Once upon a time, Atlantis was the most glorious city in the world... and then it was completely destroyed. What should its descendants do? Try to rebuild it, clinging to its possibly outdated ideals? Move on, leaving their traditions and heritage behind? Did Atlantis even exist, or was it just a cautionary tale for the modern offspring of Poseidon?
Atlantean: The Longing is a fan-made tabletop role-playing game that was heavily inspired by the themes and gameplay of Old World of Darkness games, where, instead of seeking redemption and revenge on the surface, the players take on the role of Atlanteans, trying to protect their oceanic homes from pollution while figuring out what they really stand for. To fight against the destruction of their homes, Atlanteans become well-versed in using supernatural abilities that were bestowed upon them by Poseidon. While on the surface, they continuously fight the Longing: a supernatural homesickness that constantly compels them to go back into the ocean.
At first glance, Atlantean may not seem as dark and cynical as other World of Darkness games, but, upon further inspection, it quickly becomes clear that Atlanteans can be just as cruel, ferocious and shady as any other creature of the dark, while also harboring plenty of secrets and ulterior motives.
The latest version of the game is hosted on it's itch.io page
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Tropes seen:
- The Chessmaster: The members of Mars Pacifer like to see themselves as something like this, but it can be argued that they are just con men who prefer to fight in unfair ways.
- Compelling Voice: Certain Atlanteans are capable of channeling the commanding presence of Poseidon to control the will of others, but this only works on beings who lack the willpower to resist it.
- The Dark Arts: While none of the Pelagic Arts are meant to be explicitly evil, it is easy to use them with malicious intent. For example, moving water telekinetically may not imply anything dark, but moving the water out of someone's body and drowning them in it is pretty damn villainous.
- Functional Addict: The Longing can be imagined as something like this. Atlanteans find the ocean deeply comforting, and the more they use their powers, the more they are reminded of it's safety to the point where being outside of it becomes unbearable.
- The Masquerade: Like most groups in the World of Darkness, Atlanteans also have a code of secrecy called the Edict of Poseidon.
- Outlaw: Atlanteans who resist the Longing for too long will fall out of Poseidon's favor and lose their powers.
- Proud Warrior Race: The Hand of Poseidon think of themselves as this, but their opponents think that they're simply justifying mass murder.
- Semi-Divine: Atlanteans are all distant descendants of the Greek god Poseidon and inherited their supernatural abilities from him. Supposedly. In modern times, no one really knows Atlanteans who remember the ancient era and, as such, many of them are skeptical about the validity of their origin story.
