Some books you just know are something special when you hold them. There's something beyond beauty, beyond dreams, about them. Nobilis is one of those books.
Nobilis is a game about being a Sovereign Power, a sort of demigod personification of some aspect of existence. It could be trees, or laughter, or wistfulness, or anything else. Your characters wield almost unfathomable power. You belong to the Mythic Earth, the truer reality that lies behind the Prosaic Earth in which humans live. Within it, you fashion your Chancel, your personal demesne. You can also imbue an aspect of your power in Anchors, mortal servitors. Of course, there's always bigger fish out there, like the Imperator who imbued you with your Domain, or Lord Entropy who rules all the Nobilis. Amongst his decrees is one that states that no Nobilis is allowed to love another being. Worse still, there are things from outside reality trying to get in, the Excrucians, and so you must also fight to withstand them.
Nobilis has no dice or any other randomizers. Characters have Attributes, which give them a considerable amount of power, and Miracle Points, which let them go beyond that already formidable power. Contests are won by whoever is more powerful, or more willing and capable to invest resources in them.
Also, it's worth saying that this book, the 2nd Edition, was phenomenal for the time it was produced. There's big splashy black and white art pages. There's little sidebars with story snippets that elaborate on what is being said. It's a very cool book. It won the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming in 2003.
Character Creation: One more time, my wife Hiria joined me for character creation, because she's always been very interested in Nobilis. She decided to make Justin, the Nobilis of the Unadulterated Now - inspired by our children and how fully they can live in the moment, and by a story of a Taylor Swift concert where fans were so present that they couldn't remember it afterwards.
Nobilis is a points-buy system, and you will not have enough points to go around! There are four Attributes: Aspect (your corporal abilities), Domain (your command over your estate), Realm (your personal demesne) and Spirit (your ineffable nature, which also affects your use of ritual). Justin has only one level of Aspect, making them physically and mentally equivalent to a minor metahuman. Three levels of Domain gives Justin a deep and powerful control over the concept of 'the unadulterated now.' Living so deeply in the moment, Justin does not have a Chancel, so there's no points in Realm. Finally, Justin's unadulterated nature means he has four points in Spirit. Justin has five Miracle Points for each attribute, except Domain, where we purchase another two for a total of seven - he can use these to temporarily perform more powerful miracles than he would normally be capable of achieving.
Gifts are special powers belonging to each Nobilis. There's a guide on how to create your own powers, but we liked the look of one of the example ones - Perfect Timing. With the lower level of this, now is always the right time. (With the advanced version of this, Justin could affect the rules of temporal causality!) We also have Handicaps, which limit Justin's abilities. We took Disabled on Justin's Aspect - because he lives in the now, he has extremely limited long-term memory. He also takes Manifestation - Justin is unable to affect those who are diametrically opposed to him. Those who don't live in the now and are long-term schemers are immune to his abilities.
Next, we pick our Bonds and Anchors. All characters have 20 points of Bonds to distribute, which represent the things they care about. Hiria felt that Justin's Bonds would be constantly shifting, so we didn't bother to record those. We also are able to pick five Anchors, mortals who are tethered to our power and through whom we can act. I imagine that these five are also literally anchors for Justin, stopping his mind from completely vanishing into 'now-ness' - what long-term memory he has comes vicariously from them.
Finally, we pick our Design. Nobilis has a highly developed language of flowers. (The GM is called the Hollyhock God, because hollyhock represents vanity and ambition.) Looking through the associated symbolism, Justin's design would be a fir flower, closed, with a double row of petals, on a crescent moon and dark blue background. Beautiful.
Final Thoughts: Beautiful and unique. I'd love to play Nobilis one day, though I think it would need a very special group to run it.
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