ANGEL/DEMON

Chapter Five: Systems

Cherubim/Belial Interactions

When and angel and demon come into contact with each other there is an electric arching that can be seen by all around them. This is the two wills touching. At this time the two beings can try to force the other out of its host. This can be done a number of ways.
• Using Hellfire or the Sword of Michael and draining the will of the other being causes it to lose it connection to Eden, which forces it back to its home sphere.



• If the two are touching, and uttering a Challenge, the Angel or Demon may drag the other into the Deep Umbra to battle for Banishment.

The Deep Umbra is the paths from the angel's home realm to Eden. They travel through it at supernatural speeds arriving in Eden almost instantly. Other than this, the only use for the Deep Umbra is for Angels and Demons to do Battle. The Angel or Demon must challenge another Demon or Angel.

This is accomplished by the Angel touching the Demon and Calling a Challenge to Heaven, or the Demon touching the Angel and calling a Challenge to Hell. Once the Challenge has been given, the Angel or Demon may resist by making a Willpower roll vs difficulty of 8, gaining a number of successes equal to the others Willpower. If accepted both the angel and demon travel to the Deep Umbra to battle each other in an attempt to banish the other. As you can see, it is quite difficult to resist a challenge, and once accepted it is a binding contract on both the angel and the demon. If defeated the Angel or Demon is subject to the Banishing. (see below)

Event	System
Initiative	Wits vs difficulty of 4
Attack	Willpower vs difficulty of 6
Defend	Willpower vs difficulty of 7
Damage	Successes on an attack not cancelled by the defence drains Willpower.
Victory	Once one combatant has been reduced to zero Willpower that combatant is banished.

The Banishing is the result of losing a challenge, and forces an Angel or Demon to remain in his home realm for a period of time longer than normal. This is a variable length of time; Angels are usually banished for a number of days equal to their Willpower, taking longer to recuperate due to the banishment. Demons are usually banished for good, or for years equal to his Willpower as punishment for his failures on Eden. When banished, the Angel or Demon is forcibly returned to its home realm.

Pseudo-Choirs

The Fallen and the Sundered are not real Choirs, but they are groups nevertheless. They have no sphere, but exist in the Deep Umbra. Here they converge in groups to create pocket realms in which to live in. Although these pocket realms are based in the Deep Umbra, they are treated like any other realm in relation to travelling the Deep Umbra, Banishing, etc.

Cherubim/Belial - Mortal Fusions

If a player rolls a botch on his Entrance roll he will suffer from a Mortal Fusion. This happens when the Angelic/Demonic qualities of a character emerge in the physical form of the mortal host. These fusions give the character bonuses to its physical attributes but make it hard for the character to interface with society. The Angel or Demon will be trapped in that form for a number of days equal to the number of botches he scored.

The Angel/Mortal Fusion turns the skin into a rather greyish white color, growing about 6 inches in height and shedding a good 50 to 100 pounds. The bones and limbs lengthen. Facial features become sharp and pointed, and the eyes glow with an eerie light. On their backs, a pair of shrunken useless wings form, and another finger grows out of the side of the hand. Mortal fusions gain one die in both Strength and Stamina, and gain two dice in Dexterity. Appearance drops to zero. Most people, upon seeing the fusion, will flee in terror as per the delirium.

The Demon/Mortal Fusion results in the body's mass doubling, a good 150 pounds gained in muscle, with 4 or 5 inches in height increases. The forehead sprouts short horns, and the teeth become fangs. Fingernails become claws, and a pair of semiuseful wings sprout from the back. Mortal Fusion gains 2 dice in both Strength and Stamina, but lose one die in dexterity. Appearance is reduced to zero. The claws can be used like vampires, and the wings allow the Demon to Glide (not fly). They also get a bite attack like a werewolf, but this does not produce aggravated damage. The Demon now has no ability to interact with mortal society period. This fusion results in a terrifying killing machine. All mortals who witness it, are subject to the Delirium and will flee in terror.

Retained Powers

When angels enter a host, they may find that it has special powers, like the Vampiric Disciplines, or the Werewolf Gifts. If they had scored 8 or more successes apon the entering, they may attempt to learn these powers themselves, and carry them from host to host. Angels and Demons may teach each other these powers as well. Angels should be wary of learning Necromancy as it will cause them to fall from grace.

Experience

Angels and Demon characters gain experience just like any other characters. Raising traits, however, is rather more expensive.

Trait	Cost
New Ability	5
Willpower	Current rating x 5
Abilities	Current rating x 4
Attributes	Current rating x 6
Choir Power	Current rating x 5
New Choir Power	7
Retained Power	Current rating x 7
New Retained Power	10
True Faith	Current rating x 5

Why are they more expensive? Angels have been around for Eternity, so it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Secondly, they don't tend to stay around long enough to learn any new skills or improve the ones they have too often.

Rising through the Spheres

This represents an angel's or demon's grace in the eyes of God and Lucifer. As the angel or demon performs good or bad deeds, God or Lucifer will look more favorably upon him. Should he perform bad or good deeds, his grace may very well be torn from him, resulting in a demotion to a lesser realm. Should a Luna or Purgatory realm angel or demon lose his grace, he will become a Fallen angel or Sundered demon, trapped upon Eden and the Deep Umbra in an attempt to redeem himself before God and Lucifer.

Realm Chart

Realm	Maximum Willpower	Maximum Faith
Deep Umbra	7	3
Luna/Purgatory	8	4
Venus/Styx	9	5
Mercury/Erebus	10	6
Sol/Tartarus	12	7
Mars/Hades	14	8
Jupiter/Sheol	16	9
Saturn	20	10

To rise in realm requires an increasing amount of good deeds. Generally, it is up to the Storyteller to decide what is a good deed and counts to the character's total. These good deeds should generally spread the word and belief in God to a portion of the mortal populace. When an Angel has enough good deeds, he will be tested before he can raise to the next realm. Each test will be tailored to the angel in question, and seldom do they repeat. This test should test the angels faith, courage, and self-confidence at the very least.

Angelic Realm	Required Good Deeds	Demonic Realm	Required Bad Deeds
Luna	10	Purgatory	10
Venus	20	Styx	30
Mercury	40	Erebus	60
Sol	60	Tartarus	100
Mars	80	Hades	140
Jupiter	100	Sheol	200
Saturn	150

Note: Storytellers are encouraged to keep track of this number so that the Angel doesn't know how close he is to the next realm.

Chapter Six: The World of Darkness

The Eternal Battle

Exactly how does the battle between the Cherubim and the Belial work? What weapons do they have to fight with? Well, most of the battle for the Cherubim is trying to find the enemy. Unless the Belial is a fusion, there is no way to tell him apart from the other mortals by sight. If the Cherub comes into contact with the Belial then there is the tell tale arching of wills, but without physical contact the task is almost impossible. The Cherubim usually have to wait for the body count to start rising before they can track down the Belial, but this is a rather morbid method of detection. A Cherub must be part detective, part warrior, and all careful. This is a most dangerous war that the angels are fighting, and the mortals are the only casualties.

Allies and Antagonists

How does Angel/Demon fit into the World of Darkness? How do they relate to the supernatural beings that inhabit it? So far we have only covered the Angels relation to the Mortals of earth, their main area of concern. But the World of Darkness is filled with creatures of a much stranger type, and their eternal struggle the Angels will eventually have to come in contact with them.

The Umbra: The Umbra, either near or deep, is not the home of the Angels. They are from a realm that exists outside even this vast realm, only accessible through the extreme boundaries of the Umbra. The Angels mainly only travel through the Umbra on their way to or from the mundane reality. They are not restricted by the Gauntlet or the Horizon, and they seldom stay in the Umbra for long. However, the Angels can enter into the Umbra just as they can enter into Eden, if they found it necessary. Like in Eden, the angels will probably need a host in that particular realm, unless they are of the Fallen or Sundered. It is easier for an angel to enter into the Umbra because of its closeness to the angel's own sphere. Difficulty is one less in the Near Umbra and two less in the Deep. Of course, the implications of an Angel inhabiting the form of a Celestine is kind of hard to perceive. This I must leave up to the individual Storyteller to decide.

Vampire: The Masquerade: Can an angel enter into the body of a Vampire? Yes, as long as the Vampire has sufficient humanity (see chart above). Does the angel get all the powers of the Vampire? Well, yes and no. If the angel integrates well enough with the Vampire then he will get all his Advantages and Disciplines. But if the Vampire's personality is completely suppressed, the Angel just gets the use of the Vampire's blood pool and other basic abilities. Yes, the angel must still feed. And yes, if the personalities are fully integrated the angel is still bonded by a blood bond. Is it against the rules for a Cherub to kill a vampire? After all, they're supposed to only not kill mortals. The simple answer to this question is no. Refer to Genesis for reasons why. Any of a Vampire's mind powers will not work on an Angel when he is in any body. They are considered to be a higher generation than even Caine.

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Again, yes an angel can enter into the body of a Werewolf, and the same rules apply for integrating Gifts, etc. The angel gets the use of the Werewolf shape-shifting powers, though if a angel doesn't integrate the Werewolf's Primal Urge, changing form maybe rather dangerous. I'm sure you we all imagine how powerful a Belial - Werewolf fusion can be.

Mage: The Ascension: Angels can enter into the body of a Mage just as they can enter into the body of any other mortal. If they integrate the Mages Spheres they can use them also. Remember that angels do not gain their powers from Quintessence. Any Mage powers that they may have can only come from the Mage herself. The pattern of an angel is totally immutable. Any of a Mages powers that would affect the mind or spirit will have no effect on an angel. Of course, a good lightning bolt will fry the body that the angel is inhabiting, but it won't affect the angel at all.

Mummy: No special rules here that haven't been covered above. Mummies make good hosts since it is impossible to accidentally get them killed.

Hunters Hunted: Of course, Hunters Hunted characters are just normal humans. The only special rule here is if a Cherub jumps into a character with Faith. If when the Cherub exits the mortal he leaves him with some memory of the encounter, the mortal can now advance his faith trait at a cost of current rating x 3 past level 5.

Highlander: Immortals are treated in the same fashion as regular humans. Even if the angel doesn't integrate the Immortal's Quickening trait, he would still get the usual gain for beheading the another immortal. Angels, no matter how badly they roll, still have all the powers of their hosts; they just don't have the skills to use them.

The Arcanum: The Arcanum is not really aware of the existence of angels. They have quite a bit of data on them, but nothing at all conclusive (Remember, for every actual angel that leaves evidence of its existence, there are a hundred people who claim to be one). The Arcanum would be very interested in conclusive evidence of the existence of angels.

Chapter Seven: Typical Game

The first obstacle you will probably encounter when you begin a Angel/Demon chronicle is how to get started. And from there on, exactly how should a game go? Even though there are no hard and fast rules to this, I will try to give you a few guidelines to help you through the first couple games or so. Almost every game will start with the characters being sent down to Eden to look into one disturbance or another. These disturbances should be indicative of the Belial, even if there are no behind it (Don't make every adventure a conflict with the Belial, mankind has its own demons). The Storyteller will the tell the players the number and location of any suitable hosts that their characters may jump into. As soon as the characters have chosen their entrance point, start making the roles. The players may want to set up a meeting location before they jump in. Remember, they won't tell each other from Adam as soon as they are in their human hosts. After the players have joined back up (maybe an adventure in itself), they will start looking into the disturbance that sent them down to earth. This will probably be standard fare detective work, but you never know what the Storyteller will have in store.... Once the characters have determined the source of the disturbance, and have determined the enemy as a Belial, they then must extract her from her human host. Easy, right? Wrong. The possibilities in an Angel/Demon game are endless, but if you are like me you're probably going to fall into a game rut. You must try and avoid the old in, find, fight, out mentality. For as soon as you have it, everyone else playing will also. Try to be creative. Push the boundaries. If it fails, so what, its only a game. But if it succeeds, everyone will thank you.
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