If We Could Ever Stop Bickering

A game of storytelling and negotiating for 3-5 players. Heavily inspired by Polaris by P.H. Lee as well as the depiction of the ancient Greek pantheon in Hades II by Supergiant Games.

<aside>

Designer’s Note: This is kind of a loose collection of ideas bolted to an inelegant knockoff of Polaris’ intricate conflict system. It’s very unpolished and probably not entirely playable; I’m not quite sure the right ingredients are here to really make the game go; I’ll want to revisit this and think more about how demands work and what sorts of things player characters might meaningfully ask of one another.

</aside>

Setup

Before play can begin, the world must be established. To do so, answer all of the following prompts, taking turns in any order you see fit. Most prompts will require that each player answer individually in one way or another. These answers will form the beginning of The Lore, which you’ll add to throughout the rest of the game.

We are the gods, immortal inheritors of this world, its skies and oceans and forests and mountains and all the rest.

From where do we rule this world?

Take turns. Each player chooses one of the following. There will likely be overlap; that’s fine.

• Atop a great mountain where our seat of power lies
• From deep below the ground where mortals pass when they die
• From all throughout the seas and skies, patrolling my domain

What sets us apart from one another?

Take turns. Each player chooses two epithets that define their domain, that which they symbolize and have connections to. Consider these to be thematic first and foremost

• The first is a Godly Epithet: an abstract concept or trait — vision, truth, flight, shadow, courage, intellect, love, curiosity, etc.
• The second is a Worldly Epithet: an individual aspect of the natural or mortal world — wind, sunlight, candles, fruit, gravestones, flower petals, silk, etc.

And what of the mortals who inhabit this world?

Take turns. Each player does one of the following:

• Define a nation — invent a nation, give it a name, and describe it in loose terms. Where is its seat of power, and what kind of lands and peoples does it inscribe? How old is this nation?
• Create one oppositional faction within an existing nation. Why does it oppose the leadership or majority? Who belongs to it? What actions have they taken lately?