This is information on the game Polaris, by Ben Lehman of Tao Games. It is a game of collaborative storytelling, where the four players take turns from scene to scene about who is playing the protagonist (the Heart) and who is playing antagonist(s) (the Mistaken). In addition, the distinctive feature is how it resolves conflicts as structured negotiation between the Heart and Mistaken. Below I have links to my actual play reports and two some aids.

Online Conflict Flowchart

A browsable version of the conflict flowchart made by Ron Edwards, with PDF layout by Tony Lower-Basch.

 

Sample Aspect Cards (PDF)

This is the list of sample aspects from the Appendix, printed in equal-size boxes so they can be cut apart as slips of papers and spread around the table for multiple players to browse.

 

Star Names

This is a table of all the star names ordered by the name of the star itself rather than by constellation. So if you're looking for an "S" name, this is a good choice.

 

AmberCon NorthWest 2005 Run

I ran a session of Polaris at AmberCon NorthWest 2005, with five players. The game went fairly well. Below I link to part of my convention report, and scanned copies of the character sheets...
ACNW Convention Report
Alkalurops (played by Pôl)
Caelum (played by Michelle)
Cygnus (played by Melissa)
Er Rai (played by Val)
Regulus (played by John)
Michelle's sketches

 

Campaign #1

I have also run with friends in my group. This game also had five players: myself, Bill, Cynthia, Liz, and Heather.
Forge Actual Play Thread
Blot Post

External Links

• Official Polaris Page
• "Thou Art But A Warrior" - An alternate setting for Polaris, written by Anna Kreider. The player characters are noble Muslim Knights sworn to defend Islamic Spain at the very beginning of the Crusades, right before the Christians invade and destroy everything.

• Original Game Chef Thread with Polaris (April 2004)
• Original LJ Post of Game Chef Rules (April 2004)
• February 2005 Draft (PDF)