Paragon of Virtue

Question: Can a Scion use Justice boons on themselves? In mortal society, there doesn't seem to be a precedent for it; if a judge were on trial, he wouldn't also be presiding over it. But how about in myth?

Hmm, that's a really interesting question. There's not a lot of precedent for judges having to judge themselves in myth, either; most judge figures - your Forsetis, your Zeuses, your Jade Emperors - are generally beyond reproach. They seldom misbehave, and when they do it's usually more of a moral grey area, not really a breaking of any actual laws. Which makes sense, really; as the arbiters of heavenly, divine authority, they wouldn't be very good at doing their jobs if they couldn't be relied on to support that authority themselves as well as enforcing it on others. The few examples I can think of in which a judge figure does make a fully illegal move - Geb overthrowing his father Shu, for example - usually end in some other figure chastising them, not in them having to judge themselves. It seems that even in the realm of the divine, judges usually have to recuse themselves when they're the ones on the stand.

But moral ambiguity, personal atonement and accepting your just desserts like a champion are certainly awesome parts of many a heroic story, so from a Scion point of view, Justice poses interesting questions. We think, unfortunately, that you couldn't use Justice to punish yourself, even if you had genuinely committed a crime and wanted to make a gesture to set it right, either to appease those wronged, impress your pantheon-mates, or to assuage your own guilt. This is mostly because we don't think it's feasible for Scions to use Judgment on themselves, and most of the purview is predicated on successful uses of Judgment. A Scion using Judgment on themselves might at best be performing a weird sort of introspection, something that might be best left to roleplaying, and at worst gaming the system by using it as a sort of cheap personal Mystery, learning their own guilt or innocence without having to do any legwork for it.

In most cases in world myth, those who are penitent or upset about something they've done tend to seek out the law of the land and submit themselves for judgment, rather than taking things into their own hands. I could see a Scion wanting to use Justice on themselves in a pinch, but in most cases it makes more sense to go on a pilgrimage to confess before Svarozhich or Mithra and let them make the call. Keep in mind that there are slews of ways to atone for your crimes that don't involve the Justice purview; PCs who are genuinely contrite or who really want to make amends can take on any number of heroic quests, heavy burdens or personal excoriations to do so without ever having to involve Justice's more esoteric means of enforcing punishment.

As a caveat, there are some Justice boons that are specifically designed to be used partly one oneself - Rightful Ownership, for example, could be used if the item stolen belonged to you, and Sanctify Oath might apply to a group taking an oath that includes the judgmental Scion sanctifying it. I would allow a Scion to use Shield of Righteousness to save themselves as well, provided they were actually innocent; really, Justice boons that don't involve Judgment are a much better candidate for a Scion to use on themselves than those that are geared toward identifying and punishing evildoers.

For all you opportunists out there, though - no, you can't Pardon yourself.