Projects

Projects are the impossible, reality-bending goals that player characters set for themselves and struggle to acheive. [p342] They give clear and explicit direction to the HG about the stories that the players want to tell, and are the core drivers for the narrative of the game.

How does a Project come to be?

• Any player can declare a new Project for their character at any time, with no maximum limit for the number of Projects a character may have. [CITATION NEEDED]

• Characters can work together on Projects, but only one character can declare and own the Project. [p342]

What does a Project look like?

• Projects are past-tense declarations that reference a story yet to be told of the events that will have unfolded when the character’s goals have been realized, such as: [p342]
  • “How I opened the gates of Heaven to accept all weary souls.”
  • “How I gave birth to a new world on the World Ash.”
• Projects can be used by the character to increase their trait levels and earn Gifts, such as: [p349]
  • “How I defeated the spectre in my own consciousness that hindered my connection to my Estate” (increasing my Persona trait).
  • “How I discovered and drank the ichor of immortality” (gaining the Immortal Gift).
• Projects can be used to change the relationship between the player characters and their Imperator, such as: [p249] [p251] [p252] [p253] [p255] [p350]
  • “How we taught our Imperator to love.”
  • “How I learned to comprehend the true language of my Imperator.”
• Projects can be used by a character to tell stories about the changes in their own hearts, such as: [p350]
  • “How I decided to betray Creation on behalf the Excrucians.”
  • “How I fell in love with the Creator.”

How does a Project advance?

• Through struggle, characters earn Destiny to spend on Projects. [p342]

• When a Project has gained 15 more points of Destiny since the last advancement, the accumulated Destiny is spoken by the character into reality as an Imperial Miracle that tangibly advances the Project. [p345]

  • The Imperial Miracle spoken by the character tells the story of the Project so far, then describes the next part of the story - the consequence of the weight of their struggle.
  • As an Imperial Miracle, the story can have reality-bending in-game effects that other characters can recognize and react to.
  • The story told by the player must leave some ambiguity for the HG to interpret the details of how the Imperial Miracle will unfold and how other characters will react to it. Work with the HG to come to an agreement on an acceptable story to tell.
  • The Imperial Miracle cannot bring the Project to trivial completion - when the Project is completed, it is because of the direct actions of the characters - each advancement only opens a new chapter of the story.
  • At each advancement, the player should write a short phrase summarizing the next step of the story that was spoken.

How does a Project get completed?

Straightforwardly, a Project is completed when the denoted goal is reached and the story has been fully told during play. A player may also choose to abandon a Project and leave it unfulfilled as their character’s goals or priorities change.