On Wed, 25 Feb 1998, Drake wrote:

> many people do think that Superiors (Archangels, Demon Princes, and
> perhaps even some of the more powerful Ethereal Spirits/Gods) should
> have some sort of "stat" levels. The question is, how. 

Here's a few ideas off the top of my head for a way to compare Superior
rankings from a dramatic point of view. The system is diceless, but is not
entirely predictable, since Being Clever can sway it. It is based on a
style often used here in Oxford where the GM decides in advance 'if the
players are _this_ clever, they win. If they are _this_ stupid, they lose.
In between and I wing it.'

I would appreciate feedback from any and all. 

Firstly, divide all celestials into two categories:

1) Large. People who would have more than 18 forces if the game mechanics
had been designed to run that high. This starts at Michael, and runs down
through the Superiors and into the upper levels of the Word-bound. Such
beings have all kinds of unspecified powers: the ability to create
attunements and rites included. They may also have large to unlimited
reserves of Essence, but will rarely be rolling dice, because they have
auto-success at anything important.

1) Small. 1-18 Forces. The IN rules cover these guys.

The Rules of Engagement:

1) Small vs. Small is covered by the IN rules (duh).

2) If a Small celestial and a Large celestial oppose their powers in any
way, the Large celestial wins, unless all the following hold:
 i) The Small celestial is strong for a Small.
 ii) The Large celestial is weak for a Large (see below).
 iii) The Small is pretty much maxed out in the area of conflict (so if
he wants to use a Song, he'd better have it at 6, with at least 4 Forces,
and spend several points of essence, and roll well).
 iv) The conflict has nothing to do with the Large's Word.
 v) The GM cannot think of any decent way the Large can pull out his
specialty and use it on the Small.

3) Within the Large class, the GM must decide how good each celestial is
in any method of conflict likely to occur. The most important of these is
the simple 'trying to hurt the other one as much as possible'. Other
conflict types will depend on the plot reasons that the two have come
together. The only reasons for Superiors meeting unexpectedly that I can
think of is player invocations, in which case the options are basically
fight or flight. 

It takes a LOT to stop a Large simply running: only the most
combat-oriented Superiors can do it, and then only by risking leaving
themselves open to attack. This is why Superiors don't fight each other:
as soon as one started losing they would quit and run. 

So, what is needed is a combat ranking. Again, I suggest a subdivision
of categories: the character in the higher category usually wins. Fights
within a category will be close, and the GM may like to rank in strict
order within each. He may also like to roll some dice, weighting the
probabilities towards the higher ranked combatant. Here is a possible
partial list. Your Mileage _Will_ Vary.

1) The Best: Michael, Baal, Lucifer, Uriel, Laurence.
2) The Fighters: David, Gabriel, Belial, Saminga, Janus, Jordi?
3) Tough: Dominic, Eli?, Valefor? Haagenti? (Mmmm. Sword)
4) Powerful, or specialised Butt-kicker: Demon of Killing AAs, Large
Seraph Council Guy, Jean, Asmodeus, Marc?, Malphas?, Nybbas?, Novalis?
5) Medium hard: Loads of Word-bounds. Michael and Baal have teams of
these. GMs might like to put the combat-wuss Major Superiors here.
6) Not so hard: Loads more word-bounds. Combat-wuss Minor Superiors.
7) Non-combatant: The Angel of Peace. This level starts to shade back
into Small in terms of combat ability, so might be partially statted, and
make dice-targets for PCs. If this is the case, combat-oriented Smalls of
17+ Forces will also be here. This is also the maximum practical level for
PCs under this system.

If a character leads by one category, they will take serious damage if
they wish to destroy their opponent, or a few scratches to defend.
Two categories means that they can whip their opponent comprehensively.
Three or more, and they could hack them to pieces without taking a single
hit. 

Note that even Novalis can straight-arm a PC through a wall if she feels
like it. 

Modifying Factors

1) Ideas. For example, a player of mine began his prelude as an 18-Force
Senschal. He was attacked by Baal, who stripped him of half his forces in
one hit (Large always wins). He then decided to channel his Tether away
from Heaven and into Baal. BLAT. GM ruling was that this discommoded Baal
briefly. PC then invoked Eli. GM ruled that Eli was capable of waving a
sword at Baal in a sufficiently menacing fashion that Baal chose the safe
route and left.

2) McGuffins. Any _item_ that will increase a character's abilities by as
much as a category should only be placed by the GM with a specific
purpose, and user, in mind. He should have decided what its effects are in
terms of the already-existing rankings of everyone likely to see it. 

For example, 'The Sword of Primal Smiting will raise its bearer's
Largeness sub-group by one, placing them in the middle of the category to
which they are raised. If borne by a combat-oriented Small, it will place
them in the middle of category 6. For others it is Power 15, Acc +7.
Laurence will want it back when he finds out it is missing.'

3) Numbers.

This is the hardest part. GM discretion as to exact values, but:

A 'team' of anything will beat a 'single' of equal power. They will be
roughly equivalent to something one step bigger. So a team of Force 18
Combat Malakim could soul-kill Fleurity if they could pin him down. It
would take a team of Fighters to challenge Michael. That means at least
three DPs, co-operating, and it assumes that Michael can't call for help 
from Laurence, David, Gabriel...

If the team in question is of Smalls, then they should only end up in a
straight fight with something that has been at least partially statted,
unless the GM wants them to lose, fast.

An 'army' of something is 'n' levels better, where 'n' is a number between
2 and 4, decided by the GM. Note that a Fighter Superior could still take
on an army of Smalls, and not expect to break a sweat.

A 'horde' of something is what happens at Armageddon. Anyone asking for
game mechanics to deal with the Final Battle is not my friend.