Local Color

Question: So what's the deal with gods and PSPs? Do they all have them maxed when they become Legend 12 gods? Is it expected of them?

Interestingly, there's a complete riot of different opinions on PSPs in the Scion community, and nobody agrees with anybody else. Our assumption for our games is that all Legend 12 NPC gods have their PSP maxed unless there's a good reason for them not to (i.e., they have a myth that specifically shows them failing to be able to do that thing, or they're fundamentally philosophically opposed to it). PSPs are one of the major sources of cultural flavor for the pantheons, and they're meant to be a set of powers that are as quintessentially representative of a pantheon as possible. A Greek who doesn't have Arete isn't being very Greek; an Aztlanti who doesn't sacrifice is failing at Aztlanti. It's certainly possible and can make for good plots when it happens, but it's a rarity; most Legend 12 gods should have access to those powers.

As always, things are different for PCs. PSPs are actually one of the few things in our games that Fatebonds don't affect; mortal Reverence can't take away or apply negatives to your PSP because it's a core part of your divine blood and will always be part of your Fate, but neither do they help it. This means that, unlike most Epic Attributes and APPs in the game, Scions have to buy their PSPs with XP all by themselves. In many cases, investment in a PSP is a measure of a Scion's investment in their pantheon, as they spend time learning its core concepts and developing its most celebrated abilities.

Of course, Scions can choose to ignore their PSPs, and they can get all the way to Legend 12 while ignoring them if they want to; there's no rule that will force them to buy them and no reason their players can't choose to spend that XP on other things, and furthermore, not having their PSP maxed doesn't necessarily have to mean that a Scion doesn't care about their pantheon, either. We have a wide-range spread of PSP investment across our god-level PCs, from those who have their PSP maxed out to those who only have one or two levels, and everything in between. In some cases, the low PSP is a reflection of the PC's general displeasure with their pantheon (that would be Vala), while in others it's just a result of the PC focusing on other things (Jioni, for example).

But the major kicker is that the gods of a PC's pantheon generally expect them to be able to do the same things that all gods of their pantheon can do, and the irritation, mockery or outright ridicule that often occurs if they discover that they can't is a powerful social motivator. Aztlanti who can't pull power from sacrifice with Itztli are Aztlanti that their pantheon frankly has no confidence in whatsoever - what are they going to do if they need the juice for something important and can't get it? - and as a result are unlikely to be trusted with any essential tasks or prominent roles. Devas who can't break out of the cycle of Samsara are practically as deluded as mortals (in the opinion of the properly enlightened, of course), and are likely to be treated like stupid children no matter what their Legend level until they get their act together in that regard. Scions of the Dodekatheon who don't excel in at least one or two areas of Arete skill have even odds of being laughed off Olympus or shoved out into the World so they stop embarrassing everyone, and Tuatha who can't handle the sacred oaths of Enech are not looking particularly trustworthy or heroic to the rest of their family, no matter what else they might be doing (double jeopardy, Tuatha Scions - this applies to you if you have all the Enech but break it, too! Yay!). If you're a Babylonian Scion without mastery over Me, they'll probably consider you unimportant and beneath them regardless of your Legend rating because of your inability to show yourself to be an ultimate power like the rest of them, and if you're Pesedjet and you can't figure out your own soul, the weighty frowns of the entire pantheon's collective disapproval of your obtuseness is likely to crush you (dude, even humans figured out how to deal with that when they die!). And god forbid an Aesir Scion ever decides they don't feel like being a gigantic juggernaut of physical strength and endurance; in one session, Odin ordered Vala to start getting some Jotunblut so she'd be less fragile and stop embarrassing him in front of the rest of the Aesir. When she refused ("You can't even open doors here!" "I have other people for that."), he split one of the long tables of his hall and destroyed one of her Birthrights, furious at her obstinacy.

So really, PSPs are a very big deal; they're one of the strongest emblems of a pantheon and one of the easiest things for any god, PC or NPC, to be judged on if they don't have what's expected. PCs are always and forever free not to buy them, but they're likely to have to deal with social consequences as a result (which many of them are perfectly willing to do, if Vala continuing to stubbornly spend all her XP on Mystery instead is any indication). NPC gods should pretty much have all of the PSP boons in every case except when you have a strong reason for them not to - it's one of the most important parts of a pantheon, after all, and its the PCs' jobs to be mold-breakers and trailblazers, not their ancient parents'.