If all that is considered good considers you evil.. Are you?

[neelk]

[
The Nobilis “morality” system boils down to an alignment system, as far as I can tell.  Please correct me if I’m wrong,   Players select a “Code” for their characters in which they support the Power of “Heaven”, “Hell”, “Light”, “Dark”, “Wild”, or “Other” (of their choosing).  The reason I say this is an alignment system is that, as far as I can tell, there is no reward for actually supporting these powers.  Once you state that your player supports some Power, you are simply expected to do so without any further mechanical intervention.

No; the player is absolutely not expected to live up to the code. Characters have a Code, and adherence to it nets them miracle points, and defiance costs them miracle points. However, each of the codes are designed so that faithful adherence to it will eventually call for dreadful and terrible acts, and the player (and in the setting, the character) is completely free to choose whether or not to adhere to their Code or not -- the character's Code is basically a bribe to make it tempting to be inhuman and divine rather than to show humanity and clemency.

For example, a perfectly viable character (if perhaps gratuituously angsty) concept is a Noble with the Code of the Fallen Angels, and who hates and despises it and tries to evade its strictures at every opportunity. What you are doing is building a character who will bleed miracle points and is generally a bad servant of Hell. And when Creation is at the brink they will have to choose whether saving the world is worth sacrificing their own soul and assuming their aspect as one of the dark knights of the Fallen.

[John Kirk]

No; the player is absolutely not expected to live up to the code. Characters have a Code, and adherence to it nets them miracle points, and defiance costs them miracle points. However, each of the codes are designed so that faithful adherence to it will eventually call for dreadful and terrible acts, and the player (and in the setting, the character) is completely free to choose whether or not to adhere to their Code or not -- the character's Code is basically a bribe to make it tempting to be inhuman and divine rather than to show humanity and clemency.

Ah, I somehow missed the point about the Code affecting Miracle Points.  I'll have to go back and re-read that section.  Thanks.

[John Kirk]

Characters have a Code, and adherence to it nets them miracle points, and defiance costs them miracle points.

Okay, I've gone back and re-read the Nobilis Code system and everything I can find about Miracle Points.  (I looked at every place referenced in the index and browsed through the rest of the book looking for clues.)  I still don't see where it talks about the Code having any impact on a character's Miracle Points.  I haven't re-read the entire book, though.  Could someone give me a hand and point me to where the rules discuss this detail?

Thanks.

[TonyLB]

Page 133, right-most column, middle of the page.  It's... oh... one sentence in the middle of a huge page of poetic description of Heaven and Hell.  I'm not surprised you missed it.

[John Kirk]

Tony,

Thanks for pointing that out.  I see that the Codes have more of an impact than I originally thought.  In fact, I also see that the Restrictions and Virtues have a similarly potent impact because of Miracle Point rewards.  Players will tend to seek out situations in which their Codes, Restrictions, and Virtues apply.  That way, they can demonstrate their characters' weaknesses, idiosyncrasies, and passions while racking up the Miracle Points.  Those are some good story generating mechanics.

[Sydney Freedberg]

Page 133, right-most column, middle of the page.  It's... oh... one sentence in the middle of a huge page of poetic description of Heaven and Hell.  I'm not surprised you missed it.

Heh. Reminds me of a point I made over in this thread:

if the Crucial Little Rule is too small, you can read right over it and not realize it's crucial -- maybe even not realize it's in the game at all and go play without it. Lord knows I've done this.....So if your Crucial Little Rule is really crucial, better put have your layout put the equivalent of flashing neon lights around it.

[Vaxalon]

Page 133, right-most column, middle of the page.  It's... oh... one sentence in the middle of a huge page of poetic description of Heaven and Hell.  I'm not surprised you missed it.

Part of this has to do with what the GWB for Nobilis *is*.

Really, it's a rulebook secondarily.

Its PRIMARY function, in my opinion, is a device for recruiting players.

I realized this after Ron told me that you don't recruit players for Trollbabe... you let the book do it.  You leave it out for people to look through.  "Oh, that.  Nobilis.  Nifty little game."  Let them conflate the coolness of the book (which is clear from picking it up and leafing through it) to the coolness of the rules (which isn't clear from picking it up and leafing through, but becomes clear in play).

It's a coffee table book.

(speaking of which, Ron... if you ever print up a deluxe version of Trollbabe with nifty covers and color art... sign me up for one)

You leave it out, off the shelf.  People see the gorgeous cover, they want to look inside.  They see the beautiful flores and they want to know what it's about.