Tabula Rasa

Question: Through PHENOMENAL COSMIC CIRCUMSTANCE, you're forced to run a Scion game where the players have the opportunity to shape a developing society of humans through their inception. How would you manage this, would you think it a good idea, and what are you opinions in general?

Something that's really cool about Scion is that, especially by the time the players are playing gods but in smaller ways throught, they always have this opportunity. Humanity is sort of the lifeblood of mythology, as it's their beliefs, psychology and worship that shape the gods and other worlds, but Scions, as the defining actors in those myths and beliefs, always shape them in turn. It's a symbiosis of awesome proportions.

At a high level, Scions with the Health purview can very literally create their own new human societies. The Genesis boon allows any player of Legend 11 or higher to create new humans in any way, form and style she chooses, literally causing new societies to spring up with no knowledge of anything in the universe except their creator. That Scion, and her group if she wishes, have complete free carte blanche to teach, suggest, and set up these brand-new mortals any way they wish, starting new religions, political codes or customs entirely based on their own whims (until and unless some other god or society interferes and starts also adding input, of course).

As you can imagine, this is amazingly cool. While our Healthy Scions have mostly been planning on using Genesis to bolster existing populations - Eztli wants to bolster the incredibly pitiful numbers of Aztec mortals still surviving the world, while Jioni is on a mission to rebuild the mighty African tribes and their worship - they are fully capable of creating entirely new ones as well, as is anyone who decides to pick up Genesis. This kind of thing is one of the most awesome features of Scion as a game - PCs can become gods who have literally cosmic and incredible powers over humanity and the world they once lived in. They have those powers, and they should use those powers whenever and however they wish - far be it from us to tell a player they can't or shouldn't create their own new humans and set them up in whatever way they want, from creating a budding agrarian society to reinforcing the ranks of an already existing population to building up a nice stockpile of potential sacrifices and shock troops. It's not only a good idea, it's an awesome idea - players have worked hard to become gods with this kind of power, and they should get to use and express it.

Now, this is, of course, more work for the Storyteller, but that's the way it goes sometimes. As an ST, you'll need to work with that player on their society and what things they want it to do, be and develop into; you'll have to keep in mind their strengths and weaknesses and note where they'll probably succeed and where they might not have the expertise or touch to pull off their plan alone. You'll have to keep track of other influences that will also shape those developing humans - other cultures and societies that might find them, other gods who might want to get in on the worship ground floor, even the other PCs in the Scion's band, who, if gods themselves, can't help but influence things just by being around - and then you'll need to do work out of game to make sure that you always know what's going on in that developing culture and how things are progressing when the Scion's not there. You'll need to figure out how to integrate it into the world and stories already in progress, and you'll need to have a plan for when important things or changes might happen there that might catch some deity's attention (whether the Scion who created them or some other god who might seek to use them for his own ends).

But then again, by the time the PCs are gods, this is all work you're probably doing anyway as a Storyteller, for all the peoples and cults that know of them and fall under their protection. Gods usually don't exist in a vacuum, so this kind of setting work is already something Storytellers need to deal with from Legend 8 on up; getting to do it for a brand-new society is just an extra level of awesomeness in the Storyteller prep already in progress.

This is all stuff dealing with very high-level godly PCs, but what about Scions who aren't that high in Legend yet but still want to be involved in this kind of an endeavor? As a Storyteller, you can always bring in the idea that the PCs are going to be in charge of a new breed of humanity - scientific experiments, isolated feral mortals or other gods who have used Genesis to create humans but don't want to be in charge of their care and feeding are all good ways that a lower-Legend band of Scions might find themselves dealing with this kind of a project. And honestly, past the point of getting them to the new mortals in question, there's really not a lot else the Storyteller needs to manage; the PCs themselves, through their actions, words and behavior, will influence and shape that culture automatically whether they try to or not, simply by virtue of being divine and active in it. All a Storyteller needs to do at that point is react appropriately on behalf of the NPC humans and keep track of what things the Scions do that will have consequences and cause changes in these peoples' future.

Of course, Scions always influence any culture and people they're in by the time they're demigods; they can't help it. You can run them through all kinds of situations wherein they return to a city or people they once knew to find that they've been changed by their influence - we've had PCs discover that churches have sprung up after they left (both in their honor and dedicated to opposing them), new fashion trends have started, sites that they performed Legendary Deeds at have become considered sacredm or that their deeds are being emulated by vigiliante mortals. It's not the same as shaping a culture from a complete blank slate beginning, but the more you do this, the more the players will get a feel for how much they can really influence humanity (and be in turn influenced by the power of Fatebonds); they'll be that much more ready to deal with the grand scale of creating totally new societies when and if the time comes.

In short, for those who don't feel like reading my paragraphs full of overexcited text, we think it's an awesome idea and a fantastic way for both players and characters to realize their own power in the world and for the story to gain new ideas and players that will enrich the game overall. Creating and shaping an entirely new society of mortals is the ultimate expression of what most Scions have been doing the whole time - shaping and changing the world of mortals around them - and no Storyteller should shy away from its epicness if it's something that players and the story could benefit from.