Resonance, Dissonance and Discord

Celestial beings resonate with universal patterns, beautiful and terrifying. A celestial's resonance is a way of perceiving and manipulating the world with celestial senses, and cannot be taught. Some hold a resonance for truth and cannot be lied to, while others may hold a resonance for particular people and always know where they are. But a character's resonance is more than just a special way of seeing things -- it's who he is, it defines his very nature.

The way a character acts reflects this nature. A celestial, angel or demon, must act as his nature demands or he'll be in danger of disturbing the delicate harmony between his resonance and the rest of existance. This loss of celestial balance is called dissonance. If you do something against your resonance, either through failure or denial, you're pushing yourself further away from the clarity of extrordinary perception. The more dissonance you have, the harder it is to use your resonance.

Infernal resonance acts through a demon's Will, reflecting his ability to impose his diabolical perspective on the rest of the world. The stronger a demon's will, the more likely he is to get his way. In a demon, dissonance comes from an abject failure at enforcing his selfish will upon reality. Grave dissonance can lead to Discord, a painful fracture between the evil soul and his personal symphony. Discord is a corporeal reflection of a celestial's disharmonious nature, and may manifest on the demon's body (cloven hooves, prehensile tails), in his mind (extreme paranoia, schizophrenia) or even in his immediate environment (smells like a corpse, followed by the sound of bees). A discordant demon has a hard time hiding in a crowd, and his problems are likely to attract the attention of angels. The more Discordant a demon is, the shorter he can expect his life to be.

Divine resonance acts through an angel's Perception, reflecting his ability to attune himself to the Symphony and see meaning in its myriad chaotic patterns. The greater an angel's perceptive senses, the more likely he is to pull signal out of the noise of existance. In an angel, dissonance comes from denying his true nature and acting against it. Very dissonant angels may become Outcasts, unable to ascend to Heaven or use the rites and rituals of their Archangels. Extremely dissonant angels can lose their friends, their purpose, and their grace. Falling, as the angels call it, is how demons were born in the first place.

For demons, dissonance is a sign of failure, of weak will. Demons may seem more likely to be dissonant than angels, but then demons don't have the cushion of the Symphony to protect them when they screw up. They're playing with celestial fire, and it's easy to get burned. For angels, becoming dissonant is more of a moral decision, a choice. It's easier for angels to avoid dissonance . . . but then again, angels have more to lose and further to fall.

Resonance Mechanics

To successfully invoke a resonance, the player needs to make a d666 roll equal to either his character's Perception (for angels) or Will (for demons), minus any current dissonance, with difficulty modifiers applied as the GM sees fit. As with any other skill roll, a character can spend Essence to increase his chances, though that would go against any desire to be covert. See Trading Essence for Skill and "Detecting Essence" on p. 00.

For demons, a failed resonance roll might lead to dissonance; check the individual Band descriptions for more information. Demonic resonance, like any other Will-based conflict, can be fought. Any creature with more than 5 Forces may make a Will roll to defend against the intrusion. Like a normal contest, the check digit of the subject's successful Will roll must be higher than the demon's check digit. For game purposes, this does not turn the demon's resonance roll into a failure, it just wasn't a great enough success to have any effect on the strong-willed target.

For angels, a failed resonance roll has no adverse effects -- the character's celestial senses do not "lie" to the player, he just doesn't get any feelings on a celestial level. The passive nature of angelic resonance makes it difficult to deflect, though some Wards have been created explicitely for that purpose. See p. 00 for a list of Wards.

The check digit of a failed resonance roll determines how many hours the character must wait before he may again try to use his resonance for that specific purpose. In the meantime, the player is free to use his character's resonance toward other ends.

The effect of a successful roll's check digit varies with the resonance being invoked; check the individual Choir and Band descriptions for more information. Check digits for resonance rolls involving a subject -- whether failed or successful -- may be modified by one of the factors on the chart below, at the GM's discretion. (For example, if a character's resonance specifically demands he be in physical contact with the subject, the GM should not give him a bonus for doing so.) The GM and the player should decide whether or not to apply check digit modifiers before the roll is made.

Celestial Resonance Check Digit Modifiers

+2 physical contact with the subject
+1 within one yard of the subject
-1 direct line of sight, from five to fifty yards away
-1 audio and video reproduction
-2 audio reproduction only (phone conversation, tape recording)
-3 visual reproduction only (photo, video)

Technology has given angels and demons sophisticated ways to use their celestial resonances, at the cost of reducing their effects. When using a resonance through a technological medium, GMs should always apply the appropriate check digit modifiers.

Using a divine resonance on a mechanical reproduction (like looking at a photo or talking to someone on the phone) will reflect the subject's state when the reproduction was made. Demonic resonances can also work through mechanical mediums -- but not on recordings, like photos or audio tape, only through live transmissions (satellite broadcasts, phone conversations, etc.).

Dissonance Mechanics

Immediately after a celestial character does something dissonant, the player must use the d666 to determine how profoundly his character will be affected. See the individual Band and Choir sections for specific descriptions of what causes dissonance in the various types of celestials. Dissonant angels run the risk of becoming Outcasts -- or even Falling, losing their divinity and becoming demons. Dissonant demons can acquire Discord, a fracture between the diabolical soul and his personal symphony. The GM and the player should conduct a dissonance roll in private, and they don't have to reveal the outcome of the roll to the other players.

The player must roll a 6 or lower on at least one of the three dice, minus 1 for every point of previous dissonance, to avoid disaster. GMs may not add difficulty modifiers to dissonance rolls. If the player succeeds, his character merely gains 1 point of dissonance. For either outcome, the check digit determines how many hours the character must wait before using any supernatural aspect of his resonance again!

For example: A player whose character has no dissonance must roll a 6 or less on at least one of the three dice to avoid danger. He rolls a 5 a 6, and a 2. His dissonance goes up 1 point, reducing future chances of invoking his resonance by 1 -- but regardless, he can't use his resonance for 2 hours.

Another example: A player whose character has 3 points of dissonance must roll a 3 or less on at least one of the three dice. He rolls a 3, a 5, and another 5, narrowly escaping disaster. So his dissonance goes up to 4, making it very difficult to invoke his resonance, but the check digit says he can't use it for another 5 hours anyway.

Angelic Dissonance

If the player of an angelic character gets a 666 on his dissonance roll, or otherwise fails on all three dice, that angel becomes an Outcast. He will no longer be able to use his Archangel's rites and rituals, or ascend to Heaven. The doors of Heaven reopen to an Outcast only after he clears himself of dissonance, but that may not patch things up with his Archangel.

If an Outcast angel rolls a 666, or otherwise fails a second time on all three dice before ridding his soul of dissonance, he will have cast aside the last of his divinity and become a demon. At sunset, if the character doesn't already have any Discord, he'll regenerate infernal Essence like any other demon. For more information, see "Falling," p. 00.

For example: The player of an Outcast character with 4 points of dissonance must roll a 2 or lower on at least one of the three dice. He rolls a 4, a 3 and a 6. His character Falls.

If the player rolls a 111, his character does not generate dissonance -- the angel's activity, though against his nature, is smiled upon by the forces of benevolence and play resumes with no negative effects on the character.

Demonic Dissonance

If the player of a demonic character rolls a 111, or fails his dissonance roll on all three dice, his character generates Discord in addition to 1 point of dissonance. The level of Discord earned is equal to the check digit of the failed dissonance roll. A demon with Discord might not regenerate infernal Essence naturally at sunset, cannot use the rites and rituals of his Demon Prince, and cannot descend to Hell without help from another demon. For more information see "Discord," below, and "Descending" on p. 00.

For example: a player with 3 points of dissonance must roll a 3 or lower on at least one of the three dice. He rolls a 4, another 4, and a 6. His character generates 6 levels of Discord, as well as another point of dissonance!

If the player rolls a 666, his character does not generate dissonance -- the demon's activity, though against his nature, is smiled upon by Lucifer himself and play resumes as before with his dark approval.

Losing Dissonance

Dissonance, while painful and disruptive, can be removed. Every week a spent inside the confines of a Tether and actively tending to its upkeep -- any divine Tether for an angel, and an infernal Tether controlled by his Prince for a demon -- strips away 1 point of dissonance. Also, the GM may allow a character to spend 10 points of Essence once an adventure to remove 1 point of dissonance. This represents either some grave act of contrition on the character's part, or a gleeful renewal of his loyalty to evil, for which the player should concoct a suitable story.

Discord

Topping the list of things to avoid is Discord. A list of some Discord suggestions start on p. 00, but GMs and players are encouraged to make up their own. Some incarnations of Discord are easier to hide than others, but none of them are much fun.

In game terms, Discord is a Resource, rated in levels from 1 to 6. The higher the level of Discord, the more strongly it will affect the character.

The Effects of Discord

Regardless of what side you're on, Discord is a bad thing to have. If someone finds out about your Discord before you can take care of it, depending on your Superior you could be censured, shunned, punished, or -- especially for Malakim -- destroyed outright.

The first time a character notices another character's Discord, he must make a reaction roll (see p. 00), subtracting the level of the Discord. The GM may add positive or negative modifiers as the situation demands. Particularly nasty Discordancies may send people screaming away from you, calling the cops, or calling your Demon Prince. Close friends may want to help you with your predicament -- but then again, maybe they're just trying to work you into a position where they can take credit for blowing the whistle on you.

Also, characters with Discord might not regenerate Essence naturally. At either sunrise or sunset, depending on whether or not the character is an angel or a demon, let the player roll one die. If the number he rolls is above his highest level of Discord, then he's able to coax Essence out of the universe that day. If not, then his Discord got in the way of his Essence regeneration and he'll have to scrounge for some elsewhere.

Demonic Discord

Demons get Discord when they acquire so much dissonance that it fractures their selfish grasp on their personal symphonies. The GM, at his discretion, may inflict an appropriate Discord upon a character (with or without player input), or let the player pick it randomly. The check digit of a failed dissonance roll determines the level of a new Discord, or the increase of a previous Discord. If increasing an old Discord would raise its level above 6, then apply the check digit to a new Discord instead. See "Demonic Dissonance" in the section above for more of the game mechanics involved.
New demon characters may choose to start the game with Discord. For every level of Discord a demon decides to take, he gets another character point to spend elsewhere.

Angelic Discord

It's not suggested that GMs let new angel characters start the game with Discord -- but if a player really wants his character to have Discord, he should come up with a damn good explanation for it. If the GM deems the story good enough, then give him the character points and let him suffer.
During play, angelic characters may choose to trade 4 points of dissonance for 1 level of Discord. This will raise an angel's chances of using his resonance and lower his chances of Falling, at the cost of inflicting an unpleasant limitation on the character. Demons may not choose to trade dissonance for Discord.

Losing Discord

Discord can't be disposed of as easily as dissonance. Only a Demon Prince or an Archangel can remove Discord from a character for sure; see "Princes and Discord" on p. 00 or "Archangels and Discord" on p. 00 for more information. There are other, more risky methods, but as a Discordant celestial is to angels and demons what a leprous excaped convict is to humanity, there's very little common knowledge on the subject.

Resonance and Dissonance for the . . .