Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Call Me Maybe

Question: Hey, have you guys ever had a PC serve as a Guide for a NPC Scion?

What a cool idea! We have not, but I'd love to see that someday. It seems like a perfect Birthright for PCs to hand off to their own budding Scions or those of their friends, not to mention being a great source of plot hooks and interjections (serious, deadly or hilarious) into the story proper.

Should it ever come up, I'd suggest sitting down as the Storyteller and coming up with a rough sketch of what this person that the PC is supposed to Guide will be doing and what adventures they'll be going on. That way, you'll have a good idea of what situations might warrant them calling on the Scion and what kinds of stories they might spur in the game, and you can spring those whenever they're most dramatic (or the game just needs a little extra boost).

3 comments:

  1. Huh, I wonder if one of my players asked this...

    Right now, we have that happening in my Atlanta game. Twice, actually.

    Russian Murder-Batman is acting as a Guide to a teenage Scion of Xochiquetzal who was dropped off with the Band because his father (a Jaguar Warrior) and his sister (another Scion) were at that time part of the Band. The Jaguar Warrior has since kicked his son out of his house (they hate each other) and the sister has left the Band to join the new Aztec Empire that replaced Mexico.

    So Russian Murder-Batman has taken over the education of poor little Oscar. Teaching him important things like how to behead criminals and how to use your super-powers to escape police scrutiny. Oscar isn't sure what to make of this, since his own talents aren't extremely physical, but he's trying hard to be a crime-fighter until he figures out what he really should be doing with himself.


    Our other case is the ex-Scion of Lugh, now the foster-son of Cernunnos, being asked by Cernunnos to help 'straighten out' one of the Horned Dude's youngest sons. Poor guy isn't that bright and hasn't got anyone else to show him the ropes, so when his foster-brother first came calling, little guy had gotten himself in trouble by not realizing he needed to TURN OFF his Controlled Potency Relic. At 18, he's now the father of 30+ children and has no idea how to handle any of it, much less the rest of being a Scion.

    Acting as the Guide for Heroes is something very appropriate to Demigods and certainly newbie Gods. It not only lets them show off a bit and take on the role of mentor, but it helps them learn more about themselves by stepping outside of their usual position as the underdog. When everyone you're talking to is a God, sometimes it's nice to be reminded that there are Heroes out there who are AWED by what you can do and respect the hell out of your accomplishments.

    Plus, it's all kinds of fun when the Guidees get themselves into trouble.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, it's always a really nice feeling for a player to realize that they're completely blowing another Scion away with how awesome the are. Being reminded that they're pretty badass, even if not yet the Legend 12 top of the totem pole, never goes amiss.

      Given our PCs' general behavior, though, I'm not sure how many of them anyone would actually want as a Guide.

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    2. Wow.. our game that started in Atlanta also had a would be superhero but it was my Shen who was a combination of Rorshach and the Shadow.

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