A Review, on Nicotine Patch Day 50
I purchased In Nomine today. For those who don't know, In Nomine was written by a Frenchman named Croc way back in the day, and is a RPG about angels and demons fighting each other on Earth, with the human population caught in the crossfire. Originally, its title was In Nomine Satanis/Magna Veritas, and it was sold as two books in a black box -- one (INS) being about the Demonic Bands and the other (MV) being about the Angelic Choirs.
It was recently published by Steve Jackson Games, its system rebuilt to be simpler and faster (there is also GURPS: In Nomine by the same company, but these are two different systems -- take thy pick). Other versions can be purchased, including the original French box set, from various other companies, because hey, the concepts are just that cool.
I'd suggest the SJGames version, though, because Christopher Shy illustrated the cover.
Good Things: It's clean, easy to read, and has no obvious system flaws, other than the "d666" rule, which seems to exist purely for its own sake. The art boots ass, and Steve Jackson personally oversaw the system (he created GURPS*, in case anyone's curious).
Bad Things: It's too short. You don't get anything beyond the basic necessities... which I suppose could be looked at as a benefit, but I personally like a lot of flavor in a book like this. Also, the layout isn't quite perfect, and "splat pages" bleed over into the next page when there are only a few lines missing. Two-page spreads for a single archetype keep things nicely self-contained -- you open the book tothe right page, and it's all right there.
Best Picture: The game's signature logo; a flaming feather, to indicate the fall from grace. Much less abrasive than Demon: The Fallen's big pentagram on the cover.
Best Zippy Line: "Don't Play This Game Backwards."
That is all.
*GURPS stands for Generic Universal Role Playing System. It is one of the most thorough and realistic RPG systems out there, and can be used for any kind of game you want to run, from Wild West to Cyberpunk to both. Buy it Today!!
It was recently published by Steve Jackson Games, its system rebuilt to be simpler and faster (there is also GURPS: In Nomine by the same company, but these are two different systems -- take thy pick). Other versions can be purchased, including the original French box set, from various other companies, because hey, the concepts are just that cool.
I'd suggest the SJGames version, though, because Christopher Shy illustrated the cover.
Good Things: It's clean, easy to read, and has no obvious system flaws, other than the "d666" rule, which seems to exist purely for its own sake. The art boots ass, and Steve Jackson personally oversaw the system (he created GURPS*, in case anyone's curious).
Bad Things: It's too short. You don't get anything beyond the basic necessities... which I suppose could be looked at as a benefit, but I personally like a lot of flavor in a book like this. Also, the layout isn't quite perfect, and "splat pages" bleed over into the next page when there are only a few lines missing. Two-page spreads for a single archetype keep things nicely self-contained -- you open the book tothe right page, and it's all right there.
Best Picture: The game's signature logo; a flaming feather, to indicate the fall from grace. Much less abrasive than Demon: The Fallen's big pentagram on the cover.
Best Zippy Line: "Don't Play This Game Backwards."
That is all.
*GURPS stands for Generic Universal Role Playing System. It is one of the most thorough and realistic RPG systems out there, and can be used for any kind of game you want to run, from Wild West to Cyberpunk to both. Buy it Today!!