Where Our Loyalties Lie

Question: Since starting doing Scion, I've become incredibly enamored of the Aztec pantheon. While I still enjoy the stories and mechanics of the others, I always want to go back to the Aztecs. I was wondering, do either of you or your players have a pantheon that just strikes the perfect chord?

Yay, player-participation questions! Have we mentioned that we love these? We totally do. I'm not sure if the players love them, but they answer them, at least, so we're going to go ahead and assume that's a yes.

Amy: Scion has really expanded my horizons and gotten me interested in non-Anglo-European mythology. I don't think I hold any pantheon above the rest, but the Loa/Orisha are infinitely fascinating to me.

Anne: You guys know me, I am also a sucker for the Aztecs. I love their unique worldview, their richly detailed and interesting ritual life, their community-oriented cosmic focus and the fact that their gods are supremely badass in basically every way. I never get bored with these guys; in fact, I never even think about getting bored with them. Behind them as a close second are probably the Canaanite gods, because god damn they are crazy and awesome and hilarious and monstrously huge and important in their part of the world, and there's no other pantheon I can think of that captures the idea of The Old Gods better than they do.

John: The Greeks resonate most with me. I've followed them since childhood and as an adult, although it's difficult to say that I worship them, I philosophically agree with them most of the time. Also, their Virtues line up with mine pretty well.

Thomas: I'll go with Norse, but it's probably only my answer because I've been playing an Aesir Scion for so long. I've done more reading and research about the Aesir than any other Pantheon, and Folkvardr's adventures have felt pretty Norse-centric.

Our bands have done a *lot,* but Ragnarok has always been a huge part of the stories (looming in the horizon, able to be postponed but never stopped outright, and then, ultimately, an epic weekend-long gaming experience that would shape everything to follow).

I don't know how different my answer would be if I'd been playing a character from another pantheon for so long. A lot of them are pretty awesome!

Except the Japanese. Seriously, guys? Tsukumo-gami?! No one cares!

Tom: I love the Greeks. They have such a vast pantheon and such interesting historical traditions of absorbing and associating their deities with those cultures they've encountered. Be it the Greeks, Romans, Etruscans, or even the associations with the Egyptians (hell yeah Hermanubis!), they are creative and brilliant enough to know that absorbing these deities will only add to their ability to conquer those they encountered instead of just killing off the opposition. Seriously. How brilliant is that?

I also like my gameplay mechanics to stay simple. Arête really lends itself to that. As John, Anne, and everyone else in the games I was a part of knows, keeping mechanics in my head isn't a strong suite of mine. So I really appreciate the simplicity of their PSP. I also relate to their Virtues, which helps.

I also really enjoyed the Vanir. I'm the kind of person who does well to know who his antagonist is. I also enjoy sticking it to the Man (even though I'm not good at the subtle strategic ways that should be employed). You'll notice that in both Goze (Terminus) and Will (Sverrir) a lot. I do wish we knew more about the Vanir though. Having that air of the unknown does really lend itself to in-character discovery, which is great.

Through Will I discovered the Polynesian pantheon. I think they may be one of the coolest out there. With Polia'hu, Maui and Pele (that relic-destroying whore), it really influenced the direction Sverrir took. The vivid images of Fire and Water and the raw eruption of power they could be when they both met was very inspiring. I really can't wait for that pantheon to be released.

Well... good news, Tom, I've totally already gone to the library. Don't tell John, he told me I'm supposed to do less work, not more.