Theme Test Market

[Aranneas]

Heretics!

The time of the old gods is done. The people have cased aside the faiths that helped them through the most troubled of times, and embraced a new living deity as their lord and master. It is an age of great upheaval and chaos; for those few who cling to the beliefs of their forefathers, it is a time of tragedy and danger.

But all is not yet lost. Other lands have grown stronger and wiser in the time that this people has spent shedding the blood of its own. The priests of the old pantheon have not fallen with their temples. With quickness and guile, faith, and perhaps some luck, they might still make it out alive.

Priests of Forsaken Gods

In 'Heretics', each player takes the role of a priest dedicated to one god in a pantheon which used to be the predominant religion in the region. At the start of the game, one of the assigned gods is randomly chosen to become the 'Overdeity'. Priests of that god are basically the 'mafia' of the game. The player group as a whole is a group of renegades stowed away on a ship, attempting to escape the kingdom from which they've been exiled. Unbeknown to most of them, however, they've taken on a few traitors along the way.

Spells and Magic Spheres

Each player begins the game with three randomly dealt 'spells', or abilities, that they can use. They will be randomly granted an additional spell at the start of each day, when that player prays to his or her deity for guidance. These abilities are typically single use, and encompass a variety of roles typical to mafia games, as well as some that take advantage of the unique mechanics of the game.

Each 'spell' is associated with a particular sphere of magic, and can only be used by a practitioner of that type. A god grants its followers access to two different spheres. Since the vast majority of abilities are publicly revealed when they go off, this provides players with a means of identifying priests of allying and opposed deities, and forces them to think tactically about which abilities they use, and when.

and yet it moves...

The game is not static. Each day, there is a possibility of momentous events occurring. This could be anything from a sudden inspection of the ship by its guards, to the occurrence of miracles, to a new deity being proclaimed ruler in place of the old. Players will be forced to adapt to changing circumstances and decide in whom to place their trust as the game unfolds.