Angels & Daemons or “The Third Way”

Setting -
“God is dead/and no one cares/If there is a hell/I’ll see you there” – Heresy – NIN

“Guess what? God died. Not with a bang but with a whimper; one day it just kind of happened. The
great Abrahamic monolith that had dominated all and sundry for so long just faded out. No
apocalypse. No battle. No four horsemen. Just oblivion.

Maybe there was something really good on the telly that night because humanity didn’t even notice.
Planes kept flying, cares kept driving, people kept eating (or starving) and nothing changed.
Apparently.

What wasn’t expected by anyone was that the moment God left, so did Satan. Straight up just
dissolved into their own oblivion. Weirdly all us other celestial beings, Angels and Daemons, Cupids
& Imps, the whole lot, all stayed exactly as we were, except, now pretty rudderless without the big
bosses to call the shots.

The choirs of Archangels took control of heaven, trying their best to keep the last orders of God
going and coming down hard on any whiff of heresy they could find. Apparently downstairs some of
the more powerful Daemons tried to take Satan’s throne, fractionising the already messy “society”
that had developed in those pits but to be honest, I haven’t been there to check.

Really though, for many “moderates” within both sides of the immortal coin this whole new social
order has opened up a world of collaboration and opportunities. Angels and Daemons feel
emboldened to consort and plan together like never before. In some cases previous friends and
lovers from since before the Fall have reunited. New structures and organisations are being founded
based not on the teachings of God or Satan but a new Third Way that teaches celestial beings to
embrace the Angelic and the Daemonic and feel more…human. Going to be interesting just to see
what we come up with…”

Amitiel, a Serene Herald

“The Devil is a loser and he’s my bitch” – Devil is a Loser – Lordi

“You can always rely on humans to mess things up. With the big two out of the way something
seems to have shifted with humanity beginning to dig up some old beliefs and philosophies to fill a
hole they aren’t even aware of. Beings and creatures long since banished with good reason have
begun to resurface all across the world, hidden for now but who knows what the future will bring?

You have those hairy guys from Scandinavia back, storm clouds appearing over Mount Olympus,
Gilgamesh has been striding the sands of Iraq, rumours of Atlantis beginning to rise in the Atlantic
and the less said about those snake things in Japan the better.

If we are going to survive this upheaval, all of us Celestials are going to have to swallow our pride
and remind humanity exactly WHO is in charge, big two or not…”

Dânêl, an Impulsive Troubleshooter

“Goddess on the mountain top/Burning like silver flame/The summit of beauty and love/And Venus
was her name” – Venus - Bananarama
Character Creation –
1 Choose a style for your character: Angry, Calm, Discordant, Impulsive, Intrepid, Practical, Savvy, or
Serene.

2 Choose a role for your character: Agent, Executioner, Herald, Missionary, Protector, Soldier or
Troubleshooter.

3 Choose your number, from 2 to 5. A high number means you’re more Angelic in nature (stubborn;
cold rationality; calm, precise action). A low number means you’re more Daemonic (intuition;
diplomacy; seduction; wild, passionate action).

4 Give your character a cool Angel or Daemon name. Wikipedia is your friend.

You have: A Blessed or Cursed weapon. A Blessed of Cursed relic. A “human” trapping (a wrist
watch, jewellery, cigars etc.).

Player goal: Get your character involved in crazy theological and high fantasy adventures and try to
make the best of them.

Character goal: Choose one or create your own: Remind humanity of your power, Become your own
authority, Promote co-operation between Celestials, Destroy the unbelievers.

Game system –
Actions: When you do something risky, roll 1d6 to find out how it goes.

Roll +1d if you’re prepared and +1d if you’re an expert. (The GM tells you how many dice to roll,
based on your character and the situation.)

Roll your dice and compare each die result to your number. If you’re using Angelic (mercy, reason,
calm etc.), you want to roll under your number. If you’re using Daemonic, (cruelty, passion,
deception etc.) you want to roll over your number.

Results:

0: If none of your dice succeed, it goes wrong. The GM says how things get worse somehow.

1: If one die succeeds, you barely manage it. The GM inflicts a complication, harm, or cost.

2: If two dice succeed, you do it well. Good job!

3: If three dice succeed, you get a critical success! The GM tells you some extra effect you get!

If you roll your number exactly, you have The Third Way. You get a special insight into what’s going
on. Ask the GM a question and they’ll answer you honestly.

Some good questions: What are they really feeling? Who’s behind this? How could I get them to
_____? What should I be on the lookout for? What’s the best way to _____?

You can change your action if you want to, then roll again.

Helping: If you want to help someone else, who’s rolling, say how you try to help and make a roll. If
you succeed, give them +1d.
GM Role, Notes and Adventure Creation -
Play to find out how they defeat the threat.

Introduce the threat by showing evidence of its recent badness. Before a threat does something to
the characters, show signs that it’s about to happen, then ask them what they do. “Belial snarls and
summons a flaming sword. What do you do?”

Call for a roll when the situation is uncertain. Don’t pre-plan outcomes—let the chips fall where they
may. Use failures to push the action forward. The situation always changes after a roll, for good or ill.
Ask questions and build on the answers. “Have any of you encountered a Mithradic Cultist before?
Where? What happened?”

1. A Threat 3. The
A Religious Order/Pagans/A Human race/Celestial Society/new
Mythological Being/The religion/Island of Atlantis/world
Government/A Rival Celestial/A power/old gods
Secret Society (Human or Celestial) 4. Which Will
2. Wants To Bring Armageddon/give them
Destroy/Replace/Corrupt/Deceive/ power/awaken an evil/create their
Seize/Banish utopia/let them start the world
again/command Death

Notes -

The system is a simple reskin of Lasers & Feelings with Angelic & Daemonic replacing those two stats
and the Third Way representing a Lasers & Feeling roll of the dice. Which stat used by a PC is decided
by the player and GM by choosing the way the PC is approaching a situation.

For example; committing an act of violence could use either stat but if one if a “merciful smiting of
the heretic” then Angelic would be used. If the violence is simply for pleasure or entertainment or
perhaps is an exceptionally cruel act, Daemonic would be used. Of course the interpretation of these
values is up to both the player and the GM (with the GM ALWAYS having the final say).

The Third Way is used in exactly the same way as if the exact number is rolled in Lasers & Feelings
with questions perhaps represent actual visions or revelations to the characters as befits the setting.

Influences -

In Nomine The Downward Spiral

Dogma Antichrist Superstar

Lasers & Feelings: the DoubleCliCks tribute rpG (v1.2) is by John harper. oneseven@gmail.com onesevendesign.com this game is licensed
under a CC by-nCsa 3.0 license. http:// creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ thanks angela, aubrey, ron, Vincent, Ben, Graham,
ryan, Jason, Brendan, Gene, leonard, Bill, wil. Check out thedoubleclicks.com adept-press.com/ games-fantasy-horror/ trollbabe
nightskygames.com tao-games.com

When all of your wishes have been granted/many of your dreams will be destroyed