IN> Supererogatory (WAS: Strip mining Dante)

[Jonathan Lang]

Claribel wrote:
>  Since (according to some interpretations) destiny must be accomplished
> without thought of reward, this produces a /psychological/ paradox if not a
> logical one.

Only if the human knows what his Destiny is; the vast majority don't.

This, BTW, is the fundamental difference between In Nomine's
Destiny/Fate mechanism and the traditional Christian belief about
salvation/damnation: phrasing the latter in terms of the former, a
person's Destiny is unattainable and his Fate a foregone conclusion;
what a person needs to do to get into Heaven involves meeting
standards so severe that nobody can hope to attain them.  _Everyone_
who gets into Heaven does so because an exception was made on their
behalf, setting the whole reward/punishment system of Destiny and Fate
aside.

GMs who want to include this could treat humans in a dualistic manner
similar to how angels and demons are treated: humans start out
hellbound; to become heavenbound, they need to Redeem, which is a task
that requires Heavenly intervention as well as a suitably humble
attitude - very much in the same manner as demons who want to Redeem.

Whether a Redeemed human can Fall is a matter of much theological
debate; in game terms, the GM would have to decide whether to treat
humans like Malakim (Falling is impossible, despite rumors to the
contrary) or like the other Choirs.  This might be a moot point, since
Falling requires the victim to have acquired Dissonance - something
that humans don't do, last I checked.

For a truly fundamentalist perspective, claim that the only being
capable of aiding in the Redemption of humans is Jesus Christ.  This
would require Him to take a more active role in the setting, which
would have some significant ramifications on Heavenly politics.

A less radical approach would be to use the normal Destiny/Fate
mechanism of In Nomine, but to allow humans who have met their Fates
to Redeem in the manner of demons (replacing their Fate-accompli
status with a de facto satisfied Destiny), given the aid of an
Archangel.  Given what the CPG has to say about wayward Saints, I
would recommend against allowing the reverse: canonically, those who
have met their Destinies appear to be permanently beyond the reach of
Hell; the worst they can expect is to never be seen again after their
next death.

-- 
Jonathan "Dataweaver" Lang