Εισαγωγή | Introduction

Platonic Mastery is a game 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.

Απόφαση | Decision

You are an old man, a philosopher and a Platonic Master, a denizen of highest tiers of your civilization. As play begins, after decades of private doubt and self-deception, you have concluded that your society and your place in it are based on human atrocity.

You have made a final and irrevocable choice to change your society for the better or sacrifice yourself in the attempt. The GM, representing society, will resist your efforts in every way they can, attempting to destroy you rather than change.

Δημοκρατία | Republic

Your civilization is a well-ordered, rational, and technologically advanced Hellenistic utopia, ruled by a dispassionate senate of men proven wise, steady, and cunning, and their formal advisors: philosophers and masters of every school. 

It also demands and depends upon continual atrocity. 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 only to service the needs and whims of the citizenry.

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 the unwell,
 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 laborers,
 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 women,
 and brutally suppresses and enslaves them.

Κτίσις | Creation

Everyone except the GM should create a character. Characters are composed of two callings, three regrets, dice representing their platonic masteries, and a number representing their current Conviction.

Κλῆσις | Callings

You start with two callings for your character, and will add more during play. Each has two parts: an atrocity fundamental to your society (listed above), and what you, specifically, will do about it. When you accomplish a calling, you have the opportunity to change the Republic for the better.

Examples:
"The Republic denies girls even basic education.
 I will take a girl as a student and teach her to be my equal."

"The Republic has enslaved a foreign city and works its people
to death as miners. I will see them freed and restored."

"The Republic casts the veterans of its wars into the streets to beg and die. 
I will 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 will put an end to this practice."

"The Republic menaces playwrights with murder, imprisonment, slavery,
 or exile. I will champion a dissident playwright and see his play performed."

Μετανιώνω | Regrets

You are an old man, and your lifelong pursuit of Platonic Mastery cost you many things which you now regret. Regrets work both for and against you. They are weaknesses, additional obstacles that the GM can set against you, but setting them to right restores lost conviction. Name a 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..."

"I wished to marry, but my studies 
allowed me no time to make a match..."

"I always yearned to sail the sea…"

"I hoped to one day to see the sunset 
from the highest mountain peaks…”

"I studied languages but never lived, 
or even travelled, to any foreign land…"
"I loved to shoot a bow,
 but set my passion aside for my studies."

"I might have been a great warrior, glorious in battle,
but chose The Elements instead."

"I was a fleet-footed racer, 
but abandoned sports for philosophy."
Ἀρετή | Platonic Masteries

Your lifelong study has taught you mastery of the essential elements of the universe. Choose five dice, in any combination of sizes, to match the combination of elements you have mastered. Each element has a die size associated with it: 

	FIRE: d4    EARTH: d6    AIR: d8    SELF: d12    WATER: d20 

Examples:

1d4 (FIRE), 1d6 (EARTH), 1d8 (AIR), 1d12 (SELF), 1d20 (WATER)

4d8 (AIR), 1d12 (SELF)

2d6 (EARTH), 1d12 (SELF), 2d20 (WATER)

Πιστεύω | Conviction

To determine your starting 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.

Ἐξουσία | Authority (GMing)

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. Rather than controlling an individual Master, you will represent the world they live in, the people that they meet and know, and the institutions of the Republic that oppose their efforts. 
You will also point out when an action necessitates a roll, and which Action is being made: it will usually be obvious to everyone, but you have final say. Also note any of their regrets that are an obstacle for this action. 

Ιδρύματα | Institutions

For each atrocity of the Republic targeted by the characters' callings, there are corresponding laws, rules, and institutions that protect, reinforce, and enforce those atrocities.  List the specific institutions threatened by the characters.

Examples (matching the example Callings):

•	"Denying girls education."
•	"Working mines with slaves."
•	"Caring not for veterans."
•	"Enforcing masculine gender roles with violence."
•	"Suppressing dissident plays."

Assign each institution Power, a number from 200 to 1,000. They should average to around 500; be sure to prioritize institutions threatened by multiple callings.

When its power is reduced to 0 or less, an institution is broken for good, and the Republic discards it. It no longer holds.

Εντολοδόχος | Proxies

When you introduce NPCs (Non Player Characters), they can be proxies: agents, representatives, or champions of an institution in a situation. Structures and engines that you introduce can also be proxies, as emblems of the institution. When player characters' actions damage these representatives in front of witnesses, the institution also loses the same amount of power.

To create a proxy (whether a character, structure, or 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 8 to damage.
For each EARTH quality, roll 1d6 for conviction and add 6 to damage.
For each AIR quality, roll 1d8 for conviction and add 4 to damage.
For each SELF quality, roll 1d12 for conviction and add 2 to damage.
For each WATER quality, roll 1d20 for conviction and add 1 to damage.

Example Qualities

Fire	Earth	Air	Self	Water	
Destructive	Armored 	Cowardly	Brave	Agile	
Flaming	Crafted	Flying	Famous 	Emotional 	
Gluttonous	Heavy	Intelligent	Large	Seagoing	
Motorized 	Solid	Swift	Strong 	Opportunistic	

Αρχή | Beginning

Once everyone’s finished creating characters, and the GM has defined the institutions arrayed against them, we have an introductory scene. 

You are meeting together in secret, by night, in one of your homes, the few Masters who no longer serve your Republic. Introduce your characters, their callings and regrets. Pass wine and olives. Don't make concrete plans, but consider where you can act on your callings together, and 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.

Μηχανική | Mechanics

Each of your dice is either live or dead. Your dice start live, but when you roll them, you risk making them dead and unusable, 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 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 can’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.

Δράσεις | Actions

BUILD SOMETHING (EARTH)
Sum your roll; the structure you've built can withstand this much damage before it falls or is destroyed. 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. 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 rolled higher than the incoming damage, you avoid all of it. Otherwise, you suffer half of it. 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 any obstacles from each die's roll; dice whose modified roll is 3 or less become dead now; exclude them. Sum any remaining dice, and heal that much conviction. Remaining dice then 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 W/ YOUR EYES, LISTEN W/ YOUR EARS, THINK W/ 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)
Bending impure elements, such as metal (impure earth), blood (impure water), or lava (impure fire), adds an additional obstacle. Subtract the number of 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 a measure of control for each remaining die, then those dice become dead as well.
- double its intensity.
- double its size, quantity, or volume.
- direct it in defiance of its natural motion.
- summon it whole, though none is present.
- form it into a shape of your choice, as intricate as you choose.
- compel it to thus remain, in defiance of its natural inclination, long after you have departed.

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 using the appropriate dice, 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.

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. 

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.

References
Raddato, Carole. 2013. Ancient Greek Theatrical Mask Of Zeus, Replica. Image. http://www.flickr.com/photos/carolemage/8380375983/.
Wikipedia,. 2015. 'Timaeus (Dialogue)'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timaeus_%28dialogue%29#The_Elements.