted versions of holy ones (e.g. Sword
of Logic, Shield of Hate). Basically, anything that would inspire the
Seven Deadly Sins would be appropriate. In general, these artifacts
perform a set task and then return to the demon's hands.
Infernal Knowledge
This is identical to Divine Knowledge.
Precognition/Postcognition
This is identical to the Angel power.
Worshippers
This is identical to Followers, except that the ceremonies performed are
Satanic.
Injustice
The opposite of Justice. It makes a person believe the opposite of the
truth. For example, a good man would believe he is going to hell and would
listen to the demon if he told him how he could go to Heaven. An evil man
may believe he is going to Heaven and should carry on what he's
doing.
Waking Nightmares
This is the demonic equivalent to Sleep of Angels. It creates nightmares
so real that people sometimes die in their sleep and often become too
terrified to sleep. While awake, the people may not realize the
differences between their dreams and the world as it is. The difficulty
for this is usually only 6 and is hardly greater than 7, being that it is
the World of Darkness.
Minions
As demons can't get Patronage, they instead call upon minor demons or imps
who will prod, break, hurt, torture, taunt or do whatever is asked for
by the demon. They want to be favored by the demon so they can rise in
status themselves. Roll Minions (difficulty 6), with each success summoning
five imps. Give the minions base stats of 2, with Skills in things like
Torture, Culture, Empathy, Brawl and Dodge, all at 1 or 2.
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