Symposium is a Descended From The Queen storytelling card game based on Alex Roberts' influential For The Queen: a game about love, duty, and devotion. It simulates a philosophical dinner party (or "symposium") in the classical style of the ancient Greek world and based on Plato's work of the same name, with some modifications to make it more accessible to a modern audience. It is for three to eight players.
In the game you play guests at dinner party filled with interesting people: philosophers, poets, doctors, playwrights, and many others. All the best things in life are there: good food, wine, beautiful servants, and interesting conversation. You are a guest, and after you get comfortable your host makes a request of you: make a speech in praise of love. Every guest gives a speech, the contents of which are directed by a different metaphysical perspective. If your speech is the best one, the host will award you the relevant card.
After this initial round of play the role of host shifts, new perspectives are selected, and a new Question card is drawn by a new host; introducing the players to a variety of interesting questions. (What is is to be wise? What is courage? Why do I still love them?) Fresh speeches are given, and the card is awarded. Play continues in this manner until the “You are drunk” card is selected, at which point the game is over. The guest with the most cards at the end of the game not only wins, but is also the wisest.
Symposium begins very much like For The Queen, with collaborative Rules cards that guide the players seamlessly into playing their first round. Upon each subsequent round, the duty of host shifts to the left, a fresh Question card is drawn, and players are able to draw new Philosophy cards. The host once again judges the quality of their answers based on their Philosophy, awards the Question card, and a new round begins.
Play ends when a new host selects the "You are too drunk” Question card. (As does the dinner party.) The placement of that card in the deck determines how long the game will be: a quarter of the way in for a short game, at the bottom for a long one, and so forth.
The purpose of Symposium as a game is to collaboratively contemplate the meaning of life via eight different philosophical perspectives applied to 42 different questions. (Though not all of them are phrased as questions.) In playtesting this has proved to be amusing as well as thought-provoking, and also gives players a chance to practice their oratorical and roleplaying skills.
