“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shall thou trust.” Psalms 91:4 Written by: Ben Scerri, Jake Nelson & Steve Dee Relics Roleplaying Game Designed By: Steve Dee Art by: Dean Maynard, Michael Wenman & Ethan Strange Editing & Layout by: Matt Roberts Purchase the Core Rulebook at tinstargames.com or your local game store. A Game of Angels Quickstart Rules Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) The Game To play Relics, you’ll need between two and six players. One player takes the role of the Dealer who “runs” the game, coordinates the other players, arbitrates the rules and brings the world to life. You’ll also need pencils, paper, a standard deck of tarot cards and at least seven counters or chips. The Dealer frames scenes, controls the environment, plays minor characters and develops the conflicts and encounters that the other players face. The other players take on a persona – an angel – through which they overcome these challenges. Together, the players determine whether the actions of the angels succeed or fail and any consequences thereof, using the following rules, with the Dealer being the final arbiter. Relics is a game about angels. of your ageless angels, you uncover the knowledge and skills buried in their long lives. Players take the role of celestial powers fallen from Heaven and find themselves trapped on earth. God has abandoned them, Heaven is sealed off forever, and they are surrounded by enemies. The only clue to their future is in the lost history of their past. Relics was successfully funded on Kickstarter in April 2019 and is now available from Tin Star Games and their distributors. This is a quick-start document that introduces you to the game rules and setting, plus a full scenario to get you playing your first game, complete with pre-generated characters. Not all of the rules or setting details are included, but there is enough here so that anyone can run the included scenario for up to six friends. Relics is a roleplaying game, a game where players work together to tell a story. One player takes the role of the Dealer who narrates the conflicts and enemies while the other players take on personas, the angels who rise to conquer these challenges. Relics is not like other roleplaying games. Using a unique memory mechanic, you and the other players create your characters through play. Revisiting and re-living memories Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) 2 To find out more about Relics and purchase a copy of the full rules go to tinstargames.com/relics A game of Relics is played in one or more sessions, which are collectively a series. Throughout a series, angels grow and develop, exploring more of their own pasts, to better guide the future. wanting to rule their own creations. Others rose to defend God’s decree. A great war began, but with earth at risk from celestial destruction, the war burned cold and coming to earth proved the greater tactical option. Becoming fallen angels and demons, these beings waged war in the shadows, keeping humanity ignorant or as pawns. Many became important figures throughout Earth’s history: rulers, inventors, philosophers, assassins – their fingerprints are on every major event that has shaped the world. But the angels and demons who fell to Earth found their powers locked away in mundane objects – relics – awakening only when they destroyed their physical form and poured their souls into them, leaving the enchanted object to infect human history and mythology. The world is littered with the relics of destroyed angels and demons, ready for someone to find them and use them to tip the balance of the war in their favour. In their true form, angels are tall, winged creatures with the claws of a lion and the horns of a bull. Over this they wear the Semblance of humanity, but a Mark remains to show their inhuman nature. When God created the universe, She was They also occupy a Guise, a societal mask apart from it, unable to touch what She’d that grants them basic identity in the social made. She created the angels to act as intermediaries: to shape the rest of Creation system – enough to pass average scrutiny and get a job. Saving the world is hard into being and to guide it. Angels shaped humans in their own image and at first, they enough without the burden of trying to fit in, so angels look to human companions to interacted with them freely, to lead them to help them along. Alternatively, now the war their best selves. is heating up, they can always spread their It was a disaster. wings and take flight, but there are human So God decreed that angels should not and infernal forces alike that disapprove of interfere with humanity. Some angels rebelled, such obvious displays of power. The Setting 3 Ten Things to Remember I. The Bible Got Most of It Wrong: Angels aren’t preachers of God’s word, nor do they save souls or take them to Heaven. Angels are soldiers in an eternal war. Many angels interpret their duty to be to improve mortal existence along the way, but not all. Some are teachers or healers. Some couldn’t care less about humans. II. Strangers in a Strange Land: Aeons ago or last year you decided you could best serve your purpose on Earth. But you don’t belong here: you’re a tourist. You try to blend in, but you are and always will be an outsider. Most angels would love to go home again. III. You Can’t Go Home Again: The Gates to Heaven are closed permanently and God is gone. Forever. For the first time, angels are totally alone, no longer bound by the God’s commands. Lost without Her guidance they are fearful, panicked and confused. IV. Fallen Angels Filled the World With Magical Items: When angels fall they are bound to a relic, an object that contains their powers, and shackles them to this reality. Some angels have found loopholes, allowing them to detach from or embed themselves in their relics, allowing mortals to wield them instead. Over time, humans and other forces have gathered these items for their own ends. V. An Arms Race Has Begun: When the Gates of Heaven closed, the relics regained their powers. Angels and humans can gain enormous power by gathering these treasures. The cold war has become a crazed, frenzied rush, and whoever wins will rule the world. VI. Thou Shalt Steal Whatever Thou Canst Find: Angels desperately need to know what’s going on. That knowledge is tied up in powerful relics, buried history and sacred books, all of which are typically possessed by dangerous institutions: Angels must break in to the most impregnable places on Earth, fight the unstoppable power of worldwide organizations, and steal the unstealable. VII. Angels Are a Product of All They Remember: Most angels have lived on Earth for centuries; many for millennia. As they dig up lost relics and track down ancient truths, they uncover lost memories, often of times they’d prefer to stay forgotten. Secrets are out there, both personal and powerful. Looking for them may reveal facts about the universe even angels aren’t ready to know, and would kill to keep secret. VIII. The Path is Unclear: Angels don’t know where God went, why She left or if She’s coming back. They don’t know what they’re supposed to do now that God’s law about interfering with humans is not being enforced. Angels are also incredibly diverse beings. From their very creation they were built for a myriad of purposes, and were led by different Heralds. In the face of growing ignorance and fear, unity is impossible. IX. Everybody Wants You Dead: There are demons and they hate angels the way fire hates oxygen. There are angels who were on your side but seem to be acting towards evil ends. And there are mortal agents who know about angels, and how to kill them. Angels and humans are in the firing line, evil is afoot, and somebody must fight back. X. You Can’t Trust Anyone: Angels are alone. There is little loyalty or owed devotion, and no desire to share information. What you tell another angel could be what that angel uses to kill you, or trades to your worst enemy. There are countless mysteries you need to solve, and nobody on Earth or in Heaven is going to help you do it. God’s away on business, which means you’ve been left in charge. Good luck. 4 Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) The Setting Besides their memories, angels in Relics are defined by the Aspect, their Herald and their Mission. The four Aspects determine their core abilities as an angel, their Herald is linked to the eleven Dominions which the powers of Miracles operate within, and the six Missions determine their attitudes to humanity and goals on earth. The pre-generated characters below give hints about these factions. The System When you want your angel to do or say something, you describe what they say and intend to do. The Dealer will describe what happens as a result. If there is doubt over the result of an action your angel takes, or the action is dramatic, a Test is called for. TESTS A Test involves drawing a card at random from the Tarot deck. There are four possible outcomes: • A Minor Arcana between 1 and 6 results in a Failure; the action doesn’t work. You generally can’t try again but if you can reframe the action or apply a significant set of circumstances to the fiction, the GM may allow you to draw another card. This result is characterised as a “No.” • A Minor Arcana between 7 and 10 results in a Grudging Success; the action works, but with a consequence or added qualification (there’s a cost attached, or you don’t get everything you wanted). This result is characterised as “Yes-But.” • A Minor Arcana of 11 or higher (ie. a Court card) results in a Full Success; the action works, you get what you want, and there are no strings attached. This result is characterised as “Yes.” • A Major Arcana is drawn. If it is your Signifier (see below) or The World you gain a Full Success and more (a “YesAnd”), as if a great Miracle has occurred. If it is The Devil you fail terribly, far beyond what a regular fail would cause (a “No-And”). Otherwise, treat this as a Grudging Success. Your Signifier is a Tarot card assigned to each persona when players generate them. When that card comes up it means something special has happened. In the full rules it allows you to gain a new Miracle in your Relic. BLESSINGS & BLIGHTS A Blessing is an advantage, asset, or extra quality about your character (or the scene) which enhances your chances of success. The most common type is through a Memory, explained below. If you have a Blessing on a Test, you draw two cards and take the best. A Blight is a disadvantage, hindrance, or complication to do with your character (or the scene) which reduces your chances of success. If you have a Blight, you draw two cards in a Test and take the worst. You can have multiple Blessings and Blights and they cancel each other out one to one. ASPECTS Another way to increase your chances of success is by playing to your strengths as 5 Leviathan is trying to find and exhume the body of a pope, but he can’t figure out where to dig and the secret soldiers of the Vatican are hot on their heels. Elysia, another angel in his band, describes rushing into a church where Leviathan is busy smashing open and defiling the grave of a powerful Medici family member. Now we see why Leviathan was so The four Aspects – Aryeh, Behema, Nesher, passionately wanted dead. Leviathan writes down and Isha – match the four following actions “Elysia saw me removing items from a Medici coffin and suits: in a delicate and appropriate way actually (Elysia) – • Aryeh: Striking, Swords. Graverobbing (Moving)” • Behema: Enduring, Staves. Angels provided for the attached scenario • Nesher: Moving, Coins. begin with two memories, but can gain more • Isha: Speaking, Cups. during play by spending Memory Chips. an angel: This is done by following your Aspect. Whilst performing an action aligned to your Aspect, a card’s suit is important. If it matches the suit of your Aspect, then the Test results in a Full Success, regardless of the number. At the beginning of each session, the Dealer sets seven chips on the table which can be used by any player. Whenever you call for a Memory, it costs one chip. This is for an approximately four-hour game; games of different lengths may use different chip amounts. Share Memories out: angel should never have two more Memories than any other angel. MEMORIES Memories are flashbacks created and narrated by someone besides the player whose angel is gaining the Memory. They choose one of their allies to frame the Memory for them. Whilst the ally decides what events make up the Memory, the controlling player decides what benefit they draw from it, noting it down on their character sheet, followed by the name of the angel who framed it. They base this on what their character is described doing in the flashback. From this point onward, this Memory acts as a Blessing. To keep the skills from being too general, the controlling player tags it to one of the four Aspect actions – Striking, Enduring, Moving or Speaking – or, if it is none of those, Knowing. These chips may also be spent to change a single Failure or Grudging Success into a Full Success. Such an expenditure is done after a Test is made, whereas Memories can only be added beforehand. MIRACLES Angels have no miraculous powers of their own. When they fell, all that power was trapped within their Relic: a physical item that holds a portion of their soul. Before God left, this power could not be extracted without the angel destroying their physical form but since God shut the gates of Heaven, angels find their powers flowing back. Memories can be called for and gained at any point in time – even in the middle of an intense, action-packed scene. There is also the understanding that the angel has always had this skill, we are only just finding out about it now. Example: Leviathan has established that in Renaissance Italy, the Medici family sent ten men to kill him, and they failed. In a later session, Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) 6 The full rules for Miracles are beyond the scope of this quickstart, but the Miracles listed in the pre-generated characters have the following elements: • A level. For this introductory adventure, they are all Level One powers. • A Dominion. Every angel is master of one or more Dominions, aspects of creation that determine the nature of their Miracles. Angels only have Miracles from the Dominions they command. • An effect. This is what happens when the Miracle takes place. • A trammel. This is a cost or restriction that must be paid or met, usually described in the text. If you decide to make new Miracles, following the examples in the pre-generated characters and these elements will allow you to approximate. COMPLEX TESTS As well as the above simple rules, Relics also provides a more complex system to resolve actions. This is ideal for actions that need to be precisely timed, or involve a lot of activity, or are more dramatic and exciting than regular actions. Combat is one such example, but the Dealer can use either system whenever they wish. The Complex Test uses the same Tarot deck to play a game of Blackjack (also known as 21). We only use the basic rules of Blackjack – no insurance, splitting or doubling down. The Dealer takes a hand for the opponents or each group of opponents and deals a hand to each player to represent their angel. If a player defeats the Dealer’s hand, they succeed in their action. If they have equal to or less than the Dealer or go bust, they fail (as a failed Test). There are levels of success in a Complex Test: simply beating the Dealer is a Grudging Success. Getting 21 in three or more cards Full Success. Getting 21 in two cards is a Full Success and more, adding an extra level of success or damage to the outcome. If both cards are Major Arcana, add another level. Each level of success delivers one wound of damage in combat (or, in abstract situations, one step closer to victory). Two wounds is enough to kill an average mortal; it takes twice that to take out an angel. Wounds cause Blights, and angels must take an action to heal themselves if they want to continue unhindered. Without any medical memories, angels can only heal by putting the affected body part in fire. THE TAROT IN BLACKJACK Obviously the Tarot deck has cards with values beyond a regular deck of playing cards. For the purposes of Complex Tests, cards are valued as follows: • Minor Arcana are treated as their value • Major Arcana are treated as their value OR 10 • If an angel is using an applicable Aspect, Minor Arcana of that suit are treated as their value OR one. • The Fool is valued zero and The World is valued 21. Getting blackjack with these two cards is the best possible result. Just like simple Tests, if you draw The Devil, you fail and fail badly. If you draw your Signifier, you succeed miraculously. AND MORE... This is only the beginning of the system. But it is enough to get you started and running the scenario provided – The Devil’s Own Luck. Players who intend to play that scenario should stop reading here so as to not spoil their enjoyment. Dealers: read on... 7 The Devil’s Own Luck Summary the menu. Pretty soon, Carlyle found himself in a position to host his own Supper Club soirée – but what to serve? After much research he decided upon an American classic: burgers and fries. The burgers would be made of ground sasquatch, of course, and the fries seasoned with that most quintessential Supper Club ingredient: angel dust. Getting the sasquatch would be easy, but as for angels, well... he’d have to be clever for that. The Devil’s Own Luck is a scenario for Level One angels, designed to last one session of about three to four hours. It can be played on its own or as the beginning of a series of scenarios that build to an epic conclusion. By Demons Driven is the next installment. In this installment, a band of angels investigates a casino that mysteriously appeared on the Las Vegas Strip. Suspecting a demon is involved, they quickly find they are right – but the demon is just bait in a trap, luring in fallen angels in service of a far more human kind of evil. When it snaps shut around them, the personas may have to make a deal with an actual devil to avoid ending up seasoning somebody’s French fries... Enter Mammon. An ancient demon with machinations stretching back thousands of years, Mammon has used his powers to lure and corrupt humans with good old-fashioned greed since the early days of civilisation. Mammon’s Relic is that most unusual of items: it is an entire building, but it has enough command over the powers of Shaping to appear as whatever business it needs to be. You know all those stories about the little shop full of cursed items that wasn’t there yesterday and won’t be there tomorrow? Yeah, that’s him. Carlyle tracked him down and posed as a credulous mortal, eager for quick and easy power. It was a sale the demon couldn’t resist – but when it came time to close the deal, Mammon found he was the one being played. Background If God in all Her wisdom decided to create the physical embodiment of everything wrong with Silicon Valley, Vance Carlyle would be pretty damn close to what She’d come up with. A hedonistic playboy with more cash than sense, he started out by making a killing in bitcoin, and is now lauded as one of America’s most successful young entrepreneurs despite not actually doing much to earn it. But, as so many of his ilk invariably do, Carlyle got bored with the mundane pleasures his wealth afforded him. That’s when he stumbled upon the Supper Club, a group of obscenely rich plutocrats who indulge in... exotic vices. We’re talking “hunting supernatural creatures for sport and food” exotic – and angels unlucky enough to cross paths with them frequently end up on Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) 8 Using a powerful binding spell procured on the black market, Carlyle subjugated Mammon to his will and forced the demon to relocate to a site he’d specially picked out on the Las Vegas Strip (or any other town large enough to have a casino should you want to relocate – Vance picks a town where his agents have tracked down angels in operation). At his new master’s command, Mammon’s store became a glitzy resort casino called Inferno, themed after Dante’s vision of Hell itself and so obviously supernatural that any of the Fallen would raid it for relics in a heartbeat (if they had hearts). Now, as Mammon rages against his bonds, Carlyle lives the high-roller life in Sin City, waiting for hapless prey to blunder into his shiny metal-and-glass Venus angel trap. He won’t need to wait long... Act 1: Viva Las Vegas As the story opens, the personas are members of a band of angels currently based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Let the players come up with their own reasons or, if you’re using the pre-generated characters included in the quick-start guide, their Guises all have reasons to be in Vegas: themed after Dante’s vision of Hell. The angels don’t remember it being built, but strangely, everyone else thinks it’s always been there. Angels can’t necessarily tell when something is a Miracle or not (and the building is made out of brick and mortar) but this has their hackles raised. If you are using your own characters, create an opening scene where one or all of them stumble onto the new building. For the pregens, here are some ideas: • Jack, having spent the previous night winning big in the Wynn’s poker rooms, heads out to donate the haul to charity – and sees the new casino. • From her room in the Luxor, Amenset sees a billboard across the Strip advertising a • Amenset is giving motivational seminars at new show at the Inferno. She’s never heard the Luxor. of the Inferno. • Ironheart has scored a cash-in-hand job as a bouncer for a disreputable nightclub Downtown. • Koy Bumba is working as a personal trainer for several players on the newlyfounded Vegas Golden Knights ice hockey team. • One-Eyed Jack is hustling poker in casinos up and down the Strip. • The Professor is lecturing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. • Yuurei overhears a couple of her fellow hackers discussing the security at the Inferno. Apparently it’s finally put RFID tags in its chips to discourage theft - cracking that system might be interesting. • A losing gambler in a casino one of the personas happens to be passing through grumbles that the payouts are much better at the Inferno, and maybe he’ll take his business there in future. • On the street, an attractive woman in a • Yuurei plans to attend the upcoming DEF CON – the world’s biggest hacker convention. Anonymously, natch. She’s “acquired” a room at Caesar’s Palace. One morning, they all wake up to discover that a new casino has just appeared out of nowhere at the northwest corner of South Las Vegas Boulevard and Desert Inn Road. Previously, that location was the construction site for Resorts World, due to open in 2020 on the old site of the Stardust, but now a completed resort stands there: the Inferno, 9 succubus costume is handing out flyers for the Inferno. There’s a coupon redeemable for $20 credit on certain promotional slot machines – “and all it’ll cost you is your soul,” she chirps with all the cheeriness of someone who’s said this same damn joke at least forty seven times in the past hour. You don’t need to run all of these scenes, or even more than one – if the persona who first finds out about it proceeds to contact all the others (angels have cell phones – or most of them do), then that should rope the entire band in pretty quickly. Let them play out a scene or two of reaching out, then skip ahead to having everyone present. The next step is research. However they choose to do it, you’ll need to call for some Tests, and some Memories (see inset, below). Basic investigation or asking strangers on the street won’t need Tests but this just reveals that the Inferno has apparently been there for about ten years, being built shortly after the Stardust was torn down. No mortal they speak to sees anything unusual about this new establishment: as far as they’re concerned, the Inferno has indeed been around for a decade. The personas might go in and look around, in which case skip ahead to the “Into the Inferno” section below. They might check out its online presence, which is exactly the sort of classy website you’d expect from a Strip casino, down to rates for its rooms (and they can book one if their human form would have a bank account); or, they might try pulling financial records to try and figure out who owns it, in which case check out the “Corporate Records” sidebar. Whatever they do, be sure to let them know rumours that the reclusive owner of the Inferno, one Avi Rice (see Corporate Records, inset p12) lives in the penthouse suite and rarely if ever comes down to interact with anyone. Of course, the more research they do the more Memories they’ll need. Don’t let them feel like they can find out everything without running low on chips. Note that if you’re using Yuurei, or even if you aren’t, players are likely going to want to use hacking to find out everything. Hacking is what’s needed but remember that angels have barely any understanding of human society; they can hack into business records but without skills it’s just columns of numbers. They can get building plans but only if they know such things as stored in the county records office. Memories will be needed. The talk about Mr Rice is salacious: they say he hosts Satanic masses; that he has an autographed copy of Aleister Crowley’s The Book of the Law and an original John Dee Memories of Mammon As the players discover the name “Mammon”, they might wish to see if it rings any bells for their personas. At your discretion, they might spend Memory Chips to recall information about him and get all the following information; otherwise, a Simple Test (especially with the Professor’s Demon Lore skill) will grant the first point. • Mammon is an ancient and powerful demon who has attained almost mythical status. It’s said he is greed personified. • He is believed to be behind the invention of money itself, as well as myths such as El Dorado. He lures mortals into promises of great fortune. • Unverified stories from those who claim to have met him say he has a store or a building that can travel the world, appearing and disappearing at his whim. Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) 10 tome in his collection; that some aspect of the casino’s construction and layout forms a symbol of occult and infernal power (which varies with every person you ask about it). All viral marketing? Maybe. But combined with the clearly supernatural nature of the place, all this should give the personas pause. However they choose to investigate, all signs point to something demonic going on, and there’s only one thing for that: kill the demon responsible and take its relics before it finishes whatever it’s up to. That means a good oldfashioned heist is in order. It’s up to the players to plan out their heist/ assassination attempt. Whatever they do, adjudicate the response from the occupants of the Inferno, and give the personas a reasonable chance of succeeding unless the plan is patently ridiculous (“all we need is a blimp and a decoy blimp!”). The staff are loyal to their employee but they’re not crazy: they’ll only act to stop a robbery as far as they can do so safely. Roscoe’s security goons are tough but they carry tasers not guns. Don’t be afraid to be a bit generous with the information, either. Remember, this is a trap. Carlyle wants some angels, any angels, to blunder in hoping to take out a demon, so he’s not going to make it too hard for them – just enough that they won’t get suspicious. Into the Inferno It’s a casino – they can just walk in through the front door, and obsequious staff will smile and hold it open for them (though they will probably want a tip; it is, after all, America). Inside, the Inferno is exactly what you’d expect a Hell-themed casino to look like. The decor is all in red and yellow and orange; the bars have names like Hellfire and Beelzebub’s, and are decorated with signed pictures including Anton LaVey, Jim Morrison and Jack Parsons; the cocktail waitresses sashay around the floor dressed as fishnetted succubi. The casino floor itself is windowless and labyrinthine, with clanging slots, flashing video poker machines, sharplydressed croupiers and dealers, and the smell of cigarette smoke and decadence hanging constantly in the air. It’s disorienting and hard to find your way around the pit, but not supernaturally so or anything, if the players ask. Sure, the muzak makes you dizzy, it’s impossible to know what time it is, and you’ve got no idea where they put the damn elevator… but all casinos are like that. Getting into the boss’s penthouse will be trickier than simply walking in the front door was, but one method they could try is obtaining a keycard to the only elevator which goes up that high. That’ll probably cause them the least trouble – all they’ll need to do is swipe the card, get to the penthouse elevator without anyone noticing, and… er, swipe the card. Players being players, of course, you really have no idea what they are going to want to know about. Again, be generous! If they want guard timetables, camera positions, computer To get a keycard, the angels can try to get issued one or, more easily, find a way to codes – let them find out. Don’t let them go separate one from its owner. Said owners down rabbit holes, though, or forget what include: they’re here for: ultimately, any information • Angela, the pit boss. Short, brusque, and they gather should lead them to the fact that Vance is important, and he’s in the penthouse aware of the irony of her name, thanks. • Michael, the hotel manager. Tall, greying, and they have to get there. 11 Corporate Records Finding out who owns the Inferno requires a Simple Test, with a Blight if they have no appropriate skills in corporate finance. On a Grudging Success, the personas find out the Inferno is the property of a privately held company called “Mammon Entertainment Group”, owned by Avi Rice, but have little more to go on. A Full Success will alert them to something strange: Mammon Entertainment Group seems to have the absolute bare minimum of documentation required to exist… just like an angel’s Guise. If they draw their Signifier or use a Miracle, give them a piece of information from the “Memories of Mammon” sidebar, on p16. Officially, the casino is MEG’s only major asset. The owner is listed as Mr. Avi Rice. Vance Carlyle is listed as the company president and is also the only real-sounding name on the list, for angels with an eye for these things. If the personas look into Carlyle, they can find most of his background from the summary (minus the stuff about the Supper Club and imprisoning Mammon). They’re basically mooks, there to provide the illusion of security. Shouldn’t provide too much of a hassle, given they’re completely mortal, outnumbered, and dressed in ill- pleasant, wears glasses and a bow tie. • Roscoe, head of security. Not much in the way of a sense of humour. Or a neck. If the personas ask, none of them have ever had cause to use their keycard to go to the penthouse. Boss doesn’t call on them. Or call anyone, besides Mister Carlyle. He comes and goes from the penthouse occasionally. Keeps to himself. And then the door behind them literally disappears, leaving a blank wall. Before the personas have time to freak out too much at the gravity of the situation, the TV screen snaps on, and they’re greeted by a youngish, handsome blonde man in an expensive suit, grinning like the cat that just ate the cream. He’s affable, unctuous and smarmy – big fans of the band’s work, just great. He’s been watching them from Act 2: Devil in Disguise Whether they finagle a keycard, or hack the elevator, or burn through the floor with a flaming sword, or pose as Jehovah’s Witnesses, or whatever – the trail ends in a small, elegant antechamber on the top floor. No windows. Two exits: the elevator down, and a set of beautifully carved wooden double doors, with a card reader attached to them. If they have a keycard, it opens the doors for them, no problem. If they don’t, they’ll have to get creative once they deal with the heavies. Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) When the personas make it through the doors, they find the single crappiest penthouse suite imaginable. There’s no furniture aside from a single TV screen, no windows again, not even any carpet or wallpaper, just bare concrete. There’s just one guy, in a glowing circle of red Enochian runes, chained solidly to the floor in the middle of the room. He’s darkly handsome, dressed in what probably was once a tailored suit – but he looks exhausted, and his clothes are tattered and torn. As the personas enter, he looks up at them and begs “Help… me”. You Call This Hospitality?! Oh, by the way, nobody in here is a demon, or another angel for that matter. The staff and guests are all one hundred percent human. The casino is real, the hotel is real, the bars and buffet and restaurants are real. Two guys, big ones, either side of the door. fitting tuxedos, though they do each have a punch like an iron bar. Soften the personas up a little bit, if you like, but the goons go down eventually. 12 the moment they stepped inside, and he’s genuinely impressed they got up here. Have him pay them a few compliments, enough to prove he’s done his research. Enough to cross over into “our cover’s blown” and “creepy stalker”. The personas probably want some goddamn answers right the hell now, and Carlyle is happy to provide. He enjoys gloating. He’ll walk them through his clever trap and explain that he’s going to kill them and eat them. He’ll tell them Mammon can ensure they can’t escape and that his soldiers will do the rest. On that cue, he’ll reveal them. If the personas want to question Mammon before that, he’ll basically back up Vance’s story but add that if they help him escape, Vance is so dead and he’ll be eternally grateful. When the personae run out of questions, or start making moves to free Mammon/ find Carlyle, he snaps his fingers and red lightning crackles over Mammon’s chains. The demon roars in pain as two of the walls stretch open like putty to reveal a whole squadron of mercenaries in body armour with Mac-10s. These aren’t like the bouncers downstairs, or the goons outside the penthouse: these guys are the real deal, and have the angels outnumbered two to A Lie of Luxury It’s possible that some clever-clogs players might figure out a way to peer into the penthouse, through (for example) hacking the security cameras, or a Miracle that grants X-ray vision. If they do, then what they see is exactly what they expect to see: a lavishlyappointed suite, decked out with occult tomes and luxuries galore. Mammon is seated on a black iron throne, with a blonde man - identifiable as Vance Carlyle - bowing and scraping before him, then leaving through the doors. It’s all an illusion, of course: Carlyle has forced Mammon to use his power of Countenance to make the penthouse look like a lair befitting a demon of wealth and greed. The angels will likely sense something hinky about the image, as if supernatural power is in use, but that’s all they get. 13 one. Vance orders them to bring him his angel dust, and quickly - his fries are getting cold. They are only too happy, and too wellpaid, to comply. Better the Devil You Know... The angels are pinned down in what fancy military talk calls a “killbox,” where everything in the box gets dead. The room isn’t large – an angel can run across to one side or the other in one action – and the mercs are up against the concrete walls. There’s no way out unless Mammon decides to provide one and he’s being forced by Carlyle not to. The only cover is if they pull the TV off the wall or if they hide behind Mammon (he does not like that idea). Because of the situation and the skill and weapons of these guys, and that they outnumber the angels two to one, the odds are very much against the angels. If you run this fight with Simple Tests, the angels get two Blights on any test to do anything that involves not being shot. On a Grudging Success they suffer a wound while doing what they want, and any success will only deal one wound to a shooter and they need two to take them down. If you’re using a Complex Test, give the goons one collective hand in the Complex Test. For each success level they get over the highest hand the personas fighting them get, they inflict one wound; these wounds might be split up among several angels or all piled onto one. An angel drawing their fire will give another angel a way to close in and try to fight hand to hand, but the distraction is almost certainly going to die. Whatever their tactics, they’re going to need a miracle – or a Miracle – to get out alive. Their best way, maybe their only way, out of this situation is to free Mammon. To make matters worse, they have to do it while under fire from a whole bunch of guys. This means that at least one persona has to focus on unravelling the binding circle – most likely the Professor because of her Demon Lore skill – while the others have to hold off the mercs. This is the big showdown, and don’t be afraid to make it hurt if they screw up – but don’t be averse to some thrilling heroics, either, if the cards fall that way. This encounter is designed to hurt; it’s about tough choices under fire (literally) and showing that angels don’t always have the upper hand. The world of Relics is dangerous as hell and a dozen guys with high capacity machine guns are bad news What if They Don’t Free Mammon? The odds are very much against them, but if they concentrate all their power on escape, it’s possible. They’ll have to flee the Inferno as Carlyle forces Mammon to do everything within his power to prevent their escape, and if they do they’ll probably have made an enemy out of a rich and powerful man who knows who they are now, but their consciences will at least be clean of freeing a millennia-old demon prince. If they try to kill Mammon, that’s equally difficult. Mammon has the Dominions of Communion, Countenance, Intercession and Shaping, complete control of the interior of the Inferno, and thousands of years’ worth of accrued power and stolen relics at his disposal. But if they do kill Mammon, that also destroys his Relic and the Casino collapses into rubble, giving them a chance to escape – or find Vance. They will also take damage from the collapsing building though. If anyone makes it out alive, be sure to write and tell us about it. Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) 14 The Inferno Chip If you’re planning on using this as part of the Hell on Earth trilogy, the chip will play a larger part later on. As will answers to questions like how did someone like Vance just stumble onto a binding ritual for a powerful demon. If you’re intending on running your own series, here are some ideas: Mammon’s Dominions are Communion, Countenance, Intercession and Shaping (yes, he is that powerful), so the chip likely has some function relating to those: perhaps it can summon Mammon and his store from anywhere in the world, or at least call them up for a chat. Relic, wiping out any remaining resistance through judicious application of the scenery before turning his attention to Carlyle. With but a thought, Mammon drags his erstwhile “employer” screaming through the building to their location, trapping him halfway through a wall. As Carlyle begs for his miserable life, Mammon forms his hand into a wicked claw, plunges it into Carlyle’s chest, pulling out his tormentor’s still-beating heart and eating it in front of him. With the Carlyle problem solved, Mammon turns to his liberators and informs them that, this time, they have a truce, and can go peacefully… but next time, of course, all bets are off. A wave of his claw and the angels are deposited outside the Inferno, which seems to shrink and collapse and fold in on itself before their eyes until all that’s left is a construction site for Resorts World, coming 2020 – and a single chip from the casino, lying on the ground at their feet. Is that the sound of Mammon’s laughter as they pick it up? No… probably just their imagination… for anyone no matter how well they know God. Treat the binding circle like an enemy: it can take three “wounds” before it fails, and it resists any attempt to take it apart. It can do damage to the ritualist if it bests them in a Test, painfully shocking them with crimson lightning; it also shocks Mammon, who bellows in agony every time, but he can handle it. Anyone with knowledge of Demonic Lore or similar black arts will get a Blessing; anyone who talks to Mammon and promises to help him get revenge will find he knows something of how to break his chains and will provide another Blessing. Hey, Weren’t There People In There?! Don’t worry – when the Inferno disappeared, it didn’t compress everyone inside into a thin red paste. The original timeline simply reasserted itself, as the band can discover if they’re kind-hearted enough to check, and everyone who happened to be there at the end is now right back where they would have been had it never existed. Of course, if you’re feeling a bit mean (or need the game to run a bit longer) maybe the guests don’t just snap back to wherever they would have been. A whole crowd of very confused people suddenly find themselves standing in a construction site with no idea how they got there. Once they finish dismantling the circle, the red runes die away, Mammon’s chains snap like so much cheap tin, and all hell breaks loose. Act Three: Heartbreak Hotel Should the band manage to free Mammon, things unfold rather quickly. The demon roars in rage as he reasserts control over his 15 Pre-generated Characters Pre-generated Characters AMENSET The Face – “When God closes a door, She opens a window. Find a window!” An angel is a messenger, and you see yourself as the messenger incarnate – and the message you bring is how to do it better. You live to break people out of ruts they’ve got themselves stuck in, show them concepts they’ve never considered. Honestly, God going on extended leave is a breath of fresh air as far as you’re concerned: every organisation needs a reboot now and then. To the business world, you’re Amy Ansett, highflying motivational speaker, corporate consultant and blue-ocean thinker. Truth be told, you’ve been shaking up systems since way before the TED talk. Way back in the 1350s BC, you came down to the banks of the Nile and taught Amenhotep IV about this exciting new concept called “monotheism”. IRONHEART The Muscle – “Purpose? I’ll tell you what my purpose is. Kicking demon backside up and down the surface of this planet and then wiping my boots on their faces.” When the Vikings saw you descend to the battlefield in a pillar of light, resplendent in shining armour with sword aflame, the legend of the Valkyries was born. Since then you’ve battled the demonic Horde across the world, striking terror into their black hearts before ramming your sword through them. Though the shining armour is now somewhat out of place in today’s modern world, the mission remains the same – and with God gone and all the relics waking up, it’s more important than ever. Attributes Miracles Divine Immolation: Once per day, you can set an enemy you strike with your sword ablaze. They continue to burn until they can put it out. (Fire, Level 1) Attributes Miracles Aspect: Aryeh, the Lion (associated with the act of Striking and the suit of Swords) Aspect: Nesher, the Eagle (associated with the act of Moving and the suit of Coins) The Smallest Seed: If you maintain eye contact with someone for ten seconds, you can implant a suggestion of a new idea, which the person accepts as their own. They don’t have to act on it. (Communion, Level 1) Herald: Uriel (Fire) Wings of Heaven: All angels can fly, but slowly and ponderously, no faster than a walk. You can soar, swoop, dive, hover, zoom at speeds of hundreds of miles, and generally outfly anything short of a bird of prey. You win any Test of flight against non-Nesher angels, and have two Blessings on any flying Tests. (Nesher) Mission: The Sword of Wrath. You’re here to win the war, and that means slaughtering demons. Everything else is secondary. That’s not to say you’ll rush in blindly, of course – you can tell when a demon’s going to need more firepower than you can bring to bear – but you have a job to do, and you’ll do it at every opportunity. Memories Signifier: Strength (#8) Herald: Gabriel (Communion) Dominions: Communion, Countenance Descent: Carelessness. You were so busy trying to get the Egyptians to get on with creating civilisation that one day you looked up and it was permanent. Mission: The Helm of Salvation. The best way to guide humanity is from the front, and to do that, you need earthly power. Signifier: The Magician (#1) When you first met Yuurei, you helped introduce her to the tech people who could do the most work with her “social networking websites” idea, and schmoozed with them until they agreed to run with it. Socialising (Speaking) Relic: “The Illuminating Eye”: Your right eye is a sphere of gold. You wear makeup and contacts to conceal it. Mark: Despite missing your eye, you have 20/20 vision in both, and the gold eye tracks and reacts exactly like a real one. You’ve reinvented yourself so many times during the ages – royal advisor, campaign manager, even a memorable stint as a grand vizier – but you hit upon your current Guise as a business consultant and motivational speaker during the dot-com boom. Mortal Connection: Your current personal assistant (the latest in a very long line) is a young woman named Cassie Kelly, whom you employ to help you navigate the vagaries of corporate culture. Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) Business (Knowing). 16 You’ve never been to Vegas before, but you figure since it is called “Sin City”, there must be some demons around somewhere. Dominions: Fire, Protection Sword of Majesty: Once per scene, for the length of one Simple Action or one round of a Complex Action, you can manifest a foot-long blade of solid fire that burns at something around 2000 degrees and cuts through a few inches of steel. The blade acts at a higher level of Scale than regular weapons, or does one additional wound in attacks against a mortal enemy or enemies. This blade can manifest in place of Flamesinger’s steel blade. (Aryeh) Descent: Rage. You wanted to chew bubblegum and kill demons, and Heaven didn’t have either. Memories Relic: “Flamesinger”: A Viking sword, constantly warm to the touch. When swung through the air, it leaves a trail of sparks and fire behind it. It’s pretty awesome. It was terrible when you and One-Eyed Jack got caught in a Confederate ambush while smuggling slaves out of the South during the Civil War. Your charges were slaughtered, and by the time the battle fury lifted, you’d cut down every last Reb with your sword. Berserker Fighting (Striking) Mark: You have a burn across your face the shape and size of a man’s right hand. It throbs painfully in the presence of demons. A front-line soldier has to know how to patch up a wound or two. Alexis gave you a few pointers during the war – sure, maybe it’s a bit out of date, but how many different ways are there to bandage something, anyway? Mortal Connection: In World War II, you fought on the same side as a field nurse named Alexis Suttor, who became almost like a sister to you. She’s an old woman now, but you visit her in the nursing home sometimes. First Aid (Knowing) 17 Pre-generated Characters Pre-generated Characters KOY BUMBA The Thief – “Swiftness is my gift. I am too fast for you. All you can do is watch – if you can even see me move.” Miracles Attributes Miracles Leopard’s Step: The Claw grants the speed of a sprinting leopard (about 80 kph) to any one individual it scratches, for an entire hour. They can run at this speed without fatigue, and also jump and turn like a parkour master, giving them a Blessing on all strikes and dodges. But while they run, you cannot – you can barely move without being carried. (Exaltation, Level 1) Wings of Heaven: All angels can fly, but slowly and ponderously, no faster than a walk. You can soar, swoop, dive, hover, zoom at speeds of hundreds of miles, and generally outfly anything short of a bird of prey. You win any Test of flight against non-Nesher angels, and have two Blessings on any flying Tests. (Nesher) Aspect: Behema, the Ox (associated with the act of Enduring and the suit of Staves) Stacking the Deck: When something important is happening somewhere within a mile radius at which someone with whom you have a strong connection is present, and you aren’t there, you actually are. Were all along, in fact. Ain’t that lucky? (Intercession, Level 1) Attributes Aspect: Nesher, the Eagle (associated with the act of Moving and the suit of Coins) Descent: Desire. Deep down, you love attention and acclaim, and the best place to get it was on Earth. Mission: The Armour of Righteousness. You inspire the humans you train, helping them reach the peak of physical perfection – not just for sport, but for the war. Signifier: The Chariot (#7) Relic: “The Claw of the Leopard”: An ivoryhandled knife. Memories Mark: You don’t grow hair on your head - you grow leopard fur. This would be why you shave your head. You and the Professor always fight about the best way to guide humans in the war. You may occasionally have broken into her office to steal files on her most promising students, so you can poach them away from her. If she knows, she can’t prove it! Breaking and Entering (Moving) Mortal Connection: You work to inspire Chad Palmer to be more. A star athlete in high school, he lost his leg in a DUI car crash in university. You think that he’s still got it, and want to train him for the Paralympics with his new prosthetic. Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) You made quite the entrance when you first fell to earth, racing across the plains of Africa with the speed of a leopard. Athletics (Moving) 18 “The closing of the Gates? That’s just God tellin’ we angels our time is done. We oughta just pack up and go the way of the cowboy. Royal flush, by the way.” As the frontier closed and the West became just Righteousness, and you share their belief that the best way to help the mortals against the demons is to stand beside them and push them to be the best they can. The job of personal trainer came naturally to you, given your gifts for Exaltation. You help the greatest achieve even more than they have. Yes, you share in that glory. What’s your point? Dominions: Exaltation, Countenance – like the East, your adventuresome ways began to ebb. When the Gates of Heaven closed, that sealed the deal for you: it was time for you and angels everywhere to hang up your halos. The world was done with you, and the age of mortals had begun. With nothing much to do of late, you’ve found yourself in Las Vegas, hustling the game you created in casinos up and down the Strip, taking the pros for all they’re worth and giving the money to charity. You created your proudest angelic work long before you fell. You call it the “leopard”; perhaps people have heard of it. You hear it is quite popular. In fact, when you fell to Earth during the reign of the Kuba kingdoms, you took their name for your creation as your own. What can you say? Nobody has ever accused you of an overabundance of humility. Over the centuries, you have fallen in with the Armour of Herald: Azrael (Exaltation) ONE-EYED JACK The Inside Man You were adventurous once, wanting to go out and see the world – it’s why you fell from Heaven and spent the 19th century roaming the trails of America. To gamblers across the frontier, you were the man without a tell. Luck was your lady, and you were her eager bedmate, blowing wherever the wind took you and leaving all to chance. Those days are done. Herald: Barachiel (Intercession) Dominions: Intercession, Witness Descent: Boredom. In Heaven, nothing changes and luck is meaningless. On Earth, nothing stays the same - and luck can be the difference between life and death. Body of Beryl: A Behema’s form is as strong as diamond and takes an enormous amount of punishment. Once per scene, you can ignore any one attack resulting from a failed Simple Test or several attacks if they all fall in the same round of a Complex Test. You only get one. Then you’re on your own. (Behema) Mission: The Boots of Humility. You gotta know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em, and if the Gates of Heaven closing tells you anything, it’s that angels’ time at the table is done. Best let the humans deal their own hands from now on. Memories Signifier: Wheel of Fortune (#10) You wish Koy Bumba hadn’t pulled you away from your poker game in Deadwood back in 1876. If you’d still been there, you could have stopped Jack McCall from murdering Wild Bill Hickock. Had a damn good hand, too. Gambling (Enduring). Relic: “The Trump Card”: A weathered old Ace of Spades from the early 1800s. Mark: You’ve got the best poker face in the game for a reason – your face is incapable of displaying any emotion whatsoever, whether it’s overwhelming joy or screaming rage. You remember what Vegas was like back in the old days, when the Mob ran the show and the Rat Pack was the talk of every joint on the Strip. You and Dean Martin went on a weekend-long bender all over town once. Local Knowledge: Las Vegas (Knowing). Mortal Connection: You practice being human in poker rooms up and down the Strip. One of your favourite opponents is Jenna Horowitz, a poker pro who’s almost as good as you are. 19 Pre-generated Characters Pre-generated Characters THE PROFESSOR The Brains YUUREI The Hacker – “All of this has happened before. I didn’t write it down so you could forget it! And don’t think you can skimp on your essay, either.” time and again you’ve seen people promote ignorance and the destruction of knowledge. With God absent, it’s now more critical than ever that people recognise their history and cultivate their own faith. Back when mankind was first trying to decide which rock to tie to the end of its spear (the pointy one, as it transpired), it was you who first gave them the idea to record what happened each day, so as to learn from everything that had happened before. You fell to earth in the late 7th century, during the Umayyad caliphate of the Islamic Empire, because you knew that humans needed guidance on how best to battle the demonic hordes. Unfortunately, as the years have passed, Today you work as an actual professor of history, alias Professor Amina Hakim, and have recently landed a job at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Here’s a city that’s in need of a few history lessons on the perils of decadence… Attributes Miracles Aspect: Isha, the Human (associated with the act of Speaking and the suit of Cups) Seeing Right Through You: When you hold your coin to your forehead, you can tell if a sentence you hear or read is true or not. (Witness, Level 1) Herald: Sandalphon (Witness) Dominions: Witness, Communion Descent: Tactics. Knowledge is power in any war, and you felt that falling was the best way you could both gather information and pass it on to those at the front lines. Mission: The Shield of Faith. As a professor of anthropology, history and comparative religion, your role is to naturally guide the humans in cultivating their own faith - and learning to recognise demons when they see them. Signifier: The High Priestess (#2) Mark: An aura of faint whispers in an obscure 7thcentury Arabic dialect surrounds you. Someone who listens carefully, and understands, may glean useful information. Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) 20 It was you who first spread the idea around about “social networking” sites in the 1990s. You helped build the code for a few of them, in fact. Lately, you’ve also turned your skills to hacking, and your hat is on the grey side of white – patching up security holes and the like, sure, but also siphoning off money from the deserving to the undeserving, and bringing digital misery to those who abuse their power. You’re like a ghost, as far as those who’d hunt you down are concerned. But it’s always prudent to keep your skills up, though, so you’ve, uh… “acquired” a room at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas for the upcoming DEF CON hackers’ convention. Attributes Miracles Aspect: Isha, the Human (associated with the act of Speaking and the suit of Cups) Ghost in the Machine: By concentrating, you can cause an electronic device you can see that’s no bigger than an average desktop computer to malfunction. The longer you can maintain unbroken focus, the worse it gets. (Lightning, Level 1) You’re an Isha in the service of Chazaqiel – the Herald with dominion over Lightning – and when the first telegraphs started to appear, that intrigued you. It wasn’t until the rise of the internet, however, that you recognised just how powerful that could be, and you fell to earth to learn everything you could about it. Herald: Chazaqiel (Lightning) Dominions: Lightning, Witness Descent: Knowledge. Humans harnessed lightning to communicate, and as an Isha of Chazaqiel, you couldn’t help but want to go down and find out how. Memories Signifier: The Hermit (#9) A wise woman once said bureaucracy was man’s attempt to ape the hierarchy of angels. That wise woman was you, before you attempted to help a student move to an apartment closer to school while teaching in Soviet Russia. Afterwards, you concluded it was more likely man’s attempt to ape the tortures of demons. Bureaucracy (Knowing) Mortal Connection: Your brightest student by far right now is Leticia Tanner. She works hard and gives insightful answers that show a real understanding of what you’re trying to teach. You’re determined to make sure she keeps her scholarship. “Cyberspace is a battleground just like any other, and if we don’t control it, the demons will!” Voice of God: When you choose, you can bear true witness and be believed: as long as you do not lie, anyone who hears you while you speak with the Voice of God believes absolutely that what is said is true. The truth here must be absolute, not what you believe to be true; this does not command or control anyone, but it can be very convincing, and can add a Blessing to any Tests involving this communication. (Isha) You owe Amenset a favour for helping you escape the House of Wisdom with your book on demons as the Mongols sacked Baghdad. If she hadn’t, the important knowledge contained within, might have been lost forever. Demon Lore (Knowing) Relic: “The Coin of Truth”: an ancient coin from the Umayyad caliphate, which you usually wear on a bangle around your wrist. – Voice of God: When you choose, you can bear true witness and be believed: as long as you do not lie, anyone who hears you while you speak with the Voice of God believes absolutely that what is said is true. The truth here must be absolute, not what you believe to be true; this does not command or control anyone, but it can be very convincing, and can add a Blessing to any Tests involving this communication. (Isha) Mission: The Belt of Truth. Cyberspace is a font of knowledge, and knowledge is power. You want to learn as much about it as you can, and use it against the Horde. Relic: “$ER.APH”: a computer file, unreadable by any known program, which you carry around with you on a 128GB USB thumb drive (it used to be a 3.5-inch floppy disk, and then a CD-RW, but it just keeps getting bigger). So far, it’s only ever been able to be moved, never copied. So far. Memories You and Ironheart almost died trying to rob that Zurich bank vault with the guardian demon. It took all your hacking prowess to keep security out long enough for the two of you to escape, and even then it was a close call. Hacking (Knowing) Mark: Though you appear more-or-less female, you have no breasts or genitalia. It’s kind of just like a Barbie doll under there. While monitoring Barron, you’ve learned far more than you wish to know about guns of all kinds, and how to use them. That man loves his weapons. Firearms (Striking) Mortal Connection: The “Sovereign Citizen” movement, which has flourished on the internet, is a source of endless fascination to you. You keep tabs on the online activities of one ringleader, Jed Barron, studying how he’s managed to rope together a community of his fellow fringe dwellers without ever meeting them face to face. 21 We hope you’ve enjoyed your first session of Relics. Continue the adventure by purchasing the Relics Core Rulebook and official Relics tarot deck at tinstargames.com or your local game store. You can also find the sequel to this scenario, By Demon’s Driven, wherever you acquired this PDF. Then take a deeper step into the unknown with Treasures on Earth – a deluxe supplement for Relics, coming soon on Kickstarter with a brand new, updated set of Relics tarot. The world of Relics is as vast as you want it to be. Rafa Rodrigues (Order #39858477) 22