Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Look for the Pan Necessities
When we got back from Greece, we said we learned a lot of things that you'd have to take our words on. This was because they wouldn't let us take pictures of a lot of stuff. So there are some things we have no proof of, but that we are certain of. One of those things is that in ancient greece, Pan was HUGE. 
This is one of him trying to court Aphrodite and she's hitting him with her shoe. There are MANY more. He is super popular, and super important. So, even though one of our many projects is picking associateds for all the gods so people can play sub-Legend 12 gods easier, you can expect a legend 12 Pan template sooner than that.
X-Rated for a Reason
Question: Considering how (ahem) "passionate" Sekhmet is, how wild can her sexy times with Ptah get?
Usually (and, in this case, probably thankfully), most of us mere mortals do not have windows directly into the boudoirs of the divine. PCs could if they wanted them and were willing to risk the consequences, but I don't believe any of ours are interested in that particularly violent brand of voyeurism (not even Terminus, and he's a voyeur par excellence).
The only time anyone's seen into their private life in-game was when Geoff's band went to Sekhmet's savannah sanctum with Ptah to ask for her help, and while they're pretty sure the terrible lion-beast that charged him had amorous intentions, they've never been entirely sure if she wasn't just planning to actually eat him. He subdued her and nobody has ever had the courage (or any real reason) to ask.
A mystery, then. I would assume it's energetic.
Usually (and, in this case, probably thankfully), most of us mere mortals do not have windows directly into the boudoirs of the divine. PCs could if they wanted them and were willing to risk the consequences, but I don't believe any of ours are interested in that particularly violent brand of voyeurism (not even Terminus, and he's a voyeur par excellence).
The only time anyone's seen into their private life in-game was when Geoff's band went to Sekhmet's savannah sanctum with Ptah to ask for her help, and while they're pretty sure the terrible lion-beast that charged him had amorous intentions, they've never been entirely sure if she wasn't just planning to actually eat him. He subdued her and nobody has ever had the courage (or any real reason) to ask.
A mystery, then. I would assume it's energetic.
A Wind from the East
Question: Can you give more detail on the game that took place in the 19th century? It seems fascinating but there's so little about it on the site. What was the plot? Who were the antagonists?
Actually, you're probably going to be seeing more of the nineteenth-century game, Eastern Promises, in the very near future; it was on semi-hiatus while we dealt with the Great Ragnarok of 2012, but we're expecting that it will swing back into gear now and for the foreseeable future. Those wacky Victorian kids are far from out of play.
Since the game is set before the escape of the Titans, the Scions of this time are very rare and precious, and most of them are "under the radar" - that is, they're not really supposed to exist, since all the gods are currently operating under mutual agreement not to mess around in the World. They're all Scions of some of the more easterly pantheons - the Devas, the Yazata, the Pesedjet and others of that area - and dealing with Western civilization itself is still a big challenge for them.
They don't know much about the World, each other, and almost nothing about the divine landscape at all. They've learned there are monsters they never thought of and gods that they only dreamed, but beyond that they're still babes in the woods.
But, because that's the way Scions live... they're probably about to find out about a whole lot more.
Actually, you're probably going to be seeing more of the nineteenth-century game, Eastern Promises, in the very near future; it was on semi-hiatus while we dealt with the Great Ragnarok of 2012, but we're expecting that it will swing back into gear now and for the foreseeable future. Those wacky Victorian kids are far from out of play.
Since the game is set before the escape of the Titans, the Scions of this time are very rare and precious, and most of them are "under the radar" - that is, they're not really supposed to exist, since all the gods are currently operating under mutual agreement not to mess around in the World. They're all Scions of some of the more easterly pantheons - the Devas, the Yazata, the Pesedjet and others of that area - and dealing with Western civilization itself is still a big challenge for them.
They don't know much about the World, each other, and almost nothing about the divine landscape at all. They've learned there are monsters they never thought of and gods that they only dreamed, but beyond that they're still babes in the woods.
But, because that's the way Scions live... they're probably about to find out about a whole lot more.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Who's on First?
Question: Could we have a relationship chart of your PCs/NPCs? It seems really confusing.
I'm posting this just to let you know, anonymous questioner, that we have totally seen this question and we're totally working on it. Creating that kind of a complex graphic takes a little time, though, so rest assured that I'm on it during the coffee breaks between writing, revising and banging my head against the wall.
We'll post up the chart whenever it's finished, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later.
I'm posting this just to let you know, anonymous questioner, that we have totally seen this question and we're totally working on it. Creating that kind of a complex graphic takes a little time, though, so rest assured that I'm on it during the coffee breaks between writing, revising and banging my head against the wall.
We'll post up the chart whenever it's finished, which will hopefully be sooner rather than later.
The Human Touch
Question: Here's my conundrum as a storyteller - I can't think of nearly enough good and compelling plots to throw at Hero-level Scions! I'm talking straight from the visitation Legend 2 Scions. The books' sample antagonists seem to be set for Scions who are already Legend 3 or 4, but what about just some sample ideas for a band of straight-from-visitation Scions? What kind of trials would they deal with?
This sounds like it's not a fun solution, but bear with us: the answer is humans.
Legend 2 Scions are almost entirely still humans themselves. They're near the peak of what humans can do, but very seldom are they even a little bit over the cap that a normal mortal with good luck and genetics might achieve. They're still fragile like mortals, dumbfounded like mortals, and politically maneuvered like mortals; they're among the most gifted humans in every area, but they are still fundamentally mortal.
So other mortals are their best antagonists. Bringing in monsters this early almost always ends in tears; they just don't have the resources or equipment to deal with much outside the realm of normal human problems yet, so normal human problems (albeit the coolest ones possible) are their best mainstay when they're just starting out. Mob bosses, corrupt politicians, street gangs, athletics competitions, drug cartels or military antagonists are all challenging and appropriate for Legend 2 Scions (though be careful - more than a couple of humans at once can easily take down a Legend 2 Scion, especially if they have modern weapons). Imagine your Scions are Jason Bourne or John Nash or La Femme Nikita; that's about the level of mortal antagonism they should be able to handle at most, depending on their skillsets.
But worry not - this doesn't mean that they're going to be bored, or that you're going to be bored Storytelling for them. This is a key part of a brand-new Scion's development, when they come up against other humans and discover that they're stronger, smarter, suaver than they are. It's the time when they get to realize that, thanks to those one or two supernatural talents they have, they outclass mortals, at least one-on-one - it's the moment they realize they're superheroes. And that's awesome! It's fun, it's freeing, and it makes it much more of a great experience for both character and player than starting out being able to trounce humans without a thought and never getting that moment of superior realization. Let them fight humans so they can realize that they themselves are superhuman; it's one of the first steps on the road to Awesometown. After a story or two fighting mainly mortal opponents (with perhaps a low-level Legendary antagonist pulling the strings from above), they're ready to rock on to Legend 3 and start opposing creatures that are more surprising and disturbing than mere mad scientists or unethical businessmen.
This sounds like it's not a fun solution, but bear with us: the answer is humans.
Legend 2 Scions are almost entirely still humans themselves. They're near the peak of what humans can do, but very seldom are they even a little bit over the cap that a normal mortal with good luck and genetics might achieve. They're still fragile like mortals, dumbfounded like mortals, and politically maneuvered like mortals; they're among the most gifted humans in every area, but they are still fundamentally mortal.
So other mortals are their best antagonists. Bringing in monsters this early almost always ends in tears; they just don't have the resources or equipment to deal with much outside the realm of normal human problems yet, so normal human problems (albeit the coolest ones possible) are their best mainstay when they're just starting out. Mob bosses, corrupt politicians, street gangs, athletics competitions, drug cartels or military antagonists are all challenging and appropriate for Legend 2 Scions (though be careful - more than a couple of humans at once can easily take down a Legend 2 Scion, especially if they have modern weapons). Imagine your Scions are Jason Bourne or John Nash or La Femme Nikita; that's about the level of mortal antagonism they should be able to handle at most, depending on their skillsets.
But worry not - this doesn't mean that they're going to be bored, or that you're going to be bored Storytelling for them. This is a key part of a brand-new Scion's development, when they come up against other humans and discover that they're stronger, smarter, suaver than they are. It's the time when they get to realize that, thanks to those one or two supernatural talents they have, they outclass mortals, at least one-on-one - it's the moment they realize they're superheroes. And that's awesome! It's fun, it's freeing, and it makes it much more of a great experience for both character and player than starting out being able to trounce humans without a thought and never getting that moment of superior realization. Let them fight humans so they can realize that they themselves are superhuman; it's one of the first steps on the road to Awesometown. After a story or two fighting mainly mortal opponents (with perhaps a low-level Legendary antagonist pulling the strings from above), they're ready to rock on to Legend 3 and start opposing creatures that are more surprising and disturbing than mere mad scientists or unethical businessmen.
Sunscreen All Around
Question: This is somewhat related to your previous posts on new powers/planning ahead for godhood - I have a Scion of Sekhmet that will eventually become a goddess of (ionizing) radiation. Trouble is, there's no real rules for things like radiation poisoning in the books, much less any boons for it. There ARE some in Sun and Health that could be altered, but since there's no precedent for how the damage would work outside of that, my ST and I are at a bit of a loss. Maybe you guys could help?
Okay, five days of Ragnarok, five hours of sleep, back on the horse. Let's do this thing.
The easiest thing to do for your nascent deity of radiative death is probably just to keep the existing Health and Sun boons you're thinking of and rewrite their flavor text to reflect that they cause their damage and effects through radiation instead of other afflictions. In particular, Infect, Wither, Epidemic and Plague can easily be tweaked to always cause their illness through radiation (in fact, I wouldn't even call that a tweak, just a stunt of an existing boon), and all the more potent if you want to go the full no-healing route and invest in a little Vow of Pestilence. Heatstroke can easily be rewritten to cause the effects of radiation instead of heat without having to touch the mechanics, as can Burn, Solar Prominence and Bleach. You don't really need to change the mechanics of most of these things at all; simply stunt or rewrite them so that your Scion is irradiating the living shit out of the landscape instead of giving it cancer or heatstroke, and presto.
If you feel like dipping into any other purviews outside Sekhmet's usual haunts, the Stars boons Red Star and Starfire could also be reworded to have a distinctly heat-radiation feel to them, and you might consider taking some Death boons, like Delay Rot or Destroy Dead, and reversing or tweaking them to fit the concept (an Accelerate Rot boon certainly wouldn't amiss... eww). Some Fire boons, particularly those that cause low-grade damage from close contact, might be appropriate as well. I think there's a lot of fun room to mess with stunting existing powers as effects of your powers over radiation; many Perception knacks (Broad-Spectrum Reception, for example) might be accomplished through your irradiative might instead of mere affinity for noticing stuff.
The main reason irradiation and radiation poisoning aren't addressed directly in Scion is that they're probably assumed to fall under the environmental damage rules, but unfortunately the environmental damage rules in the original book are pretty terrible and have no hope of damaging anyone who buys, say, at least one dot of Epic Stamina. I would suggest quantifying how you want irradiation or poisoning to function in every power you use that involves it, so there's no confusion and no need for a separate system that the Storyteller has to keep track of on the side.
Incidentally, while I think the content of the supplement is pretty hit-or-miss, White Wolf's French imprint Biblioteque Interdite put out a free supplement a while back that detailed a Titan of Death that was primarily focused on nuclear radiation and deterioration. You might find some of the ideas interesting; if you care to take a look, there's an English-translated PDF here.
Okay, five days of Ragnarok, five hours of sleep, back on the horse. Let's do this thing.
The easiest thing to do for your nascent deity of radiative death is probably just to keep the existing Health and Sun boons you're thinking of and rewrite their flavor text to reflect that they cause their damage and effects through radiation instead of other afflictions. In particular, Infect, Wither, Epidemic and Plague can easily be tweaked to always cause their illness through radiation (in fact, I wouldn't even call that a tweak, just a stunt of an existing boon), and all the more potent if you want to go the full no-healing route and invest in a little Vow of Pestilence. Heatstroke can easily be rewritten to cause the effects of radiation instead of heat without having to touch the mechanics, as can Burn, Solar Prominence and Bleach. You don't really need to change the mechanics of most of these things at all; simply stunt or rewrite them so that your Scion is irradiating the living shit out of the landscape instead of giving it cancer or heatstroke, and presto.
If you feel like dipping into any other purviews outside Sekhmet's usual haunts, the Stars boons Red Star and Starfire could also be reworded to have a distinctly heat-radiation feel to them, and you might consider taking some Death boons, like Delay Rot or Destroy Dead, and reversing or tweaking them to fit the concept (an Accelerate Rot boon certainly wouldn't amiss... eww). Some Fire boons, particularly those that cause low-grade damage from close contact, might be appropriate as well. I think there's a lot of fun room to mess with stunting existing powers as effects of your powers over radiation; many Perception knacks (Broad-Spectrum Reception, for example) might be accomplished through your irradiative might instead of mere affinity for noticing stuff.
The main reason irradiation and radiation poisoning aren't addressed directly in Scion is that they're probably assumed to fall under the environmental damage rules, but unfortunately the environmental damage rules in the original book are pretty terrible and have no hope of damaging anyone who buys, say, at least one dot of Epic Stamina. I would suggest quantifying how you want irradiation or poisoning to function in every power you use that involves it, so there's no confusion and no need for a separate system that the Storyteller has to keep track of on the side.
Incidentally, while I think the content of the supplement is pretty hit-or-miss, White Wolf's French imprint Biblioteque Interdite put out a free supplement a while back that detailed a Titan of Death that was primarily focused on nuclear radiation and deterioration. You might find some of the ideas interesting; if you care to take a look, there's an English-translated PDF here.
The end is just a little harder when
Well it's finally over. Over the course of five days we played 40 hours of scion. It was tons of fun, but insanely exhausting. I couldnt have done it without the incredible spirit, dedication, and love from all my players. I definitely made some mistakes(having the most emotional scenes take place on the fifth(sixth actually) day at 5 am was definitely one of them. But I learned much from it and over the next month will keep revisiting and keep learning more. I'm certain that I made ragnarok too big. Seems impossible but it was true. I'll revisit that more on a later post though.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Big Bad Dad
Question: I always thought it's odd that the main guy in starting the Titan war is strangely missing from the official books. So in your opinion, what Titan is Kronus an Avatar of, and what is his role in the Overworld war?
I have always figured that the official Scion line must have had some plan for Cronus that just didn't get put into effect yet - either they were saving him for a later expansion, or he had been "called" by some writer so the others weren't doing anything with him, or something else along those lines. Because you're right, it's super weird that neither he nor any of the other original twelve Titans (except for poor, mishandled Tethys in Scion: God) are involved in the war according to the official books. It's a hole that practically screams to me that someone had a plan and that plan ended up not happening when the line was declared finished. It's sad times.
As far as we're concerned, we're still in the throes of rewriting the Titans, so I don't want to tell you a specific placement for him only to change it in a couple of weeks. However, I will note that in our current games Cronus has frequently been seen fighting with Gaia and her allies in Terra, attempting to wrest control of the wildlands away so he can recreate them as fertile farmlands, and that the Dodekatheon are in a serious panic over his recent re-emergence from Tartarus with his siblings. Zeus could not be reached for comment, but anyone who goes into the storm-god's palace these days runs serious risk of being electrocuted due to the constantly-raging thunderstorm in there.
Others of Cronus' siblings, including Crius, Hyperion and Oceanus, have been more of an immediate issue right now, but it seems clear that he's the real power behind them, and that Zeus' increasing desperation when it comes to trying to control his own Fate probably owes at least a little to his infamous father's return.
I have always figured that the official Scion line must have had some plan for Cronus that just didn't get put into effect yet - either they were saving him for a later expansion, or he had been "called" by some writer so the others weren't doing anything with him, or something else along those lines. Because you're right, it's super weird that neither he nor any of the other original twelve Titans (except for poor, mishandled Tethys in Scion: God) are involved in the war according to the official books. It's a hole that practically screams to me that someone had a plan and that plan ended up not happening when the line was declared finished. It's sad times.
As far as we're concerned, we're still in the throes of rewriting the Titans, so I don't want to tell you a specific placement for him only to change it in a couple of weeks. However, I will note that in our current games Cronus has frequently been seen fighting with Gaia and her allies in Terra, attempting to wrest control of the wildlands away so he can recreate them as fertile farmlands, and that the Dodekatheon are in a serious panic over his recent re-emergence from Tartarus with his siblings. Zeus could not be reached for comment, but anyone who goes into the storm-god's palace these days runs serious risk of being electrocuted due to the constantly-raging thunderstorm in there.
Others of Cronus' siblings, including Crius, Hyperion and Oceanus, have been more of an immediate issue right now, but it seems clear that he's the real power behind them, and that Zeus' increasing desperation when it comes to trying to control his own Fate probably owes at least a little to his infamous father's return.
Willing and Able
Question: Why are Fast Learner and Star Pupil so powerful? Raising a single skill to 12 costs 156 XP or 78 XP with the appropriate knack. Even if you charge 30XP for Epic Intelligence 1, and two Knacks, that is still 48 XP saved. Each skill after that is a solid 78 XP savings. Several of your active characters have flushed away 400+ XP!
No such thing, my friend; there is no flushing here. Our players will all be happy to tell you that nobody is ever wasting XP around here.
This question comes up every now and then (if you like, check out previous discussions on PCs with different amounts of XP and Fate spending XP), and it always bemuses me a bit, because it comes from the mindset where XP is king and it doesn't matter what you buy as long as you have gotten the most possible dots on your sheet for the amount of XP you have. But that just isn't so; having the most XP to spend somewhere on your sheet isn't king. Having the most XP to spend on the things you want to get is, and there's a very important distinction between the two.
Just like every other knack in the game, Fast Learner and Star Pupil (and their identical brethren Natural Juggernaut, Natural Leader and Eyes in the Back of Your Head) represent a specific kind of specialization; the character with Fast Learner and Star Pupil is good at learning new things. Scion represents learning new skills with XP, which is a measure of how much your character can learn over time, so skills that have to do with learning certain subjects quickly affect the XP ratio. A character being better at learning new skills than others is just as valid a choice as a character being able to see radio waves when others can't or speak mind-to-mind when others can't; like everything else you spend XP on in a game, you're simply making a choice about what you want. Those who want more dots in abilities buy Fast Learner; those who would rather have the nifty power of speaking all tongues get Language Mastery, and those who want to be able to think their way through magical smokescreens get Blockade of Reason. Fast Learner isn't inherently more powerful than other Intelligence knacks because it affects XP; it's just different, and just like character A might be different from character B because one is great at soaking hits and the other great at marching on until the bitter end, the only difference between the character with Fast Learner and his buddy is that one of them is better at learning abilities and the other is better at learning languages.
The point of the game isn't to have the most XP spent on your character; it's for your character to be the most awesome and effective at the things you want to do. If you want to be an awesome generalist who is an expert in every ability, that's awesome! Pick up all the XP-saver knacks! But if you want to focus on being an impregnable resistance fortress, or being able to take all the physical punishment the world can dish out, or being able to spy on Overworlds unfathomable distances away, that's awesome, too! Get those knacks instead.
It's a bit of a mental prison, I think, the idea that XP is always the most important thing in the game and no matter what you do, you're getting the best result if you technically have more XP than the next guy. It just doesn't work that way; having more abilities than the next guy will sometimes give you an edge over him, and sometimes work against you because he was able to get other powers you didn't. Like all other choices when it comes to building your PC, it'll be awesome in one area but mean you didn't get something in another area. The idea that not focusing on abilities is somehow a "waste" is ridiculous; it's only a waste if your character really wants to focus on abilities and for some reason doesn't.
Every Scion is different, and there's no perfect character build that is better than all others. If your XP is spent on something you want and you get to be awesome with it, there's never any waste involved, no matter what your friend across the table spent his on.
No such thing, my friend; there is no flushing here. Our players will all be happy to tell you that nobody is ever wasting XP around here.
This question comes up every now and then (if you like, check out previous discussions on PCs with different amounts of XP and Fate spending XP), and it always bemuses me a bit, because it comes from the mindset where XP is king and it doesn't matter what you buy as long as you have gotten the most possible dots on your sheet for the amount of XP you have. But that just isn't so; having the most XP to spend somewhere on your sheet isn't king. Having the most XP to spend on the things you want to get is, and there's a very important distinction between the two.
Just like every other knack in the game, Fast Learner and Star Pupil (and their identical brethren Natural Juggernaut, Natural Leader and Eyes in the Back of Your Head) represent a specific kind of specialization; the character with Fast Learner and Star Pupil is good at learning new things. Scion represents learning new skills with XP, which is a measure of how much your character can learn over time, so skills that have to do with learning certain subjects quickly affect the XP ratio. A character being better at learning new skills than others is just as valid a choice as a character being able to see radio waves when others can't or speak mind-to-mind when others can't; like everything else you spend XP on in a game, you're simply making a choice about what you want. Those who want more dots in abilities buy Fast Learner; those who would rather have the nifty power of speaking all tongues get Language Mastery, and those who want to be able to think their way through magical smokescreens get Blockade of Reason. Fast Learner isn't inherently more powerful than other Intelligence knacks because it affects XP; it's just different, and just like character A might be different from character B because one is great at soaking hits and the other great at marching on until the bitter end, the only difference between the character with Fast Learner and his buddy is that one of them is better at learning abilities and the other is better at learning languages.
The point of the game isn't to have the most XP spent on your character; it's for your character to be the most awesome and effective at the things you want to do. If you want to be an awesome generalist who is an expert in every ability, that's awesome! Pick up all the XP-saver knacks! But if you want to focus on being an impregnable resistance fortress, or being able to take all the physical punishment the world can dish out, or being able to spy on Overworlds unfathomable distances away, that's awesome, too! Get those knacks instead.
It's a bit of a mental prison, I think, the idea that XP is always the most important thing in the game and no matter what you do, you're getting the best result if you technically have more XP than the next guy. It just doesn't work that way; having more abilities than the next guy will sometimes give you an edge over him, and sometimes work against you because he was able to get other powers you didn't. Like all other choices when it comes to building your PC, it'll be awesome in one area but mean you didn't get something in another area. The idea that not focusing on abilities is somehow a "waste" is ridiculous; it's only a waste if your character really wants to focus on abilities and for some reason doesn't.
Every Scion is different, and there's no perfect character build that is better than all others. If your XP is spent on something you want and you get to be awesome with it, there's never any waste involved, no matter what your friend across the table spent his on.
Featured!
Question: Animal Feature Questions! Can you choose an Animal Feature that adds to your Soaks or DVs? If so, do you add your full Animal Boons total? On a related note, if you have, say, 10 Boons in Animal (Giraffe) and 5 Boons in Animal (Armadillo), and use AF to make an armadillo's armor, would the bonus be 5 or 15? Lastly, could an animal's hide or other feature add to soak or DVs even if that animal isn't particularly known for dodging or taking hits?
Animal Feature answers!
Yes, you can add soak or DV directly with an Animal Feature! (In fact it's the only way to, since adding Athletics doesn't count toward DV.) It adds half your Animal boons instead of all of them, but if you dedicate two features to the stat, you can get the full amount. So if you have ten Animal boons for Bull, you can have a leathery hide that grants you +5 soak, or a leathery hide and thick bull-bones that grant you the full +10.
No, you can't add more than one animal's boons to your Animal Feature; that doesn't make any sense. Your giraffeyness, cool though it may be, has nothing to do with you growing an armadillo shell. The bonus comes only from your Animal (Armadillo) boons (though you could theoretically also use Animal Feature for Giraffe and add another feature that stacked another bonus; you'd simply have to pay for both boons in order to be a hybrid giraffe-armadillo monster).
While we always try to fudge a bit for PCs' hopes and dreams when it comes to deciding what Animal Aspect and Animal Feature grant, they need to be related to the animal in some way, and if you can't make a convincing case why even to yourself, you probably need to rethink your choices. Sometimes it's just a matter of looking at the situation creatively; while I wouldn't normally think of a salamander's smushy little limbs as providing a Fortitude bonus, for example, a savvy player might point out that some are able to regenerate those if they're lost and sway me. It's not too hard to see animals' hides as adding to sturdiness, since a lot of them, even if not particularly well-known as being robust, are thicker or stronger than human skin (but then again, there are some that aren't); sometimes all you need is to point out that that animal is better at that stat than you would be as a human, even though there are other animals out there who are better. But if you can't justify the creature giving a particular bonus, or it's such a shaky justification that the Storyteller can't follow you, then it sounds like you're reaching for a mechanical benefit, not trying to do cool stuff with your totem animal, and we probably wouldn't allow it.
Animal Feature answers!
Yes, you can add soak or DV directly with an Animal Feature! (In fact it's the only way to, since adding Athletics doesn't count toward DV.) It adds half your Animal boons instead of all of them, but if you dedicate two features to the stat, you can get the full amount. So if you have ten Animal boons for Bull, you can have a leathery hide that grants you +5 soak, or a leathery hide and thick bull-bones that grant you the full +10.
No, you can't add more than one animal's boons to your Animal Feature; that doesn't make any sense. Your giraffeyness, cool though it may be, has nothing to do with you growing an armadillo shell. The bonus comes only from your Animal (Armadillo) boons (though you could theoretically also use Animal Feature for Giraffe and add another feature that stacked another bonus; you'd simply have to pay for both boons in order to be a hybrid giraffe-armadillo monster).
While we always try to fudge a bit for PCs' hopes and dreams when it comes to deciding what Animal Aspect and Animal Feature grant, they need to be related to the animal in some way, and if you can't make a convincing case why even to yourself, you probably need to rethink your choices. Sometimes it's just a matter of looking at the situation creatively; while I wouldn't normally think of a salamander's smushy little limbs as providing a Fortitude bonus, for example, a savvy player might point out that some are able to regenerate those if they're lost and sway me. It's not too hard to see animals' hides as adding to sturdiness, since a lot of them, even if not particularly well-known as being robust, are thicker or stronger than human skin (but then again, there are some that aren't); sometimes all you need is to point out that that animal is better at that stat than you would be as a human, even though there are other animals out there who are better. But if you can't justify the creature giving a particular bonus, or it's such a shaky justification that the Storyteller can't follow you, then it sounds like you're reaching for a mechanical benefit, not trying to do cool stuff with your totem animal, and we probably wouldn't allow it.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
You Must Love Me
Question: If Sangria's a sociopath, how does her having that much Epic Charisma play out in game?
Actually, it's an odd thing about sociopaths: they usually have a decent amount of charisma even in real life, because that's how they avoid being noticed or caught. When it turns out that someone is a serial killer, many people will recall feeling like something was slightly odd about them, but most will also note that he always seemed like such a nice guy or they'd never have dreamed that sweet girl had it in her. Charisma is like protective coloring camouflage for crazy people, at least the ones who don't get caught very early in life.
But Eztli is actually not one of those people. She can't be, because she doesn't care about anyone knowing that she kills people, so the idea of camouflaging that fact would strike her as pointless. She kills people and things and breaks stuff and sometimes levels landscape features. People who don't know that immediately probably aren't paying much attention.
Eztli's Epic Charisma tends to manifest itself as a powerfully striking and magnetic presence, but not as being likable. She's far too obviously psychopathic for anyone to like her; it's more like the feeling you get when confronted with a massive predator at a zoo, a king cobra or a Bengal tiger or great white shark. It's impressive - you can't help but find it impressive and be drawn to it and want to stare and marvel at it - but you don't like it. It's obviously not your friend. Every minute you spend looking at it is a minute that your brain is fighting between the impulses to get closer to this incredible thing and to run away as quickly as possible. Hanging out around Eztli is like that.
She tends to choose Charisma knacks specifically to enhance this kind of Charisma, which is why you don't see the warm cuddly love-oriented knacks on her sheet. She's most prone to using things like Pied Piper to bring entire countries helplessly drawn along in her wake, or to give autocratic commands with Blessing of Importance that get people motivated to move again as much out of fear and respect of her as out of feeling better.
She makes a good contrast to Sowiljr and his more traditional brand of love-and-friendly-charm Charisma. She's not charismatic in that you want to be her friend; she's charismatic in that you respect her power.
Actually, it's an odd thing about sociopaths: they usually have a decent amount of charisma even in real life, because that's how they avoid being noticed or caught. When it turns out that someone is a serial killer, many people will recall feeling like something was slightly odd about them, but most will also note that he always seemed like such a nice guy or they'd never have dreamed that sweet girl had it in her. Charisma is like protective coloring camouflage for crazy people, at least the ones who don't get caught very early in life.
But Eztli is actually not one of those people. She can't be, because she doesn't care about anyone knowing that she kills people, so the idea of camouflaging that fact would strike her as pointless. She kills people and things and breaks stuff and sometimes levels landscape features. People who don't know that immediately probably aren't paying much attention.
Eztli's Epic Charisma tends to manifest itself as a powerfully striking and magnetic presence, but not as being likable. She's far too obviously psychopathic for anyone to like her; it's more like the feeling you get when confronted with a massive predator at a zoo, a king cobra or a Bengal tiger or great white shark. It's impressive - you can't help but find it impressive and be drawn to it and want to stare and marvel at it - but you don't like it. It's obviously not your friend. Every minute you spend looking at it is a minute that your brain is fighting between the impulses to get closer to this incredible thing and to run away as quickly as possible. Hanging out around Eztli is like that.
She tends to choose Charisma knacks specifically to enhance this kind of Charisma, which is why you don't see the warm cuddly love-oriented knacks on her sheet. She's most prone to using things like Pied Piper to bring entire countries helplessly drawn along in her wake, or to give autocratic commands with Blessing of Importance that get people motivated to move again as much out of fear and respect of her as out of feeling better.
She makes a good contrast to Sowiljr and his more traditional brand of love-and-friendly-charm Charisma. She's not charismatic in that you want to be her friend; she's charismatic in that you respect her power.
Follow Me, Ye Weary
Question: In your experience, are Followers useful at all? If so, in what ways are they useful? As fighters? As an extra set of hands? As an extra source of purviews and Legend? As set pieces there mainly for fluff reasons?
Followers are really what you make of them. They can be super effective in the roles you choose for them if you choose wisely and recognize their limitations, or they can be entirely useless if you chose them to do something that becomes irrelevant or you wanted them only for window-dressing. Every PC with Followers chooses and designs them differently, so they seldom resemble one another when all's said and done.
I'm not sure how everyone around here runs Followers, so it's probably a good idea to point out that we don't do it by the book (I know, you are all so shocked). In the original rules, Followers could not be enhanced or grown from their original forms at all, and the point system governing them was so restrictive that it was impossible for them to be really useful for combat purposes. Followers who were super badass at Legend 2 would become merely helpful backup at Legend 3 and totally useless thereafter, which was hardly much fun for those who wanted to spend points on them, so we have Followers advance in power along with their owner, gaining Legend and stats as they go along. Some people do this by giving out XP for the PC to spend on the Followers, but we prefer to just upgrade them as the STs and then give out their new stats, since it's simpler that way and we like the PCs themselves being the only real people who get to make bold character choices with XP.
Followers can be incredibly useful; at the moment, Folkwardr is rolling deep through Ragnarok with his team of sun-powered giants, and while they can't take on a Titan Avatar on their own, they're more than useful for plowing through the gruntwork while the PCs go head to head with the big cheeses. Followers can't be all things all the time, however, so they're not really any use when it comes to social situations or advice (though they can be admirable fetch-and-carries if necessary). On the flip side of the coin, Eztli's Follower is her son Chicahua, and being a Legend 4 or so toddler he's not a lot of help at the moment and is mostly staying at home; at other times, however, he's a hilarious source of entertaining antics and even political machinations that his mother doesn't even notice happening (and, we discovered the other day, he's more than capable of murdering a small giant if she's not watching him carefully). He'll be useful in a different context than combat, because he's not primarily a combat-oriented Follower.
Really, as a player you have to decide what you want Followers to do and then sit down with the Storyteller and figure out how to build them. If you want them to be primarily fighters, they probably won't be much use at anything else; if you want them to be primarily a posse of political advisors or courtiers, they'll probably only be really good at that, and if you want them to be small-scale wizards with magical backup talents, they probably won't have anything else to fall back on. They're not PCs; they don't get to be really well-rounded and fleshed-out. Your Birthright point expenditures matter, too, and the more points you spend on them, the better they'll probably be at whatever you want them for - you can't expect a one-dot Follower to be as badass as a five- or even three-dot one, after all.
In the end, working out with a Storyteller what you want them to do and be, and trusting that Storyteller to make sure that will work out, is all the complex Follower tinkering you really need to do (and Storytellers, if your players have Followers, remember them). We've seen every flavor of Followers in our game, from useless deadweight to helpful aides to badass combatants and all the options in between. Followers themselves are as flexible as any other Birthright; whether or not they're useful for anything depends completely on the creativity of the player and the mindfulness of the Storyteller.
Followers are really what you make of them. They can be super effective in the roles you choose for them if you choose wisely and recognize their limitations, or they can be entirely useless if you chose them to do something that becomes irrelevant or you wanted them only for window-dressing. Every PC with Followers chooses and designs them differently, so they seldom resemble one another when all's said and done.
I'm not sure how everyone around here runs Followers, so it's probably a good idea to point out that we don't do it by the book (I know, you are all so shocked). In the original rules, Followers could not be enhanced or grown from their original forms at all, and the point system governing them was so restrictive that it was impossible for them to be really useful for combat purposes. Followers who were super badass at Legend 2 would become merely helpful backup at Legend 3 and totally useless thereafter, which was hardly much fun for those who wanted to spend points on them, so we have Followers advance in power along with their owner, gaining Legend and stats as they go along. Some people do this by giving out XP for the PC to spend on the Followers, but we prefer to just upgrade them as the STs and then give out their new stats, since it's simpler that way and we like the PCs themselves being the only real people who get to make bold character choices with XP.
Followers can be incredibly useful; at the moment, Folkwardr is rolling deep through Ragnarok with his team of sun-powered giants, and while they can't take on a Titan Avatar on their own, they're more than useful for plowing through the gruntwork while the PCs go head to head with the big cheeses. Followers can't be all things all the time, however, so they're not really any use when it comes to social situations or advice (though they can be admirable fetch-and-carries if necessary). On the flip side of the coin, Eztli's Follower is her son Chicahua, and being a Legend 4 or so toddler he's not a lot of help at the moment and is mostly staying at home; at other times, however, he's a hilarious source of entertaining antics and even political machinations that his mother doesn't even notice happening (and, we discovered the other day, he's more than capable of murdering a small giant if she's not watching him carefully). He'll be useful in a different context than combat, because he's not primarily a combat-oriented Follower.
Really, as a player you have to decide what you want Followers to do and then sit down with the Storyteller and figure out how to build them. If you want them to be primarily fighters, they probably won't be much use at anything else; if you want them to be primarily a posse of political advisors or courtiers, they'll probably only be really good at that, and if you want them to be small-scale wizards with magical backup talents, they probably won't have anything else to fall back on. They're not PCs; they don't get to be really well-rounded and fleshed-out. Your Birthright point expenditures matter, too, and the more points you spend on them, the better they'll probably be at whatever you want them for - you can't expect a one-dot Follower to be as badass as a five- or even three-dot one, after all.
In the end, working out with a Storyteller what you want them to do and be, and trusting that Storyteller to make sure that will work out, is all the complex Follower tinkering you really need to do (and Storytellers, if your players have Followers, remember them). We've seen every flavor of Followers in our game, from useless deadweight to helpful aides to badass combatants and all the options in between. Followers themselves are as flexible as any other Birthright; whether or not they're useful for anything depends completely on the creativity of the player and the mindfulness of the Storyteller.
Nature vs. Nurture
Question: Pantheon-specific purviews don’t have Avatar-level boons. Why do you think this is and do you think it would be a bad idea if Avatar level boons were made up?
Pantheon-specific purviews fulfill a completely different role from all-purpose purviews, which is why their ultimate levels differ.
APPs are the representation of serious, great and primordial forces. They are powers pertaining to the principles and puzzle pieces that make up the universe, whether in very concrete forms (as the Earth, the Sky, the Animals that populate them) or in more abstract but still fundamentally important ways (as the Order and Chaos that govern those things, or the Magic of Fate that rules their actions). Gods who wield the powers of APPs are tapping into a tiny bit of that huge and awesome force and bending it to serve them, and purview Avatars are the greatest expression of that, allowing a god to briefly become one with that cosmic force, a face of its awe-inspiring power. It's not really a coincidence that Titan Avatars and purview Avatars are referred to by the same name; just as Titan Avatars are expressions of the great primordial forces of the universe, so gods who use purview Avatars are, just for a moment, taking on the same mantle, retaining their personal morals and agenda at the expense of only being able to tap into that great power once in a while instead of always. A god who becomes The Glory isn't just activating a great power that lets him succeed; he's becoming a thinking part, for a brief moment, of the vast and universal power of the sun.
But PSPs, on the other hand, are not concerned with the fundamental forces of the universe; rather, they are expressions of the power, origin and beliefs of a specific culture and set of people. They are at their core human purviews - more human even than the more "human" APPs like Illusion or Guardian - and instead of calling upon the massive powers that run the universe, they draw from the unique wellspring of strength that is their own people. PSPs give gods power through the customs, beliefs and strengths of their own culture, through the religion that their people have built around them, and as a result it's a very different kind of power: more specialized, more personal, less understandable to others but undeniably potent. There's no purview Avatar to tap into because each and every god of that pantheon is themselves an Avatar of its ideas and meaning; they are already the ultimate expression of that culture and its religion simply by existing, just as Titan Avatars are already the expression of a Titanrealm. There's no need for a power that makes them the ultimate in their culture, because they are naturally the very definition of the pinnacle of their culture's godhood. They don't need an extra power to let them finally become themselves.
So while I don't think it's a bad idea to try to craft purview Avatars for PSPs in general - that is, I don't think you'd ruin the game if you tried or anything - I do think it'd be both frustratingly difficult to come up with anything really meaningful and, ultimately, pointless. An Aztec god doesn't need a purview Avatar to make him the pinnacle of sacrificial dedication; that's what he already is if he's bought up his Itztli. An Egyptian goddess doesn't need a purview avatar to make her finally perfectly Egyptian.
It's one of the wonderful things about Scion; even the strongest gods may be able to access parts of the huge fundamental purviews for only a short while, but it is almost effortless to become a true god of your pantheon. It is inborn in each and every Scion in their very ichor.
Pantheon-specific purviews fulfill a completely different role from all-purpose purviews, which is why their ultimate levels differ.
APPs are the representation of serious, great and primordial forces. They are powers pertaining to the principles and puzzle pieces that make up the universe, whether in very concrete forms (as the Earth, the Sky, the Animals that populate them) or in more abstract but still fundamentally important ways (as the Order and Chaos that govern those things, or the Magic of Fate that rules their actions). Gods who wield the powers of APPs are tapping into a tiny bit of that huge and awesome force and bending it to serve them, and purview Avatars are the greatest expression of that, allowing a god to briefly become one with that cosmic force, a face of its awe-inspiring power. It's not really a coincidence that Titan Avatars and purview Avatars are referred to by the same name; just as Titan Avatars are expressions of the great primordial forces of the universe, so gods who use purview Avatars are, just for a moment, taking on the same mantle, retaining their personal morals and agenda at the expense of only being able to tap into that great power once in a while instead of always. A god who becomes The Glory isn't just activating a great power that lets him succeed; he's becoming a thinking part, for a brief moment, of the vast and universal power of the sun.
But PSPs, on the other hand, are not concerned with the fundamental forces of the universe; rather, they are expressions of the power, origin and beliefs of a specific culture and set of people. They are at their core human purviews - more human even than the more "human" APPs like Illusion or Guardian - and instead of calling upon the massive powers that run the universe, they draw from the unique wellspring of strength that is their own people. PSPs give gods power through the customs, beliefs and strengths of their own culture, through the religion that their people have built around them, and as a result it's a very different kind of power: more specialized, more personal, less understandable to others but undeniably potent. There's no purview Avatar to tap into because each and every god of that pantheon is themselves an Avatar of its ideas and meaning; they are already the ultimate expression of that culture and its religion simply by existing, just as Titan Avatars are already the expression of a Titanrealm. There's no need for a power that makes them the ultimate in their culture, because they are naturally the very definition of the pinnacle of their culture's godhood. They don't need an extra power to let them finally become themselves.
So while I don't think it's a bad idea to try to craft purview Avatars for PSPs in general - that is, I don't think you'd ruin the game if you tried or anything - I do think it'd be both frustratingly difficult to come up with anything really meaningful and, ultimately, pointless. An Aztec god doesn't need a purview Avatar to make him the pinnacle of sacrificial dedication; that's what he already is if he's bought up his Itztli. An Egyptian goddess doesn't need a purview avatar to make her finally perfectly Egyptian.
It's one of the wonderful things about Scion; even the strongest gods may be able to access parts of the huge fundamental purviews for only a short while, but it is almost effortless to become a true god of your pantheon. It is inborn in each and every Scion in their very ichor.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Chocolate Doom
Jioni's player brought us something to kick off the festivities, because the end of the world always goes down better with baked goodies.
Indeed, we are all sorry. Let's do this thing.
Indeed, we are all sorry. Let's do this thing.
Reptilian Terror
Question: From what I can gather Slavic dragons tend to be multi-headed and wingless. My question is, which dragon do you think I should use to represent Slavic dragons, or perhaps another monster entirely?
If you're planning to use stats for a creature from the book (which I generally don't recommend because so many of those critters are kind of a huge mess stat-wise, but whatever works for you), you have a few options for similar beasties, depending on the Legend rating and challenge you want them to pose. Lindwurms and Tatzelwurms (Scion: Hero, page 313) are a good choice for a Hero-level threat. Scion: Demigod has a whole subsection on dragons on page 232, and Ladon, the first on the list, is exactly the kind of ground-bound multi-headed monstrosity it sounds like you're looking for, sized more for a Demigod-level encounter (the Tatsu, a few pages later, may also be a good place to look). The Hydra, found on page 262, might also be a good place to look, though whether or not you want to preserve its regenerative powers depends on the flavor of the encounter you plan on running. For more divine antagonists, I'd consider the Nagaraja from Scion: God, page 322, (just add legs!), the stormvurm (Scion: Ragnarok, page 123), the multi-headed Azhi Dahaka (Scion: Yazata, page 34) or even a slightly watered-down version of Jormungander (Scion: Ragnarok, page 113).
In general, though, I'd recommend statting your own zmey; you know your PCs better than any book and can tailor the dragon to be a good challenge for them, not to mention not having to pare away someone else's less useful creature qualities or rewrite material that doesn't quite fit. I'm not the master authority on antagonist creation - that's John - but I'm sure he'd be glad to give tips if you've got specific questions. You might also get some use out of Scion: Companion's Creating Titanspawn section on page 148, which is specifically geared toward helping you create antagonists that haven't been statted yet on your own.
If you're planning to use stats for a creature from the book (which I generally don't recommend because so many of those critters are kind of a huge mess stat-wise, but whatever works for you), you have a few options for similar beasties, depending on the Legend rating and challenge you want them to pose. Lindwurms and Tatzelwurms (Scion: Hero, page 313) are a good choice for a Hero-level threat. Scion: Demigod has a whole subsection on dragons on page 232, and Ladon, the first on the list, is exactly the kind of ground-bound multi-headed monstrosity it sounds like you're looking for, sized more for a Demigod-level encounter (the Tatsu, a few pages later, may also be a good place to look). The Hydra, found on page 262, might also be a good place to look, though whether or not you want to preserve its regenerative powers depends on the flavor of the encounter you plan on running. For more divine antagonists, I'd consider the Nagaraja from Scion: God, page 322, (just add legs!), the stormvurm (Scion: Ragnarok, page 123), the multi-headed Azhi Dahaka (Scion: Yazata, page 34) or even a slightly watered-down version of Jormungander (Scion: Ragnarok, page 113).
In general, though, I'd recommend statting your own zmey; you know your PCs better than any book and can tailor the dragon to be a good challenge for them, not to mention not having to pare away someone else's less useful creature qualities or rewrite material that doesn't quite fit. I'm not the master authority on antagonist creation - that's John - but I'm sure he'd be glad to give tips if you've got specific questions. You might also get some use out of Scion: Companion's Creating Titanspawn section on page 148, which is specifically geared toward helping you create antagonists that haven't been statted yet on your own.
Civic Pride
Question: Okay, after reading all your articles from people asking about Roman gods, I think I have a solution. In your article Vendidad and Veda you state that in your games, Scions of Vayu and Haoma can choose to have either Samsara or Asha as a PSP because while these two gods are listed as Yazata, they are also members of the Devas. Could the Dodekatheon have developed a second PSP in their Roman forms, and their Roman Scions get this PSP instead of Arete? What do you guys think? (Please, I need a critic.)
Well, the major problem with the Dodekatheon that we've been talking about lately is a problem of image and associated powers rather than PSP; whether the major Greek and Roman gods need to be considered separate because of those gods with major differences or whether they need to remain considered the same because of all the inseparable god-pairs. Some Roman gods are more obviously Latinized than others, and the result is that the pantheon can't really be split in two, and the question remaining is whether or not to assign its members associated powers based on both their incarnations or only one. It's a heady stew of implications!
However, when it comes to Roman gods who definitely aren't Greek (like our good friend Janus, for example), I'm sure they do have their own PSP; all pantheons do, after all. That's a fundamental part of Scion's setting. I'd say some of the Dodekatheon passing their more Roman genes on isn't inconceivable - certainly I'd encourage any player who wanted to build their concept around knowing Artemis as Diana or Poseidon as Neptune, because I encourage that in any pantheon - but I'm hesitant to open the door to letting them pass on extra PSPs, simply because I'm not sure how much we want those lines to blur. Vayu and Haoma were and are an experiment, and we're still kind of feeling the idea out; we're not quite ready to open the door to every god that dabbles in more than one culture being able to pass on multiple PSPs, because there are a lot (a lot) of them and we don't want to devalue one of the few key differentiators between pantheons the game has just yet.
But I think if we do continue testing our way down that slope, the Dodekatheon and their Roman equivalents are probably one of the best places to put that idea into effect. We don't currently have a distinct Roman PSP in place since it hasn't come up in our games yet, but I believe there are several out there in the Scion community, including one based on Civitas by our very own Source J.
Well, the major problem with the Dodekatheon that we've been talking about lately is a problem of image and associated powers rather than PSP; whether the major Greek and Roman gods need to be considered separate because of those gods with major differences or whether they need to remain considered the same because of all the inseparable god-pairs. Some Roman gods are more obviously Latinized than others, and the result is that the pantheon can't really be split in two, and the question remaining is whether or not to assign its members associated powers based on both their incarnations or only one. It's a heady stew of implications!
However, when it comes to Roman gods who definitely aren't Greek (like our good friend Janus, for example), I'm sure they do have their own PSP; all pantheons do, after all. That's a fundamental part of Scion's setting. I'd say some of the Dodekatheon passing their more Roman genes on isn't inconceivable - certainly I'd encourage any player who wanted to build their concept around knowing Artemis as Diana or Poseidon as Neptune, because I encourage that in any pantheon - but I'm hesitant to open the door to letting them pass on extra PSPs, simply because I'm not sure how much we want those lines to blur. Vayu and Haoma were and are an experiment, and we're still kind of feeling the idea out; we're not quite ready to open the door to every god that dabbles in more than one culture being able to pass on multiple PSPs, because there are a lot (a lot) of them and we don't want to devalue one of the few key differentiators between pantheons the game has just yet.
But I think if we do continue testing our way down that slope, the Dodekatheon and their Roman equivalents are probably one of the best places to put that idea into effect. We don't currently have a distinct Roman PSP in place since it hasn't come up in our games yet, but I believe there are several out there in the Scion community, including one based on Civitas by our very own Source J.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Free as a Bird
Question: While using Wind's Freedom, what are the restrictions (if any) on your ability to lift objects or people? Is it still your base lift value, as though you were on the ground? Is it less because you have no leverage, or is it more because the wind has the strength to lift you - so why not a few more pounds?
I was going to wait to answer this question until John was awake because I wanted his input, but he was up all night Ragnaroking and who knows when he'll recover? So here's what I'd rule, as a Storyteller, and the way we've generally run it.
Wind's Freedom is a boon with a very specific purpose: giving you the power of flight. It's not about lifting other things independently of yourself or creating big updrafts or winds; there are other boons, like Wind Grapple and Gale Force, that do that. I see where the flavor text might lead readers to believe that since this power uses wind to lift you, it might use wind to lift anything, but that's not the case; the point of this boon is that you're a budding Sky god and therefore you're comfortable in the sky. You can fly if you feel like it, but you're not a master of Sky yet, and you can't get more versatile than that. That's the entire scope of what the power's intended to do (and believe me, for a level 2 boon that's plenty).
So when you activate Wind's Freedom, your lifting capacity is exactly what it would be normally; the boon allows you to fly, but it's not carrying extra items for you, so you can't carry any more than you could normally lift. By the same token, your lifting capacity isn't lessened because you don't have the ground to push off from; Wind's Freedom works effortlessly to lift you, period, and it doesn't have a weight limit. It's simple, clean and intuitive.
Attempting to use this particular boon to lift other things or attach a quantifiable scale to it would be a big mistake, mostly because it would be a pain in the ass and add a pretty useless mechanic to the game. Do we really need a system for something so easily intuitive? Do we really want to get into the murkey waters where we have to explain that somehow Thor's Wind's Freedom must be more powerful than Nezha's because it has to lift so much more weight, even though there's no reason this should be so? It's a place where adding complications would be a drag on the game, not an asset, so I'd steer well clear of the idea.
If you want to grab and lift items with air, that's what Wind Grapple is for; adding anything extra to Wind's Freedom's just going to make it unbalanced and more complicated, two things Scion can always do without.
I was going to wait to answer this question until John was awake because I wanted his input, but he was up all night Ragnaroking and who knows when he'll recover? So here's what I'd rule, as a Storyteller, and the way we've generally run it.
Wind's Freedom is a boon with a very specific purpose: giving you the power of flight. It's not about lifting other things independently of yourself or creating big updrafts or winds; there are other boons, like Wind Grapple and Gale Force, that do that. I see where the flavor text might lead readers to believe that since this power uses wind to lift you, it might use wind to lift anything, but that's not the case; the point of this boon is that you're a budding Sky god and therefore you're comfortable in the sky. You can fly if you feel like it, but you're not a master of Sky yet, and you can't get more versatile than that. That's the entire scope of what the power's intended to do (and believe me, for a level 2 boon that's plenty).
So when you activate Wind's Freedom, your lifting capacity is exactly what it would be normally; the boon allows you to fly, but it's not carrying extra items for you, so you can't carry any more than you could normally lift. By the same token, your lifting capacity isn't lessened because you don't have the ground to push off from; Wind's Freedom works effortlessly to lift you, period, and it doesn't have a weight limit. It's simple, clean and intuitive.
Attempting to use this particular boon to lift other things or attach a quantifiable scale to it would be a big mistake, mostly because it would be a pain in the ass and add a pretty useless mechanic to the game. Do we really need a system for something so easily intuitive? Do we really want to get into the murkey waters where we have to explain that somehow Thor's Wind's Freedom must be more powerful than Nezha's because it has to lift so much more weight, even though there's no reason this should be so? It's a place where adding complications would be a drag on the game, not an asset, so I'd steer well clear of the idea.
If you want to grab and lift items with air, that's what Wind Grapple is for; adding anything extra to Wind's Freedom's just going to make it unbalanced and more complicated, two things Scion can always do without.
Avatar Up
Question: How do you keep the challenge level in your game up, when the players obtain the purview avatars?
Well, our game specifically hasn't yet had to cross that bridge; we have no PCs above Legend 10, so nobody has purview Avatars yet and isn't likely to for a while. Luckily, we have plenty of time before end-game cosmic power is in the hands of the players and we can go get coffee while they narrate the scene instead of us.
However, keeping up the challenge level is easy as pie (well, whatever pie Scion is normally comparable to); you just keep doing what you were already doing. Having purview Avatars unfortunately doesn't exempt gods from the cutthroat world of divine politics, from having to deal with alliances between different pantheons and deities and vengeful vendettas from those who have been wronged. Gods that have families, own property or have cults dedicated to them will have to deal with threats to those people and places and figure out how to best set them up to succeed (or fail, I suppose, if they happen to hate them). There are still mysteries and magical items in the universe, some of which are not particularly easy to solve or gain, and those Scions who have reached the pinnacle along with them who are not their bandmates may be forces to be reckoned with as well.
Also, just because people have purview Avatars does not, sadly, mean that there's nothing left for them to fight and they have to retire from combat forever. If that were the case, there'd be no such thing as the war with the Titans, because the gods would already have won it; Titans are such monolithic beings that it requires many gods with Avatars working in concert and getting everything just right to try to take them down, and there are a lot of them out there, ruining everything constantly. Avatars aren't always a good solution to the problems at hand, either - using them in the World invites massive Fatebond attraction, using them in a Titanrealm invites the Scion to be swallowed whole by the place, and using them at all is very exhausting, expensive and not something to be taken lightly. Legend 12 gods don't get to go around constantly busting off their Avatars; they're special-occasion powers only, most of the time, which means that while they certainly add a new level to the game, they don't invalidate everything that came before them.
Keep in mind, also, that it's totally possible that Legend 12 Scions with Avatars now have Scions of their own, allowing them to wield, influence and order them around just as their own parents did to them long ago. That's a mighty chess game all on its own, not to mention the fact that having a purview Avatar doesn't necessarily impress other gods, who not only have Avatars of their own but who also probably have more and certainly have had them for much, much longer. Avatars are a last resort when it comes to bickering, fights or negotiations with other gods, so in that arena you're usually operating the same as you were before you got access to the Avatar.
Purview Avatars are awesome, but they're not the end of the game. The days of being sufficiently challenged by killing trolls in the woods might be over, but believe me, there's still plenty to do.
Well, our game specifically hasn't yet had to cross that bridge; we have no PCs above Legend 10, so nobody has purview Avatars yet and isn't likely to for a while. Luckily, we have plenty of time before end-game cosmic power is in the hands of the players and we can go get coffee while they narrate the scene instead of us.
However, keeping up the challenge level is easy as pie (well, whatever pie Scion is normally comparable to); you just keep doing what you were already doing. Having purview Avatars unfortunately doesn't exempt gods from the cutthroat world of divine politics, from having to deal with alliances between different pantheons and deities and vengeful vendettas from those who have been wronged. Gods that have families, own property or have cults dedicated to them will have to deal with threats to those people and places and figure out how to best set them up to succeed (or fail, I suppose, if they happen to hate them). There are still mysteries and magical items in the universe, some of which are not particularly easy to solve or gain, and those Scions who have reached the pinnacle along with them who are not their bandmates may be forces to be reckoned with as well.
Also, just because people have purview Avatars does not, sadly, mean that there's nothing left for them to fight and they have to retire from combat forever. If that were the case, there'd be no such thing as the war with the Titans, because the gods would already have won it; Titans are such monolithic beings that it requires many gods with Avatars working in concert and getting everything just right to try to take them down, and there are a lot of them out there, ruining everything constantly. Avatars aren't always a good solution to the problems at hand, either - using them in the World invites massive Fatebond attraction, using them in a Titanrealm invites the Scion to be swallowed whole by the place, and using them at all is very exhausting, expensive and not something to be taken lightly. Legend 12 gods don't get to go around constantly busting off their Avatars; they're special-occasion powers only, most of the time, which means that while they certainly add a new level to the game, they don't invalidate everything that came before them.
Keep in mind, also, that it's totally possible that Legend 12 Scions with Avatars now have Scions of their own, allowing them to wield, influence and order them around just as their own parents did to them long ago. That's a mighty chess game all on its own, not to mention the fact that having a purview Avatar doesn't necessarily impress other gods, who not only have Avatars of their own but who also probably have more and certainly have had them for much, much longer. Avatars are a last resort when it comes to bickering, fights or negotiations with other gods, so in that arena you're usually operating the same as you were before you got access to the Avatar.
Purview Avatars are awesome, but they're not the end of the game. The days of being sufficiently challenged by killing trolls in the woods might be over, but believe me, there's still plenty to do.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Psychic Real Estate
Question: A few gods seem to creep over into other religions. In a previous post you mentioned Vayu and Haoma having identities in Hinduism so strong that they can be considered members of that pantheon, so I gotta ask, do these cross-pantheon gods have Sanctums in these other Godrealms? And if they do, are these Sanctums well-known or hidden from the natives? Final question, do you think a Scion of one side of such a god could have a Sanctum in the other Godrealm (ex. Yazata Scion with a Hindu Godrealm)?
There aren't many gods who can cross pantheon lines so easily, and each one is a special case; whether or not they have a true Sanctum in both Overworlds, or maybe only one Sanctum but some dedicated space in both, or some other configuration largely depends on how they got there, how you want to handle them in a game and what their individual preferences might be. In Vayu's specific case, I imagine he has a Hindu Sanctum as well as a Persian one, because the other Devas would probably find it mighty strange if he didn't seeing as how he's a fairly major figure among them, but that needn't necessarily be the rule for all cross-pantheon gods (the few, the lonely). Maintaining two Sanctums is a serious energy-sink; I imagine Vayu also has fewer other cool toys than some of his pantheon-mates because of it.
As for whether or not they're hiding their cross-pantheon alliances, that probably depends on the god, too; whether they're someone who prefers secrecy, whether there are political considerations to be taken into account, and so forth. Vayu, to use him as a convenient example again, probably doesn't advertise his ability to cross back and forth much thanks to the two pantheons having such a violent hate-on for one another, but someone in a less volatile situation might not mind or might even view it as an advantage to let others know he was versatile. Keep in mind that having "space" in an Overworld doesn't necessarily have to mean a full-blown Sanctum, too - gods in our games often have "visiting houses" in the Overworld proper where they can hang out with others without having to drag everyone into their Sanctum, and areas are usually available for visiting gods there on business as well.
As for Scions, where their Sanctums and other god-level Birthrights fall is always a matter of what they plan, do and attempt in-game. It would probably be easy for a Scion raised in the bosom of one pantheon to gain a Sanctum among them, less so if she were more of a stranger or at odds with them. God-level Birthrights are so subjective and tailored to each budding god that there's really no general answer; it depends on the plans and needs of the game, PC and Storyteller.
There aren't many gods who can cross pantheon lines so easily, and each one is a special case; whether or not they have a true Sanctum in both Overworlds, or maybe only one Sanctum but some dedicated space in both, or some other configuration largely depends on how they got there, how you want to handle them in a game and what their individual preferences might be. In Vayu's specific case, I imagine he has a Hindu Sanctum as well as a Persian one, because the other Devas would probably find it mighty strange if he didn't seeing as how he's a fairly major figure among them, but that needn't necessarily be the rule for all cross-pantheon gods (the few, the lonely). Maintaining two Sanctums is a serious energy-sink; I imagine Vayu also has fewer other cool toys than some of his pantheon-mates because of it.
As for whether or not they're hiding their cross-pantheon alliances, that probably depends on the god, too; whether they're someone who prefers secrecy, whether there are political considerations to be taken into account, and so forth. Vayu, to use him as a convenient example again, probably doesn't advertise his ability to cross back and forth much thanks to the two pantheons having such a violent hate-on for one another, but someone in a less volatile situation might not mind or might even view it as an advantage to let others know he was versatile. Keep in mind that having "space" in an Overworld doesn't necessarily have to mean a full-blown Sanctum, too - gods in our games often have "visiting houses" in the Overworld proper where they can hang out with others without having to drag everyone into their Sanctum, and areas are usually available for visiting gods there on business as well.
As for Scions, where their Sanctums and other god-level Birthrights fall is always a matter of what they plan, do and attempt in-game. It would probably be easy for a Scion raised in the bosom of one pantheon to gain a Sanctum among them, less so if she were more of a stranger or at odds with them. God-level Birthrights are so subjective and tailored to each budding god that there's really no general answer; it depends on the plans and needs of the game, PC and Storyteller.
We're learning the internet!
You may have noticed the twitters on the right hand side of the screen. We've decided to experiment in live tweeting from our games. A little bit in character banter, a little crying, a little ST being a dick. We're learning the ropes and we'll probably slowly get better at it, or get bored and stop doing it. We havnt decided yet!
But if reading our inane comments is something that you might enjoy, you can tune in at our normal game time to watch along(or you may be able to read them all after the fact, I dont know how the internet works). Wednesday 7pm to 1am EST will be normal game time.
You also may have read that two of our players are leaving. This forces me to put our Sunday game on a possibly permanent hiatus. So there probably wont be much updating of those characters past this weekend.
Anne is at an uncomfortable level of sadness about this, so give her internet hugs.
I like going out with a bang, so we're skipping 6 months of game play, and fitting in a weekend of marathon gaming to get to the conclusion of our current story(campaign). Ragnarok. The final semi-conclusion of everything the PCs have wrought over the past 3 years of gaming(7 years in game time). I was prepared to run the game in December...I am not prepared to run it this weekend. So Ive been busting out an average of 10 hours a day to make this happen. Its gonna be crazy and epic. My organization systems often involve note cards. I finally finished the grand list of named NPCs that will be around for the event(not just around I guess, but taking major roles in the event), and there are 122. My time is running out, but I think with a little lack of sleep I can put the finishing touches on some majorly awesome encounters.
Hopefully giving everyone an excellent weekend and sounding our friends out of the state with a bang :) Wish me luck.
Also, we'll probably be attempting to tweet through ragnarok as well. That will be friday after 7, and saturday early afternoon(time varying cause we're helping a different friend move starting at 8am saturday morning).
But if reading our inane comments is something that you might enjoy, you can tune in at our normal game time to watch along(or you may be able to read them all after the fact, I dont know how the internet works). Wednesday 7pm to 1am EST will be normal game time.
You also may have read that two of our players are leaving. This forces me to put our Sunday game on a possibly permanent hiatus. So there probably wont be much updating of those characters past this weekend.
Anne is at an uncomfortable level of sadness about this, so give her internet hugs.
I like going out with a bang, so we're skipping 6 months of game play, and fitting in a weekend of marathon gaming to get to the conclusion of our current story(campaign). Ragnarok. The final semi-conclusion of everything the PCs have wrought over the past 3 years of gaming(7 years in game time). I was prepared to run the game in December...I am not prepared to run it this weekend. So Ive been busting out an average of 10 hours a day to make this happen. Its gonna be crazy and epic. My organization systems often involve note cards. I finally finished the grand list of named NPCs that will be around for the event(not just around I guess, but taking major roles in the event), and there are 122. My time is running out, but I think with a little lack of sleep I can put the finishing touches on some majorly awesome encounters.
Hopefully giving everyone an excellent weekend and sounding our friends out of the state with a bang :) Wish me luck.
Also, we'll probably be attempting to tweet through ragnarok as well. That will be friday after 7, and saturday early afternoon(time varying cause we're helping a different friend move starting at 8am saturday morning).
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
All Hail Apophis
Question: As it turns out that Mikaboshi has nothing to do with darkness at all and was just another White Wolf fact-checking error. Who would be the primary darkness avatar if he was swept under the rug?
Apep. Hands down. He's the great darkness that battles to swallow the sun. He's the evil monster that plunges the world into blackness. He's the lord of the Tenth Region of Night. He is every human fear of the darkness personified, and he has really, really big teeth.
While Erebus and Apep are fighting over who is running the show in the lightless caverns of stygian darkness in our games right now, in a rewrite of the Titanrealm Apep would start out as our head honcho. He's not just an absolutely perfect example of a Big Bad Titan, but he's also the major antagonist and world-threat to an entire pantheon (the Pesedjet). He's pretty much a shoo-in.
I imagine Erebus will stick around in the new realm, though, and Mikaboshi might even get to keep some limelight by being ported over into the celestial Titan with more appropriate starry connotations.
Apep. Hands down. He's the great darkness that battles to swallow the sun. He's the evil monster that plunges the world into blackness. He's the lord of the Tenth Region of Night. He is every human fear of the darkness personified, and he has really, really big teeth.
While Erebus and Apep are fighting over who is running the show in the lightless caverns of stygian darkness in our games right now, in a rewrite of the Titanrealm Apep would start out as our head honcho. He's not just an absolutely perfect example of a Big Bad Titan, but he's also the major antagonist and world-threat to an entire pantheon (the Pesedjet). He's pretty much a shoo-in.
I imagine Erebus will stick around in the new realm, though, and Mikaboshi might even get to keep some limelight by being ported over into the celestial Titan with more appropriate starry connotations.
Add Wireless Interface for a Good Time
Question: While using Speak Hu, could a Pesedjet Scion conceivably activate Blurt it Out on a computer to make the machine give up its password? Where do you draw the line with complex man-made machinery, or is Speak Hu only intended to be used on non-manmade objects?
Yes! In fact, Speak Hu + Blurt It Out is pretty much a winning combination all around with computers; the only thing I'd be worried about is the fact that the computer can realize it's made a mistake and correct it much faster than most humans can react, so be quick on the draw with your Epic Wits when that secret password flashes in case your Storyteller rules that the machine starts having errors or activating antivirus software.
Unlike most powers that create items, Speak Hu merely allows you to interact, so there's no limit on the item's mechanical complexity; the only ceiling is the Storyteller's determination of how difficult it should be to influence that object. I'm sure a computer is probably a little harder to tell what to do than a breadbox despite being about the same size, so as a Storyteller you might bump its difficulty up somewhat, but in general terms there's no real reason Speak Hu shouldn't work on it. Of course, it can still only do things a normal computer could do, so it isn't about to fly across the room and clock your opponents in the head, but for information-gathering it'll do just fine.
Hu is the word of primordial creation, and all things, manmade or not, come from that first creation, after all. Manmade objects are just as prone to following the command of the word that created them as rocks are.
So code-crack away, you wacky computing Scions.
Yes! In fact, Speak Hu + Blurt It Out is pretty much a winning combination all around with computers; the only thing I'd be worried about is the fact that the computer can realize it's made a mistake and correct it much faster than most humans can react, so be quick on the draw with your Epic Wits when that secret password flashes in case your Storyteller rules that the machine starts having errors or activating antivirus software.
Unlike most powers that create items, Speak Hu merely allows you to interact, so there's no limit on the item's mechanical complexity; the only ceiling is the Storyteller's determination of how difficult it should be to influence that object. I'm sure a computer is probably a little harder to tell what to do than a breadbox despite being about the same size, so as a Storyteller you might bump its difficulty up somewhat, but in general terms there's no real reason Speak Hu shouldn't work on it. Of course, it can still only do things a normal computer could do, so it isn't about to fly across the room and clock your opponents in the head, but for information-gathering it'll do just fine.
Hu is the word of primordial creation, and all things, manmade or not, come from that first creation, after all. Manmade objects are just as prone to following the command of the word that created them as rocks are.
So code-crack away, you wacky computing Scions.
It's Tough to be Pretty
Question: Do you think people with high Epic socials often feel guilty? If you have massive Charisma, people just surrender to your opinions even if you are wrong. If you have massive Manipulation, people just agree with your well reasoned arguments even if you are wrong.
And if you have massive Appearance, their brains basically turn off. Yay! Epic socials are fun!
But as far as guilt goes, I think having the socials has nothing to do with it; it's whether or not that's a person who would normally feel guilt about railroading someone else. Some certainly do; Geoff feels like a heel pretty regularly for using his powers on others, even when it's something as innocuous as making himself a little more likeable for an important meeting or convincing his wife she likes him too much to gut him. Whether or not they feel fine about it in the moment, using Epic social powers on others means you're taking away their free will and forcing them to do something they wouldn't have without your magical influence, and most people with fairly normal morality are going to find that sketchy at the least, sometimes even if it's done for a good cause. Ethically conscious social Scions often have to grapple with the idea of their own automatic effect on others and how much of it is fair or honorable to throw around.
Of course, there's no law saying Scions (or gods) always have to be ethical by human standards, or even ethical at all. Jay Ortiz has no compunctions whatsoever about starting orgies and riots in his general vicinity, because he thinks those are good things society should be doing more, and therefore doesn't care if the people involved might have wanted not to be there; in essence, he believes that they aren't as well-equipped to make that choice as he is, so he makes it for them. Gods get in on that action, too - Eros is one of the most obvious examples, explicitly causing feelings in others that they might never have had (or wanted to have) on their own. Then there are the gods who don't really think about their social powers or realize that some might think they're being unfair (Baldur never feels guilty about using his Epic socials, because in Baldur's world, everyone loving him and doing whatever he wants is the natural order of things), and of course there are the ones who straight up don't care about other people very much and could not give less of a damn whether they wanted to be mind-whammied today as long as it gets them what they want.
And characters aren't static; they grow, which means their outlooks might change over time. Our prime example is Goze, who as a young demigod had no issue sacrificing other peoples' lives for his own or manipulating them for his own amusement, but who, after being shown what an almighty douchebag he was becoming, repented and became the king of guilt and remorse. A character who believes that social powers shouldn't be used to obviate free will might see that ideal erode as things force her to make difficult choices; a character who looks out for number one might experience a change of heart if doing so causes someone or something they care about to suffer.
Honestly, asking this question is a bit like asking if heavily physical characters ever feel guilty when they beat up or kill things. If they're classically good people, then yes, probably. If they have skewed outlooks or believe it's for the greater good, maybe less so. If they don't care about other living things much, they can sleep just fine after spreading their entrails all over a city block. It depends entirely on the character, how they use their powers and what consequences result from those actions.
And if you have massive Appearance, their brains basically turn off. Yay! Epic socials are fun!
But as far as guilt goes, I think having the socials has nothing to do with it; it's whether or not that's a person who would normally feel guilt about railroading someone else. Some certainly do; Geoff feels like a heel pretty regularly for using his powers on others, even when it's something as innocuous as making himself a little more likeable for an important meeting or convincing his wife she likes him too much to gut him. Whether or not they feel fine about it in the moment, using Epic social powers on others means you're taking away their free will and forcing them to do something they wouldn't have without your magical influence, and most people with fairly normal morality are going to find that sketchy at the least, sometimes even if it's done for a good cause. Ethically conscious social Scions often have to grapple with the idea of their own automatic effect on others and how much of it is fair or honorable to throw around.
Of course, there's no law saying Scions (or gods) always have to be ethical by human standards, or even ethical at all. Jay Ortiz has no compunctions whatsoever about starting orgies and riots in his general vicinity, because he thinks those are good things society should be doing more, and therefore doesn't care if the people involved might have wanted not to be there; in essence, he believes that they aren't as well-equipped to make that choice as he is, so he makes it for them. Gods get in on that action, too - Eros is one of the most obvious examples, explicitly causing feelings in others that they might never have had (or wanted to have) on their own. Then there are the gods who don't really think about their social powers or realize that some might think they're being unfair (Baldur never feels guilty about using his Epic socials, because in Baldur's world, everyone loving him and doing whatever he wants is the natural order of things), and of course there are the ones who straight up don't care about other people very much and could not give less of a damn whether they wanted to be mind-whammied today as long as it gets them what they want.
And characters aren't static; they grow, which means their outlooks might change over time. Our prime example is Goze, who as a young demigod had no issue sacrificing other peoples' lives for his own or manipulating them for his own amusement, but who, after being shown what an almighty douchebag he was becoming, repented and became the king of guilt and remorse. A character who believes that social powers shouldn't be used to obviate free will might see that ideal erode as things force her to make difficult choices; a character who looks out for number one might experience a change of heart if doing so causes someone or something they care about to suffer.
Honestly, asking this question is a bit like asking if heavily physical characters ever feel guilty when they beat up or kill things. If they're classically good people, then yes, probably. If they have skewed outlooks or believe it's for the greater good, maybe less so. If they don't care about other living things much, they can sleep just fine after spreading their entrails all over a city block. It depends entirely on the character, how they use their powers and what consequences result from those actions.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Minotaur BirdMan Rides Again
Question: How did Zwazo transition from the moral mortal Marcus James to the insane wrecker of everything? Also, what does he do with the humans in despair who find his realm?
Ah, Marcus James... he tried, the poor soul, but it just wasn't his destiny to be a reasonable and calm and noncrazy person, and Fate knew it long before he did. There was a time when he tried to be the conscience of Geoff's ragtag band of misfits; he refused to drink, tried to prevent unnecessary violence and even had a few Justice boons rattling around in his bag of tricks. But Marcus never really had much in the way of reason and patience in him - that was his twin, Mathias, and when Mathias died at his visitation he started to unravel. African myth has a concept called marasa, sacred twins, a single soul in two bodies; Marcus was the strong, active, passionate twin, while Mathias was the calm, intelligent, thoughtful one. They balanced each other when Mathias was alive, but without his other half, Marcus became unstable.
He managed to hold it together for a while, but the final straw that broke him was in the siege of Paris, when he beheaded a Scion of Teutates in a misguided attempt to save Goze from her, not realizing that she was administering a just punishment for Goze's many crimes. The Psychic Prison extended to him and trapped him in his own mind for the equivalent of several decades, and while Goze came out of the ordeal with a new realization of his sins and determination to make them right, Marcus went the other direction and came out irreparably mentally scarred. For a while he swapped between different multiple personalities, most of them violent and confused, and after Shango interfered to try to whip him back into shape, managed to pull it together to a sort of level of constant low-grade craziness.
Believe it or not, he's actually doing better these days than he was circa Legend 7 and 8. When he hit apotheosis, he was recombined with the spirit of Mathias, so Zwazo Fou Fou is in actuality once again both twins united. Mathias' influence has had a slight calming effect, and Zwazo is now more able to think before acting.
Unfortunately for everyone else, that basically just means that his insanity is capable of planning ways to get around them or manipulate events into benefiting himself, but at least he's not routinely crashing through other Scions' shrines or assaulting nymphs on Olympus anymore.
Edit: Sheesh, way to fail to answer the whole question, me. Marcus actually doesn't do anything with the lost and despairing mortals that enter his Sanctum; they simply travel alone and despondent through it for anywhere from days to years, probably without even ever seeing him (he isn't home much). The idea behind mortals having access to his sanctum is that they must be truly unable to cope with their lives anymore, or truly disconnected enough to become lost from their own world. When they do so, they wander through the desolate emptiness of his Sanctum until they either want to be part of the world again and fall back into it (usually to discover lives that are in total disarray due to their absence or to have to start from scratch) or die. Marcus himself generally ignores them.
Ah, Marcus James... he tried, the poor soul, but it just wasn't his destiny to be a reasonable and calm and noncrazy person, and Fate knew it long before he did. There was a time when he tried to be the conscience of Geoff's ragtag band of misfits; he refused to drink, tried to prevent unnecessary violence and even had a few Justice boons rattling around in his bag of tricks. But Marcus never really had much in the way of reason and patience in him - that was his twin, Mathias, and when Mathias died at his visitation he started to unravel. African myth has a concept called marasa, sacred twins, a single soul in two bodies; Marcus was the strong, active, passionate twin, while Mathias was the calm, intelligent, thoughtful one. They balanced each other when Mathias was alive, but without his other half, Marcus became unstable.
He managed to hold it together for a while, but the final straw that broke him was in the siege of Paris, when he beheaded a Scion of Teutates in a misguided attempt to save Goze from her, not realizing that she was administering a just punishment for Goze's many crimes. The Psychic Prison extended to him and trapped him in his own mind for the equivalent of several decades, and while Goze came out of the ordeal with a new realization of his sins and determination to make them right, Marcus went the other direction and came out irreparably mentally scarred. For a while he swapped between different multiple personalities, most of them violent and confused, and after Shango interfered to try to whip him back into shape, managed to pull it together to a sort of level of constant low-grade craziness.
Believe it or not, he's actually doing better these days than he was circa Legend 7 and 8. When he hit apotheosis, he was recombined with the spirit of Mathias, so Zwazo Fou Fou is in actuality once again both twins united. Mathias' influence has had a slight calming effect, and Zwazo is now more able to think before acting.
Unfortunately for everyone else, that basically just means that his insanity is capable of planning ways to get around them or manipulate events into benefiting himself, but at least he's not routinely crashing through other Scions' shrines or assaulting nymphs on Olympus anymore.
Edit: Sheesh, way to fail to answer the whole question, me. Marcus actually doesn't do anything with the lost and despairing mortals that enter his Sanctum; they simply travel alone and despondent through it for anywhere from days to years, probably without even ever seeing him (he isn't home much). The idea behind mortals having access to his sanctum is that they must be truly unable to cope with their lives anymore, or truly disconnected enough to become lost from their own world. When they do so, they wander through the desolate emptiness of his Sanctum until they either want to be part of the world again and fall back into it (usually to discover lives that are in total disarray due to their absence or to have to start from scratch) or die. Marcus himself generally ignores them.
Inspire Me
Question: How do you handle players who don't really try anything inventive with their Boons, Knacks, or Birthright powers? At times, I feel like my players tend to sort of wait for me to tell them what to do, if subtly, but I'd like to see them do the wild and epic stuff I see in your games.
The most important thing to remember about your players is that they're all different from every other player on the planet, and they all have different strengths and weaknesses. Our players are not your players and vice versa; what our players (and I really shouldn't talk about them as a unit anyway, since there are totally different strengths within the group of them) are good at yours might not be, and vice versa. Part of being a Storyteller is figuring out what your players' strengths are and then playing to them - if you have someone who is lackluster at boon usage but loves giant fights, give him plenty of opportunities to pull off badass battle stuns, and if you have someone who doesn't much like saving the world but loves having conversations with NPCs and roleplaying, give her times where she can politick her heart out. Not every player is going to be good at everything, including coming up with unusual ways to use their powers, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Celebrate the things they are good at, and encourage them to do them more!
However, some players just need a little help getting a handle on things, and there are a few things you can do to help broaden their expectations of what power usage should look like and do.
One of the easiest methods is just to have NPCs use their boons in startling ways, but it's also a delicate option, because you have to be careful not to make them feel like the NPC is taking all of the spotlight or, worse, cheating. This always works better if you have a player who is good at creative boons and put him or her in with those who aren't - it always goes down smoother to see a PC get away with something they might not have previously thought possible than an NPC.
Another option is to offer sources of inspiration to your players. Lend or suggest a copy of American Gods or Tales from the Flat Earth, or any other number of fantasy or science fiction books that might help get their creative juices flowing. Get together and watch The Matrix movies (especially good for budding young Devas) or Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Carnivale, or any other number of movies or TV shows that might jog their inspiration. Sure, sometimes you'll just end up with players that are copying what they say in the movies or read in the books without really coming up with anything new, but even if they are, as long as they're having fun and doing things they weren't before, you've succeeded. At best, they'll start thinking in bigger terms and come up with more creative ideas; at worst, you'll have spent some time with your friends. It's a no-loss option.
If players outright ask for help with a stunt or way to use a power, you can always give it to them, but in my experience that's rare, since they usually want their cool feats to be of their own making, not handed to them (even if they're having trouble coming up with them). Players get uncomfortable or surly if they feel like the Storyteller is telling them they're not playing well enough, and they have a right to that feeling - after all, they're there to have fun, not be graded.
In the end, the best thing to keep in mind is, again, that all players are different. Do all the things you can to help your players think outside the box and be as creative as they can, but don't be disappointed in them if they don't do exactly what you'd hoped. They're unique people with unique playstyles and stories, after all - enjoy all the awesomeness they bring to the table and do what you can to encourage and enhance it.
The most important thing to remember about your players is that they're all different from every other player on the planet, and they all have different strengths and weaknesses. Our players are not your players and vice versa; what our players (and I really shouldn't talk about them as a unit anyway, since there are totally different strengths within the group of them) are good at yours might not be, and vice versa. Part of being a Storyteller is figuring out what your players' strengths are and then playing to them - if you have someone who is lackluster at boon usage but loves giant fights, give him plenty of opportunities to pull off badass battle stuns, and if you have someone who doesn't much like saving the world but loves having conversations with NPCs and roleplaying, give her times where she can politick her heart out. Not every player is going to be good at everything, including coming up with unusual ways to use their powers, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Celebrate the things they are good at, and encourage them to do them more!
However, some players just need a little help getting a handle on things, and there are a few things you can do to help broaden their expectations of what power usage should look like and do.
One of the easiest methods is just to have NPCs use their boons in startling ways, but it's also a delicate option, because you have to be careful not to make them feel like the NPC is taking all of the spotlight or, worse, cheating. This always works better if you have a player who is good at creative boons and put him or her in with those who aren't - it always goes down smoother to see a PC get away with something they might not have previously thought possible than an NPC.
Another option is to offer sources of inspiration to your players. Lend or suggest a copy of American Gods or Tales from the Flat Earth, or any other number of fantasy or science fiction books that might help get their creative juices flowing. Get together and watch The Matrix movies (especially good for budding young Devas) or Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Carnivale, or any other number of movies or TV shows that might jog their inspiration. Sure, sometimes you'll just end up with players that are copying what they say in the movies or read in the books without really coming up with anything new, but even if they are, as long as they're having fun and doing things they weren't before, you've succeeded. At best, they'll start thinking in bigger terms and come up with more creative ideas; at worst, you'll have spent some time with your friends. It's a no-loss option.
If players outright ask for help with a stunt or way to use a power, you can always give it to them, but in my experience that's rare, since they usually want their cool feats to be of their own making, not handed to them (even if they're having trouble coming up with them). Players get uncomfortable or surly if they feel like the Storyteller is telling them they're not playing well enough, and they have a right to that feeling - after all, they're there to have fun, not be graded.
In the end, the best thing to keep in mind is, again, that all players are different. Do all the things you can to help your players think outside the box and be as creative as they can, but don't be disappointed in them if they don't do exactly what you'd hoped. They're unique people with unique playstyles and stories, after all - enjoy all the awesomeness they bring to the table and do what you can to encourage and enhance it.
Dead Like Me
Question: In an earlier post, you referenced Iapetus and Thanatos being Titans that represent The End. Are they part of a specific Titanrealm in your story?
They're both under heavy consideration at the moment to be part of a Titanrealm of Death, though we haven't yet gotten to buckle down and build that. Thanatos' inclusion is easy - he is death, after all, personified - and Iapetus' role as the limiter who decides the lifespan of every mortal makes him a good candidate for an Avatar in charge of when natural death should occur.
The PCs in our games haven't yet met Iapetus (which is probably good for them, actually), but they have tangled with Thanatos a time or two, mostly because Jioni's now technically his stepmother and they have to deal with him and his siblings when they go visiting Erebus or bothering the Titans who are allied with it. They're pretty sure they don't like him.
They're both under heavy consideration at the moment to be part of a Titanrealm of Death, though we haven't yet gotten to buckle down and build that. Thanatos' inclusion is easy - he is death, after all, personified - and Iapetus' role as the limiter who decides the lifespan of every mortal makes him a good candidate for an Avatar in charge of when natural death should occur.
The PCs in our games haven't yet met Iapetus (which is probably good for them, actually), but they have tangled with Thanatos a time or two, mostly because Jioni's now technically his stepmother and they have to deal with him and his siblings when they go visiting Erebus or bothering the Titans who are allied with it. They're pretty sure they don't like him.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Pouring One Out
Question: So I'm in a couple of Scion games with some awesome people. Our ST is brilliant and the players just keep feeding the stories with awesome juice every game. How do you go about telling them the heartbreaking news that you got the job thats 500+ miles away and neither you or your wife will be able to play in the 3+ year old game anymore? It's really hard to figure out how to tell everyone and we also don't want to ruin everything that's been built when we have to move in a month... thoughts?
It's with a heavy heart that we post this, because it's not a hypothetical question, despite coming into our question-box all innocent and timid-like.
After years of amazing awesomeness, we are in a couple of weeks bidding two of our players adieu. Thanks to a new job bazillions of miles away, Tom and Jennie will no longer be able to play with us. It's an awesome opportunity for them, and we are super excited, but it still brings a tear to our stoic eyes to lose their steady company; not only are they some of the most fun and creative players we've ever had, but they're our good friends, too. The two of them have somehow managed to be in every game we've run, and that's seriously saying something.
So here's a twenty-one cannon salute to Tom and Jennie, some of the most badass players ever to roam an Overworld!
Tom is responsible for such ridiculous shenanigans as Mitchell Gozer/Terminus, the universal whipping boy of fate; John Doe, the most out-of-control Norseman ever to be thankfully put down; Will Nordstrom/Sverrir, who's stubbornly going to be the last king of the Vanir if it kills him; Theo Arnoux, the most ill-fated of the Loa but with a heart of gold; Carlos Jolie-Pitt, loyal to a fault and tragically lost; Ignatius Rex, unbelievably introverted but still a mean hand with a barrel of rocket fuel; Hiro Subaru, the most vengeful Japanese scientist in the world; Najarat Sekhar, a madman with a trigger who's taking everyone down with him; and Kebo, whose rallying cry has always been the mightily uplifting, "There's only so much we can do!" He's had more PCs die than everyone else combined and has also pulled off more insanity than the rest of the table could hope to dream of. He's every Storyteller's dream: if you throw it at him, he will run with it through a seven-ring flaming obstacle course and quip all the way there.
And Jennie is right there with him. She's the mind behind Sophia Archimedes/Aiona, the sociopath who managed to make Sangria look tame; Kettila Blomgren/Yoloxochitl, owner of the biggest Peter Pan complex in the west; Aisu Sutoraiku, a country ninja unprepared for the rigors of the big city; Alaina Bertrand, combining high fashion with world-saving every day; Amunet Ipi, her first character and a casualty early on, but luckily that didn't deter her from trying again; Hime-Kame Jolie-Pitt, the biggest bully in little schoolgirl tights; Nisha, the wild monkey girl that everyone, including her band, kind of hopes gets killed soon; Zelime St. Cyr, babynapper; and Cassara Mitchell, who solves all problems with cake. Scion with us was her first RPG, and she hit the ground running with flair and creativity that veteran roleplayers could be envious of. She's never afraid to PVP to the bitter end, and has the honor of being the player that makes the ST say, "Oh, jesus," the most often out of all our badasses combined.
So whether you've followed their stories or seen them in comments on this blog or not, join us in raising a toast to Tom and Jennie tonight. We love them to pieces and we couldn't be more excited to wish them well on their new journey, and we want to remind them to never stop gaining their own Legend along the way. We'll miss them, but their characters will live on as NPCs, and their stories will continue in the fiction for many months to come despite their absence at the table. Three cheers to you crazy kids from all of us who have had the privilege of playing with you, and have fun storming the castle.
And beware, STs of upstate New York: they're coming for you.
It's with a heavy heart that we post this, because it's not a hypothetical question, despite coming into our question-box all innocent and timid-like.
After years of amazing awesomeness, we are in a couple of weeks bidding two of our players adieu. Thanks to a new job bazillions of miles away, Tom and Jennie will no longer be able to play with us. It's an awesome opportunity for them, and we are super excited, but it still brings a tear to our stoic eyes to lose their steady company; not only are they some of the most fun and creative players we've ever had, but they're our good friends, too. The two of them have somehow managed to be in every game we've run, and that's seriously saying something.
So here's a twenty-one cannon salute to Tom and Jennie, some of the most badass players ever to roam an Overworld!
Tom is responsible for such ridiculous shenanigans as Mitchell Gozer/Terminus, the universal whipping boy of fate; John Doe, the most out-of-control Norseman ever to be thankfully put down; Will Nordstrom/Sverrir, who's stubbornly going to be the last king of the Vanir if it kills him; Theo Arnoux, the most ill-fated of the Loa but with a heart of gold; Carlos Jolie-Pitt, loyal to a fault and tragically lost; Ignatius Rex, unbelievably introverted but still a mean hand with a barrel of rocket fuel; Hiro Subaru, the most vengeful Japanese scientist in the world; Najarat Sekhar, a madman with a trigger who's taking everyone down with him; and Kebo, whose rallying cry has always been the mightily uplifting, "There's only so much we can do!" He's had more PCs die than everyone else combined and has also pulled off more insanity than the rest of the table could hope to dream of. He's every Storyteller's dream: if you throw it at him, he will run with it through a seven-ring flaming obstacle course and quip all the way there.
And Jennie is right there with him. She's the mind behind Sophia Archimedes/Aiona, the sociopath who managed to make Sangria look tame; Kettila Blomgren/Yoloxochitl, owner of the biggest Peter Pan complex in the west; Aisu Sutoraiku, a country ninja unprepared for the rigors of the big city; Alaina Bertrand, combining high fashion with world-saving every day; Amunet Ipi, her first character and a casualty early on, but luckily that didn't deter her from trying again; Hime-Kame Jolie-Pitt, the biggest bully in little schoolgirl tights; Nisha, the wild monkey girl that everyone, including her band, kind of hopes gets killed soon; Zelime St. Cyr, babynapper; and Cassara Mitchell, who solves all problems with cake. Scion with us was her first RPG, and she hit the ground running with flair and creativity that veteran roleplayers could be envious of. She's never afraid to PVP to the bitter end, and has the honor of being the player that makes the ST say, "Oh, jesus," the most often out of all our badasses combined.
So whether you've followed their stories or seen them in comments on this blog or not, join us in raising a toast to Tom and Jennie tonight. We love them to pieces and we couldn't be more excited to wish them well on their new journey, and we want to remind them to never stop gaining their own Legend along the way. We'll miss them, but their characters will live on as NPCs, and their stories will continue in the fiction for many months to come despite their absence at the table. Three cheers to you crazy kids from all of us who have had the privilege of playing with you, and have fun storming the castle.
And beware, STs of upstate New York: they're coming for you.
All Together Now
Question: Have you ever thought about putting a place up on your site for other people (players or STs) to talk about their own games and how they might have utilized some of your rules or original powers? As well, have you ever wanted to know about the kinds of stories other STs come up with?
We have actually thought about that! But we've elected against it so far for a few reasons.
The first is that it would be a lot of work. A lot. Maintaining and moderating space for others and adding their material to our site would add a lot more hours onto our weeks, and they're already crammed pretty darn full (I know it looks like we just kind of lie around eating cookies and dissing bad mythological interpretations, but we are actually busy, honest). Just keeping up with character sheets, new rules, new powers, new sections and pantheon politics (not to mention the massive fiction backlog, which seriously, guys, you don't even know) takes up the greater part of our week when it only applies to our own games; we'd pretty much need to be doing this as a full-time job to support others, too. And while that sounds like awesome fun, sadly, the reality is that we still need to have day jobs and can't spend that much time on it without being the walking dead. (Also we'd probably need to pay for more hosting space and bandwith etc., and we're kind of churchmice.)
But the second reason helps make up for that, and that's this: there's already a great place on the web to share Scion stories, ideas and ask questions, and that's the the official Scion forums over on the White Wolf site. There are some great minds over there, a lot of creative fun, and people are always willing to discuss your ideas. While we'd love to have something like that here (and I guess we do with this blog, in a small way), the world isn't hurting because we don't. The forums do an admirable job of giving the Scion community... well, of giving us a forum. So enjoy them!
And by the way, we do love to hear what other STs are doing, and we actually try to keep up with that as much as possible - we're not a Scion island! Both John and I are regulars on the White Wolf forums as well as communicating with various other STs, both local and not, via email and other sites for their games. We love talking to and hearing from people, so that's the main aim of this blog; it's not just for us to share what we're doing, but also to hear about your guys' thoughts, questions, plans and so forth. It's one of our favorite parts of the day - you guys are awesome, so a big thank you from us to you is in order. You rock.
We have actually thought about that! But we've elected against it so far for a few reasons.
The first is that it would be a lot of work. A lot. Maintaining and moderating space for others and adding their material to our site would add a lot more hours onto our weeks, and they're already crammed pretty darn full (I know it looks like we just kind of lie around eating cookies and dissing bad mythological interpretations, but we are actually busy, honest). Just keeping up with character sheets, new rules, new powers, new sections and pantheon politics (not to mention the massive fiction backlog, which seriously, guys, you don't even know) takes up the greater part of our week when it only applies to our own games; we'd pretty much need to be doing this as a full-time job to support others, too. And while that sounds like awesome fun, sadly, the reality is that we still need to have day jobs and can't spend that much time on it without being the walking dead. (Also we'd probably need to pay for more hosting space and bandwith etc., and we're kind of churchmice.)
But the second reason helps make up for that, and that's this: there's already a great place on the web to share Scion stories, ideas and ask questions, and that's the the official Scion forums over on the White Wolf site. There are some great minds over there, a lot of creative fun, and people are always willing to discuss your ideas. While we'd love to have something like that here (and I guess we do with this blog, in a small way), the world isn't hurting because we don't. The forums do an admirable job of giving the Scion community... well, of giving us a forum. So enjoy them!
And by the way, we do love to hear what other STs are doing, and we actually try to keep up with that as much as possible - we're not a Scion island! Both John and I are regulars on the White Wolf forums as well as communicating with various other STs, both local and not, via email and other sites for their games. We love talking to and hearing from people, so that's the main aim of this blog; it's not just for us to share what we're doing, but also to hear about your guys' thoughts, questions, plans and so forth. It's one of our favorite parts of the day - you guys are awesome, so a big thank you from us to you is in order. You rock.
Making the Cut
Question: Sometimes you say a strong cult presence and lots of writing (literary popularity) are valid ways to judge Legend rating. Other times you say that these things should have nothing to do with Legend rating. What's up?
I feel sure that you're talking about specific examples you've seen us say, and I don't know which, so bear with me. I'll take a stab at it and you come back in if I don't answer everything you were looking for. In addition, there's an old post here that talks about many of the same ideas, which you might find useful.
Deciding a god's Legend rating has to take all those things into account, but it also has to weigh them against each other and be critical about whether or not they really represent sufficient Legendariness.
Written records of a god's exploits (whether preserved on crusty old cuneiform tablets or passed down orally until they could be recorded centuries later) are the major way we have any idea what they did, and if there are no legends about a god, it stands to reason that they're not very Legendary. Legend literally means how legendary a god is - if they're barely remembered and we don't really know what they were about, then there's no way they'd be Legend 12 with the big boys. The Legend scale places those who are super well-known and have done the most amazing things at the top, so it's difficult for a god with little to no literature describing their deeds to be up there.
But, and this is probably what's confusing you, that still isn't a 100% guarantee one way or the other. For example, there's plenty of literature about Beowulf, but he's also definitely not a Legend 12 god. Why? Because all his literature describes him doing things that any Scion at Hero or low Demigod level could do - killing trolls, slaying dragons, sailing about being a Norse king. While those are awesome things to be doing, they're also not godly things to be doing; we have no evidence of him ever doing anything deity-like, so despite his badassery he was probably just a Scion, not a god. On the other hand, someone like Persephone has very little literature surrounding her - but because of other factors (the cult worship you mentioned, etc.) she still makes the cut.
It's the same story for cult worship. You don't have to have a sprawling cult if you're a god - plenty of them don't, whether it's because they're specifically not a figure of worship (like Brahma) or because they're the kinds of dudes you don't actually want to get attention from (Loki, for example). But a cult presence is a great way of measuring a god's importance to the culture they come from; if a god has (or had, in most cases) a huge base of worshipers, rituals and cult practices, odds are they were fairly important, which means it's a factor that should be taken into account when deciding Legend rating.
But again, it isn't an absolute. Some gods had large cult presences but had no evidence of really being badass enough to be Legend 12 - the Egyptian home-god Bes is a good example. Others have giant boatloads of godly deeds to their name but no cult presence at all, like Hel. You can't look at a god's amount of cult presence and say with ultimate certainty that he or she is or isn't Legend 12.
What you really have to do is balance the factors against each other; some Legend 12 gods, like Thor, have both awesome stories and awesome cults, and they're easy to identify. Some have awesome stories but few cults, like Hades, and they're also Legend 12. Some have few stories but awesome cults, like Hachiman, and they're Legend 12, too. Figuring out a god's Legend rating is a delicate balancing act that must take both of those things into account, and while sometimes one is enough to outweigh the other, sometimes it isn't.
So when you see one of us say that a god isn't Legend 12 because they lack sufficient cult presence, we usually mean that they were never worshiped as a god, like Beowulf, so it's a bit silly to try to set them up as one. When you see us say that a god isn't Legend 12 because there are no stories about them, we mean that there's no evidence to tell us what they could have been god of or even if they were particularly interesting. Every god is unique and has to be approached fresh, so we can never just make a blanket statement about either thing; when you see us reject a god, it's because they lack too many of the components of godliness to make it up to Legend 12, not because we're arbitrarily choosing to lend more weight to one thing over another.
Believe me, there is no arbitrariness when John is scything away at gods and their Legend rating.
I feel sure that you're talking about specific examples you've seen us say, and I don't know which, so bear with me. I'll take a stab at it and you come back in if I don't answer everything you were looking for. In addition, there's an old post here that talks about many of the same ideas, which you might find useful.
Deciding a god's Legend rating has to take all those things into account, but it also has to weigh them against each other and be critical about whether or not they really represent sufficient Legendariness.
Written records of a god's exploits (whether preserved on crusty old cuneiform tablets or passed down orally until they could be recorded centuries later) are the major way we have any idea what they did, and if there are no legends about a god, it stands to reason that they're not very Legendary. Legend literally means how legendary a god is - if they're barely remembered and we don't really know what they were about, then there's no way they'd be Legend 12 with the big boys. The Legend scale places those who are super well-known and have done the most amazing things at the top, so it's difficult for a god with little to no literature describing their deeds to be up there.
But, and this is probably what's confusing you, that still isn't a 100% guarantee one way or the other. For example, there's plenty of literature about Beowulf, but he's also definitely not a Legend 12 god. Why? Because all his literature describes him doing things that any Scion at Hero or low Demigod level could do - killing trolls, slaying dragons, sailing about being a Norse king. While those are awesome things to be doing, they're also not godly things to be doing; we have no evidence of him ever doing anything deity-like, so despite his badassery he was probably just a Scion, not a god. On the other hand, someone like Persephone has very little literature surrounding her - but because of other factors (the cult worship you mentioned, etc.) she still makes the cut.
It's the same story for cult worship. You don't have to have a sprawling cult if you're a god - plenty of them don't, whether it's because they're specifically not a figure of worship (like Brahma) or because they're the kinds of dudes you don't actually want to get attention from (Loki, for example). But a cult presence is a great way of measuring a god's importance to the culture they come from; if a god has (or had, in most cases) a huge base of worshipers, rituals and cult practices, odds are they were fairly important, which means it's a factor that should be taken into account when deciding Legend rating.
But again, it isn't an absolute. Some gods had large cult presences but had no evidence of really being badass enough to be Legend 12 - the Egyptian home-god Bes is a good example. Others have giant boatloads of godly deeds to their name but no cult presence at all, like Hel. You can't look at a god's amount of cult presence and say with ultimate certainty that he or she is or isn't Legend 12.
What you really have to do is balance the factors against each other; some Legend 12 gods, like Thor, have both awesome stories and awesome cults, and they're easy to identify. Some have awesome stories but few cults, like Hades, and they're also Legend 12. Some have few stories but awesome cults, like Hachiman, and they're Legend 12, too. Figuring out a god's Legend rating is a delicate balancing act that must take both of those things into account, and while sometimes one is enough to outweigh the other, sometimes it isn't.
So when you see one of us say that a god isn't Legend 12 because they lack sufficient cult presence, we usually mean that they were never worshiped as a god, like Beowulf, so it's a bit silly to try to set them up as one. When you see us say that a god isn't Legend 12 because there are no stories about them, we mean that there's no evidence to tell us what they could have been god of or even if they were particularly interesting. Every god is unique and has to be approached fresh, so we can never just make a blanket statement about either thing; when you see us reject a god, it's because they lack too many of the components of godliness to make it up to Legend 12, not because we're arbitrarily choosing to lend more weight to one thing over another.
Believe me, there is no arbitrariness when John is scything away at gods and their Legend rating.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Winter is Coming
Question: Why did you keep the Frost purview? There is way too much overlap with Water and almost anything Frost can do you could justify Water doing as well, except for the emotion effects.
Actually, we don't feel there's any overlap at all, and the reason is simple: symbolically and mythically, Frost and Water have almost nothing to do with one another. While we (and ancient humans, too) are perfectly aware that frost and ice turn into water if you melt them and vice versa, that doesn't make them the same thing. They represent entirely different areas and concepts - water has to do with life, flowing, change and sudden overwhelming force, while frost has to do with cold, barrenness, winter, death and stagnation.
If you look at myths from any culture, you will never see a god of water who is therefore a god of frost, and that's exactly the reason. They do and represent entirely different things. A god like Uller, who is aligned with snow and ice, has nothing at all to do with water; a god like Poseidon, in charge of the watery depths, has nothing whatsoever to do with frost. I don't know of a single deity that does both things, and that's because mythology treats them as entirely different areas; they may be changeable, but that doesn't make them the same.
Just because a single Hero-level boon lets you use the rules of science to change the state of water or ice does not mean that the two purviews are interchangeable, or even that they overlap that much. It'd be asinine to tell Scions they had to buy up Water through the roof if they wanted to be gods of winter; those things just aren't the same.
(Also, I'm really not sure why you think you could duplicate Frost boons easily with Water, because it just ain't so. At the very best, some of those boons could be duplicated if you were willing to waste a lot of extra actions and Legend on using Changing States first and then doing whatever it was you wanted to, but that doesn't exactly sound like a barrel of fun, and some, like Uller's Stride, Flash Freeze or Blizzard Call, can't be successfully imitated by Water at all. I'm not sure why anyone would want to bother trying to use the one instead of the other.)
Actually, we don't feel there's any overlap at all, and the reason is simple: symbolically and mythically, Frost and Water have almost nothing to do with one another. While we (and ancient humans, too) are perfectly aware that frost and ice turn into water if you melt them and vice versa, that doesn't make them the same thing. They represent entirely different areas and concepts - water has to do with life, flowing, change and sudden overwhelming force, while frost has to do with cold, barrenness, winter, death and stagnation.
If you look at myths from any culture, you will never see a god of water who is therefore a god of frost, and that's exactly the reason. They do and represent entirely different things. A god like Uller, who is aligned with snow and ice, has nothing at all to do with water; a god like Poseidon, in charge of the watery depths, has nothing whatsoever to do with frost. I don't know of a single deity that does both things, and that's because mythology treats them as entirely different areas; they may be changeable, but that doesn't make them the same.
Just because a single Hero-level boon lets you use the rules of science to change the state of water or ice does not mean that the two purviews are interchangeable, or even that they overlap that much. It'd be asinine to tell Scions they had to buy up Water through the roof if they wanted to be gods of winter; those things just aren't the same.
(Also, I'm really not sure why you think you could duplicate Frost boons easily with Water, because it just ain't so. At the very best, some of those boons could be duplicated if you were willing to waste a lot of extra actions and Legend on using Changing States first and then doing whatever it was you wanted to, but that doesn't exactly sound like a barrel of fun, and some, like Uller's Stride, Flash Freeze or Blizzard Call, can't be successfully imitated by Water at all. I'm not sure why anyone would want to bother trying to use the one instead of the other.)
Politics!
Question: What's the deal with marriage in your Scion games? Is cross-pantheon marriage frowned upon by the gods or is it cultivated as the cement which holds together alliances? Since Pantheons seem to function as royal families or dynasties unto themselves, what's your take on godly marriage in a many-pantheon world?
This question is well-timed, since Sverrir just spent an especially harrowing couple of hours trying to deal with a few different pantheons' demands and offers of marriage alliances with him thanks to Vanaheim's resurgence. It's tough to be the king.
Whether or not cross-pantheon marriage is frowned upon generally depends on the pantheon in question, the gods in question and how everything went down. More insular and less foreigner-tolerant pantheons like the Aztlanti or Amatsukami are probably more likely to frown on it as a rule (though of course that doesn't mean they won't do it if it seems like it will benefit them, just that they won't like it), while those more concerned with political savvy or with a history of combining bloodlines through marriage like the Pesedjet or Aesir may have much less of a problem with it. Then, too, there are specific cases where pantheons are not getting along and are probably going to go all Montague and Capulet if their members try to cross-marry; few Nemetondevos/Dodekatheon or Deva/Yazata marriages are going to have smooth roads ahead of them. And finally, specific gods may have their own opinions on what is and isn't a good match - Ares may be fine with a Dodekatheon Scion marrying a Tuatha berserker, but those not interested in their territory being regularly blown up may be less than pleased.
It's certain, though, that marriage in Scion never comes without political ramifications; at best, you can marry a mortal or lesser immortal who has no strong affiliation, which will mean that you've basically removed yourself from that specific political arena (which will be helpful sometimes and crippling at others). This is what Folkwardr did by marrying Ahouva; she has no political ramifications so he there are no real consequences, and he doesn't have to be part of the marriage alliance conversation anymore unless somebody kills her, which he's very vigilant about making sure doesn't happen. Yoloxochitl went for this option in an even purer form by just making herself permanently underage, but it's anyone's guess whether or not the Aztlanti are going to let her stay that way or inform her later that she'd better age a decade because there's an important alliance that needs sealing right now.
Everybody else's lives are more complicated. Sverrir spent his last game dealing with emissaries from the Pesedjet, Tuatha and Dodekatheon asking for his line to be married into one of theirs, as well as possibly something similar with the Amatsukami (but since they wouldn't tell him what they wanted unless he went to a private conference with them before he talked to everyone else, and he didn't do that, it's probably just as likely that they wanted to bribe him not to make a marriage alliance with anybody). The marriage between Sowiljr and Eztli is of course now legendary in itself, having spawned a war and several extremely ugly political incidents (but it was also unavoidable, thanks to him knocking her up at Legend 4, so everybody is kind of stuck with it). Jioni's marriage to Erebus has given her a great deal of power among the Dodekatheon but has also made her a figure of some resentment, while at home nobody cares because most of the Loa don't view Erebus as particularly special or something they should be concerned about, and of course she also got him to start a war that ended up dragging the Aesir into the fray as well. And, of course, Odin's been spending the last couple of years hunting up what he considers the best marriage prospects for Vala, something she is not at all pleased about but which will eventually have to be handled in some way.
Alas, even marrying within your own pantheon isn't politically a "safe zone" - just ask Terminus, who ended up having to get hitched to Circe to stop a pretty epic intra-pantheon feud from continuing.
Marriages between pantheons almost always mean some kind of alliance, especially if they're intentional, for the same reason they usually do among human families that intermarry; Family A's son/daughter/sister/brother/whatever is now living with Family B, so they have a vested interest in helping defend Family B if they get attacked or in making sure that they're prosperous so they can in turn send some of that wealth back home. Occasionally, as is the case with Terminus, they also happen to smooth over an incident or an insult to restore the status quo - that is, sorry we did whatever you're super pissed off about, here's one of us to live with you as a peace offering and guarantee that we'll behave in the future.
And then there are the kids like Sowiljr and Eztli that just spring a surprise marriage on everyone... and when that happens, everybody gets to scramble to see what advantage they can make out of it.
This question is well-timed, since Sverrir just spent an especially harrowing couple of hours trying to deal with a few different pantheons' demands and offers of marriage alliances with him thanks to Vanaheim's resurgence. It's tough to be the king.
Whether or not cross-pantheon marriage is frowned upon generally depends on the pantheon in question, the gods in question and how everything went down. More insular and less foreigner-tolerant pantheons like the Aztlanti or Amatsukami are probably more likely to frown on it as a rule (though of course that doesn't mean they won't do it if it seems like it will benefit them, just that they won't like it), while those more concerned with political savvy or with a history of combining bloodlines through marriage like the Pesedjet or Aesir may have much less of a problem with it. Then, too, there are specific cases where pantheons are not getting along and are probably going to go all Montague and Capulet if their members try to cross-marry; few Nemetondevos/Dodekatheon or Deva/Yazata marriages are going to have smooth roads ahead of them. And finally, specific gods may have their own opinions on what is and isn't a good match - Ares may be fine with a Dodekatheon Scion marrying a Tuatha berserker, but those not interested in their territory being regularly blown up may be less than pleased.
It's certain, though, that marriage in Scion never comes without political ramifications; at best, you can marry a mortal or lesser immortal who has no strong affiliation, which will mean that you've basically removed yourself from that specific political arena (which will be helpful sometimes and crippling at others). This is what Folkwardr did by marrying Ahouva; she has no political ramifications so he there are no real consequences, and he doesn't have to be part of the marriage alliance conversation anymore unless somebody kills her, which he's very vigilant about making sure doesn't happen. Yoloxochitl went for this option in an even purer form by just making herself permanently underage, but it's anyone's guess whether or not the Aztlanti are going to let her stay that way or inform her later that she'd better age a decade because there's an important alliance that needs sealing right now.
Everybody else's lives are more complicated. Sverrir spent his last game dealing with emissaries from the Pesedjet, Tuatha and Dodekatheon asking for his line to be married into one of theirs, as well as possibly something similar with the Amatsukami (but since they wouldn't tell him what they wanted unless he went to a private conference with them before he talked to everyone else, and he didn't do that, it's probably just as likely that they wanted to bribe him not to make a marriage alliance with anybody). The marriage between Sowiljr and Eztli is of course now legendary in itself, having spawned a war and several extremely ugly political incidents (but it was also unavoidable, thanks to him knocking her up at Legend 4, so everybody is kind of stuck with it). Jioni's marriage to Erebus has given her a great deal of power among the Dodekatheon but has also made her a figure of some resentment, while at home nobody cares because most of the Loa don't view Erebus as particularly special or something they should be concerned about, and of course she also got him to start a war that ended up dragging the Aesir into the fray as well. And, of course, Odin's been spending the last couple of years hunting up what he considers the best marriage prospects for Vala, something she is not at all pleased about but which will eventually have to be handled in some way.
Alas, even marrying within your own pantheon isn't politically a "safe zone" - just ask Terminus, who ended up having to get hitched to Circe to stop a pretty epic intra-pantheon feud from continuing.
Marriages between pantheons almost always mean some kind of alliance, especially if they're intentional, for the same reason they usually do among human families that intermarry; Family A's son/daughter/sister/brother/whatever is now living with Family B, so they have a vested interest in helping defend Family B if they get attacked or in making sure that they're prosperous so they can in turn send some of that wealth back home. Occasionally, as is the case with Terminus, they also happen to smooth over an incident or an insult to restore the status quo - that is, sorry we did whatever you're super pissed off about, here's one of us to live with you as a peace offering and guarantee that we'll behave in the future.
And then there are the kids like Sowiljr and Eztli that just spring a surprise marriage on everyone... and when that happens, everybody gets to scramble to see what advantage they can make out of it.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Ashes to Ashes
Question: I was reading Faruza Alinejad's character sheet and it says her Guide Shmashana is a Yakshini. Isn't a Yakshini a Hindu figure? Did she get this Yakshini because of Vayu's strong Hindu identity? More importantly, how does the Yakshini feel about helping a Yazata Scion, or did Vayu convince her Faruza was actually a Hindu Scion?
Shmashana is indeed a yakshini and yakshini are indeed entirely Hindu; Shmashana in particular is the guardian yakshini of graveyards and cremations, death associations that match Vayu's (and Faruza's). She is summoned via a handful of ash from a sacred cremation ground, which Faruza keeps in a small box. She also has a bit of a 'tude whenever she's forced to show up.
Your guess is a good one - Faruza is running aroud with access to a yakshini thanks to Vayu's strong ties to the Devas, among whom he claims membership despite being one of the Yazata. While Shmashana is probably more likely to be closely associated with Shiva, who is the official lord of cremations and graveyards and other creepy things, Vayu's death connotations probably allow him to hold some sway over her as well (and one assumes he and Shiva are probably on at least passingly cordial terms anyway). Faruza herself is not really sure what Shmashana is, other than a strange magical being that sometimes appears in a cloud of ash and refuses to provide any useful information; if she realized she was hanging out with a servant of the dreaded daevas she'd probably panic, but for the moment she merely sees her Guide as an enigma that must serve some purpose if her father sent it to her.
Shmashana appears to be under orders (or possibly even magical coercion) not to reveal her true nature to Faruza, nor to in any way let slip that she isn't the kind of creature that would normally be friendly with a Scion of the Yazata. More than once she's caught her tongue or switched directions mid-sentence rather than say something that might cause Faruza to question her origins or loyalties. Nevertheless, she is obviously not very impressed by Faruza and usually makes it known that she considers her ineffective and a little bit stupid whenever she is summoned for advice. Faruza, in turn, wonders what Shmashana is supposed to do to help her when her response to any question is usually, "I don't know. Why aren't you smart enough to figure it out?"
Neither of them seems to know what to do with the other, though their relationship will probably grow more close and complex given some time. In the meantime, considering that Faruza is literally surrounded by Deva Scions (Nisha, Akhileswar, Penelope and Sanjiv; she is a lone Yazata lighthouse in her band), it's not outside the realm of possibility that she might learn to understand her Guide a little better, or that Shmashana might intentionally try to influence her into acting more like her companions than the devout Persian instructor she was in her mortal life.
Shmashana is indeed a yakshini and yakshini are indeed entirely Hindu; Shmashana in particular is the guardian yakshini of graveyards and cremations, death associations that match Vayu's (and Faruza's). She is summoned via a handful of ash from a sacred cremation ground, which Faruza keeps in a small box. She also has a bit of a 'tude whenever she's forced to show up.
Your guess is a good one - Faruza is running aroud with access to a yakshini thanks to Vayu's strong ties to the Devas, among whom he claims membership despite being one of the Yazata. While Shmashana is probably more likely to be closely associated with Shiva, who is the official lord of cremations and graveyards and other creepy things, Vayu's death connotations probably allow him to hold some sway over her as well (and one assumes he and Shiva are probably on at least passingly cordial terms anyway). Faruza herself is not really sure what Shmashana is, other than a strange magical being that sometimes appears in a cloud of ash and refuses to provide any useful information; if she realized she was hanging out with a servant of the dreaded daevas she'd probably panic, but for the moment she merely sees her Guide as an enigma that must serve some purpose if her father sent it to her.
Shmashana appears to be under orders (or possibly even magical coercion) not to reveal her true nature to Faruza, nor to in any way let slip that she isn't the kind of creature that would normally be friendly with a Scion of the Yazata. More than once she's caught her tongue or switched directions mid-sentence rather than say something that might cause Faruza to question her origins or loyalties. Nevertheless, she is obviously not very impressed by Faruza and usually makes it known that she considers her ineffective and a little bit stupid whenever she is summoned for advice. Faruza, in turn, wonders what Shmashana is supposed to do to help her when her response to any question is usually, "I don't know. Why aren't you smart enough to figure it out?"
Neither of them seems to know what to do with the other, though their relationship will probably grow more close and complex given some time. In the meantime, considering that Faruza is literally surrounded by Deva Scions (Nisha, Akhileswar, Penelope and Sanjiv; she is a lone Yazata lighthouse in her band), it's not outside the realm of possibility that she might learn to understand her Guide a little better, or that Shmashana might intentionally try to influence her into acting more like her companions than the devout Persian instructor she was in her mortal life.
The Great Evils
Question: Could you perhaps tease us with a list of who the Titans and avatars are?
I do love being an academic tease, so yes. Also, hopefully writing this post will somehow make our ability to work on the project this weekend even greater!
We're starting with six basic Titans, but not the same ones the book begins with; instead, we're beginning with antagonists for the six pantheons we consider the most "core" to the setting, namely the Aesir, Anunna, Aztlanti, Devas, Dodekatheon and Pesedjet. (Don't worry, fans of evil beasties opposing other pantheons - they'll get their turn, but if we waited until everyone was done to start posting these things, there might be a revolt among the people.) The Titanrealms are pretty much finalized, but we're still working with individual Avatars and creatures within them, so much of our list is subject to change.
However, I will tease you with a list of the six starting Titanrealms themselves and their dominant Avatars:
Emamu, Titanrealm of Beasts, led by Tiamat and opposed to the Anunna
Keku, Titanrealm of Darkness,, led by Apep and opposed to the Pesedjet
Maya, Titanrealm of Illusion,, led by Mayasura (or is it) and opposed to the Devas
Muspelheim, Titanrealm of Fire,, led by Surtr and opposed to the Aesir
Ourea, Titanrealm of Nature,, led by Gaia/Kronos and opposed to the Dodekatheon
Tamoanchan, Titanrealm of the Heavens,, led by Mixcoatl and opposed to the Aztlanti
Of course, anything could still happen if we have an amazing brainwave that demands immediate action, but these are pretty solid for the moment. Several other crazy demands on our attention have finally wrapped up lately, so hopefully we'll have enough time to really buckle down with these guys now.
I can't wait. Big bad guys are the best bad guys.
I do love being an academic tease, so yes. Also, hopefully writing this post will somehow make our ability to work on the project this weekend even greater!
We're starting with six basic Titans, but not the same ones the book begins with; instead, we're beginning with antagonists for the six pantheons we consider the most "core" to the setting, namely the Aesir, Anunna, Aztlanti, Devas, Dodekatheon and Pesedjet. (Don't worry, fans of evil beasties opposing other pantheons - they'll get their turn, but if we waited until everyone was done to start posting these things, there might be a revolt among the people.) The Titanrealms are pretty much finalized, but we're still working with individual Avatars and creatures within them, so much of our list is subject to change.
However, I will tease you with a list of the six starting Titanrealms themselves and their dominant Avatars:
Emamu, Titanrealm of Beasts, led by Tiamat and opposed to the Anunna
Keku, Titanrealm of Darkness,, led by Apep and opposed to the Pesedjet
Maya, Titanrealm of Illusion,, led by Mayasura (or is it) and opposed to the Devas
Muspelheim, Titanrealm of Fire,, led by Surtr and opposed to the Aesir
Ourea, Titanrealm of Nature,, led by Gaia/Kronos and opposed to the Dodekatheon
Tamoanchan, Titanrealm of the Heavens,, led by Mixcoatl and opposed to the Aztlanti
Of course, anything could still happen if we have an amazing brainwave that demands immediate action, but these are pretty solid for the moment. Several other crazy demands on our attention have finally wrapped up lately, so hopefully we'll have enough time to really buckle down with these guys now.
I can't wait. Big bad guys are the best bad guys.
Something for the Mantel
Question: What are some especially memorable Trophies your Bands have gathered from the fallen forms of their formerly fearsome foes?
Despite your exciting alliteration, this question doesn't really have an exciting answer. Trophies are, unfortunately, pretty inconsequential and even boring most of the time in our games, whether we use the ones from the books or try to invent something appropriate on our own. The Trophies of fallen creatures and enemies are occasionally useful, but they really only go through three phases of player interest: the phase where the high Intellect characters care because they want to identify them, the phase where craft-oriented characters care in case they can turn them into something else, and the phase where someone puts them into a bag, forgets about them and eventually loses them when they use Skin-Shedding or run through a lake of fire or something. The only person we've ever had with a fourth phase is Terminus, who has a museum-slash-junkroom in his Sanctum where he hoards any and all items with even a hint of magic about them.
The most memorable moment for a Trophy in my recollection, however, was very early in the Better Next Time game, when the band killed the first giant they'd ever seen. They were able to identify that its heartsblood would give them some kind of physical bonuses, but nobody rolled high enough to really figure out specifics; when Chuck tossed one back to buff himself in combat, it dropped his Intelligence below zero and he went instead through a fit of insane, ravening berserker rage while the other PCs sort of panicked and ran around avoiding him. The days when +/-2 bonuses and penalties to things mattered are long past for that band, but they still refer to giantsblood as "Chuck Clark Juice".
The problem with Trophies is that they can never compete with relics; they're always going to be so limited and underpowered by comparison that most PCs don't bother with them (especially if they're particularly large or otherwise a pain to transport). They're fantastic for crafting-oriented Scions, as they make great raw materials and bases for creating relics later, and especially at Hero-level can be good buffs in specific situations, but they use their utility pretty quickly. And that's actually really okay with us; they shouldn't be able to compete with relics, which are a much bigger deal and more difficult to get, but neither are they earth-shatteringly badass. They're more like incidental magical objects Scions might pick up along the way than things that end up being important or featured.
Trophies that Scions take to creatively weave into their own legends are way cool, though, such as when Geoff absconded with a fallen giant's bone club (pretty standard giant femur with minor combat bonuses) and eventually had it forged into his sword Hvitingr. A Trophy's primary purpose is to give the PCs fodder for cool stuff they want to do; more often than not, they won't need or bother with it (unless you're tailoring monsters to directly appeal to them), but the few times they do it's usually worth the whole shebang.
Despite your exciting alliteration, this question doesn't really have an exciting answer. Trophies are, unfortunately, pretty inconsequential and even boring most of the time in our games, whether we use the ones from the books or try to invent something appropriate on our own. The Trophies of fallen creatures and enemies are occasionally useful, but they really only go through three phases of player interest: the phase where the high Intellect characters care because they want to identify them, the phase where craft-oriented characters care in case they can turn them into something else, and the phase where someone puts them into a bag, forgets about them and eventually loses them when they use Skin-Shedding or run through a lake of fire or something. The only person we've ever had with a fourth phase is Terminus, who has a museum-slash-junkroom in his Sanctum where he hoards any and all items with even a hint of magic about them.
The most memorable moment for a Trophy in my recollection, however, was very early in the Better Next Time game, when the band killed the first giant they'd ever seen. They were able to identify that its heartsblood would give them some kind of physical bonuses, but nobody rolled high enough to really figure out specifics; when Chuck tossed one back to buff himself in combat, it dropped his Intelligence below zero and he went instead through a fit of insane, ravening berserker rage while the other PCs sort of panicked and ran around avoiding him. The days when +/-2 bonuses and penalties to things mattered are long past for that band, but they still refer to giantsblood as "Chuck Clark Juice".
The problem with Trophies is that they can never compete with relics; they're always going to be so limited and underpowered by comparison that most PCs don't bother with them (especially if they're particularly large or otherwise a pain to transport). They're fantastic for crafting-oriented Scions, as they make great raw materials and bases for creating relics later, and especially at Hero-level can be good buffs in specific situations, but they use their utility pretty quickly. And that's actually really okay with us; they shouldn't be able to compete with relics, which are a much bigger deal and more difficult to get, but neither are they earth-shatteringly badass. They're more like incidental magical objects Scions might pick up along the way than things that end up being important or featured.
Trophies that Scions take to creatively weave into their own legends are way cool, though, such as when Geoff absconded with a fallen giant's bone club (pretty standard giant femur with minor combat bonuses) and eventually had it forged into his sword Hvitingr. A Trophy's primary purpose is to give the PCs fodder for cool stuff they want to do; more often than not, they won't need or bother with it (unless you're tailoring monsters to directly appeal to them), but the few times they do it's usually worth the whole shebang.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Underworld Pleasure Cruise
Question: Reading the writeup of the Babylonian underworld, and comparing it to the Slavic one, I'm often surprised how different the underworlds tend to be in terms of their palatability. When your players have to go to one or the other of them, generally what are their reactions to the grimness or lack thereof? And speaking of which, what are the overall opinions of the major death gods on the level of reward or punishment in the other guy's underworld?
Players almost always hate Underworlds, which makes sense because they're alive and the Underworld deck is therefore stacked against them. To be fair, they haven't been to any of the really pleasant ones other than Mag Mell (and that didn't go so well since Manannan mac Lir was really pissed off at them at the time), but in general the Virtue checks (difficult to succeed at all of if a Scion happens to not be a native to that Underworld's pantheon), obstacles, resident creatures and excessive rules always manage to get them down. Geoff temporarily voted Duat the Worst Place in the Universe while he was stuck in there (though that title has since been passed on to Erebus), Aurora and her band have been to Hel multiple times and hated it more each one, Darcy and Hime are not at all happy to be stuck in the black pit that is Yomi, Kettila still has nightmares about crossing the Styx and the general reaction to Dubnolissos is always to flail around screaming about why the monsters here are so freaking huge.
I think they would probably find pleasant Underworlds to be a refreshing surprise, but aside from the Mag Mell fiasco and Sowiljr's occasional uneasy forays into Nonantztochan, they really haven't had the opportunity yet. Being less than high-Legend means that you get grunt work, and grunt work means it's generally something the higher-Legend people above you didn't want to do. They probably don't really mind having to visit Raj on errands, but going to Irkallu is something that everyone probably foists off as far as that buck will pass.
Death gods are a stentorian and autocratic bunch; it's most likely that they probably think every other Underworld is stupid and doing it wrong. Owners of pleasant paradises like Raj or Mag Mell probably think owners of miserable deathtraps like Mictlan or Yomi are being unnecessarily cruel and harsh; owners of stringently regulated domains like Hades and Mord Keshvar probably think everyone else is appallingly sloppy and vulnerable. Notoriously tight-fisted Death gods like Hel, Hades or Ereshkigal probably think career reincarnators like Yama are completely mad to circumvent their responsibilities by releasing dead people back into the World, and the reincarnators in turn probably think everyone else is wasteful, greedy, maladjusted or just refusing to help humanity for some inscrutable reason. And these little tiffs don't always have to be between different pantheons; when you have several Underworlds among the same set of gods, disapproval may be even more strident. I would expect that Izanami and Susanoo don't agree at all on how dead people should be disposed of, while the large number of Aztec afterlives is just begging for someone to disagree with something somewhere.
As with most things in Scion, it's a mix of the cultural landscape those gods come from and their individual personal leanings. Mictlantecuhtli is never going to approve of the ridiculous shenanigans going on over in Naraka, and Veles would probably be appalled by the hideous mess that is Nepesh, but luckily they probably don't have to go to one anothers' houses much, so uneasy truces exist all around.
But Scions do have to go to their houses. Poor Scions.
Players almost always hate Underworlds, which makes sense because they're alive and the Underworld deck is therefore stacked against them. To be fair, they haven't been to any of the really pleasant ones other than Mag Mell (and that didn't go so well since Manannan mac Lir was really pissed off at them at the time), but in general the Virtue checks (difficult to succeed at all of if a Scion happens to not be a native to that Underworld's pantheon), obstacles, resident creatures and excessive rules always manage to get them down. Geoff temporarily voted Duat the Worst Place in the Universe while he was stuck in there (though that title has since been passed on to Erebus), Aurora and her band have been to Hel multiple times and hated it more each one, Darcy and Hime are not at all happy to be stuck in the black pit that is Yomi, Kettila still has nightmares about crossing the Styx and the general reaction to Dubnolissos is always to flail around screaming about why the monsters here are so freaking huge.
I think they would probably find pleasant Underworlds to be a refreshing surprise, but aside from the Mag Mell fiasco and Sowiljr's occasional uneasy forays into Nonantztochan, they really haven't had the opportunity yet. Being less than high-Legend means that you get grunt work, and grunt work means it's generally something the higher-Legend people above you didn't want to do. They probably don't really mind having to visit Raj on errands, but going to Irkallu is something that everyone probably foists off as far as that buck will pass.
Death gods are a stentorian and autocratic bunch; it's most likely that they probably think every other Underworld is stupid and doing it wrong. Owners of pleasant paradises like Raj or Mag Mell probably think owners of miserable deathtraps like Mictlan or Yomi are being unnecessarily cruel and harsh; owners of stringently regulated domains like Hades and Mord Keshvar probably think everyone else is appallingly sloppy and vulnerable. Notoriously tight-fisted Death gods like Hel, Hades or Ereshkigal probably think career reincarnators like Yama are completely mad to circumvent their responsibilities by releasing dead people back into the World, and the reincarnators in turn probably think everyone else is wasteful, greedy, maladjusted or just refusing to help humanity for some inscrutable reason. And these little tiffs don't always have to be between different pantheons; when you have several Underworlds among the same set of gods, disapproval may be even more strident. I would expect that Izanami and Susanoo don't agree at all on how dead people should be disposed of, while the large number of Aztec afterlives is just begging for someone to disagree with something somewhere.
As with most things in Scion, it's a mix of the cultural landscape those gods come from and their individual personal leanings. Mictlantecuhtli is never going to approve of the ridiculous shenanigans going on over in Naraka, and Veles would probably be appalled by the hideous mess that is Nepesh, but luckily they probably don't have to go to one anothers' houses much, so uneasy truces exist all around.
But Scions do have to go to their houses. Poor Scions.
Sniper Slipup Solved
Question: Does Wind Reader, paired with Sharpshooter, allow you to add your total number of Sky boons to your damage roll when using guns?
Ahaha, see, this is what I mean when I talk about players always finding a way to do things they aren't supposed to.
No, Wind Reader, like the other level two enhancement boons (Tectonic Strength, Glacial Resistance, Fluid Endurance and Pheromones) is never intended to be used for damage rolls, only for the performances of tasks and badassness in other arenas. We included the inability to use Tectonic Strength for damage in its text, but apparently forgot that Perception can also be used for damage with the appropriate knacks. These boons should never be used for that; there are plenty of damage adders in the game, but these aren't meant to be some of them.
Wind Reader's been corrected to reflect that being able to hear extra well due to the wind carrying sounds to you does not translate to being able to shoot people harder.
Ahaha, see, this is what I mean when I talk about players always finding a way to do things they aren't supposed to.
No, Wind Reader, like the other level two enhancement boons (Tectonic Strength, Glacial Resistance, Fluid Endurance and Pheromones) is never intended to be used for damage rolls, only for the performances of tasks and badassness in other arenas. We included the inability to use Tectonic Strength for damage in its text, but apparently forgot that Perception can also be used for damage with the appropriate knacks. These boons should never be used for that; there are plenty of damage adders in the game, but these aren't meant to be some of them.
Wind Reader's been corrected to reflect that being able to hear extra well due to the wind carrying sounds to you does not translate to being able to shoot people harder.
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