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11 |
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12 Wind in the Flowers: Re-inventing a Game |
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13 |
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14 |
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15 The Changing of the Guard |
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16 |
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17 *R. Sean Borgstrom* |
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18 January 21, 2002 |
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19 |
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20 I'd like to show you the backstage view of the reinvention of a game |
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21 system and setting. |
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22 |
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23 *Nobilis* became available to the public in late 1999, but a number of |
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24 distribution and printing problems made it very hard to obtain. Hogshead |
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25 Publishing obtained the rights to *Nobilis* and intends to release a |
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26 new, better-distributed version in early 2002. As part of this |
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27 transition, it seemed only appropriate to incorporate the feedback and |
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28 reactions of those who /did/ manage to get their hands on the game. |
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29 Thus, the development of a new edition of the game began. |
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30 |
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31 The Hogshead edition of the game is not a "version 2.0." The game spent |
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32 eight months on the shelves between initial release and my diving back |
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33 into the text. Although the new manuscript is extensively playtested, |
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34 *Nobilis* hasn't had enough time out in the world to grow. |
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35 |
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36 Rather than guessing at the future opinions of the gaming world, we |
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37 changed the rules and setting very little, and only when necessary. We |
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38 did not seek incremental changes but rather a transformation: from a |
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39 difficult game to approach to an easy one. Most of the changes take the |
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40 form of new supplementary material, intended to help people run the game |
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41 smoothly. |
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42 |
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43 This column provides an overview of the changes and what's going into |
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44 Hogshead's *Nobilis*. I intend to write about five more going into |
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45 detail about specific additions and modifications. |
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46 |
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47 Looking over the online reviews of *Nobilis*, from the review on Pyramid |
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48 to the reviews on rpg.net, I see one fairly consistent complaint. I've |
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49 been very pleased at the tone and contents of the reviews, and consider |
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50 them quite favorable overall, but many reviewers noted that they would |
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51 find the game hard to run -- that they aren't sure what to /do/ with it. |
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52 |
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53 We took a three-pronged approach to this problem. (In other words, we |
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54 jabbed it with a pitchfork.) First, I've replaced the sparse advice on |
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55 running *Nobilis* with a meaty section on the matter. It lays out what |
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56 the player characters do with their time, what obstacles they face, and |
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57 how to solve them. It discusses non-player characters, story plotting, |
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58 and campaign development in depth. There's a lot more. Very little of |
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59 this is standard boilerplate that applies in any roleplaying game -- I |
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60 mean, yes, one has to go over keeping the players happy and standard |
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61 descriptive techniques, but most of this section focuses specifically on |
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62 running *Nobilis*. |
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63 |
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64 Second, on the advice of James Wallis -- actually, a lot of this is on |
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65 the advice of James Wallis, or Bruce Baugh; they're driving the new |
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66 edition as much as I am -- I've added a sample campaign. Normally, |
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67 sample campaigns are things that players shouldn't read, which made me |
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68 nervous about including one in the core book for the line. The high |
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69 concept for this campaign, accordingly, was a setting and storyline that |
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70 the players could read without spoiling the game experience. I'll talk |
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71 about how we tried to achieve that in another column. |
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72 |
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73 Third, the old example of play was about 1250 words long, less than 1% |
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74 of the length of the manuscript. I own up to an error, here. There are a |
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75 lot of unusual concepts in *Nobilis*, and a fair number of unusual |
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76 rules, and the example didn't suffice to show them off. The new example |
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77 of play should greatly clarify how a typical game might go. |
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78 |
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79 James Wallis, who runs Hogshead, requested that I write about using the |
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80 *Nobilis* setting and general rules structure in a live-action game. As |
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81 those who have involved themselves with LARPs know, this kind of thing |
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82 isn't easy -- it'll take me a column just to scratch the surface of the |
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83 issues involved in translating tabletop *Nobilis* into something |
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84 suitable for live play. For right now, I'll just say that you'll be |
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85 seeing the results in an early supplement, and that /I'm/ happy with the |
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86 translation. |
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87 |
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88 Discussion on the Nobilis list suggested a few more areas meriting |
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89 adjustment. Most of the things the player characters do using the |
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90 Nobilis rules are called "miracles" -- and it's usually a pretty |
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91 accurate term. However, the old manuscript shoehorned normal actions -- |
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92 the things you or I do daily -- into the system as level 0 mental and |
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93 physical miracles. Some people constructed fun metaphysics based on |
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94 this, but most people felt it just complicated the world. |
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95 |
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96 In the new system, mundane actions are just that -- mundane actions, |
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97 normal things that people do. We've given characters a free mundane |
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98 action to use instead of or together with their normal miraculous |
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99 action; added a new defense against mundane attacks, since the standard |
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100 defenses against miracles no longer work against them; and created a new |
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101 very small sort of miracle for the level 0 mental/physical miracle slot. |
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102 (If you haven't read *Nobilis* and the discussion above confuses you, |
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103 don't worry. I'll hardly ever dip into technical issues of game |
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104 mechanics without a more detailed explanation.) |
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105 |
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106 Other people mentioned that the wound system confused them. We've |
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107 replaced it with something cleaner. I'm not terribly big on combat, but |
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108 I think that the new system is nicely dramatic and playable. |
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109 |
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110 I won't go further into the rules changes here. Instead, I'll move on to |
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111 some of the most important things: what happened /after/ it left my |
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112 hands. (Although my hands kept sneaking back in.) |
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113 |
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114 Bruce Baugh, author, coauthor, or developer for a number of World of |
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115 Darkness products -- including *Wraith: the Great War*, *Ends of |
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116 Empire*, and *Adventure* -- agreed to edit the Hogshead edition of |
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117 *Nobilis*. I will be frank: it needs, and has always needed, an editor. |
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118 It didn't have one for the Pharos edition because of Pharos' limited |
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119 resources, but /every/ author needs a good editor looking over their |
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120 shoulder. I'm fortunate to have someone so eminently qualified to |
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121 perform this service. He's also going to handle line editing duties in |
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122 general for future products in the *Nobilis* line. |
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123 |
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124 Readers of the Pharos edition may have noticed that it had, essentially, |
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125 no art. (To see this, flip to a random page. If there is no art there, |
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126 take one gulp from your drink. When you are drunk, stop.) The Hogshead |
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127 edition of *Nobilis* has art. Moreover, this art is good. I'm quite |
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128 happy with most of the pieces actually /used/ in the Pharos edition, but |
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129 I'm looking forward to a richer presentation. James Wallis intends to |
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130 produce a lush, beautiful book, and from what I have seen, he is |
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131 succeeding. |
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132 |
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133 In future columns, I intend to talk about the sample campaign; the rules |
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134 changes; the editing and production; the major new setting element; and |
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135 the live-action rules. Not necessarily in that order. |
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136 |
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137 R. Sean |
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138 |
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139 |
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140 What do you think? <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> |
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141 |
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142 Go to forum! <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> |
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143 Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic |
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144 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=88> | View Threads |
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145 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&collapse=0> | Search |
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146 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=88> |
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147 |
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148 Topics Author Date Latest Reply |
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149 James and the Small Caps |
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150 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=81&t=81> (2) new Kibo |
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151 08-20-2002 16:29 02-10-2003 01:23 new |
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152 Art <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=77&t=77> (1) new Lxndr |
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153 04-26-2002 07:36 04-26-2002 07:36 new |
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154 The Original Nobilis Club |
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155 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=76&t=76> (3) new Bret Gillan |
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156 04-17-2002 11:28 03-17-2003 17:48 new |
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157 Questions & Thoughts |
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158 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=64&t=64> (3) new Pyske |
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159 03-20-2002 18:31 05-01-2003 13:03 new |
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160 Noble Buddhism? |
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161 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=61&t=61> (9) new Tlaloc |
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162 03-20-2002 12:17 12-10-2004 01:20 new |
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163 Noble Suicide <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=58&t=58> (9) new |
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164 Eric Christian Berg 03-20-2002 07:43 01-18-2005 16:27 new |
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165 Art Notes <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=54&t=54> (4) new R. |
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166 Sean Borgstrom 03-14-2002 16:31 03-21-2002 03:44 new |
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167 Ack...you just lost my sale |
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168 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=45&t=45> (10) new SteveD |
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169 03-14-2002 04:06 03-15-2002 06:29 new |
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170 Onomastikon working URL |
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171 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=36&t=36> (4) new Jorge |
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172 Hernández 03-06-2002 12:51 08-20-2002 16:10 new |
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173 Why do angels change names ? |
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174 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=33&t=33> (10) new philippe |
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175 tromeur 03-06-2002 10:13 12-10-2004 01:34 new |
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176 R. Sean, some examples? |
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177 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=32&t=32> (3) new Arref |
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178 03-05-2002 08:17 03-13-2002 20:28 new |
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179 Sounds great, BUT... |
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180 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=28&t=28> (2) new Kane |
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181 02-27-2002 16:43 02-27-2002 17:30 new |
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182 Sort of backwards? |
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183 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=21&t=21> (8) new Eric Finley |
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184 02-20-2002 14:25 02-28-2002 09:35 new |
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185 Programmer nature slips out! |
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186 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=20&t=20> (2) new Sean |
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187 McCarthy 02-20-2002 13:18 02-21-2002 10:30 new |
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188 Object Lesson Damage |
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189 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=15&t=15> (1) new Darren |
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190 Miguez 02-13-2002 12:45 02-13-2002 12:45 new |
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191 How about this? |
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192 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=12&t=12> (2) new Kristian |
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193 Lund 02-13-2002 11:30 02-14-2002 01:17 new |
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194 Now, this was strange! |
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195 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=9&t=9> (7) new access.denied |
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196 02-13-2002 07:44 02-16-2002 21:44 new |
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197 Briefs on the other two? |
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198 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=5&t=5> (5) new Eric Finley |
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199 01-31-2002 18:39 02-13-2002 10:36 new |
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200 Forum now works <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=4&t=4> (1) new |
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201 Sandy Antunes 01-31-2002 17:36 01-31-2002 17:36 new |
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202 limited series <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=1&t=1> (2) new |
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203 Sandy Antunes 01-21-2002 17:41 01-31-2002 17:36 new |
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204 |
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205 Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic |
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206 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=88> | View Threads |
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207 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&collapse=0> | Search |
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208 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=88> |
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209 |
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210 Newer Messages |
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211 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=81&a=1&> | Older Messages |
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212 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=1&a=2&> |
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213 |
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214 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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215 |
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216 * Editing, Development, and Production |
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217 </news+reviews/columns/wind27mar02.html> |
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218 March 27, 2002 |
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219 * Affiliations </news+reviews/columns/wind20mar02.html> |
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220 March 20, 2002 |
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221 * How to be a Hollyhock God </news+reviews/columns/wind13mar02.html> |
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222 March 13, 2002 |
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223 * Naming Conventions </news+reviews/columns/wind06mar02.html> |
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224 March 6, 2002 |
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225 * Art Notes </news+reviews/columns/wind27feb02.html> |
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226 February 27, 2002 |
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227 * Dynamic Nobilis </news+reviews/columns/wind20feb02.html> |
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228 February 20, 2002 |
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229 * Systems Change </news+reviews/columns/wind13feb02.html> |
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230 February 13, 2002 |
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231 * Treachery </news+reviews/columns/wind06feb02.html> |
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232 February 6, 2002 |
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233 * The Emperor to Come </news+reviews/columns/wind31jan02.html> |
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234 January 31, 2002 |
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235 * The Changing of the Guard </news+reviews/columns/wind21jan02.html> |
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236 January 21, 2002 |
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237 |
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238 |
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239 Other columns </news+reviews/columns.html> at RPGnet |
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240 |
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