diff -r 3164c82ac16e -r bdef1afd1170 draft/wind31jan02.txt --- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/draft/wind31jan02.txt Wed Aug 30 21:32:44 2006 -0400 @@ -0,0 +1,269 @@ +RPGnet + + + + Reviews Forums +News & Press Columns & +Info RPG Wiki + RPG Shop + + + + Wind in the Flowers: Re-inventing a Game + + + The Emperor to Come + +*R. Sean Borgstrom* +January 31, 2002 + + +Much of the *Nobilis* setting draws its passion and temper from the +character of Lord Entropy, the anointed ruler of the material Earth. +Callous, oppressive, and indisputably malevolent, he has created a +government and code of law that reflects his own nature. He sanctions +sevenfold vengeance, extends the protections of his law to the enemies +of all Creation, and forbids the Nobilis love. He embodies the concepts +of Destruction, Desecration, and Scorn. Because of his existence, these +things afflict the Earth. + +*Nobilis* pursues a value-neutral approach towards such entities as Lord +Entropy. Destruction, Desecration, and Scorn are ugly things, but also a +part of the natural order of Creation. For player characters, loyal in +some sense to the universe, Lord Entropy is not the enemy -- he is a +cruel lord, but not an inadequate one. He makes a fine villain for +characters who simply /must/ foment rebellion -- but in most games, he +is not a villain at all. Rather, he represents an unpleasant part of the +order of things. He is a natural force that one cooperates with or works +around. + +*Nobilis* is not a horror game. I've always intended that it be a game +of wonder and horror, balancing the ugly elements of the setting with +beauty. Getting strong reactions out of players -- terror in a horror +game, fascination in a game of mystery or conspiracy, romantic fantasy +in a romance, the spiritual experience in a religious game -- depends +entirely on the person running the game. /I/ can't directly put wonder +and horror into *Nobilis*. Instead, I must produce a toolkit that the +player group can use to evoke those reactions. That's one of the central +purposes of both mechanics and setting. + +In this respect, placing Lord Entropy alone at the pinnacle of Earthly +power was a mistake. You can use him easily to invoke a sense of horror, +but he just won't take the players' breath away with the beauty, wonder, +and scope of his nature. He is a single point of darkness in a key area +of the setting, with no brightness to mitigate it. At the same time, I +found his place in the world a very useful tool during game design. + +For example, Lord Entropy's code of law forbids love. (Specifically, to +the Nobilis -- half-divine beings and the default character type.) This +isn't a physical law, nor is Lord Entropy omnipotent. Characters can +break the law, and can even get away with it. At the same time, Lord +Entropy is powerful and cunning, providing powerful incentive to follow +his code. This combination of traits gives much more significance to the +decision to love. Every time one of the Nobilis gives their heart, even +in relative secrecy and safety, it forms the core of a powerful and +dynamic story. Weakening Lord Entropy's power base weakens that story. + +Similarly, because Lord Entropy extends the protection of his law to the +enemies of Creation -- the Excrucians -- launching a preemptive strike +against that enemy takes on new significance. Instead of a tactical +decision, the choice whether to gather evidence against the enemy or +attack prematurely becomes a real, meaningful choice. + +In the Hogshead edition, therefore, I set out to create a thematic +balance for Lord Entropy in the topmost levels of Earth's power +structure -- without balancing his temporal power. The first edition +offered a useful tool: the "Council of Four," an august governing body +to which Lord Entropy belonged. The combined decision of the three other +members could thwart him -- although this didn't happen very often. + +The new edition introduces the character of *Ananda*, who sits on the +Council of Four. He shines with a terrible glory. Humans and the weaker +Nobilis cannot enter his presence lest his countenance drive them mad +with joy. The world sings in his presence. Grass and trees become +crystal instruments. Concrete buildings clamor out hard-edged refrains. +Birds pour out symphony after symphony, until their hearts burst from +the strain. + +Some of you may wonder why we would choose such a stark and hostile form +of beauty for a character intended to balance out a monster. In fact, in +his original conception, Ananda had a kind beauty, a tame beauty, a +loveliness to put one in mind of rainbows and waterfalls. From the +perspective of /my/ injecting beauty into the game, that would have +worked. As soon as the first words went onto the page, though, it became +clear that, as part of a toolkit for creating wonder, that idea didn't +work at all. + +The members of the Council of Four, I discovered, need stark detail and +absolute magnificence. Anything less would less would compromise the +feel of the game. *Nobilis* postulates that many of the /player +characters/ have personal presence exceeding that of Napoleon or +Elizabeth I. Ananda stands several steps higher on the ladder of +authority. Further, members of the Council of Four must play a small +role in the game. (Why overshadow the player characters?) Since Ananda +should rarely appear "on screen," the person running the game has very +little time to make an impact with him. Thus, his beauty strikes like a +thunderbolt; it does not drift to the senses in gentle waves. + +Ananda is a creature of conscience. In this, he is unique on the Council +of Four. (When creating Ananda, I did not know this for sure -- but, in +response to a playtester request, we've added a short box describing the +other two members. Now, I know.) He represents a court of last resort -- +a final hope for Nobilis desperate for justice or succor. He is a +benevolent administrator who might take action in a worthy character's +name. + +So that Ananda does not become a panacea, an escape from all the terrors +of the setting, we limited his authority. Ananda knows of an +"unacceptable" horror that will come to pass if he casts his vote +directly against Lord Entropy's in Council. His greatest protest against +Entropy's actions is an abstention. Ananda must abstain, and the other +two members of the Council vote against Lord Entropy, for the Council to +overrule Lord Entropy's decisions. Ananda remains one of the four +Imperators directly charged with governance over the Nobilis and the +mortal world, but his inability to vote his conscience limits his power +base. + +Ananda, like the other members of the Council of Four, is an Imperator +-- a great spirit, the essence of several fundamental concepts of the +world, served by several of the Nobilis. He embodies the concepts of +Murder, the Infinite, and the Fourth Age. The Fourth Age immediately +follows the current era; when the very nature of the world next changes, +Ananda's essence will pervade reality. For this reason, many call him +the Emperor to Come. + +*Nobilis* does not insist on an explanation for the groups of concepts +that the Imperators embody. However, one might reasonably believe that +Ananda is the essence of murder because the Excrucians seek to murder +Creation -- the Third Age, the current Age, /could/ end with the death +of all worlds. Similarly, the Third Age could end with the Excrucians' +utter defeat. The universe could then, in theory, endure indefinitely; +this would explain why he embodies the essence of the Infinite. + +Since *Nobilis* detailed Lord Entropy's home -- his "Chancel," a pocket +reality he created -- the new edition also describes Ananda's Chancel. +This is the Cityback, a vast world hidden behind modern cities. The +Cityback is home to wild flora, fauna, and urbana (living elements of +urban life, such as scavenger shopping carts), as well as Ananda's +"ombudsmen." These ombudsmen help the modern world function. For +example, Ananda's ombudsmen protect and facilitate the mysterious +process by which cows become packages of plastic-covered meat at +supermarkets across the world. + +The Council of Four remains a dark and oppressive institution. Ananda's +addition to the world does not change this. Still, by taking his place +on the Council, by building the Cityback, and by being Ananda, he brings +hope to the world. + + +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. +