I have to admit that Im not much of a gamer. I'd like to be. I just never seem to find a game or a group that I fit in for very long.
I've tried LARPing. That was a wash. My rock-scissors-paper hand had been slammed in the car door before the game and I could only make a feeble attempt at 'paper' without passing out. I'm too ruddy in complexion to look good in black. I constantly got the lipstick on my teeth, which wouldn't have been so bad if it had been the fake ones, but I'd swallowed those once before and had to be rushed to the emergency room. Oh, and the last time, I bought some bargain basement mascara that caused my eyes to swell up for about three weeks. I had no idea that Im allergic to llamas. Apparently, llama fat is a big part of the Peruvian makeup industry. Chalk that one up to experience.
I tried White Wolf's Storyteller system, but it seems that the guy I played with thought that naming my vampire Steve and making him a vegan wasn't that good of an idea. Same thing went for Steve, the vegan werewolf. When I came up with Rocco, half-vampire/half-werewolf silver magnate, he and the others told me that it was a really good idea and that they couldn't wait to see it the next week when we played. I think that they changed the day or something and are playing at someone else's house because they never seem to be there anymore when I go over.
So when I heard about Nobilis, I was overjoyed. Now keep in mind, I'm not allowed in my friendly local gaming stores after the Mountain Dew incident, so I've not been able to actually look at a copy. I have, however, looked at the web site, which took me a while because I'd never heard of Hogshead Publishing, and Id inadvertently ended up at some porn site. At first I tried Amazon Books; again I ended up at a porn site. (Did you know that if you capitalize the 'A' in amazon.com that it takes you 'to a world where no men are allowed?' I know that I didn't). When I found the right Amazon, I discovered that they didn't have it in stock. Finally I found Hogshead and got to feast my eyes on the wonder that is Nobilis.
First of all, the cover just rocks, I mean, it is sharp. It's a woman or a man made out of some sort of stone wearing a cross between a helm, a pitcher and a bedpan on his/her head holding one hand in front of his/her lips as though to say, Shh. Let me tell you, I was stunned into silence. The team of Arthur Nouveau and Master Charles van der Stappen did the artwork for the cover, and Ive got to tell you people that you should see it, because it's absolutely stupendous. I've drawn a picture of the cover so that you can see how nice it is. I mean sharp. Really, really sharp.
According to the website, in Nobilis, you get to play 'Sovereign Powers.' Quote "In Nobilis, players take on the roles of the Sovereign Powers, each the personification of one single aspect of reality: Night, or Roads, or Ecstasy, or Chains." Deep. By this I take it that it is some sort of LARP where you go out on the road at night, taking Ecstasy while listening to Alice in Chains. The more I read, the more I like this game. Another quote from the website describes how each character gets 'awesome power and terrible responsibility.' Dude, this game lets you play Spider-man. I'm so up for that. In fact everything about this game sounds like it was something actually taken from my dreams and plastered all over a coffee table book up to and including the badgers in lederhosen.
Of course, the one drawback of Nobilis is that it costs $42.95. Now normally I would be so able to buy that, but at the moment I'm strapped. I know, I know, it's my own fault. I really should have known better than to spend my entire paycheck buying up copies of Enemies and Allies looking for the rare variant where you got to see Lidda's nipple that I'd heard about in a chat room once. (I never found one. I guess that none got delivered to my area (this was before the Mountain Dew incident).) On the flip side, it has three hundred and four pages in it and its hardcover, so its well worth the money if youve got it.
So keeping all of this in mind, Im going to give Nobilis five out of five stars. It's a great system and an AWESOME cover. Way to go, Hogshead!
By the way, is anyone interested in purchasing a like-new copy of Enemies and Allies? I've got plenty in stock.