Long ago, the people were dying at the end of the world . . .
Polaris: Chivalric Tragedy at the Utmost North (published in 2005 by Ben Lehman) is a game about a mythic civilization on the brink of ruin. The protagonists are knights living in an insular and decadent frozen land. After eons of blissful, timeless peace, they are now battling demonic Mistakens, the encroachment of Dawn, and marauders from the thawed Southern lands. But most of all, they are battling their own tendencies towards self-betrayal, cynicism, and weariness.
And so it was . . .
The game relies upon ritualized key phrases to resolve conflicts and to propel the action forward. Players take on the roles of different “guides” for the protagonists of the tale. In this series, we will be following the lives of 2-4 of these core characters.
And furthermore . . . we will be discovering the enemies and allies that populate the protagonists’ cosmos.
But only if . . .
Each session will be three hours, with much of our first session devoted to creating characters, relationships, and the star-bedazzled world. Attendance at all sessions is encouraged, but not required. You must RSVP to each session you wish to attend. Rules will be taught, and we will learn and laugh and grieve and console together. Sessions will be recorded with the permission of all participants.
We shall see what comes of it . . .
We will have a pregame discussion of lines and veils as well as employ the X-card during sessions. We will observe the Gauntlet Code of Conduct.
Content warnings: Polaris takes the heroic fantasy genre and gives it a deliberately tragic spin. The creator has written this about the game: “In Polaris, your knight will betray his people and die forgotten and alone. If you don’t like losing you won’t like Polaris. Polaris is powerful. In Polaris, you will wield the greatest powers of the cosmos against the greatest powers of hell. If you don’t like powerful protagonists, you won’t like Polaris. Polaris is deadly. If you don’t like games where a favorite character can be killed with a dependent clause and the flick of a sword, don’t play Polaris.”
But all that happened long ago, and now there are none who remember it. . .
Session 1: 2021-01-02T15:00:00Z → 2021-01-02T18:00:00Z
Session 2: 2021-01-09T15:00:00Z → 2021-01-09T18:00:00Z
Session 3: 2021-01-16T15:00:00Z → 2021-01-16T18:00:00Z
Session 4: 2021-01-23T15:00:00Z → 2021-01-23T18:00:00Z
Session 5: 2021-01-30T15:00:00Z → 2021-01-30T18:00:00Z