Nobilis, Chuubo's, and Other Jenna Moran Works

Today, I'm going to talk about the experience of running the game, and why I made some of the decisions I did.

Almost all of this post is under the readmore, but I want to present this bit up-front:

On "Early Installment Weirdness" And Realistic Expectations

Now, the thing about BTL as presented here is that - even though it is an Actual Play, even though it is my best attempt to summarize - it includes quite a bit of after-the-fact editing. The quotes scattered throughout only include what I consider to be the most brilliant of quotes from the session - they're the best 5-10% of the words everyone wrote. I editorialized, sometimes quite heavily, backfilling my own explanations of things that nobody really realized or aimed for at the time.

I, personally, think that Between the Lights hit its proper stride in session 6, at the deathday party. But I don't recommend skipping. The events from before then were important, because they introduced many of the characters and places that were focal to the campaign.

It is completely normal for characterization to skip around inconsistently, especially in the first few sessions and double-especially in a game that runs in real-time. Maddie was already more or less established because her player had been running a Maddie variant for months in another campaign beforehand; the other characters were created for the campaign, and so the voices took a while to settle down. Often, I did not even bother making the voice of an NPC particularly consistent unless and until the players decided to pay attention to them.

It is the nature of a roleplaying game to leave hanging plot threads all over the place. Not even an expansive epilogue like the one I did could totally resolve them all. It would take far more editing than I have done to tighten it up to "literary" standards. That is how a roleplaying game goes. It is - to borrow one of the aphorisms that Sonja of Metaphors loved to use - a journey, not a destination.

This is an actual-play writeup of a game I am running on the Jenna Moran fanclub on Discord.

"I thought," he shouted to the sky above, "that you made a promise!"

"I did," the sky said, as it began to rain. "Pity you weren't there to receive it."

-- Sunstories, by Carol Paresi

Today, everyone falls.

Okay, so this week's format needs some explanation. I modified the form of a Ritual, from Chuubo's, to give more structure to what would otherwise be a free-for-all. This concept, of using a Ritual rather than regular Nobilis play for the most consequential fight in the game, is stolen from that time geostatonary did an ending-ritual for a Nobilis game I was in; I really liked the result, so I did it myself.

Here's the instructions for my ending-ritual. I don't expect it to be directly usable in anyone else's game, but go ahead and borrow as much stuff as you want from it.

Anyway, enough words. Time to end this all.

A short fiction about an event that took place in the background of session 22. If you're following my summaries rather than just reading this as a standalone piece, please read that one first for context.

This is an actual-play writeup of a game I am running on the Jenna Moran fanclub on Discord.

The driver threw the car into reverse. "We're running over that goddamn moose."

-- The Gospel Of Falling Off A Cliff, by Stefanija Atteberry

This session is long! The shard of Heaven finds a new home, Sasha prepares for war, and Saul and Maddie happen upon some interesting details about Aliki's death.

This is an actual-play writeup of a game I am running on the Jenna Moran fanclub on Discord.

No more stalling. No more training. No more love triangles, no more sandwiches, no more chess. There was nothing left for her to do but to walk into the future.

There was a sort of comfort, in that lack of choice. It meant that she couldn't do anything wrong anymore.

-- Sunstories, by Carol Paresi

Today, a long and emotionally draining session. And, in hindsight, one of the most important in the campaign.

This is an actual-play writeup of a game I am running on the Jenna Moran fanclub on Discord.

You can be someone that builds, or someone that destroys. Choose wisely.

-- the reported last words of Simon Ordean, Viscount of Wings, before his Tempering

Today, the sword cuts.

This is an actual-play writeup of a game I am running on the Jenna Moran fanclub on Discord.

And what's left, at the end of your force of will? Nothing but a slow slide into mediocrity. Will is all you have, and someone can break it.

-- reportedly said by Ismenia Esdelot, Excrucian Deceiver

Today, an encounter with a a hat. Oh, and I guess an Excrucian Shard. But mostly just the hat.

This is an actual-play writeup of a game I am running on the Jenna Moran fanclub on Discord.

Nobles do not have to keep up with mortal habits of sleeping, eating, and so forth. Many do anyway. Some because of a lack of imagination. Some because it preserves their ability to empathize with mortals. And, in one case, Magnolia Jade has been waiting for two thousand years for the other party to a bet to admit defeat and pay up.

-- Lorica, by Matt Lincoln

Today, sleep proves to be a problem for... approximately everyone. Though for different reasons.

This is an actual-play writeup of a game I am running on the Jenna Moran fanclub on Discord.

He led me to a balcony far above the crowd, and drew shut the curtains as I sat down.

"You truly want me to make my opinion known? Very well. I will be fully honest for you - lift away every veil and courtesy and social obligation - for this one statement."

He lifted his mask, and put it to one side. I did not see his face.

"I acknowledge the accusations you have made against the Dominus Flags. I fully believe that you are telling the truth. However, I must ignore the accusations you have made, because the Dominus Flags is a linchpin of the War and we cannot afford to lose him. Do not give me any more evidence. Do not attempt to ask me to take action against him again. I cannot do anything more for you."

He put his mask back on.

After a few moments, he offered an arm to me. "Now that that's over with, shall we rejoin the others?"

-- from the Thought-Record of Megan Kieros, Power of Pigeons

Today, the PCs try to recruit a certain Power of Pigeons. And fail. But it's an interesting failure, promise.

I will also note that this is the beginning of a new Story (the thing that Chuubo's calls a "book"), so MP has been replenished to the cap, and most Wounds are cleared. However, the Wounds that Sonja and Maddie just acquired in the previous session - having eaten the entire library of Locus Kethredamen, and being on fire, respectively - are retained.

This is an actual-play writeup of a game I am running on the Jenna Moran fanclub on Discord.

The drawers contained nothing but spoons. Thousands upon thousands of them. Tablespoons, soup-spoons, demitasse spoons, dessert spoons, caviar spoons, melon ballers, ladles, sporks.

She picked the largest one up, put it to her sodden whetstone, and began the hundred-hour process of slowly sharpening it into a knife.

-- Sunstories, by Carol Paresi

Today, different people have different perspectives on the Society of Flowers. As they have always had. But this time, the PCs ask.