An Eidolon is the echo of a self that persists beyond self-hood; a mythic synthesis of memory, intention, and impact, arising from many woven Threads.
Within ATET, to become an Eidolon is to enter the quiet workshop between worlds. It is the moment the player transitions from the Actor, a character living within a story, to the Author, a lonely god contemplating the meaning of that story. The Eidolon state is not a final ascension to power; it is the acceptance of a profound creative responsibility. It is the phase of play where the player grapples with the universe’s Metaphysical Trilemma and chooses what kind of world, and what kind of meaning, they will bring into being next.
The meaning of being is to inform creation, and the meaning of creation is to enable a richer being. ⌂
Contents
The Weaver’s Cycle
The gameplay of the Eidolon state is a contemplative, creative ritual, a “workshop” phase that bridges one life and the next.
- Reflect on the Unraveled Tapestry: Upon the completion of a Thread, the player enters the reflective state, witnessing the life they lived as an Eidic Constellation.
- Synthesize and Interpret Eidos: The player does not simply receive a score. They engage with the fragments of their past, combining and interpreting the Facts, Fictions, and Faiths they have harvested to form their Eidic Palette.
- Create a new Tapestry: Using a conceptual The Loom, the player weaves the foundational rules of the next reality, choosing its core themes, metaphysical laws, and potential for conflict or harmony.
- Seed the Weave: The player can place specific narrative seeds into their new creation: the echo of a past hero, a legendary Artifact, a persistent cultural Faith, or the very Gnostic Fragments of the MEMETIC-COGNITO-HAZARD.
- Commit to the Story: The Eidolon’s final act is to define the starting conditions for the next Incarnation and then surrender to the story once more, initiating the cycle of Anamnesis.
What Choices Matter Most?
The core gameplay of the Eidolon emerges from making philosophical choices that will define the very nature of the next story. The player is not just a designer; they are a philosopher-king setting the terms of a new reality. Their choices are a direct engagement with the Metaphysical Trilemma.
- Weaving the Host: Will you create a Tapestry of communal harmony, built on a Faith in the collective? A world whose strength is its unity, but whose risk is a descent into oppressive stagnation?
- Weaving the Virus: Will you author a Tapestry of radical individualism, a world that celebrates the sovereign will of the self? A world whose strength is its dynamism, but whose risk is a collapse into narcissistic chaos and a war of all against all?
- Weaving the Witness: Will you reject the primary conflict? Will you design a world of quiet, ascetic minimalism in the spirit of the Silent King? A world built to nurture and protect in the mold of Anya, the Martyr-Saint? Or a surreal, aestheticized reality of pure story in the style of Lexia, the Weaver of Tales?
The Loom provides direct, symbolic feedback on these choices. Weaving a world from resonant, harmonious Eidos produces stable, consonant chords. Deliberately weaving a world from contradictory philosophies—a Tapestry of Dissonance—creates a visible “scar” in the weave and a jarring, dissonant sound, signaling a world born into a state of high narrative tension.
Primary Player Verbs
The Eidolon’s agency is built around verbs of creation and intention:
- Reflect: Witness and understand the patterns of a completed life.
- Create: Weave the foundational laws and themes of a new reality.
- Interpret: Combine and give meaning to disparate fragments of Eidos.
- Seed: Place specific narrative elements or legacies into a new Tapestry.
- Commit: Finalize the new world and initiate the cycle of Anamnesis, returning to the world as an Incarnation.
- Transcend: A rare path to preserve a beloved Incarnation as an Archetype, saving them for a sequel in a different world.
The Sacred Solitude
The Eidolon’s workshop is an inviolable, solitary space. Creation is a deeply personal act, a dialogue between the creator and the echoes of their own past.
- The Private Canon: The worlds you create and the Eidos you harvest form your own personal, evolving canon. They are not part of a shared, persistent universe.
- Confluence as a Library: Interaction with the work of other players is an act of asynchronous scholarship. The Confluence hub is a “Library of Alexandria” where you can study the finished worlds of other lonely gods.
- Inspiration, Not Contamination: You cannot take another creator’s Artifact or character. You can only study it. This act of study may grant you a “Narrative Echo,” an inspiration that you must then take back to your own forge and re-create with your own hard-won Eidos. This preserves the integrity of your personal journey.
Design Intent
Why the Eidolon exists:
- To complete the philosophical arc of the game: from being a character in a story to becoming its thoughtful architect.
- To give long-term players meaningful authorship over their future play, framing their choices as profound philosophical stances within the Great Trilemma.
- To make the meta-loop a tangible, creative, and deeply personal ritual.
- To embody the game’s core ethos: The meaning of being is to inform creation, and the meaning of creation is to enable a richer being.