Nobles Discussing Noble Things - A Nobilis Thread

[JBPuffin]

I think at some point we had a Nobilis thread, and since I keep having questions I figure I'd remake this so others can utilize it. So...Nobilis!

nobilis.me - A website with quite a bit of supporting material for Nobilis, although it may be rather elderly at this point. Since it's wikidot, though, everyone can chime in!

If anyone likes to talk about Nobilis, have at it! I'll be in my Chauncel, sparring with the Power of Sorcery using my Sword of Long Division (or the Long Sword of Division - it gets confusing).

Spoiler: Original Post for Posterity's Sake

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So I'm reading through the book, minding my own business..and then it mentions that in the Cityback,

Spoiler: Hidden Secrets

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Fire Station Sex

is canon in Cityback. I think of Family Guy's Fire Truck documentary and simultaneously am amused and utterly terrified. What, fellow Playgrounders, is this madness of a game, and how can I convince my friends to get involved?

[Yuki Akuma]

Well, in the Cityback, everything's alive. So of course everything reproduces sexually. It's apparently the default way to reproduce in that setting!

I'm unsure why you're asking what this game is if you're reading the book. The game is exactly what it looks like - a game about playing cosmically powered demigods protecting the world from being anihilated using the awesome power of Blankets, Lipton Instant Noodles, Time, Death or Cricket.

[JBPuffin]

I'm unsure why you're asking what this game is if you're reading the book. The game is exactly what it looks like - a game about playing cosmically powered demigods protecting the world from being annihilated using the awesome power of Blankets, Lipton Instant Noodles, Time, Death or Cricket.

I have no frame of reference for this - it's all exciting, but the scope is incomprehensible to me. I like it , but it's still rather out of my reach.

Speaking of grasping at things, I made a character - or at least attempted to. Did I do everything right? Anything that would make this character unplayable or comparatively too strong/weak? Primary concern is that I'm not sure if I should have any Treasures at all...

Spoiler: Meet the First of Who Knows How Many Nobles

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Name: Johann Mullerstadt
Lifepath:

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Key A: Oak (Something That Hasn’t Changed)

• Heart – My Identity: Mathematician; Reincarnated as a Pikachu (Something Weird); My world revolves around Numbers (Something You Can Point To); My Family Taught Me Well (Humble Life)
• Shadow – Crisis: Once Friends Follow Me; Horus Watches Me (Noble Acquaintance, Power of Eyes); I was once an Arithmatist (Mystery Cult; Worships with Numbers)
  
  • Question – Is my past a boon or a curse?

Key B: Lotus Flower (The Descending Angel)

• Heart – My Power: Prophet; I Always Knew I Was Special. (Legacy of Freedom); Sent to Enlighten (The Song Heaven)
  
  • Question – How am I supposed to use this power?
• Shadow – My Nature: Glorious, Set Apart; the Truth reigns supreme (On the Light Side of Things)

Estate: Numbers (Tied to Heart and Shadow of Oak)

Spoiler: Numbers

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Numbers are the basis of Physics. (3)
Numbers solve problems. (1)
Numbers only provide facts. (1)
Numbers exist everywhere. (1)
Numbers bring order. (1)

Passions and Skills:

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I desire the truth for everyone. (4)
Musician (3)
Conductive Body (3)
Loyal (2)
Dungeon Master (1)
Cool 0
Shine 0+2

Bonds/Afflictions

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Affliction: I am trapped in Pikachu form! (4)
Bond: I must choose my words carefully! (3)
Bond: I can’t incorrectly perform a math problem! (3)
Affliction: I must answer questions truthfully! (3)

Treasure

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Wondrous – A pencil that draws perfectly curves and straight lines, making geometry problems a breeze (math problem)
Mundane – A German-English dictionary (choose my words)
Mundane – A notebook filled with writings on Nobles, math problems, and whatever else strikes my fancy (choose my words)

Aspect 0, Domain 4(Physics 3), Persona 2, Treasure 0

• MP: Aspect 6, Domain 8, Persona 7, Treasure 5

Gift (3 CP): Pikachu Power! – Domain 6 Control over Lightning, Normal Miracle, Local, Striking Targets with Lightning, Base Strike 1
Wounds: 2 Divine, 1 Tough, 2 Normal
Imperator: Archangel Helio

• Angel – awesome, demanding
• Bombshell Brunette
• Loves science

Destiny – Revelation: To earn Helio’s respect, I need to give her great knowledge

• 5 Destiny - I'll give her a way to organize Excrucians by comparative power.

Numbers Domain Table:

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Difficulty Effects
0 You are aware when Numbers are in danger
1 Create an airtight proof of a known mathematical law; recite the first hundred digits of an irrational number of choice; create a halo of glowing numbers above someone
2 Recall the formulas related to a natural law; make 2+2=5, so long as the Twos consent
3 Make a law of physics stronger; make a law of calculation stronger; strengthen a variable’s identity
4 Create a field of increased gravity around someone/thing, slowing them down; reduce a bullet’s acceleration to the point where one could step out of its path; reduce the number of cells in someone/thing’s body; define a person by the amount of something with/on them (strands of hair, coins, ex-boyfriends, etc.); simplify a proof so that anyone could understand it
5 Calculate the amount of gasoline needed to burn down Brooklyn Bridge; extinguish an object’s inertia; make a set variable random; cause someone to think in binary
6 Reprogram a machine by switching around the 1s and 0s (or 0s through Es) in its code; change a person’s center of gravity; destine a speeding bullet to hit someone else; make an object’s inertia bring things together instead of ignore change
7 Create new laws of physics and mathematics
8 End a law of physics or mathematics; introduce randomness to a stable environment
9 Cause numbers to rain from the sky like water; create a perpetual motion machine; divert Earth’s center of gravity to a tiny Hawaiian island

Numbers Persona Table:

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Difficulty Effects
0 Recognize those with strong connection to Numbers
1 Make a person weigh more or less; allow someone to have more children in their lifetime; force someone to speak nothing but the truth for a time
2 Spend a scene as a mathematical formula
3 Declare yourself present in everything around you; declare that you can solve all of a single person’s problems; declare that you make the world around you more organized
4 Transform a person into a formula of some kind; make a moving car go faster or slower; have a house tidy itself while its residents are away
5 Declare that 37 is no longer a number; end gravity on a particular object; erase circles’ circumferences; spend a scene as the force of gravity on Earth; incarnate as Euler’s formula
6 Make a janitor spontaneously and spotlessly clean an entire building, inside and out; have a student hate math as much as you wish to defend it; allow someone to instantly calculate the values of any variables given the equations; give yourself omniscience; give yourself the repulsive power of a white hole
7 Give someone the ability to defy gravity at will; make a pencil always draw perfect lines so that it could draw a model of anything
8 End inertia on an entire planet
9 Declare that Yale University shall provide the best mathematics and physics education known to man and empower them to do so for anyone willing to learn.

History

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Johann's life was pretty normal - divorced but kind parents, the pursuit of education, a small group of close friends. He hadn't even finished high school (senior year, man!) when, during Calculus III one period, the Imperator Archangel Helio whisked him away from his desk and told him, in no uncertain terms, that she needed him to hold the Estate of Numbers, as the Excrucians where starting to poke around in it. Johann wasn't given a choice - she immediately jolted him with a shock of lightning, and he gained his Power. When she mischievously winked and asked wht animal he'd want to be if he was stuck one for the rest of his life - throwing him completely for a loop - he answered "giraffe or Pikachu" and was jolted again, becoming the latter.
At this point, Johann is in love with his Nobility, carving out a corner of Helio's Chauncel for himself and his fellow Pokemon. He's also got a mild crush on some of his Familia - primarily She Who Weaves, the drow Power of String - but has prioritized earning Helio's blessing before getting so entangled, and the easiest way for him to do that is to find a way to quantify Excrucians' absolute comparative power. It won't be easy, but he's made some progress…

Approach to Life

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His former mercy has been largely lost, replaced with a sense of duty and focus on preserving his Estate. A large part of this comes from his love of mathematics from before he had Power; part of it stems from a casually binding loyalty, a fluid but stable idea that Johann aids those who aid him, befriends those who are friendly towards him, and will defend those whom he finds deserving of it; part of it comes from his compulsory sense of duty, strengthened by the Light; lastly, some of it comes from the aloofness of godhood, an apathy rooted in what makes one great. He's pragmatic while hiding behind a mask of the moral high ground, writing new equations to override those that would be detrimental to him. In protecting his Estate, and other things, he sees that it is often its own worst enemy and often should be treated as such.
Johann values commitments, goals, and promises - willful agreements to do something, whether it be remain married until death does one part, a mission to climb the World's Tallest Escalator Hill, or an oath to slay the Excrucian who killed one's father. He sees these commitments as binding, and will make them more often than not to ensure that his weakness doesn't keep the necessary things from being done.
Love and lust call to him - he was Commenced as a teenage, after all, and this aspect has yet to depart. Still, his duty comes first, and no physical or emotional desires will stop him from defending his kingdom…unless there's an Excrucian or Actual behind it, then there might be problems.

Modus Operandi

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Johann's usual approach to a confrontation is one of two things: against Excrucians and Actuals, he tries to find and exploit their weaknesses, refusing to play fair; against his fellows who decide to antagonize him, he shows all the subtlety of a tornado, blasting them with lightning and reducing them to nothing with the proper applications of Numbers and Physics. If they at any point concede, they'll live - but they'd better not try that again. He figures that, while the invaders will never truly die so much as be subdued, the other Nobles and Imperators aren't so persistent, and it's a hell of a lot easier to just break their faces and reconstruct them if necessary then take the time to figure them out.

[JustIgnoreMe]

Numbers are the basis of Physics. (3)
Numbers solve problems. (1)
Numbers only provide facts. (1)
Numbers exist everywhere. (1)
Numbers bring order. (1)

Remember that you'll want to apply or remove bits of your estate to yourself or others. Why not "Numbers follow rules and laws" instead of "are the basis of Physics"? That way you can make someone obey or break rules. The others look fine.

I'm currently playing the Viscount of Movement. I did what you did and described my Estate in real-world language rather than emotional language: that's not always ideal when you're a Noble of a concept. Luckily my GM allowed me to respec.

As for the other numbers, I'm afraid we're all still finding our feet with the system.

[Elaborate]

Stumbled here via an internet search, and thought I might register to give a tip:
I've seen other Nobles of Numbers before (my casual google search located at least two), so if you want some inspiration, you can check them out and pinch any ideas of theirs you think are nifty.

(Forum rules prevent me from posting links for my first few posts, but if you google for "Nobilis Help me figure out the Estate of Numbers" and "Chancel Amyra Numbers V3", you should find them.)

Also, some people - including me - have collected example characters, Gifts, Bonds, Estate Properties etc on nobilis.me in order to inspire newcomers.

Good luck with your game!

[JBPuffin]

Numbers are the basis of Physics. (3)
Numbers solve problems. (1)
Numbers only provide facts. (1)
Numbers exist everywhere. (1)
Numbers bring order. (1)

Remember that you'll want to apply or remove bits of your estate to yourself or others. Why not "Numbers follow rules and laws" instead of "are the basis of Physics"? That way you can make someone obey or break rules. The others look fine.

I'm currently playing the Viscount of Movement. I did what you did and described my Estate in real-world language rather than emotional language: that's not always ideal when you're a Noble of a concept. Luckily my GM allowed me to respec.

As for the other numbers, I'm afraid we're all still finding our feet with the system.

I'll do that - it works better for the character, defying more than just laws of physics.

Can you clarify what you mean by "real-world language?" I could change "Numbers only provide facts" to "Numbers are cold and rational," if that helps.

Stumbled here via an internet search, and thought I might register to give a tip:
I've seen other Nobles of Numbers before (my casual google search located at least two), so if you want some inspiration, you can check them out and pinch any ideas of theirs you think are nifty.

(Forum rules prevent me from posting links for my first few posts, but if you google for "Nobilis Help me figure out the Estate of Numbers" and "Chancel Amyra Numbers V3", you should find them.)

Also, some people - including me - have collected example characters, Gifts, Bonds, Estate Properties etc on nobilis.me in order to inspire newcomers.

Good luck with your game!

Getting a group for this might work out, although we're currently just trying to start something that'll stick, and they seem to really like DnD 5e. I looked over the suggested stuff - didn't particularly like it - and actually posted a version of Johann on nobilis.me (just linked him to the main page >.>).

Also...Second Character!

Spoiler: Aegis Carpath, Power of Cement

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Lifepath:

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Key A: Honeysuckle (Finally, At Rest)

• Heart – My New Life: Reformed Anarchist; I’ll Keep Holding On (Something You Can Point To); Redeemed By My Actions (Trouble Inspired Me); Past Revolt, Present Support (Legacy)
• Shadow – My Old Life: Fighting the Powers That Be; Condemned By My Own (Troubled Life)
  
  • Question – Was it worth it?

Key B: Alyssym (Destiny Fulfilled)

• My Destiny: Master Sculptor; Sought By Golems (Disciples); Binder of Wounds (An Independent Song)
• Shadow – Cracking at the Seams (Light Side of the Human Experience)

• Question – How can I heal others if I’m broken myself?

Estate: Cement (Tied to Allysm Shadow and Honeysuckle Heart)

Spoiler: Numbers

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Cement binds things together (2)
Cement dries and hardens (2)
Cement endures (2)
Cement is waterproof (1)

Passions and Skills:

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I mend what’s broken. (4)
Terrorist Bomb-Builder (2)
Cool 0+3
Shine 2

Bonds/Afflictions

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Affliction: People remember me easily, whether as a sculptor or a rebel! (3)
Bond: I will fix everything! (3)
Affliction: If someone hurts my statues, they hurt me! (2)
Bond: I always have my sculpting gear! (2)
Bond: I will not break again! (2)
Affliction: Rocks and minerals refuse to harm me. (1)
Bond: My Imperator has my dedication! (1)

Treasure

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Wondrous – Sculpting Tools that can create stone replacements for non-stone things (ie. Create a stone prosthetic arm that turns into flesh when attached – Sculpting Gear)
Wondrous – Wonderful Duct Tape that can bind physical objects together with ease (Fix Everything)
Mundane – Carved symbol of IMPERATOR (Dedication)
Mundane – Band-Aids (Will Not Break)
Mundane – Strengthened Ceramic armor breastplate (Will Not Break

Aspect 2, Domain 0, Persona 3, Treasure 1

• MP: Aspect 6, Domain 6, Persona 8, Treasure 6

Gift (6 CP): Active Immortality – Domain 6 Major Preservation of the Self, Automatic, Self-Only, Full Flexibility, Uncommon
Gift (1 CP): Symbol of the Binder – Treasure Possession of Talisman, Automatic, One Person, One Trick, Uncommon
Wounds: 2 Divine, 1 Tough, 2 Normal
Imperator: Archangel Helio

• Angel – awesome, demanding
• Bombshell Brunette
• Loves science

Project – I will heal the wounds my former friends have caused themselves.

• 5 Destiny – Failure: My departure from society at large rent the movement asunder.

Numbers Domain Table:

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Difficulty Effects
0 You are aware when Cement is in danger
1 Jury-rig repairs for a collapsing building; bind an object to the floor for five minutes; delay an explosive device for a minute
2 Discover how something is held together; commune with binding agents
3 Strengthen glue; strengthen rope; strengthen architectural supports
4 Bind a gun to its ammunition, preventing it from firing; make air molecules stick together like a fish bowl; animate duct tape rolls; cause a flood of cement in a room; call a roll of duct tape to your hand from across the room
5 Destroy the ligaments attaching an arm to the rest of its inhabitant’s body; cause a building to collapse by liquefying the mortar between bricks; commune with a pair of handcuffs to learn more about a dastardly villain; sink a patched boat by making its patch(es) water-soluble
6 Change what materials a binder can hold together; detach and reattach binders between nearby objects; change the destiny of a bottle of Elmer’s to that of a psychological dependence former; ensure that a structure will never collapse by making its nails and screws irremovable; invert a structure by reversing its binding components
7 Create new glues and binders
8 Destroy ties and bindings on a massive scale
9 Glue the continents together, recreating Pangaea; massing all the world’s duct tape into a moon-like satellite; bind the fate of a planet to the life cycle of a species of insect

Numbers Persona Table:

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Difficulty Effects
0 Recognize those with strong connections to Cement
1 Make someone more diplomatic or amicable; make someone more persevering; make two things impossible to talk about separately
2 Spend a scene as the rope binding a hostage’s hands together
3 Declare that your limbs can’t be severed from the rest of your body; declare that you can’t be disarmed of your chisel; declare that your skin is as hard as rock
4 In a city-block-ish area, make it so that area’s inhabitants will never forget the date of their parents’ birthdays; turn a person into a coil of rope; make sure a boat will never leak
5 Exile duct tape from your Estate, removing its stickiness; incarnate in every bottle of Elmer’s glue; incarnate as the force of gravity between a star and an orbiting planet; remove the cement from concrete slabs; make a rope refuse to be tied
6 Endow a doctor with the ability to perfectly stitch together any wound; imbue someone with a relentless desire to rip patches from people’s clothes; give yourself the ability to heal wounds with a single touch
7 Give someone else the ability to heal wounds with a single touch; forge a hammer that makes any buildings it’s used to construct indestructible by almost any standard
8 Eviscerate an entire planet’s structure at the sub-atomic level
9 Endow Germany with an unconquerable endurance, allowing its citizens to work for days straight without feeling exhausted and boosting their productivity immensely.

History

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Aegis Carpath was never good at following the rules; she found them boring, like coloring inside the lines when one could simply draw a different picture. So when a group of other rebels asked if she would make some things for them in her spare time, she happily obliged. It was some time before she realized that she’d been making bombs which were then used to inflict massive civilian casualties in the hopes that the government would step down…
Hiding was hard, to be sure – Aegis never knew when she’d be found. The group broke up, however, when its cult-like zeal simply crashed into the ground (the Power of Fanaticism got bored with them); Aegis quickly became renowned as a sculptor, but her former comrades also exposed her former work to the public. Bound by fame on the one side and infamy on the other, there was absolutely no one who didn’t know her name…including Helio, who set to work on recruiting her almost immediately. It was through these efforts that she met Helio’s Familia, and thanks to their general enthusiasm Aegis joined them, becoming the Power of Cement to, as she put it, “mend the things we broke.”

Approach to Life

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Aegis sees things as in one of two states: fixed and broken. Her reaction to broken things is to try and fix them, with mixed results. She hates strife and discord among allies and does her best to keep things civil, and she often serves as the voice of encouragement when none other can be found. More than anything, however, Aegis is a relentless defender of her Familia, engaging its enemies with a zeal not unlike her fellows in her bomb-making days.

Modus Operandi

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Aegis faces conflict herself rarely; more often, she supports one of the other Familia in their engagements, providing healing or beneficial Afflictions instead. When she must face foes by herself, her preferred method revolves around making herself as damage-resilient as possible, then immobilize her enemies by gluing them to themselves using Cement.

And carrying on with the Familia of Helio, a question - is it an insane idea for a Power to want to change a Deceiver into a Noble b/c Love? I have this idea for a Power's first Project...

[The_Snark]

And carrying on with the Familia of Helio, a question - is it an insane idea for a Power to want to change a Deceiver into a Noble b/c Love? I have this idea for a Power's first Project...

Yes, but that doesn't mean you can't try it. Whether it works or not, you will likely get an interesting plot out of it.

[JBPuffin]

Yes, but that doesn't mean you can't try it. Whether it works or not, you will likely get an interesting plot out of it.

Brilliant. Just have to fill in the character's Domain and Persona tables...which is probably the hardest part for me thus far, coming up with examples which sound right. Making up insane things, like a Power who's transformed into a Pikachu, or a devilish heir to a demonic throne? Incredibly easy. Figuring out good examples for Lesser Destruction of Numbers? More difficult.

[JustIgnoreMe]

Can you clarify what you mean by "real-world language?" I could change "Numbers only provide facts" to "Numbers are cold and rational," if that helps.

I tried to describe my Estate in terms of what it could actually do, what it actually was, cold hard and factual, instead of a more open touchy-feely emotional type of description. So I'd have "Blankets are made from cloth" instead of "Blankets are comforting", for example. "Are comforting" is a much better property.

"Only provides facts" is a great trait: apply it to someone else and they will tell the absolute truth; remove it from someone and they will lie like the Devil himself.

[JBPuffin]

I tried to describe my Estate in terms of what it could actually do, what it actually was, cold hard and factual, instead of a more open touchy-feely emotional type of description. So I'd have "Blankets are made from cloth" instead of "Blankets are comforting", for example. "Are comforting" is a much better property.

"Only provides facts" is a great trait: apply it to someone else and they will tell the absolute truth; remove it from someone and they will lie like the Devil himself.

I kind of like the idea now that maybe Numbers DON'T always tell the truth - that while they're basically all like Spock or Data, they can still tell lies if that's the absolute best thing for the situation. With a simple shift like that, one completely changes the concept of something!

Lemme know if anything strikes you as off with Aegis. She got a good deal less characterization, mostly because Johann was basically porting me into the Nobilis world and she wasn't, but I think she's quite effective at her role of support. Aegis is supposed to be a White Mage of sorts, and Johann's basically an Eldrazi or some other reality warper. Fun times .

Edit: And I have a group! Starring the Powers of Death/Destruction, Bullsh*t (and Chickens), and...I believe the Power of Command/Kingship. The Chicken Guy is just great.

[ChrissP]

I have never heard about it

[Hollyhock God]

I ran this campaign for a while. Feel free to ask me anything.

[Lord Raziere]

I personally want to play the Estate of Secrets Revealed:

-Secrets Revealed shatters worlds and perceptions
-Secrets Revealed gives new advantages
-Secrets Revealed shows the true nature of things

with this set up, you can find out what the problem is, give yourself the advantages to solve it and shatter anyone or anything who tries to stop you with world-breaking power.

ooh, new idea: Estate of Black Holes:

-Black Holes devour anything in their way
-Black Holes hide beyond what is known
-Black Holes instill haunting fear in peoples hearts