Fun side project time! After we did the original alignment charts way back in the dawn of time, we didn't think we'd be revisiting the fun, but we have new crops of baby Scions and they run the gamut of outlooks and morals.
Here's a chart (co-ed, because there are fewer characters than in the main game universe) for Eastern Promises:
Several other characters could fill some of these roles - Akhileswar, Cassara, Darrius, Kebo, Layla and Padma are probably Neutral Good, Mohini and Haji are probably Chaotic Good, Mrs. Young is likely to be Lawful Neutral and Samuel's probably rocking the True Neutral with Paniwi.
Gangs of New York is so young that we don't have enough folks to fill out the chart yet; there's been nobody in that game who could really be considered Neutral Evil, for example. However, I'm sure they'll grow into it - they'll spread those baby Scion wings and start being evil any day.
This might be kind of a big question but I've always wondered it. Why do you guys switch characters a lot? Like not replacing dead ones, but just like...you're playing Mohini, now you're playing Faruza, then you're playing Leona...but it's all the same game.
ReplyDeleteLike I am just really confused how it all works. :(
There are three purposes for the multiple-characters model!
DeleteThe first is to allow telling a story that affects a large number of Scions, not just a small core group of five or six; the storylines of Eastern Promises and Gangs of New York are pretty global, and without giving anything away for the players, I can tell you they're designed for more Scions to be involved. There are NPCs, of course, but they're a different ball of wax, and the players doing stuff is always more interesting than the ST doing stuff behind the scenes.
The second reason is to allow players to try out a bunch of different roles and personas at the table. By switching out new Scions for different stories, players get to try out fresh points of view, experiment with new powers and get involved in new roles - healing, fighting, psychopomping, whatever - that they may not have tried before. They still can stay with the same character for a while if they want to, but they also have a bunch of options and room to spread out, which is especially helpful for new players or players who want to try to step out of their comfort zone and try something new without fear of being stuck with it forever.
And finally, it's a pragmatic way to have backup characters ready and available. Scion's a game with a lot of violence and insanity in it, and PCs can and do die. Having several ready-made, carefully-built characters means that instead of players being super bummed out about losing one, they can look forward to another one that they hopefully are also excited about playing. It doesn't remove the sting of character death, of course... but it does help soften it.
But of course this is just a particular way of telling a story, not the way all or even most games should go. :) We also play traditional, single-character, single-narrative games, which include the big fat famous games (Better Next Time, Skeins of Fate and Strawberry Fields). In those games, players have been running the same character literally for years of real time, and they only switch out if a PC dies.
Different styles of stories. :)
I really like that idea a lot. John and I were talking a while back and he actually recommended introducing other Scions to games to be back-up in the event of player death.
DeleteI would actually like to use this at some point in my current game, but I'll wait and see how long it goes on for before making that decision (I like the current group of characters we have, so I'm going to wait and let them bond and do awesome stuff, at the very least reach Legend 3, before introducing new characters elsewhere.)
I imagine it's a lot of fun for the players too, kind of Song of Ice and Fire-ish.
ASOIF is a good comparison. :)
DeleteThere's a lot to be said for forming a strong bond between bandmates, though, which is harder when some are switching out. We've found that players tend to form connections to one another and try to play together, though - the triad of Mohini, Shadan and Padma usually tries to play at the same time, while Faruza and Akhi have always appeared together and James and Haji seem unable to get rid of each other.
Man it IS hard to really have a take on the Gangs game since everyone is often in flux. Though alot of "Chaotic" seems about right.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I made a list and had one of each Good and Chaotic alignment, but no Evils. (Well, except James, John maintains that he went the full CE by the end of his story.)
DeleteRIP James, you crazy unstable bastard.
DeleteSo...Shanti is basically a female Indian Joker from a steampunk mythical universe?
ReplyDeleteThat kind of awesome is almost equivalent to 10 Batmans on the batshit crazy meter.
Ha, I didn't even notice that her quote was similar to that one from The Dark Knight. She's not really the Joker - she's horrible because she wants to get things done, not just because she enjoys being horrible - but there are many other parallels.
DeleteZahed is really the Joker. That's a guy who just wants to watch the world burn.
Hey now, Zahed isn't nearly as bat-shit as Shanti... more evil sure, but when was the last time he played homicidal hairdresser?
DeleteIt's... it's a different kind of batshit.
DeleteOh FYI Dazhbog still has the Craft ability on the quick reference list.
ReplyDeleteFunny example of the new artisan purview :D
ReplyDeletehttp://i.imgur.com/aCzLck5.gif
This is beautiful. I love it.
DeleteDoing the right thing for the wrong reasons and the wrong thing for the right reasons.
ReplyDeleteEvery day!
Delete