RJ
Australia
Melbourne
Victoria
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I know I won't be able to convince most of you about the merits of a diceless system. In my experience, role-players - most of them - enjoy their dice. They enjoy dice, I believe, because the systems that use dice inevitably allow for ways to improve one's chances of success through rolling said dice, and for many players, the rewards of seeing dice bonuses being added to their beloved character sheet is the greatest feeling to be had in an RPG.
I don't begrudge the common RPGer this. I too am prone to such elation as my samurai swordmaster levels up and learns that awesome new technique that I'd been eyeing ever since I first created the character months ago at the beginning of the campaign.
Nobilis will not give you this reward system, and thus, for many players, especially those who would fall into the "power gamer" category, Nobilis is not appealing.
This is a good thing. Nobilis is not a game that wants power gamers playing it. The reason being that, in Nobilis, power is a given. Your character has it in god-like abundance from the very start. No months of leveling your samurai swordmaster could ever compare to the sheer magnitude of abilities that the basic Nobilis player gets at the commencement.
This, for me, is what makes Nobilis so special and endearing. Nobilis is about what you DO with power. Most other RPGs are about what you do to get it.
Okay, okay... so what is Nobilis?
Short version:
You play humans (normally) who are given a slice of a powerful being's soul (these beings are called Imperators), and become Nobilis. Nobilis are given control over a piece of Reality - and charged with defending it. You could become the Power of Colors, the Power of Physical Disability, the Power of Strength, Fire, Celebrity, Cowardice, Memory, Triangles... etc, etc. Basically anything that exists, can be your sacred charge.
Your Imperator could be an Angel of Heaven or of Hell. It could be a manifestation of Humanity's will to survive (The Light), or it's desire to destroy itself (The Dark). It could be a Wild Imperator from beyond Creation, a giant leviathan, or a true god with its own agenda.
You and your fellow PCs are now a Celestial Family, bound in service to your Imperator's cause, and to the cause of Creation. Guess what? There are these powerful beings called Excrucians that are waging war on Creation, and you've just been drafted into the conflict.
It would be nice if all you had to worry about was to just kick back the Excrucians when they break through the Spirit World and enter Earth proper, but of course, there's more.
Heaven and Hell of course can't stand each other. Same with the Light and Dark. Sure they'll fight side by side to preserve Creation, but they want to leave their own mark on it, and will not hesitate to stab other factions in the back when no one's looking. Even those that aren't aligned with one of those Factions still have their own ideas about what Creation's purpose is. Much of the game is figuring out how to deal with your "allies" as much as it is with defeating your true foes.
There's also this one Imperator... a guy named Lord Entropy. He's the de facto ruler of Earth. His word is law and it is called the Code Fidelitas. Trouble is, Entropy is about as evil as evil gets. One of his most infamous laws bans Nobilis from loving. You do not want to get on Entropy's bad side, because if you do, not even your Imperator has the authority to save you from his punishment.
Whew, so much for short. But really, my six paragraphs manage to (poorly) suggest what this beautiful white book describes. Only the book manages to do so by combining normal setting and rules explanation with a stunning array of short stories, nanofictions, and a humorous breach of the fourth wall by a Nobilis named Ianthe. Every section of this book is full of rich story elements. Other, better reviewers have said it before, but it's true, this rule book was a pleasure to read for its literary value alone.
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Gameplay in Nobilis
Without dice, conflict is resolved through comparing stats and magical effects (called Miracles).
Every PC and important NPCs have stats in four major categories, ranging from 0 to 5.
Aspect is everything physical, mental, and social. 0 value represents the abilities of a skilled human, thus, even the weakest of Nobilis superior to the average human in every trait that matters. Nobilis do not get mugged by a random brute. Roughly 1 in 3 Nobilis could take out an army in hand to hand combat or out compute a super computer.
Domain is the extent of control over the piece of Reality (aka: Estate) you own. The higher your rating, the easier it is to create miracles of divination, preservation, creation, destruction, and fundamental change through your Estate.
Realm is the extent of control over ALL Reality within the pocket universe (aka Chancel) that your Imperator and thus, you, call home. While within your Chancel, this stat acts as a Domain would, only for every Estate.
Spirit is the defense you have against Miracles. It also counts as your competence in the many Rites known to Nobilis, and your ability to create miraculous servants called Anchors.
Each stat is also accompanied by Miracle Points (AMPs, DMPs, RMPs, and SMPs). These can be spent to augment your stats as you create miracles, letting you do some pretty off the wall stuff. You can gain MPs back through either accomplishing some in story objective, roleplaying through character handicaps, or stealing miraculous energy from other Nobilis or miraculous creatures.
****
Conflict in Nobilis usually favors the clever and creative. A higher level miracle trumps a lower one, but even a small miracle can change the shape of the conflict in a way that forces more Miracle Points to be spent.
Death of one's enemies is often not the best solution in Nobilis. A lot of the main antagonists are immortal and there just isn't a way to beat them into a bloody smear no matter how many mountains or suns you throw at them.
The best plots tend to revolve around moral decisions. The PCs are almost certain to succeed in some way in whatever they put their minds to, but exactly how they succeed and at what cost is what really drives the game.
*****
This game deals in some heavy concepts and as such requires a certain level of maturity to really achieve its potential, but if you have a group of seasoned gamers who are looking for something new, I give Nobilis my full recommendation to you.
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Kevin H.
United States
Crescent City
California
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If the book was as clear as this review, I might have given Nobilis more than a cursory skim.
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George Heintzelman
United States
Setauket
New York
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dysjunct wrote: If the book was as clear as this review, I might have given Nobilis more than a cursory skim.
Giving the Nobilis rules a 'cursory skim' is an effort doomed to fail even worse than Nobles' attempts to evade the Windflower Law (that's the no love one). I remember reading this in the car on the way home after purchasing it for the first time and thinking to myself, "OMG, what the hell is this talking about?" Still, there's a lot there and it rewards in-depth reading.
Probably the absolute best way to learn Nobilis is to be thrown in the water as a player with an experienced GM who wil happily tell you, "Sure you can do that. It'll cost you 4 Domain miracle points though..." and discover what you can and can't (mostly can) do by exploration.
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Sam Collard
United Kingdom
York
North Yorkshire
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Or, as I did, sit and read it through twice in two days because the first reading left you with a huge sense of confusion, but a sense that there was something worth putting the effort in for.
I've read it cover to cover four or five times now (out of interest, as much as necessity) and feel I am in a position to run a game well (and would like to think that's exactly what I've done).
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RJ
Australia
Melbourne
Victoria
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It really does take a couple read-thru's to understand Nobilis' gameplay. The actual rules are a bit all over the place - or at least that's the feeling I got on my first reading. The game is really hindered by the lack of a rules summary page.
But I also felt that it was worth the extra effort to go back and forth through the book until I understood it. Now I only wish there were players willing to give it a go where I live.
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