I really wanted to get back to this page to write a review because this book is solid.
I've returned to Incarnis several times now. It promises a lot but it really does work! The system does have some wonky details that I have struggled to get my head around but whenever I have tried this game it has created a dramatic mythical saga out of our collective minds, and after an evening of dramatic twists and turns we've ended up with fantastic stories that really feels like they could originate from a story of a polytheistic pantheon.
The book is very demanding and the game owner probably needs to read it very thoroughly when playing it. I read it many times before our first game, and the very first turn took a very long time. But then it just clicked, the system just gave way and existed beneath us and the story progressed and people in the world acted and adventured and were tested to their core as the gods met and clashed and loved and feared and dreamed of perfection - and as true polytheistic deities, they failed despite their infallibility.
You should not expect to win, you only win if your story was good, and if so you all win because your evening was just that good. Dont expect to play this and have any capacities of "system analysis will enable me to win" because that will make you miserable - the game is NOT competitive. The system is a story guide that allows you to scale up your ability to change the world in a fantastic way. Its not a "game system" like a d&d but for gods. Its a one evening event to play incarnis and you will probably end up with a pretty epic story in that time. Dont be sad if your champion gets mauled by the monster just because another player said so, just roll with it. Sometimes the hero needs a reminder just who's boss, or maybe it was not his story, if was the story of the Sword of The Hero as it was passed down through the centuries, to be picked up aeons later by a boy who (you all retrospectively had to agree) turned out to be THE HERO of your collective story.
The story of the god who craved the marriage of a demigods daughter and she was hidden in glass forest from him. The story included heroes fighting over her destiny but in the end she needed to go to the Labyrith of Insanity to release the magic in order to stop the god of storms from devouring everything. It was a story of defiance and beauty.
The story of the City That Cried, a city of beautiful ideas and the spark of creation, that made technology and giants and steam punk'y monstrosities but as The Spark was bound to Laughter and Laughter was bound to a hostile god, the city of man developed a culture of ceremonious laughter, as creation was drained from their lives and inspiration was lost as it was institutionalised. The world never recovered and it was a story of loss and sorrow.
Games good. Buy it. Read it a million times and then please play it.