I hosted and played in my first Polaris game last night! In expectation of the difficulty of herding my friends into a single room I invited five (5!) players, all who thought they could make it. Of course, after the afternoon wore on they dropped out one by one. Work, family, and one just could not be found. At 8 o’clock last night it was just myself and one other, B, who had driven 2 hours to get here. We debated what to do. B had not read Polaris, and we briefly entertained other ideas. But in direct opposition to Ben’s suggestions we decided to hell with everyone else we were going to play a game of Polaris with just two people, and we were going to like it.

The following post therefore describes our BadWrongFun.

We adjourned to a coffeehouse nearby to reenergize ourselves and create characters. A brief discussion of the People and their World ensued and B caught on quickly. Characters were discussed and made.

The Knights Alioth and Akamar share a fate tied to the Demon Agamemnon. A creature tied to his form due the Circumstance. It has no conscience Control of its form.

Knight Alioth

Born in the Time before the Mistake in the City of Polaris, a time we believe is many lifetimes ago. How Alioth is living today, and appears so young is unknown to us now. What he remembers of Polaris, if anything, remains a mystery, though he has the Lore of Old Polaris. He remembers the Snow Queen with a passion and hidden in his (small) manor of 27 rooms are three hairs of his Queen which he may not take with him on quests. Alioth has a voice of command known as the Voice of the Knight, and is now (due to play) Fated to make a difficult choice between his family and his Duty. Alioth’s Cosmos contains on the New Moon side: The Snow Queen (is she dead? Is she hidden? Is she the Frost Maiden?) Falox (intelligent Artic Fox), and Rana (his half-sister; they share a father). His Full Moon Side: includes the Nekkor (Father, Deceased, died or was lost at the time of the Mistake), and the Snow Queen (for she is so great that she eclipses Alioth’s cosmos. His Mistaken include Agamemnon (Demon), Nuuki (a Thief who wants what he has hidden in his house) and Kaitos a Great Lord of Tallstar Remnant of House Cestus.


Captain Akamar of House Eridanus

The Captain of Eridanus’ Guardians who watch the East Wall. Akamar is Fated to be the End of His Line, but his father and mother still live so there is hope. He is now known for his ability to summon a cold rage, where he can kill Mistaken with his bare hands. His cosmos includes: New Moon: Mira of House Cestus – his secretly bethrothed, her father forbids the marriage. Rana – his half sister (they share a mother), she has never been welcome in the house of Eridanus as she is an illegitimate child, but something of Old Polaris lives on in her eyes. His Full Moon includes his mother Gemma and Father Zaurak (Council Member), whom are cold to another. His Mistaekn Include: Agamemnon (Demon), Kaitos of House Cestus (his lover’s father) and Sirius (his love’s other suitor favored by his father a member of the Council.

After the knights were made we discussed that because we were missing the Moons (any Moons at all) that the Mistaken would play the Mistaken and could access any Moon Character. The Heart could also use the Moon characters at will. In addition, Aspects and Experience checks would have to be agreed on by both players.

So before we officially started play, we stared at one another “You have any ideas?” “No, You?” I had an idea or two for Alioth, but wanted to begin the game with a player framing their own scene rather than a scene given to them. I finally had an idea and we begun play.

Rather than a full Actual Play Report, just some high-lights about Two-Player BadWrongFun.

It took us a bit to get use to the conflict system, as I am sure it takes most people some adjustment. Phrasing was interesting. We had to consciously break from things like: “I search for a way to sneak up to Starfall Keep without the Mistaken spotting me.” As Ben suggested we should rather say: “I keep myself to the ravine moving past the pickets and up to the wall.” It was amazing what a difference it made to have active rather than passive phrasing. Like Ben pointed out in the text No active phrase means no conflicts phrasing.

At one point when Akamar was in a battle with a Mistaken outside of his own Manse; the Mistaken swung towards his face. My Mistaken said I better roll if I didn’t want to be blinded. I told him it had not been stated that I been hit yet so there was nothing to roll for… an interesting change from our previous games, where an attack requires a statement, roll, or acknowledgement of a defense.

Over all, we definitely missed the Moons, as the Mistaken and the Heart had to share the responsibilities for portraying the social aspects. And as Mistaken I felt that I could not just coop every NPC to work against the Heart. It defiantly gave the game a very contested feel, perhaps moreso than would normally exist.

None-the-less we worked our way through four scenes and both had a great time. The game ended with Akamar tending his wounded father who flesh was corrupted by a Wound. He will not recover, but will live for some time yet, hopefully long enough to head off some of the Danger to the Fading House. Akamar must also face off his lover’s father who is furious about his daughter being found at Akamar’s estate.

Alioth ended the night buried in the ruins  of Starfall Keep at the edge of the Ice. He slew a Demon that had animated his father’s body to taunt him. Though by destroying the host body allowed the Demon (Agamemnon) to escape from the Mortal Coil and fly like the wind toward Tallstar Remnant, meanwhile Alioth must find away to dig himself out of the ruins and head home, hopefully in time to ward off some of the damage that the Mistaken will be causing there. Maybe if the stars are favorable he will also be named commander of the Knights of Tallstar monument, a title he was promised for destroying the Mistaken at Starfall Keep.

We had a good time, thogh we are keen on getting at least one moon next time. I think we have proven to ourselves that Polaris can be played with only two people, though certainly it a different, and perhaps poorer, experience than a full compliment of players.

Maybe B will be able to chime in as well and offer his thoughts on last night’s game.

Jason

Hi, Jason!

Thanks for posting this!  I'm really excited to read about a 2-player variant and how it worked.  How I would have split up control is: The Heart controls the Knight, the Mistaken controls everything else.  Rather like a GM/Player split, actually.  You seem to say that the Heart sometimes controlled other people?  How did that work out?

If you play a 3-4 player game, I'd love to know how you find the two experiences compare.

yrs--
--Ben

We gave the Heart limited control of the other characters. As I felt that if the Mistaken had complete control than one of two things would happen:

1. The Mistaken would have to balance their aggressivess when portraying characters that might be allies in the moment.

2. The Heart would have no allies or friends at all... even their lovers would be against them.

The heart basically got to make Conflict Statements using some characters. When pulling in Non-Heart and Non-Mistaken we discussed what type of relationship it was (at the moment) so the other person could direct somethign along those lines. Of course these relationships will all change.

Over all though I would say that the Moon characters were not very present in play. They were more the pivots around which conflict occured. While relatively quite themselves.

I am hoping to have a four player game here soon. I will defintely contrast the two when I have a chance.

Just like to add a bit to this, I too found myself in a very similar siutation. We had a three player game scheduled tonight. One player took a train about one and half hours to central Tokyo to be able to play. The third player never showed. Given the situtaiton, and knowing the post above, we decided to soldier on. I will post some actual player tomorrow in its own AP thread, but am shagged right now.

But for the feel, it makes the OP. It was more confrentational, and we missed the moons. Less for the social aspects and playing the other characters, but more for the "I'm stuck and need a suggestion". Without the moons it becomes very tempting for the heart to give advice to the mistaken and vice versa.

So take heart, there are others that play 2-player Polaris, though none now remember it. 

Steven --

Cool to hear, looking forward to the report.

yrs--
--Ben

yeah we have played on an off... A full compliment is certainly the best, but once you hit a rythm you can really rift on each other, and it goes much faster.

I think my book is wore out though. I need another.

khelek wrote:
yeah we have played on an off... A full compliment is certainly the best, but once you hit a rythm you can really rift on each other, and it goes much faster.

I think my book is wore out though. I need another.

Hey Ben,

Saw this and just thought I would comment as well, my book seems very fragiles as well, mostly the leaves coming from the binding, so far no problems, they are all still there, I just handle it gently. My edition is the On Top of the World edition I think. Still it rocks my socks.