Derek Pearcy, In Nomine

This is the first and fundamental rule book for the In Nomine™ role playing game from Steve Jackson Games®.

In Nomine is a new¹ and thought provoking game which is about as far as you can come from the standard 'team of adventurers meet in a pub, goes out to slay the dragon and come back laden with gold' style of gaming.

In In Nomine the Board is the Symphony, the Game is the eternal battle between Good and Evil, the Battleground is the faith and beliefs of humanity and the Players are Angels and Demons and the human Soldiers of God or Hell.

For Angels and Demons, the ultimate goal is to gain a Word, a defining principle, without which they are 'merely' Servitors, serving the Word of their Superiors, promoting the importance of that Word in the Symphony.
For Soldiers, enlisted, drafted, duped, forced or willingly serving, the main goal will be to stay alive long enough to do whatever work has been assigned this time.

The fact that the sides of The War represent fundamental philosophical sides, including the very different goals of the different Superiors (Archangels and Demon Princes), means that you as a player of In Nomine are almost invariably forced to think about your personal beliefs in ways not normally done by most people and very seldom seen in games, role playing or not.

That the book starts with a small vignette in two parts A Bright Dream/A Dark Dream showing the Game through the eyes of a recently drafted human and a demon, is a nice touch that gives a great introduction to the different ways these characters think.

The only thing left to mention is the artwork of Dan Smith, whose style fits the book perfectly.

All in all, I can recommend this for everyone who likes roleplaying a bit out of the ordinary.