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Relics A Game of Angels Quickstart Guide

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“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
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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
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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.
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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
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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,
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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
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• 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...
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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
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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,
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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.
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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.
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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)
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