Credits

Architects of Atzlan
Copyright © 2006 Adam Dray Images

Cover and left: “Chicomoztoc, the place of the seven caves.”

From the Historia Tolteca chicimeca, 1550.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztlan
Design, Writing, Editing, and Layout

Page 3: From The Sacred Symbols of Mu.

Adam Dray
James Churchward, 1933.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/ssm/index.htm

Page 4: “Atlantis.” From Atlantis, the Antediluvian World.

Inspiration
Ignatius Donnelly, 1882.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/ataw/index.htm
This game is based on a character sheet by
Mike Ramsey. The sheet is available via the
Page 7: “Objects…” From How I Found the LostAtlantis,
Creative Commons License. Download it at
The Source of All Civilization. Dr. Paul Schliemann, 1912.
http://www.kevinallenjr.com/reverseengin
http://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/hif/hif03.htm
eer/MikeRamseyEntry.pdf

Page 8: “The Hittite Bird Symbol” From The Sacred

This game borrows ideas from other
Symbols of Mu. James Churchward, 1933.
independently published games, especially
http://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/ssm/ssm06.htm
Dogs in the Vineyard by Vincent Baker. I walk
in the footsteps of giants.
Page 11: “The Sun” From The Sacred Symbols of Mu.
James Churchward, 1933.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/ssm/ssm06.htm

Page 13: “The Daisy” From The Sacred Symbols of Mu.

James Churchward, 1933.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/ssm/ssm13.htm

Page 15: Serpent from Nootka Indian tableau.

From The Sacred Symbols of Mu. James Churchward, 1933.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/ssm/ssm06.htm

Page 16: Analysis of Mu figure by Viola de Gruchy.

From The Sacred Symbols of Mu. James Churchward, 1933.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/atl/ssm/ssm13.htm

Page 18: “Winged Deity Kneeling beside a Sacred Tree.”

From Myths of Babylonia and Assyria. Donald A. Mackenzie, 1915.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/mba/
mba20.htm#img_34000

All images used in this text are in the Public Domain.

Contents
Architects of Aztlan is a two-player tabletop role-playing game in which you tell the stories of a citizen of ancient
Atlantis, a powerful civilization that has tragically brought cycles of cataclysm upon the world, and that has learned
how to travel to the future by reincarnating into the lives of other people. In this way, they hope to prepare those
civilizations for the unavoidable disaster that will come. Will they believe you? How can you save thousands of years
of knowledge and civilization from certain destruction? If you fail, human kind will be lost…

Credits 2

Chapter 1 4
Atzlan
Chapter 2 5
Characters
The Timaeus 9

Chapter 3 11
Playing
Character Sheet
http://www.kevinallenjr.com/reverseengineer/MikeRamseyEntry.pdf
Chapter 1 − Aztlan
Cataclysm
The rise and fall of Atlantis is the stuff of legend.
Plato described Atlantis as a perfect society but it was
never without issues and challenges. Built on what is
now known as the continent of Antarctica, Atlantis—
or, as they call themselves, Aztlan—was a vast land
divided into seven kingdoms around a central
mountain upon which stood a shining city. While the
civilization had attained great power and miraculous
technology, its people fought and bickered and
politicked like any other.
The largest war was fought over the energy web. The
southern kingdoms stood to benefit the most from
this invention but the northern kingdoms believed
that the energy web could disrupt the structure of the
world. In the end, they settled the issue in a terrible
war that lasted eight years and the southern
kingdoms won. It took a decade to realize how the
energy web was sapping the power of the earth’s
magnetic fields. It took longer to
realize how grave it would be.
When the sun god opened up
with all his wrath, the world was
unprotected. Without warning,
everything changed in a moment.
The night swallowed the sun. The
ground shook. Ice rained from the
sky. Tidal waves crashed over the
land. The few thousand who
survived were tossed to distant
lands on makeshift boats.
Hundreds of millions died.
Aztlan was gone.
Messages
Before the Cataclysm, some
Aztlantians tried to warn people.
They sailed all over the world
with a warning. They explained
as best they could to the less
advanced people of the world
how life as they knew it would soon come to an end.
Their message was grave:
The end is coming. Prepare for it. You will not survive.
Almost everyone will die. Civilization will crumble. What
is important is that history and knowledge are not lost so
4
that the few survivors will remember you and will remember
this lesson.
The Aztlantians convinced many kings and queens to
get ready for the end. They built great stone structures—
pyramids, temples, vaults, tunnels—and filled them
with scrolls and tablets that recorded their histories and
poetry, their mathematics and science, with the distant
hope that someday other men might find them and
know they were here.
Cycles
Unfortunately, this was not enough. The Aztlantians
also understood that they had unleashed a cycle of
cataclysms upon the world. When the planets were
aligned, it would happen again. Even if their warnings
were heeded now, how would they warn future
civilizations?
A group of Aztlantians called the
Architects had learned how to travel
through lifetimes to distant times.
This is how they had discovered the
imminent Cataclysm, yet the
southern monarchs dismissed their
warnings as delusional magic hocus
pocus. The Architects did the best
they could and used their power to
warn others in the future. They
cannot stop the Cataclysms from
happening but they can warn
everyone.
Time Travel
In 9500 BC, the Architects are able to
visit different places in the future
through reincarnation. They use
great power concentrators in the
form of giant pyramids to send
themselves forward in time to
inhabit the body of some person
from that time. The process is
difficult and expensive so it cannot be easily repeated.
The Aztlantians must choose their travels carefully.
Furthermore, they have no control over the specific
details of the reincarnation. They can choose from
several methods to manifest in the future but they
cannot choose whose life they end up overtaking.
Chapter 2 − Characters
To play Architects of Atzlan, one player must create a character called the Architect. (The other player, called the guide,
will create a mission for the Architect.) This chapter explains the character generation process. Some things about your
character are permanent. Your static traits never change and, once you have earned a discipline, it’s yours forever.
Other aspects of your character change from mission to mission. You choose your method of rebirth every time and
that influences many other things about you.

Rebirth points to spend on them, insight earned at start, and life-

time spent at start.
At the beginning of every mission, you must choose
Newborn Prophetic Possessed Enlightened
how you will be reborn. The choice you make Flesh +0 –2 +2 –1
dictates other things about your character: your Spirit –1 +2 –2 +2
dynamic traits, your static trait modifiers, your Mind –2 +0 –1 +1
starting insight and starting life-time. Worry not Connection +2 –2 –3 +0
Dynamic Traits
about these new terms—they’re all explained later. • Number 6 2 4 5
• Points 20 5 10 15
The Newborn reincarnate as infants in the womb. Insight earned 0 10 5 8
LifeTime spent 10 5 0 0
They must grow up in that world over decades.
Slowly, over years, they begin to “remember” their
original mission. This process is filled with self-doubt Rebirth modifiers to the Flesh, the Spirit, the Mind, and
and pain, as many of the subjects think they’re going the Connection are temporary (only for this mission).
crazy with these memories of the past. Write them as a modifier to the actual score. For
example if your Connection is 5 and you choose the
Newborn rebirth (+2 Connection, –2 Spirit), then you
The Prophetic reincarnate as a spirit only barely
would write 5+2 next to The Connection on your
connected to a body in the future world. They can
character sheet.
speak to the person to whom they’ve attached but
only as a voice in that person’s head. These people
are often driven insane by the insistent voices with a Traits
message of doom.
A trait is a cool thing that describes your character. You
The Possessed reincarnate in the middle of the host’s need your traits to accomplish your missions. They earn
life. They instantly start a struggle with the person to you dice to roll in conflicts.
suppress their personality so that the Architects can
take over and begin his or her mission. Architects of Aztlan has two kinds of traits. There are four
static traits and their scores never change. Your
The Enlightened also reincarnate in the middle of the character also has up to six dynamic traits and these can
person’s life. Instead of fighting for control, however, change from mission to mission. As you complete
they gently augment their subject’s knowledge and missions, you may earn disciplines, a special kind of
abilities and nudge them towards the mission. trait that grows with your character over time.

All of these people whose bodies and minds the
Architects “borrow” suffer a great deal. Some are
raised on a pedestal as powerful shaman. Others are
burned at the stake as evil sorcerers. Most develop
mental problems of some sort. Some think they’re
just going crazy. Others think they are chosen by
their gods to lead the world. Many end up dying
cruel fates at the hands of their own people.
Use the following chart to determine the modifiers to
static traits, the number of dynamic traits and the
Static Traits
The four static traits are The Flesh, The Spirit, The Mind,
and The Connection.
These represent your true self, even when you are
reincarnated into someone else’s life. They never change
though they are modified temporarily in different ways
according to your rebirth method. Distribute 12 points
among them. No trait may be lower than 1 or higher
than 6.

5
The Flesh represents your health, strength, manual
dexterity, grace, and all other things physical.
The Spirit is your willpower, luck, and moral fiber. If
your spirit is weak, you might have a hard time
doing the right thing.
You receive a number of traits and a number of points to
spend on them when you start a mission. These numbers
are determined by the rebirth you choose (see the chart
in Rebirth for details). You must spend all the points
before the mission starts.

The Mind measures your intelligence, memory,
creativity, and problem-solving abilities.
The Connection represents your charisma,
likeability, charm. It is your ability to get people to
do what you want.
During missions, your character will run into all kinds of
problems, and you and the GM will roll dice to resolve
them. Whoever gets the better roll wins the conflict and
one person also wins the right to narrate how things
turn out. The Harmony dice system is explained later, so
don’t worry too much about this now.

When you talk, you use Mind + Connection. When
you do something physical but don’t fight, use Flesh
+ Mind. When you fight but not try to kill, use Spirit
+ Flesh. When you try to kill, use Spirit + Connection.
Even when you step into another body, a certain
amount of life force goes with you. If you are
physically powerful, your host will also become so,
too. If you are physically weak, that will transfer to
your host, even if he was a great athlete before you
connected with him.
Dynamic Traits
Each mission, you are reborn into another person’s
life. Your dynamic traits represent what that person
(the host) offers you. Your choice of rebirth (see
above) determines how many dynamic traits you get
and how many points you can place in them.
A dynamic trait is represented by a word or short
phrase that describes it, a blessing, and a bane. You
make up the description freeform, like “Pharaoh’s
engineer” or “famously charming” or “politician.”
The blessing is the benefit you receive from it. The
bane is the punishment if you use the trait and fail.
When you use a trait in a conflict, you receive its
blessing. When you fail a conflict, all the banes of all the
traits you used are applied to your character. The
benefits and banes in the dynamic trait table are
explained below.
Benefits that add dice (“add 1 die”) allow you to roll
additional dice into a conflict. Pick up that many dice
and roll them and sort them according to the Harmony
rules.
Benefits that reroll dice (“reroll 2 dice”) allow you to
pick up discord dice and reroll them and sort them
according to the Harmony rules.
Benefits that give free successes (“1 free success”) allow
you to add free harmony dice to your harmony pool.
Benefits that give a harmonic bonus (“+2 harmonic”)
increase your harmonic value (not the number of dice in
the harmony pool) towards winning narration.
Banes that give a trait penalty (“–3 to highest trait”)
modify one or more static traits for the rest of this life. If
two traits are tied for “highest,” then you may choose
which one gets the penalty

Points Benefit Bane Banes that give a dice penalty (“–2 dice on next
1 add 1 die –1 to highest trait
conflict”) remove dice from the pool before the next roll.
1 reroll 2 dice lose 1 dynamic trait
1 reroll 3 dice –2 dice on next conflict
1 +1 harmonic –1 harmonic next conflict Banes that lose dynamic traits (“lose 2 dynamic traits”)
2 add 2 dice –1 to two highest traits cross out dynamic traits and make them unavailable for
2 reroll 4 dice lose 2 dynamic traits
2 reroll 5 dice –2 dice on next conflict
use for the rest of this life.
2 +2 harmonic –1 harmonic next conflict
3 add 2 dice –2 to highest trait Banes that give a harmonic penalty (“–1 harmonic next
3 1 free success –1 success next conflict
conflict”) decrease your harmonic value (not the number
4 add 3 dice –1 to three highest traits
5 add 3 dice –3 to highest trait of dice in the harmony pool) towards winning narration.
5 add 4 dice –2 to two highest traits
6 add 4 dice –1 to all four traits Banes that remove successes (“–1 success next conflict”)
6 2 free successes –2 successes next conflict
7 add 4 dice –4 to highest trait force you to remove harmony dice from your harmony
8 add 5 dice –3 to two highest traits pool.
10 add 5 dice –5 to highest trait

6
Disciplines
The Architects are very special people and over
many lifetimes they are able to master special traits
called disciplines that give them an edge during
missions. These disciplines are the knowledge that
characters accumulate from mission to mission.
Unlike dynamic traits, disciplines stay with a
character. Unlike static traits, disciplines have scores
that can increase over time.
New characters start with a single discipline at
level 1. Choose the discipline from the list below and
write it in the Trait box under Disciplines on your
character sheet.
For each discipline, choose a focus—a narrow aspect
of the discipline in which you have a particular
interest and ability. For example, if you choose
Agriculture as your discipline, you might write “fruit
trees” or “crop rotation” as your focus. When you
can bring your focus into play, you get an extra die in
conflicts.
Agriculture Throughout your many
rebirths, you have learned the best ways to make
crops grow. You understand irrigation and other
techniques to increase food output and handle
drought and famine.
Combat You have learned a variety
of personal combat skills. You are dangerous with or
without a weapon.
Great Works You are experienced in large
building projects, primarily temples and monuments
of stone. You understand how to quarry and shape
rock, how to move it, and how to lay huge stones into
place to build enormous structures that will last
thousands of years.
Medicine Living many lifetimes has
given you knowledge of the theory and techniques of
medicine. You understand medications, anatomy,
disease pathology, health, and surgical procedures.
Oratory Words are weapons. When
you speak, people listen. You have the power to
make people listen and change their minds.
Philosophy You have studied
metaphysics, epistemology, religion, and other fields
of thought. This knowledge gives you a broader
understanding of why people do what they do.
7
Science You have studied the sciences of
Aztlan and of people from centuries yet-to-come. You
understand physics and mathematics and astronomy.
Warfare You have studied the greatest
generals of many centuries and you understand military
strategy, warfare technology, and battle tactics. Soldiers
respect and follow you.
Liege
The seven kings and queens of the northern and
southern kingdoms have different philosophies
regarding the proper way to deliver the message to the
people of the future. Your character has allegiance to one
of these monarchs, your liege, and thus you inherit a
code of behavior.
This code is not so much a list of rules you follow, but
more that you were selected for your position of
prominence because you already demonstrated qualities
that the king or queen admired. Consider these codes of
behavior personality traits that guide you (firmly but not
absolutely).
The North
In general, the monarchs of the North are progressive
and believe in correcting the mistakes of the Aztlantian
people.
King Ampheres This oldest of the monarchs is
influential and powerful, yet he forgives his old
enemies. Code of Forgiveness : You must give people a
second chance when they have wronged you.
Queen Evaemon She rules her territory with an
iron fist but also a sense of humor. She believes in justice
over all. Code of Justice : You must strive to ensure that
everyone is treated fairly but that the guilty get their
due punishment.
King Autochthon His wife Queen Mnese really
rules their territory. His territory was combined with
hers when they married. He believes in strength
through compromise. Code of Compromise : You must
seek a middle ground between what you want and
what others want.
Queen Mnese She conquered her husband,
King Autochthon, and tripled her lands, then fell in
love with him. Code of Love : You must always seek
friendship with the people who oppose you.
The South
Overall, he monarchs of the South are more
aggressive and less concerned with the plight of the
people who may come after them.
King Mestor He is angry at the North and
irrationally blames them for the cataclysm. Code of
Anger : You anger easily and blame others for your
problems.
Queen Elasippe She consumes resources and
people without a second thought. Code of Abuse :
People are pawns to you, especially those who will
probably end up dead anyway.
King Diaprepes He bends the truth to suit his
purposes. When caught, he makes excuses. Code of
Deceit : You cannot help but tell lies, especially when
it advances your cause. There is no inherent value in
the truth.
Queen Azaea She is famous for executing
people who betray her and for slaying her enemies in
battle. Code of Revenge : When people fail you, they
must die.
Gear, Essentials, and
Mementos
Since Architects reincarnate into the future, they
cannot take items with them. The wise leaders of
Aztlan have learned, however, that they can bury
certain items in safe places for the Architects to
discover in the future. Even if it takes the Aztlantians
ten years to travel to another part of the world and
bury a sword or map in a deep tomb, the
reincarnated Architect can find it hundreds and
thousands of years later.
8
Write down as many items as you like. These can be
important tools or weapons, scrolls or books, devices,
jewelry and clothing, statues, carvings, or anything else
you can imagine. It has to be something that would
stand the test of time. Anything made of anything less
than pottery, stone, or metal will likely disintegrate
before your host is born.
For each of these items, write down a short phrase that
describes how you might use these items on your
mission.
Gear and essentials include things you think will be
useful for your mission. They could be tools or manuals
for your discipline or things to help you in your host’s
life.
Mementos are items that remind you of your past. They
can be ties to your “true” identity to remind you that
you’re an Architect or to help you remember your
mission. Mementos that tie to people from previous
missions can be especially touching. Remind yourself of
your prior successes and failures and the people you
helped, the people you loved, and the people you
destroyed.
In the rules, mementos refers collectively to the gear,
essentials, and mementos (reminders) that the Architect
has “taken with him.”
Distribute 10 points over the mementos. You can put all
10 points in one memento, if you like. If you have many
small ones, they will help you many times in small
ways. If you have one large one, it will help you once in
a large way. You can assign 0 points to a memento (it’s
just story “color” and provides no game benefit).
 The Timaeus
by Plato
I will tell an old-world story which I heard from an
aged man; for Critias, at the time of telling it, was, as
he said, nearly ninety years of age, and I was about ten.
Now the day was that day of the Apaturia which is
called the Registration of Youth, at which, according to
custom, our parents gave prizes for recitations, and the
poems of several poets were recited by us boys, and
many of us sang the poems of Solon, which at that time
had not gone out of fashion. One of our tribe, either
because he thought so or to please Critias, said that in
his judgment Solon was not only the wisest of men, but
also the noblest of poets. The old man, as I very well
remember, brightened up at hearing this and said,
smiling: Yes, Amynander, if Solon had only, like other
poets, made poetry the business of his life, and had
completed the tale which he brought with him from
Egypt, and had not been compelled, by reason of the
factions and troubles which he found stirring in his
own country when he came home, to attend to other
matters, in my opinion he would have been as famous
as Homer or Hesiod, or any poet.
And what was the tale about, Critias? said
Amynander.
About the greatest action which the Athenians ever
did, and which ought to have been the most famous,
but, through the lapse of time and the destruction of
the actors, it has not come down to us.
Tell us, said the other, the whole story, and how and
from whom Solon heard this veritable tradition.
He replied: In the Egyptian Delta, at the head of which
the river Nile divides, there is a certain district which is
called the district of Sais, and the great city of the
district is also called Sais, and is the city from which
King Amasis came. The citizens have a deity for their
foundress; she is called in the Egyptian tongue Neith,
and is asserted by them to be the same whom the
Greeks call Athena; they are great lovers of the
Athenians, and say that they are in some way related
to them.
To this city came Solon, and was received there with
great honor. He asked the priests who were most
skillful in such matters, about antiquity, and made the
discovery that neither he nor any other Greek knew
anything worth mentioning about the times of old.
9
On one occasion, wishing to draw them on to speak of
antiquity, he began to tell about the most ancient
things in our part of the world--about Phoroneus, who
is called ‘the first man,’ and about Niobe; and after the
Deluge, of the survival of Deucalion and Pyrrha; and
he traced the genealogy of their descendants, and
reckoning up the dates, tried to compute how many
years ago the events of which he was speaking
happened.
Thereupon one of the priests, who was of a very great
age, said:
“O Solon, Solon, you Hellenes are never anything but
children, and there is not an old man among you.”
Solon in return asked him what he meant.
“I mean to say,” he replied, “that in mind you are all
young; there is no old opinion handed down among
you by ancient tradition, nor any science which is
hoary with age. And I will tell you why.
“There have been, and will be again, many
destructions of mankind arising out of many causes.
The greatest have been brought about by the agencies
of fire and water, and other lesser ones by innumerable
other causes.
“There is a story, which even you have preserved, that
once upon a time Paethon, the son of Helios, having
yoked the steeds in his father’s chariot, because he was
not able to drive them in the path of his father, burnt
up all that was upon the earth, and was himself
destroyed by a thunderbolt.
“Now this has the form of a myth, but really signifies a
declination of the bodies moving in the heavens
around the earth, and a great conflagration of things
upon the earth, which recurs after long intervals. At
such times those who live upon the mountains and in
dry and lofty places are more liable to destruction than
those who dwell by rivers or on the seashore. And
from this calamity the Nile, who is our never-failing
savior, delivers and preserves us.
“When, on the other hand, the gods purge the earth
with a deluge of water, the survivors in your country
are herdsmen and shepherds who dwell on the
mountains, but those who, like you, live in cities are
carried by the rivers into the sea. Whereas in this land,
neither then nor at any other time, does the water
come down from above on the fields, having always a
tendency to come up from below; for which reason the
traditions preserved here are the most ancient.
“The fact is, that wherever the extremity of winter frost
or of summer sun does not prevent, mankind exist,
sometimes in greater, sometimes in lesser numbers.
And whatever happened either in your country or in
ours, or in any other region of which we are
informed—if there were any actions noble or great or
in any other way remarkable, they have all been
written down by us of old, and are preserved in our
temples.
“Whereas just when you and other nations are
beginning to be provided with letters and the other
requisites of civilized life, after the usual interval, the
stream from heaven, like a pestilence, comes pouring
down, and leaves only those of you who are destitute
of letters and education.
“And so you have to begin all over again like children,
and know nothing of what happened in ancient times,
either among us or among yourselves.
“As for those genealogies of yours which you just now
recounted to us, Solon, they are no better than the tales
of children.
“In the first place you remember a single deluge only,
but there were many previous ones. In the next place,
you do not know that there formerly dwelt in your
land the fairest and noblest race of men which ever
lived, and that you and your whole city are descended
from a small seed or remnant of them which survived.
And this was unknown to you, because, for many
generations, the survivors of that destruction died,
leaving no written word.
“For there was a time, Solon, before the great deluge of
all, when the city which now is Athens was first in war
and in every way the best governed of all cities, is said
to have performed the noblest deeds and to have had
the fairest constitution of any of which tradition tells,
under the face of heaven.
Solon marveled at his words, and earnestly requested
the priests to inform him exactly and in order about
these former citizens.
“You are welcome to hear about them, Solon,” said the
priest, “both for your own sake and for that of your
city, and above all, for the sake of the goddess who is
the common patron and parent and educator of both
our cities.
“She founded your city a thousand years before ours—
observe that Plato gives the same date (9000 years ago)
for the foundation of Athens and for the repulse of the
10
invasion from Atlantis—receiving from the Earth and
Hephaestus the seed of your race, and afterwards she
founded ours, of which the constitution is recorded in
our sacred registers to be 8000 years old.
“As touching your citizens of 9000 years ago, I will
briefly inform you of their laws and of their most
famous action; the exact particulars of the whole we
will hereafter go through at our leisure in the sacred
registers themselves. If you compare these very laws
with ours you will find that many of ours are the
counterpart of yours as they were in the olden time.
“In the first place, there is the caste of priests, which is
separated from all the others; next, there are the
artificers, who ply their several crafts by themselves
and do not intermix; and also there is the class of
shepherds and of hunters, as well as that of
husbandmen; and you will observe, too, that the
warriors in Egypt are distinct from all the other classes,
and are commanded by the law to devote themselves
solely to military pursuits; moreover, the weapons
which they carry are shields and spears, a style of
equipment which the goddess taught of Asiatics first to
us, as in your part of the world first to you.
“Then as to wisdom, do you observe how our law
from the very first made a study of the whole order of
things, extending even to prophecy and medicine
which gives health, out of these divine elements
deriving what was needful for human life, and adding
every sort of knowledge which was akin to them.
“All this order and arrangement the goddess first
imparted to you when establishing your city; and she
chose the spot of earth in which you were born,
because she saw that the happy temperament of the
seasons in that land would produce the wisest of men.
Wherefore the goddess, who was a lover both of war
and of wisdom, selected and first of all settled that spot
which was the most likely to produce men likest
herself. And there you dwelt, having such laws as
these and still better ones, and excelled all mankind in
all virtue, as became the children and disciples of the
gods.”
Chapter 3 – Playing
Guide and Player
This is a game for two players. The player will take
the role of the Architect. The guide will take the role
of the host and all the other people the Architect
meets and will create and run the mission.
The guide is responsible for creating a mission and
playing the characters the Architect meets in that
mission. The guide also gets to play the host into
whose body the Architect reincarnates. The guide
will roll dice for the opposition in conflicts against
the Architect.
The player is responsible for creating an Architect
character and preparing that character for the
mission. This includes choosing dynamic traits to
represent the life which the Architect has
reincarnated. The player makes all the decisions that
guide the Architect through the mission and
describes the character’s actions and feelings. Also,
the player rolls the dice for the Architect.
The player and guide can switch roles at the end of a
mission. This gives both a chance to play an
Architect. The guide can make up his own character
to play, or the guide and player can share one
character.
11
Missions
In Architects of Aztlan, the characters are specially trained
time travelers—Architects—who reincarnate into the
lives of people in the future (relative to their time in 9500
BC). They are disoriented when they arrive and,
depending on their method of rebirth, may know very
little about their actual mission until decades later.
Eventually, they start to realize their real purpose there.
Each Architect begins to remember the threat that
brought him here: global cataclysm. The Architect is the
only person who knows. If he remains quiet or fails to
convey the seriousness of the situation to the people,
they will be lost forever.
This is where a mission begins.
Materials
To play Architects of Atzlan, you’ll need a bunch of dice
(the normal, six-sided kind), a character sheet, and some
pencils and paper.
Discussion
The guide and player must collaborate on some of the
basic elements of the mission. After all, the player needs
to choose a method of rebirth and the dynamic traits to
represent the life of the person the Architect is
borrowing.
To accomplish this, you should talk about what kind of
mission this will be. Before splitting up to take care of
your own tasks, agree on Where, When, and Who.
When and Where go together. Together, determine the
location and date of the civilization the Architect will
visit. Anywhere in the world is an appropriate location.
The date is a little more constrained. The Aztlans cannot
visit the past, so you must pick a date after 9500 BC. Any
date after that is okay, but see the later section about Far
Futures.
You could visit Augustus Caesar’s Rome, Napoleon’s
France, Elizabeth I’s England, the ancient Aztecs,
China’s Zhou Dynasty, or a 22nd Century United States.
Be creative.
If you want, invent new civilizations in ancient times;
after all, little is known about the people who lived
before about 3500 BC. They seem to have been wiped
out entirely…
Determine when the cataclysm comes. This is when
humanity is threatened with extinction, when all
knowledge can be lost, when mankind can slide
backwards into barbarity. Write the inevitable Date
and Time of Destruction on the character sheet.
Who is about choosing a person—the host—into
whose life the Architect will reincarnate. Who is this
person? Someone with power and respect or a
nobody? You can choose a historical figure if you
wish, or make up someone fictional.
Get specific. Determine the host’s name and
occupation. Where does the host live? Does the host
have a family?
Obviously, choosing a host who is powerful will
make the mission easier in some ways. Who listens to
a farmer yelling about the end of the world?
Powerful hosts come with their own problems,
though. They have responsibilities they just cannot
ignore. If you choose a powerful host, describe the
challenges and responsibilities they face on a daily
basis and what happens if they ignore them.
Once you’ve nailed down When, Where, and Who,
the guide can start creating the mission and the
player can start creating the Architect. If the player
has an existing character he wants to use, he still
needs to fill out the method of rebirth and adjust the
character appropriately.
Creating Missions
The guide should follow this process to create a new
mission for the Architect.
1. Choose a threat.
2. Create allies and enemies.
3. Set a timeline.
Threats
First choose the major threat to civilization.
Extinction If the Architect fails, the people of
that civilization will be destroyed entirely. Not a
single one will survive.
12
Forgotten If the Architect fails, all traces of this
civilization will be lost to time. No one will remember
even their name.
Devolution If the Architect fails, civilization will
lose an important advancement of science, medicine,
architecture, or the like.
Allies and Enemies
Next, determine who the Architect might rely upon for
help or who might get in the way of the Architect.
Consider natural friends and foes of the host first. If the
host has a family or close friends, who are they? Which
of them will be likely to believe the Architect when they
start spouting messages of doom? Will any of them
oppose the Architect? Who does the host care about?
Who does the host hate?
Consider people who likely will hear about the
Architect’s message. This might be brought to the
attention of a powerful noble, a king or queen or one of
their advisors, a doctor or psychiatrist, a scientist, or a
religious figure. What powerful people does the host
know who might be helpful or threatening?
Consider people who might get swept up in the story. Is
there a reporter or police investigator who might want
to know more? Is there a merchant or businessman who
wants to make a fortune off the information? What
“strangers” would care about the host if they knew his
true story?
Write down the names of three or four characters in each
category (natural friends and foes, people with power,
and people getting swept up in it). You should have at
least ten to twelve characters.
For each character, write down: what the character
wants, the character’s static traits (the same four an
Architect has), and two dynamic traits. Distribute 10
points among the static traits and 10 more points among
the dynamic traits. Don’t worry too much about getting
these “perfect.”
Timeline
As guide, you can set certain events in motion. These
events will occur unless the Architect does something to
stop them.
Start with the Date of Destruction—the day on which the
cataclysm will come—and work backwards. How long
do you want to give the Architect to work? In terms of
game mechanics, it won’t matter how much time you
give the Architect to complete the mission. The
Architect’s life-time track is an abstract
representation of the time he has left, and the boxes
on that track can be months or decades.
Write down a series of interesting “warning signs”
for the cataclysm: earthquakes, volcanoes, storms,
tidal waves, comets, solar flares, magnetic
disturbances. Get creative. Choose the year these
might happen.
Choose some other important events. If you have a
history book, steal ideas from it. What happened in
those years? Keep in mind that previous
reincarnations in your story may have “adjusted”
what happens in history in weird ways. Have fun
with it!
Think about the ages of the allies and enemies you
created. When do they die? What is their cause of
death? Is it natural? Do they die in an accident? Are
they murdered? The guide has great power over
what goes into the timeline. A dozen events should
be more than enough for a fun story.
Now pick the year in which the Architect awakens.
Subtract that year from the date of destruction. That
number, rounded to the nearest whole number, is
how many years each box of life-time represents—
more or less. Use this as a suggestion, not a hard rule,
when narrating the time between opportunities and
events in the game.
13
Reincarnation
Back in 9500 BC, the Aztlantians have Dreamers who
can determine when the next cycle of cataclysms will
occur. They gather their Architects into the Sleeping
Chamber where their bodies will lie dormant for a
matter of a few hours while they complete the mission.
The Architects are sent to locations all around the world
and they all go to roughly the same date in the future.
The Aztlantians know nothing at all about the people
there, their civilization, or what threats they face. All
they know is that the cataclysm will occur and it will
take some time for the Architect to get embedded in
society, “wake up,” and figure out what needs to be
fixed.
The player must make up all kinds of details about the
host whom the Architect will inhabit, but the Architect
doesn’t know these things and the host doesn’t know
about the Architect until events conspire to make the
host aware during the mission.
Awakening
The host is a person who is living their life, probably
peacefully but perhaps with troubles of their own, and
along comes the Architect who steps into their body, one
way or another, and they start hearing voices or
remembering things and the world changes.
The player should determine how their host is affected.
The player plays the host as well as the Architect. They
are one and the same as far as everyone else in the world
is concerned.
The guide starts by reminding the player about the
discussion they had earlier. Where and when did the
Architect reincarnate?
The player responds by describing the host. What is his
given name? What does he do? How was he reborn?
What are one or two important dynamic traits he has?
Most importantly, how old is he when he wakes up?
The guide then describes a specific place (the host’s
home, a marketplace, a hospital, whatever). The
character is here when the mission starts. This is when
the host starts to realize his higher purpose.
If the host and Architect are tightly integrated, this is
when the Architect personality starts to come out. If the
host and Architect are separated, such as a possession
rebirth, this is when then Architect starts to control or
talk to the host.
The guide, playing the host, should describe
something they see that might remind the Architect
(now in the host’s body but not yet awakened) of the
cataclysm to come. This could be a memory of home,
an earthquake or other foreboding event, another
person saying something about death, or anything
that could conceivably awaken the Architect. If
you’re stuck, use a memento off the character sheet.
This starts the first conflict. This is a conflict between
the Architect and the host. Use the stress conflict
rules (explained later) to find out who wins. Win or
lose, the Architect gets control over the host. If the
Architect fails, however, the host acts erratically
enough that people in the vicinity notice and
eventually important people start hearing about it.
In general, the guide has great latitude over the host.
He can describe the strong emotions of the host upon
learning of the inevitable destruction of the world.
He can tell the player that the host is acting crazy or
despondent or whatever. The player must accept this
as the current state, but can work (through additional
stress conflicts) to change the host’s demeanors.
Insight
The character sheet has an insight track on it. The
track is 20 boxes and some of them may be checked
at the start of the mission (depending on the method
of rebirth).
Insight represents what the Architect has learned and
accomplished regarding their mission. When all 20
boxes are checked, the mission is complete and the
Architect has succeeded in preventing the threat the
guide created.
Life−Time
The character sheet also has a life-time track on it. It
is also a series of 20 boxes. Depending on the method
of rebirth selected for the mission, some of these
boxes may already be checked. The remaining boxes
represent how many opportunities the Architect has
to accomplish their mission.
Life-time represents abstract time, often years or
decades. The actual amount of time doesn’t matter.
Each box symbolizes opportunities and when those
boxes are checked, the opportunities have passed.
When all the Life-time boxes are checked, the
14
Architect has no more opportunities to complete his
mission and has failed. Whatever threat the guide
created will overtake this civilization.
Punishment
Across many missions, Architects will likely suffer all
kinds of terrible anguish and torture. They will live life
after life in other people’s bodies. Their psyches will be
wrought with the pains of watching civilizations
crumble. In the end, the host dies and the Architect
returns to Aztlan to recuperate and prepare for the next
mission.
Luckily, Architects are strong and can deal with most of
these things. The stress of failing a mission, however,
can cause permanent damage to the Architect’s spirit.
The punishment track measures this permanent
spiritual damage. How punishment and the punishment
track work is explained in the Harmony section later.
Opportunities
The guide should present a series of opportunities to the
player. Each opportunity offers the player the chance to
develop his character, tell more of the story of the
civilization the Architect is saving, and earn insight.
Each opportunity also brings the threat closer with the
addition of one or more life-time boxes checked off.
In presenting an opportunity, the guide will tell the
player the difficulty and the duration.
The guide should roll 10 dice and pick the result that
occurs the most often and move all the dice with that
result showing into a separate pile representing the
duration. That’s how many life-time boxes will be
checked off if the Architect passes on this opportunity.
The value showing on these matching dice is the gain of
insight if the player wins the conflict. The other dice are
the difficulty, and these become dice the guide uses in
conflicts against you during this opportunity.
For example, the guide picks up ten dice and rolls
1223445666. He lucked out with three 6’s and moves
those into a separate pile. This means that the duration is
3, the potential insight gain is 6, and the difficulty of the
opportunity is 7.
The player must decide whether to take this opportunity
or let it go by. If the player passes, he must check off as
many life-time boxes as the dice in the duration pile. If
the player accepts the opportunity, the guide then
describes events in the fictional world to which the
player can have the Architect react.

Harmony and Discord
Architects of Aztlan uses dice to figure out what
happens during conflicts that occur in missions. The
guide and player each roll a handful of six-sided dice
and sort them into piles and compare results.
The main gist of the dice rules is that you pick one
number that shows up on the dice you rolled and
sort your dice into two piles. The harmony pile is all
the dice that match that number you picked. The
discord pile is all the rest of the dice. You usually
pick the number that occurs most frequently in your
roll.
For example, if you roll ten dice and get 1123344456,
you have three 4’s. If you choose 4, then your
harmony is 444 and your discord is 1123356. If you
use a dynamic trait to reroll all of your discord, you
pick up all 7 of those dice and roll again. If you
happen to roll 1223346, you get to move the 4 into
your harmony (now 4444) and the 122336 is your
new discord.
Initial Dice
In any conflict, you start with a certain number of
dice.
The guide starts with the difficulty dice from the
opportunity roll. (That’s essentially the discord from
that roll, if you want to think of it that way; the
duration was the harmony.)
15
The number of dice the player gets depends on what the
conflict represents and the character’s static traits. If it’s
a conflict of words or a stress conflict, the player adds up
Mind + Connection and rolls that many dice. If the
character is doing something physical but isn’t fighting
or hurting anyone, you add up Flesh + Mind. If the
character is fighting but not using a weapon that is likely
to kill, add up Spirit + Flesh. If the character is using
lethal force or is trying to kill another person, use Spirit
+ Connection.
The guide and player each roll their dice, choose one of
the values on the dice (probably the one that occurs
most), and sorts them into harmony and discord piles.
Both the guide and player should describe what they are
doing in order of harmonic and according to who is
winning the conflict (see below).
Interpreting the Dice
The number showing on the dice in the harmony pile is
called the harmonic. This number determines who first
gets to describe what happens after the conflict is
resolved, regardless of whether the player wins or loses.
If you want the narrative power to describe how the
Architect succeeds or fails, you want the higher
harmonic value.
If the player has the higher harmonic, he narrates the
conclusion of the conflict, and then the guide can add his
own description—as long as it doesn’t contradict what
the player said.
If the guide has the higher harmonic, he gets to narrate
first, and then the player can add something.
The number of dice in the harmony pile is called the
power. Whoever has the highest power is currently
winning the conflict.
Improving the Player’s Rolls
The player gets to decide when the conflict is over so he
has a lot of control. If the player decides to continue the
conflict, he and the guide both get the option to improve
their rolls. In most cases, the player will not stop till he
has won but each time he continues the guide also gets a
chance to improve the roll for the opposition. More
importantly, each roll can escalate the tension in the
scene, cost the player life-time, and consume valuable
character resources.
There are three ways the player can improve a roll.
These involve traits. The player may do only one of
these things when improving a roll.
Static Traits The only way to bring in
dice from your static traits is to change the nature of
the conflict. This is called escalation because you
often ramp up the tension from talking to physical to
fighting to killing. You do not have to escalate in that
order though. You might start by shooting a
crossbow at a guard then decide to smash him over
the head and knock him out instead. That’s an
“escalation” from killing to fighting. The level of
conflict you choose determines the level of
punishment inflicted (more on punishment later).
Roll these extra dice and sort them into harmony and
discord.
Dynamic Traits You can bring in dice from
your dynamic traits, too, when you can describe to
the guide how they’d be useful to the host or
Architect. This always costs you a box on the life-
time track, so check one off when you do this. Follow
the instructions for the specific blessing you have
chosen for the trait.
Disciplines You also have your
disciplines to mine for more dice. If you can explain
how the Architect can apply a discipline to the
conflict, you may bring in that many dice. This does
not cost any life-time boxes! Roll those dice and sort
them into harmony and discord.
The player can use any trait that hasn’t been used yet.
A trait that is represented by dice on the table cannot
be used again.
For example, if you started out talking, that means
you’ve used your Mind and Connection dice. If you
suddenly decide to kill the person you’re talking
with, you would bring in Spirit and Connection.
Since you already rolled dice for your Connection,
you just get the dice for your Spirit.
Mementos
The player can also use the Architect’s gear,
essentials, and mementos to help win conflicts. First,
he must find the gear. The guide can simply let the
player narrate how he finds it or he can challenge
that narration and turn it into a stress conflict. Put a
check mark next to any one of these items (called,
collectively, “mementos”) to signify it’s in the
possession of the Architect / host.
At any time during a conflict, the player can cross off
the memento to use it. Crossing it off doesn’t mean
the item is lost; it only means that the item has been
used during this mission and can’t be used again.
16
Using a memento gives the player extra dice. The
number of extra dice is equal to the “benefit” written
next to the item on the character sheet.
For example, an Architect has excavated a tomb not too
far from the Great Pyramid, where he knows is a picture
of his family back home. This picture gives him strength.
The player spent 5 points on this memento, so it’s worth
5 extra dice.
The extra dice are placed into the discord pool. They are
not rolled until the player gets a chance to roll again, by
the normal means.
Improving the Guide’s Rolls
The guide has some named characters with static and
dynamic traits. When those characters are involved in a
scene, the guide should bring in the two static traits
relevant to the conflict, the same way a player can. When
the player improves his roll using a trait, the guide may
use the traits of any character involved in that conflict.
Like the player, the guide can only use one trait to try to
improve his roll. The guide should follow the same
procedure as the player except that the guide doesn’t
need to check off a life-time box when he uses a dynamic
trait. Even though the guide controls the host, he doesn’t
have access to any of the traits on the player’s sheet.
Ending the Conflict
When the player decides not to continue the conflict,
compare the power (number of dice) of the harmony
pools. The side with the most dice wins.
The person with the higher harmonic (die-face value in
the harmony pile) gets to narrate the conclusion. This
should consider everything that the player and guide
said was happening all along the way and it should not
contradict any of it. The narration also must match
expectations of the winner of the conflict.
What happened? How did it happen? Be colorful and
dramatic! This moment is why you play the game so do
not rush over it.
Once the narrator finishes his
story, the other person gets
to add details to it. These
details may not contradict
the spirit or letter of what
was said before but may
embellish and add additional information. When in
doubt, the original narrator has veto power over the
content of the second narration.
Consequences
The resolution of the conflict may (should!) have
serious implications within the fictional world.
Maybe the Architect killed an important person.
Perhaps a king believes the Architect’s crazy stories.
Use the insight track as a barometer of the reactions
of other characters when the conflict involves the
civilization finally understanding what will come to
pass.
The narrations of the players become “real” in the
fictional world. Whatever you say becomes fact. If
you win narration, you can tell a story about the
death of a king or the epiphany of a priest. The other
person —guide or player—must accept this into the
fictional world.
If the player wins the conflict, he gains the insight
promised by the reward dice. Check off an
appropriate number of boxes on the insight track.
The End of Things
If the player reaches 20 insight, he gets to explain
how he stops the threat and successfully completes
his mission (even if he didn’t get first narration for
the conflict). The player also tells the story of the rest
of the host’s life and how the cataclysm comes and
wipes out civilization. Success is bitter sweet.
If the player checked off his last box of life-time
during a conflict and did not reach 20 insight, his
host has run out of opportunities before the Architect
could complete the mission. The player gets to
narrate this frustrating end and also the end of
civilization. The player should explain how the threat
has come to be true and how world history changes
as a result.
For example, if ancient Egypt was threatened with
being Forgotten and the Architect failed, the player
might explain that the Egyptians never built the
pyramids and all memory of them was erased;
tsunami and sandstorms covered them up and thus
Egypt was not around thousands of years later to
feed Rome, and thus the Romans never came to be a
great empire.
17
Ties
In the case of a tie, the game master wins.
If there is a tie in power (to see who wins or loses), the
game master wins. This puts additional pressure on the
player to continue conflicts and to deplete trait resources
until he wins.
If there is a tie in harmonic (to see who gets to narrate
first), the game master wins. This gives the player a
reason to surrender in certain conflicts.
Surrender
The player or guide can surrender, or willingly lose a
conflict, at any time. When the player or guide does this,
he automatically loses the conflict but wins narration.
Proceed through narration and consequences as above.
Stress Conflicts
A certain kind of conflict is so important in this game
that it gets its own section. A stress conflict is a struggle
between the Architect and his host.
Stress conflicts occur when the game master portrays the
host whom he controls in a way that the player wants to
contest. Within the fiction of the game world, the host
doesn’t necessarily know the Architect even exists. The
host could be upset and the Architect could be a “back-
seat driver” personality trying to cheer up the host
without his knowledge. In any case, a conflict resolves if
the Architect can win control of the host.
The guide should use every opportunity to use his
control of the host, the world, and the timeline to make
the player squirm. The host will naturally struggle with
the difficult situation into which he’s been thrust. Unless
the Architect can make him understand the importance
of the mission, the host will resist putting himself, his
loved ones, and his countrymen in grave danger.
The guide should make the player choose what is most
important? Is this opportunity to save the world worth
betraying a friend? Losing your wife? Is it worth killing
your brother? After all, there will be more opportunities,
right?
Because stress conflicts are so distracting to the
Architect, it costs the player more to reroll. During a
stress conflict each reroll costs 1 box of life-time. Using
dynamic traits still costs just 1 life-time, not 2.
Otherwise, stress conflicts are just like any other
conflict in terms of the rules, except that they inflict
punishment.
Punishment
After each roll during a stress conflict, the Architect
takes punishment from the stress if he’s not winning
the conflict. Punishment is recorded on the
punishment track.
The punishment track has four groups of boxes:
Uninjured, Battered, Wounded, and Breaking Apart.
Each group has four boxes in it, for a total of 16
boxes. After Breaking Apart is the word Destroyed.
If the escalation level is currently talking, the player
must check off a box in the Uninjured group. If
physical, check off a box in the Battered group. If
fighting, check off a box in the Wounded group. If
killing, check off a box in the Breaking Apart group.
Whenever a group is full, move to the next group to
the right. The Architect suffers the penalties
described below when the last box in a group is
checked. There is no way to heal punishment. It is
permanent karmic suffering.
For example, the Architect is arguing with his host.
This is talking. The player loses the first round of the
conflict and must check a punishment box. However,
all four Uninjured boxes are already checked, so he
looks at the Battered group. Three of those boxes are
checked. He checks off the last Battered group and
chooses a Battered penalty.
Uninjured
When all four Uninjured boxes are checked, choose
one of these penalties:
Increase or decrease your harmonic by 1.
Add or remove one die from your discord.
Take a new dynamic trait worth 1 point.
Cross off any unused dynamic trait for this conflict.
Upgrade the blessing/bane for any trait and replace
it with a new blessing/bane worth 1 point more.
Surrender and get a new dynamic trait worth 1-3
points.
18
Battered
When all four Battered boxes are checked, choose one of
these penalties:
For this mission, modify one static trait by +1 or –1.
Change your harmonic to a 6, effectively.
Take a new dynamic trait worth 2 points.
Cross off any dynamic trait for this mission.
Upgrade a blessing/bane for any trait with a new one
worth 2 points more.
Surrender and get a new dynamic trait worth 3-5 points.
Surrender and get a permanent +1 or –1 level to a
Discipline.
Wounded
When all four Wounded boxes are checked, choose one
item from the Battered and one item from the Uninjured
lists.
Additionally, all stress conflicts cost you 1 life-time to
start. Pay this when you start a new stress conflict.
Rerolls still cost 1 life-time each, as usual.
Breaking Apart
When all four Breaking Apart boxes are checked, choose
one item from the Battered and one item from the
Uninjured lists.
Additionally, all stress conflicts cost you 2 life-time to
start. Pay this when you start a new stress conflict.
Rerolls still cost 1 life-time each, as usual.
Destroyed
When all 16 boxes have been checked, the Architect’s
spirit is destroyed utterly. His mortal and immortal life
is over. The Architect leaves the host and does not return
to his body in 9500 BC Atlantis. The spirit exists no
longer. The character is dead and cannot be revived.