GenCon 2005: Polaris
Games - Polaris
It's nifty. It's the only game I bought at the Con, the only other swag being both Order of the Stick books. Joe and I got Ben Lehman to run a demo for us with one other guy, and the demo has stuck in my mind. Here's how it went (more or less, my apologies for name confusion).
Ben presented and explained the character sheet, also explaining that we'd normally each have a "heart" character but that for demo purposes we'd essentially just have Joe play the heart while we took the parts of the Full and New Moons (Those whom the heart has a formal or intimate relationships with, respectively) and the Mistaken (those whom the heart opposes).
The use of star's names as the only names in the world immediately puts you into the full-blown myth concept. We became Rigel, opposed by Hydra, and the Moon name for his intimate partner (I forget if that's new or full) was Aadrinka? Something of the sort. It meant "Little Shield," which I was enamored of.
Ben sets us up in the darkness, outside of Hydra's cave. Hydra has kidnapped Aadrinka, and Rigel and his Commander have come to perform a rescue. The Commander (our third wheel) begins asking for some clarification - how far from the cave are they, how can he move silently to get within. Now, in my mind, Ben does an excellent job of explaining that tactics aren't the same in this game as in others; but I don't think the guy really grokked it at all. He eventually stated that he was sneaking down into the cave.
Well, Ben takes it. "The outside of the cavern is engulfed with fire as Hydra breathes forth the light of the Dawn, and the Commander is caught by those horrifying flames!"
The third guy didn't know what to do, but Joe jumped right on board. Now, I'm going to diverge for a minute here, because I want to examine something. The next day, in a Dogs game being run by Judd "Paka" Harris, Joe had some of the same kind of trouble that the stranger was having in Polaris - overselling the actions and tactics rather than breaking down into smaller bits of narration. But for some reason, he got Polaris almost instinctively, despite the fact that he's actually played Dogs with me and has never even heard of Polaris.
Part of me suspects that the 'cheat sheet' Ben was using was just that good. Joe's a writer by nature and by trade, so when he saw the possible responses laid out in front of him, away he went.
"But only," says Joe, "if the Hydra can no longer breathe fire on this day."
"And so it was," agrees Ben. "Now what?"
We narrate Rigel striding into the cavern and facing down Hydra. "Demon! Your lies will avail you no more! Deliver Aadrinka to us or face your death!"
"Lies?" says Ben. "In our dance of all these years, never once have I lied to you, Oh Rigel. Ever have our hearts been as one truth, ever have we spoken truth. Let me show you that truth, Oh Rigel, and we shall dance again."
Joe shakes his head. "And Rigel takes up his blade, and cuts three of the heads from the Hydra's monstrous chest!"
"And so it was," agrees Ben. "From the center to the right, the heads bounce away. What about you two?"
The guy playing the Commander is really kind of confused now, I think. He narrates the Commander crawling away, so as not to be harmed any further. I take on the role of Aadrinka:
"And Hydra's hand comes up to ward off your blow, and within Hydra's palm you see the face of your love."
Again, I want to break to note that we never determined until now whether Aadrinka or Rigel were male, female, or somewhere in between. It wasn't important, and it still might not have been, but here were decide that Aadrinka is at least feminine. I narrate:
"'I am within,' she cries, 'trapped within this hideous flesh! Flay the skin of the Hydra, and free your love!'"
"And then," says Ben, 'the face of your beloved flies forth, and with needle-sharp fanges rends at your flesh, scarring you horribly for all eternity!'
'But only," replies Joe, "if in the process, I flay the skin from the demon, freeing my love!"
"And so it was," says Ben. "Mark down 'Horribly Scarred' on the sheet. Ivan, what next?"
"Aadrinka stands, dripping with the foulness of the demon, and reveals that she is not the only soul imprisoned. That three other shields have been absorbed by demons at the polestars of the world, and when they are freed, the Curse of Dawn and the Sun shall be lifted forever, and all shall once more be well!"
"And so it came to pass," agrees Ben, "'Cause that's awesome." Which was nice, even if untrue, but I'm a sucker for melodrama.
I picked up the game, like I say. Joe is interested in trying it again with a bigger group. The others vary from disinterested to curious, though I don't think it'll be a good match for the Boozehounds overall. doogs19 and I had a nice chat about the strengths and weaknesses of these games as they relate to our group - and our group as they relate to these games. But that's probably for another time.