Aha! I bet you thought we forgot to vlog today, didn't you? Shows what you know! Not only did we remember, we actually did a whole pile of vlogs in one day, so that if we end up in a scheduling crunch in the weeks to come, you won't go without answered questions and our cheerful faces.
Question: What would you guys think of a game where Scions deal with a number of NPCs in the world bringing their pantheons back to prominance, all the while secretly guarding Zeus's "successor"?
Question: Why does Hades have Epic Stamina associated?
Question: I'm a little bit intrigued by the Orisha. It's crazy how everyone is married to everyone. How does that really work? Are they a big happy family or what?
Question: I'm STing a game and my scions (of Hel, Hades and Odin) are getting to God soon, and I need some ideas on how to make their rise to God memorable.
Question: My scion of Izanagi is finding himself being attracted to Amaterasu. He blames his attraction on being named the god of the moon (Tsuki-Yomi died), so is this argument valid? Also, should he be disgusted with himself since he is attracted to his sister? Would she be his full or half sister, since Izanagi created her and her brothers?
Question: Hey, I noticed that in your Eastern Promises and Gangs of New York games you only allow your PCs to pick four pantheons that actually had some level of cultural interaction. Just wondering if any other major pantheons on your site that could have that kind of thing going on, like say the Celtic pantheons, for instance?
Question: In your games, when and how did the gods learn that the Titans had escaped? Was there some big explosion in the Underworld? Did they simply slip out unnoticed until someone actually checked and saw that they had flown the coop?
Question: The Aztecs have a god of homosexuality despite their obvious dislike of the concept. How does the rest of the pantheon treat him?
Question: Norse vs. Borgovi? SWEET! But, say Loki tricked Thor and Perun into a room together - what would happen? A SPECTACULAR light show, or lots of drinking? OR something else?
Question: Power and responsibility go hand in hand. And with every great decision comes regret. Regret for what could have been, should have been, and what ultimately was. What do the gods regret?
Today's vlog is about gods, pantheons and related issues of their politics and powers. Happy viewing!
Hey I'm Demi-human and thanks your answering my question
ReplyDeleteYou're very welcome. :)
DeleteI'm pretty certain that some time ago Hera DID have Epic Stamina associated on your site. I might be remembering this incorrectly, but I'm almost positive she did.
ReplyDeleteHuh. Maybe we did give it to her at the same time, and then lost it in site edits somewhere?
DeletePossibly. I've been thinking about this and I very specifically remember asking myself why she had it, and coming up with the Titan belly argument. Also, just my two cents, but surviving being devoured by a Titan Avatar sounds like very good grounds for giving all five of them Epic Stamina (that it would bump Demeter up to playable is just icing on the cake).
DeleteWait...Perun doesn't have Epic Charisma, right?
ReplyDeleteNot associated, no, but he's still got a lot of it (probably 8 dotsish?). People freaking love Perun.
DeleteI just noticed: Hera STILL has Epic Stamina on your house rules page! I knew my memory wasn't going.
ReplyDeleteOh, crazy, it's there but not on her personal page! Darn, obviously we lost an update somewhere.
DeleteI'll fix her and we'll revisit the idea of Demeter (like we don't have enough to do). :)
I guess you COULD blame being attracted to Amaterasu because you're a moon god if Fate messed with... whatever rolls gods make to determine attraction, and gave a bonus to Amaterasu against moon gods or moon gods a penalty against Amaterasu?
ReplyDeleteBut I have a feeling that's probably not what happened here. Still, if you WANTED it to be kinda-sorta valid you could do that...?
OH ALSO unrelated to the comment above but another thought regarding the Vlog. Having a conflict over dominance over in the Mediterranean for your Gangs gang...
DeleteAnne, don't you think that's a good reason for John to add the Elohim to the site's playable roster for your players? And with a central city of New York featuring so prominently...
I totally said that, Belltrap. I said it loud and I said it proud. He didn't go for it (something about "don't have another pantheon project in me right now"), but I'll keep saying it anyway.
Delete... Further unrelated, but that would bump Hestia up to three associations, too, wouldn't it?
DeleteFire, Guardian, and Epic Stamina.
True fact, although of less interest to players in our games since we use her as a Titan. Definitely gives her more to go on as a divine parent if you use her that way, though.
DeleteI've always wondered, what was your reasoning for making Hestia a Titan instead of a minor Goddess? I mean, isn't there a myth that specifically says she stayed on as hearthkeeper of Olympus? (I admit, the main reason I'm wondering is that it makes me sad to think of her imprisoned in Tartarus for all those millennia).
DeleteActually, the story of Hestia stepping down for Dionysus is a modern myth; you won't find it in any ancient Greek or Roman sources. It was invented by Robert Graves in his 1955 book The Greek Myths, in which he added his own tale of Hestia stepping down for Dionysus to allow him to hold her seat once per year as a way of explaining why Hestia was considered one of the Dodekatheon in more ancient texts but had been supplanted by Dionysus in later Greek myth. Greek and Roman sources themselves don't bother to come up with a reason for that change; it was their religion, after all, and the process of popularity change took centuries and didn't look weird to them.
DeleteBut Graves' book was a super popular retelling at the time and a lot of little additions he added (he was a poet and novelist) for literary flair have become absorbed by public knowledge until people don't realize they aren't actually legit myth. We certainly didn't realize it was modern when we first heard it. :)
So yeah, actually, nobody says Hestia "stays in Olympus" because there's no story of her leaving in the first place. She just has very few myths and doesn't do a whole lot, and fades away from the public eye other than her role as owner of the home and hearth (public and private).
We use her as a Titan partly because she fills a niche in Muspelheim that needs to be filled. Fire as a concept has a lot of burninating and lava-flow going on in there, but it has no one representing fire's positive uses as a bringer of warmth and home, which is Hestia's big thing. The Titanrealm must theoretically contain all aspects of fire, not just the scary ones (although even so you'll notice that our writeup of Hestia's hearth there isn't as nice as it seems at first).
But also because she's old, she's not very involved in the affairs of the gods and has nothing at all to do with humanity. It's definitely an individual game call, though.
At the same time none of the Dark Virtues really suit her... Do they?
DeleteI dunno...as written, Hestia gives me some strong Rapacity and Zealotry vibes. It's just that her way of manifesting those Virtues is so different. Instead of 'Rape, pillage and burn!', Hestia's Rapacity is more 'you will sit down with Auntie Hestia and I will bake you cookies and you will like them and you will never leave and we will have so much fun together for ever and ever and ever and ever...'
DeleteAnd her Zealotry isn't so much 'Screw the Gods, Titans rule', so much as it is 'Silly rabbit, Auntie Hestia always knows best'.
I apologize if my question was ambiguous. The pantheons coming back to prominance is separate from them protecting Zeus overthrower. They have to keep this kid safe while dealing with NPC's restarting pantheons religions, either helping them or stopping them on their parents orders without the kid being found out by Zeus or other theoi. One has nothing to do with the other.
ReplyDelete