Quote from: flyingmice;362420Did anyone here besides you and GG actually read it?

Yup, I've read Nobilis.

And it's not that the writing is bad, exactly.

It's that finding the (simple, intuitive) game hidden amidst the tangle of florid prose, and feeling sure that you've got it all, is just more effort that it's worth.

The actual game, I could have fit on four piece of paper.  And, given that it's me, I probably would have.

Quote from: Levi Kornelsen;364390The actual game, I could have fit on four piece of paper.  And, given that it's me, I probably would have.

The essential crunchy parts of Nobilis would probably fit on a postcard. The basic system is outlined on page 48 and the damage mechanics on page 164: everything else just elaborates on the details.

Quote from: GrimGent;364516The essential crunchy parts of Nobilis would probably fit on a postcard. The basic system is outlined on page 48 and the damage mechanics on page 164: everything else just elaborates on the details.

There aren't many RPGs for which this statement isn't true though.

Quote from: Warthur;364524There aren't many RPGs for which this statement isn't true though.

Well, it wouldn't prove anywhere near as easy with a game that features an extensive skill system or complex combat rules, I'd imagine.

Quote from: GrimGent;364576Well, it wouldn't prove anywhere near as easy with a game that features an extensive skill system or complex combat rules, I'd imagine.

...except complex combat rules are often elaborations on a comparatively simple core, extensive skill systems usually have a large number of skills that all work in a fairly simple way, etc.

If you had to write out all the different flower rituals you'd probably struggle to fit Nobilis onto a postcard too.

Quote from: Warthur;364701If you had to write out all the different flower rituals you'd probably struggle to fit Nobilis onto a postcard too.

A better comparison would be, say, writing down the rules for coming up with freeform traits in Over the Edge, because everything about the course of any given flower rite is completely up to the GM, and so trying to prepare a "list" of possible flower rites simply wouldn't make any sense. At best it's safe to assume that during play they'll be directed against whichever Estates the players have picked for their characters, as the rest of them have their own guardians.

How they work out, in general: an Excrucian uses two symbols (one for the targeted Estate and another for its Noble) to magically bind them into a single ordinary situation which will then slowly begin to affect the involved concepts throughout the universe. To use an old example, a flower rite meant to ruin one happy marriage can ruin Marriage itself and eventually erase it from existence, so in this case the PCs might have to keep the couple together while they track down the intruder and destroy the sympathetic link.

Quote from: GrimGent;364777How they work out, in general: an Excrucian uses two symbols (one for the targeted Estate and another for its Noble) to magically bind them into a single ordinary situation which will then slowly begin to affect the involved concepts throughout the universe. To use an old example, a flower rite meant to ruin one happy marriage can ruin Marriage itself and eventually erase it from existence, so in this case the PCs might have to keep the couple together while they track down the intruder and destroy the sympathetic link.

I must be wildly misremembering. I thought there was a collection of important rituals (identified by flower names) that Nobles could do?

Quote from: Warthur;364790I must be wildly misremembering. I thought there was a collection of important rituals (identified by flower names) that Nobles could do?

Aha, you're thinking of the Simple Rites. They aren't named after flowers, by the way, although there's the MP-depleting Nettle Rite which requires crushing a handful of, well, nettles after damaging or defiling something that the target of the ritual cares about. The book includes seven of them that Nobles might typically perform during play: aside from the Nettle Rite, the important ones are the Rite of Holy Fire (which renders the characters invulnerable to mundane injuries as long as they remember to take care of the ritual once every few months or so) and the Servant's Rite (which magically binds mortals or other mundane creatures into their service as long as they genuine love or hate the target).