I realize there is a slim chance that anyone has played Nobilis, a diceless RPG written by R. Sean Borgstrom, since it’s out of print and when it was in print the book cost about $45. However, I just discovered this game and think it’s extremely interesting. If anyone here has played this game or read it, I have an idea for a campaign that I’d like to run and I need some folks to bounce ideas off, since the only people I know who’ve read it are people I’d want to play in the game. Lemme know… Thanks.
I’ve got a copy, but haven’t ever got anyone enthused enough to play it … it’s a fascinating setting. What Ideas do you have?
Steve Wright: Thanks for writing! Here’s my very basic idea so far:
The Imperator of the group will be pre-set by me. He’s a character I’ve used in other games, a recurring NPC about whom I’ve also written a short story. His name is a Tawlinger Galahan, and he’s the Prince of Lost things. I was thinking he could either be an Old God or from the Wild. The reason Galahan would make a good Imperator is that, as the patron of Lost Things, he can take on Powers whose Imperators have been destroyed by the Excrucians or died when their Chancels powered down, so the PCs can be of any affiliation they like. All Galahan asks is that they not harm his other Powers.
The Chancel will have the following qualities (tentatively): Ubiquitous (b/c anywhere things are lost, Galahan will be; he holds meetings inside of large, hollowed out pumpkins), one Bane, and Extra Landlord (a butler-type named Alfredo who attends Galahan), Important Chancel (b/c Galahan is so old and takes on so many Powers who have lost their lieges, he is friendly with Lord Entropy), Faery Magic (some denizens of his realm are Fae), and No Modern Technology. His qualities are Clear Sighted, Granted Gift (never get lost again), Soul Twisted, Disrespectful, and Handicap (never able to rest for long in one place). These are all tentative.
The story as I see it will revolve around one of Galahan’s sovereigns, a cat named True Thomas. Thomas was a stray cat who became one of Galahan’s Powers and is well-loved by all, who is known for fighting Excrucian shards who have taken on animal forms. Thomas has started behaving erratically, and Galahan wants them to find out what’s wrong with him.
What is wrong with him is that, in his battles, he has been infected by an Excrucian shard that manifests itself as FIV. The party needs to either figure out how to get the shard out, or will have to destroy Thomas.
I also had this cool idea for an NPC who is a friend of Thomas b/c of their mutual appreciation of music: Rog St. James, Power of Rock n’ Roll Guitar Gods (Keith Richards is one of his Anchors, which would explain a lot about Keith’s durability, no?)
I guess I’m wondering first if this is even a good idea for a story at all. How would the NPCs find out that Thomas was losing it? Then, how to get to the bottom of his infection, and how to cure it? Alternatively, perhaps they will find they CAN’T cure it, and then how should they cope with that? Any ideas?
Thanks so much for any input you can offer me.
I haven’t read it, but I can kind of see the shape of it from your campaign proposal. It sounds interesting, and you initial story hook has potential. I don’t know the mechanics of the game, but I can offer a general-RPGer take on your questions:
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How would the NPCs find out that Thomas was losing it?
FIV is highly contagious. Perhaps Thomas sparked an epidemic. Or perhaps he begins exhibiting a vicious streak in response to his suffering. -
Then, how to get to the bottom of his infection, and how to cure it?
I suppose a vet would be out of the question? Maybe a rare–read “lost”–strain of catnip will mellow him out enough for treatment. -
Alternatively, perhaps they will find they CAN’T cure it, and then how should they cope with that?
I’m getting “The Cat Came Back” vibes here. Thomas has nine lives. You can take this several different ways.
a) Kill Thomas once, and he’s free (and has eight lives left).
b) Thomas can’t be killed by the PCs. They must separate him into nine separate cats, and let the eight free versions destroy the infected one.
c) All of Thomas’ lives are corrupted. He must be killed nine times, in specific ways (drowned, thrown to dogs, etc) to eliminate him.
d) All of Thomas’ lives are corrupted, but each death frees that incarnation. Galahan–as the Prince of Lost Things–still commands the lost lives. In the end, there are nine copies of Thomas…but all of them are more vulnerable than they were before.
Balance: Very interesting ideas, and most of them I’d never have thought of without your help. Any suggestions on how you’d separate the 9 lives? Could Thomas become a ghost cat that still serves Galahan? Would he become a Bane that haunted the Chancel? My only problem with that is that I want Thomas to remain a benign and beloved figure to make it all the more difficult for the party to decide to dispatch him or harm him.
The thing about FIV is that it’s really not that contagious. My real-life cat Thomas had it and died of it, and he never gave it to the 4 other cats that lived with him. It can be transmitted through blood while fighting, which is how I figure True Thomas got it in the first place. However, if this is an Excrucian-corrupted virus, maybe it is particularly virulent and is running wild through the mundane feline population?
My Thomas did “lose it” when his FIV started killing him. First, he lost his eyesight, then motor coordination, then bladder control. It happened gradually over several months and it was horrible to watch. I imagine stuff like this happening with the character True Thomas in the game.
Thanks for your excellent ideas and keep 'em coming.
I like the Imperator concept. You could have a lot of fun with the Chancel, too; presumably, it would be the sort of place where you could find just about anything … but you wouldn’t necessarily know whether it was what you were looking for, or a clue towards what you were looking for, or a complete red herring. (I guess the Imperator would know, but being Soul-Twisted and Disrespectful, he wouldn’t necessarily tell anyone.)
As for Thomas … presumably, the infection would have some sort of knock-on effect on his Domain? Or even the Chancel itself, if he’s high in Realm. I like the sound of Balance’s ideas on possible cures. Or perhaps some Power of disease would take a dim view of the Excrucians corrupting its Realm, and might be prepared to help? But a Power of disease might well be a demon who drives hard bargains. Just a thought.
Although it is currently OOP, Guardians of Order, will be keeping the game in print with the same design team onboard. Personally, Nobilis isn’t my cup of tea, but it will be possible to introduce new players thanks to GoO.
Let’s see, can we come up with nine attributes normally associated with cats?
- Night vision
- Always lands on feet
- Fastidiousness
- Solitary nature
- Hunting
- Fertility
- Speed
- ?
- Bad luck
Say each of these is associated with one of Thomas’ incarnations; the players must draw out that characteristic while the “main” Thomas is sleeping. Perhaps they can lure out Hunter-Thomas with a mouse, or crowd around the sleeping cat and drive out the Solitary-Thomas. Eventually, only Bad-Luck Thomas will be left. The players must either destroy BLT, or persuade the other incarnations to do it–bearing in mind that each incarnation has only its particular strength. Hunter-Thomas doesn’t land on his feet, for example, and Solitary-Thomas can’t see in the dark.
BLT could become a Bane, if you thought it appropriate. If other lives were lost, they could become ghost-cats in Galahan’s service.
You guys are awesome-- all of these ideas are great. Steve’s idea for the chancel being a very weird place are along the lines of what I was thinking. Lots of single socks, I imagine. Key rings, virginity, marbles, all residing in this chancel.
Balance: I am also intrigued by the idea of separating Thomas’ personalities into separate selves. Maybe then the task will be to figure out which of the lives is infected. It would be like a very complicated riddle they’d have to unravel, b/c if they kill the wrong life, Thomas himself will die.
How about these as his 9 selves:
- Hunter
- Defender of territory
- Fertile
- Doughty
- Loyal
- Solitary
- Night Sensor
- Crafty
- Bad Luck
Which life would contain the disease? Perhaps it would be Fertility, and the result of saving Thomas would be that he is adopted and gets neutered, thus making him less himself. He could continue being a Power of Galahan’s or he could retire…
I still think I would include “Graceful” somewhere in the list (if only for the amusement value of eight clumsy cats running around). It seems to me that the principal attributes that Thomas would use in Galahan’s service would be hunter (of enemies and of lost things), night sensor (ditto), crafty (just because it fits the feel of his Imperator), and bad (“lost”) luck. “Defender” or “Solitary” might also fit. Losing any of these could cripple him as a Power, or could force him to develop in a new direction. If he lost one of the combative attributes, he could become wiser and sneakier–becoming kind of like Crow or Coyote to the players, offering cryptic guidance. Losing “Crafty” might make him more direct and aggressive (not the way I would take a feline NPC, by preference). Losing “Bad Luck” removes his options for making indirect bad trouble for foes by strolling in front of them; it may not alter his character much, but it would make for a nifty Bane.
Of course, if he lost “Fertility”, the Chancel could begin to be overrun by phantom kittens…his “lost” offspring. 
Have you read Insomnia by Stephen King? There’s a scene in it in which the protagonist goes into the lair of the “villain” and finds an incredible pile of items that the guy’s taken from victims–wedding rings, mittens, toys, all manner of relatively minor objects. All of them were significant to their owners, though, so there’s an air of sadness and loss over the whole pile (hidden under a liberal pile of Kingesque grossness). That’s kind of how I envision the chancel.
Nobilis is terrific, and a hell of a read. I’ve been running a PBEM campaign of it, which sadly is looking like I’m going to have to call code blue and pull the plug on. Include a pile of lost ideas and lost chances in the Chancel as well. 
Depending on how thematic you want to get, your PCs could well run into a paradox that’s woven right into them–if curing the Imperator of his sickness involves finding something, that’s something against the whole principle of losing things. What will they be willing to lose?
For a particularly lengthy and/or high-powered campaign, what happens if that shard in him swallows the Imperator from inside? I’ve always liked the idea of a campaign whose culmination would be a quest outside the Weirding Wall to find the full Excrucian responsible for swallowing some piece of Ygg, with intent to slay it and ritually cut out the contents to bring them back to reality.
Balance: Yes, gracefulness should be on the list. I think I’ll remove Loyalty and insert Grace. I dig the idea of his lost kittens hunting the chancel. The Ghost of Gonads Lost.
I read Insomnia but I don’t remember the piles of stuff. I do remember piles of stuff in Gerald’s Game, when the serial killer is caught and they find all the booty he was robbing from graves. I like that idea too. Maybe Alfredo the Butler is responsible for sorting these things (I picture Alfredo being a cross between Batman’s Alfred and Sandman’s Lucien).
I like the idea of Thomas and the party members having to “lose” something to save Thomas. If Thomas loses his nads, I think that’s a sufficient sacrifice for him. The party might have to strike a devil’s bargain to split him into his component lives.
Can a Power retire? I’ve read the book cover to cover and this was never made clear to me. What do you think? What would happen, system-wise?
After a bit of reading online, it occurs to me that the Chancel could have a really bizarre military force, particularly its seafaring forces. Every ship lost at sea, every sailor whose body never washed ashore, every soldier who went MIA could wind up there. There could be anything from Phoenician trading vessels to fighter jets in the place, with people to man them.
I’d guess a Power could retire, if it made sufficient provision for its Realm - hand it over to a successor? Give it to some related Power, as a whole or in pieces? (Like, the Power of Night decides to quit, and gives some of its Realm to the Power of Darkness, and some of it to, say, the Power of Time). Whatever happened, there would be a lot of competition for the amount of power that would be handed over, and you’d have to watch out for … dang, don’t have the book with me … those Excrucians who impersonate Powers; I’m sure they’d be on the lookout for someone who’d just give them some aspect of the universe.
There would definitely be a scramble for a Power’s portfolio if he stepped down. It would be an almost irresistable opportunity for Deceivers, but they could be tripped up pretty easily by the Truth of the Name in this case. Of course, if a Deceiver actually became a Power, some really interesting internal conflicts could arise. If it tried to destroy its own Realm (if I’ve got the terminology and motivations right), would it suffer the pain that Powers feel when their Realms are attacked? If so, could it see the process through? If another Excrucian tried to destroy its Realm, would it fight back? In essence, could a Deceiver change sides?
Would the Power choose his own successor, pending the Imperator’s approval? Or would the Imperator himself have to choose? I think it might be interesting to see how the PCs all vie for Thomas’ realm without actually coming to blows with each other (that is Galahan’s one rule-- no blatant infighting allowed). I hope the PCs are all of different affiliations, so they’ll be in an uncomfortable detente most of the time.
The ideas for the Chancel are great. I like the idea of a patchwork army of lost sailors, soldiers, and ships. Amelia Earhart might command the Air Force…
If the game turns into a long campaign, I might insinuate a Deceiver into the mix, maybe as one of the new Power’s Anchors. However, if this turns out to be only a three shot or so, I wouldn’t want to complicate a nice ending to the Thomas story by introducing an Excrucian again.
A lot depends on the players I get. Being a diceless system gives the PCs a lot of latitude in how they solve problems. There is no room for dogmatism or rules lawyering-- the PCs have to trust the HG implicitly and not quibble or try to powergame. It’ll be interesting b/c all of us will be playing in this system for the first time together.
Any of you guys ever play diceless RPGs before, like Amber? I haven’t, and it’s hard for me to conceptualize life without dice. Does it work well? Any glitches I should be on the lookout for?
Diceless RPGs can be loads of fun, but they tend to be very demanding for the GM. Players will inevitably come up with things that never would have occurred to you, and you have to deal with it–ideally without ever breaking the flow of the game. That’s also the beauty of such games; they allow more scope for variety. The only advice I can offer specifically for diceless games is this: When a player tries something unexpected, roll with it. Don’t try to channel them back to more “standard” actions. If it’s similar to something else they can do, use that as a model; if not, try to judge the situation on what makes for the most entertaining story. Later, you can take your decision and generalize from it for the next time the situation comes up.
Do you think I need to study the hell out of the rule book before we play? I have never been a rulesmonger (except in Ars Magica, a system whose elegance has yet to be matched IMO) and have always preferred to go with the flow. When I GMed a live-action Changeling game years ago, we never used Mind’s Eye Theatre rules; we just ad libbed, there was little combat, and it was fun. I doubt I could pull that off in a tabletop game.
However, I have almost never GMed; I’m more of a player. Any advice on that front would also be appreciated.
Once you have a good, basic grasp of the rules, the best thing to study will be examples that illustrate the difficulty of particular actions. That will provide you with a reference for the level of various attributes required to do certain things, and some ideas for how many miracle points to require for especially difficult feats. Combat examples are also good, as combat is where the flow is hardest to maintain.
As for general GM advice:
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I’m an advocate of character history and description. For a dungeon crawl, it’s enough to pick stats and get after it. That’s just not the case for a high-RP game like this. Try to get your players to provide you with detailed, written character histories ahead of time. It’s important to get a handle on the character’s personalities and provides ways to customize your story to them. They don’t necessarily have to stick to the first draft, but you want to have some reference at least a few days before you start play.
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Don’t herd the players into anything in your GM persona; they’ll resent it. If you want them herded for plot reasons, include an NPC with the motive and ability to do it for you–and if the players come up with a clever way out of it, improvise.
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Don’t let the players run roughshod over you. If they have a reasonable argument for allowing their characters do some outrageous thing, take it into consideration. They can ask, argue, cajole, maybe even bribe you…but you’re still the final arbiter. If an argument is stalling the game, make a decision and move on.
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Be consistent. If you let characters get away with something once, they’ll want to do it again. If you’re worried about this eventuality on a particular decision, manufacture some special circumstance that allows it to work “just this once”…then be prepared for them to recreate the circumstance.
Oh, and please don’t bring up ArM! Our campaign is on hiatus while our GM is in school, and I miss playing my thoroughly cheese-weaseled hedge wizard. 
Balance: You are, as Zaphod Beeblebrox would say, one cool frood. I appreciate your GMing advice and I will take it to heart.
And your a fellow fan of ArM! I was in a game that ran for several years; I loved my character so much I’m writing a book about him. Too bad you live in Texas and I live in upstate NY… we could game to our heart’s content.