The Devil’s Dollar – A Gadget for ‘Better Angels’

Better-Angels-cover-v4-front-612pxWritten by Greg Stolze, © 2013

This looks just like a normal one-dollar bill, except that “Novus Ordo Seclorum” on the Great Seal reads “Novus Ordo Secularum,” “IN GOD WE TRUST” is changed to “IN DOG WE THRUST” and instead of “THIS NOTE IS LEGAL TENDER FOR ALL DEBTS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE” it says “ASSERT DOMINION OVER ALL YOU SURVEY.”  Also, the Treasurer’s signature has been replaced by that of actor Peter Cook, who played the Devil in the 1967 comedy “Bedazzled.”

Unlike so many of the tools constructed by the agents of Hell on Earth, this one’s subtle.  To switch it on, its owner just spends it and waits.  Within ten days, it comes back to him in some pocket-change transaction or, at worst, he just finds it by happenstance.  In the laundry, perhaps.

By holding it and concentrating, he can then intuit who had it while it was away and—this is the important part—what that person longs for.  The description of the longing may be vague or specific, but it gives the demon who crafted it from +1 to +3 Advantage (secret based) if he tries to leverage the insight during a Devious Corruption or Devious Deceit roll.  The degree of Advantage is roughly half of the target’s highest Sinister Tactic, rounded up.

Building the Devil’s Dollar (or the Devil’s Dime, as it used to be known) costs 2 Knowledge.  (Normally you’d have to pay that much to get a reliable +2 Advantage to either the Devious Corruption or Devious Deceit roll, but since this is variable and limited only to topics that address the longing, it’s roughly balanced.)  It has no Flaws.

Written by Greg Stolze, © 2013

dollar-back-close-up

Leave a Reply