RPG Design Patterns

Anonymous Rule (as Hit Points fall, Miracle Point costs rise and injuries are harder to avoid), Diceless, Faction (“Affiliation”), Flaw (“Handicap”, “Restriction”), Drama Based Initiative, Game Master (“Hollyhock God”), Generalized Contest, Gift, Hit Points (in three flavors of “Surface Wound,” “Serious Wound,” and “Deadly Wound,”), Last Man Standing, Point Spend Attribute, Resource, Trauma Gauge (see Anonymous Rule Pattern).

Characters have four primary attributes ranging in value from 0 to 5 and are set by spending character points from a pool. These are “Aspect,” “Domain,” “Realm,” and “Spirit.” Aspect controls physical, mental, and social prowess. Domain reflects the character’s ability to manipulate his “Estate,” which is the demi-god’s domain of power such as “Forest” or “Light.” “Realm” indicates how well the character governs his “Chancel,” a demesne within the confines of Earth acting as a permanent place of residence. A high Realm indicates the character can mold and knead physical laws to his will within the Chancel. Finally, “Spirit” describes how well the character controls magical powers, including his miraculous defenses against all forms of attack. Characters are also assigned four pools of “Miracle Points” which are directly tied to the four attributes. Miracle Points are spent to obtain success in conflicts. Players may also spend their initial Character Points to raise their permanent “Domain Miracle Points” value, which determines the number of temporary Domain Miracle Points a character starts with each gaming session.

Characters also have Restrictions, Virtues, and Affiliations. Restrictions are essentially minor weaknesses such as “Cannot Kill” or “Honest” that sometimes hamper a character in his goals. Adopting a restriction gives a player more character points to spend. Virtues are strengths with their own benefits, such as “Spiritual” or “Artisan.” The absolute nature of Virtues can land a character in trouble because a character cannot deny or contradict his Virtue. Affiliations, or “Codes,” are rules and beliefs by which a character lives.

Actions that do not deal with miracles are handled in a purely free form fashion. Only miraculous actions require resolution. All miracles are given a difficulty rating (“Level”) of 0 to 9 depending on the desired effect. Normally, characters perform miracles at a rating equal to their pertinent attribute at no cost. However, they can raise this value by spending Miracle Points from the pool associated with the attribute. When miracles oppose one another, the higher rated miracle always wins. However, a player can only spend 1, 2, 4, or 8 Miracle Points at a time. So, if a character has a Domain of 2 and his player wants to perform a miracle requiring a Domain of 5, he must actually spend 4 points rather than 3. What this means is that the greater the difference between the character’s attributes and the miracles he wants to perform, the more costly it becomes. These pools usually refresh at the end of every scene, but that is left to the discretion of the game master.

The order in which actions occur is entirely unconstrained in Nobilis. The game master decides who goes when based on what he feels is dramatically appropriate.

One means of rewarding players is based on how much fun the players had. At the end of every game session in which all of the players have fun, the game master awards each player a “Dynasty Point.” At the end of every story in which all players had fun in most of the sessions, each character gains either a “Character Point” or a “Chancel Point.” “Fun” is measured simply by asking the players whether they had it. Character points can be spent to raise the four core attributes of Aspect, Domain, Realm, and Spirit or can be used to purchase gifts. Dynasty Points can be used in place of any Miracle Point when the character’s reserve runs dry. They are precious, though, in that they do not replenish as do Miracle Points. So, they are only used as a form of emergency backup. Chancel Points are pooled together by members of a Chancel to buy “Chancel Properties.” This equates to roommates pooling their funds to buy a better television or stereo.

More interesting rewards involve the earning or loss of Miracle Points based on a character’s “Handicaps,” which are comprised of “Limits,” “Affiliations,” “Restrictions,” and “Virtues,” A character earns Miracle Points whenever his Restrictions or Virtues hinder him in some significant way during play. A Limit is a restriction placed upon a character’s powers. Whenever Miracle Points are normally regenerated (such as at the beginning of a story), a character’s Limits will earn him more Miracle Points. When a character performs an action in accordance with his Affiliation’s “Code,” he earns a Miracle Point. When he defies it, he loses a point. (Affiliations are actually the primary means of obtaining Miracle Points in the game, and are a very strong incentive to role-play.) These rewards all have a potent impact on the game because they encourage players to seek out situations in which their Codes, Restrictions, and Virtues apply. That way, they can role-play their characters' weaknesses, idiosyncrasies, and beliefs while racking up the Miracle Points.