Mission Proposals
Mission Proposals
Embedded Files
BASICS
BASICS
Title: Name of the game
Date: When the game will be hosted
Players: Number of players in the game. Can be a range. You are free to change this at any time.
Summary: The teaser blurb to give players a general idea of what your game is about
BACKEND
BACKEND
Mission Context: This section should include details concerning anything new you’re bringing into NS lore, in relation to the greater context of your mission. Examples include:
Introducing a new faction, recurring NPC, creature, etc
Relevant background. What’s the story that leads us to this present day mission?
New Fairview was a dead-end rural town in the middle of nowhere, co-opted by the God Machine to create a time-loop. A specific individual was chosen as the time-loop's sacrifice, and events were orchestrated to move her and her hired killer to New Fairview several years ago. The town now flourishes as a result of the matrix operating over it, but this has drawn the attention of Unchained interests. A message from the hired killer has managed to reach the primary timeline.
The Delta was a man-made island created by the God Machine decades ago, but has since become a central part to NYC's biotech industry. Now an experiment from one of the local Infrastructures has escaped, wreaking havoc on the area and threatening to rampage through the city proper.
Faux Pas is the oldest faction in Los Angeles, and as a result are the most prominent in the area. Tempters at heart, but dangerous folks. They're interested in the Cabal's recent encounter with Terpsichore, having learned of the battle through Fenella, and are inviting them to a party.
Important NPCs: Key NPCs, especially recurring NPCs, should be included here. All NPCs in this section should have a brief description of who they are, why they're important, and what role they'll be playing.
You should provide basic stat-blocks. They do not need to be detailed (i.e. full skill arrays are not required), but you should include key information like Resonance/Primum/Rank, plot-relevant abilities, etc.
Requirements differ based on type of NPC, as listed below:
Angels: All angels must be listed. Please see the section on angel requirements for what information is required.
Symphony NPCs: Pactholders, demons, stigmatics. Note that not all D:tD related templates are canon (i.e. demon-blooded and nephilim are not used in NS).
Non-Symphony NPCs: These will be reviewed carefully. Remember, we are primarily a Symphony-focused group, so avoid using too many non-Symphony NPCs or factions. Cameos and encounters are allowed, but due to the severe power differences between different splats, access to non-Symphonic NPCs should be heavily limited (even if the excuse is as simple as "too busy to deal with pactholders, we have our own problems to deal with"). Be sure you have read any relevant books. Note that not all WoD splats are allowed.
Human NPCs: They exist too!
Horrors/Cryptids/Cryptoflora/etc.: Creatures and similar-creatures are described here. If homebrewed, please err on the side of more detail.
Plot: What is the mission about? This information should be clear and full of spoilers, to avoid lore issues that may arise from unvetted concepts. You do not have to adhere to this perfectly - ideally, the information provided should be general enough that even if the exact details change, it still makes sense overall. Major changes should be sent in a follow-up review if applicable.
Consider the following bullets:
The Goal: What is the game's overall intention? Investigating a murder? Attending a party and making connections? Looking for an item? Saving someone from being hunted? If you had to summarize the game premise in 1-2 sentences, what would it be?
The Overview: Give us a rundown of what the mission is about. What will the players be running into? What is this game for? This is not and should not be a complete step-by-step breakdown of your game, but there should be enough substance to understand what the game is about.
For example: The players arrive at New Fairview and spend some time talking with townsfolk, learning about the physical location and potentially the history of the area. Eventually they'll run into Nikolas, who happens to be looking for Chelsea as well and provides the group with more information (having been in town longer). He'll emphasize the importance of the clocktower and will attempt to join the group on their investigations there. When the group enters the clocktower, they're transported to an alternate timeline, where New Fairview repeats the same day as Chelsea dies and resurrects repeatedly. They'll get a chance to talk to Chelsea and Sable, Felix if they find him, and potentially Sascha. Attempts to remove Chelsea from the time loop will inevitably lead to a fight with Sascha, though they will also get a chance to leave quietly if they abandon their mission. It's possible to recruit both Felix and Sable, if they can talk to them.
Your overview might have more details than this, but it should at least give an idea of the flow of the game.
The Bigger Picture: Is this game connected to a larger storyline? What's the grand scheme at play? Make sure to highlight elements that you intend to use in future games. We recommend including story elements that you're building towards for future games as well, even if they're not immediately relevant in this game specifically. If this game is a one-shot, please make a note of that as well!
Gadgets and Artifacts: All gadgets and artifacts should be listed, whether they're plot devices, items on loan, NPC equipment, or something else. Generally, these don't require a formal write up. Summarize the following information:
Brief description
Effect
Activation details, duration, charges, etc
If players are meant to be able to acquire/use/keep them
Lasting Conditions: Persistent Conditions should be double-checked for approval, before or after a game. You should have a general idea of the mechanics, as well as how the Condition is resolved. If a Condition is not intended to be removed by player agency alone (such as being timegated), please include the relevant details.
Unusual Abilities, Odd Mechanics, and More: The Symphony is a strange place that doesn't always perfectly fit a template. Storytellers have a lot of flexibility and should feel free to adjust existing mechanics or create new ones to fit their games. These should be highlighted in your proposal for the sake of double-checking world implications, whether in a dedicated list or under a relevant section (such as a stigmatic with a Supernatural Tolerance of 2, or an angel with more Numina than normally possible, etc).
ANGELS
ANGELS
Angels are the primary 'antagonist' type of Nocturne Symphony. As a whole, they represent a significant obstacle to anyone in the Symphony.
Angels and their missions are a manifestation of the God Machine's will, carrying out tasks on an earthly level where the God Machine itself is too vast to do so itself. They're incredibly costly to make, requiring multiple chains of Infrastructure and matrices and all the time and materials involved with each. As such, they should never be treated as fodder - the God Machine acts with alien purpose and efficiency, and would not easily throw away angels for no purpose.
Despite being biomechanical constructs in servitude to a higher power, there is a lot of range to angels. They have missions, but are generally not micromanaged by the God Machine itself, expected to be able to carry out their tasks in their own methods. Programmed personalities and emotions are processed intellectually, but perhaps not felt in the heart. They lack the breadth of creativity that a demon may have, but make up for it with the full might of the God Machine behind them. Self-actualization is the thin line between an angel and a demon.
We highly recommend reading the core Demon: the Descent book (and accompanying books such as the Storyteller's Guide, Flowers of Hell, and Demon: Interface) to get a better sense of the God Machine's tone and how angels operate. While this is not required, it will provide a lot of context to how to best play angels.
If you include angels in your game, consider the following:
Angels are labor-intensive and highly valuable resources of the God Machine, and thus represent a certain investment into their mission.
On an in-character level, having an angel involved means that something there is important, which means that the God Machine has reason to defend its investments. Think over the angel's mission and the purpose of any related Infrastructure.
On an out-of-character level, the angel should have some intrinsic value to the story - whether the story is this specific setting, or a larger arc.
This isn't to say you can't create one-off angels. After all, if players only visit an area once, they may never see the angel in charge again. However, angels should not be one-offs in the sense that they exist to be killed immediately.
Does it make sense that the God Machine is dedicating an angel to this task?
The God Machine values precision efficiency. If a sword can be used in place of the hammer, it will choose the sword. If a scalpel can replace the sword, it will choose the scalpel. If a needle can replace the scalpel, it will choose the needle.
If an existing angel can carry out the mission, it will not create a new angel. If a stigmatic can be used instead of the angel, it will use the stigmatic instead. If a few whispered words to an ordinary human will do the trick, it will put existing resources into motion to do that instead.
Ask yourself: what purpose is the angel fulfilling that a stigmatic, cultist, or Integrator demon could not do? Even an Imperative - a temporary, low-resource intensive 'angel' - may be able to fill the task.
On the flip side, even if a task could technically be fulfilled by a less costly resource, the God Machine may choose an angel for long-term efficiency. For example, it may design an angel to kill people of a specific criteria every winter for four years in a row, rather than arranging a Rube Goldberg machine of events every year.
Additionally, even if the God Machine could use stigmatics to carry out a task, it still needs an angel to arrange it in the first place, as angels are its go-betweens. As such, angels are effective overseers or direct actors.
This point is to stress that the God Machine does not concentrate large groups of angels into a single mission or Infrastructure, not unless there is an extremely good reason for the investment. The God Machine would not create a security force composed entirely of angels, if instead a single angel overseeing humans would work instead.
So, angelic groups?
Angels carry out specific purposes. Even in 'groups', they have their own tasks, often spread out or only coordinating for a greater plan.
Angels are most frequently solitary entities. Being expensive to make, it's rare to have them clumped together. Much of the time, they're sent out to accomplish a task or series of tasks, then return to hibernation, or are recycled.
The next most likely are pairs, or trios on occasion. This is frequently for angels who carry out more complicated or critical tasks, or tasks that are dependent on another angel. Examples include:
A pair of Destroyers, to increase their mission effectiveness.
One acts as a support, while the other tanks.
Abilities are split between the two for efficiency. Rather than making two angels that are "average at their tasks", the God Machine instead makes one extremely good at finding targets, and the other extremely good at executing them.
A Guardian + other Incarnation duo, intending to protect one's work
For example, while a Psychopomp is busy coordinating the construction of a new Infrastructure, the Guardian makes sure they can do so without interference.
Two specialized Psychopomps:
One can only work with humans, the other than only work with inorganic materials
One is specializes on building, the other focuses on gathering resources from across the country
An Analyst + other Incarnation, to learn and record the findings of the other
Etc etc
Larger groups of angels do exist, but consider their individual purposes. It is unlikely that the God Machine creates four Guardians that have the same exact mission. Consider instead four Guardians that each protect an Infrastructure, the four of which are located in different cities along the US East Coast. Perhaps some coordination is expected, such as passing information to one another, but they all have their own missions to carry out and cannot abandon.
Self-preservation
Angels in general are difficult to kill. Learning of a ban and bane can be an ordeal, not to mention acquiring them.
While some angels might defend their missions to the death, others might simply retreat. A failed mission doesn't necessarily equate to Falling, though said angel may get recycled if they aren't reassigned.
Killing an angel
For storylines where the angel is intended to die at the end, be sure to incorporate the difficulty of this task. Killing an angel requires multiple steps (not necessarily in this order):
Investigating an Infrastructure or occult matrix
Learning of a ban/bane, then acquiring them
Learning more about the angel itself, its mission, and its scope of power
Investigating related security measures, such as other agents, Infrastructure, etc
The infiltration itself
Fighting or assassinating the angel
Some of these steps can be accelerated with NPC help, though this introduces different aspects to keep in mind - what do players have to offer that the aiding NPCs cannot do themselves? Why are the NPCs risking an operation to a third-party?
ANGEL PROPOSALS
ANGEL PROPOSALS
When submitting a proposal, angels are required to have the following information:
The standard NPC information. Who are they, what are they like, what's their statblock?
Mission. This is the most critical part of angel design, as their mission is literally their only reason for existing at all. No angel exists without a mission - if their task is complete, they are either put into hibernation, or simply recycled.
Missions should be specific. Though angels may receive additional orders or reprogramming throughout their existence, their mission should be concrete and directed.
An Analyst assigned to record the findings of their Psychopomp.
A Destroyer who wipes the memories of anyone involved with an Infrastructure once the project is complete.
A Guardian who protects a bridge from interlopers.
To help with mission design, please read this Google Doc for a break down the idea of an angel's design into a Function, Method, and Mission.
Ban/Bane. Generally this is only relevant if players are intended to confront the angel at some point, but we encourage including this as part of understanding the angel itself thoroughly.
The higher rank the angel, the more complex and nuanced the ban/bane becomes. In general, bans also become more debilitating with higher ranks.
Relevance. How do they relate to this mission, and will they be used in future games?
What is significant about them being an angel, rather than filling their role with a different template?
Use Case. What is this angel used for?
ICly: What things does the angel do in the process of carrying out their mission? This may inform what kinds of games you'll run in the future, if you intend on making the angel a recurring NPC.
OOCly: What will you be doing with this angel as a NPC? This can be a list of things such as:
This angel only appears in games involving X Infrastructure
This angel will search for players who get compromised and will likely show up in games where someone has the Hunted Condition, and is not intended to be directly fought until later.
This angel is never intended to be killed by the Cabal, and is only a threat if attacked first.
End Game. Where do you want to take them? Are they meant to be killed by the Cabal eventually, or fade into obscurity off-screen?
While one-off angels are allowed, one-off angels that are killed at the end of the game are heavily discouraged.
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