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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>

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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

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------------------------------------------------------------------------

    * 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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