Hollyhock God's Notes for Session 4

Wow, making adventures for Nobilis is easy. I mean, really, all I had to do was give 'em a situation (Chancel needs repair--obvious from how the last adventures ended), and give 'em a bunch of mini-goals. I just drew up a quick and easy list, almost none of them from my own mind (mostly I cribbed stuff from the main book), and gave it to the PCs. They ran with it.

In a way, I'm disappointed that I chose to opt for an already-existing Chancel. It was safer--Gideon gave me at least some grounding to work from--but it didn't allow me to spend a lot of time dwelling on the PCs' mortal lives. The default play style in Nobilis seems to have the PCs start as mortals during an enChancelment, so they can try to solve the whole hundred-deaths thing. That would've been fun, but I think it's easier for the players (two of whom are new to gaming) if there's not a sudden change in campaign scope.

I'm pleased with how the PCs handled the different tasks. I know that it's a bit formulaic and heavy-handed, and I might've been able to do something a bit more subtle, but having the Nobles solve a handful of tasks, adventurer-style, keeps things simple. So far they've had enough flexibility to choose which tasks to do in what order, and to decide how they're going to go about accomplishing them, but they don't yet have an infinity of options. In fact, I want to prevent them from having their possibility horizon expand to infinity, because then players tend to sit there dazed and inactive.

The combat, I have to say, was a lot of fun. It ran quickly, and allowed the players to get a feel for their Nobles' Powers without putting them in any real danger. (Though I wonder if I should've presented everyone with human opponents just to get a real sense of perspective.)

I'm a bit worried that I'm neglecting Dessa's player: she's a newbie, and though she's having fun, it's a bit overwhelming for her. So, I need to pay more attention to her, while simultaneously not forcing her to shoulder too many metagame burdens. It'll be a tricky balancing act.

My only other concern is the almost-immediate jaunt to the World Ash. It might enlarge the scope of the game too quickly. I've made it a note to keep the trip simple--a quick jaunt to the Selenian kingdom on the Moon, and some bartering with the Fae folk there. The Nobles will be able to see all sorts of interesting things, but they'll be too far away from anything to really affect it.

But that's it for now. The adventure was a bit loose, but overall went fairly well. I have some tightening-up around the plot to do, which means more reliance on the book (which is slightly less contradictory than my average campaign setting) and on preparing beforehand.

So now, it's off to prepare beforehand. How are they going to get that Dream Dynamo?

-Gideon the Fallen, in a rare address to his Chancel