In Nomine Satanis/Magna Veritas

In Nomine Satanis / Magna Veritas is the French role-playing game, created by Croc, on which the American game In Nomine was originally based.

Well... In Nomine Satanis/Magna Veritas (or INS/MV, as it is called) is a game first designed by the French compagny Siroz (which sound like the word meaning cirrhosis). Currently (2003) available in its fourth edition, it relates in a somewhat parodical fashion the events in the bible and explains also the existence of other religions, still with a lot of humour, while still accounting for sorcery, psionics... The setting? The modern world, but a world where angels and demons incarnate themselves in human bodies in order to fight for Good or Evil. In short, it's much more fun than its American version, In Nomine, but is also much more offensive to radical christians.

The Game is somewhat akin to a superhero game, with PCs having supernatural powers (fueled by power points) and abilities usually far beyond those of an human. A typical adventure includes a lot of enquiry, detective work and roleplay, with few conflicts during the game and a big, final one. PCs are supposed to keep secret the existence of supernatural entities, so, in their human guises, have a somewhat "normal" existence. However, as they are often helped by their hierarchy to contend with it (and as players don't want to bother playing the professionnal life as an accountant of their angel of demon), this is usually downplayed.

Based on a 666-sided dice (in fact 3 six-sided dice), the first and second, read as the tens and units, are used to determine success or failure. The third dice, added to a modifier, détermine degree of success. 111 counts as critical successes for angels, with 666 being critical failures, the reverse being true for demons.

Each character has a superior, from which he gains some abilities and a general outlook (Well, Michel's or even Charlie's Angels are much more battle-oriented than Novalis Angels), and which he can try to summon for help. They are also subject to a hierarchy to which they must write rapports about missions, and who decides about characters improvement.

Croc also created a space opera version of this topic, Stella Inquisitorus (1993), that takes place in the year 6993.