diff -r 3164c82ac16e -r bdef1afd1170 draft/wind13mar02.txt --- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/draft/wind13mar02.txt Wed Aug 30 21:32:44 2006 -0400 @@ -0,0 +1,262 @@ +RPGnet + + + + Reviews Forums +News & Press Columns & +Info RPG Wiki + RPG Shop + + + + Wind in the Flowers: Re-inventing a Game + + + How to be a Hollyhock God + +*R. Sean Borgstrom* +March 13, 2002 + + +As mentioned in passing a few columns ago, *Nobilis* has its own unique +term for the person running the game, to wit, the Hollyhock God. +Historically, there have been endless variations on the language of +flowers; in the game's dictionary of floral symbolism, the Hollyhock +stands for ambition, glory, imagination, and perhaps a little touch of +vanity. A Hollyhock God, then, has decided that to build a new Creation +from their own imagination and share it with their players. I approve. + +Since James wanted a significant amount of advice on how to run the +game, I set out to provide it. As in the Pharos Press edition, it's +narrated in character. Some of this is just me: I don't feel comfortable +telling people, as me, how to run their games. However, there's a more +important reason. + +This is the section of the book most directly aimed at the reader. It is +not just presenting information; it's talking to the prospective +Hollyhock God, presenting directed advice on how they---the +reader---should proceed. In my head, this leads to a large section of +the book that breaks suspension of disbelief. Not that I expect people +to /believe/ *Nobilis*, but I do expect them to see the world as they read. + +The character creation rules are written carefully to promote this, to +show the players how the subject matter plays out in the setting. The +setting material, of course, presents something to visualize directly. +Spending too much time talking about how to run the game, however, +breaks the vision and makes the reader think about /gaming/, not +*Nobilis'* Creation. Narrating it in character helps avoid this. It's a +character from the game world talking, and that reminder of how the game +world works is always there. + +The advice in this book is much more detailed than in the previous +edition. Accordingly, I chose a narrator, Ianthe, with a relatively +unintrusive voice. Readers can concentrate on absorbing the material, +with Ianthe's presence as a grace note---but an important grace note. + +Ianthe's advice comes in nine parts. Six cover a basic introduction, +genre, play contracts, rules interpretation, characters, and stories. +All of these are heavily optimized for games of *Nobilis*. Some of these +are interesting from the design perspective. + +I've never actually been in a game that had a formal play contract, +covering how the game handles sensitive topics, describing the level of +control players have over their characters, and laying out rules for +player conduct. However, like any sane person would, I want *Nobilis* to +reach a large market that includes huge numbers of gamers and a +substantial number of previous non-gamers. I also know that its subject +matter can be fairly extreme. There is no sexual violence in the book, +because of /my/ personal hot buttons, and perhaps two uses of foul +language. + +But there's some torture, some murder and maiming, a lot of moral +corruption, some horrible curses and massively ugly images, plus a huge +amount of blasphemy. This is a game of wonder and horror, and the horror +includes just about every kind that /isn't/ one of my personal hot +buttons. Resolving the conflict between "a game for everyone" and "a +game of intense wonder and horror" isn't easy; the best solution I can +find is to recommend that the players and HG (Hollyhock God) sit down +before the game and figure out what's in bounds and what's out of bounds. + +Besides, think how many RPG horror stories this kind of thing avoids. + +Playtesters rightly pointed out that most of the rules interpretations +in the section on rules interpretation could have gone into the rules +themselves. I'm still not sure whether I was right to leave things as +they were. My concern was fairly straightforward: first, I integrate +these into the rules, and then I write a new section of rules +interpretations; and then I integrate /those/ into the rules, and so +forth, until I find myself with a set of rules optimized for /my/ +running the game instead of the average HG. Opinions on this are +welcome, although I'm not able to change it now. + +The section on characters represents a detailed guide to the entities of +the *Nobilis* world, a discussion of typical social relationships +therewith, and advice to the HG on building and exploiting those +relationships. This was not so much design choice as organic evolution; +as I wrote about each of those three things, I found myself wanting to +define the other two more. + +To finish up this column, I'll discuss the three remaining sections of +Ianthe's advice, all wholly *Nobilis*-specific. They cover, in order, +what Nobilis do all day, how they solve their problems, and what makes +their lives difficult. In my head, these are probably the most important +sections of the book, since they spell out so precisely how Noble lives +work. + +The Pharos edition represents early work of mine, when my tendencies +towards vagary, imprecision, and hinting rather than defining were +operating at full force. I've learned better since then, and a great +deal of the new material represents me nailing down things that might +otherwise have rattled in the wind. + +The first of these sections, on typical Noble activities, had one +primary purpose: free the players to act, rather than restricting them. +Working from this principle, I included a large subsection on the +personal projects of the Nobilis---their extracurricular activities, as +it were---and made an effort to make these as extreme and varied as +possible. Examples of this sort of project include freeing the souls in +Hell or sleeping with every man, woman, or adult human in general before +they die. + +I stretched this idea a little bit with subsections on more dutiful +projects that nevertheless had a unique and personal character. One of +these subsections, for example, included a depiction of the Power of +Chaos' typical activities in service to the Chaos in his soul, which +include sowing disaster and trouble throughout the world, gambling, and +studying mathematics and quantum theory. There were discussions of +relatively standard activities as well. + +The second of these sections discussed how Nobles solve their problems. +This represents, in essence, a guide to playing either a PC or an NPC in +the *Nobilis* world. This sought to preserve two game conventions: +first, the notion that characters don't arbitrarily fail, and second, +the idea that violence is fairly rare. + +To protect the first, I highlighted the ease with which the characters +can use casually excessive force---not just violence, but also extreme +mental, social, and miraculous solutions---against problems in the +mortal world. + +To preserve the second idea, I then spent time building mechanisms by +which the Nobilis could manipulate or oppose one another without +engaging in all-out miraculous combat. (It honestly is supposed to be +rare, despite the Example of Play---it's just something that I had to +cover there.) + +Finally, the third of these sections discusses the opposition---the ways +the Hollyhock God can deal with the high power level and flexible +abilities of the player characters. This section was fairly +straightforward; my only purpose was to create obstacles that would +remain fun for the players rather than frustrate them. + +R. Sean + + + What do you think? + +Go to forum! + Go to Top | New Topic + | View Threads + | Search + + + Topics Author Date Latest Reply + James and the Small Caps + (2) new Kibo +08-20-2002 16:29 02-10-2003 01:23 new + Art (1) new Lxndr +04-26-2002 07:36 04-26-2002 07:36 new + The Original Nobilis Club + (3) new Bret Gillan +04-17-2002 11:28 03-17-2003 17:48 new + Questions & Thoughts + (3) new Pyske +03-20-2002 18:31 05-01-2003 13:03 new + Noble Buddhism? + (9) new Tlaloc +03-20-2002 12:17 12-10-2004 01:20 new + Noble Suicide (9) new +Eric Christian Berg 03-20-2002 07:43 01-18-2005 16:27 new + Art Notes (4) new R. +Sean Borgstrom 03-14-2002 16:31 03-21-2002 03:44 new + Ack...you just lost my sale + (10) new SteveD +03-14-2002 04:06 03-15-2002 06:29 new + Onomastikon working URL + (4) new Jorge +Hernández 03-06-2002 12:51 08-20-2002 16:10 new + Why do angels change names ? + (10) new philippe +tromeur 03-06-2002 10:13 12-10-2004 01:34 new + R. Sean, some examples? + (3) new Arref +03-05-2002 08:17 03-13-2002 20:28 new + Sounds great, BUT... + (2) new Kane +02-27-2002 16:43 02-27-2002 17:30 new + Sort of backwards? + (8) new Eric Finley +02-20-2002 14:25 02-28-2002 09:35 new + Programmer nature slips out! + (2) new Sean +McCarthy 02-20-2002 13:18 02-21-2002 10:30 new + Object Lesson Damage + (1) new Darren +Miguez 02-13-2002 12:45 02-13-2002 12:45 new + How about this? + (2) new Kristian +Lund 02-13-2002 11:30 02-14-2002 01:17 new + Now, this was strange! + (7) new access.denied +02-13-2002 07:44 02-16-2002 21:44 new + Briefs on the other two? + (5) new Eric Finley +01-31-2002 18:39 02-13-2002 10:36 new + Forum now works (1) new +Sandy Antunes 01-31-2002 17:36 01-31-2002 17:36 new + limited series (2) new +Sandy Antunes 01-21-2002 17:41 01-31-2002 17:36 new + + Go to Top | New Topic + | View Threads + | Search + + + Newer Messages + | Older Messages + + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + * Editing, Development, and Production + + March 27, 2002 + * Affiliations + March 20, 2002 + * How to be a Hollyhock God + March 13, 2002 + * Naming Conventions + March 6, 2002 + * Art Notes + February 27, 2002 + * Dynamic Nobilis + February 20, 2002 + * Systems Change + February 13, 2002 + * Treachery + February 6, 2002 + * The Emperor to Come + January 31, 2002 + * The Changing of the Guard + January 21, 2002 + + + Other columns at RPGnet + +[ Read FAQ | Subscribe to RSS + | Contact Us | +Advertise with Us ] + +Copyright © 1996-2006 RPGnet & individual authors, All Rights Reserved +RPGnet® is a registered trademark of Skotos Tech Inc., all rights reserved. +