Hogshead Publishing announced that World Fantasy Award-winning artist Charles Vess (Sandman, Stardust) will contribute four full page illustrations to the new role-playing game, Nobilis, which will be published in November.  R. Sean Borgstrom created the Nobilis game, in which players take on the roles of semi-divine beings with great powers, charged with protecting reality from invasion, subversion, and destruction.  RPG reviewer Ken Hite, who has actually played the game, described it as follows: 'Imagine Neil Gaiman's Sandman and Clive Barker's Hellraiser on an absinthe bender.'  Like many RPGs, Nobilis will be published in a deluxe hardcover format.  The oversize, 11' x 11' volume sports a cover by Charles van der Stappen and will contain 288 pages of role-playing rules and adventures.

 

In addition to the four full-page illustrations by Charles Vess, the Nobilis hardcover also includes contributions from other top artists including William Michael Kaluta, Bryan Talbot, Raven Mimura, and Denise Garner as well as the long dead Italian painter Archimoldo, who remains famous for his bizarre mannerist paintings in which he created figures out of fruits and vegetables.  The heavily illustrated Nobilis book will retail for $42.95.