Get yourself a cup of good, strong cofee. Find yourself a good, comfortable chair. Put some good music on, preferably somthing of beauty and of corruption, of life and of death and of utter madness (I would recommend either of the two new records by Tom Waits: ?Blood Money? and ?Alice?). Light yourself a cigarette (for non-smokers, I would suggest that you skipped that step). Sit back. Relax. Inhale. Exhale. Open the tome, which we for now shall call Nobilis.
I will see you in a few days.
I am quite aware, that I am not the first reviewer. So how do I justify this? Well, I won?t pretend that I will be presenting a more nuanced review, for I have found it increasingly hard to hide my enthuiasm lately.
Rather I would say, that I too feel the urge to present this book to you, and I don?t feel like denial these days.
Nobilis: A Game of Sovereign Powers is pretty much everything I could ask for. There, it is said.
It?s beautiul in its presentation. At 11? x 11? (that?s about 27,5 cm x 27,5 cm) it isn?t very handy, but for the first time since In Nomine I can actually call a roleplaying product aesthestically pleasing.
In Nomine, by the way, is no bad object of comparison. There are many common themes and setting parallels. Both are games of the modern, presented in the light (or darkness, who can tell?) of the old. Both details creatures, metahuman in nature, presented with dominion over some aspect of reality, defined in a noun (a word in In Nomine, an estate in Nobilis). Both, at their respective cores, are games thematically closely tied to the concepts of good and evil.
But yet, the difference is remarkable. I really enjoyed In Nomine. For all its rough egdes and quite unwarranted suppelements (of which I am the proud owner of every single one), the main rulebook was fresh and stylish in it?s take on religion and the modern. But I always felt that the game was marred by it?s extreme lack of guts, not that I would expect anything less by SJG. But what a shame! So much innovation (yes, I know it is all stolen from the French original), and so little bravery.
Now bravery is one thing that Nobilis do not lack. Please don?t get me wrong, this is not the loudmouthed, provocative sort of bravery. But the game dares to be itself. It steals only what it needs, and is fresh where nothing would have fitted.
So, what is this Nobilis about? A great many things would be the answer of course, as to any other question of the sort. But Nobilis is basically a game of gods.
It is animistic in it?s basic point of view. In other words, what happens in our perceived reality, is nothing but a consequense of what happens in the spirit of it all. But it?s not classic animism per se. It?s more like Plato meets the shaman You know, reflections of the premise and of the idea.
This is also where the game crosses path with In Nomine, and where they separate for good. In In Nomine metareality (Heaven, Hell and the Marches) is reflections of reality, the wordbound are bound to an aspect of reality, one which did already exist. In Nobilis, it is the other way around. Things in reality (percieved reality, I can feel that I am moving towards troubles of definition) are mere variations of their ideal form. This ideal form is represented by some sentient spirits. In the most important cases, Nobilis.
This is where the players come in. For they take on the role of these Nobilis, charged with protecting a fundamental piece of the foundation of reality. Against opposing ideals, and against noncreation, the nonbeing, which is known by the name of Excrucian.
Where In Nomin, with subtlenedd of an Elephant, runs headfirst into the concrete wall of Good and of Evil, Nobilis nimbly passes the hurdle.
For good is so many things in Nobilis, and evil is a very strange thing indeed.
More important is the concept of free will. ?What is the most powerful realization of free will, if it is not to hand it away?? is the the question of the Dark, to which the Light has a swift reply: ?Of what importance is free will, if you do not have it??
Som dullwit commented that Nobilis is a highpowered game. This is vey true. We?re talking gods after all. This is skillfully reflected in the system, where no resolution mechanic exists for anyhting less than a miracle. The system is diceless, and a rolemodel in this respect. It?s graceful, and looks (i am yet to try it) extremely fluid. Here, truely, there is no try, do or do not.
I have already expressed my delight in the graphical presentation, and I need not mention again that I find it very pleasing.
But where roleplaying games has a longrunning tradtion of aesthetic accidents (need I mention the new D&D?), the tradtion of gracefully clumsy prose seems even more deeply rooted. Clumsy prose is one thing that can not be said of Nobilis. This book is exceptionally wellwritten. Humorous and fluid, reflective and detailed. This makes the book a true delight to read, and while it?s big, you?ll be amazed at how swiftly you aquire a hold on things.
Moreover, the book excels in organization. The chapters run in excactly the order they should. Chapters on setting, on rules and on GM?s advice are beautyfully intertwined, alternating, so that which you have just learned, is given instant perspective.
The GM?s advice is simply amazing. Spanning an impressive amount of subjects, it makes you understand, that this is not just for the reading pleasure. This game is meant to be played no less.
There is an example of play, which can seem rather silly, but makes it clear how the system is meant to be interpreted.
I find it a fault in a review not to highlight a few darks, a few mistakes and perhaps a flaw or two. But this I find exceedingly hard in this case. An obvious one is, of course, that the game is extremely demanding of its participants. But is this really a flaw?
A minor annoyance of mine is the concept of estates (these concepts discussed earlier). While this is very well developed feature, a word or two on what constitutes the need of a Noble could be nice. But that really is a minor thing. At least there is no ?Demon of Pipe Bombs? like those presented in In Nomine. I hope not.
It is of course my burden as reviewer, that I can?t just enjoy the game, but must search it thoroughly for flaws. But I can say, with the full conviction of my hard, that these are no excuse not to buy the book.
Go to forum!
(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)