By Tim Coram (shdwwlkr01@aol.com)
The first to leave this arangement were the Grigori. They were the closest Celestials to man, meant to learn and to teach. They were slow to anger and quick to embrace and forgive. They sought to become like their mortal charges, dwelling on the Earth with their children. Some say that they were the first to leave and sent the whole rest of Heaven falling after them. Most Grigori have entirely forsaken wrath and vengeance, instead seeking to heal and guide their children, putting them fully in the Gabrielite Camp (see below).
When Heaven shattered, the angels fell to Earth. Many brought a golden age to their mortal charges and reinstated much of Heaven on Earth; learning was prevalent and the All was known and revered by the people. The greedier of the Lightbringer's children sought their own power; many set themselves up as gods to their people. The Fallen One's Children did much the same however, turning their realms into Hells. The independent Angels and those still loyal to the Balance went to war against them and so man was first brought to shed blood. It may be appropriate then, that soon the children of the first murderer would take them from the Celestial's loving grasp. Angels and Devils alike waged war against the Children of Caine, the Garou, and the others who sought to control or destroy man, but ultimately their numbers were small and they felt a sting they had never known before, death.
As time passed man and the Kindred formed their cities, and their nations and their empires, and many Angels and Devils watched ferom the shadows aiding were they could for their various causes. With the emergence of the christian faith, a great movement began amongst the Angels and many forsook Justice in the favor of Mercy. They said that humanity was not theirs to judge and that since they no longer knew the hearts of man they should no longer enact punishment. Others, seeing the atrocities performed decided that Justice had to be upheld at any price. Though they did not forsake mercy and kindness, they never allow a crime that harms others to go unpunished.
Others saw no reason to do any of this. They set themselves on thrones paid for with the blood of their charges. They sought any number of desires and goals to sate themselves. Others attempted to champion another cause in service to the Balance; Faith, Knowledge, and Freedom had and still have many adherents.
Others, upon knowing freedom, returned to the bondage. Some of the others had never been able to escape and so returned to servicing the Fallen One's madness. It granted them great power but they had become below contempt and all despised them.
Level of Infraction | Action required to cause Dissonance |
1 | Letting a mortal see your powers. |
2 | Letting a mortal see your True Form. |
3 | Manipulating a mortal's decision. Fighting Garou in open view with powers evident. |
4 | Fighting with another Celestial in open view. |
5 | Fighting a Mage in the open. |
6 | Forcing a mortal to make a decision in the way you please. |
7 | Killing a mortal. |
Roll the level of the infraction as a dice pool agains the difficulty. Each point is one point of Dissonance gained. If such a roll is botched, the Dissonance goes into effect.
Abilities: 8/12/20
Backgrounds: 10
Arts: 5
Virtues: 8
Willpower and Roads: See below
Freebie Points: 30
This determines just how much you really believe in a better tommorrow. This is what determines how strong your desire to continue the fight is. In Forskaers it measures how strong their lust for life truly is, for Betrayers, it is a matter of how strongly they wish to serve the darkness, for personal profit, vengeance, survival or what have you. This power is rolled when the character perceives something that completely undermines her world view (e.g., the evil potential in the world, her own worthlessness, the emptiness and boredom of life)
This determines how much righteous indignation a character possesses. In those who have fallen, this represents their anger and pain and its ability to be funneled into their work. It is often quite high in the guilt-ridden Betrayers. This is rolled whenever a character is faced with a loss on the Path of Severity.
This determines the quality of mercy you have towards others. It is a mixture of forbearance, compassion, and faith in humanity. It determines your spiritual connection to the world. This power is rolled whenever a character is faced with a loss on the Pillar of Mercy.
10 | Ever harming a human when it is not in his best interest, or ever punishing a human beyond informing him of his error. |
9 | Ever slightly hurting a human who is at no fault (allowing her to suffer minimal physical damage, be badly frightened, etc.) |
8 | Ignoring a human in peril at very great risk to yourself. |
7 | Ignoring a mortal in great danger when your own life could easily be lost. |
6 | Ever allowing your Wrath to control you. |
5 | Letting your personal feelings cause you to be more brutal than necessary. |
4 | Hurting an innocent when it could easily be avoided. |
3 | Allowing a mortal to suffer unjustly when stopping it would require only minor inconvenience or minimal danger. |
2 | Hurting a mortal out of greed. |
1 | Killing a human unjustly. |
(Violations of a tenet more than two below your level will cause an automatic loss in addition to the roll.)
10 | Allowing a personal sin (gambling, drinking, and the like ) go without being changed when doing so would be a major inconvenience. |
9 | Not preventing a mortal to continue some sort of minor sin towards others (shoplifting, for example), when doing so would present a major inconvenince. |
8 | Ignoring a major sin when dealing with it would cause great risk towards one's self. |
7 | Ever letting your wrath control you. |
6 | Allowing your emotions to make you too merciful. |
5 | Failure to defend a distressed mortal. |
4 | Sparing a sinner punishment entirely or reducing their penalty greatly because of persona attachment. |
3 | Refusing to stop a mortal from hurting others badly. |
2 | Refusing to kill an unrepentant murderer. |
1 | Harming mortals yourself. |
These powers begin at the level of the associated Virtue, and are limited to 5+ that Virtue.
The Pillar of Severity limits the access of the Character to Wrath, which serves in the same capacity as a Garou's Rage. If Wrath supersedes Willpower, Angels can frenzy, becoming dark and destructive beings of pure hatred. Under proper circumstances, roll Outrage, difficulty Willpower; the Storyteller determines how many successes are needed to invoke Frenzy. This should rarely if ever be more than once per story. This power is regained at 2 points a day at Dawn.
Forsakers have their own paths to which they hold, Betrayers work something along the lines of the Path of Evil Revelations (see the Storyteller's Guide to the Sabbat). Both receive Wrath; the Betrayers receive Corruption. Corruption is completely restored at Midnight each night.
Arts of War (Use Wrath to activate, only held by those with a Wrath Rating)
Arts of Mercy (You get the idea)
Dark Arts (Use Corruption to Spend)
There is no renown or Rank amongst angels, the only requirement is that the character have enough points to pay for the ability (8 for freebies, level times 10 for experience) and that they have at least one of the level below. Also, any ability the Angel has access to must have atleast 2 arts in it at creation. The initial points can only be spent on level one powers. Creating more is strongly encouraged.
* | Some minor extra trait, (lumiscent skin, shining eyes, visible aura, scales, tail) |
** | Useful trait, horns, claws, prehensile tail, wings. |
*** | Celestial power, Scaled flesh, Armor (adds 2 soak dice). |
**** | Very impressive ability (Celestial sword or other weapon, inflicts agravated damage). |
***** | Full other form (Celestial Archon, Dragon, the like, agravated attack, 2 soak armor). |
* | Some hazy memories. |
** | A few clear facts can be recalled. |
*** | Much information is available to you with proper meditation. |
**** | You remain aware of several of the subtler realities of your previous role. |
***** | The largest part of the world before the Fall is open to you. |
You have never given over your form to be reborn as a mortal. You are limited to 2 points Empathy, you must pay one more freebie or one more experience point per level to purchase Compassion or points on the Pillar of Mercy. You automatically gain 2 points Awareness, and you have 5 extra Knowledges.
You begin with 5 points of Empathy and a vague ability to ascertain emotions and small details about others you come into contact with. The downside is that you are hated by many for what happened in Heaven, Also, some of the Michaelites consider you to be a Forsaker at best because of the Grigori's initial temptation from their heavenly posts.
You believe humanity is basically good, and are able to understand their failings. You have a -1 modifier to difficulties on Hope rolls.
You have seen the world and have little faith in it. All Hope roll difficulties are increased by two.
You have just discovered, after a human life of approximately 20 years, that you are an Angel. You have an intuitive understanding of many things, but lack more complicated details. You know other supernaturals exist, but little about them. You may take no knowledges relating to the supernatural.
1-3 | Searing pain: you are crippled for (points expended) hours. derangement |
3-5 | Deafened/blinded Burns: take one level of Agg for every two points (round up) expended. |
5-7 | Severe derangement. Stigmata: lose 4 points for each limb affected. |
7-9 | Severe damage (1 level of Agg for every two points, loss of two permanent points of appearance) Coma. |
10+ | Remember that scene in Scanners where that guy's head explodes? Nasty infernal paradox realms and the like, attracting other bad spirits. |
Effects from various levels can be employed at the Storyteller's whim.
Their counterparts have beautiful bodies; they tend to be strong, healthy, beautiful, and Callous. They have access to Wrath and the Wrathful Arts. They are not always evil, but they are incapable of compassion, and rarely know love. Those who do manage to become "good people" are making a truly heroic effort as they have no moral compass.
Mortals: The Mortals are the Angel's protectorate, but the government, Pentex, and the Arcanum have litle idea they exist. Some Malachim Habbalah work through the Society of Leopold, however.
Faeries: Changelings are seen as needing protection, though this is done subtly. They are guided whenever possible away from destruction. Their willingness to believe makes life much easier on Angels, who need not hide their power from them.
Garou: Many see themselves as having a kinship with the Garou. On the other hand, Black Spirals and those who harm humans can expect the full wrath of any Angel who learns of it.
Wraiths: Most wraiths, when encountered, are treated with respect and given their distance. Though those who harm mortals will be pursued, most angels will not pursue sinners beyond death and give them a chance to repent in their new existence.
Mages: These shapers are given the most protection because they hold the keys to the lives of all mortals on Earth. The Angels are able to interact with the Choristers relatively freely but the others tend not to include them. The Nephandi are some of the most heavily opposed entities the angels meet.
Vampires: Some see the Kindred as lost children who need guidance. Others see them as blood slurping parasites that should be slain outright. Most respect Golcondites and particularly Salubri. Some claim that Saulot was related in some fashion to the Celestials but most discount this.
Certain arts are selected as filling the role for freedom. Due to the strong specialization that would otherwise be necessary, the Storyteller gives the chracter access to the Merciful Arts. (the Storyteller and player will likely collaborate on several new powers as well).
10 | Allowing yourself to be controlled, when preventing it would mean a great threat to your life. |
9 | Allowing a human to be controlled when doing otherwise would be threatening to your life. |
8 | Refusing to destroy any regime that restricts the rights of a person to privacy, personal decision, or freedom of expression. |
7 | Refusing to breakdown repressive social structures. |
6 | Preventing someone else from perfoming a self-destructive act. |
5 | Refusing to use personal resources to secure freedom. |
4 | Gaining profit from any enterprise or organization that oppresses others. |
3 | Killing anyone for any purpose but protecting yourself or someone else, maintaining the Balance, or securing freedom. |
2 | Actively restraining freedom. |
1 | Using others to benefit yourself or your ends. |