ISH
Instantaneous Symphonic Harmonizers (ISH): with a
name like that, it's got to be from Revelations and Development.
The items tend to be jewelry of some sort; rings are
popular, but anything small will do.
They essentially act as one-shot Roles; when activated, they give the
effect of a Role/6 (Status/1) for one
immediate action. This is generally used
to allow someone to cause corporeal damage and avoid disturbance: in game
terms, an ISH must be activated before the attack roll to hit. An ISH burns out whether or not the attack
actually succeeds, making it a bit of a gamble to use. Worse, it can only be used to cover actions
that are possible for a normal human: it can be used to cover a shooting, but
not the performance of the Celestial Song of Light. For that matter, it would only work on a
shooting where Essence was spent to boost the skill roll if all of the celestial's Essence was
spent at once; partial Essence spending is, after all, impossible for those not
Symphonically Aware. Lastly, use of an
ISH is best left to angels without intrinsic Roles. Someone who does have an intrinsic
Role will have to roll against both the ISH-Role and his or her own Role: if both succeed, the feedback will not
only negate the Disturbance suppression functions of either, it will double the
total disturbance made and stun the user for (CD of the ISH Role roll) rounds.
The ritual hand-waving on how these babies work is
that they do not so much cloak disturbance as harmonize it: the item when
triggered will project metaphysical reactive chords that will effectively
blanket the discordant tones. This
explanation is, of course, nonsense - but it's the sort of nonsense that one
associates with Jean's creations. That
is to say, it's not an actual lie,
just a drastic oversimplification designed to make the assigned user happy
enough to just use the blessed thing without first requiring too many tedious explanations. There are also the security issues to
consider; a Vapulan who follows the above line of reasoning in reverse-engineering
efforts runs the risk of being entertainingly blown up in at least three
different ways. As Jean has himself
noted, exposing Vapulans to explosive force is almost
the Platonic Form of a mitzvah.
Despite their low costs, ISHes
are not standard issue. Generally
speaking, a regular Role is more cost-effective and versatile; an ISH is a
useful aid to assassination and/or property damage for angels without Roles,
and that's about it. Then again, in some
campaigns, that might be enough of a purpose to justify a regular production
run...
Cost:
Advantage: Role/6, Status/1 3pt
Convenience: Can be worn +2
Activation Time: Brief +1
Fragility (Fragile) or Visibility (Perception Roll) -2
One use /4
Final Cost: 1pt