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[curgoth]

Having finally worked my way through the book, I have come to the conclusion that Nobilis looks good. Pretty much all of my doubts about the mechanics as they pertain to the setting have been quieted. I think that, some time in the next 6 months, I'll run a game of limited scope to get a handle on the mechanics in action. If that works, I'll likely run a campaign for a while.

So, gamers, start thinking of godlike characters to play. More to follow on specifics later...

night__watch brought up an interesting point last night about how a character that is effectively immortal might not grow and develop the way characters do in regular RPGs. I think the best way to answer that question is to let someone else, who's better at it than I am, explain. To that end, I reccommend everyone read Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novels. The last two chapters in particular deal heavily with change in an immortal being.

Comments

[night--watch.livejournal.com]

I think Nobilis is meant (maybe) to start just before the character is "ennobled". This gives the young immortal LOTS to grow into.

My comment was that a certain KIND of immortal (like Raven), whose personality is pretty fixed, isn't going to be a whole lot of fun in an extended campaign (who remembers Oiran?)

Anyway, I think the character design process (as I understand it) in Nobilis lends itself to the gradual creation of a character. Start with the idea of what kind of god you'd like him/her to become, and then play the human first. Then deal with how that human is affected by having its perceptions and powers expanded by several orders of magnitude...

[curgoth]

Ah, I see...

Actually, this is where having read the book helps :)

Several of the many, many examples they provide have the Noble in question having been around for a long time. For example; one noble's gifts are explained by his being molded from clay in the early days of Creation.

So, the game doesn't assume that the PC is newly enNobled.

And, ultimately, how much the character's personality can change and grow is up to the player. Even the static, unchanging personality can be interesting, if the PC runs up against situations where most beings would start to change and adapt to things, but the PC, being what s/he is, cannot. (This is where the game concept of virtues comes into play... you have the option of picking an element of your personality, like unchanging, honest, ego-centric, and that property is not only a part of you, you define it, and no force, no power, no miracle can make you act contrary to that virtue)