Hollyhock God's Notes for Session 2

This second session was with someone who had never played a role-playing game before. That always makes me happy, as I try to bring in new players whenever possible. Of course, she's never gamed (even computer RPGs), so starting her off with Nobilis will probably warp her horribly, but I needed a third player. It was a solo adventure, as per her request, although Vashti's player was there to help out and offer advice.

I'm pleased with her performance so far. The player seems to have a keen appreciation of suffering and despair, most likely having read far too much Dostoevsky. Unfortunately, Russians, like literary characters, make poor PCs. A willingness to suffer rather than fight back, coupled with an intense desire for solitary meditation, means that the archetypal Russian makes poor "adventurer" material.

Of course, being an idiot, I didn't notice this potential problem. The player behaved in a perfectly reasonable manner, adhering to her personality rather than heading toward the dangling plot hooks. It took some poking and prodding (behind the scenes, by Vashti's player) to get Dessa moving, although once she did, things went smoothly enough. (It's amazing how predictable players are when they don't like creating their own plots in the middle of your game.)

So, once Dessa made that initial push, the story traveled smoothly on its own inertia. Dessa got to deal with NPCs that the player herself described during character creation, hopefully giving the player the understanding that she could guide the world if she so chooses. She also got to meet some NPCs that will be making repeat performances throughout the campaign, including Viktor the Cammoran, who will no doubt become a pain in the characters' sides.

This session also allowed us to see the mechanics at work, though only in a few instances. We got to see a few simple Aspect miracles, from bursts of speed to wiggling into a van to terrifying mortals, all of which are easy with an Aspect of 3. We also got to see that lovely Lesser Creation of Disability, which showed more than anything else that Dessa's player has a whole lot of potential. The miracle itself was a bit confusing for both of us, and required a bit of book-juggling, but eventually we got a hang on things, and I think the result was a lot of fun.

Dessa's story had a bit less going on in the background than Vashti's, instead being a mood piece: person gets thwarted by The Man, person gets power and stops The Man, person realizes that political concerns prevent her from completely defeating The Man. My implementation was a bit shaky (it ran much smoother as a Cyberpunk 2020 game, honestly), but I think it ran passably well as a thematic introduction to Nobilis. Still, there is some background stuff that'll be explored more fully in later adventures. The man fighting the black dog was an Anchor of Malahdi, Power of Sevenfold Vengeance. Malahdi's Exemplar Aspect was of little use through an Anchor, and so the canine Power tore his throat out.

The former Power of Disability is battling Malahdi for a reason that will become evident in later sessions: Gideon the Fallen is planning to destroy Malahdi's Imperator, Manaechus the Dark Serpent, to gain his power and settle an old vendetta.

For those of you who have read the Nobilis book, you will have noticed that I am a fairly shameless thief. I had the realization a few years back that game designers probably put all those examples in their text so we could use them--rather than, say, stare at them and know that we can never do something as cool--and since none of my players has read the Nobilis book, I figure I'd might as well put all those examples to use.

Of course, there's a lot going on behind the scenes that will hit the characters hard, and that'll require a lot of digestion. The initial story arc will showcase the truth of the traitorous Imperator who unmade the future past, the Excrucians' desire for seeing that past reborn, a massive war between the Light and the Dark over the return of humanity to a single world, and the fall of the Dark Serpent Manaechus. There'll be a lot going on, but I'm impressed by my players so far, and I think they can handle it.

"There have been a thousand Russias, each unique, as the forces of Creation have made time and events flow like wine. All Russias share three things in common: winter, sorrow, and borscht. There is a great story explaining sorrow and borscht, but winter appears to have been a happy accident."

-Mikhail, Power of Russia