Glitch: A Beautiful Something

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Ian

My name is Cheesefish, and against all logic it is one of the more mundane names I have come across. I am wearing a sari and I have a fox on my head. My hobby: squeezing chickens. My mission: to become the finest chef the world of Glitch has ever seen.

Glitch is a browser-based, entirely combat-free, massively multiplayer online game. And for the last few days, it has been something of an obsession. It is Maple Story, if Maple Story cut the combat (and the Korean-ness) and focussed solely on exploration and crafting mechanics. And it’s the exploration that makes it. As a 2D scrolling flash game, there are none of World of Warcraft or Guild Wars’ sweeping vistas here, but it makes up for it in variety. One moment you may be exploring a lush and utterly normal forest, but one stop on the ever-present intercontinental subway drops you off in a land of pastel where the hills have eyes.

Stranger places still await the intrepid explorer. Keita Takahashi, creator of Katamari Damacy, has had his hands on this game and it certainly shows. (The other more recognisable members of the team are, bizarrely, the founders of Flickr.) There have clearly been some… unique minds behind the design of this game, which become most apparent when acquiring raw materials from the environment.

Need meat? You get it by nibbling on pigs, but only after petting them. Milk? From butterflies of course, but they must be massaged first. Grain can be obtained by squeezing chickens, but eggs? Oh, right. Egg plants.

From the odd interactions with fauna to the bizarre contraptions you can use, the ever-humorous quest descriptions and the pet rock that does your learning for you, there’s a strange sense of humour at work here and it works very well indeed.

Glitch is also an example of one of my most hated things – an Energy-based game that has no end. But here, it doesn’t feel malicious like the game-killing ‘games’ of Zynga and Playfish. Energy is plentiful and refills completely every few hours, and even with my character’s mediocre cooking skills, she can easily whip up enough odd food and drinks to keep her energy and mood full. Skills are learned over minutes, hours or days of real time, but again unlike FarmVille and its kin, they’re not just a mechanism to drag you back to the game. There doesn’t feel like an urgency to get them learned, and besides, you can manage them from the website or the iOS app without having to touch the game itself.

So what the heck is Glitch? It doesn’t seem much like a game, as there’s no way to win and no reason to compete against anyone. It’s a world to explore, to create and add to, and apparently, to hold farmers’ markets in.

It resembles nothing quite so much as a twenty-first century upgrade of the MUSH, the shared environments from the early ’90s. If it allows anything like a MUSH’s ability for players to create and expand the world, it will be a wonder. But creating with text is easy; doing so with graphics much more complex, and I can’t imagine the company behind Glitch giving up creative control so readily.

But even without that, even without an idea of what it is and what it’s going to be, it’s certainly a beautiful something.

Dreaming Awake Game 1

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Ian

I ran my first game set in the Dreaming Awake setting at university in 2005. Unfortunately, due to a number of reasons, the game only reached its fifth session.

System

The first Dreaming Awake game used a system created from scratch specifically for it. Although it was briefly play-tested for balance issues beforehand, it suffered from a few issues that only became apparent once it was properly in play:

Shiny dwarfed everything. The first character to be awarded a Shiny point — for something entirely social, as it happens — suddenly became a combat munchkin against anything non-Shiny, and the rest of the party couldn’t keep up.
Powers weren’t obvious enough. The “can I do this?” question was asked too often, and players’ lack of confidence in their characters’ power level made them make poor decisions. Players (and thus characters) couldn’t properly gauge how much of a threat their enemies were, leading to slow and cautious combat.
The combat system was too slow. Although I began creating it with simplicity in mind, the never-ending quest to make it more elegant also made it more complex. It was not immediately obvious to players what stats they should be combining at each point.

Information regarding the system we used is documented here for archaeological purposes:

Setting

The fact that I am deeply in love with Dreaming Awake as a setting should come as no surprise. I wanted the game to feel like an open-ended sandbox that gradually drags the characters into the plot, giving them chance to have fun with the setting, rather than running a railroaded campaign. I probably allowed too much freedom here, and I learnt the following lessons (the hard way):

Players need to see the results of their actions. A lot of the mechanics of fame in Dreaming Awake involved tales of the players’ actions spreading by word of mouth — but when that’s invisible to the players, the results seem arbitrary.
…but not when the result is that they’ve made their task more difficult. By their actions and word of mouth, the players managed to effectively start the evacuation of a whole country in the face of an oncoming army. Regardless of whether it was a good or a bad decision, it was one that increased the players’ fame, which Dreaming Awake prizes greatly. As a “look how powerful your words are” scene, the characters stumbled upon one of many refugee camps that had formed — but rather than impressing on the players the importance of the characters’ actions, it instead demoralised them.
Plot happening in the background is confusing. At one point, the characters caught a glimpse of something big happening in a far-off land. This was intended as a minor hook to suggest that other things are going on that the characters are not involved with, and that perhaps they might want to be involved. But because it came across as “look, stuff happens without you!”, the players did not feel much desire to investigate.

Mage: Beyond the Fields We Know

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Ian

This page contains the introductory material for the “Mage: Beyond the Fields We Know” game that is still waiting to be run at some point. It was originally posted in this thread.

About the Game

For those of you new to the society, or absent during my Pimms-fuelled rants towards the end of last academic year, here’s some info about the game.

This game is going to be at least a little novel, I hope, in that it’s going to push the boundaries of in- and out-of character further together than most other games (with the inevitable exception of Dreaming Awake). The characters will be Virtual Adepts in White Wolf’s “World of Darkness” setting (Mage: The Ascension). Rather than just playing face-to-face, players are encouraged to invent as much of a seperate identity for their character as they feel comfortable with. The game will mostly be run over IRC, so characters are encouraged to have at least a handle – blogs, proxies, shell accounts and so on are encouraged for players who want to delve deeply into the world.

The game is set around the end of the year 1999, as Millennium Bug fever tightens its grip on techies and conspiracy theorists alike. As Virtual Adepts, the internet is in equal parts home and playground to you – and you know not only about its technical side, but also its more esoteric side.

And you know that the Millennium Bug is more than just programmers’ lack of foresight. Much more.

My scene-setting story fragment, “Catching the Bug”, is here: http://onlydreaming.net/fiction/short-stories/catching-the-bug.

When and How?

This is where it gets a little trickier. This started off as merely an interesting idea – how far can I blur the boundaries between the activities of the Virtual Adept and of their player – and it remains to be seen whether the idea will translate well into practice.

I’ll do my best to run this game well, but please remember it’s as weird for me as it is for you!

Firstly, the game will not run face-to-face. It’ll be run online, but I don’t mean over MSN or IRC saying “My character does this, I say that”.

I will set up one of my machines as a server, which players – in the guise of their characters – will be able to interact with. It’ll host an IRC channel, all the players will have user accounts and shell access to them, and so on.

Furthermore, it’ll be run in real time. The game starts on 1st December at midnight, and continues until the plot resolves or until about 4th January.

FAQ

Will I need real-life hacking skills to play in this game?
No.
Real-life skill imbalance is a problem I’ve thought long and hard about, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there will be fairly little *actual* hacking involved – instead, this will be roleplayed in a more normal manner.
However, the ability to log in to your account, run things, move files around and so on will be required. I’ll post an out-of-character manual for how to do things, and teach people basic Linuxy things myself if necessary.
While real-life skills should not give any player’s character an advantage or disadvantage, the more you know – and the more you play around with the system – the more fun it’ll be. Hopefully.

How many people can play?
Lots. I’m not setting a limit at this stage. If your character’s background doesn’t suggest some goals, motivations, and so on, we can work some out. The aim is for there to be enough characters with conflicting goals that I don’t have to shepherd around a “party”, but that the game virtually plays itself while I play the NPCs and hideously abuse my root priviledges in the cause of keeping things interesting.

Will I need to be online permanently?
No. Your character, like you, will doubtless have jobs, studies and things to do. So long as you can get online enough to keep abreast of developments and play the game for at least a while every few days, you shouldn’t fall behind.

What’s this server of yours?
Actually, the machine I’ll use belongs to the lovely and wonderful aefariden, The Artist Formerly Known As Areku. The machine I intended to use decided to ritually incinerate itself, so I’m eternally grateful to Alex for the loan of a machine.
It’ll be running a pretty heavily cut-down Gentoo Linux.
This machine will be on my home network, so I do ask that should any of the players manage to hack their way into acquiring interesting priviledges on the game machine, please don’t try to do nasty things to my other boxes.

Background Info

Late October, 1999.

The information age has arrived. What began all those years ago as merely a way for universities to share data has become so much more. Universities, companies, the government, every man and his dog is getting online. Everyone can dial up and click-click-click through web pages.

But so few of them, just a tiny precious few, truly see the internet for what it is.

You are one of those lucky few. Whether you grew up with the ‘net, got involved with it as an adult, or even helped develop it in the early days, you see beyond hypertext and TCP/IP. As you sit trance-like in front of your blazing monitor, as you pull on the goggles and load up the latest VR experiment, even as you make a call on your mobile phone, you can feel it all around you.

Information. The new reality.

No longer is the world constrained by such an abhorrent concept as a singular reality – now, we can pick and choose our realities, and make new ones for ourselves. Any fool can make a web page these days, but we can make something more. Worlds within worlds, the next realities, the shining path down which we will lead humanity away from their dying world.

Anything is possible for us. Already, information is beginning to supercede reality. More and more, people trust the machines, they trust the information. We manipulate information, create it and destroy it, and in so doing we rework reality.

We are Virtual Adepts.

We are the gods of cyberspace.

We are the future.

Early November, 1999

Of course, we are all human and all fallible – at least for now. Even Alan Turing, perhaps the most respected of all Adepts, had his moments. So did the inventors of the early microprocessors and operating systems. They underestimated how important computers would become, nor how long they’d last.

It’s a silly thing, really. Two digits instead of four. So simple. So dumb. Of course, to us it never would have mattered. Such a simple thing, far below the level at which we perceive the information plane. But of course it worried the mundane lot, and to their credit they’ve been working long and hard to fix it. The problem is, the public got hold of the idea and ran with it.

Our world, the internet, is not just our playground. It is defined by the data within it, and everyone can influence that. While we have the most far-reaching and powerful ways of manipulating data, the meme is a mighty tool – especially in the hands of those who do not understand it well.

Nightmare conspiracies and apocalyptic prophecies spread like wildfire once the public got hold of the Millennium Bug meme. Word of it passed not only across message boards and chat channels, but around the office watercoolers and in the newspapers. Everyone knows, everyone’s talking about it, and they’re making it real in ways they don’t understand.

Try as we might, and believe me we are trying to fight its effects, we are under siege. Everyone on the ‘net is talking about how computers and the web are going to come to an end, and these beliefs are filling up the information sphere. Filling up our reality.

That apocalyptic meme is making itself come true.

Whilst I violently reject the Technocratic Union’s desire to control the minds of the people, it is the minds of the people that are destroying the future.

I do not know what can be done.

Mid November, 1999

Already our world is growing flaky. As companies and governments across the globe take their servers offline for “pre-emptive measures” against the Bug, our reality is getting less and less reliable.

Word of the Millennium Bug has spread so far and wide that so many people know about it without understanding it. A lot of them don’t even realise that no real effect of the bug could happen until January 1st, and attribute their connection problems to the Bug already. More than once today I’ve seen people come out with lines like “It’s starting already”.

There’s a lot of pessimists in the world today; a lot of people that only see the worst in a situation. So that thought spreads like wildfire. The “it’s starting early” meme latches on to its greater parent and spreads with it, and thus makes itself more true.

No longer can we say that nothing can happen until the New Year. It *is* happening already.

Late November, 1999

The internet is falling apart, and it seems as if there’s nothing we can do.

But there is.

I have an idea, and I have made an arrangement that not many of you will like. Should we fail to save the net, maybe I will be forever judged as the one who put the final nail in its coffin. But if we succeed, I hope that history is kind and forgives this transgression.

I can say no more here, as I am afraid of what might happen if the information reaches the wrong ears.

All I will say is this. I cannot do this alone; I need volunteers. Each of us has a stake in the internet’s survival. Though many of us are no doubt trying to prevent the net’s downfall in their own ways, I hope that enough of you will trust me enough to join my crusade.

If you are willing, head over to the Zephyr node. Welcome to Project December. And… thank you.

Benjamin Frost

Virtual Adept

So what can I play?

You are one of the gods of the internet. Whatever your background, whether your skills developed with your intention or not, you see information and cyberspace for what it truly is – a new reality based on information alone. Whether you regard your abilities as magical or not, you have them and they set you apart from normal people. You may just do this in your spare time while holding down a proper job, or you may have sunk so deep into cyberspace that you can hardly bear mundane reality anymore.

The majority of characters will be Virtual Adepts, visionaries of the information age, people for whom the internet is an exciting opportunity to further human development.

A few characters may, if they like, be members of a parallel group within the Technocracy. For the technocrats, the internet is one of many tools to monitor and control the people for their own good. Just like the Virtual Adepts, though, they have a vested interest in keeping the net running.

Despite their common goal, these two factions are at what amounts to an ideological war with each other. Therefore, I’d ask that whatever side you pick, you do not mention both your character’s handle and their ideology in any out-of-character discussion. I want the characters finding out about each other and their goals and mindsets to be entirely in-character.

I will enforce > 80% Virtual Adept characters, so if you create a Technocrat character please don’t be offended if I ask you to change your character to a VA.

Your character can be anywhere in the world, any nationality, any age or sex, any social standing and wield any amount of real-world power. The internet is the great leveller – online, you are nothing but your handle and your ideas.

Your powers may have developed gradually with heavy net use, they might have been taught to you by a VA (although you wouldn’t have realised it at the time), or you – rarely – might even have been born with them.

It is hard – but not impossible – to find out about the Virtual Adepts (or the Technocracy) by mundane means. After your powers came to you, though, it would have been significantly easier, and it would be quite likely that one or other (or both) of the groups found you before you had a chance to find them.

Who is Benjamin Frost?

Whether by e-mail, a post on a secret BBS or by some more esoteric means, you’ve come across this information that Ben Frost is setting up something called “Project December”, an attempt to combat the Millennium Bug meme and save the internet and the information it contains from an uncertain future.

Although Virtual Adepts do not have a formal hierarchy, Ben is a renowned expert on virtual reality environments and network security. He is percieved by most as trustworthy although a little distant, mostly too wrapped up in his own miniature VR worlds to interact with the other Virtual Adepts much. He seems an unlikely wannabe saviour of the internet, but perhaps the instability of the entire network has affected even his own personal playgrounds.

These days he prefers to be known by his real name, although he does on occasion go by one of his old handles, ‘EmptySky’. He is 34 years old, and is a professor of Virtual Interfaces at Cornell University, New York.

The Tale of Indigo Something

Posted on August 7, 2010 by Ian

Deep in a forest, in a land known as the Duchy of the Buttercup Flowers, there lived a man by the name of Indigo. He lived a simple life with his elderly mother and father and his six brothers and sisters, each named after a colour of the rainbow for reasons their parents had never told.

Now I say that he was a man, but in truth he was one of the Fair Folk, the Gentry, or any of the other names by which his kind go. And that land in which he lived was not of the Earth we know, but of another much stranger place which few true men have ever seen. But it will suffice to refer to him as a man, as he was certainly of that appearance, and by our reckoning would have been some thirty years of age at the time our tale begins.

Indigo and his family were very poor, for though the forest provided no shortage of food, they had little to sell or barter for fine things, and the children increasingly had to care for their parents.

His life continued in this way for many a year, until one day, a great war broke out among the kingdoms of the land. News of this did not reach Indigo’s distant home at that time, because travellers so rarely ventured so deep into the woods. But not long after, a recruitment gang came passing from house to house, taking everyone fit and healthy away to fight for their Duchy in the war. Indigo’s older sister Green and younger sister Violet were allowed to remain behind to support their parents, but Indigo and all his brothers were made to leave their family behind.

Indigo was not happy in the army, but he sent a good proportion of his wages home to his family every week, so he knew that they would be living a better life in his absence.

Now in this war the House of Buttercup had pledged their allegiance to the White Roses, who were one side, and their enemies were the Red Roses and their allies. Indigo knew that the Whites were winning and that the fighting was taking place a long way from Buttercup lands, and so he patrolled the borders of the Duchy without fear. But news from the front became rarer and rarer as time went on, and everybody started to wonder if they were really safe at all.

Then, one day, came the news that they had all feared. The officers told the enlisted men that a Red Rose army had attacked the south of the Buttercup lands, and they were being sent there to fight.

Indigo and his brothers and thousands of other soldiers marched day and night across the land in pursuit of the Reds. On the third day they came across a forest that had been burned to the ground by the enemy, and Indigo and his brothers recognised it immediately despite it being black and charred. They split from the army as it marched past, and they searched the forest for a day and a night, but they could find no trace of their home amongst the blackened trees.

Indigo, consumed with sadness and with anger, travelled directly back to the capital city of the Buttercup Duchy. There he presented himself before the Prince and told him how he had discovered his family’s fate at the hands of the Red Roses.

“You are a brave man to tell me this,” the Prince said, “because you have deserted the army, and by law I should sentence you to hang.”

But Indigo was prepared for this. He explained also to the Prince that he had acquired many skills from his days as a hunter, not least the ability to move quickly and quietly without being seen, and knowledge of all the plants of the forest and the effects they could have on a person. Indigo could see the Prince thinking of all the ways in which those skills could be used, and so Indigo bowed deeply and volunteered himself for any mission the Prince had in mind, provided that it would win him vengeance against the Red Roses.

Satisfied with Indigo’s honesty, the Prince gave him a mission of the utmost importance. The Prince explained that shortly, House Poppy, a Red nation, would be returning home after a long journey, and that they would surely throw a banquet in honour of their allies. There would not be a better chance to strike than this, with so many of the Reds gathered together in one place.

Indigo spent days in the forests around the capital collecting roots and berries, then boiled them and drained the liquid into a tiny bottle. His poison was strong enough that even a tiny drop could floor a grown man, so he took great care of it and packed it deeply into his backpack as he set off for the Duchy of the Poppy flowers.

As he walked, he thought of how he would get into the castle to use the poison. He had been told that the castle had high walls, small gates and could be heavily guarded. He also knew that his talent for sneaking around was good for forests, but probably not so good for cities. It looked to be a very dangerous mission, but one night he stumbled upon just the solution.

He had met a man named Albert that day on his travels, and Albert had invited Indigo into his home to spend the night. Over dinner, Indigo learned of Albert’s nature, which was that he could change his appearance at will into that of any animal he chose. Now this may seem extraordinary, but as I have said, the land in which this story takes place is not our Earth and its characters are not quite like the people you know. So this was not an astounding ability by the standards of their world, though it was a rare one, and Indigo knew just how it could be used to his advantage.

Albert himself was not fond of the Red Rose nations, and was alarmed that the Poppies were returning. So, particularly after Indigo paid him handsomely with some of the money the Prince had given him, Albert agreed to help him. Albert would disguise himself as a horse and join House Poppy’s caravan, hoping that they would think him one of their own horses or at least that they would take on a stray one. Once he had been taken to the stables, he would then change back to his normal shape, make his way into the kitchens dressed as a servant, and when no-one was looking, empty Indigo’s bottle of poison into the food they were preparing for the banquet.

The two men parted ways, and Indigo went to stay in a nearby town to await news of the poisoning.

Day after day, week after week, he waited. But news never came.

After a long time, and with news that the Red forces were gathering again, Indigo knew that his mission must have failed. He feared for his life if the Prince found out or if the Reds attacked, and so in case he had not long to live, he went to make peace with his parents and sisters.

In the land in which they lived, what we would call ‘magic’ is a commonplace thing, and likewise it was not so extraordinary that there were witches living there who could talk with the departed. So Indigo went to see a witch in the town where he was staying, and paid her a fee so that she would allow him to talk to those members of his family whom he had lost when the forest burned. The witch searched the place where souls go, and called out for them, but try as she might, she could not find them there.

“There is only one answer to this, sir,” said the witch, “and that is that these souls have not yet passed on.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Indigo.

“Your family are still alive, sir,” she said. “For another three silver coins I could help you find them…”

Indigo had nearly spent all of the Prince’s money, but so desperate was he to find out if his parents and sisters still lived that he paid the witch at once. She cast a spell of sight that allowed her to see anyone in the world, and showed Indigo her vision of his family living in the great city at the heart of the Buttercup duchy.

Indigo now had no money left for coaches or horses, but as soon as he returned to the inn he packed up all his belongings into a bag and started his long journey on foot. On the way out of the city he met a woman whose name was Sapphire, named no doubt for her sparkling blue eyes. She happened to also be travelling to Buttercup lands, and as she too had no money, they set off walking together.

For weeks they walked, through forest and plain, over hills and down into valleys. Sapphire told Indigo about her childhood, her unhappy apprenticeship to a tailor, and how she was fleeing to the Buttercup duchy to start a new life. And in time, Indigo grew to trust Sapphire more and more, until eventually he explained what the Prince had sent him to do, how it had failed, and how he learned that his family were still alive.

When at last they arrived in the city, they went straight to the house the witch had shown to Indigo. Just as she had promised, there they found Indigo’s father and mother, as well as his two sisters Green and Violet, alive and well. Indigo hugged and kissed them and cried for a long time, so relieved was he that they had survived, and so distraught was he that his hatred of the Red Rose army had been in error. Violet told Indigo her tale of how they had received warning of the approaching army and fled the forest, coming to live in the city instead, and how she and her sister were now apprenticed to a butcher and were making enough money to look after their parents.

Indigo and Sapphire slept at their house that night, and rested well after so many nights on the road. But at dawn, Buttercup soldiers came and demanded to take Indigo to the castle. Sapphire argued with them at length, but all it achieved was her being arrested as well, and them both being taken to the castle together.

Indigo was sure that he would be presented to the Prince, who would impose a harsh punishment for his failure. But instead, it was the Duke whose throne they were made to bow in front of.

“You have been arrested under the Prince’s orders,” he boomed, “but as he has since sadly been lost in battle with the Reds, it is me you now face. What reason do you have for your failure?”

Indigo told the Duke the whole story, from the day he thought his family had been killed to the day he discovered them alive again. The Duke looked a little sad by the end of it, and Indigo realised that with the Prince presumed dead, the Duke’s situation was not entirely different to his own.

“And you,” the Duke said, turning to Sapphire, “for what reason do you now stand before me?”

“I was sent to kill you,” said Sapphire.

The Duke stood sharply, the soldiers lining the room drew their swords, and Indigo stared at her, wide-eyed in disbelief.

“Give me one reason why my soldiers should not cut you down right now!” the Duke shouted.

“Because this man changed my mind,” she said, pointing to Indigo. “Because I am just like him. I blame the White Rose armies for what I think happened to my family, but I don’t really know the truth.”

“You lied to me!” said Indigo. “Was everything you told me on the journey untrue?”

“Most of it. And for that I truly am sorry. Just like you, in my anger and despair I sought any task that would bring revenge, no matter how dangerous it would be. And so I was sent here, to kill the Duke Buttercup, with an invented life story to tell anyone who started asking questions. But as we talked, I grew to realise how futile it all is. My mission, your mission, and the war itself. Regardless of the Red and White Roses’ reasons for starting this war, what about us? All their allies, all the individuals, the common people – aren’t we all just doing this because of some petty need for revenge, or even for no reason at all?”

Duke Buttercup sat back down on his throne, and thought for several minutes in silence. Then, at last, he spoke.

“I believe I know the feelings of which you speak. I, too, am grieving at the death of the Prince, and I am pushing this land’s army further than it ever ought to have gone. It is only vague promises and contorted politics that brought us into this war, and I owe my people more than that.”

Not long afterwards, the Duke Buttercup issued a proclamation that ended the duchy’s involvement in the war. Buttercup became one of the few truly neutral duchies, and thrived for many years as a result. Indigo’s brothers came home from the army and settled in the city with their family, found good jobs and could afford a doctor for their ailing parents. Sapphire told Indigo the truth about her past, and in time, Indigo grew to trust her once more. They were last seen heading for the borders of the Hyacinth duchy, Sapphire’s home, on their own quest to find out what became of her family after all.

And of course they all lived happily ever after, because they are of a kind we refer to as the Fair Folk, and those Fair Folk are creatures of story, and that is how their stories have always ended.

Using Miracles in Nobilis

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Ian

The Nobilis sourcebook is somewhat confused on the subject of miracles, and manages to contradict itself in places. This page is my attempt at a summary of the rules as I understand them. In the cases where the text disagrees with the examples given, I’ve gone with the examples.

Step 1: What do you want to do?

As always, the first step is figuring out what you want your character to do. If it’s within the realms of normal human possibility, it just happens automatically unless it’s opposed by some other being of power.

Step 2: Is it a Gift?

If you want to do something you purchased as a Gift at character creation (or later, with Character Points earned), it just happens automatically (and for free) unless it’s opposed by some other being of power.

Step 3: Aspect, Domain, Realm or Spirit?

Each Miracle you use is tied to one of your four Attributes, and thus one of your four Miracle Point pools. Which of the four depends on what kind of miracle you’re doing.

Aspect miracles are all about super-powering your physical and mental abilities.
Domain miracles are the ones tied into your Estates, where you can affect whatever you’re the Power of.
Realm miracles are those that affect your Chancel, and things within it.
Spirit doesn’t use miracles like the rest. Spirit can be used for claiming Anchors, detecting traces of miracles used by other Powers, and for the ritual magics of the Nobilis.

Step 4: How hard is the Miracle?

Each potential miracle is assigned a level based on how difficult it is. This will later determine how costly the miracle is to use. Pick a description that matches what you’re trying to do. There are fuller descriptions in the book, starting on page 86 for Aspect.

For Aspect (these are quite woolly):

0: Peak human performance e.g. graceful jump; identifying Nobles as Nobles etc.
1: High-level human, e.g. Olympic long jump.
2: World record performance, e.g. world record jump.
3: Improbable feats, physically possible but not something a human could attempt, e.g. skeet-surfing.
4: Very Improbable feats, e.g. running on heads.
5: Impossible for humans, catching a bullet.
6: Universally improbable, e.g. parrying Uzi fire.
7: Impossible for anyone (local effects), e.g. lifting a hill.
8: Impossible for anyone (non-local effects), e.g. lifting a mountain.
9: Fabled, e.g. hiding a mountain.

For Domain, these are all of one of your Estates, e.g. a Greater Creation of Storms:

0: Estate-driven divinations, e.g. identify threats to the concept of Storm.
1: Ghost miracles, e.g. make a day slightly gloomier.
2: Lesser Divinations, e.g. know when a storm will hit.
3: Lesser Preservations, e.g. make it rain for days.
4: Lesser Creations, e.g. create a lightning storm or drizzle.
5: Lesser Destructions, e.g. clear away rainclouds, and Major Divinations, e.g. scry in a bowl of rainwater.
6: Lesser Changes, e.g. make it hail blueberries, and Major Preservations, e.g. make an ongoing storm perpetual.
7: Major Creations, e.g. create a hurricane, tornado or monsoon.
8: Major Destructions, e.g. calm the sky above an entire ocean.
9: Major Changes, e.g. make it rain every third day in a given Chancel.

For Realm, the descriptions (Lesser Preservation, etc.) are as above. Realm Miracles are not tied to your estates — you may Lesserly Preserve or Majorly Create anything — but the effect must take place in and be confined to your Chancel.

Spirit, as previously mentioned, doesn’t really have Miracles in the same way that the others do. Performing the Rituals of the Nobilis will be covered on a separate page.

Step 5: How much is it going to cost you?

Any Miracle of a level less than or equal to the number of dots you have in that attribute is free. (This is referred to as a ‘Simple’ Miracle.) For example, a Noble with 3 Aspect dots can perform “Improbable feats” (or anything lesser) for free. A Noble with 4 Domain dots can perform Lesser Creations for free.

One level more than your number of dots is considered a ‘Normal’ miracle, and will cost you 1 MP of the appropriate type. Two levels more is considered ‘Hard’, for a cost of 2 MP. Three or four levels higher (‘Deep’) costs 4 MP, and 5-8 levels higher requires use of a ‘Word of Power’, costing 8 MP and a wound.

For example: Elsa, the Power of Machinery, has 3 Domain dots and 6 Domain Miracle Points. She is onboard an aerial battleship that has taken heavy damage, and she wishes to use a Miracle to keep it safely flying. For such a huge ship this is a Major Preservation of Machinery, a level 6 Miracle. For a Noble with 3 Domain dots, this is a Hard Miracle, and will cost her 4 Domain Miracle Points. She’ll be left with two spare.

Step 6: Add penetration!

If you’re up against another Noble, an Excrucian or even an Imperator, they will have an ‘Auctoritas’ that prevents miracles from directly affecting them.

If your miracle is directly targetting an enemy, add 1 level of difficulty for each point of Penetration you wish the miracle to have. The Penetration value of your miracle must be greater than the target’s Auctoritas for it to be effective. For this reason, directly attacking other Powers with Miracles is risky, expensive, and rarely a good idea.

Step 7: Roleplay it!

Your Miracle triggers, have fun with it!

Elegiam Arcanum

Posted on January 10, 2010 by Ian

This is a one-short LARP game, due to be run at a party but equally suitable for conventions.

The Plot

Once upon a time, the world was presided over by twenty-two powers, each representing an aspect of life and of the cosmos. Unseen but all-powerful, their mere existence directed the actions of Man. But in their creation of Tarot cards, humans unwittingly stumbled upon the pattern of the Universe; the nature of the twenty-two fold shards of Godhood. From that moment on, the powers were imbued with humanity. They were no longer abstract concepts, they had been given human attributes. Human emotions.

Thus, the seeds of the Fall were sown. And now is the time of that Fall. The Balance between the twenty-two is falling apart. War, famine and suffering plague the Earth. The twenty-two powers feel as readily as the humans do that the End is approaching.

And so they meet. Back in the old days, there would have been no such concept as “meeting” among the powers, or even “speaking to”. But they have become so human now that they are bound to physical forms, to one place and time. It hurts a little, but with the loss of potency has come a loss of memory, too. The times before the Tarot were created are fond and distant memories now, rose-tinted with time.

The Characters

Each of the 6-21 players takes on a character that is the embodiment of one of the Major Arcana cards of a Tarot deck. They are humanoid in form, though still possessed of remarkable powers.

Approximately two-thirds of the characters are the “good guys” (from a human’s point of view at least). They are appalled by the events of the Fall, generally unsure as to what has caused it, and determined to reverse it.

The rest are the “bad guys”. To them, humanity’s invention of the Tarot has robbed them of the godhood that is rightly theirs, and if taking it back means the end of humanity, so be it. Their opinion of the Fall may vary between unsure what caused it but not bothered by it, to having deliberately worked to instigate it.

At the beginning of the game, no character knows the allegiance of any other, unless they have some relevant information on the piece of paper they are given at the start of the game (see below).

The Cards

I’ll type up some summaries soon, but for now if you don’t know what each card of the Major Arcana represents, check out Wikipedia.

The Game

For the “good guys”, the aim of the game is to eliminate or convert the powers that are responsible for the Fall so that they can begin to repair the Earth. The “bad guys” have the opposite goal – eliminate, by killing or convincing, all those traitors that have sided with humanity.

At the start of the game, in general, nobody knows the allegiance of anyone else. Having been coerced into humanoid forms, characters may not even recognise the Card that another character embodies. However, each character is given a small piece of paper containing between one and three pieces of information that they believe are true. This can be information about the Fall, about the creation of the Tarot or their pre-Tarot existence, or it could be inter-character information, such as you have worked with the Moon and are sure she’s on your side, or you’ve heard a rumour that the High Priestess is a “bad guy”.

These are designed to throw up interesting situations for roleplay, and to get the characters talking to each other.

The System

Each character has two abilities: “push” and “kill”. They each affect one other character.

Each character has three “shots” of “push”. One “shot” can be used to temporarily influence another character according to the caster’s nature. For example, the Fool can “push” their nature onto another character, making them more naïve and reckless for a few minutes. The Sun could inspire just enough glory in a friend to make them triumph over an adversary, or just enough false courage in an enemy to lead them to their downfall.

The target must be close enough to hear the caster. When using a Push, the caster must roleplay this by pointing at their target, saying “push”, then the name of the target, then describing in a word or two what aspect of their nature they wish to push. The push is not noticeable to anyone, even the target. The player targetted must roleplay their changed mental state for two to three minutes, but the character herself is not aware of the effect unless someone points out that she’s acting strange. She does not know who pushed her. A push being used is not noticeable to onlookers, so anyone overhearing a push occur should ignore it (including the pointing!).

Each “good guy” has one shot of “kill”. This is roleplayed by touching the target and simply saying “kill”. Its effect is obvious, immediate and unpreventable. When a character dies, every other character is immediately aware of who died, but unless they saw the touch occur, they are not aware of who killed them. It is like the death of a sibling, that takes with it a part of you. Killing another power is never a decision to take lightly.

If any characters are out of the room when you die, announce your death (out-of-character) loudly enough that everyone – or at least the ref – can hear.

Each “bad guy”, their hearts turned bitter, has three shots of “kill”. However discretion is advised, as if a character is caught using more than one kill, any cover they were maintaining is effectively blown.

I am aware that this is going to turn into a bizarre overblown version of the Werewolf Game. We will see how this goes.

The Ref

The ref (GM, or other appropriate name) plays the part of Card XX: Judgement. Judgement is impartial, caring not if humanity lives or dies, or even if other powers live or die – only that they get what they deserve.
So that he may judge fairly, Judgement desires any and all information from the player characters. Characters may talk to him at any time, in confidence. From time to time, Judgement may obtain extra information that may help certain characters achieve their goal, but he will only give out these tips in exchange for information given to him.
It is particularly important that characters who switch allegiance from one side to the other inform Judgement, as in his role as Ref he likes to know how many of each faction are left in the game!

2009 Nobilis Game Intro

Posted on November 29, 2009 by Ian

29th July 2009 AD, 03:00
Checkpoint Delta, Green Zone, Baghdad

Knock, knock.

“Private Ackermann here to relieve you, sir!” shouted a voice from below. Sergeant Newton peered over the side of the guard tower and saw the Private staring up at him eagerly. Far too early in the morning, Newton thought. What on Earth does he drink to make him so chirpy?

“Come on up, Ackermann.”

“Yes sir!”

Ackermann’s footsteps up the metal stairs were rhythmic and regular, and the Sergeant halfway drifted into a doze by counting them as the Private walked. Fifty-seven, fifty-eight. Newton opened his eyes just as Ackermann’s foot hit the top step.

“Ready to relieve you, sir!” said Ackermann, saluting.

“As you were, Private,” sighed Newton. “Did you bring the oil?”

“Yes sir!”

“Jolly good. She’s been creaking in the wind a bit,” Newton said, patting the 50-calibre machine gun that looked down over the walls, ready and waiting to meet whatever threat might be awaiting it today.

It hadn’t been fired in two and a half years.

“I’ll sort her out, sir, don’t you worry.”

“Well, I’m gonna hit the sack then,” said Newton.

“Taking command of the watchtower, sir!” He saluted again.

“Yeah. Thanks,” said Newton, giving a half-hearted salute back before making his way, unsteady and irregularly, down the steps again.

Three weeks to go, Newton thought as he sloped back to the mess hall for a dinner that he’d rather fall asleep in than eat. Three weeks until I get out of this place. War wasn’t fun, but at least it was something. There was something to care about, something to make you feel alive. But manning the watchtower, forcing yourself to be on alert for a threat that may never come, while all the while you baked in the shade and the whistling wind echoed in your ears… It was the boredom. Nobody ever trained you for the boredom.

329 BC
Shahryar’s Palace, on the banks of the Tigris

Dearest Scheherazade, she read. She slumped down onto the bed as her eyes scanned the mood of the letter that had been left for her.

This great Empire of ours lies crumbling now, a mere reflection of the wonder we knew in our youth. And so it has come to the point that I must leave with it, lest I be stuck behind, forever a shadow of what I was. No, my love, do not ask where I have gone. One day, when my Empire is strong again, I may return to tell you the tale – or I may be gone forever. From this early point in our future, I cannot see what may become with any clarity.

Though my essence lay in Earthly power, prone to ebb and flow with triumph and defeat, yours does not. So many stories you did learn and tell in days of old, and many more since I granted you your freedom, and so many more will continue to flow through your beautiful mind until the end of time. For stories are immortal, only gathering pace with time, never diminishing as the Empire has.

Thus, though what remains of the Empire must be left to our eldest son to administer, this palace I leave solely to you. May you hear visitors from the far corners of the Earth come to share their tales with you, and may you in turn share those stories with others; educate them, inspire them, transfix them as you did to me all those years ago.

Your husband,

Shahryar.

Scheherazade threw herself backwards onto the bed, letting the letter float slowly to the floor. She wept for days.

29th July 2009 AD, 04:13
Checkpoint Delta, Green Zone, Baghdad

The chanted song echoed out from the mosques through the streets of Baghdad, calling the faithful to prayer. Atop the watchtower, Private Ackermann scowled at the night. He was a light sleeper, and the pre-dawn prayers had woken him every day until he was assigned the early morning watch. Then it was the evening prayers that stopped him getting to sleep at night. In self-defence he’d taken up heavy coffee-drinking and just blazed through it all, not sleeping at all some nights.

Crazy fucking religion, he thought. Nobody gets any rest in this city.

Prayers ended, and people started drifting out into the streets. A few minutes later, a car drove by and parked next to the watchtower on the other side of the wall. Ackermann aimed the spotlight at the driver as he stepped out.

“Hey you!” Ackermann shouted. “You can’t park there! Read the signs!”

The driver looked up, one arm giving a kind of half-shrug while the other shielded his eyes against the spotlight.

“Fuck,” muttered Ackermann. “Uh, Tawaquf! Ia, er… hunaka… Shit, I can’t– Shit, he’s running!”

Ackermann grabbed his radio. “Central, Checkpoint Delta. Central, Checkpoint Delta. Suspicious activity outside the wall. Suspect has–”

But he would say no more. The force and the fire of the car’s explosion set off shaped charges along the wall, placed earlier that morning as Sergeant Newton had been blundering dreamily about the top of the tower. The charges blew the wall to pieces, engulfing the watchtower beyond it in a hell of burning and twisted metal. Private Ackermann’s world turned blinding white, then there was the briefest sensation of falling, and he lay still on the tarmac.

29th July 2009 AD, 04:16
Shahryar’s Palace (Mythic Earth)

“Scheherazade.”

The former Queen rolled over in her sleep, and groaned.

“Scheherazade, wake up.”

She rolled back again and blinked her eyes open. In the flickering oil-light, all she could see was a shadow looming over her.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me, you fool. Shahryar.”

“Shahryar?” Scheherazade sat up and flung her arms around his neck. “But you… you said you were going away! How is it that you are back so soon?”

“Oh, my dear Scheherazade,” sighed the once-King of Persia. “I am afraid it is not soon.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s been rather a long time since you fell asleep. Two thousand years.”

“Two thousand years?”

“I’m sorry. It’s complicated, and I don’t have much time to explain. We’re under attack, but our old Empire is long-gone. Only this palace remains, but it’s not quite on Earth anymore–”

“Not quite on Earth?”

“That’s complicated too. I’m sending some people to help you. Now get dressed, and head to the throne room as quickly as you can. I have to go–”

“You have to go again? Why can’t you just stay here and explain what’s going on?”

“I will, my love, before the week is out. I promise.” And with that, he vanished.

Scheherazade waved her hand though the space he had occupied, and met no resistance.

“Shahryar?” she called out. There there was no reply.

She dressed quickly, finding her clothes hanging just as they had the previous night. The room looked the same, smelt the same, everything felt the same. It couldn’t really have been two thousand years. That’s ridiculous. But then she thought of some of the thousand and one stories she had told her husband all those years ago, and began to wonder. Isn’t it?

The servants who passed her on her way to the throne room all looked the same, acted the same. Did they know how much time had passed, or had they awoken normally that morning?

Scheherazade reached the throne room, and sat down gently in her throne to the side of and slightly behind Shahryar’s. She had still never sat in her husband’s, even though he had supposedly given the palace to her two – or two thousand and two – years ago.

Well then, she thought. What am I supposed to do sitting here?

And then, as if someone was paying attention to her thoughts, it happened. Everything happened, all at once, in her head or outside, she could not tell.

The palace being built.

The king taking his first wife, who cheated on him.

The king’s madness, his search, his hundred nights of passion, the hundred grisly mornings when the girls’ blood was shed.

Scheherazade offering herself to the king.

The thousand and one stories, one completed each night as she began the next.

Her freedom, her life with the king, their children.

The king’s disappearance, and Scheherazade’s life afterward.

The fall of the great Persian Empire, and the rise of Islam.

The Mongols and the Ottomans, the Arabs and the British.

The Iraq of King Faisal and the Iraq of Saddam Hussein.

The Gulf War and the War on Terror.

The Green Zone, and the bomb which blew apart its walls…

As suddenly as it had started, it stopped again. Scheherazade sat quivering in her throne, feeling every day of two thousand years old.

She slowly opened her eyes, dreading what she might see – but she saw her own palace, just as it always was. And in the centre of the room, five figures who looked just as confused as she was.

Scheherazade stood, hoping she didn’t come across as anywhere near as shaken up as she felt.

“Greetings, strangers,” she said, “and welcome to the Court of Scheherazade.”

Nobilis Chancel Creation

Posted on November 23, 2009 by Ian

This page explains the Chancel creation process for the RPG Nobilis, to help those who don’t own a copy of the book. If you’re looking for character creation instead, that’s here.

The characters in a Family of Nobles share a Chancel between them. This is a portion of space set aside by the Imperator, and is said to require a human death on each of 100 consecutive nights to create. Chancels can have any theme, from verdant gardens to high-technology laboratories, bright fairytale worlds to cities of Lovecraftian horror. It can be in a fixed location in the Prosaic Earth, or there can be doorways to it anywhere, or maybe the players can wish themselves there from anywhere in the world!

The players create their Chancel together once they have created their characters. Once they have decided on what their Chancel should be, they can then spend Chancel Points creating it. The Chancel has as many points available as the sum of all characters’ Realm points. As in other aspects of Nobilis, you can also buy your Chancel defects which cost negative points, freeing up more points to spend in other areas.

The Chancel properties in the rulebook are summarised below:

Accessibility

How easy it is to get in and out of the Chancel. Without this property, the Chancel probably has between 2 and 7 entrances within the same local area. By spending points:

Convenient (2): The chancel connects to multiple major urban areas throughout the world.
Mobile (6): Entrances and exits are mobile – they can be near characters when desired, and move themselves far away from enemies.
Ubiquitous (7): Entrances and exits are everywhere. Convenient, but the characters should also be prepared for more frequent attack.
Open (-2): Mortals and Chancelfolk can step across this large boundary freely, often without realising. The entrance is at least a mile in width.

Avara

Miraculous artifacts (‘Allia’) or troublesome objects (‘banes’) formed within the Chancel at its creation through the glory of the Imperator or through the deaths that created the Chancel. Banes are objects that actively seek to cause the Imperator, the Chancel and its Nobles to suffer. Allia, if found and invoked by name, grant wishes – though their wishes do not last forever, and in naming them, they are destroyed utterly.

Two Banes within the Chancel (-1)
Some Allia still exist (3)

Borderguard

The Chancel’s power to actively resist hostile intrusion. This grants it its own Realm miracles, which it can cast as necessary at the rate of one or two a minute. It has an infinite supply of Miracle Points for this. The Borderguard detects all hostile intruders except those with an Auctoritas stronger than the Borderguard’s Penetration Value. It then attacks with Miracles up to the Borderguard’s Strength.
One buys the Borderguard’s Power and Penetration Value separately. Power is bought at 3 Chancel Points per level, Penetration at 1 Chancel Point per level.
Note that Lesser Divinations are useless to a Borderguard – it automatically sees things it needs to see. Accordingly, Lesser Divination instead lets it notify authorities (militia, police, Nobles) of a threat.

Defender’s Blessing

Prevents hostile magic from harming the Chancel or its inhabitants. Each 2 Chancel Points gives the Chancel 1 point of Auctoritas (i.e. damaging miracles require 1 extra level of Penetration to have an effect). When within a Chancel, characters defend with whichever is the higher of their Auctoritas or the Chancel’s.

Extra Landlord

The Imperator has given Noble powers to a non-Noble who has been charged with overseeing the Chancel instead of the characters. On the plus side, their Realm score contributes points to the Chancel, but on the other hand, they may disagree with the characters and may have been given lots of power to enforce their will.

Nice Radiant (Realm 1, 5 Realm Miracle Points) (-1)
Assertive Realm’s Heart (Realm 2, 7 RMPs) (-2)
Aggressive Warden (Realm 3, 9 RMPs) (-3)
Megalomaniacal True King/Queen (Realm 4, 12 RMPs, Auctoritas 1) (-4)

Magical Inhabitants

Individual Chancelfolk or part of the population as a whole possess Earthly magics. Faeries, Unicorns and even high-technology constructs fall under this category. Their magic is nothing compared to a Noble’s, but still potent enough in its own way. 1 Chancel Point allows these things to exist, extra points buy them extra attributes.

Some beings with Earthly magics (1)
Many such beings (+1)
These beings can be used as Anchors (+2)
Some of them have Anchor-like resistance to Miracles (+2)
Some have Anchor-like resistance and Auctoritas (+3)
Some have actual Miraculous powers (+5)

Mana Mine

The Chancel is particularly real, more beautiful and strange and glorious than the Earth around it, and it oozes Mana from its less well-formed places. It is hard – though quite possible – for Nobles to harvest Miracle Points from it. On the other hand, the Chancel could be unreal and chimerical compared to the surrounding Earth. These Chancels must be constantly fed by Noble magics lest they drift away from Earth into the lands outside Creation.

Realm requires 5 MP per session to maintain (-2)
Realm requires 2 MP per session to maintain (-1)
Chancel generates MPs for harvest each session (+1 per MP, max 5)

Miscellaneous Chancel Blessings

This nebulous category offers possibilities for the Chancel having some particular use amongst Nobles and Imperators, gaining their Family some amount of respect or protection – or notoriety. These cost between -4 and 8 Chancel Points, as agreed with the GM. Examples from the book are:

Chancels that spread across the Earth and are used for transportation.
The Chancel where Lord Entropy holds his court.
Chancels that serve as a meeting place for the Light, Dark and other affiliations.
Neutral Chancels that serve as arbiters in Noble disputes.
Chancels that offer some form of service to Lord Entropy or the Council of Four.
Chancels that are a particular target of Excrucians.

Chancel is important, its Powers respected everywhere (+4)
Chancel provides, or has provided, an important service to Lord Entropy (+4)
Chancel is a primary Excrucian target (-4)

Popularity

Generally, Chancelfolk are imbued with a slight loyalty to the Imperator and his chosen Powers. In some cases, however, the Imperator has chosen to make them particularly loyal – or much less so. This is represented in giving the Powers of the chancel automatic gifts as below:

All Powers have “Devoted Populace” for free, unless they already have the Gift “Hated” (6)
All powers have “Hated” but gain no Miracle Points for it (-3)

Resources

General properties of the Chancel that pervade it and influence the interplay between technology and magic within.

Magic and modern technology nearly unknown in-Chancel (-1)
Deviant technology – normal things operate by strange principles (-1)
Technology barrier – the Chancel rejects technology created outside it (1)
Extrapolative technology – high-tech without any major paradigm shifts from current Earth tech (2)
Weird Science – one area of science that has undergone a major paradigm-shift advance over Earth tech, e.g. AI, time travel, biotech (+1 per area)
Thought-record technology – an item can transfer your thoughts to e.g. computer (1)
Normal (Earthly) magic – minor effects, very draining on the caster (3)
Faery magic (Glamour) (2)
Alchemy (requires Normal or Faery magic) – finding power in Prosaic things (1)
High Summoning (requires Normal or Faery magic) – calling things from beyond Creation. Generally unwise! (1)

Spirit Pathways

Gateways that connect Chancels to each other, bypassing Earth entirely.

Two-way gateway to a Chancel with allied Imperator / indifferent Powers (1)
Two-way gateway to a Chancel with allied Imperator / friendly Powers (2)
Two-way gateway to another Realm or time, requiring 4 Realm Miracle Points to use (0)
Reduced RMP cost to use gateway (1 per MP, can’t make cost negative)
Users noticeably weaker after using gateway (wounded, lost MPs, reduced Attributes while in the other Realm, etc.) (-1)
Hostile forces have a two-way gateway to the players’ Chancel (-4)

Nobilis Character Creation

Posted on November 9, 2009 by Ian

On this page, I will attempt to summarise character creation for those without a Nobilis book or without the time to pick through it in search of the actual rules.

Yellow boxes contain information that is specific to my Nobilis game, “Where Only Lilies Bloom”, rather than to the Nobilis setting in general.

Resources (none of which were created by me):

There is an editable PDF character sheet here if you’d like to fill it in as you go. Note that it lists the cost for Comprehensive flexibility in a Gift as 1, it should be -1.
“So you’ve been enNobled…” (PDF) answers many of the questions of first-time Nobilis players.

Character Concept

As always, your character concept is the most important thing, and ideally you should have a clear idea of who your character is before starting to stat him or her. A background, as bullet points, prose or even something stranger still, is strongly encouraged so that the GM can write better plot for your character.

In “Where Only Lilies Bloom”, your characters are newly ennobled. The story begins at pretty much the moment your Imperator creates his or her Chancel on Earth and imbues the characters with soul-shards. When coming up with a character concept and background, please bear this in mind – you will start the story with no real idea what the Nobilis are or what they do, and until this point you will have had a reasonably normal life.

I say “reasonably” because your characters were picked to be given your Imperator’s soul-shards, so he or she probably saw some promise in you. Perhaps your character is someone with power, or some particular talent. Your character does not have to have originally been human – animals, mythical beings, fictional characters and, yes, super-intelligent shades of the colour blue, are all possible. But whatever you were, you have now become something more. Your background does not necessarily have to feature any fondness for what will become your Estate.

Estate

A Noble’s Estate is the concept over which they have power. It can be anything from jealousy to beaches, darkness to icing sugar. Your role as a Noble is, in part, to sustain the existence of this concept against those who would seek to remove it from the world.

Code

A Noble’s Code represents their moral standpoint. They are summarised:

Heaven: Beauty is the highest principle; Justice is a form of beauty; Lesser beings should respect their betters.
Hell: Corruption is the highest principle; Suffering is a form of corruption; Power justifies itself.
Light: Humanity must live, and live forever; What must be done ought to be done cleanly; Humans must be protected (particularly from themselves).
Dark: Humans should destroy themselves (individually); Humanity should destroy itself (except for a few toys); Ugliness to human eyes shows that one is worthy.
Wild: Freedom is the highest principle; Sanity and mundanity are prisons; Give in kind with a gift received.

You may also invent another code for your character to follow. Later, you will create your Imperator, who also has a Code. Your characters do not necessarily have to follow the same code as each other, or their Imperator.

Attributes

You have 25 CP to spend on Attributes, extra Miracle Points, and Gifts. We’ll deal with Attributes first. All attributes start at 0, and can be raised at a rate of 3 CP for 1 dot. Higher ranks in each attribute mean that performing miracles associated with that attribute will become easier. The four attributes are:

Aspect

Your physical and mental being.

0: Of Mortal Form: You suck. You’re pretty much human.
1: Metahuman: Formidable physical and mental abilities.
2: Legendary: Comparable with the great heroes and villains.
3: Inhuman: Not only physically perfected, but empowered by magic.
4: Celestial: Touched with the divine.
5: Exemplar: You fully integrate your divine essence and use it to its utmost extent.

Domain

Your power over your Estate. You can have multiple secondary estates if you choose, but they cannot exceed your Primary in level. For each estate after your first, points cost an extra CP per level. For example, to be the Marquessa of Dreams and the Viscountess of Cake would cost 3+3+3=9 CP for Dreams and 4+4=8 CP for Cake.

0: Pawn: You have no power over your estate.
1: Baronet: Power enough to work only small miracles.
2: Viscount(ess): Miracles of comfort and divination come easily. Estate starts to be reflected in your mortal appearance.
3: Marquis/Marchessa: Power to sustain and defend your estate.
4: Duke/Duchess: Your powers seem godlike, able to shape the energies of Creation.
5: Regal: You are as a god, your mastery of your Estate is complete.

Realm

Your mystic and mundane power over your Chancel, in which a good proportion of the game takes place. The more points you allocate to Realm, the more Chancel points you get to put towards your Chancel when you create it.

0: Citizen: You have no gift of rule over your Chancel.
1: Radiant: Your reign extends mostly to ghosts, traces of light and fleeting visions.
2: Realm’s Heart: You may know anything about your Chancel or its contents with a thought.
3: Warden: You may make subtle and overt barriers, and raise the Chancel’s militia.
4: True King/Queen: You may hold off even an Imperator or unsharded Excrucian within your Chancel. Personally responsible for much of how the Chancel works.
5: Tempest: You can shape and reshape at the Chancel at will, and it responds instinctively to your needs.

Spirit

The strength of your Imperator’s soul-shard within you, your effect over human Anchors, your protection against other Nobles’ Miracles, and your ability to disguise your own Miracles.

0: Candleflame: Your Noble essence has no great integrity; you are limited to one Anchor.
1: Hearthfire: Your presence can be felt, there is some synergy between your human and Noble selves. You understand something of divine souls. Two anchors.
2: Incandescent Flame: You understand the nature of divine essence, your soul burns with it. Three anchors.
3: Sunfire: Your Imperator’s soul-shard is integrated into you seamlessly, and you have a deep spiritual centre and personal balance. Four anchors.
4: Conflagration: Your base personality is augmented enormously by miraculous power. Your presence has a profound effect on mortals, and some effect on Nobles. Strongly protected against Nobles’ power. Five anchors.
5: Inferno: A terrible power is leashed inside your heart. You may wear (up to 6) anchors’ bodies as your own. Skill with ritual magic begins to match that of an Imperator, and only rarely can your use of miracles be traced back to you.

Miracles

Miracles are supernatural “things you can (try to) do”. Each miracle your character attempts will be associated with a particular Attribute, and the more dots you have in that Attribute, the easier the miracle will be.

Miracle Points

A character has a number of Miracle Points associated with each Attribute. These are expended when you perform the more difficult Miracles. You have Permanent and Temporary dots in each. (Much like the White Wolf games, Permanent dots are your maximum, Temporary dots your current level.)

You have five (permanent and temporary) Miracle Points in each Attribute to start with. You can buy more at a cost of 1 CP per dot.

Gifts

Gifts are specific skills and abilities that you can buy at character creation. Rather than being adaptable like Miracles, their effect is completely fixed. However, you will always be able to do them for free. They are up to you to design: they can represent anything from traditional wizardly spells to integral parts of your character.

Their cost varies wildly according to how powerful a Gift you create. A gift will always cost at least 1 CP. Each Gift has a number of modifiers to it which will increase its cost. In general, the more powerful an action the gift represents, the more things it can effect, and so on, the more expensive it will be.

Each gift has the following attributes:

Attribute: Each gift is associated with one of the four Attributes. Pick the most appropriate for whatever ability you have in mind.
Miracle Type: Miracles come in various flavours and two strengths. The cost in CP to create a gift based is a factor of both. For guidance on whether the Gift you have in mind is based on a Lesser or Major Miracle, see the examples later. The types (and costs) are:
- Lesser Divination (2)
- Lesser Preservation (3)
- Lesser Creation (4)
- Lesser Destruction (5)
- Lesser Change (6)
- Major Divination (5)
- Major Preservation (6)
- Major Creation (7)
- Major Destruction (8)
- Major Change (9)
Penetration: This represents how powerful the Miracle is against those that have the power to resist it, such as Nobles, Anchors and Imperators. Penetration is tested against the target’s Spirit. Possible values are between 0 and 7, and these add between 0 and 7 to the CP cost of the gift.
Invocation: How the Gift is activated. One option is Automatic, at a cost of 1 CP. You can reduce the CP cost of the gift by requiring a Miracle check to activate the gift (i.e. it could fail). Miracle checks cost negative CP to add, i.e. they will give you CP back to spend on other parts of the Gift. Options are based on how hard a Miracle check you have to pass to activate the Gift: Simple (-1 CP), Normal (-2 CP) or Hard (-3 CP).
Area: The gift’s area of effect. Possible values are: Anywhere / Global (1 CP), Local (-1 CP), One Person (-2 CP) or only yourself (-3 CP).
Flexibility: Saying that gifts are completely inflexible miracles is somewhat untrue. In fact, you can choose how flexible they are: Full (all imaginable uses are possible) (1 CP), Comprehensive (a wide variety of situations) (-1 CP), Limited (-2 CP), or One Trick only (-3 CP).
Common: Is the Gift common in the setting? (Ask the GM if you’re not sure.) Common gifts do not cost any extra, rare ones cost one extra CP.
Domains: Most Gifts affect only one Estate. To affect an entire family of Estates, the cost of the entire Gift is doubled. To affect everything, i.e. not tied to an Estate, the cost of the entire Gift is instead tripled. (To affect everything in a specific Chancel is a gift of the Estate attribute, and need only be purchased at 1x cost.)

Example Gifts

Here are some example Gifts, and how they’re calculated. There are many more starting on page 115 of the Great White Book, and of course you can invent your own.

Durant (Difficult to injure)
Aspect, Lesser Preservation of Self (3), Automatic Invocation (1), Self Only (-3), Limited Utility (-2), Common.
Cost: 1 CP.

Immortal
Aspect, Major Preservation of Self (6), Automatic Invocation (1), Self Only (-3), Full Flexibility (1), Rare (1).
Cost: 6 CP.

Elemental (You may transform your body into a construct of your Estate)
Domain, Lesser Change of Form (6), Simple Invocation (-1), Self Only (-3), Limited Utility (-2), Rare (1).
Cost: 1 CP.

Devoted Populace (The denizens of your Chancel love you)
Realm, Major Creation of Love (7), Hard Invocation (-3), Global Range (1), One Trick (-3), Rare (1).
Cost: 3 CP.

Good Luck (Spend only 1 Spirit Miracle Point to guarantee something significant will go right)
Spirit, Major Creation of Fortune (7), Normal Invocation (-2), Global Range (1), Limited Utility (-2), Common.
Cost: 4 CP.
(You could add Penetration to this to ensure your good luck even against other Nobles.)

Do not feel pushed into creating expensive Gifts at the expense of your base Attributes – remember that Attributes are required for successful use of Miracles, and a Gift is only a very specific kind of Miracle. Character Points are awarded as EXP, so you’ll have chance to buy more Gifts later.

Handicaps

Handicaps are character flaws that will give your character extra Miracle Points at various points. The amount of MPs for any Handicap should be agreed with the GM during character generation. They come in four flavours:

Limits: Handicaps that remove some of the utility of the powers your character has. You will receive extra miracle points at the start of a session. Examples include ‘Disabled’ (Aspect limit) or ‘Hated’ (Realm limit).

One special, and complex, Limit is called Focus. This represents a physical item that holds some of your character’s power. You may put some of your 25 Character Points into attributes and gifts that belong to your Focus rather than to yourself. While you posess the focus, those attributes add to yours and those gifts become yours to use. But if separated from your Focus, you lose them. In recompense for this risk, at the start of each session, you gain 1 extra Miracle Point for each 3 CP you have invested into your item (rounded down).

Restrictions: Miscellaneous smaller limitations, such as inability to cross running water or step into a pentagram. Temporary Miracle Points are gained whenever this causes a problem for your character.
Virtues: Aspects of your being that both empower and limit you. Temporary Miracle Points are gained whenever a virtue ‘forces’ the character into doing something that the player knows is not objectively a good idea. This is generally a lesser number of MPs than with Restrictions. Examples include ‘Cruel’ and ‘Reckless’.
Affiliation: This is the Code you selected at the beginning. Every time you go to great lengths to serve it, you will regain temporary Miracle Points.

In all cases, the player may distribute the gained Miracle Points amongst their four pools.

Bonds

You have 20 Bond Points to allocate to any number of things that your character holds dear, be they other Nobles of the group, their Imperator, Estates, Chancel, human friends and family, items, or even hobbies. This helps to flesh out your character, and though they have no mechanical effect, they allow the GM to tailor plot to your character.

Anchors

Anchors are particular humans whom you have bonded with using the Servant’s Rite. You may see through their eyes and even control them, and you may transfer your Gifts to them and work miracles through them. They are a great responsibility which is not to be entered into lightly.

At the start of “Where Only Lilies Bloom”, you are recently Ennobled and have not yet made any mortals into Anchors.

Wound Levels

Take your character’s Aspect, and add 4. Divide these evenly among the Deadly, Serious and Surface wound categories. If you have one left over, add it to Surface. If you have two left over, add one to Surface and one to Serious.

…And that’s it for your characters! Tune in next time for Imperator and Chancel creation!

Example Character

Here’s a fairly balanced example character. She doesn’t have any gifts – this is fine, you can always buy them later. The numbers in brackets show how many Character Points were spent on each area.

Elsa Langridge, the Power of Machinery

Attribute	Level	Miracle Points
Aspect	(6)
Domain	(9)	(1)
Realm	(3)
Spirit	(6)

Handicaps:
Affiliation: Code of the Light
Virtue: Tinkerer

Bonds:

Strength	Subject
7	Thorn
4	Fascination with heavy machinery
4	Her Parents
3	Gender Equality
2	The Farm

Wound Levels:
2 Surface, 2 Serious, 2 Deadly

To Run, or Not to Run, That is the Question

Posted on November 4, 2009 by Ian

Right, having pitched a roleplaying game setting with the caveat that I wouldn’t run it, I appear to have acquired four potential players. So, here’s the deal.

With four or possibly five committed players, I will run an online game. It will be run on a wiki rather than on a forum like RPoL. I will deal with the entropy problem the same way I did for In Love and War: game threads will not necessarily wait for you. If multiple characters are doing things in a thread, and one of them stops posting, it will be assumed that they’re not doing anything interesting. If you want to do something and it’s really critical that the world waits for you, let me know. The usual solution is to split off into a 1 player + GM only thread.

The game is not necessarily Reawakening. I will put what I run up to a vote. (Leave comments wherever you happen to be reading this.) Here is a list of games that I have come up with or been asked to run, but haven’t run yet.

Reawakening (Punk faeries)
Dreaming Awake 2 – though very little could convince me to run this online rather than face-to-face.
Beyond the Fields we Know (oWoD Virtual Adepts) – this game is only really cool when played realtime over IRC, SSH etc. I don’t have the time to run this right now, really. If rampaging hordes of potential players appear, I may consider it, player count for it is about 20.
What Lies Beyond Broadlands Road (Comedy Changeling, product of too much alcohol)
War on Terror: The RPG (Comedy super-power game) – pregenned characters only, this is a two-hour convention game really
In the Night Garden (Kids TV + Cthulhu) – I am too sober to run this
The Time War (Doctor Who + Feng Shui)
A currently not-thought-out 7th Sea Explorers Society game
A currently not-thought-out Nobilis game

Advance warning: All these ideas require a bit more work before I’d consider them playable games, so when there’s consensus on what I’m running, I’ll spend a few days working on background fluff, then we can start character gen.

Any questions? =D