Like Every Goddamn Question, Our Inbox Is So Full You Guys

It's time for another big fat post full of quickly-answered questions! Just know we love each and every one of you, question-askers, honest, and you can always ask for clarification in the comments if you didn't get what you were looking for.

Question: is there any mythological basis for Thor's greatest fear being a warm bed? (Just something I read in a novel).

Not that we know of, but we would hazard a guess that your book might be referring to the idea that Norse warriors aspired to die gloriously in battle, and would therefore be very unhappy with the idea of dying in bed.

Question: Sorry if this has already been covered, but doesn't Aengus have Artistry associated with him?

Nope, sure doesn't. While Aengus is theorized to be possibly associated with music and the arts, we don't have any real evidence of this and no stories of him being particularly artistic, so we did not give him the Avatar of Artistry. However, if your game likes a more artsy interpretation of Aengus, you can always assume he has some Artistry boons at his disposal.

Question: Months ago I asked why Cernunnos was so powerful because he had nine purviews. Rather than allude to his purviews this time, I'm just asking, why is he so powerful in general? Like, I know that he's the Horned God of Wicca, and I know he's a heavily occultic fertility deity, but based on his description in the Nemetondevos description, he seems like he should have intelligence and/or maybe wits as Associated as his attributes.

Cernunnos is undeniably the most recognizable (and therefore Legendary) of the Gaulish gods whose legends survive into the modern day, but unfortunately we don't really know all that much about him, nor do we have anything but piecemeal information about his associations and exploits. Cernunnos on our site is presented as an Odin-like patriarch because that's how he's written in the Scion Storyteller Screen, but honestly most of that is conjecture. You might want to check out this post about the problems of reconstructing Gaulish mythology.

Question: I want a sentient, witty, wise-cracking animal sidekick. Which would be better: creating a Follower or using Create Nemean/Typhonian? Thanks guys, love you guys and all your work!

Nemean and Typhonian creatures are generally not very bright or socially graceful, so you would probably want something smarter than that if you wanted a wise-cracking sidekick who you could actually have conversations with and hurl witty insults at enemies alongside. Birthright Creatures give you more opportunity to tailor your animal's stats to what you want it to do, and you can also use Epic Enhancement on them if you want to bolster any of their stats, so that's probably more what you're looking for.

Question: Was Anshar really evil? He kinda looks like a really senile sky god to me.

Anshar's clearly a Titan, so that really depends on whether or not you think all Titans are evil (we don't think so, although they are all pretty dangerous even if they aren't actively malicious). Like other ancient sky-father Titans, you could certainly play him as simply distant from and uninvolved in his pantheon.

Question: Are Dwarves and Svartalfar the same creature? Norse mythology is confusing.

No, but they do both live in Svartalfheim and some named svartalfar are occasionally also referred to or alluded to as dwarves, so the confusion is understandable. The Norse word for dwarves is dvergr, and is used to refer to creepy little short creatures that are crafty, morally questionable, and really awesome at making magical items like Mjolnir and Brisingamen. Svartalfar means "black elves" and is confusing because it's equated to both dverger and dokkalfar ("dark elves") in various places, which are fairly clearly attested as two different races, with the dark elves described as dwelling underground and being black of skin, and different in appearance from their light elf cousins.

Basically, some scholars think the svartalfar must be the same as the dvergr since they seem to live in the same or similar places and share some traits, but others point out that there are different terms and associations at work and that there's no reason to make that leap. So really, Storyteller's call on that one. We play them as different.

Question: Would it be possible for Artistry Gods to design relics that could enable Gods and Scions to better navigate the Titan Realms? Like relic goggles to give people temporary Epic Perception rankings to see around Keku? Or some kind of Fire-resistant suits to allow survival in Muspelheim?

Yep, sure is! Hephaestus actually made some flame-retardant armor for one of our groups to go to Muspelheim at one point. Artistry can make all kinds of neat stuff, although it's probably difficult and time-consuming to do so.

Question: When you have the Animal purview, you choose an animal to specialize in. We, in my game have been in minor fights about how specific you have to be. For example, the guy with Animal (Jackal) complaining over how he has less utility as the guy with Animal (Dog). Should one be penalized for being more general, or should I allow the more specialized guy to go outside the limits of his animal from time to time?

You might find this post helpful when trying to determine how specific an animal should be! Animals that are less commonly available do often have less utility than your Animal (Housefly) or Animal (Cow) people who can be fairly assured of their animals being around a lot, but Scions can always go seek out their animals at zoos, parks or in natural areas where they might occur, and of course at later levels they can summon or even create them at will. We do occasionally allow Scions with animals that are kind of close to try to use their boons on something that isn't technically their creature, but always at a disadvantage; for example, if your guy with Animal (Jackal) wanted to use his boons on a coyote, we would have him only understand some of what it was saying since the message would be garbled, or increase the difficulty of using other powers on it significantly to illustrate that he was trying to affect something that he isn't really aligned with.

Question: I know shape-shifting Appearance knacks makes this somewhat of a mote point, but for those Scion who don't invest in them, I was wondering what rolls would you make for disguise. And when say disguise, I'm taking about everything from putting on a wig and Groucho Marx glasses to applying Hollywood SFX prosthetics to change your race or sex.

It would depend on exactly what you were doing, but most of the time we would have you roll something along the lines of Appearance + Stealth or Manipulation + Stealth to actually sell the disguise itself, and probably a side order of Manipulation + Empathy and/or Wits + Empathy to not look suspicious while doing it. Tailor to individual Storyteller tastes.

Question: Can a scion with Animal Communication use social knacks on animals he can communicate with, or does he have to use Animal Obediance?

He has to use Animal Obedience, or else just be able to convince it to do what he wants through good old-fashioned charm. His refined powers of pulling a fast one on humanoids are lost on their animal brains.

Question: Have you ever considered a more free-form system for boons (e.g. Mage spheres or Dark Ages fae magic)? If you have, what worked? If you haven't, what would you imagine succeeding?

Nope, sorry. Spheres work pretty well in Mage, but we have no desire whatsoever to import them into Scion. You might want to check out the official forums, though, since we know there are a few games out there that do that sort of thing.

Question: What does the Darkness Virtue which Reverses Virtue due to the Inue? Nothing? Fire becoming Water? etc.

It reverses exactly; someone affected by Heart of Darkness with the Fire Virtue would abruptly have Anti-Fire. They would hate Fire in all its forms, attempt to stamp it out and campaign against its use and existence, and generally do everything that they could to destroy it with exactly as much fervor as they would normally want to protect and encourage it.

Question: What do you think the Godrealm and Underworld of the Orisha are?

You're looking for this post!

Question: How are Fatebonds handled with the Doppleganger boon from the Illusion tree? For example, say someone created a doppleganger of a fellow Scion and had the doppleganger interact with mortals--utilizing the boons it would have such as subtle knife and stolen face--would it be possible to incur a Fatebond in that way to the person being 'doppleganged'?

Question: Hello, John and Anne! Hope you guys are well. My group uses your resources and revisions on Scion (love 'em!) and I just recently started looking at the blog. You've answered a lot of questions that I've been curious about, and many that haven't even occurred to me. Now, I was wondering if you could answer another question, or if perhaps it's already been addressed. How exactly does a Fatebond work if you've stolen someone's face and then committed the acts that would Fatebond?

Fate is not fooled by your piddly doppelgaenger, nor your attempts to pretend you're someone else. It knows that the person being impersonated is not the one spending Legend, and therefore will not attach any Fatebonds to her; it also knows that you are the one spending Legend, so you're going to get the Fatebonds from doing so no matter what you look like. And before you ask, the same goes for any other way of impersonating someone or meddling with the free will of other people.

As always, jump into the comments if you're so moved.

Heart of Flame

Question: I really like the Inue supplement, so thanks again for all your work on that. The first PSP boon replaces Conviction with an "elemental" Virtue, which compels the Scion to promote and protect the "principle" of the selected element, leaving him or her with "Fire Virtue" or "Moon Virtue." Could you explain what this means, exactly? Would someone with "Fire Virtue" become a pyromaniac who prevents firefighters from doing their job and who starts forest fires just because? And how would Stars work?

Question: Hi! I finished the Inue and read about their purview, which is really interesting. The problem is, I do not know how you can act out a Virtue that responds to an element. Is it still possible to roleplay it - for example, Fire = being passionate and expressive?

We talked about this a little bit in the comments when the Inue were first released, but since it's a new kind of thing, we thought a post about it might be helpful for everyone. And since we've talked in depth about what the normal set of Virtues do, it seems only fair to address these.

In answer to the second question, no, the purview Virtues from Inue cannot be "interpreted" or "stunted" into abstract concepts. Having the Fire Virtue means that you are all about protecting and promoting fire, as in the element, not theoretical ideas that are poetically associated with fire. Being passionate and expressive is the Expression Virtue; there would be no need to create a second Virtue that does the same thing.

Instead, these Virtues are specifically geared toward the preservation, support, encouragement and natural domination of the elements or heavenly bodies they are tied to. You are compelled to act in the best interests of your chosen purview's concept at all times, meaning that you want it to flourish and act the way it wants to, and that you are opposed to people who want to thwart, pollute or mismanage it. If it helps, you could think of them as a little bit like having Conviction that applies only to that specific thing - you have Conviction that urges you to always take action to protect Water, or Conviction that specifically only wants you to support the Sun.

Since we know they can be a little hard to conceptualize, especially for the purviews related to heavenly bodies which are less straightforward than the elemental ones, here's a Virtue-by-Virtue breakdown of guidelines for how to handle each one.

• Animal. A Scion with the Animal Virtue has an innate drive to protect, care for and crusade for animals in everything she does, specifically her chosen totem animal. She wants to encourage the natural safety and spread of the animal and therefore wants it to be free of hunting or harvesting by humans and wants its habitat to be safeguarded and spread, usually beyond what it has now - she cares more about these animals having safe and optimal lives than humans, in many cases. She can and will want to stop people from hurting or killing the animals, even if humans need to do so to survive (such as needing the animals for meat or needing to kill them to prevent them from attacking them), which can often be difficult in wilderness areas where humanity and animals are in direct conflict. Scions with the Animal Virtue may trigger a Virtue Extremity if they hurt, confine or upset an animal (or allow others to do so, such as allowing someone to kill an animal for food or allowing an animal to be kept in a zoo that treats it poorly), attempt or allow destruction of their natural habitat or needs in a way that will cause them difficulty or danger in the future, or participate in any action that forces animals to become subservient or unhappy thanks to outside dangers.
• Darkness. A Scion with the Darkness Virtue is aligned with the forces of night and shadow, opposed to illumination and invested in the darkness as an important part of the natural world. He wants to keep places and creatures in the dark, especially those that naturally live in shadow, and needs to blot out bright lights and provide safely dark areas whenever he can, and he is especially the champion of creatures, people or activities that are more common in the dark or require shadow to survive. And, of course, he can't help but want to have and use as many Darkness boons as possible. Scions with the Darkness Virtue may trigger a Virtue Extremity if they try to provide or allow any kind of light in a previously dark place, escape the darkness instead of conducting business and pleasure within it when possible, or in any way participate in the institution of light where things should naturally be dark.
• Earth. A Scion with the Earth Virtue is the champion of soil, stone and all other natural bones of the earth. She is inclined toward dedication to the earth's maintenance and well-being, and wants to ensure that the soil isn't disturbed unnecessarily, that it is treated properly by farmers and casual travelers alike, and that it remains unspoiled and capable of whatever life-bearing or chemical properties it is meant to have. Scions with the Earth Virtue may trigger a Virtue Extremity if they do not prevent pollution or massive destruction or upheaval of the earth by unnatural means, if they do not educate others on the proper use and care of the earth they administer, or if they allow or participate in the abuse of earthen resources in strip mines, chemical dumps or similar operations.
• Fertility. A Scion with the Fertility Virtue protects and nurtures plant life in all its forms, wherever and whenever he encounters it. He is the guardian of the natural cycles of vegetable life, and is motivated to make sure that plants are respected by humanity, that natural preserves remain lush and indisturbed, that plant resources are used responsibly and that the ecosystem of the local flora remains balanced and thriving. Scions with the Fertility Virtue may trigger a Virtue Extremity if they allow destruction of healthy plants, fail to correct imbalances in plant life in a given environment, or ever prioritize human needs (such as food or clothing) above the needs of the natural world of green and growing things. To the Scion with this Virtue, a mighty tree being allowed to live out its life in peace is more important than a human family being able to survive the cold night by cutting it up for firewood.
• Fire. A Scion with the Fire Virtue prioritizes flame over all other natural elements, and seeks to allow its spread and prevent its smothering wherever possible. As such, it is one of the most dangerous Virtues in terms of accidentally endangering others. People with the Fire Virtue want to have and use Fire boons, to set fires in receptive areas (for constructive purposes, such as clearing brush or hurting enemies, as often as destructive ones), to prevent fires from being put out or restricted and to encourage the use of fire for whatever uses it might be applied to, including warmth, cooking, cauterization or anything else that humanity might use it for. They often suffer from temptation to set fires even when doing so might be detrimental to the local environment, especially if confronted with very flammable material or easy access to do so. Scions with the Fire Virtue may trigger a Virtue Extremity if they try to put out fires, prevent the spread of fires, discourage others from setting or feeding fires, or otherwise inhibit the element's natural action.
• Frost. A Scion with the Frost Virtue is allied with the forces of cold, winter and the frozen elements of ice and snow, and must act accordingly. She wants to encourage creatures to survive - or not - in frozen locations in such a way that they do not alter the cold environment itself, believes in the helpful properties of freezing for purposes of preservation and renewal, and always tries to uphold the cold as an important part of the natural order rather than giving in to the human desire for warmth. A Scion with the Frost Virtue may trigger a Virtue Extremity if she allows or creates any kind of heat that significantly raises the temperature of a cold location, fails to campaign against things that threaten frozen natural areas (such as global warming or thermal mining), or allows the melting of ice or snow for any purpose.
• Moon. A Scion with the Moon Virtue loves the silver disc of the night skies and does everything in his power to respect it and make it continuingly relevant and important to life on earth. He tends to want to be able to see the moon whenever it is out, making it difficult for him to stay inside at night (or even during the day, if it's out), and wants to encourage others to study, venerate and respect it as the important celestial body it is. Scions with the Moon Virtue may trigger a Virtue Extremity if they encourage or allow airborn pollution that obscures the moon, allow others to remain disrespectful or ignorant about it, allow space technology that might damage or deface it or inhibit technology dedicated to studying and celebrating it. This extends also to artistic representations of the moon, or literature related to understanding and promoting the moon, both of which the Scion is motivated to encourage and protect. Like the other celestial purviews, the Virtue tied to Moon is a little more difficult to adjudicate for Storytellers, so if something comes up that isn't covered here, use your best judgment as to what constitutes the Scion promoting or protecting the moon in some way.
• Sky. A Scion with the Sky Virtue is the champion of air, sky and wind, a lover of natural storms and calm skies alike, and she campaigns to make sure that they remain safe and pollution-free and that their natural phenomena and inhabitants go unmolested. She tolerates human intrusion into the lofty heavens only when it brings with it no danger or damage to the environment, and is happiest in wide open spaces where she can feel the wind on her face. Scions with the Sky Virtue may trigger a Virtue Extremity if they allow any kind of air pollution, acid rain or other related environmental poisoning, tolerate human inventions that invade airspace with detrimental consequences (jet fuel pollution or engines that destroy airborne wildlife), or prevent the natural consequences of storms from affecting the landscape.
• Stars. A Scion with the Stars Virtue wants to promote and dedicate his time to the celestial sphere, specifically the stars and satellites that twinkle in the night skies. He not only wants to ensure that he (and everyone else, when possible) has an unobstructed view of the stars, but also that everyone learns about and respects them, seeks to promote them in art and culture, and appreciates their natural beauty. A Scion with the Stars Virtue may trigger a Virtue Extremity if they allow pollution or too many structures that obscure the stars, perpetuate or fail to correct ignorance or disrespect of them, or do not protect or appreciate artwork and study regarding the stars when given the opportunity.
• Sun. A Scion with the Sun Virtue is dedicated to the respect and preservation of the sun, that awesome power that lights the world and warms it from afar, and she will go to great lengths to make sure it is appreciated and protected. She is a proponent of mankind harnessing the power of the sun safely to better the world (i.e., through solar power or related technologies) and wants light to be freely and constantly available to everyone all over the world; and likewise, she is opposed to darkness and wants to illuminate it whenever possible. Scions with the Sun Virtue may trigger a Virtue Extremity if they allow obscurement of the sun's light, tolerate misinformation or destruction regarding the sun or artwork related to it, or destroy any kind of benign sun-related technology.
• Water. A Scion with the Water Virtue is dedicated to the protection of water and marine ecosystems wherever they occur, and to responsible and safe use of them. She doesn't mind humanity using water to drink or cook with in moderate amounts, but she is concerned with making sure that the world's water resources remain clean and that their natural paths and behavior are not diverted. A Scion with the Water Virtue may trigger a Virtue Extremity if she allows or contributes to water pollution, attempts to dry up or divert the natural flow of water, or ever puts the wellbeing of other elements, creatures or natural features above that of oceans, rivers, lakes or other water sources.

We like to think of it a little bit like considering what the Virtue would want if it were a living being - Fire wants to burn, Darkness wants to shroud things in shadow, Stars want to shine and look down on the world below, and so forth. These are not comprehensive; there may be situations that aren't covered here, and your Storyteller will, as always, be the final arbiter of what does and does not fall within a Virtue's scope.

Hopefully that helps out all you would-be Inue Scions out there. The Virtues granted by the Shua purview prioritize the needs, spread and importance of their chosen purview's elements above all other concerns, so just like a Scion with Order cares more about the law than about any reason given for breaking it, no matter how good, a Scion with Fire cares more about flame burning and acting as it naturally does than about anything or -one who might be hurt by its rampage.