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11 |
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12 |
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13 Wind in the Flowers: Re-inventing a Game |
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14 |
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15 |
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16 Art Notes |
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17 |
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18 *R. Sean Borgstrom* |
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19 February 27, 2002 |
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20 |
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21 James Wallis had promised a significant amount of cool art for the new |
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22 edition, with well-respected artists from both inside and outside the |
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23 gaming world. This meant working out what I actually wanted everything |
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24 in the world to look like. I'm not a very visual person, and my |
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25 imagination is mostly full of abstractions and words, so this was an |
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26 interesting challenge. |
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27 |
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28 I'm not going to discuss the art itself, because, hm. Because it is |
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29 wonderful and amazing and it makes me huddle over the pictures and say, |
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30 "/This/ was drawn for /my/ book." But it's not /my/ work, and I don't |
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31 think I can get 10-20 artists together to write a column for me. I just |
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32 contributed the stuff below, so that's what I'll write about. |
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33 |
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34 Not all of my art notes actually reached the artists. James ultimately |
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35 decided that 9,000 words of art suggestions might daze, restrict, or |
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36 even offend some of the artists we had on board. So he trimmed them down |
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37 somewhat. I'm going to discuss the original document, however, since it |
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38 wound up establishing some subtle things about the setting that either |
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39 worked back into the text of the book or influenced the canon for future |
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40 supplements. I think that's a very interesting process, even when it |
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41 didn't affect the art. |
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42 |
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43 One of the key design principles for *Nobilis* is empowerment. I do not |
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44 mean that it's a high-powered setting. It is, but that's not the point. |
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45 I mean that it's very much a game about allowing the player's picture of |
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46 their character to drive that character's destiny. |
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47 |
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48 When applying this to the art notes, one of my primary concerns was a |
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49 tendency in gaming art to depict females in submissive and exaggeratedly |
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50 sexualized poses. Such images of women, when common in a book or game |
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51 line, implicitly categorize female characters as weak or sexual, which |
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52 is bloody rare in the *Nobilis* setting. This led to an immediate |
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53 secondary concern: I didn't want men depicted in submissive or |
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54 exaggeratedly sexualized poses, either. Any such image, basically, |
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55 detracts from the overall thematic point of empowering both players and |
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56 characters. This led to frequent comments of the sort "no breasts bigger |
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57 than the woman's head", "no underdressed nymphlets if you can help it", |
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58 "all nudity should be artistic and justifiable", and, most importantly, |
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59 "The Nobilis, the main characters of the game, almost invariably give an |
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60 impression of power and competence." I don't know just how many of these |
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61 James relayed, but the art turned out well in this respect. Go us. |
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62 |
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63 Another fundamental idea in *Nobilis*---probably the most |
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64 fundamental---is that of an animistic world. My personal motto for the |
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65 game, not currently appearing in any ad copy, is "every concept has a |
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66 human face." Cars have spirits. Storms have spirits. Even massive ideals |
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67 like Time have spirits. You can interact with almost everything as a |
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68 person. |
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69 |
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70 The principal characters of *Nobilis*, though born mortal, have a piece |
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71 of the divine embedded in their soul. This is an elemental piece of |
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72 reality---Fire, Maps, Automobiles, Trees, Waves, or somesuch thing. This |
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73 is what makes them "Noble" or "of the Nobilis". As the centerpiece of |
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74 the game, they needed both their animistic nature and their empowerment |
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75 front and center in the art as well. |
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76 |
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77 Defining their basic appearance from here was pretty straightforward. As |
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78 humans touched by the divine, they should never look ordinary. They |
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79 could be rugged, handsome, or pretty. Some would be interestingly ugly. |
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80 The rest, though plain, should be fascinating in some way unrelated to |
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81 attractiveness, perhaps possessing a profoundly honest face, an |
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82 inscrutably bland demeanor, or phenomenal grace in motion. Simply |
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83 ordinary Nobles would undermine the idea that they represent natural |
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84 forces, and it also suggests a more mundane environment than I wanted |
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85 for the game. |
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86 |
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87 Most Nobles have an appearance reflecting their Estate---that elemental |
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88 piece of reality I mentioned earlier. The Noble governing Shadows (the |
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89 Power of Shadows) might have obscured features and elongated fingers. |
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90 Static might crackle in the Power of Television's eyes. The Power of |
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91 Mazes might lounge on an Escherian throne. A few pictures used |
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92 distinctly supernatural elements for this. Most of the artists instead |
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93 captured the elemental nature of the Nobilis through clothing, setting, |
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94 and pose. Both worked awfully well. |
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95 |
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96 The art notes are the first place I established what the Nobilis |
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97 actually wear. I'll be covering the topic in more depth in *A Society of |
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98 Flowers*, an early supplement, but it boils down to three styles. Two |
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99 reflect opposite ends of empowerment. |
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100 |
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101 First, the most important part of a Noble's duties is defending reality |
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102 from a pretty vicious enemy. This leads to workmanlike, casual, |
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103 loose-fitting, tough, and respectable clothes. They don't have to look |
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104 hot, and they don't have to look professional, because they /don't have |
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105 to care/ what people who look at them think. |
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106 |
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107 Second, there are occasions for regalia, a classic sign of power: |
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108 gorgeous, amazing, ornate clothing, possibly including face-painting and |
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109 equally impressive headwear. In addition, as animistic representatives |
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110 of their Estate, some should be drawn with clothing that reflects it: |
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111 the Power of Water might have flowing garments, and the Power of Time |
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112 almost certainly has a conspicuous pocketwatch. Examples of all three |
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113 styles appear in the book. |
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114 |
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115 Other creatures of note in the game include Imperators, creatures wholly |
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116 divine. Where a Noble has a piece of reality in their soul, Imperators |
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117 /are/ pieces of reality. One Imperator defines and embodies Words, |
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118 Doorways, and Bronze; another Parasites, Passivity, Mistrust, and |
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119 Growth. They are creatures of what the game calls /spiritus Dei/, the |
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120 divine breath, the first and uncaused cause that makes other things to be. |
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121 |
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122 One of my mistakes here was defining the appearance of the Imperial |
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123 "True Gods", the deities more of Earth's primordial soup than of |
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124 humanity. The true gods exist in the setting to capture a certain |
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125 element of inhumanity in the divine. Of the seven forms of Imperator |
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126 discussed in *Nobilis*, four resemble humanity in general appearance. |
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127 These are the Angels, the Fallen, the Magisters of the Light, and the |
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128 Magisters of the Dark. The Aaron's Serpents, children of the Ash that |
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129 holds worlds in its branches, are unsurprisingly, ophidian. |
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130 |
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131 I didn't want the divine to be /too/ anthropomorphic, however, so there |
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132 are the Magisters of the Wild, capturing a certain essence of mental |
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133 inhumanity, and the true gods, inhuman in all ways. I described them for |
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134 the artists as glorious monsters, amorphous and nightmarish but not |
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135 bestial. They are not icky, but rather majestically awful. They are |
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136 horrid /things/, but they induce more awe than revulsion. |
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137 |
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138 No one drew one. Possibly James just left this bit out, but on |
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139 reflection, /I/ wouldn't want to try and draw something from that |
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140 description, even if I were a living god with the pencil and the pen. |
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141 |
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142 To close the column on a high note, I'll talk a little bit about |
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143 locations. Although I didn't expect anyone to draw them for the main |
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144 book, I wanted the art suggestions to stick around as a supplement |
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145 bible, so I had to work out what Heaven, Hell, and the World Ash looked |
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146 like. It's not that the characters regularly visit Heaven or Hell, but |
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147 it's an established feature of the setting that the angels' work in |
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148 Heaven constantly rains new glories down on every world. Conversely, |
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149 corruption seeps ever upwards out of Hell. As for the World Ash, you |
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150 pretty much need to climb it to get anywhere but Earth, so I do expect |
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151 fairly regular visits. These are all important places. |
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152 |
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153 Thinking about how to describe them led me to a peculiar realization: |
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154 Heaven and Hell are easily as fundamental as the angels. The World Ash |
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155 is as real as the Serpents that are its children. One of the most |
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156 important things to understand when drawing them is that they are more |
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157 than places---they are things of /spiritus Dei/, and therefore concepts |
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158 as well as places. Heaven is not beautiful; it is Beauty. Hell is not a |
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159 place of suffering; it /is/ corruption and suffering. I am not entirely |
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160 certain what the World Ash that spans between them is; I think it may be |
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161 Life. That's perhaps the strongest case of art suggestions influencing |
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162 my perspective on the written setting, and so I stop there. |
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163 |
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164 R. Sean |
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165 |
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166 |
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167 What do you think? <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> |
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168 |
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169 Go to forum! <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> |
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170 Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic |
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171 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=88> | View Threads |
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172 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&collapse=0> | Search |
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173 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=88> |
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174 |
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175 Topics Author Date Latest Reply |
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176 James and the Small Caps |
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177 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=81&t=81> (2) new Kibo |
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178 08-20-2002 16:29 02-10-2003 01:23 new |
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179 Art <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=77&t=77> (1) new Lxndr |
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180 04-26-2002 07:36 04-26-2002 07:36 new |
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181 The Original Nobilis Club |
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182 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=76&t=76> (3) new Bret Gillan |
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183 04-17-2002 11:28 03-17-2003 17:48 new |
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184 Questions & Thoughts |
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185 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=64&t=64> (3) new Pyske |
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186 03-20-2002 18:31 05-01-2003 13:03 new |
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187 Noble Buddhism? |
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188 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=61&t=61> (9) new Tlaloc |
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189 03-20-2002 12:17 12-10-2004 01:20 new |
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190 Noble Suicide <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=58&t=58> (9) new |
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191 Eric Christian Berg 03-20-2002 07:43 01-18-2005 16:27 new |
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192 Art Notes <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=54&t=54> (4) new R. |
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193 Sean Borgstrom 03-14-2002 16:31 03-21-2002 03:44 new |
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194 Ack...you just lost my sale |
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195 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=45&t=45> (10) new SteveD |
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196 03-14-2002 04:06 03-15-2002 06:29 new |
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197 Onomastikon working URL |
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198 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=36&t=36> (4) new Jorge |
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199 Hernández 03-06-2002 12:51 08-20-2002 16:10 new |
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200 Why do angels change names ? |
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201 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=33&t=33> (10) new philippe |
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202 tromeur 03-06-2002 10:13 12-10-2004 01:34 new |
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203 R. Sean, some examples? |
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204 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=32&t=32> (3) new Arref |
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205 03-05-2002 08:17 03-13-2002 20:28 new |
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206 Sounds great, BUT... |
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207 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=28&t=28> (2) new Kane |
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208 02-27-2002 16:43 02-27-2002 17:30 new |
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209 Sort of backwards? |
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210 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=21&t=21> (8) new Eric Finley |
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211 02-20-2002 14:25 02-28-2002 09:35 new |
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212 Programmer nature slips out! |
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213 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=20&t=20> (2) new Sean |
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214 McCarthy 02-20-2002 13:18 02-21-2002 10:30 new |
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215 Object Lesson Damage |
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216 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=15&t=15> (1) new Darren |
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217 Miguez 02-13-2002 12:45 02-13-2002 12:45 new |
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218 How about this? |
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219 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=12&t=12> (2) new Kristian |
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220 Lund 02-13-2002 11:30 02-14-2002 01:17 new |
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221 Now, this was strange! |
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222 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=9&t=9> (7) new access.denied |
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223 02-13-2002 07:44 02-16-2002 21:44 new |
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224 Briefs on the other two? |
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225 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=5&t=5> (5) new Eric Finley |
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226 01-31-2002 18:39 02-13-2002 10:36 new |
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227 Forum now works <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=4&t=4> (1) new |
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228 Sandy Antunes 01-31-2002 17:36 01-31-2002 17:36 new |
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229 limited series <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=1&t=1> (2) new |
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230 Sandy Antunes 01-21-2002 17:41 01-31-2002 17:36 new |
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231 |
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232 Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic |
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233 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=88> | View Threads |
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234 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&collapse=0> | Search |
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235 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=88> |
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236 |
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237 Newer Messages |
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238 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=81&a=1&> | Older Messages |
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239 <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=1&a=2&> |
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240 |
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241 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
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242 |
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243 * Editing, Development, and Production |
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244 </news+reviews/columns/wind27mar02.html> |
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245 March 27, 2002 |
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246 * Affiliations </news+reviews/columns/wind20mar02.html> |
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247 March 20, 2002 |
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248 * How to be a Hollyhock God </news+reviews/columns/wind13mar02.html> |
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249 March 13, 2002 |
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250 * Naming Conventions </news+reviews/columns/wind06mar02.html> |
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251 March 6, 2002 |
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252 * Art Notes </news+reviews/columns/wind27feb02.html> |
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253 February 27, 2002 |
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254 * Dynamic Nobilis </news+reviews/columns/wind20feb02.html> |
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255 February 20, 2002 |
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256 * Systems Change </news+reviews/columns/wind13feb02.html> |
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257 February 13, 2002 |
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258 * Treachery </news+reviews/columns/wind06feb02.html> |
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259 February 6, 2002 |
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260 * The Emperor to Come </news+reviews/columns/wind31jan02.html> |
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261 January 31, 2002 |
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262 * The Changing of the Guard </news+reviews/columns/wind21jan02.html> |
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263 January 21, 2002 |
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264 |
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265 |
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266 Other columns </news+reviews/columns.html> at RPGnet |
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267 |
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