This project is a work in progress, subject to change at a moments notice (or less than that). Keep that in mind, everything here is malleable. In fact, this is the third re-visit to this idea.

Eidolon

(ahy-doh-luhn)

An image or representation of an idea
A representation of an ideal form
An apparition of some actual or imaginary entity or of some aspect of reality
A phantom, a ghost or elusive entity

Two men inspired this game, John Wick (7th Sea, Houses of the Blooded, Wilderness of Mirrors) and Jared Sorensen (Who I hear really likes ABBA). The conversation started when I told John I was a big fan of Wraith: The Oblivion. He began to criticize the game and that got me thinking. Jared asks the same questions when people say, “I’ve got a role-playing game.” and as much as I struggled to answer the questions I think I owe him some credit. Jared’s questions, and a fourth that John added in Wilderness of Mirrors, and my answers are as follows:

What is your game about?

Ghosts. Survival. Morality.

Eidolon is about being a ghost and surviving in the ghostly world. It’s about accidental interaction with the living and the consequences of those actions. It’s about choosing your own fate and either descending into madness or climbing to an unknown end. It’s about tethering yourself to the living world for power or destroying it for freedom.

It’s about ghosts that aren’t forced to remain in one place but can invest parts of themselves into a place to make themselves more powerful. This makes ghosts sometimes stick in one area, not because they’re forced, but because they want to. Ghosts that effect the real world inadvertently more than intentionally. Ghosts who go insane and attack monsters that they think are attacking them, when they are actually attacking the living people they are see beyond the veil.

It’s a game about the ultimate choice after death; will you follow the light, descend into darkness, or simply linger holding on to what you know. The choice is yours.

How is your game go about that?

Eidolon lets the player actively choose how they adjust their power levels and also forces them to change in others. There is a single resource to manage and that resource powers almost everything your character does. Choosing what you do with that resource will determine how your character advances and how you can play the game. That one resource counts as not only your buying power but also your life tracker and a way of controlling your fate. Eidolon combines a traditional style of role-playing with some “new” or “indie” concepts such as shared narrative control and Meta player rewards.

What behaviors does it reward?

The game encourages players to interact with the living world in a harmful manner by making it easier for them to accomplish their goals when they do it. It encourages careful resource management by giving a dozen different options on where to spend your powers and hurting you if you run short. It rewards players who think creatively about their character as a person by allowing them more uses of their innate powers.

Why is that fun?

This was honestly the hardest question to answer for me. I wrote a dozen things before now and I’m sure this will see another dozen drafts. I’ll say that I don’t know why its fun. I think its fun and I was once told to design games I’m interested in. I think its fun because I like it. Conceptually as a game I think the mechanics I’ve created are engaging, the subject matter is fascinating, and the entire point is worth exploring. In the end I don’t think I can tell you why its fun, that’s an answer you’ll have to find for yourself.