It's not the fastest we've ever finished a pantheon - the Bogovi still hold that honor - but we're still feeling pretty proud of ourselves. Finished in almost exactly three months, the gods of the Inuit of the far frozen north are ready to join your games. Be careful when you call upon the Inue, because when they answer, they answer with mighty force.
It's been a while since we've been so jazzed about working on a pantheon, but these guys made it easy. For one thing, we finally have an official pantheon representing North America! It's not nearly the justice that continent deserves, but it's a start. For another, their unique worldview and status as gods of an area that few enter and even fewer understand made for some fascinating research and incredibly interesting deities (not to mention terrifying, in many cases). Like the Polynesians before them, the Inuit have a spread of different languages and regional variations in their pre-Christian religion, but we hope we've done a good job of being faithful to their shared concepts and presenting their most important mythological ideas.
Also, there are more gods in this supplement that will kill you for breathing near them than ever before. So that's a nice bonus for all you sadistic Storytellers out there.
As always, feel free to ask anything you like in the comments, and we'll be resetting the voting poll for new pantheon goodness momentarily. The Hittites won this round because all of you are awesome people who know a quality dead-cuneiform-preserved pantheon when you see one, so they will be next. (And I can't wait!)
If you're one of the lucky players in our games who have previously run into Sedna, Sila or Tornarssuk, now you can go read up on them and realize how very much worse things could have been. That's because we love you guys.
Edit: Now with 100% more Virtues and 100% less embarrassing cover typo. Sorry to those who already downloaded the first version of the PDF, but it's otherwise identical!
Man, I always forget, but at least I remembered in time to comment. Pantheon-specific details post updated!
ReplyDeleteHey, while I wait while it downloads, I have a question about the fiddly bits, specifically Scent the Divine...
DeleteYou list cocoa beans for the Apu's scent... problem is, cocoa isn't really an Andean cultural thing. On the other hand, it's SUPREMELY important to the Maya (and yes, honey is too, but cocoa moreso), and I'm not sure the Maya would have been given honey if cocoa weren't taken already.
And now I'm hungry, but I digress.
Can you think of a more Apu-appropriate scent?
This is in our email question file, isn't it? In the questionado.
DeleteCocoa beans were used as currency in some parts of the Inca empire, but you're right, they're a lot more ubiquitous for the Maya. I think you could swap the scents for the K'uh easily enough there (I'm partial to the honey, but that's pretty much personal preference either way).
Another Apu scent... hmm. Llama musk? Potatoes?
It is. I constantly fire off stuff for it, but I always have a niggling doubt about whether it's in the queue or if it's gotten lost in the shuffle. I think that was backed up for a bit, so I pounced here.
DeletePreference indeed makes or breaks it, but I feel that cocoa makes more sense for the culture that first really used it and placed more importance on it (oh hai there Ek Chuah, an important as hell Postclassic Maya deity of cocoa). Plus, with the Hittites and their amazing magic bees, honey may be better suited elsewhere (I don't know, I'm not a Hittite expert).
Llama musk, to me, works as a distinctively Inca-themed scent, if a tad predictable. And potatoes work as well. Both are better than, say, coca, which is hard to identify by law-abiding or non-affluent citizens outside of the Andes.
Coca is hard to identify but Llama musk is not?
DeleteValid point.
DeleteAlso, wrapping this around to the original topic, while the Inue probably give the Apu absolutely no thought under most circumstances, given their distance from one another, I can see them respecting each other if brought together. Two pantheons extremely tied to the World and the natural features of it, and both of whom have a penchant for disasters?
Hmm...I wonder what would happen if the Inue use Tlam-Shua on a Huaca site. Both mystically as in does it power either one up, and politically as in what the Apu think of the Inue possessing their most sacred sites.
DeleteThe huaca would still work as intended, but the Inua would also be sort of around. The two probably wouldn't interefere much, considering that they have a vested interest in protecting natural features. The Inue god would be inside the landscape itself, but wouldn't be able to access the magical powers of the huaca even if he was technically "inside" it.
Delete...uh...I can't seem to find their Virtues...help?
ReplyDeleteDamn, I am the worst. I'll be uploading a fixed version with their Virtues in a minute.
DeleteIn the meantime, they have Conviction, Endurance, Harmony and Vengeance for beginning Scions, although their PSP changes that.
and now I just notice the titanrealm is missing the favored/banned purview list
DeleteThat usually isn't included up front with the Titan - you can find it in the writeups of the Titans themselves, which will mention which purviews are banned for them. In their case, it's Fire and Fertility they aren't allowed to have. :)
DeleteIt's weird, I was trying to go through the Titans in the books to see how they noted their favored purviews, and couldn't find them for half of them. For Ukiuq, they should be Darkness, Death, Frost, Sky and Stars.
Right, the Inue have now officially overtaken the Teotl as having the most pain-in-the-ass Virtue spread ever (and that was a challenge!). Can't wait to unleash them on my players! Muhahahahaha! :D
DeleteI'm not sure. I don't think anyone can beat the "I should not be part of this band, everything we do breaks the law" virtues of the Bogovi.
DeleteAnd Enech is after Titanrealms, right? Or is it Enech after the secret product?
ReplyDelete"secret project", sorry.
DeleteEnech is after Titanrealms. The secret project is an ongoing thing we're doing in addition to the other stuff.
Deletewhoa whoa whoa. enech hasnt won yet
DeleteThat's true, it might still be overtaken by one of the other options. :) That poll's going to be up a little while yet.
DeleteI still think enech's gonna win, japan seems to still be playing tug-of-war with the semi-divine family tree.
DeleteIf Enech gets overtaken after so long, it would probably only happen because someone is cheating the polls.
DeleteI imagine almost everyone who can vote has probably voted at this point, which means most new votes are probably IP spoofers. =(
Im not sure thats any "more" true then that there was pro-enech IP spoofing for the past 6 months. The system sucks, I know.
DeleteYou're probably right. I remember noticing that Lower Legend Gods "mysteriously" gained a single new vote every day, around the same time of day, for a long time.
DeleteThen Enech "mysteriously" matched it 30 ahead for another month at least.
holy moses....how do you pronounce these names?!
ReplyDeleteI should probably do some recordings for them. The quickest rule of thumb is that j's are pronounced like y's are in English, and that k's are like the k's in kick while q's are more like a back-of-the-throat click sound.
DeleteGorgeous cover and layout. Time to start reading. Torn on the pantheon poll though as having just finished Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles, I've become fascinated with Welsh culture, but then there's the Dreamtime goodies of Australia. Hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteMany options. :)
DeleteCould a Bogovi Scion take on one the PSP virtues of the Inue?
ReplyDeleteHa... as usual, it took about .0005 seconds for someone to ask something we hadn't considered. For most purposes we would say no - Dvoeverie could still allow a Bogovi Scion to partake of some of the powers of Shua if they picked up Vengeance, but since they're already doing crazy stuff with their Virtues, we'd rather keep the (Purview) Virtue with the Inue themselves only.
DeleteBut an ST could probably come up with some wacky circumstance where that didn't apply.
Damn, this just had to come out the day I leave town. I won't get to share in the goodness of the Inue till thursday, but I'm sure it rocks anyway.
ReplyDeleteSamudra
It'll be here for you when you get back. :)
DeleteYes, it's finally here! I won't get anything done tomorrow at the office and it's you guys' fault. ;)
ReplyDeleteOne of the stories in my gaming groups has been gravitating heavily towards the northern regions of America, and so far we've been "making do" with what we (and the ST) can research in our off time. I can't wait to bring this to the table.
Sorry. ;)
DeleteWoohoo, I'm glad they'll get some use!
The day of the Hittites is night! But for now! Inue!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how you'd deal with the 'only three virtues' problem you'd mentioned before in regards to the Inuit gods, and was prepared to ask which one it was that you felt least strongly about, but I see you incorporated that into the PSP.
It is a little bit disappointing that I can't use the PSP to have virtues of Chaos, or War, or Fate, but I get that those really wouldn't have fit the themes of the Inue terribly well, and a virtue of 'Psychopomp' would be pretty weird.
I do confess it strikes me as a little odd that an Inue scion can boost their buddies with Angakkuq but get no equivalent boost to their own specialty purview.
Some of the qipanniq oppositions strike me as a little weird. I'm not quite sure why Moon is opposed to Health, or Water to Earth when Fire strikes me as a better opposition, and I guess I expected Stars to line up a bit more with Tamoanchan's opposed purviews. Does the reasoning have to do with what elements the Inuit view as opposing each other?
By the present write-up of qipanniq, Titan Avatars can use that power against Inue Scions, despite you previously stating you felt this should be a power reserved for Scions and Gods, not Titan Avatars. Is this a change in stance that extends to your game, or only to the Inue as a 'Scion vanilla' compatible pdf?
I notice that despite some Titan Avatars having Shua, they all have purely Titanic Virtues. Are they able to use ikima?
Lemme try some quick answers!
DeleteThe Inue are conceived of by most Inuit groups as the "souls" of natural phenomena, which is why they can only use Shua for purviews related to nature. I know it would have been fun to use it for anything, but it also wouldn't have made a lot of sense with the Inuit beliefs we were working with.
I like to think of Angakkuq as being a benefit-by-proxy for the Scion - she's giving others better powers and they will hopefully therefore do good stuff that helps her as well (i.e., fight the monster better, survive the wilderness better, whatever). We were also trying to be very careful with this purview - it's also about being exceptionally good with a single set of powers, but we didn't want anything that was going to over-intrude into Me too much. The Inue more represent the powers themselves than use them, so we were aiming for more of a flavor of them being batteries for the power rather than users of it. (Although of course we did give them things that affect their own power usage here and there throughout the purview.)
Qipanniq's main issue is that we needed the purview oppositions to be even - if Fire opposes everything, then Fire is automatically a more "valuable" purview for an Inua than the others, something we wanted to avoid. We're still pretty happy with most of the results, but some are a little bit more tenuous than others.
Moon is opposed to Health because it has some direct bodily effects, including menstruation and illnesses of the mind, and also because in Inuit myth the moon is frequently guilty of causing spontaneous pregnancy and/or disease in people who see it unfortuitously. We probably would have opposed Water and Fire, but Fire was needed more as an opposition for Frost (heat vs. cold) and Fertility (as the most major threat to plants), so Earth and Water oppose each other as the solid and liquid elements.
You could always mess around with what you want to oppose what in your games, though. ST's prerogative.
Qipanniq's clause that allows lasers against Scions is for Qipanniq only. The Inuit gods are intrinsically part of their elements in a way that other pantheons are not, so they are vulnerable in a way that other pantheons are not also.
I would have Titan Avatars roll Zealotry for their realm when using Ikima - it's basically just a nastier version of the same idea, supporting your tied concept at all costs. However, the power itself is also something that Titans probably never do except in their own realms - nobody's "protecting" natural elements among the Titans - so you may want to say they can do that, but only inside the Titanrealms.
Woot! Well I know what I'm reading front to back today :D It's like after-christmas christmas. Thank you guys!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome!
DeleteI don't actually know why but I found the Narssuk entry funny and adorable.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it. We didn't make him up, he really is just a giant mythic cosmic baby.
DeleteGreat work as always, it's especially interesting how their Titanrealm was never bound like the others. Obligatory question about how the Inue interact with your other downloadable pantheons and the Orisha, as well as what abilities should replace Craft for Nunam and Tulungersak?
ReplyDeleteThe Inue are not particularly fond of anybody, since nobody ever helps them, so they probably have no time for the Elohim, Anunna, Atua, Alihah, Orisha or K'uh. The Bogovi they possibly have a nastier relationship with; the Bogovi hate meddling in the world and the Inue are possibly the worst offenders they've ever seen, directly inhabiting the world, and the Bogovi have several frost gods among their ranks that the Inue no doubt don't trust very much.
DeleteUnder our rules, Nunam's Craft would swap out for Art; for Tulungersak we'd probably replace it with Larceny. Tulungersak might also be a good candidate to have the Artistry purview, considering that he has several creation-centric stories.
so since the frost titans was never bound, are the avatars still disorganized and infighting, not being locked up with time to sort out a pecking order like the other titan avatars?
ReplyDeleteThe original books do say that, don't they? We've never understood why the Titans would have a "pecking order", so we would assume they all act out of common goals rather than because anyone is "in charge".
DeleteBut yeah, if you run that, they may be less organized than the other Titans. Especially since their previous leader, Ymir, died on them.
You guys do right that Sita is sort of a Pseudo leader, so you can run it either way right? Also, the cosmic titan baby is the perfect example to point to if anyone asks another question about divine children. He also probably haunts Geoffs darkest nightmares as an example of what could possibly happen to his own kids.
DeleteSpeaking of Santa, poor St. Nick is sitting right under a titan realm.
ReplyDeleteHe should probably move.
DeleteThis is some northern-flavored awesome you guys. :)
ReplyDeleteI'd read about Sedna before so I was very glad to see she made the final cut. These deities may be more taciturn than Scion normally sees but dammit I like 'em! And now plotbunnies are running through my head about including an Inue Scion in a story somehow (not to mention playing one if I ever get the chance).
And now from the frozen north to the middle east! I'm definitely looking forward to the Hittites. I know you guys will make them full of win and awesome as always. :)
We're so glad you enjoyed them. :)
DeleteUp until now I've been running the frost titanrealm (pohjola) as opposed to the finnish pantheon and led by louhi do you guys think louhi should be an avatar of ukiuq with pohjola as a specific part of the realm or do you think she should be her own seperate ruling avatar? (perhaps of some sort of guardian based realm due to her tendency to hoard things for herself, which is the closest to an evil application of guardian i can think of.)
ReplyDeleteI think you could definitely put her in Ukiuq if you want to focus on the creaky east-wind parts of her personality. :) Her strong ties to illness and disease might also make her a good addition to a Titanrealm having to do with sickness, if you have one of those. You could theoretically shoehorn her into Death somewhere, but that's really her father more than her.
DeleteI think I kind of like the Guardian idea... it's hard to come up with the negative side of protection as a concept, but hoarding/creating barriers/imprisoning is a good way to go for it.
Now I'm dying to see you write-up the Finns. This is the part where I normally say that they're never going to happen, but hey, the Hittites are in line now, and I never thought they were going to happen either, so I'll hold up hope that these poor guys will make it someday!
DeleteSo, did i understand it right when i saw that The Inue could use their special purview lazer to hit anyone who is using an opposing element, rather than one who is ''a part of it''
ReplyDeletelike, could hit another scion, instead of only this being of pure darkness spawned in Keku?
Yep, the Inue (and only the Inue) can use purview lasers on other Scions and gods. They're not just using those powers but actually part of those powers, so they can oppose other gods in a way that most pantheons can't. Most of the time they probably won't, because they want to win this war, but they are pretty crochety people and probably wouldn't hesitate to shoot a Scion in the face if they caught him pouring oil into Baffin Bay or something.
DeleteThe Inue are sort of like Titans-lite; they're still on the side of harmony and the gods, but they are part of their concepts rather than masters of them, giving themselves up to their powers more than most gods do. This is why they can also be shot by other gods' purview lasers.
Now for a small rules question: Can you buy Shua for multiple Purviews, or are you restricted to a single? (Also, I assume whatever the answer is, the same also applies to Me?)
ReplyDeleteNope, Shua and Me are different. Me can be purchased for multiple purviews like Arete; Shua applies to only one purview forever. (Conceptually, the difference is that Me represents mastery over various areas of power, whereas Shua represents becoming part of and therefore incredibly powerful in just one area.)
DeleteSo I've seen representations of Senda where she is an evil being that deserves her fate. Would it be mythically correct to juxtapose "this" Senda with the "real" Senda as a kind of "evil twin" phenomena, or did the Inuit not have that kind of concept?
ReplyDeleteSounds like a regional variation, or possibly just the result of the fact that Sedna is very unpleasant and scary. Sedna is often perceived as being overly proud or demanding in her refusal to get married or her choice of husbands her father doesn't approve of, but I don't know of any version of the myth where she's considered evil or deserving of maiming. All she did was marry a guy who turned out to be a jerk, after all.
DeleteThere's no twinning in Inuit myth that I'm aware of, so I would not try to come up with any alternate-aspect kind of stuff here. It's probably just different people with different perspectives on the same goddess.
Good job guys, enjoyed this one. In particular the write-ups on Sedna, the eerie House Down There, and as always the Titanrealm. Chilling stuff. (Sorry)
ReplyDeleteNext come the bronze chariots of Anatolia.
To the walls of Troy!
DeletePhew, I can finally get into the Inue now...
ReplyDeleteFirst off, you're topping yourself each supplement Anne! Last time you achieved the impossible with the awesomeness that is Paroro-Whenua, This time you've gone and done something I didn't think was ever going to happen: kicked the Alihah off of first place as far as my favourite pdf Pantheons are concerned!!! And I don't even like these Gods as people the way I like the Alihah...I just can't stop reading about them because they are that awesome!
Shua...Oh Shua!!! I would totally abandon the Deva to play as an Inue Scion just for Shua. You guys know just how much I love the Titans, and here is a PSP dedicated to letting me get as close to becoming a Titan while still being a God. I admit, when I sat down to read the Inue, I was expecting a shamanistic PSP like so many others have done before,but damn this blew my mind away. Shua is officially my favourite of all the pdf PSPs!
Ukiuq...well, Ukiuq is freaking cool (I cannot believe I just said that)! Your description of the realm itself is mesmerising as usual, but I especially love your creative interpretation of Indar. He was the last person I was expecting in here, but damn if he doesn't fit like a glove.
I will admit that the main man, Sila himself seems like he would be equally comfortable in a Sky or Wind Realm with the like of Shu and Oranos. Of course, RAW compatibility axes that possibility. I would be very interested to see what ultimately happens to him when your site Titans catch up, especially since the Sky, as the bringer of the cold north wind and untoward weather seems a pretty good opposition to the Inue as well in my mind.
Also, trust the Inuit to have a giant baby Titan :)
Well, they're not very likeable gods, as people - they live in a world of harsh realities and harsh people. But they are really neat as a pantheon, so I'm glad you like them! :)
DeleteThe Inue (and Shua) are definitely very Titan-similar in a lot of ways - they tie themselves to an element must more closely than any other gods, whcih has a lot of neat side effects when it comes to interacting with other gods and Titans and being in a sort of middle ground in between. I thought you might get a kick out of that. :)
I agree that Sila could be just as good a fit in a Sky realm; he's primarily a wind and breath and sky kind of dude, with Frost as a major element because he controls the weather but not necessarily his most major element. RAW compatibility being what it is, we put him in here, but he could easily be reorganized into Sky.
There were many frost-related puns in our house while writing this.
Now questions!
ReplyDeleteMost of them have already been asked but here they are:
1. My standard question: What does 'Ukiuq' mean?
2. What do 'Ikima' and 'Qipanniq' and 'Qumiippuq' mean? I'm not entirely clear on what 'Silinniq' means either.
3. What happens when two Gods use Tlam-Shua for the same Purview in the same area?
4. Something that occurred to me as I was contemplating Sila...how strongly do the Frost and Sky Purviews overlap? Can Sky cretae Blizzards? Can Frost control the frigid North Wind? Where does one draw the line between these two?
1. Ukiuq is the Inuktitut word for "winter".
Delete2. Ikima is a verb meaning "to ride", referring to the Inue Scion's ability to inhabit an area with her power. Qipanniq means "full of fury", referring to her ability to use her element to strike out against its enemies, and Qumiippuq is a phrase meaning literally "to draw the arm out of the sleeve", referring to the Scion withdrawing her powers from the world and leaving it empty and powerless. Silinniq means "the greatest part" of something, since it comes at the point that the Inue are finally inhabiting their purview to the max.
3. That... is a good question. I would say they need to roll off their boons in the purview and the winner takes precedence.
4. Sky can currently theoretically create blizzards through Weather Husbandry, but we'd like to cut down on the overlap at some point. Sky/storm gods are almost never gods of winter and cold and vice versa.
Thanks so much for this, guys - the PSP in particular is a really cool concept.
ReplyDeleteMy only question : How do the Mitsi virtues work in practice? What does the "principle" or a Purview mean?
Does the "Fire" virtue force you to prevent fires from being put out and curb stomp firemen, block doctors from healing burns, stop cars from being turned off or does it even force you to start fires compulsively?
And how do you uphold the principle of "Stars" or "Sun"? Do you protect artistic depictions of those things, take up a sunny disposition, throw a fit when there's cloud cover or you are inside or just literally make sure nobody up and snuffs out all cosmic light?
Can you channel Darkness to hide any information or keep a secret, or only to physically hide in the dark or even to make sure nobody turns on any lights or lights any fires?
Thanks again!
I think there will be some ST preference here, as there always is with Virtues - in the moment, sometimes you have to make a call. But in general, that Virtue should be concerned with protecting, promoting, and encouraging your chosen element/concept wherever you see it, just like any other Virtue.
DeleteSo, for your examples: someone with the Fire purview does indeed need to prevent fires from being put out. He doesn't have to go out of his way to attack firemen if they're not doing anything, but he does have to stop them from trying to destroy a fire if he sees them doing so. He does not have to prevent the healing of burns, since there is not a fire happening there anymore. He may need to start fires if there is a particularly flammable or fire-friendly place in front of him, but doesn't have to run around doing it constantly (similar to how a person with Expression might need to express themselves or create art when an appropriate situation arises, but not all day every day).
If you have the Stars purview, you need to try to prevent smog from covering up the stars, encourage their study and enjoy them when they're out. If you have the Sun purview, you need to not hide in the shade or wear sunblock, encourage the development of solar technology, appreciate artwork of the sun, etc.
I would let someone channel Darkness to hide information, since that's one of its functions. :) Also to snuff out light, hide in the darkness, prevent people from building streetlights, that kind of thing.
Extremely awesome. And right when our Demigod band is about to confront Sedna and Kutkhu (who may or may not be Tulungersak as well) in Norway. There's gonna be FUN.
ReplyDeleteThough this gets me to wondering... the major, Legend 12 Inue... What purviews would they have Shua for? I mean, I assume each ST would make that judgment call individually, but it bears thought.
(I'll say it, though, Tornarssuk/Nanook totally has Shua (Bear). Only other option is Earth, and I highly doubt that myself)
Ooh, Kutkh vs. Tulungersak? The possibilities are endless! They could be anyone! They could do anything!
DeleteTornarssuk totally has Shua (Bear). He is bears all the time. I would say that Sedna has (Water), Nunam has (Earth), Pinga has (Caribou), Aningat has (Moon), Seqineq has (Sun), Tulungersak has (Raven) and Nakturiak has (Eagle). The only one I'm unsure of is Anguta, who doesn't have a really close association to any natural elements; but I'd probably go with giving him (Darkness) for its connections to fear and misery. He's all about some fear and misery.
It... bears thought? Really?
I'm going to try my hand at guessing these. Anne can correct me later.
DeleteAnguta: No idea. He doesn't seem to be doing elements much.
Aningat: Moon. Not much confusion here.
Nakturiak: Animal (Eagle). Ditto.
Nunam: The first tough one. You know, I'm actually more inclined to go with Fertility than Earth on her. She embodies and inhabits plant life, per her write-up. Honestly, I'm beginning to think she makes a good case for allowing a Scion to take multiple instances of Shua.
Pinga: Animal (Caribou).
Sedna: She might have Frost, but given how she seems to be in a permanent case of Tlam-Shua for Water, I'd say definitely Water.
Seqineq: Sun.
Nanook: Animal (Bear).
Tulungersak: Like most Creator Gods, this one is doing absolutely everything, but I think Animal (Raven) is a safe bet.
*groans for a full minute at the pun*
DeleteThat's definitely a helpful guide.
And whether they're the same or not, our bands in for trouble since they're allied with frost giants (including Utgarde-Loki) and a huge wolf whose identity is currently unknown but none of the options are good.
To quote Erik, my Scion of Uller and eventual-if-he-survives god of winter ecology, "All we need is Stribog and we'll have a complete Worst Northern Gods To Deal With Hoedown"
Also, you say that Ukiuq is unique amongst Greater Titans for having never been bound, but weren't Hundun and Vritra also not bound?
ReplyDelete....um, yes, that's right, it says Vritra was never bound. So apparently I am a terrible writer and I don't read my source material enough. I believe you about Hundun, though I couldn't find it saying that exactly.
DeletePage 87, the very end:
Delete"Hundun, who gave Gonggong the power to break
the sky.
Hundun, who turned Chiyou against Heaven, lured
the 10 suns to sporting and set the shen warring for and
against mortal dynasties.
Hundun the Unmanifest — the Titan who was
never bound!"
That last line would have been so much more dramatic if I hadn't read the Deva chapter first and already come across yet another Titan that was never bound. Though at least Hundun has a better excuse, being unmanifest Chaos. (Shrinking until a Pantheon known for its piercing insight and love of Mystery couldn't see him? Really, guy who came up with Vritra, really?)
I don't really get why they felt the need for Vritra to be unbound, anyway. It wasn't doing anything. Maybe they felt they had to explain why the Deva never "went away" from world religions like most of the other pantheons?
DeleteWell there is that nudge nudge wink wink implication in the opening paragraphs of the chapter that Vritra might have indirectly had a hand in the British Raj conquering India (and that Parvati went around inspiring our founding fathers), so it wasn't entirely not doing anything.
DeleteBut seriously, that entire Titan is a mess. It's like the author was on crack. A Titanrealm that's apparently a sentient person-snake-dragon thingy, instead of being a place, Avatars of Drought that include a primal Water Goddess (who is also apparently dead and being impersonated by the Realm, who's a snake), and the King of one of the most prosperous kingdoms in Hindu myth (who apparently conveniently forgot about the pesky 'I die if I ever rape anyone' rule and is happily violating away). River dwelling Naga as creatures of heat and the desert.
Different people will have different measures for what counts as Titanic enough, and I might even get behind a properly written Drought Titan (as a fan supplement I read ages ago pointed out, beings like Apaosha, Nu Ba and Eochaid mac Eirc, along with the original Vritrasur are actually pretty good its for Drought Avatars), but that write-up in Companion wasn't worthy of being in the same exalted company as Xibalba or Paroro-Whenua. Hell, Terra was better. At least they pretended it was a place!
Sorry about the rant. Vritra makes my head hurt. I can't wait till Maya/Druj comes out...my Pantheon needs some worthy opponents to battle!
I've been going over Me and Shua lately, seeing as how they're both amazingly similar yet awesomely different, when I noticed something...neither requires you to actually purchase the APP in question.
ReplyDeleteNow, this isn't a big deal for Me, since all but Direction and Ascendance of Me either modify Boon use, or depend on no. of Boons, but nothing in Shua depends at all on the Purview in question. Meaning it is technically possible to create an Inua who is the primal embodiment of Water to the point where he IS all Water in an area, but who couldn't swim if his life depended on it.
Is that intentional, because something about that seems so very...not right to me. Or does the Water Virtue force the Scion to buy Water Boons?
Incidentally, shouldn't the Shua Virtue be acting up every time a Scion uses Qumiippuq?
Also, how come the three Ability adders in Me use different metrics (Me Boons for Direction, #Boons for Gift and Legend for Ascendence)?
P.S. I understand that that's a lotta questions for a relatively old thread (which is partly your fault for making this supplement vtoo good to put down), so if you think any or all of these should go in the box to join the Questionado, lemme know.
Some of it's just because Me has been rewritten for the site, and Shua has not. Written-for-RAW purviews usually use the #boons mechanic less, because the original boons allow you to buy things randomly out of order so there's often no way to tell how many boons a person with high-level Water actually has.
DeleteThe Water virtue doesn't directly force you to buy Water boons... but it does in a roundabout way. When you freak out whenever you can't help save water or prevent others from doing bad things with water, it stands to reason that you will be better at doing so when you have Water powers. You can keep not buying them, but you'll keep having fewer tools to avoid freaking out from your Virtue. More importantly, though, in our system you're going to end up with Water boons anyway, because when you walk around constantly leaking water everywhere, that's what your Fatebonds are going to be in.
You could theoretically say that having the Water Virtue means you have to buy Water boons, but that's a weird crossover between in-game and out-of-game knowledge. So I'd avoid it.
Yes, you probably do need to roll your Virtue to use Qumiippuq. :) Which is why the Inuit were always praying to their gods to ask for it, and why it didn't actually happen much.
Just out of curiosity, why doesn't Mitsi give you a discount on whatever Purview you link it to? I totally understand not wanting to step on Me's toes, and I also feel it might be likely that you may already have whatever you link to favored (if you're following in your parent's footsteps), but it seems weird to me that a Scion can be the embodied soul of whatever and still potentially have to pay extra XP for that Purview
ReplyDeleteIt is partly a desire not to do the same things as Me - it was a little bit of a challenge to keep these two purviews separate, as you might imagine. But also, easier XP costs is more of an "easy mastery of" kind of way to approach a purview, and Shua's not about mastering its purview but becoming part of it. It's not necessarily easier to do so, especially since Inuit myth is very seldom about anything being easy, and so we're comfortable with those who want to become the souls of more foreign elements having to work a little harder at it.
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