Introduction
OK, since nothing else has gotten off the ground, I thought I'd at least start something here.
Nobilis 2e had an excellent Example of Play. Nobilis 3e lacks even a rudimentary one, so far, and that lack is felt keenly by players around the world. So let's make our own.
Now, the best Example of Play would of course be a whole campaign, with plenty of action, a consistent story, likable characters, good jokes, HG musings on game decisions, and while we're at it, cool nanofiction in the margins.
This is unlikely to happen.
But we can make something.
"Just cross your fingers and hope for wiki magic…"
-Elaborate, on starting this page
"Dooooooomed…"
-mumbled by Elaborate, a few seconds afterwards.
"Well I guess a wiki page doesn't necessarily require several people…"
-Elaborate, after checking back on the page after a few months.
So, you know, since you're here, why not put in a couple of paragraphs?
A Nobilis anecdote, a character donated for the cause, a hypothetical situation you're wondering about, a link to another discussion on this theme…
…It'll all work out in editing, hopefully.
Links
Prior Discussions
Inspiration
Nobilis 2e Example of Play
His Last Miracle - a 3e Campaign
Mean Everything To Nothing - a 3e Campaign (ongoing!)
Rules Explanations
- Nobilis.me: Mortal Rules, including cool and detailed example
- Nobilis.me: Index of Articles and rule-explanations
- rpg.net: Examples at Each Miracle Level, Starting with Treasure
- 20by20room: The Grand Unifying Narrative
- 20by20room:Treasure
References
To-do
- Write To-do List
Characters
Requirements
For maximum flexibility, the main story - if we get one together - should feature characters covering the range from mortal to immortal, and between them, at least a 3 in every Attribute.
Donated Characters
Do what you'd like with this sample familia:
- Seth Dexter, Power of Gizmos - mad scientist, business manager, machine boogeyman.
- Reagan Connors, Power of Plastic - layabout, urban magician, miraculous wrestler.
- Rufus Illborn, Power of Dolls - rune-bestrewn mystery, psycho killer mime, prettyboy cosplayer.
- Nathanael Icarius Tennemore, Power of Pollution - cyborg gun aficionado, spirit traveler, suave diplomat.
Familia Used in Example Below
*Vivian Manifold, Power of Imagination - an smooth-tongued artist who pulls objects out of thin air.
*Ramona of the Silent Eye, Power of Individuality - an impertinent shape-shifter, and dispenser of awesomeness.
*Evelyn Absent-mourning, Power of Cooperation - An insubstantial spirit with a charitable outlook on life.
*Theodore Wainsmith, Power of Teddybears - A rough-hewn lumberjack turned defender of the innocent.
Stand-alone Examples
Seeing Ananda
On resisting Afflictions
HG: As you stand before Ananda, his extreme beauty hits you like a tidal wave, trying to erode your sanity.
HG: (Reflexive miracle, Treasure 5, from his affliction, "My beauty drives you mad with joy".)
HG: Ananda: "Please, be welcome and sit down."
Ted: OOC: My Peregrine Tooth Necklace doesn't help any, right?
HG: Nope, not enough Strike.
Ted: OOC: And it'd take too many MP too boost it up…
Ted: *Activates his Auctoritas Magister, using 1 DMP.*
Ted: "My lord Ananda." *Bows*
Evelyn: OOC: Drat, I can't do that; no Persona. Let me think a bit.
Evelyn: OOC: OK, if Ted loans me his necklace, I can augment its Strike with my "Bond [3]: Hates to be changed by others". Then if I spend an additional MP, that brings it up to 5 in case it's a 5-point Affliction -
HG: While the necklace is transferable, if anyone spends MP:s to improve its effect, it should be Ted. It's his foci, after all.
Evelyn: Well, I'll hope for a 4-point affliction, then. If I can borrow the Peregrin Teeth Necklace, Ted?
Ted: OOC: Sure.
HG: You try the necklace, but no - it seems to be a 5-point Auctoritas that's protecting the miracle.
Evelyn: OOC: Drat. Flurry!
Evelyn: OOC: So then I'll have to use 2 MP to summon enough Strike… Woe is me!
Ted: OOC: 2 MP is not all that much, you know.
Evelyn: OOC: It's the principle of the thing!
Evelyn: OOC: Um, but maybe Ted's "Affliction: I protect innocents around me" could kick in?
HG: I might allow that.
Ted: OOC: Do you technically count as "innocent", though?
HG: Oooh, is it philosophy time again?
Ramona: OOC: OR, you could just step within the range of Ted's Auctoritas.
Evelyn: OOC: …yes, I do that.
HG: Drat.
Evelyn: *drifting closer to Ted* "Good Eventide to you, Imperator."
Evelyn: Yep, my first Project will be getting some Persona.
Evelyn: Auctoritas is just sooo useful.
-Evelyn, on future Character developement.
Ramona: OOC: Cuddly as the Tedster is, I'll manage on my own.
Ramona: OOC: Check this - I'm using my Secondary Domain: Self to do a lesser destruction on my own capacity to comprehend beauty.
HG: Wait, how does that help? His affliction can just respond with a Lesser Creation of Capacity to Comprehend Beauty.
HG: I suppose if you maintain the destruction, and the Affliction constantly renews it, it won't get around to actually driving you insane…
HG: But that'll take up one of your two actions.
Ramona: Ah, but I'm making it a serious wound: Affliction [1]: Unable to comprehend beauty.
HG: …Yeah, that'll work. And since you're wounding yourself, I'll allow you to dictate your own wound.
Ramona: "Pleased to meetcha, Ymera."
Vivian: OOC: I'm Immortal. What would this do to me?
HG: Let's see… Per default, a Surface Wound.
Vivian: OOC: Which goes away in a minute, right? I'll take it.
HG: Right - Since it's a pretty strong miracle, it gives you "Bond [3]: Mad with Joy."
Vivian: OOC: Cool.
Vivian: *In a madness-inspired fugue, Vivian whips up a small easel and canvas, and starts making a miniature painting of Ananda.*
Vivian: *Distracted* "Thank you for seeing us, your Imperator…ship…ness."
Ramona: Yep, I've got 5 whole points in Secondary Domain: Self - or if you want to be picky, Secondary Domain: Ramona of the Silent Eye. It's awesome - I can fly, emulate Durant or Immortal, and teleport myself anywhere I can establish a mystic link.
Ramona: Domain can't transform things, though - I got the idea back in 2nd Edition, where it totally could do that - so I got 3 points' worth of Shapeshifter.
Ramona: Hmm, I need to figure out a use for having absolute control over my own Destiny…
-Ramona, on her Secondary Domain.
Vivian: Immortality is awesome.
Vivian: That's really all there is to say on the matter.
-Vivian, on being Immortal
Roland (HG): I'll have to consider this, but my preliminary judgement is this: If the Madness-Inducing Portait is an Anchor, it's a part of Vivian, and it stays unobtrusively in the background until Vivian needs it. Otherwise - assuming Ananda's beauty is portrayed correctly, which at intention 8 it should be - it's a part of Ananda's story, and it has a 5-point Affliction driving miracles to make people mad. Such as Weaving Destiny to make people likely to search Vivian's pockets…
Roland (HG): If it starts causing serious trouble, I'm giving Ananda extra MP.
-HG's private musings.
HG: So are you going to Anchor that mini-portrait, or what?
Vivian: OOC: I figure that if I anchor it, I'll have to use Treasure to use it, right? But if it's simply a mundane painting, I can sort of mooch off of Ananda's Affliction. It's like Medusa's head, only I can carry it in my pocket.
Vivian: *Uses mundane action, spending 4 Will, using my Passion: My Art shall pierce the Heavens! 4. And using my newly acquired Bond, if there's an obstacle.*
Ramona: OOC: Can he do that?
HG: …He can try.
*There is much talkery.*
HG: As Vivian puts the finished portrait in his pocket, Imperator Ananda gives him a Look, the kind of look Princess Celestia might spare for a young pony doing something decidedly unwise - but he says nothing.
Ramona: Ooooh, I think someone's going to learn a valuable lesson on friendship and individual responsibility…
Vivian: Ugh, as if we don't get enough of that back home in the Chancel.
HG: Vivian's surface wound fades as you leave the room. Ramona, your Serious Wound is set to last a week or so, unless you want to hurry the healing along.
Ramona: OOC: Nah. I could, but it's a pretty specific wound.
I mean, what are the odds…?
Ted: OOC: I'd say the odds just rose considerably.
HG: Heh. Heh. Heh.
Roland (HG): Afflictions are pretty much made of story. LITERALLY.
I always consider them as inspiration, if nothing else, when I'm planning Scenes or NPC:s. "Can I make this one likely to be relevant? No, how about this one?"
-HG's private musings.
Altercation
Roland (HG): I personally like my NPC Imperators to have Estates that are conceptually connected. I make Noble character sheets for fun, and I have a lot of them, in various stages of completion, so it's no big deal grabbing up some related concepts and filling them out.
Roland (HG): I had to tweak a bit to make them a decent group of semi-antagonists, though.
-HG's private musings.
(The PC:s are having a brawl with a rival Familia -
Griff Wesson, dashing and heroic Power of Hammers,
Duke of Winchester (The Title, not the actual physical Duke), the Power of Rockets,
Lionel Skyborne, charismatic Power of Thunder,
Skade Blood-in-Snow, Jotun Power of Shock)
Round One
HG: Ted, Hammers is inbound to you, prepared for grappling.
Ted: I meet him with 2 AMP - Aspect 6 - and my Amazing Feats of Strength bond.
HG: And your intention?
Ted: "Fling the twerp into orbit".
HG: Hmmm…
- Aspect 4 "Grapple with the guy" + [2] Bond: "Wrestling is fun!" meets Aspect 6 "Fling the twerp into orbit" + [5] Bond: "My feats of Strength are Amazing!"
- After the Bonds whittle down their opposing miracles, it stands as Aspect 0 vs Aspect 4 -> Ted wins
- But Biff isn't happy being flung into orbit. He flurries.
- Hammers shifts to the [4] Bond: "Heroic and Dashing", and spends 2 AMP on "Grab hold of Ted and don't let go."
- He still loses to Ted, but…
Roland (HG): With Ted trying to leverage that 5-point bond of his for maximum advantage - and with me encouraging it by a bonus MP here and there when he goes over-the-top - combat involving him tends to get epic in a BIG way.
Roland (HG): Which is just how I like it.
Roland (HG): At one memorable occasion, he grabbed the road they were standing on and cracked it like a whip.
Roland (HG): It was pretty awesome.
-HG's private musings.
HG: You fling Griff to the heavens with a mighty heave. HOWEVER…
HG: He grabs hold of your arm at the last millisecond, pulling you along with him.
Ted: OOC: Hmmm… OK, I'll accept that.
HG: Oh, and flinging yourself into orbit with your opponent is an amazing enough Feat of Strength that I'm awarding
you a bonus MP.
Ted: OOC: Nice :)
HG: The kinetic energy from launching a quarter-ton of tussling beefcake into orbit cracks the asphalt like an eggshell and sends a shock-wave towards the rest of you.
HG: To clarify: a mundane hazard.
- Rockets is technically not present, but it wants to protect its Anchor, a squishy human. A screen made of Lesser-Protected rockets makes a surprisingly good shelter.
- Shock has Durant, and shrugs off the rain of stones.
- Thunder prudently steps behind Shock with a mundane action.
HG: How are you guys dealing?
Vivian: OOC: Immortal reporting in.
Evelyn: OOC: Non-corporeal Spirit here.
Ramona: OOC: Um.
Ramona: OOC: Hey, I have full-ranged shape-shifting.
Ramona: OOC: Would growing armor plating be enough to keep the damage down?
HG: If it's heavy enough, sure.
Ramona: *As the dust blows over, Ramona, reflexively armor-plated,
looks down at herself *
Ramona: "Shit, I paid top dollar for these rags!"
Ramona: "Everyone knows pre-torn holes are better than the real stuff" >:(
Ramona: OOC: I can take a surface wound of "Pissed about my ruined clothes", right?
HG: Yeah, sure.
HG: Ramona is largely unhurt, and receives [1] Bond: "Pissed about my ruined clothes".
HG: Vivian and Evelyn both are totally unaffected.
HG: Miraculously (literally), the innocent bystanders manage with
a few cuts and scrapes.
Ted: OOC: Innocent-protecting Affliction FTW!
Roland (HG): Properly, the force of that kind of launch-off should be something like a small nuke going off. Aspect 6 is all about super-strength interacting with a realistic world.
Roland (HG): Ted's [2] Affliction: I protect innocents around me, has something to say about that, though.
Roland (HG): I'm counting it as the ground below getting the benefit of Durant.
-HG's private musings.
Ramona: Every little bit helps…
Ramona: See, I don't actually have much in the way of combat-worthy Bonds, so if I want some cheap Strike in a conflict, I'll have to go the "No Pain, no Gain" route.
-Ramona, on begging for Surface Wounds.
HG: I'll skip forward a tick unless you disapprove - just separating the Ted/Griff fight from what the rest of you are doing, so they don't get caught up in whatever pyrotechnics you decide to fling around.
HG: Say that the high-aspect actions were blindingly fast, over in a second.
Evelyn: OOC: sure
Ramona: OOC: ya, okay
HG: Anyway, Rockets waves his hand - well, its Anchor's hand - creating and launching an rather large missile towards the three of you.
Vivian: OOC: Still Immortal.
Evelyn: OOC: Still Non-corporeal.
Ramona: OOC: Hm.
Ramona: "I'll handle this one!"
Ramona: OOC: Right, how about this:
Ramona: OOC: I'll use my shapeshifting to add rockets to my feet, and launch myself through the air towards Rockets with the intent to attack, while using my 'Infectious Personality' Gift to transform the missile into a likewise rocket-footed metallic Ramona. 2MP.
Ramona: OOC: And I'll High-five the missile me as I go past.
HG: Um.
HG: You're using a miraculous action on the gift.
HG: So that means a mundane action for the rest of it - the max you can initiate is one mundane plus one miraculous action in a turn.
HG: And the obstacle for high-fiving a high-speed missile…
HG: Any relevant skills or passions?
Ramona: OOC: Er, "Passion:I make the world less boring!" 3?
Ramona: OOC: OK, Improvised combat 1. Spending 4 Will all in one go on "beat up this tool while looking totally rad".
Ramona: OOC: Plus, I've got my "Me, Myself and I"-bond.
HG: That'll work.
HG: As for the high-five part… ah, right, okay.
HG: I'm ruling that your "I'm Awesome" Affliction covers that with a reflexive Aspect 3 Miracle.
Ramona: OOC: Yay!
HG: Ramona vaults over the rocket barrier intent on kicking ass.
HG: Rockets breathes in, and seems more "there", more present. There's a glow like rocket exhaust around his Anchor's body as he dodges the assault with a flourish.
HG: Oh, yeah, and your Enchantment of the missile is retroactively threatened.
Ramona: OOC: Oh he did not just start a Mantle-off with a Regal.
Ramona: OOC: The gloves are off: I'm spending 2 AMP and 3 TMP for a whopping 5-point retroactive Divine Mantle.
Ramona: OOC: Wait, do I have to spend the MP for using the Gift again?
HG: No, it's cool, it's an action of its own.
Vivian: OOC: (Out of curiosity, what does the special FX of Individuality's Divine Mantle look like, anyway?)
HG: (Hmmm… I'll have to go with 4th of July firework sparkles, each effect distinct from the ones before.)
Roland(HG): Ted's fight looks to be cool enough, and this reduces the complexity of the Flurry a bit…
-HG's musings
Vivian: OOC: (How does that Anchor thing work, again? Does Rockets have to maintain a Treasure miracle?)
HG: (No, he just does the Treasure miracle to start with, and then the effect maintains itself for a scene or until he ends it. He still has his actions free in the loaned body.)
-Rule clarification.
Ramona: I wanted Secondary Persona: Self to go with my Secondary Domain: Self, but that would have cost me at least four points.
Ramona: What I wanted most use of was Enchantment Miracles, so I made a gift for it. Full-use, so I can inflict the Properties of Ramona on things - well, as soon as I come up with some cool Properties, that is.
-Ramona, on her "Infectious Personality Gift.
Ramona: I don't have Aspect, but I thought of buying points in Cool, because, y'know, of the Coolness.
Ramona: Then I realized that between the Affliction:Awesome, and the non-stacking Edge I can get from Divine Mantle, it would be kind of redundant.
Ramona: With the points I saved, maybe I should've put more in combat skills though?
Ramona: Nah. It's better storywise if I gradually improve from a zany psychology major to an unstoppable shapeshifting juggernaut…
-Ramona, on Coolness, and the having thereof.
- Ramona's Intention of "beat up this tool while looking totally rad", level 5, meets Winchester's Intention, "Avoid bodily harm to my Anchor", fueled by the Passion "Aristocrats are better than you" 3, the [2] Bond: I work through the bodies of the heirs to Winchester (which is at risk), and a +3 Miraculous Will Bonus, for working through the Anchor.
- This sums up as Ramona: 5, Rockets: 8
- Ramona has Edge 5 from the Divine Mantle. Rockets has 2 Edge.
- This balances out as Ramona: 3, Rockets: 3: a tie (Not accidentally: Rockets started at Divine Mantle 2 - since he had 1 Edge already from the Treasure 2 miracle - and would have flurried, adding more Divine Mantle one point at a time, until his Intention succeeded or he reached his maximum of 4)
- Ramona looks totally rad beating on Rockets' Anchor, Nigel, but inflicts no bodily harm doing so.
- Meanwhile, Ramona's Enchantment (lvl 5 + 5 Miraculous Edge) still wins over Rockets' Level 4 miracle with 2 Miraculous Edge, resolving as 3 (lvl 5 - 2 edge) vs 0 (lvl 4 - 5 edge).
HG: The two of you look Totally Rad, sparring with fists and boots like in an action movie of the less-believable kind.
HG: Up next: Thunder. *
HG: Thunder targets Ramona and Evelyn. He smiles and says "ladies, all this violence - SOOO unseemly. Why don't you and I talk about this over a few glasses of wine?"
HG: And he activates his Glorious gift, making himself absolutely fascinating.
HG: Level 7 miracle.
Ramona: OOC: Are my actions sufficiently awesome for my Affliction: "Awesome!" to protect them - and me?
HG: I'm going to say yes - but he's got enough strike to go through the Auctoritas.
Ramona: OOC: Hmm, I've got 5 Miraculous Edge, with the Divine Mantle up…
HG: That still only decreases his miracle to level 2, while the Affliction's Lesser Preservation is decreased to zero by his Strike.
Ramona: OOC: *pouts* I don't rate a Greater Protection?
HG: If you had Affliction level 4 instead of 3, I'd consider it. *
Ramona: OOC: OK, so he's reduced to level 2. If I decrease his to zero as well, it's a stand-off, right? So, 2 MP on Strike, then?
HG: *Ahem*, Strike and Miraculous Edge is not cumulative. The highest applicable rating is used.
Ramona: OOC: Oh, poo. You mean I'll have to spend, what, 7 MP on Strike, just to get him off my back without dropping my actions? I'd rather take a wound.
Vivian: OOC: Not while *I* am around! Here's where I come in to save the day!
Vivian: "I'll keep this clown busy!" *
Vivian: *creates 100 ton lead weight above Thunder*
HG: Thunder's Flight gift yanks him away just in time. (Automatically; the Glorious gift is still active)
Vivian: OOC: Damn. Changing my action: let's see him dodge some friggin' laserbeams, then! *Pew Pew*!
HG: He uses his Flight gift in conjunction with his "You can't hit me!" Bond - and what looks like his Skill:rockstar - to pull off some truly wicked moves, dodging the laser beams while looking all-around awesome.
Vivian: asdfggghjkl
Ramona: OOC: This looks like it's going to be a loooong Flurry…
Vivian: OOC: Right, switching tacks, Enchantment of Imagination. His head exists only in our imagination. Clearly he forgot to put it on this morning!
Vivian: OOC: Targeting automatically successful! Take that, Mr. Rockstar!
HG: Thunder finally drops his Gloriousness, to defend.
HG: He does an Enchantment of Thunder on himself (meeting your Enchantment straight on), turning himself into a Storm-dragon, a serpent-like thing of clouds and lightning.
Ramona: OOC: Wait, wouldn't the balance of the two be a storm-dragon with an imaginary head?
HG: Well, maybe - if he didn't have a point of Strike.
HG: [1]Bond: Thunder Rules!
Vivian: Man, I hate that guy.
HG: He attacks you (wielding the Persona Miracle with a mundane action)
Vivian: OOC: Wait, does he even have a relevant skill for that?
Vivian: OOC: IIRC he's pretty focused on his whole "perfect boyfriend" skillset.
HG: He… MAY be spending some Will on it.
Vivian: OOC: HAH!
Vivian: OOC: He was the first to actually spend resources! I win!
Ted: OOC: For a definition of winning which includes a furious lightning-breathing dragon bearing down on you.
Vivian: OOC: Oh pshht, I'm Immortal. And beyond.
HG: Dragon!Lionel attempts to take a huge bite out of Vivian, but is confused to find himself with a mouthful of icecream.
HG: To be specific, bicycle-and-shower-curtain flavoured ice cream. With boysenberry ripples.
Ted: OOC: I guess somewhere, ALL the possible flavours of ice-cream must exist…
HG: Vivian remains unharmed.
Vivian: *spends a mundane action inspecting his nails, throughout this event*
Vivian: OOC: Lionel is beneath my notice, you know.
Ramona: Oooh, burn.
HG: Mmmm, well, you'd better get to Intention 3 for your "inspecting your nails"-action to be suitably impressive and condescending.
Vivian: OOC: Oh.
Vivian: OOC: Well, OK. After all, he spent Will first, y'know. I'll use up 4.
Vivian: OOC: If I consider the entire thing a performance, a work of art, can I use my "artistic genius" Bond?
HG: Hm.
HG: Yeah, I'll let it slide this time, because snooty condescension is in line with your whole "artiste" vibe. But you'd better not try to use that reasoning for your every action from now on, you hear?
Vivian: OOC: Perish the thought.
Roland(HG): In hindsight, maybe it'd be better if I first mentioned briefly what each of the opponents did - it happened at the same time, after all - and then went on to Thunder first, since his action was set to affect several people.
Roland(HG): I think I'll try it that way, next time.
Roland(HG): Affliction-generated miracles can be pretty much any level the HG wants, though the guideline is [Affliction level + 1]. How to determine the level? I do it pretty much by feel. The higher level an Affliction is, the more impact it should have on the player's story. If an Affliction hasn't been used for a while, I'm more permissive with higher-level miracles, to compensate.
Roland(HG): Ramona's Affliction:"Awesome!" is something that gets used fairly often - it needs no extra level boost to be a factor. Her Affliction:"I'm always full of vim and vigor!" hasn't been used for several sessions, though. I should try to get it in there, somehow…
Vivian: The best defense is a good offense.
-Vivian, on defense
Vivian: Wait, scratch that.
Vivian: The best defense is still Immortality
-Vivian, further thoughts on defense
Roland(HG): Compared to Ted, Vivian's fights are more "Looney Tunes meets Salvador Dali". His preferred tactic is to sit safe in his Immortality and pester his enemies with a plethora of free Level 4 miracles.
Roland(HG): He's got a lot of those, too.
-HG's musings
Roland(HG): Lionel, power of Thunder, is sort of Vivian's counterpart. He's slender, charismatic, a bit of an arrogant trickster…
Roland(HG): …actually successful with the ladies…
Roland(HG): With the [4] Bond: God's Gift to Womankind, he better be, anyway.
-HG's musings
Vivian: The others claim that stacking a 5-point Affliction preserving my status as a living portal boundary ON TOP of my Active Immortality is a waste of bondfliction points.
Vivian: A miracle with 5 strike, so they say, will pierce both protections at the same time, making one of them redundant.
Vivian: Well, who's laughing now?
-Vivian, final thoughts on defense
Roland(HG): While Vivian cheerfully abuses a 6-point gift and Persona 4, Lionel has Persona 5 and similarly abuses his three minor Gifts (Glorious, Flight, Animation of Electricity) - and his affliction: Uncanny Luck.
Roland(HG): Overall, his personality resembles Vivian's a great deal.
Roland(HG): I was gratified when they met and it was hate on first sight.
-HG's musings
HG: Skade, Power of Shock, rolls her eyes in a way that says, 'boys will be boys', and demonstratively leans back toward a nearby wall, apparently waiting for Evelyn to make a move.
Evelyn: OOC: Hm, as long as she doesn't do anything… I'll probably sit this one out, too.
Evelyn: OOC: But since people might get hurt…
Evelyn: *takes a wound to temporarily anchor the town itself, and do a Treasure 6 miracle of "noone gets seriously hurt or Dementia:d in this scuffle", 1 TMP*
HG: OK, let's say you get a Surface Wound - [1] Bond: "I care for innocent bystanders".
HG: Skade purses her lips in mild disapproval - your miracle, after all, lessens the chances of people being Shocked.
HG: She lets it pass, though, and does nothing.
Evelyn: *smiles apologetically*
Roland(HG): Skade is a millennia-old jaded war veteran from Jotunheim, and the only one of these semi-antagonists that are built on more than 25 CP - I gave her +2 Treasure, to a total of 4, and +1 Domain, leaving her at 1.
Roland(HG): To compensate for the extra 9 CP, she's passive unless roused, mostly looking out for the well-being of her Familia, and keeping them contributing to the Valde Bellum.
Roland(HG): Her motivation in this Scene is to not get involved unless attacked or a Deadly Wound is afflicted on a friend.
-HG's musings
Roland(HG): To summarize: Ben is grappling with Hammers while they hurtle towards Low Earth Orbit like some kind of reverse-meteor. Ramona is Kung-fu-fighting with Rockets' Anchor, Vivian is passive-aggressively taunting Thunder, who is currently a raging stormdragon - and Evelyn and Shock may start having tea and crumpets at any moment.
Vivian: OOC: Ah-yup, same old, same old.
Roland(HG): On to round two.
Round Two (IN PROGRESS)
HG: Hammers bombards Ted with a storm of hammers.
HG: Thunder activates an Auctoritas and attacks Vivian with a mundane action.
HG: Shock starts some small talk with Evelyn.
HG: As for Rockets…
HG: Ramona, you gave yourself rocket feet. Still have them?
Ramona: OOC: Well, I guess-
Ted: OOC: The rocket feet that the Power of Rockets can presumably control with a thought?
Ramona: OOC: I mean that was obviously a one-turn enchantment. Hahaha.
HG: Rockets tries to push Ramona into a wall with an Emulation.
HG: But let's start with Ted.
HG: Ted. While wrestling you - trying for a stranglehold - Hammers shouts out, and hammers of all kinds start to bombard you, beating you black and blue. ALSO, the air friction is threatening to set you on fire.
Ted: OOC: Damage?
HG: Serious wound if you resist.
Ted: OOC: And he's wrestling mundanely?
HG: Yes - and he's masterful at it as usual - if a bit showy.
HG: (Skill: Hulk Hogan 5)
Ted: OOC: I… don't think that my Bond covers normal-scale wrestling. Not really epic enough, you know. If it was an ogre, or a mountain spirit or something, then yeah. But without his aspect, he's pretty much normal.
Ted: OOC: I'll blow all my Will on "putting the hurt on this clown". Meanwhile, I'll activate my Auctoritas. 2PMP, 8 Will.
Roland(HG): I find it convenient the way you can use a person as an example of a skill. It covers an area of expertise, AND it brings along associated emotions and values. "Skill: Hulk Hogan" is more pithy than "Skill: wrestling that looks good to an audience".
-HG:s musings
Ted: I could try to use my bond whenever it´s remotely applicable, but then I'd be expected to follow it whenever it´s remotely applicable…
Ted: With great power comes great liability.
-Ted, on Bonds
- Ted's Intention of "put the hurt on this clown", with base skill: Superior Strength 2, and 8 Will for a total of 10, meets the Intention "Wrestle my way to victory", fueled by Skill: Hulk Hogan 5, the [2] Bond: Wrestling is fun, and 2 Will, for a total of 9.
- Ted is using a Superior attribute, giving him Edge equal to the skill level.
- More importantly, he has 4 Cool. The highest of the two is what counts in this situation.
- Griff, Power of Hammers, has 4 Cool.
- This balances out as Ted: 6, Hammers: 5: Ted's actions are "Very Effective, Very Productive AND Looks Damn Good". Griff's "Very Effective, Very Productive, and looks moderately professional" will take a back-seat to that outcome.
HG: Hm. Normally, that'd be enough. He's got that Affliction, though.
([5] Affliction: I can never be defeated in battle!)
Ted: OOC: Yeah, but with an auctoritas protecting my mundane actions…
HG: It'd keep his affliction from kicking in. Unless…
Ted: OOC: Unless…
HG: He were to use his [2] Bond: wrestling is fun!
Ted: OOC: Dang.
Ted: OOC: But…
Ted: OOC: As long as I don't actually defeat him, I should be able to whale on him to my heart's content, right?
HG: Right.
Ted: OOC: Also, my definition of 'hurt' includes atmospheric friction. I try to position us so he'll take the brunt of the damage.
HG: HmmmyeahOK.
HG: Your Auctoritas keeps away many of the hammers - if they're nonmiraculous inside it, Griff can't control their trajectories well enough to keep them from hitting him as well.
HG: Let's say [1]Bond:Bruised and Battered.
HG: Since you're using Griff as a heatshield, I'm downgrading the damage from that to [2]Bond: My Clothes and hair are on-Freaking-Fire!!!
HG: Griff's Affliction keeps him from burning to a crisp, but he receives a Serious Wound of [1]Affliction: My back is delicious fried bacon.
HG: On to Vivian.
Roland(HG): Having a protective Affliction isn't as straight-forward as a protective Gift.
Roland(HG): Griff's gift protects him from defeat in battle. You could feasibly argue that until his last health level goes, he's not defeated as such.
Roland(HG): Since the Affliction is a 5-point one, I'm being generous, though. I decided that everything before the second divine health level is lesser-protected and everything else greater-protected (from combat-wounds only).
Roland(HG): Of course, either protection still has a 5-point Auctoritas…
-HG:s musings
HG: Vivian, Thunder, in the form of a dragon, is activating an Auctoritas, and chomps on you again.
HG: This time, the result may be different.
Vivian: OOC: What happens specifically?
Vivian: OOC: I've got an auctorias protecting my portal-ness
Vivian: OOC: My 'Portality', if you will.
Vivian: OOC: And he's got one protecting his mundane action.
Vivian: OOC: Which wins?
HG: Default is that it all gets dropped to mundane levels.
HG: Well, as mundane as a dragon fighting an Immortal ever gets.
HG: So the portal dealy is negated
HG: And you take the damage an immortal would get from massive dragon-teeth trauma.
Vivian: OOC: So, what are we looking at damage-wise?
HG: About what you'd get from a level 6 miracle
HG: because giant razor-sharp electrified teeth in a car-compactor-strength jaw is in "kill and terribly mangle" territory.
HG: So surface or serious wound, depending on how his mundane action compares to yours.
Vivian: OOC: Not that bad.
HG: Oh, and your Armani suit will get ruined.
Vivian: OOC: What?! This injustice cannot stand!
Vivian: OOC: I can create portals with my cornucopia gift, right?
HG: Ehhhh…
HG: I'm going to say yes, BUT
Vivian: OOC: Yay
HG: You'll have to wield the gift and work at it to get a portal between two specific places.
Vivian OOC: No yay
HG: In other words, if you just create a randomized Portal, it'll be just that - random.
HG: And if you want a do-over, you'll need another intent, and probably spend some Will.
Vivian: OOC: Yeah, I'll take it.
Vivian: OOC: I create a Portal under my feet, so I can drop down somewhere random and avoid the attack. Skill: Improvise 2.
HG: Your random portal connects to about 300 meters below the surface.
HG: Into a high-pressure Aquifer.
HG: Instead of dropping down, you are launched upwards by a huge blast of water.
HG: Dragon!Thunder nips at you as you fly by, but only manages to slightly singe you.
Vivian: OOC: I resist any damage to my suit!
HG: Hmmm. Sure. Doing your utmost to absorb the energy into yourself nets you a [2]Bond: Bad case of Static Electricity.
HG: You're flying through the air with your hair in a spiky electrocuted mess around your head, but at least your suit is OK, apart from getting wet.
Vivian: (while hurtling through the air) "I MEANT to do thaaAAaaaat!!"
Roland(HG): It's worth mentioning that in normal cases, mundane damage would leave an Immortal untouched. The "mundane damage on immortals" part of the chart, as mentioned elsewhere on the site, applies for Auctoritas-protected damage.
-HG:s musings
Roland(HG): This level in the wounds chart covers BOTH surface and serious wounds; I'm thinking it won't go to serious unless the intention level reaches "very effective". Which it won't, in this case.
-HG:s musings
Roland(HG): Is Portals an Estate, or just, say, an Animation of Space? Given the space it takes in media, with video games and movies devoted to the subject, I would say the former.
Roland(HG): The MAIN question is, can I keep Vivian from abusing the hell out of this particular application of his Cornucopia gift?
-HG:s musings
Roland(HG): I mean, the Gift as a total is obviously a lost cause, but I can at least hope for variation in how he uses it…
-HG:s musings
Vivian: Obviously, I could just create a new suit in an instant with my Cornucopia Gift, but THIS suit is a genuine Armani suit, a wearable status symbol purchased at an exclusive establishment for an absurd amount of cash.
Vivian: *I* would be able to tell the difference.
Vivian: Hm, maybe I should anchor it sometime in the future, if I get more Treasure or rearrange my Bonds…
-Vivian, on the importance of a good suit.
HG: OK, now for Ramona. Rockets, acting through his anchor, is trying to slam you into a wall with overwhwelming force.
HG: Using a Level 4 Emulation of Rockets: "Rockets PUSH things" (2 PMP)
HG: His feet moving like something from a Roadrunner cartoon, he drives Ramona to crash into a wall.
Ramona: OOC: Hah! Lesser animation of Self to resist. 0MP
Ramona: OOC: With my level 5 Divine Mantle, it should be a piece of cake >:)
HG: Wellll…..
HG: No.
HG: There's an interfering Auctoritas.
Ramona: OOC: Aughhh!!! Auctoritas! My one weakness!
Ramona: OOC: Am I gonna hafta spend MPs on Strike? You're killing me, here!
Ramona: OOC: Hm.
Ramona: OOC: I could argue that while rockets have to push things, they don't have to actually MOVE them, y'know?
Ramona: OOC: After all, you can light up a firework and hold it in your hand while it's spewing flames.
HG: I do believe that statement obligates a
HG: PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:
HG: "Kids, don't do that at home. Fireworks are dangerous - if they explode while you're holding them, you could lose a hand."
Ted: "That's right, we're professionals."
Vivian: "Some of said professionals are, not to put too fine a point on it, IMMORTAL."
Evelyn: "Also, a passing Deceiver might use your unconsidered action as the basis of an attack on the Estate of Rockets, so it's just all-around irresponsible, mmkay?"
HG: Anyway, Rockets would say that a firework so held isn't a true Rocket at all, but some kind of novelty sparkler.
Ramona: OOC: Party-pooper.
Evelyn: OOC: You could simply circumvent the miracle.
Ramona: OOC: True. If I make myself into gas…
HG: Hm…That would prevent you from being pushed, which is the sticking point of the affliction.
HG: So I think the Auctoritas would resist.
HG: After all, the guy might conceivably use this miracle to push an actual gas cloud.
Ramona: OOC: Rrrrrr.
Ramona: OOC: …
Ramona: OOC: I've got it!
Ramona: OOC: As Rockets starts slamming me into the wall, I shapeshift into acidic jelly.
Ramona: OOC: He passes through me into the wall, burning his hands severely on the acid.
HG: You're splattered over a decently large area. Want to resist?
Ramona: OOC: Why? I'm jelly. Easy/peasy to reform.
Ramona: OOC: And since I've got a Miraculous action free, I'll counterattack.
Ramona: OOC: It's time to kick it up a notch and bring the fight to him!
Ramona: OOC: The Anchor acts as a mystic link to Duke, right?
HG: Right.
Ramona: OOC: Take a Greater Creation of Individuality where it hurts! 2DMP.
Ramona: OOC: I'm splitting the duchy up into three independent smaller ones. That necessitates splitting the title. Net effect: Duke is split into three, as if I'd used a sword to do it.
Ramona: OOC: I'll spend MPs for Strike if I have to.
HG: Mmyep, that WOULD be a Deadly wound.
HG: However, this is where Skade intervenes.
HG: Skade shouts "HOLD IT!" as an Aspect 7 miracle, Her mighty voice interrupts the fight, and Ramona's action in particular.
HG: Skade: "Victory goes to Locus X"
Ramona: "And…"
HG: Skade: "Locus Y" humbly accedes defeat
Ramona: "And…"
HG: Skade: "And we'll foot the restaurant bill."
Ramona: "Yay we won!"
Vivian: "Victorious, as always!"
Evelyn: "Well done, everyone!"
Ted: "…Now I have to somehow get down from the upper stratosphere."
Ramona: Shapeshifting - the Gift that keeps on giving…
-Ramona, on unlimited Shapeshifting
Ramona: Admittedly, I took Domain 5 so I could buy my mindbendingly useful Secondary Domain:Self at a similarly high level, but Individuality in itself is surprisingly useful if you give it a bit of thought.
Ramona: I can cure cancer for free; after all, cancer comes from cells casting off the yoke of conformity and striking out on their own.
Ramona: I can cause individual molecules in an object to split off, reducing pretty much anything to a cloud of rapidly expanding noble gasses.
Ramona: (My favourite application, though, is to zap the perfectly average corporate drones that I pass in the street. ZAP! Now you're getting that tattoo you always wanted. ZAP! You're into Extreme Mountainbiking AND macramé, possibly at the same time. ZAP! Your plain vanilla sex life just got some chocolate and sprinkles… )
-Ramona, on Individuality
Ramona: So she interrupts my action, eh?
Ramona: Seeing as how I've still got my Divine Mantle up, I expect that'll take quite a bundle of MPs…
HG: Um.
HG: She's got [2]Bond: "I care for my familia", and she'll spend MP for Strike.
HG: I mean, you could flurry and spend more MP on your Strike if you really want to cleave Rockets in three…
Ramona: Nah, just messin' with ya.
-Ramona, on Story Vs. Mechanics
Business as Usual (In Progress)
(Focus on in-Chancel affairs)
HG: OK, to recap, you're in the Lost Plateau, your Chancel. The Plateau, as you found out last session, rests inside a novelty snowglobe, and the snowglobe is in Evelyn's hands. Evelyn is, of course, in the Lost Plateau. I recommend you don't dwell on this.
Vivian: But if we LEAVE the Chancel by jumping over the edge, shouldn't we just arrive… in the Chancel?
Ramona: Questioning nonsense like that is why one of us is currently a penguin, and it's not the shape-changer.
HG: Yes, that's right, and Vivian is a penguin, courtesy of an Imperial Miracle.
HG(Roland): The Properties of the Chancel are:
- If someone wants to achieve a goal or remove an obstacle (beyond the scope of what can be achieved in their own home), they must embark on an Adventure. Yes, even to go buy milk.
- Adventures must contain allies, antagonists, subquests, drama and comic relief.
- All Adventures have a moral, or a lesson to be learned.
- Morals must be stated out loud, on completion of the Adventure.
- When on an Adventure, somehow no-one is ever seriously hurt. No main protagonist, that is. Redshirts and monsters beware.
- Friendship overcomes all obstacles.
-HG:s musings
HG(Roland): The Imperator:
- LightLord
- ->Idealistic
- ->Soulless
- Knows things that by right he shouldn't.
- Has all kinds of connections and backroom deals.
- "When in doubt, turn it into a bird."
- Kind of a pointy-haired boss, really. Well, pointy-eared, technically.
- Weirdly fascinated by the Fantasy genre
-HG:s musings
Ramona: You would think that Individuality and Cooperation would be different poles on the same scale, one an absence of the other. But there are differences, and in fact they are both positive qualities as befits Estates.
Ramona: As an experiment, one day Evelyn and I took a hapless mortal and blessed him with excessive amounts of BOTH Individuality AND Cooperation just to see what would happen.
Ramona: His name? Kagami Junichirou.
Ramona: ….Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
-Random fluff
Ramona: I chose the name "Ramona of the Silent Eye" because it just sounded right, y'know?
Ramona: Only, then I felt there should be some reason for the name.
Ramona: And I just so happened to have a CP over at avatar creation.
Ramona: Honestly, I'm a bit ambivalent about the Gift; it IS pretty cool, but to get it to work as I wanted it to, on a budget of one CP, I had to make it cost 2MP per use. Which means I practically never use it. So yeah.
Ramona: BUT, in your own Chancel there's a 3 MP discount, meaning EVERY Gift is free of charge. So in here, I can throw around my Eye as much as I want.
-Ramona, on the Silent Eye
Anecdotes, Micro-fics
- Short Story: Small World
- Short Story: Suspension of Disbelief
Cool Site Ideas
- How similar to the book layout can we make this article? If we use a template with CSS and Javascript, I think it might just be possible to do the whole "highlighted text with line to comment box" thing…
Subjects to cover
- Combating Afflictions - Covered (Seeing Ananda)
- Auctoritas - Covered (Altercation round 2)
- Treasure
- Anchors
- Aspect 9
- Imperial Miracles
- Motions and Bindings
- Enchantments
- Border mythic
- Chancel properties
- Chancel MP discount
- Seeing a Soul-carving Sword in action.
Campaign ideas
Stories
If nothing else, an idea would be to update the old 2e campaign.
Is the basic plot compatible?
Questions
*Is there any sort of recommendation for the Tool levels of Anchors which are also Tools?
*If you use a Binding on a mortal to give them Inherent Superiority, do they get additional points, or should the sum total of skills/passions still be 8?