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+
+ Wind in the Flowers: Re-inventing a Game
+
+
+ Affiliations
+
+*R. Sean Borgstrom*
+March 20, 2002
+*Rated an A+ by 20 RPGnet readers!*
+
+Rate this column!
+
+
+
+For the sake of those who choose to adopt them, *Nobilis* presents five
+key philosophies woven into the nature of the world. Heaven's Code
+defines the angels' commitment to Creation. Hell's Code provides the
+justification and the interpretation of Lucifer's philosophy. Other
+Codes derive from the Light, which embodies the principle of human
+survival; the Dark, an incarnation of the human tendency towards
+suicide; and the Wild, a thread of free will and madness running through
+Creation.
+
+To avoid regimenting player character behavior, these Codes boil down to
+three simple principles and some expository text later in the book.
+Characters can freely have their own independent philosophy, but most
+align to one of these five axes.
+
+One goal of the new edition was to make these philosophies more
+accessible. In particular, I wanted to make it clear how characters
+following the Code of Hell or the Dark could fit into a group with more
+human or humane morality. In *Nobilis*, Hell endorses both corruption
+and suffering as virtues; the Dark, of course, seeks to arrange both
+personal and communal human suicide. There was some concern among
+readers of the first edition that such characters would prove unpleasant
+companions.
+
+One of the simplest steps taken here was assertion. In the newer
+discussions of Noble lives and in the occasional excerpts from those
+lives that appeared as quotes, characters of the darker affiliations
+interacted freely with those of more beneficent morality. Assertion is a
+marvelous tool, since, after all, the setting material defines how
+people envision the game world.
+
+To ensure that this led to a consistent world, however, I burned some
+words laying out how this actually happens in practice. For the Code of
+Hell, this begins with acknowledgment of its philosophical origins. In
+*Nobilis'* Creation, the "physical" Hell embodies both corruption and
+suffering; it is viable to assume that these things exist in every other
+world only because Hell exists.
+
+Hell also occupies a peculiar place in the cosmology, existing beneath
+the roots of the World Ash. It is the only place in Creation not
+directly affected by the glories raining down from Heaven. The theory
+underlying the Code of Hell is simply that Hell---not the beauty of
+Heaven, and not the ambiguous essence of the worlds in
+between---represents the fundamental truth of Creation. In short, Hell
+is the foundation stone on which everything else is built.
+
+To proceed from here and create a sympathetic character in service to
+Hell, one has two choices. First, one can make an obvious demonstration
+that the character's motivations are philosophical. The key
+recommendation here was self-abnegation. A character who inflicts
+suffering to advance their personal agenda is classically "evil". A
+character who embraces corruption and suffering but gains nothing from
+it has a clear, if twisted, morality.
+
+In addition, I recommended an exemplary career of service to Creation;
+like its brighter allies in the setting, Hell wants Creation to survive.
+Finally, I noted that one can minimize the "shock value" of the
+character's service by inflicting suffering primarily on the deserving.
+This hopefully laid out one path that allows characters in service to
+Hell to coexist with a more humane group.
+
+A second option for sympathetic characters serving Hell is a focus on
+the less important aspects of Code. Treating its precepts as decadence
+rather than corruption and harshness rather than cruelty makes the
+character seem ruthless but not /monstrous/. This option was not fully
+developed in *Nobilis* but is influencing several infernal NPCs in the
+supplements.
+
+The Code of the Dark---basically, the Code of helping humans destroy
+themselves---has its own problems. Like the Code of Hell, it has a basic
+philosophical orientation. *Nobilis* has always presented several
+justifications for the basic idea of the Dark. My personal favorite is
+the idea that the capacity for self-destruction must exist in humanity
+to permit the capacity for growth. I'm not sure that it's true, but it's
+a feasible and defensible philosophy, and that's all a character in an
+RPG needs. Still, it's understandable if people feel a little concerned
+about integrating a character serving the Dark into their game.
+
+One of the steps taken here was establishing why the Light---the
+principle of human survival---and the Dark can ally at all, even for the
+purpose of protecting the world both live in. If you looked hard enough,
+this has always been in the book to find, but the new edition makes it
+explicit. The foremost principle of the Light is protecting /humanity/.
+The foremost principle of the Dark is encouraging /individual/ suicide.
+
+Even though the Light wants individual humans to live, and the Dark
+wants humanity to destroy itself, the two are not diametrically opposed.
+This also explains, more generally, why humane Nobilis can tolerate the
+Dark. The actions of the Dark can lead to human death, but generally on
+a fairly small scale; not one that a compassionate Noble /likes/ to
+ignore, but one that many compassionate Nobles, principally concerned
+with global affairs, /can/.
+
+Naturally, serving the Dark from a clear position of philosophical
+integrity has the same benefits as thusly serving the Code of Hell. A
+Noble serving the Dark who clearly isn't getting any personal benefit
+from it has a better chance of integrating into a group.
+
+In addition, the new edition contains a modest number of excerpts from
+"Principles of the Dark", a book written in-setting to explain said
+principles. Some of the key notions presented here---few of which I
+agree with, but all of which I consider feasibly arguable by a Power of
+the Dark---include:
+
+ * Human success rests on subverting the natural order; human
+ existence derives from the natural order. Self-destruction is
+ therefore intrinsic to the human way of life.
+ * One can hurt or kill others, such as humans, without ceasing to
+ love them. "Love inspires greatness; it does not prevent venality."
+ * Suicide and self-preservation arise from the same aspect of human
+ nature.
+ * In suicide, a human achieves absolute control over their life. Any
+ other form of death robs them of this.
+
+With these principles, and others, I hoped to make the Dark---if not
+well-loved by its peers---a philosophy that one can argue with rather
+than hate.
+
+R. Sean
+
+
+ What do you think? <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88>
+
+Go to forum! <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88>
+ Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=88> | View Threads
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+
+ Topics Author Date Latest Reply
+ James and the Small Caps
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=81&t=81> (2) new Kibo
+08-20-2002 16:29 02-10-2003 01:23 new
+ Art <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=77&t=77> (1) new Lxndr
+04-26-2002 07:36 04-26-2002 07:36 new
+ The Original Nobilis Club
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=76&t=76> (3) new Bret Gillan
+04-17-2002 11:28 03-17-2003 17:48 new
+ Questions & Thoughts
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=64&t=64> (3) new Pyske
+03-20-2002 18:31 05-01-2003 13:03 new
+ Noble Buddhism?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=61&t=61> (9) new Tlaloc
+03-20-2002 12:17 12-10-2004 01:20 new
+ Noble Suicide <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=58&t=58> (9) new
+Eric Christian Berg 03-20-2002 07:43 01-18-2005 16:27 new
+ Art Notes <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=54&t=54> (4) new R.
+Sean Borgstrom 03-14-2002 16:31 03-21-2002 03:44 new
+ Ack...you just lost my sale
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=45&t=45> (10) new SteveD
+03-14-2002 04:06 03-15-2002 06:29 new
+ Onomastikon working URL
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=36&t=36> (4) new Jorge
+Hernández 03-06-2002 12:51 08-20-2002 16:10 new
+ Why do angels change names ?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=33&t=33> (10) new philippe
+tromeur 03-06-2002 10:13 12-10-2004 01:34 new
+ R. Sean, some examples?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=32&t=32> (3) new Arref
+03-05-2002 08:17 03-13-2002 20:28 new
+ Sounds great, BUT...
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=28&t=28> (2) new Kane
+02-27-2002 16:43 02-27-2002 17:30 new
+ Sort of backwards?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=21&t=21> (8) new Eric Finley
+02-20-2002 14:25 02-28-2002 09:35 new
+ Programmer nature slips out!
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=20&t=20> (2) new Sean
+McCarthy 02-20-2002 13:18 02-21-2002 10:30 new
+ Object Lesson Damage
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=15&t=15> (1) new Darren
+Miguez 02-13-2002 12:45 02-13-2002 12:45 new
+ How about this?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=12&t=12> (2) new Kristian
+Lund 02-13-2002 11:30 02-14-2002 01:17 new
+ Now, this was strange!
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=9&t=9> (7) new access.denied
+02-13-2002 07:44 02-16-2002 21:44 new
+ Briefs on the other two?
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=5&t=5> (5) new Eric Finley
+01-31-2002 18:39 02-13-2002 10:36 new
+ Forum now works <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=4&t=4> (1) new
+Sandy Antunes 01-31-2002 17:36 01-31-2002 17:36 new
+ limited series <http://www.rpg.net/pf/read.php?f=88&i=1&t=1> (2) new
+Sandy Antunes 01-21-2002 17:41 01-31-2002 17:36 new
+
+ Go to Top <http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88> | New Topic
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/post.php?f=88> | View Threads
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&collapse=0> | Search
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/search.php?f=88>
+
+ Newer Messages
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=81&a=1&> | Older Messages
+<http://www.rpg.net/pf/list.php?f=88&t=1&a=2&>
+
+------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ * Editing, Development, and Production
+ </news+reviews/columns/wind27mar02.html>
+ March 27, 2002
+ * Affiliations </news+reviews/columns/wind20mar02.html>
+ March 20, 2002
+ * How to be a Hollyhock God </news+reviews/columns/wind13mar02.html>
+ March 13, 2002
+ * Naming Conventions </news+reviews/columns/wind06mar02.html>
+ March 6, 2002
+ * Art Notes </news+reviews/columns/wind27feb02.html>
+ February 27, 2002
+ * Dynamic Nobilis </news+reviews/columns/wind20feb02.html>
+ February 20, 2002
+ * Systems Change </news+reviews/columns/wind13feb02.html>
+ February 13, 2002
+ * Treachery </news+reviews/columns/wind06feb02.html>
+ February 6, 2002
+ * The Emperor to Come </news+reviews/columns/wind31jan02.html>
+ January 31, 2002
+ * The Changing of the Guard </news+reviews/columns/wind21jan02.html>
+ January 21, 2002
+
+
+ Other columns </news+reviews/columns.html> at RPGnet
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