The Wrath of the Gods

A role playing game of tragedy and disaster in a

mythic ancient world

by Arturo Gonzalez-Escribano

Apr, 2006
 The text of this game was prepared using LATEX. Figures were composed with
the xfig program.

The Wrath of the Gods (c) 2006, Arturo Gonzalez Escribano

Contents

Preface v

1 Introduction 1
1.1 The escenary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 The characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1 Normal people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.2 Protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 The players and the game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Preparing the game 5

2.1 What do you need to play? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.2 Choosing the escenary and threat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3 The community map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4 Creating protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.4.1 Protectors description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.4.2 Protectors attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.5 Creating normal people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.5.1 Normal people description and attributes . . . . . . . . . 9
2.5.2 Main connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.5.3 Secondary connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3 Game mechanics 13
3.1 Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.1.1 Framing and free play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.1.2 Facing troubles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.2 Determining an outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.2.1 Normal people alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

iii
iv CONTENTS

3.2.2 Protectors in normal state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

3.2.3 Protectors in Hero-State State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2.4 Several protectors around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.3 Effects of the outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.3.1 Positive outcome: Protectors in normal state . . . . . . . . 16
3.3.2 Positive outecome: Protectors in Hero-State . . . . . . . . 16
3.3.3 Negative outcome: Normal people alone . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.3.4 Negative outcome: Protectors in normal state . . . . . . . 16
3.3.5 Negative outcome: Protectors in Hero-State . . . . . . . . 17
3.3.6 Protectors death: The last hero action . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.4 State changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.4.1 Changing to Hero-State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.4.2 Coming back to normal state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

4 Driving the game 19

4.1 Opening secenes and conflict stakes ??? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2 The threat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.3 The arriving of the disaster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.4 A dying community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.5 Last hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4.6 Ending the game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

5 Examples of play 23
5.1 An scene during the threat discovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.2 An scene during the arriving of the disaster . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.3 An scene during the dying community stage . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.4 An example scene of the last-hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

A Charts and models 25

B Ancient Greek deities 29

C Classical Greek names 31

Acknoledgements 33
Preface

Dusk time. Nyx is extending her cloak over the lands of this an-
cient world, where myths are truth and the scent of the old tales is
alive. The starlight is reflecting in the sea foam, and the slow waves
do not prelude the fate of this land. Soon, the wind is up, Eolo is
blowing fiercy. The trumbling breath of the storm sounds like the
Harpies laughing. It looks like Titans were freed from Tartaro today.
The Furies should be walking on our world, coming to us with their
serpent-hairs flowing in the air and their eyes gushing blood. A god
should be angry with us, and the wrath of the gods is terrible. Our
land is doomed. Who may dare to face it?
But the mythic seer Tiresias had long ago a dream. He saw the
Mount Olympus. He saw the gods again. Some of them were weep-
ing for the fate of our wonderful land. There were still some beau-
tifull people, some untouched by the harm. Should all of them also
perish? Some of the gods have flown down in the darkness. They
have search in the deep night for a very few chosen ones. They have
whispered in their ears. They have given them a token of the gods
power. Thus, protectors will be raised for the sake of gods. They
will try to save their people from this chaos. But they are still only
mortals; and the choices of mortals are always hard. They will fight
until the end, but who knows if they will succeed. Who will become
a real heroe? Who will make feats worth of an ethernal poem, or a
Virgils tale?

v
vi PREFACE
Chapter 1

Introduction

The Wrath of the Gods is a role-playing game where the characters face an over-
whelming threat which surely will destroy their community and their world. The
players play the role of special people which are both, boosted and hindered by
the emotions of other significant characters. They share their happiness and hopes,
but also their pain and deception. Thus, they need to protect others to save them-
selves. When pain becomes unbearable, they have the choice to invoke the power
of their protector god.
Getting in a heroe-trance where they are disconnected from their emotions,
they are able to perform amazing deeds. But a heroe may easily risk too much,
endangering both, their safety and the safety of the others. Will any one of them
survive the terrible coming disaster? Probably not, but they will make a good tale
fighting until their last stance.

1.1 The escenary

This game may be played in many different scenarios of the acient world universe.
The exact one will be chosen by the players when they begin to play the game.
The elements which must be present to produce the proper situation are:

A community: The characters of this story are protectors of some people from
an endangered community. It may be a whole nation, even the an empire
like Rome; the population of a city-state like Athenas or Sparta; or the small
crew of a ship travelling to forbidden lands in a mythic quest like the Argos.

A threat: By any means they have awoken the wrath of a god. Thus, the com-

1
2 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

munity is going to face a terrible fate. A disaster of unbelievable magnitude

threats to destroy the whole community and its memory. No help may be
expected from outside.
In ancient times natural and human caused disasters were in general as-
cribed to the whims of the gods. Thus, the threat may be almost anything.

E XAMPLES OF SITUATIONS : The last days of Pompey when the

Vesubio volcano buried the city with fire, ashes and stone. The popu-
lation of Rome facing a terrible fire, started by the emperor-god Nero,
which predates the city. The huge floods and the strike of The Leviatan,
like in the story of Andromeda and Perseo. A small village of Persia un-
able to defend against the mythic invader armies of Alexandro The Great.
Facing a terrible plague which will continue until everyone perishes (ill-
nesses; swarms of critters; you may even use the seven plagues of Egypt
described in The Bible as models). A disastreous earthquake destroying
the city of Alejandria, with its mythic lighthouse and library. The Atlantis
continent being sunken in the ocean by the rage of the gods.

1.2 The characters

1.2.1 Normal people
The main population of the community are normal people. They are skilled in
their specific activities. But this will not help them too much when trying to
tackle the coming dangerous situations. No matter if they are warriors, merchants,
housewives or senators. They will find themselves not to be prepared for the nature
of the disaster.
These normal people need the guidance of a protector, a chosen of the gods,
to struggle adversity. When alone, they easily fall to fear and panic. Without a
protector they are damned.

1.2.2 Protectors
The other gods are sorrofull for that poor people, some of them innocents and
beatifull mortal creatures. They have searched for some special ones among them.
Some who are worthy to get the favour of the gods to protect their peers. Some
with the potential to become heroes. Thus, those chosen by the gods are:
1.3. THE PLAYERS AND THE GAME 3

Skilled in struggle situations: Protectors are strong, sneaky and crafty. They are
innate or trained fighters with survival abilities. They may be aware of these
abilities, being trained in military corps or an esoteric order, or they may
look like normal people and discovering their potential when facing trouble.

Easily boosted by the emotions of others: When defending their friends or com-
munity they find strong psychological support and they may arise as un-
known heroes. However, the despair and fear of others also affect them
badly. They suffer the pain of others as well as their own pain.
The gods will name them as protectors. They will give them a token of their
power. When the pain becomes unbearable they will be able to invoke the gods
power and enter in a divine-trance state. As heroes of a god they will be com-
pletely disconnect from their emotions. Unharmed by them, and with enhanced
physical/spiritual senses, in this state they become amazingly strong, quick and/or
skillful. However, being disconnected from their emotions, they may easily risk
too much and endanger not only themselves, but also the people they try to pro-
tect. Moreover, enpowered by a god it is easy to forget about others. Thus, it is
not always easy to come back to the normal state.

1.3 The players and the game

One of the players will be designated as the Game-Master (GM). She will play the
normal people, and she will present the threat and its associated troubles to the
other players; creating continuous and escalating dangerous situations for them to
try to overcome. Each of the other players will play a protector character.
The game will begin with the players creating together a threat, a setting, and
populating it with protectors and some significant and related normal people.
After that, the game will consist in several scenes. Before each scene the play-
ers will have the opportunity to comment about their fears and expectations about
the threat. This will be used by the GM to create and frame an appropriate trouble.
During the scene the players will try to deal with it, protecting the normal people.
If they fail the normal people will suffer, and they will also. The accumulated
pain will become a terrible burden. Thus, from time to time the protectors will
need to endanger themselves and their friends going into the divine-trance state.
The threat will escalate continuously as the end approaches. Protectors and nor-
mal people will eventually fail, one by one, to overcome the troubles; they will be
swallowed by the threat tides.
4 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

The end of the game arrives when either, the community is totally destroyed,
or a small quantity of survivors manages to escape in the last moment. Game
mechanics will promote an increasing tension and a sense of doom and tragedy.

1.4 Overview
The second chapter further defines and describes the game elements. Chapter 3
guides you to prepare the game and create a community. In chapter 4 we present
the main game mechanics. Chapter 5 is dedicated to explain how to drive the
game, in order to create tension and enjoyment.
Chapter 2

Preparing the game

In this chapter we define the game elements and we describe how to prepare the
game. The preparation stage will take as long as the players want to invest on it.
From fifteen minutes to several hours.

2.1 What do you need to play?

To play The Wrath of the Gods you only need some sheets of paper, a pencil and at
least one 8-sided die; one die per player would be perfect. The paper sheets will be
used to draw a map of the significant community members an their relationships,
as well as to keep track of character details. The dice will be used to generate
random numbers, introducing an uncertainty factor when the characters deal with
troubles.

2.2 Choosing the escenary and threat

The preparation begins with the players discussing and agreeing on an interesting
escenary and threat. They should determine who is the endangered community.
Who are they? Where are they living? And the nature of the threat. What is
going to happen? How is the community going to be endangered up to a complete
destruction?
Some information about the place or places where the community dwells or
the adventure is going to happend is also convenient. A general description of the
escenary is enough, but players may add as many details as they want.

5
6 CHAPTER 2. PREPARING THE GAME

If they wish, they may also discuss how did they manage to awake the wrath
of a god. The classical myths and tales are full of examples featuring any kind
of reasons for a god to get angry. Remember that the sin of an emperor/empress,
king/queen, or hero/heroine may be the bane of his/her whole land and its popula-
tion. A profanation of a temple, a promise to a god which is not carried out, even
the simple fact of not supporting a godness when a mortal is required to judge
who is the most beautifull deity among several ones may be enough to innitiate
the disaster. If the god or godness is not powerfull enough to fulfill her revenge,
she may ask for the help of a main Olimpus god.
However, if you do not feel like filling up these details, remind that in most
situations it is not necessary to know why the community is facing the disaster.
Ancient people and heores were involved in many strange situations without any
idea of the ultimate reasons.

E XAMPLE OF AWAKENING THE WRATH OF THE GODS : We use the

story of Leto as inspiration. The community is the poeple living in the
errant island of Delos. The titan Leto is fleeing from the wrath of Hera
because she is pregnant of Zeus. She finds in Delos a place to hide and
have birth to Artemis and Apolo. Hera cheated, decides in her rage to
make the island disappear. She convinces Eolo to blow the floating island,
through the columns of Hercules, out of the world. What will do the
people living in the shores of Delos when they realize that the terrible
storm which destroys their crops and houses is also blowing the whole
island to its doom? Even if any ship has survived the storm, the fierce
waters around the moving island will prevent them to flee.

2.3 The community map

The community map is a tool to help the players to remember who are the protec-
tors and their significant people, and how are they interrelated. It is drawn on a
sheet of paper, and it will be at eye-sight of the players during play.
The community map represents a relationship map. Boxes will represent char-
acters and they will contain their names and keywords. A relationship will be rep-
resented by a line or arrow joining two boxes, with an associated label describing
the nature of the relation. In different paper sheets (as many as needed) the players
will write the descriptions of each character and will keep track of their variable
stats.
2.4. CREATING PROTECTORS 7

The normal-people who are relevant for the game are those related to the pro-
tectors. The players will create two significant normal people for each protector
and relationships will be established. At any moment during play, the GM may
introduce other characters to justify actions of the significant normal people or for
adding color. But they will not affect the game mechanics.
Creating the community map is the first thing to do after choosing the setting
and the threat. In Appendix A there is a model for the community map. You may
fill it up during the creation. It is prepared for up to six protectors. You may ignore
the boxes you dont need.

2.4 Creating protectors

Each player will create one protector character. The player will be the ultimate
responsible of that character definition and actions. However, I suggest to do the
protector-creation as a group activity. Let other players discuss your character
concept and expect usefull suggestion from them. Players may use a chart like the
one presented in Figure A.1 in appendix A to keep track of their relevant protectors
information.

2.4.1 Protectors description

Each player writes a short description paragraph for his/her character. It may
describe the look, origins, job, social status, live style, uses, preferences, expecta-
tions, and dreams of the character. Try to use evocative terms which captures the
interest of the other players. These descriptions may be discussed by the group
and players may rewrite them as many times as desired, until they are happy with
their characters concept. Based on the description the player should select the
protecting deity and the token of power which she receives. If you use an scenary
based in the ancient Greek or Roman world, you may use the reference chart in
appendix B to select a deity with appropriate attributes.
Dont forget to give a proper name to your protector. To try to keep the tone of
your choosen escenary, you may choose it among the clasical names of characters
in the ancient world tales. Ask for suggestions to the other players in case of
doubt.
The player chooses one of the empty square-boxes in the community-map, and
writes inside it the protector name, a keyword of her job or concept, and the name
of her protecting deity.
8 CHAPTER 2. PREPARING THE GAME

E XAMPLE OF CHARACTERS CREATION : There are four players. One

of them will be the GM. Juan is the first player. His character is Adrastos.
A shepard at the service of one of the oligarchs of Delos. He is not worry
about the future and he just enjoys life when he has the opportunity. He
spent a lot of time in the wilderness and his protector deity will be Pan.
His token is a magical flute which invokes the power of the god. The
second player is Loli. Her character is Arsinoe, a priestess of the temple
of Demeter. She is devoted to the prosperity of the people of Delos, and
she protects artists and writters. She receives from Demeter a token, a
metal mirror which reflects to her the face of the godness. Carlos is the
third player. The name of his character is Lisias. He is a well-know healer.
He likes wealth and he is ambitious. He uses aggresive drugs and strange
magical procedures which are not approved by other healers. But he is
quite successfull. He is devoted to Asclepio and he has received a magical
magical goblet where normal water becomes an elixir which brings the
divine power to him.

2.4.2 Protectors attributes

Protector characters have several numerical attributes (Motivation, Pain, and Dam-
age), and a state indicator. We briefly describe here their meaning and innitial
values.

Motivation: This numerical value indicates how strong are the emotional con-
nections between the protector and her significant normal people. It is in-
creased by their success and it is spended to boost the protector actions. Its
innital value is 6 and it constantly changes during play.

Pain: This number indicates the emotional tension accumulated by the protector.
It begins as 0 and it is increased when the significant normal people or
the protector suffers; mainly failing to overcome a problem and facing its
consequences. The pain is a hindrance for the protector actions. When pain
grows the protector effectivity decreases. Its maximum value is 4. Once
this limit is reached, more Pain increases are ignored. Pain may be only
eliminated by getting into the Hero-State.

Damage: Its innitial value is 0. It is increased when the protector fails to over-
come a problem when in Hero-State. It indicates how much severe damage
(physical or psycological) has suffered the protector. When it reaches 3 the
2.5. CREATING NORMAL PEOPLE 9

protector is so damaged and dispirited that her faith, her vows with the god,
and her token of divine power break. From that moment on she is consid-
ered a normal person, unable to protect others anymore.

State: It indicates if the protector is in Normal or Hero-State.

2.5 Creating normal people

The significant normal people are also created by the players. Each normal-person
character who is relevant to the story will be attached to one protector by a rela-
tionship. There will be two normal-people directly related to each protector. They
are called her main connections.

2.5.1 Normal people description and attributes

Normal people characters are described by a name, a short description (around a
couple of lines), and by a numerical attribute named Panic.
This numerical attribute indicates how near is the character to finally lost her
control due to fear and distress. Its innitial value is 0. It is incremented each time
the character suffers stress or gets in panic. When it reaches 15, the character
becomes crazy or hysteric, do something stupid, and manages to get killed.

2.5.2 Main connections

Each player creates by turn the first of her two connections. In a piece of paper
she writes her name, a couple of lines describing her and a line describing the
relationship with the protector. The players idea may be commented with the
other players for discussion; the GM may also propose ideas. However, the player
has the last word about who her connection is and why. Players are encouraged to
define interesting and strong relationships; remind that they will need to protect
them during actual play.
Once created, the player writes the name of the person in the community map;
in one of the normal-people boxes (the rounded ones) attached with a line (rela-
tionship) to the protector box. A label summarizing the relationship between them
is written in that line.
In a second round, the players proceed in the same way, creating their second
main-connection.
10 CHAPTER 2. PREPARING THE GAME

Community map
of
service Aristides
At the
Adrastos
Shepard
(Pan)
Rom
ant Clistena
ic a
ffai
r

ds
en
Aspasia

f ri
st
Arsinoe

Be
Li Priestess
ve
si (Demeter)
n
th
Fidon (Seer) et
em
pl
e

rom Trasibulo
gs f
dru
Get
Lisias
Healer
(Asclepios)
Healer Solon (Prince)
of

Figure 2.1: Example community after creating main-connections

E XAMPLE OF CREATING MAIN CONNECTIONS : Fisrt round. Juan de-

cides that the oligarch to whom Adrastos serves is named Aristides. He is
a respected member of the community and he treats all his servants and
slaves well. Loli creates Aspasia a middle-aged woman who is the best
friend of Arsinoe from the childhood. Aspasia married a wealthy man
much older than her and she widowed long ago. She is also protecting
artists and giving good money to keep the temple. Carlos decides that
Lisias is getting so well-known that he has been called to the palace, to
serve prince Solon of Delos. Second round. Juan states that Adrastos
is involved in a romantic affair with a young and pretty girl named Clis-
tena. Adrastos is light-hearted and he says he is not taking the thing too
seriously, but he is deeply moved by her devotion. Loli adds Fidon, a seer
with a vast knowledge and wisdom, retired to the temple. Arsinoe and him
have had many deep talks and she admires him. Finally, Carlos decides
that Lisias needs someone who provides him the strange and dangerous
drugs he needs. He introduces Trasibulo, a local merchant who deals in
secret with forbidden goods. You can see the community-map after this
stage in Figure 2.1.
2.5. CREATING NORMAL PEOPLE 11

2.5.3 Secondary connections

After creating the main connections, each player by turn creates one relationship
between one of her main connections and any other normal-person in the commu-
nity map. A line is drawn in the map between the two rounded boxes and a label
for the relationship added to the line.
Normal-Persons at a distance of two from a protector, are called her secondary
connections. At the end, each protector have two main connections and one or
more secondary ones. Creating persons who are interesting and easy to connect-
with, the player may achieve that other players choose her connections as sec-
ondary, increasing the integration of the protector in the community. More inte-
gration may mean some risk but much more chances in the game.

Community map
of
service Aristides
At the
Adrastos
Shepard
(Pan)
Rom
ant Clistena
ic a
ffai
r Lo
ver
s
ds
en

Aspasia
fri
st

Da
Arsinoe
Be

ug
the
ro Priestess
f Li
her

ve
si (Demeter)
n
for

th
Fidon (Seer) et
aler

em
pl
e
g de
Dru

rom Trasibulo
gs f
dru
Get
Lisias
Healer
(Asclepios)
Healer Solon (Prince)
of

Figure 2.2: Example community after creating secondary-connections

12 CHAPTER 2. PREPARING THE GAME

E XAMPLE OF CREATING SECONDARY CONNECTIONS : Juan intro-

duces that Clistena is the last daughter of Fidon. Her mother died when
she was birth and then Fidon retired to the temple with her. She lived in
the temple all her childhood. She has always find him distant and unacce-
sible. When she was old enough she part away from him and the temple
with angry words. However she really loves her father deeply. Loli sees
pretty clearly that after widowing, Aspasia has found a caring lover in
Aristides, also a wealthy and educated man. Although he is already mar-
ried and they have to meet in secret. Carlos decide to create some more
conflict in the community-map and he ask the other players what they
think about Clistena discovering by chance in the temple some kind of
drugs reserved for the oracle. She became somehow adicted to it, but she
parted away from the temple. She is now getting it from Trasibulo. The
other players enjoy the twist and they agree with the new relationship.
In Figure 2.2 we show the resulting community map. Notice that Adrastos
has five connections (2 main, 3 secondary); Arsinoe has four (2 main, 2
secondary); and Lisias has three (2 main, 1 secondary).

As it is shown in the examples, connections may be used to create conflicting

or problematic relationships. The protectors should have a reason to care for their
connections, but it does not need to be a plain and open reason. Conflicting re-
lationships may lead to climatic scenes focused on redemption or moral choices.
However, for novice players it is easier not to try complicate things with the main
connections, as they should protect them from the first scene.
Chapter 3

Game mechanics

In this chapter we introduce the mechanics used during normal play. They de-
scribe the play order and the mechanics associated with facing troubles and the
effects of the outcomes. In chapter 4 it is discussed how to drive the game and
determine how it ends.

3.1 Scenes
3.1.1 Framing and free play
The play is a chain of scenes. Before each scene, the GM and players may discuss
the possible troubles and threat applications to be faced by the normal-people and
protectors. Then, the scene is framed by the GM, introducing and describing the
situation and the place where the next trouble begins. It may be the continuation
of a previous scene.
In a complete new scene the trouble will begin affecting one or two signifi-
cant normal-people, and it may propagate its effects through the community map.
The players will choose when and why to introduce their protector characters. In
scenes which are continuation of previous ones it is easy to determine who were
where and with whom. It is not necessary that all protectors appear in all scenes.
The GM should try to ensure that all players have similar opportunities to inter-
act and enjoy. Carefully choosing the significant normal people involved in the
conflicts will help to distribute the focus.
The players describe the protector actions and the GM describe the actions of
the other characters. Nevertheless, players may suggest ideas about the actions of

13
14 CHAPTER 3. GAME MECHANICS

the normal people and the GM should try to use them. Optionally, if the group
agrees on it, players may also talk and dialog for their main connections. Remem-
ber also that the GM may introduce at any moment new extra characters, to justify
normal people actions or for adding color; however, they will not be relevant for
the game mechanics.

3.1.2 Facing troubles

When the situation arrives at a point where the protectors or the normal people
really face the trouble and try to overcome it, a die roll will be needed. This
roll will determine if the outcome is favorable and the trouble is overcomed or if
associated complications appear. See sections 3.2 and 3.3 for details. The GM
and the players should discuss, before the roll, which will be the main lines of
what would happen in both cases: passing or failing the roll.

3.2 Determining an outcome

When one or more characters acting together face a trouble, the general outcome
is determined by a die roll. In this section we also describe the mechanical-effects
of succeeding or failing this die roll. The details are afterwards narrated by the
GM and players.
The outcome is always determined by throwing a 8-sided die. It the result
is equal or lower than a given drive-number, the outcome is positive, negative
otherwise. The next sections describe how to calculate the drive-number for each
situation.

3.2.1 Normal people alone

When a group of normal people are facing a trouble alone, without any protector
helping, they are easily scared. The drive-number is always 2.

driveNumber = 2

3.2.2 Protectors in normal state

When a protector is around, she will take the leadership of the group and the
responsibility of their outcomes. The normal people may only support her and
3.2. DETERMINING AN OUTCOME 15

give color, but mechanically speaking they are of little help. The basic abilities of
a protector gives her a drive-number of 5.
The effect of Pain: However, when the protector is suffering pain his abilities
are quickly diminished. She must substract her Pain stat from the drive-number.

driveNumber = 5 Pain

The effect of Motivation: The pain may be temporally mitigated by the strong
motivation of a protector to save their significant normal people. Their successes
encourages her. For any roll, the player may spend 3 points of Motivation per each
point of Pain she wants to temporally ignore.

1 Pain (only for this roll) 3 Motivation

3.2.3 Protectors in Hero-State State

When a protector character is in Hero-State he is ignoring Pain and motivations.
Her perception and abilities increases. She uses a drive-number of 6, which cannot
be modified by anything.

driveNumber = 6

3.2.4 Several protectors around

When a group of characters with more than one protector around faces a trouble
one should act as a leader. Use her drive-number for the whole group, and apply
the result to all the characters in it. If the protector who is normal-state fails,
another may take the leadership and roll again to save the normal people from the
bad outcome. It a protector in hero-state fails a roll, the bad outcome cannot be
avoided.
All the protectors present at the scene place may, one by one, try the roll until:
(a) they give up; (b) one of them succeds; (c) a protector in hero-state fails; or (c)
everyone has failed. Negative effects are narrated and accumulated for protectors
on each failed roll. Normal people only get negative effects if all the rolls are
failed. See details in sections 3.3.4 and 3.3.5.
16 CHAPTER 3. GAME MECHANICS

3.3 Effects of the outcome

3.3.1 Positive outcome: Protectors in normal state
When a character or group of characters overcome a trouble they rejoice and the
stress is slightly reduced. A protector in normal state is encouraged by the success
of her connections. She gains 1 point of Motivation per each of her connections
who is involved in a positive outcome. It doesnt matter if the protector and the
connections are physically in the same place or not. Eventually, they will know
about it.

+1 Motivation connection success

3.3.2 Positive outecome: Protectors in Hero-State

When a protector is in Hero-State she is not emotionally connected to anyone.
Thus, she can not receive motivation points.

3.3.3 Negative outcome: Normal people alone

Normal people who faces a trouble without a protector and fails, immediately gets
in crisis. All of the characters in the group gets 3 points of Panic.
If any of them reaches P anic = 15, the stress is too much, she got crazy or
hysteric, do something really stupid and manages to get killed. It may be narrated
by the GM or a player.

+3 Panic

Panic = 15 = death

3.3.4 Negative outcome: Protectors in normal state

A protector who is in normal state gains 1 point of Pain if herself or any of her
connections is involved in a negative outcome no matter where it happened, who
rolled the die, or the amount of connections involved. The maximum value of pain
is 4. Moreover, all the normal people who see their leader protector failing a roll
also gets scared, getting 1 point of Panic.

Protector or any Connection involved in a fail = +1 Pain

3.3. EFFECTS OF THE OUTCOME 17

Normal people involved in a fail = +1 Panic

If a protector fails but there are other protectors around they may also try to
roll. If a protector in hero-state tries the roll, the result is definitive and no one
more may try. If one of the protectors get a positive outcome, the Panic effect
to the normal people in the group is blocked. However, for each one who fails, a
negative outcome is narrated, and all the protectors in normal state in the group get
a Pain point. Thus, at the end, all normal state protectors involved will accumulate
as many Pain points as failed rolls. Remind that the maximum value of pain for a
protector is 4. Normal people only get the Panic point if all protectors fail, they
give-up before succeding in a roll, or a protector in hero-state fails the roll.

3.3.5 Negative outcome: Protectors in Hero-State

A protector who is in Hero-State ignores pain. However, in this hyper-ability state
she may easily endanger herself. If she fails a roll, she has pushed it too much and
she gets 1 point of Damage.
If a protector arrives at Damage = 3 she has exerted her divine power too
far without success, hurting herself badly. Her faith, self-confidence, and divine
token of power, all get broken. For the rest of the game she becomes a normal
person, and she may not act as protector anymore. As a normal person she begins
with P anic = 0.

+1 Damage

Damage = 3 = becomes normal person

Moreover, when a protector is in Hero-State she is not exerting his emotional
support to others and her behaviour may be scaring. When normal people see how
such a hyper-powered person fails to protect them their fears arise. All the normal
people involved in the group gets 3 points of Panic. It does not matter if there
are other protectors around, this panic may not be blocked and no more protectors
may try the roll. Other protectors in the group get 1 point of Pain if they are in
normal state.

All normal people in the group : + 3 Panic

All other protectors in normal state in the group : + 1 Pain

18 CHAPTER 3. GAME MECHANICS

3.3.6 Protectors death: The last hero action

Once a protector has accumulated 3 points of Damage she becomes a normal
person and cannot protect anyone. However, at any moment, when she is in a
scene where normal people is going to suffer (because a failed roll of anyone),
she may invoke her last-stance action as a hero. She behaves as a hero to save the
normal-people from the negative effects, at the cost of her life.

3.4 State changes

3.4.1 Changing to Hero-State
When a protector in normal state fails a roll the outcome is going to be nega-
tive and she is going to suffer. However, to avoid the negative outcome, she has
the chance to change to Hero-State. The player should narrate how the charac-
ter invokes the divine strenght through her power-token and how the character is
surrounded by the mythical aura.
Then, the protector should roll again with the drive number of the new state
(drive-number 6). Ignore the previous roll and apply the result as the new roll
indicates. Getting into Hero-State always make the Pain disappear, it is reseted to
0.
Normal State + Failed roll Decides to Change state =
Hero State ; Pain = 0 ; Reroll

3.4.2 Coming back to normal state

Once in Hero-State the character is emotionally disconnected, and she need to do
a strong effort to come back to normal state. At the beginning of any scene the
player may ask for a roll to come back to normal state. She throws one 8-sided die
and she succeeds if she gets equal or less than a target number which is 2. This
target number may be improved by +1 per each 3 points of Motivation spent. If
she successes, the character comes back to normal state and proceeds normally.
Do not forget: When a protector comes back to normal state she has a Pain score
of 0.
targetNumber = 2
+1 (only for this roll) 3 Motivation
Chapter 4

Driving the game

In this chapter it is described how to drive the game. It includes suggestions on

how to produce the appropriate increasing tension and tragedy.
The play will be organized in several stages. The pace rate should be chosen
by the GM accordingly to the pressure due to the good/bad luck in the rolls. The
GM should consider that this game presents a complicate death-spiral. There are
some chances to avoid it for a time, but at the end all characters will begin to fall
down. When half of the connections are lost, you will need to quickly advance to
the end.
On the other hand, some people may prefer to get some guidelines about the
appropriate times to advance to the next stage. It is a matter of taste. These
guidelines would be based in the accumulated number of successes (some num-
bers could be obtained by actual play but are not yet provided). In this case, some
bad-luck plays may end before reaching too far and some god-luck plays would
allow some people to escape alive.
A really important advise: Never let arise the idea that it is possible to find a
way to face the threat and win. It will immediately destroy the tension and the
intended effect of the game.

4.1 Opening secenes and conflict stakes ???

4.2 The threat

The game begins with the discovering of the threat. The first scenes should intro-
duce the main characters doing their normal activities and facing the first small

19
20 CHAPTER 4. DRIVING THE GAME

alterations produced by the arriving disaster. It is possible that they are the ones
who discover the threat through observation, or experimenting the first effects.
Perhaps and oracle or a seer predicts the coming disaster, but the local authorities
are not realizing the full magnitude of what is coming.
The first scenes should begin with normal people getting nervous, even frighten.
Trying to continue with their normal lives or looking for the protectors for coun-
sel. The threat should be something ominous about which people do not talk
openly. The first troubles may involve the characters belongings (crop-fields,
carts, houses) or friends. They will suffer some losts, but they will not be neces-
sarily endangered physically.
In some kinds of sceneries the threat should arrive by surprise, and you may
skip this stage.

4.3 The arriving of the disaster

In the second stage the threat will be public domain and quite obvious. The first
big-disastrous effects will appear. Population will go into panic.
In this stage the GM should deploy troubles with other frenzy people, fights
to steal resources, riots, whole families trying to run away from the unavoidable
with their goods. If they find people fleeing it is important that, sooner or later,
they see them failing and dying without any chance.
Facing the theft of resources or getting properties destroyed by the crowd will
be good troubles if mixed with some more dangerous situations. One or more
scenes with terrible scary big-scale effects of the threat nearby will be nice.

4.4 A dying community

The third stage would be characterized by the roar of the threat in its full rage.
People will be massacred, they will be dying everywhere. The effects of the threat
will be wiping out even in the deepest refuges. Characters will seem toys in the
rage of the gods. The normal people will need to group around the protectors to
have a chance of survive. In this stage the main troubles will be direct threats to
their safety. The GM should insist in the impossibility to face the threat or find an
escape. Any any try should be brutally aborted.
4.5. LAST HOPE 21

4.5 Last hope

When every hope is lost, an unexpected way to flee should be discovered. Choos-
ing this moment is the most complicate and delicate task for the players. In case of
doubt, wait. The death-spiral increases quickly at the end, but it is better if every
character dies tragically than loosing the tension in the last moment. Indeed, this
stage is completely optional. You may avoid it and let them disappear with the
terrible rage of the disaster.
The last hope should be a miserable escape with a frenzy rhythm and many
losses. At any moment they may fail and disappear forever. Dont hesitate to
create last minute complications if it becomes to easy.
Remember, by no means can the last hope be the discover of a weapon or
compromise solution to face the main threat and win. No pacts with the gods are
possible, and they will not hear any praise.

4.6 Ending the game

If no one survives it should be a sad moment, appropriate for reflexion about the
terrible nature and effects of real disasters. If someone manages to flee away,
there would be some initial rejoice. But let players narrate an epilogue. Present
the characters thinking about what have been lost in the way, how their world has
been utterly destroyed, and how the experience is going to change them, surely
for the rest of their lives.
22 CHAPTER 4. DRIVING THE GAME
Chapter 5

Examples of play

We present here an excerpt of a possible actual play. The setting and threat are
those described in chapter 2. The GM is Ramon and the three players are Juan,
Loli and Carlos. They have created their protectors and normal people like in the
example community map in Figure 2.2. Juan plays Adrastos the shepard, wearing
the magic flute of Pan. Lolis protector is Arsinoe, the priestess who can invoke
the power of Demeter looking into her mirror. Carlos is portraying the ambitious
healer Lisias, who has received a wondrous goblet from Asclepio.

5.1 An scene during the threat discovery

5.2 An scene during the arriving of the disaster
5.3 An scene during the dying community stage
5.4 An example scene of the last-hope

23
24 CHAPTER 5. EXAMPLES OF PLAY
Appendix A

Charts and models

In this appendix we include charts and models for: (a) Keeping track of the protec-
tor and connections details, including their descriptions and numerical attributes;
and (b) the community-map. The community-map model include up to six pro-
tectors and their associated twelve normal-people. You may uses the boxes you
need leaving the others empty. The layout of the boxes is thought to help in the
drawing of the relationships to the secondary connections.

25
 26
Protector name: Connection name:

Description: Description:
Figure A.1: Players chart for protector and connections

Panic:

APPENDIX A. CHARTS AND MODELS

Connection name:
Protecting deity:
Description:
Token:

State:
Damage:
Normal
Pain: 0 1 2 3 4
Hero
Motivation: Panic:
Community map 27

Figure A.2: Community map model for up to six players

28 APPENDIX A. CHARTS AND MODELS
Appendix B

Ancient Greek deities

29
30 APPENDIX B. ANCIENT GREEK DEITIES
Appendix C

Classical Greek names

31
32 APPENDIX C. CLASSICAL GREEK NAMES
Acknoledgements

This game is based on Disaster! a game designed and written in about 24 hours
for the Ronnies contest in October, 2005. The game central motives chosen for
the game were: Fight and Pain. The original Disaster! game may be found in...

Changes from the original Disaster! game include a more flexible structure
for scenes and a specific fictional background for the game. Those changes were
suggested by Ron Edwards on his comments to Disaster! after the October 2005
Ronnies contest. Some mechanical procedures have been also simplified and fixed
after the first play-testings; including also the introduction of rules for several
protectors facing the trouble in the same group.

This game was somehow inspired by the story Scanners live in vain by Cord-
wainer Smith. Specifically the idea of the hyper-power obtained when someone
may disconnected from pain, the possibility of changing states, and the problem of
coming back to your natural state (although I have somehow reversed the original
story ideas).

The game concept and mechanics are in debt to many discussions held by mem-
bers of The Forge forum. They are also highly influenced by some indie-games
I had the opportunity to read before writting the game. Looking backwards I
specially recognize the inspiration of Legends of Alyria and My Life with
Master.

33