Realms of Power: The Infernal
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| Product Information | |
|---|---|
| Rules Edition: | Fifth |
| Abbreviation: | RoPI |
| Product Type: | Sourcebook |
| Author(s): | Erik Dahl, Timothy Ferguson, and Mark Shirley |
| Publisher: | Atlas Games |
| Product Number: | AG0282 |
| ISBN: | 1-58978-087-6 |
| Release date: | July 2006 |
| Format: | Hardcover or PDF, 144 pages |
| Availability: | Hardcover and PDF available |
Realms of Power: The Infernal is the ArM5 sourcebook dealing with the the Infernal. It includes information on devils and demons as well as infernal character, including powers, tainted versions of non-infernal powers, and some traditions of infernalists. It is the second book published in the Realms of Power series.
Subject and contents
The full content of this book is available at our Realms of Power: The Infernal Open Content page.
The table of contents for this book is not available online, so a brief description of each chapter is presented here.
- Introduction
- The Infernal Realm
- This chapter explains what the Infernal Realm is. It describes Infernal auras, including tarnished auras and corrupted auras. It describes Infernal regiones and the effects of Infernal warping, as well as the origins and effects of three degrees of Infernal vis.
- Sin and Temptation
- The Devil and the Origin of Demons
- The Infernal Legions
- Demons as Corrupters
- Demons as Deceivers
- Demons as Destroyers
- Corrupted Beasts
- Infernal Characters
Includes rules for Corruption Ability and its use.
- The Maleficia
- The Maleficia are Infernal powers that work, mechanically, somewhat similarly to Hermetic Arts. The caster combines one Unholy method (analogous to a Technique) and one Unholy power (analogous to a Form) to create Infernal effects.
- Ars Goetia
- The Goetic Arts deal with summoning spirits; most, but not all, are Infernally aligned. The Goetic Arts include summoning (goetic Art), ablating, binding, and commanding.
- Black Magic
- This chapter, contrary to what its title suggests, includes rules and background information for demon-hunters as well as diabolists. It includes Hermetic spells for dealing with demons. It describes cthonic magic, which straddles the boundary between the Magical and Infernal Realms, Goetic Magic, a Virtue that allows a magus to combine the Hermetic and Goetic Arts, and False Magic, a means by which Infernal powers can imitate other magical traditions.
- Infernal Traditions
- There are nine traditions, each described with a page or two of text and referring to rules from previous chapters.
- The Luciferans
- Strigae
- Witch-hammers
- Dark Gnostics
- The Dread Host
- The Mulhidun
- The Damhadh-duidsan
- The Ordo Vagorum
- The Witches of Thessaly
Reviews and comments
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A Comment on Favored Abilities
Each Infernal tradition has four favored abilities, that a charcter can learn in-game straighforwardly once he joins the tradition. On the other hand, each of these abilities is granted by a Major virtue in character generation. There is a disconnect here between how these abilities are gained easily in-game, versus how costly they are as background.
We suggest allowing NPC infernalists to gain all four favored abilities as part of their background, perhaps allocating a Season or 10 XP to being initiated into the tradition as part of their character generation. This would replace taking the Major Virtues for these charactes. Note that this would make them much more powerful, and would allow grogs to partake of infernal traditions.
NPCs that are not part of an Infernal tradition would need to acquire their Infernal powers as individual Virtues, presumably granted by demonic Powers or initiation rites performed by a cult (perhaps following the rules for Mystery Cult initiation). A Major virtue for each is very expensive, however, greatly lowering the character's other Virtues (and making initiation by Mystery Cult rules difficult). We suggest considering lowering maleficia Powers to Minor virtues, and similarly lowering the Goetic Arts to Minor virtues, excepting Summoning. Such characters might also represent members of infernal traditions of low rank, that have been granted some infernal powers but have not been fully inducted into the tradition.
Another option is to simply decide on NPC statistics according to your desires as an SG, without worrying about the rules.
For PCs, being inducted into an Infernal tradition should probably occur in-game, as a dramatic and powerful moment that deserve the spotlight. Otherwise, the same recommendations apply. Of course, an Infernalist PC is a can of worms (sometimes literally), and should be considered very carefully by the whole group.
Related Articles
- Further information on the Infernal can be found at Infernal Traditions, Infernal, and Infernal/fr.
Related Products
External links
- Realms of Power: The Infernal at Atlas Games website.
Public Domain works cited
- The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil by Paul Carus and published in 1900. Carus died in 1919.