THE MASTERS Platonic Mastery is a system based upon the relationship between the platonic solids and the elements described in Plato’s Timaeus dialogue. It describes a world where individuals can mystically manipulate the elements and is partially inspired by the Avatar series. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timaeus_%28dialogue%29#The_Elements Each element has a die size associated with it: FIRE: d4 EARTH: d6 AIR: d8 SELF: d12 WATER: d20 Your character is an old man, a philosopher and a Platonic Master, risen to the topmost tiers of his civilization. As play begins, you have concluded, finally and irrevocably, after decades of private doubts and self-deception, that your society and your place in it is based on human atrocity. Play to change your society for the better, or else sacrifice yourself to the attempt. The GM's job is to have your society resist your efforts, fighting back against you in every way it can, trying to destroy you instead of allowing itself to be changed. THE REPUBLIC Your character's civilization is well-ordered, rational, and technologically advanced. It is a Hellenistic utopia, ruled by a dispassionate senate of men proven wise, steady, and long-thinking, and their formal advisors, philosophers and masters of every school. It's also atrocious. It denies the full humanity of women, and brutally suppresses and enslaves them. It denies the full humanity of foreigners, and brutally suppresses and enslaves them. It denies the full humanity of laborers, and brutally suppresses and enslaves them. It denies the full humanity of unconventional individuals, and brutally suppresses and enslaves them. It denies the full humanity of political dissidents, and brutally suppresses and enslaves them. It denies the full humanity of soldiers, and brutally suppresses and enslaves them. It denies the full humanity of the unwell, and brutally suppresses and enslaves them. It affirms only the humanity of its citizens, men who inherited citizenship from their fathers in legal descent and who preserve it with social honor and ideal action. The labor and lives of all others exist to serve only these. CREATING YOUR CHARACTER To create your character, give him two callings, three traits, choose his dice, and determine his Conviction. For each of your callings, first, name an atrocity fundamental to your society, and second, name what you're going to do about it. Choose one of the atrocities above and create a specific case. Examples: "The Republic denies girls even basic education. I'm going to take a girl as a student and teach her to be my equal." "The Republic has enslaved a foreign city and is working its entire people to death as miners. I'm going to see them freed and restored." "The Republic casts the veterans of its wars onto the streets to beg and die. I'm going to establish a house wherein they are fed and treated with dignity." "The Republic beats to death any individual who attempts to abandon masculinity and live as a woman. I'm going to put an end to this practice." "The Republic holds all playwrights with threats of murder, imprisonment, enslavement, or exile. I'm going to champion a dissident playwright and see his play performed." When you accomplish one of your callings, you have the opportunity to change the Republic for the better. Create two callings for your character. You'll get to add more in play. You are an old man. For your traits, name something that you never did as a younger man, because you pursued Platonic Mastery instead, which now you regret. Name one regret for each of three categories: love, travel, and action. Examples: "I loved a woman, Aleka, but never told her." "I hoped to have children, but never did." "I wished to marry, but my studies allowed me no time to make a match." "I was drawn to sail the sea, but never did." "I hoped one day to see the sun set from the highest mountain peaks, but never did." "I studied languages but never lived in any foreign land." "I loved to shoot a bow, but set my enthusiasm aside in preference for my studies." "I might have been a great warrior, glorious in battle, but studied the Elements instead." "I was a fleet-footed racer, but abandoned sports for philosophy." Your traits work both for you and against you. They can count as weaknesses, additional obstacles that the GM sets against you, but setting them to right is how you restore your lost conviction. For your dice, choose five, in any combination of sizes, to match the combination of Elements that you have mastered. Examples: 1d4 (FIRE), 1d6 (EARTH), 1d8 (AIR), 1d12 (SELF), 1d20 (WATER). 4d4 (FIRE), 1d12 (SELF). 1d4 (FIRE), 2d6 (EARTH), 2d20 (WATER). For your conviction, roll all your dice and sum the roll. This number represents the total of your force of will, social esteem, physical health, and endurance. When you lose conviction in play, only setting one of your regrets to right can restore it. BEGINNING THE GAME Once you've all finished your characters, introduce them. You've met all together in secret, by night, in one of your homes, you few Masters who no longer serve your Republic. Introduce your character. Say your callings and your regrets. Pass wine and olives. Don't make concrete plans, but consider where you can act on your callings together, in each other's support. Answer the GM's questions. Any one of you can begin the game. Say what action your character takes, the next day. Take action alone or with your fellow Masters. The GM says what you see, who you meet, what they say, and play continues as a conversation, punctuated by consequential actions and rolls. Play until you have changed the Republic or it has destroyed you. PLAYING THE GAME Each of your dice is either live or dead. Your dice all start live, but when you roll them, you risk making them dead and unusable, through strain, until you can rest and recover them. When you attempt to achieve something lasting or abrupt, you bend yourself and the elements around you. It's the GM's job to tell you which Elemental Action you're making - although usually it's obvious to everyone - and how many additional obstacles stand against you. Roll as many of your live dice as you want. The more dice you roll, the greater your possible success, but the more dice you risk losing to death. The Elemental Actions' listings tell you how to interpret your roll. Whenever you have no live dice left, you are exhausted, and can't make any Elemental Actions until you've recovered at least one live die. Whenever you take damage that you don't completely absorb or avoid, subtract the remainder from your conviction. If at any point you have zero conviction or less, you abandon your calling, depart at once from the action, retire to the countryside, keep goats, and do nothing more but wait bitterly to die. ELEMENTAL ACTIONS STRIKE SOMEONE OR SOMETHING, TO INJURE, KILL, OR DESTROY (FIRE): For each die that rolls 3 or less, deal 5 damage to your target. Then add the number of additional obstacles, if any, to each die's roll. Dice whose modified roll is 4 or more become dead. BUILD SOMETHING (EARTH): Sum your roll. The structure you've built can withstand this much damage before it falls or is destroyed. Then subtract the number of additional obstacles, if any, from each die's roll. Dice whose modified roll is 3 or less become dead. DEFEND YOURSELF OR ANOTHER (EARTH): Sum your roll. You block or absorb this much damage. Then subtract the number of additional obstacles, if any, from each die's roll. Dice whose modified roll is 3 or less become dead. NIMBLY AVOID DANGER (AIR): Sum your roll. If you've rolled higher than the damage incoming, you avoid all of it. Otherwise, you suffer half of it. Then subtract the number of additional obstacles, if any, from each die's roll. Dice whose modified roll is 3 or less become dead. HEAL YOURSELF OR ANOTHER (WATER): Subtract the number of additional obstacles, if any, from each die's roll. Dice whose modified roll is 3 or less become dead now; exclude them. Sum your remaining dice, if any. You can heal this much conviction. These remaining dice now become dead as well. SPEAK AND BE HEARD (SELF): Subtract the number of additional obstacles, if any, from each die's roll. Dice whose modified roll is 1 or less become dead now; exclude them. Sum your remaining dice, if any. You deal this much damage to your opponent's conviction, unless they allow your speech to change their mind, in which case, they suffer no damage. USE YOUR TOOLS AND SKILLS (SELF): Name the task you intend to accomplish. Sum your roll. If it is greater than half of your current conviction, you are successful in your attempt; otherwise, you fall short. Then subtract the number of additional obstacles, if any, from each die's roll. Dice whose modified roll is 1 or less become dead. LOOK WITH YOUR EYES, LISTEN WITH YOUR EARS, THINK WITH YOUR MIND (SELF): Sum your roll. If it is greater than half of your current conviction, you see, hear, or know the thing in question. Then, subtract the number of additional obstacles, if any, from each die's roll. Dice whose modified roll is 1 or less become dead. BEND THE ELEMENTS TO YOUR WILL (FIRE, EARTH, AIR, or WATER): It is possible to bend impure elements, such as metal (impure earth), blood (impure water), or lava (impure fire), but the impurity counts as an additional obstacle against you. Subtract the number of additional obstacles from each die's roll. Dice whose modified roll is 2 or less become dead now; exclude them. If any remain, you are able to shift, move, shape, or otherwise control the element you've chosen. Choose one measure of control for each die whose modified roll is 3 or more: - You are able to double its size, quantity, or volume. - You are able to double its intensity. - You are able to direct it in defiance of its natural motion. - You are able to summon it whole, though none is present. - You are able to form it into a shape of your choice, as intricate as you choose. - You are able to compel it to thus remain, in defiance of its natural inclination, after you have departed. These remaining dice now become dead as well. If you BEND THE ELEMENTS TO YOUR WILL in order to STRIKE SOMEONE OR SOMETHING, TO INJURE, KILL, OR DESTROY, make that roll as well, modifying the damage you inflict as follows: AIR: +1 damage per die. WATER: +1 damage per die, unless you are able to drown them, in which case, +5 damage per die. EARTH: +3 damage per die. FIRE: +5 damage per die. CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND RECOVERY You can't simply choose to take these actions, but you can try to create the opportunity to take them. REST AND RECOVER: When you have the opportunity to rest and indulge in the pleasures of conversation and friendship, you may choose to do so. For each hour you are able to spend thus, restore one of your dead dice to life. You choose which. SET A REGRET TO RIGHTS: When you have the opportunity to set one of your regrets to rights, you may choose to do so. Restore all of your lost conviction, but give up one of your dice forever. FULFILL A CALLING: When you fulfill one of your callings, it provides an example to your society of a better way. Tell the GM that the institution that opposes you is weakened and loses half of its remaining power. Create a new calling to replace it. BEING THE GM Play is a conversation between you and the players. You describe the situation, the players say what they do and roll for their actions, and you describe what happens as a result. Your job is to have the characters' society resist their efforts and try to destroy the players' characters instead of allowing itself to be changed. THE REPUBLIC, ITS INSTITUTIONS, AND THEIR CHAMPIONS When the players introduce their characters' callings, make note of them. Each calling represents a law, rule, or institution of the Republic. List these institutions out. Examples, matching the examples above: "Denying girls education." "Working mines with slaves." "Caring not for veterans." "Enforcing masculine gender roles with violence." "Suppressing dissident plays." Now assign each institution its power, a number from 200 to 1,000. Make them average to around 500. When its power is reduced to 0 or less, the institution is broken for good, and the Republic discards it. It no longer holds. When you introduce NPCs, it may be that they're agents, representatives, or champions of one of the Republic's institutions. It may be that the structures and engines that you introduce, likewise, are emblems of an institution. In this case, if the players' characters' actions damage their conviction, before witnesses, the institution loses power equal to the champion's lost conviction. NPCS, STRUCTURES, AND ENGINES To create an NPC, a structure, or an engine, choose qualities, roll conviction, and set the damage it inflicts. Conviction and damage both start at 0. For each FIRE quality, roll 1d4 for conviction and add 10 to damage. For each EARTH quality, roll 1d6 for conviction and add 8 to damage. For each AIR quality, roll 1d8 for conviction and add 2 to damage. For each SELF quality, roll 1d12 for conviction and add 6 to damage. For each WATER quality, roll 1d20 for conviction and add 4 to damage. EXAMPLE QUALITIES FIRE Glass cannon Motorized Red-hot Flaming EARTH Man made Digging Mineral Armored AIR Fast Flying Cowardly Intelligent SELF Strong Large Brave Famous WATER Undead Swimming Fat Emotional