Nobilis

Nobilis is a roleplaying game created by Rebecca Borgstrom where people play "Sovereign Powers" (personifications) of abstract concepts. As might be expected, the game is quite stylised in many aspects – for example, the Game master is referred to as the Hollyhock God. As in Amber, there is no random element to play.

Nobilis has had many publishers. Originally printed on demand by Pharos Press in 1999, it was picked up in 2002 by Hogshead Press who printed the "Great White" 2nd Edition; when they shut down in 2003, the rights returned to Borgstrom, but arrangements were made with Guardians of Order to keep the game alive.

In 2003, Nobilis 2nd Edition won the Origins Award for Best Graphic Presentation Book Format Product 2002.

Players take on the role of "Nobilis", humans who have been imbued with a sliver of the power from and of an "Imperator", and charged with protecting a specific aspect of their Imperators' power (called an Estate or a Domain).

The Players work together before starting the game to decide on the nature of their Imperator, and then choose their Estate. Imperators are essentially greater gods, and the players are essentially demigods. For example, an Imperator could be like Zeus, whose area of power is Leadership, Lightning, Vengence, etc. (several Estates). The players would be equivalent to Herculese, demi-god of Strength (a single aspect).

The players can play any Estate they like, based loosely on their Imperator (ranging from the serious such as Vengence, Power, Revenge, Anger, Lighting, Betrayal, to the whimsical such as Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll). The Nobilis are used by the Imperator to defend reality from "Excrucians". Excrucians are strange and powerful beings from outside of reality who are working to destroy our reality, one Estate at a time.

Players must also choose their "Chancel", and their "Affiliation".

The Chancel is the Nobilis Home base. During character creation the players must allocate resources to the strength of the Chancel, and the strength of their link to it. The more points put in to the Chancel, the stronger it is, and the more power the Character will have there. The Chancel can be in any form that the players can imagine (such as recreating a city in our world that all the characters know, to a wind filled empty space). The Nobilis must defend the Chancel as well as their own Estates.

Affiliations are the Nobilis' moral codes. They include Hell (corruption/suffering), Heaven (beauty), the Dark (the destruction of Humanity), the Light (the preservation of Humanity) the Wild (freedom/insanity), etc.

The game uses no random mechanic, and instead uses a resource management system to determine outcomes. If the characters ability is high enough, they succeed. As well, Nobilis can push their ability by spending Miracle Points, which are attached to each of the Character's four Attributes (Aspect, Domain, Realm, and Spirit).

Other details of the game involve the Mythic World (alternative nature of reality), the World Tree, Lord Entropy (Imperator who is in charge of making sure the Nobilis behave themselves), the Locus Court (where Nobilis are judged if they misbehave), Flower Rites ("magical" rituals involving flowers), and the Nobilis links to normal humans (Anchors).

External Links

• Guardians of Order home page for the game
• RandomWiki, a wiki dedicated to the game