Nobilis

When Mondays Really CAN Be Out To Get You

A Resource Page for the Nobilis Roleplaying Game

What is Nobilis?

Nobilis is a diceless roleplaying game. In it, you play a Noble -- someone who used to be mortal, but has been lifted up into near-demigod status by a powerful spirit known as your Imperator. The upshot is that you can now work miracles as easily as you used to be able to tie your shoes. The downside is that you've been drafted into a behind-the-scenes war for the fate of Creation.

Your ability to work miracles is limited by a pool of Miracle Points rather than dice rolls; it's not a question of whether you can do something, it's a question of whether it's worth the cost. Nobles tend to split their time between fighting enemies from outside Creation, accomplishing goals for their Imperator, interacting with mortals or other Nobles (for good or ill), and working on their own personal projects. The latter is an important part of the game . . . after all, if you were suddenly granted godlike powers, wouldn't you want to "fix the world" in some way?

Which edition do you use?

This page is for Nobilis Third Edition, written by Jenna K. Moran.

I've been musing on ideas for running a "Fourth Edition" at The Miraculous Nobilis Engine.

What can be found on this website?

I created this site as a resource for my Nobilis players, but I hope that anyone playing or interested in Nobilis will find it useful. Enjoy these resources:

Nobilis Kabbalistic Cosmology (HTML)

My personal take on how the various Imperator factions fit into Creation. This "atlas of hermetic reality" ties everything into the sephiroth, astrological planets and houses, decans, and bagua -- drawing upon ancient spiritual traditions from Judaic to Egyptian to Chinese.

Nobilis Imperator Creation Campaign (HTML)

A great campaign for introducing a group of new players to Nobilis. It starts them off as mortals, then gives them a reason to craft their Imperator and Chancel in game.

Nobilis For the Noble Who has Everything (HTML)

New gifts! This also includes my house rules regarding gifts. I recommend using them; they're very minor tweaks that make gifts more balanced, in my opinion.

Nobilis Rules Summary (PDF)

I designed this single-page PDF to be printed on the back side of the official character sheet. It summarizes all of the important rules for mundane actions, Aspect, Treasure, wounds, rites, and other key concepts. (Domain and Persona still require their own sheet; see below.

Nobilis Domain and Persona Summary (PDF)

This double-sided PDF is just a simplified version of the one on pp. 366-367. I created it because I couldn't find a standalone PDF of the official version.

"So You've Been EnNobled" (PDF)

A tri-fold pamphlet that sums up Noble society. Makes a great handout in and out of game! Note: I did not create this. It's from the old Guardians of Order site.

Where else can I find useful stuff?

Official Nobilis Page: Information about the game itself, along with a downloadable character sheet.
PK's Nobilis Campaign: A session-by-session summary of my ongoing Nobilis game. (It uses the structure described in The Imperator Creation Campaign, above.)
The NobiList: The official mailing list for discussing the game.
Chancel Aleph: A Nobilis wiki full of helpful things, especially their examples of play.
RPGist: More "cheat sheets" for Nobilis rules.

What happens next?

No, this question is for you, reader -- I've answered enough of them.

What happens next?

There's a woman in Arkansas. She's having the galaxy tattooed onto her arm. The tattoo artist is asleep, but he's still going. He's put on most of the galaxy, and it's beautiful, and perfect, and real, but there's a shadow on the stars. He's starting to tattoo in the thing that casts that shadow.

The phone rings. He startles. He blinks. He's impressed by what he's done so far, but he can't imagine where he was going.

He's lucky.

From The Lucky Ones, Jenna K. Moran