History YMMV / Nobilis

* FriendlyFandoms: Since Jenna Moran has also worked on the first and third editions of TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}, there is an overlap between the player bases, with the usual HypotheticalFightDebate concluding that it would be awesome to watch regardless of who would win.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Due to the game's specific premise of demigods protecting reality from creatures outside existence, it can be difficult for newcomers to get into Nobilis, and that's not even getting into the specifics of the setting. This extends to mechanics as well, since it gives the players god-like powers, but also encourages them to not engage in direct conflict except in dire circumstances, which is somewhat unintuitive given everything.

* DoingItForTheArt: Jenna Moran's dedication towards her fans and her work are well-known. The entire design for the Great White Book in particular draws attention for this: There was no real ''need'' to include EncyclopediaExposita quotes, or to clarify so many setting details, but the end result is that the game's fluff and its mechanics are inextricably tied together in a way few other games can. [[TropesAreTools It is for this same reason, however]], that the GWB is sometimes considered more a work of art than a game.

* TroubledProduction: Where do we even start?
** Nobilis 2nd edition was put out by a small press that subsequently went down. It was then picked up by Guardians of Order, which, in Jenna Moran's words, "decided to stop sending out books and stuff and just lay coiled like a serpent around the dark heart of the world".
** The never-produced ''A Society of Flowers'' supplement for 2e was acquired, but never published, by a second small press.
** Nobilis 3rd edition was published fine, but the planned supplements got jammed in the pipeline because the press responsible for it mismanaged its money terribly and promised things they couldn't deliver.
** To the point where ChuubosMarvelousWishGrantingEngine was eventually just put out as a POD because the printing company simply could not get its act together.

** Nobilis 2nd edition was put out by a small press that subsequently went down.

* FriendlyFandoms: Since Jenna Moran has also worked on the first and third editions of TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}, there is an overlap between the player bases, with the usual HypotheticalFightDebate concluding that it would be an awesome regardless regardless of who would win.

** The origin story of Iolithae Septimian in ''Antithesis 1i'' is a prominent example. [[spoiler:From how the words on the stone begin to haunt the temple girl to how she is tortured and abused by the temple's priest, it doesn't relent on the nightmare fuel. The girl's subsequent transformation into Iolithae and her act of turning the seas to salt don't help this very much]].

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Due to the game's specific premise of demigods protecting reality from creatures outside existence, it can be difficult for newcomers to get into Nobilis, and that's not getting into the specifics of the setting. This extends to mechanics as well, since it gives the players god-like powers, but also encourages them to not engage in direct conflict except in dire circumstances, which is somewhat unintuitive given everything.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: Due to the game's specific premise of demigods protecting reality from creatures outside existence, it can be difficult for newcomers to get into Nobilis, and that's not getting into the specifics of the setting. This extends to mechanics as well, since it gives the players god-like powers, but also encourages them to not engage in direct conflict except in dire circumstances, which is somewhat unintuitive given the circumstances.

* NightmareFuel: Any Noble, Imperator or Excrucian can do truly terrible things, particularly to mortals. [[BewareTheNiceOnes Even nice ones]] with seemingly-harmless Estates can mess up entire world with some effort. It's part and parcel of being a god.

* TooGoodToLast: The second edition of ''Nobilis'' went out of print before more than just one supplement could come out for it. It didn't help that there was some funny business on the part of Guardians of Order, who took over distribution from Hogshead after they closed down. (The first edition did not have any supplementary materials.)
** However, Dr Moran did release material from an abortive supplement (A Society of Flowers) as the 'peculiar books', free pdf downloads: "Unlikely Flowerings" and "Creatures, Clothed in Strangeness".
** To say nothing of ''A Soul Of Your Own,'' which is an alternate setting (with alternate stats, an alternate worldview, and even alternate metaphysics... but still related) in which you play a band of wandering kung fu heroes who oppose the machinations of Nobles and Excrucians alike, because such beings are too powerful to fight, and thus the {{Warrior Poet}}s cannot decide which is right through the truth of battle. No, really.
*** As of 3e, the Zu from that have been added to the default setting.

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: Third edition is far more whimsical than the previous two editions and is just '''loaded''' with throwaway jokes in examples and footnotes:
** "'''Bond:''' Flowers are awesome enough when they ''don't'' explode -- but when half of them are antimatter? O.M.G."
** "For instance, in your game, fire might have the Property '''Fire burns, and it doesn't care.'''[[superscript:†]]"
*** "[[superscript:†]]'''[=ProTip=]''': In the real world, fire totally ''does'' care."
** From the Edge chart:
*** "'''+1.''' Your tennis racket and shoes are awesome, and theirs are falling apart.[[superscript:†]]"
**** "[[superscript:†]]Also, you are playing tennis."
*** "'''+5.''' Your opponent has mistakenly brought a knife to a global thermonuclear annihilation fight."
** "Difficulty 9 Domain miracles allow you to perform large-scale miracles of movement and dharma -- you could ... transplant rabbits from their peaceful undersea homes to the world of land... Even at this scale, movement and dharma miracles are pretty subtle: people will know something's wrong[[superscript:†]]..."
*** "[[superscript:†]]Like how conspiracy theorists are always picking at that rabbit thing."
** "There are relatively few fights in which a 25 trillion ton snake wouldn't come in handy."

*** "'''+5.''' You opponent has mistakenly brought a knife to a global thermonuclear annihilation fight."

** To say nothing of ''A Soul Of Your Own,'' which is an alternate setting (with alternate stats, an alternate worldview, and even alternate metaphysics... but still related) in which you play a band of wandering kung fu heroes who oppose the machinations of Nobles and Excrucians alike, because such beings are too powerful to fight, and thus the {{Warrior Poet}}s cannot decide which is right through the truth of battle. No, really.