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In In Nomine, the Malakim are able to determine the most noble and ignoble deeds of people they
come in contact with, as well as their greatest virtues and worst sins. Unfortunately, the existence
of such an ability encourages its use, much to the dismay of the poor GM who has to come up with
interesting virtues and sins on the spot. The Liber Servitorum has some sample virtues and vices,
with the number of NPCs your average Malakim is liable to run across (and over), that list runs out
quickly.
Here, then, is a table which allows for the quasi-creation of noble and ignoble deeds. Regrettably it
uses the d6666 system; if you wanted to pare it down to d666, you can delete one of the columns
("Location" is a logical choice, but choose whichever one you're most comfortable with making
up). Assign each die a column, and keep track of the results; then, using the results, weave those
elements into a virtue or vice.
Virtue/Vice
Virtue
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Honesty
Compassion
Determination
Justice
Sacrifice
Courage
Vice
1. Deceit
2. Cruelty
3. Sloth
Person
affected
(if
appropriate)
The lower the roll,
the closer the person
affected is to the
person.
Location
(if
appropriate)
Intensity
(if
appropriate)
For example,
For example,
For example,
1. family (or self,
if appropriate)
2. family
3. friend
4. acquaintance
5. stranger
6. enemy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
trivial
minor
significant
memorable
major
monumental
4. Injustice
(animosity)
5. Want (greed,
gluttony, lust)
6. Cowardice
Example Rolls
Virtues
z
Vices
z
Things to Remember
z
Keep in mind that the entire purpose of this table is to give you ideas; you may wish to delete
columns that don't make sense for a particular roll, or re-roll entirely if you don't get an idea
from a particular roll.
Although this table can be useful in determining the motivations of random NPCs, you may
want to give some thought to what the vices and virtues of major characters are.
Consider that the magnitude of the table probably changes depending on the Malakim's
result; for example, the most noble or ignoble thing a person has done in the past week is
likely to be less significant than the most noble or ignoble thing a person has done in the past
year. A "memorable" cowardly moment of the past week is probably not as significant as a
"memorable" cowardly moment in the past year.
Likewise remember that a major sin to a priest may not be as significant as a major sin to a
serial killer. Use your judgement.
The virtues and vices roughly parallel; honesty opposes deceit, compassion opposes cruelty,
etc.
If the Malakim scores a 5 or 6 on the check die, you may wish to consider adding pride and
humility to the possibilities in the first column. (Remember that 1-4 on the resonance check
die are from the person's own standards; most people don't consider their humility to be their
greatest virtue, nor do most prideful people recognize that to be their greatest vice.)
This chart should also be useful in any other systems that require the generation of instant
motivation, like Vampire: The Dark Age's Daimoinon or Auspex, Fading Suns's Psi and Theurgy
powers, or Mage or GURPS Psionics abilities.
***
This chart was inspired and influenced by the Ultima series of computer games.
Article publication date: April 28, 2000
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