Question: Does a Scion of the Anunna Pantheon even need relics? All he has to do is take Me 1 in any purview he wants.
Well, he doesn't need relics for purviews if he has Me for them, but we assume he might like to have relics that do other things.
Absorption of Me does indeed remove a Scion's need to have a relic in order to get access to a purview; buying that first level means that he has attuned himself to that purview and begun to assert his mastery over it, so he doesn't have the same need for an intermediary that other Scions do. This is especially useful for Hero-level Scions, since it makes the Anunna the only pantheon that can pick up new purviews pretty much at any point they want to even if they're only Legend 2.
But that doesn't mean he doesn't need relics - relics can be all kinds of stuff! Potent weapons, relics that grant bonuses to certain rolls, Birthright Creatures, Followers or Guides, vehicles, or any other unique powers a young Scion might need. Really, it just means he has the opportunity to spend his relic points on things other than purviews, and our Anunna Scions pretty much seize the day on that whenever possible.
But what about the theory that me's were inherent in objects, such as when Ishtar descended into Irkallu she was stripped of her power by being stripped of her clothing and items, each of which represented one of her Mes
ReplyDeleteLevel 10 Me allows you to give away your me as if it were an object, as you see in the story of Ishtar losing her me in the descent to Irkallu or Enki accidentally giving away his me while drunk. That's actually exactly what we wrote that to represent. :) Also, Irkallu itself has a mechanic that mirrors this idea, in which anyone who enters through the seven gates slowly loses access to their powers until they leave (which you can find in the Underworld writeup in the PDF).
DeleteWhile me are treated generally as "things" that can be given or traded sometimes in Mesopotamian myth, they are also inborn powers over the universe and the things that make gods specifically lords of their particular territories, which is why they're tied to purviews - for most gods, purviews are what they use to master their particular concepts, so those with me do so to an astonishingly strong degree because that's what Mesopotamian gods are all about. Dudes like Enlil have the me of the windstorm because they are its ruling deity; theoretically, if he gave up that me, he would still have all the Sky boons, just not be as good at them anymore. Me is more akin to lordship over a domain than a single item that gives you powers.
We did briefly toy, way back when we wrote the Me purview, with the idea of instead treating me more like relics or Birthrights and tying them into that system instead of purviews, but in the end we found it too bulky and unwieldy to really work out well. And anyway, the mythical resonance of me as an aspect of a god - albeit one he can bestow if he wants - was much more compelling than the idea of me as a thing he just carries around.
So, does Absorption of Me affect the XP cost of boons of higher level than your Me? It seems like the rules suggest that, but on the other hand, It seems like you should be able to buy your Purview before the Me.
ReplyDeleteNope, it's the other way around. You have to buy the Me before the APP boons, if you want its effects (including the XP discount) to apply.
DeleteThanks. That was my reading as well, but you never mentioned that restriction in this post, which seems to imply that it does not apply to the "relic" part of Me (i.e. with me 2 and thunder 3, you would not need a relic for the thundre 3 boon). While we're on the subject, is that reading correct?
DeleteAh, I see. Since there's no "level" to having a relic - you have a Thunder relic, you can use Thunder, full stop - it doesn't apply there. You can still use level 5 Thunder boons if you have Absorption of Me (Thunder), even if you don't have all the way up to Incorporation.
DeleteWhat happens if your fatebonds are buying off something you have Me for though? Do you lose your levels of Me as well and gain XP from them, is that Purview protected up to your level of Me, or do you just gain an empty Me waiting for you to buy up that Purview again?
ReplyDeleteYou do also lose your Me - it will buy off either the Me or the normal boons, whichever is most expensive. The same goes for Arete if an ability you have it for is being bought off.
DeleteIt wouldn't make much sense to have none of an ability but still way more dice than anyone else had even maxed, or to be immune to other peoples' boons even though you had none of your own!