In Nomine Conversion for FATE Core

The final version of In Nomine Fate has been posted, and can be found here.

War of Souls: First Draft

War of Souls: The Power of Seven

Dean: I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos -- You know, Michael Landon. Not d***s.

Castiel: Read the Bible. Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier.

Dean: Yeah? Then, why didn't you fight?

Castiel: I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns.

- Supernatural, “Are You There God? It's Me, Dean Winchester”

Introduction

A majority of the world's population is religious. While religion can be defined in many ways, describing it as “the belief in spiritual beings” fits the three largest religions (Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism). All three religions refer to benevolent supernatural beings – angels in Christianity and Islam, and devas in Hinduism. Likewise, each of these religions has an opposing force to these beings. These dark opposites are called Demons, Devils, Iblis, Asuras...the name is less important than the simple fact that they oppose the benevolent powers.

The conflict between spiritual powers of Light and Darkness is a common theme in novels, television, and movies. War of Souls provides a framework that can be used on its own, or adapted to portray these supernatural beings as they are portrayed in many types of modern fiction. The one common thread is humanity – no matter how powerful these beings are, every human has the ability to decide their soul's final destination.

Terminology

War of Souls uses terms from Christianity, mainly because it is the most common inspiration for these stories in the Western media.

Angels are the forces of Good, and Heaven is the destination for virtuous souls. They are supervised by Archangels, the hands of God. In the default setting, they are tied to one of the seven Virtues, that shapes their purpose and outlook.

Demons are the forces of Evil, and Hell is the destination for malevolent souls. The most powerful of them are Devils, who answer to the Prince of Darkness (sometimes referred to as Satan, or Lucifer). Each demon is tied to a Vice (also known as the Seven Deadly Sins).

Mortals, or humanity, are the pawns in this struggle. However, to continue the chess analogy, they are not powerless, and a select few can become something much greater. All mortals have a Soul, which cannot be taken to Heaven or Hell by force. Every mortal has the free will to choose their own path, and the actions they take during their life determines their soul's final destination.

The Struggle is the battle between Heaven and Hell for souls. It is a covert war, hidden from humanity by mutual agreement. The Archangels believe that if the existence of Heaven and Hell is proven to humanity, faith would be rendered moot, and God would have no choice but to bring about the Day of Judgement. The Devils have a similar belief – they feel mortals would have little incentive to do evil if they had unassailable proof about the existence of Heaven, and Judgement Day would not go well for them.

Character Creation

Creating a character for War of Souls is similar to creating characters in other FATE Core games, with one additional step – picking whether your character is mortal, or supernatural. This choice determines what options will be available to your character, both in character creation and during gameplay.

Mortal

Mortals are similar to other Fate Core characters. However, they have a few advantages that allow them to stay competitive with the various supernatural beings that cross their path.

• The defining characteristic of a mortal is complete, unfettered free will. This is represented by a mortal's fate point total, and mortals recover fate points more quickly than celestials. In any scene where a mortal PC spends at least two fate points, they gain one fate point back at the end of the scene.
• Unlike Supernatural beings, mortals have an Extreme Consequence, in addition to the standard Mild/Moderate/Severe Consequences. This consequence has a value of eight, reducing the shift value of the attack by the shift value of the consequence as normal. However, this represents damage that cannot be recoved from through normal play, and it stays until its removal can be justified in play (usually when a major milestone occurs). The removal generally involves divine (or infernal) intervention, and leaves a mark – one of the character's aspects must be modified to illustrate the lasting impact of the consequence.
• Many mortals dealing with the supernatural world have uncovered ancient lore or powerful relics. These are Extras that mortals can buy – and in some cases, only mortals have access to them.
• Most technology (Industrial Revolution and later) has the aspect By Humans, For Humans. Mortal PCs can compel this aspect to cause technology to fail when used by a divine being...unless the divine being has the item as an aspect. Example: John attempts to compel By Humans, For Humans to cause the demon's shotgun to misfire, but the demon has the aspect This Is My Boomstick!, and ignores the compel.
• Every mortal aware of the Struggle has the attention of higher powers, and is considered a great asset. In a life-threatening situation, the player can spend two fate points to call on divine (or infernal) intervention. This automatically places a new aspect on the scene, chosen by the gamemaster. This aspect will protect the mortal (and occasionally, nearby allies) from permanent harm...though it cannot alter the result of a conflict.

Celestials (Angels/Demons/Other)

Celestials are angels, demons, or (rarely) other beings with a spark of divinity. They are spiritual beings, that take on human form in order to interact with humanity.

• All celestials have restrictions placed on them by a higher power. Angels must follow the word of God, while demons must avoid defying the commands of Lucifer. Because they only have limited free will, they are subject to certain unavoidable compels (generally involving their virtue or vice – see below). In addition, players of celestials cannot directly invoke a mortal's High Concept or Trouble. Instead, they must place aspects on the scene that allow them to indirectly invoke a mortal's aspect.
• Angels personify one of the seven Virtues – Chastity, Temperance, Charity, Diligence, Patience, Kindness, and Humility. Their chosen virtue is typically part of their High Concept. They cannot be compelled by the opposing vice, or take actions that would violate their core virtue. However, it is still possible for an angel to succumb to a difference vice.
• Demons personify a vice, which is typically one of the seven deadly sins – Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride. Their vice should be part of their High Concept...or their Trouble. They cannot be compelled by the opposing virtue unles aspects have been placed on them that make them vulnerable. For example, a demon of Lust could be compelled to Chastity if the right aspects were placed on it over time (beginning with I Like Her, then I Care For Her Deeply, and finally I Love Her More Than Myself)
• Celestials must have a vessel to walk the Earth. Every celestial character gets one vessel by default, which is a body without an occupying soul. The vessel has been carefully inserted into mortal society, so that it does not seem out of place. Vessels do not gain an Extreme consequence. In addition, taking a Serious consequence renders the vessel unusable at the end of the scene (even from Social consequences). When a vessel is lost, the celestial must return to their place of origin (Heaven or Hell) and complete a challenge to acquire a new vessel and return to Earth.
• Celestials start with a supernatural ability - Angelic Recovery for Angels, and Demonic Toughness for Demons. They may buy other supernatural abilities with Refresh, and can trade in some of their starting stunts for added supernatural abilities (with 1 Stunt granting the equivalent of 1 Refresh). Most celestials also purchase Inhuman Strength, bringing their starting Refresh to 1.

Blending (Meta-Skill)

Celestials gain access to a meta-skill called Blending, which is purchased as part of the character's skill tree (and must be purchased at a minimum of +1). The character can substitute the Blending meta-skill for one skill (chosen when the vessel is created) that is relevant to the character's role in mortal society. For example, a vessel that has a background as a race-car driver could use the Blending skill to substitute for Drive.

Blending Stunts

• Understanding of Humanity. The Blending skill can now duplicate two skills instead of one. The second skill is one rank lower than the first. For example, a vessel with a background as a Private Investigator for a character who has Blending (+3) could duplicate Investigate (+3) and Notice (+2). This stunt can be bought more than once, giving an additional skill each time...but each skill is a point lower than the previous one.
• Split Attention. If the character has the Extra: Spare Vessel, they may draw upon that vessel's background to choose skills for Blending, even if they aren't currently occupying that vessel.

Vessel Extras

Normally, a celestial character has access to a single vessel. However, some talented (or well-connected) celestials have access to more than one vessel, or can even call upon a mortal to host them.

• Extra: Spare Vessel – The celestial has a spare vessel ready for use. Once per adventure, the character can return from their point of origin (Heaven or Hell) without going through a challenge. This is fairly quick, allowing the character to be back on Earth in the next Scene.
• Extra: Willing Vessel – A mortal has willingly offered to host the celestial. This is a body that already has a soul. This allows the character to take a Serious consequence without making the vessel unviable. In combination with Extra: Spare Vessel, the character can keep the vessel involved with mortal life while they are in a different vessel. However, the character is expected to treat the vessel well, as it is one of the faithful that is loyal to their side of the Struggle. When the celestial is not occuping this vessel, assume the mortal has skill equal to the celestial's Blending skill for their primary skill (the one chosen for their background), and the celestial's Blending skill minus one for all other skills.
• Extra: Possession – The character can possess an unwilling mortal to use as a vessel. For this to occur, the mortal must have opened themselves up to possession, either through an unwise bargain made with the celestial, or by activately engaging in a virtue or vice that matches the celestial's aspect. Once the mortal is possessed, they can only escape by spending a fate point, or by the celestial's departure (by choice, exorcism, etc).
• Extra: Dual Vessel – The character can occupy two vessels at once, no matter the distance between them. Only one vessel can be actively controlled at a time, which means the other vessel is either unable to act (if soulless) or uncontrolled (if willing or possessed). The Blending skill can only duplicate the skill of the active vessel (unless the character has the Blending stunt of Split Attention). This Extra can be taken more than once, adding an extra vessel each time, but only one can be active.

Supernatural Powers

Celestials can have a wide variety of supernatural powers. These will be fleshed out in more detail in future writeups. Until that occurs, players can utilize the Supernatural Powers section of the Dresden Files RPG for power writeups, in addition to the powers listed below.

Angelic Recovery

Costs: Free for Angels (equivalent of 2 Refresh)

In combat, once per scene, you may clear away a mild physical consequence. In addition, you refer from physical consequences as if they were one level lower in severity. This does not allow you to prevent the loss of a vessel from a Severe consequence, though you do heal faster if you have another way to avoid losing the vessel (such as Extra: Willing Vessel).

This is the equivalent of Inhuman Recovery in the Dresden Files RPG for purposes of upgrading this power to a higher level. It also is an exception to the normal rules for toughness powers, in that it does not have a Catch. If upgraded to a higher level, the Catch: Celestial Weaponry (a +1 discount) must be added, which will reduce the power to the base Angelic Recovery if met.

Demonic Toughness

Costs: Free for Demons (equivalent of 2 Refresh)

You have Armor: 1 versus any defense roll against physical damage, and 2 additional boxes of physical stress capacity. This comes with the Catch: Celestial Weaponry (a +1 discount). In addition, the demon has an extra Mild consequence for physical stress.

This is the equivalent of Inhuman Toughness in the Dresden Files RPG for purposes of upgrading this power to a higher level.

Celestial Recall

Cost: 1 Refresh

In any scene where you are not restricted by a supernatural obstacle, you may use your turn to immediately transition back to Heaven/Hell. You can then return to any (unguarded) location on Earth in the following scene.

Celestial Transport

Cost: 1 Refresh (requires Celestial Recall)

Instead of returning to Heaven or Hell with Celestial Recall, you may spend a fate point to immediately transition to any unguarded location on Earth...even a different zone in the same scene. This is the equivalent of moving a single zone, allowing the celestial to perform another action.