Question: Hi, guys, I was just wondering about the fiction section on your website. For the Chronological Order part, Land of the Red Sun and Better Next Time aren't there, so is there a pattern that one could assume for them, like left to right or up to down? Thanks for the great stuff guys!
It's definitely a little difficult to tell, especially for ones that don't have a lot of stories, so thanks for asking!
If you're on the main Fiction page, you'll want to read from the top of the column to the bottom before moving to the next column. So for the Better Next Time section, start with "Close to the Sun", then follow with "The World in a Tortoiseshell" and "Heir to the Throne", and so on; and for Land of the Red Sun, start with "Made in His Image" followed by "Little Fish", and go on from there.
The BNT and LotRS stories are in the Chronological Fiction list, but since they take place in the same universe, they're interspersed throughout in the order that they occurred, so that if you want to read everyone's story and see how they affect one another, you can. If you just want to stick with a particular set of characters, however, then you'll want the main Fiction page.
Hopefully that made sense, but let me know if you have any other questions!
Showing posts with label site stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label site stuff. Show all posts
Monday, February 17, 2014
Monday, February 10, 2014
Cartography Special
Question: In your really awesome Religion World Map download, there were a couple of things that confused me that weren't covered by your readme! So I'm asking here. Why are there disconnected inland bits of Algonquin and Berber religious groups? I can understand breaks across shores, but that struck me a bit odd. Also, while I like the Diaspora, I was wondering if there were any pantheons not ignored, because A and B from the readme in that area! Otherwise South America seems surprisingly lacking! Thank you!
Well, first of all, just a quick reiteration to everyone using the map - it is way not perfectly accurate to the mile, or even ten miles, or even fifty miles. It's meant to give you a quick visual of the spreads of the largest pantheons in each area, mostly so you have an easy reference if you need to know whose territory your Scions are blithely wandering into or whose toes they might have stepped on if they blow up an important local landmark. I'm not a cartographer, and I would totally be lying if I said that things were exact, although we did do the best we could in terms of being mostly accurate.
But you guys know all of this, it was in the readme. So on to your questions!
For the Berbers, that's easy; their traditional territory is in the middle of the Sahara desert zone in northern Africa, and when you live in the Sahara, you live in whatever part of it is most hospitable to survival. The Berber people have also been nomadic for much of their history, especially those who live in the harshest desert conditions or who were trying to avoid the Muslim conquest going on nearby, meaning that the areas marked on the map show an approximation of their most common and populated territory, but that there may be Berbers in plenty of other nearby areas, just in fewer numbers or for less time. You see two different zones on the map because that was our best guess at traditional Berber stomping grounds, and most likely has to do with those areas being particularly good for life-sustaining oases and settlements and avoiding historical Arab incursions.
"Algonquin" is kind of an umbrella term for several different peoples (actually, "Berber" is, too!), from Ojibwa to Anishiinabe to Mahican and several others, but we're using it for the moment as a general label since they have a lot of mythological figures and beliefs in common and we haven't yet dived into that region of the world for a good thorough research visit. And because it's an umbrella term, that means they're not necessarily a contiguous people all the way through that territory; those disconnected spots are most likely places where a particular ethnic group within the Algonquin language family has a slightly separate territory from the next closest people. They're linguistically and culturally related, but not necessarily the same, so there's a wide range and no reason that they all have to have "borders" that rub right up on one another.
As for South America, the map is definitely very visually deceptive. Because we included only "pantheons" that had at least a handful of deities, for ease of integrating with Scion's classically-founded model, vast areas of South America look uninhabited, or at least areligious. This is totally not true. There is tons of mythology in South America, but most of it is isolated by the vast mess of the Amazon rainforest, which covers a huge part of the continent's interior and in ancient times was pretty much so massive and impenetrable that ethnic groups who lived comparatively near one another (close enough that European ethnic groups would have been fighting) might never bump into each other for long stretches of time. Various different peoples in central South America have their own mythologies, but have only one or two totem deities rather than a classic "pantheon", so they are not represented on the map. But they're there, and they're important, so if you want to explore South America's mythological map, you should totally do so. Things get crazy in the jungle.
Really, the map's a quick jumping-off point for games with globetrotting Scions and we've gotten a lot of use out of it, but you guys should not consider it authoritative or anything. It's just a game simplifier, and one that we may try to revisit and refine in the future. (But don't hold your breath - it's not super high on our priority list!)
Well, first of all, just a quick reiteration to everyone using the map - it is way not perfectly accurate to the mile, or even ten miles, or even fifty miles. It's meant to give you a quick visual of the spreads of the largest pantheons in each area, mostly so you have an easy reference if you need to know whose territory your Scions are blithely wandering into or whose toes they might have stepped on if they blow up an important local landmark. I'm not a cartographer, and I would totally be lying if I said that things were exact, although we did do the best we could in terms of being mostly accurate.
But you guys know all of this, it was in the readme. So on to your questions!
For the Berbers, that's easy; their traditional territory is in the middle of the Sahara desert zone in northern Africa, and when you live in the Sahara, you live in whatever part of it is most hospitable to survival. The Berber people have also been nomadic for much of their history, especially those who live in the harshest desert conditions or who were trying to avoid the Muslim conquest going on nearby, meaning that the areas marked on the map show an approximation of their most common and populated territory, but that there may be Berbers in plenty of other nearby areas, just in fewer numbers or for less time. You see two different zones on the map because that was our best guess at traditional Berber stomping grounds, and most likely has to do with those areas being particularly good for life-sustaining oases and settlements and avoiding historical Arab incursions.
"Algonquin" is kind of an umbrella term for several different peoples (actually, "Berber" is, too!), from Ojibwa to Anishiinabe to Mahican and several others, but we're using it for the moment as a general label since they have a lot of mythological figures and beliefs in common and we haven't yet dived into that region of the world for a good thorough research visit. And because it's an umbrella term, that means they're not necessarily a contiguous people all the way through that territory; those disconnected spots are most likely places where a particular ethnic group within the Algonquin language family has a slightly separate territory from the next closest people. They're linguistically and culturally related, but not necessarily the same, so there's a wide range and no reason that they all have to have "borders" that rub right up on one another.
As for South America, the map is definitely very visually deceptive. Because we included only "pantheons" that had at least a handful of deities, for ease of integrating with Scion's classically-founded model, vast areas of South America look uninhabited, or at least areligious. This is totally not true. There is tons of mythology in South America, but most of it is isolated by the vast mess of the Amazon rainforest, which covers a huge part of the continent's interior and in ancient times was pretty much so massive and impenetrable that ethnic groups who lived comparatively near one another (close enough that European ethnic groups would have been fighting) might never bump into each other for long stretches of time. Various different peoples in central South America have their own mythologies, but have only one or two totem deities rather than a classic "pantheon", so they are not represented on the map. But they're there, and they're important, so if you want to explore South America's mythological map, you should totally do so. Things get crazy in the jungle.
Really, the map's a quick jumping-off point for games with globetrotting Scions and we've gotten a lot of use out of it, but you guys should not consider it authoritative or anything. It's just a game simplifier, and one that we may try to revisit and refine in the future. (But don't hold your breath - it's not super high on our priority list!)
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Media Woes
Question: I checked out your pronunciation guide. I don't know if it's my computer or another issue, but the audio files just say "Invalid Source" to me. Any advice?
Hummm. Are you running the new Internet Explorer, by any chance? I'm seeing some people complaining of that error popping up in IE11 as I poke around a web search, but it seems to be working fine for folks in Chrome/Firefox. It's a very simple HTML code, using the <source> tag. The files are in .WAV format, so they should be readable to any browser.
For the sake of investigation, I just went and tried pulling the pronunciation page on the last three versions of IE, just to see what it would do. IE9 refused to display the files at all, just leaving the space blank as if there were no audio player in the code, IE10 worked fine, and IE11 threw me the same "Invalid Source" error you're getting. Ah, the magic of Microsoft.
It may be an error with our host server not conforming to the correct MIME type (which unfortunately I can't control) or a problem with a setting somewhere in IE, but since your guess is as good as mine, I'm not sure I've got a great fix for you - sorry! I'd suggest trying it in a different browser - I know the most recent versions of Chrome and Firefox work, and would guess that Safari and Opera are probably similarly compatible.
If all else fails, all the pronunciation files are in the /pronunciation folder on our server, so you can always go there and listen to them individually. It's more of a pain in the butt, I know, but at least it works!
Hummm. Are you running the new Internet Explorer, by any chance? I'm seeing some people complaining of that error popping up in IE11 as I poke around a web search, but it seems to be working fine for folks in Chrome/Firefox. It's a very simple HTML code, using the <source> tag. The files are in .WAV format, so they should be readable to any browser.
For the sake of investigation, I just went and tried pulling the pronunciation page on the last three versions of IE, just to see what it would do. IE9 refused to display the files at all, just leaving the space blank as if there were no audio player in the code, IE10 worked fine, and IE11 threw me the same "Invalid Source" error you're getting. Ah, the magic of Microsoft.
It may be an error with our host server not conforming to the correct MIME type (which unfortunately I can't control) or a problem with a setting somewhere in IE, but since your guess is as good as mine, I'm not sure I've got a great fix for you - sorry! I'd suggest trying it in a different browser - I know the most recent versions of Chrome and Firefox work, and would guess that Safari and Opera are probably similarly compatible.
If all else fails, all the pronunciation files are in the /pronunciation folder on our server, so you can always go there and listen to them individually. It's more of a pain in the butt, I know, but at least it works!
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Writing is Fun!
Question: Would it be all right if I use your homebrewed rules and stuffs for some writing/fanfic?
If it's just not-for-profit fun writing stuff, sure, fine by us. Just mention where you got it from in some kind of credits or acknowledgments if you plan to share it publicly, and we'll be pleased as punch. And if you do share it, let us know so we can read it, too!
If it's just not-for-profit fun writing stuff, sure, fine by us. Just mention where you got it from in some kind of credits or acknowledgments if you plan to share it publicly, and we'll be pleased as punch. And if you do share it, let us know so we can read it, too!
Sunday, December 15, 2013
B-List Actors
Question: You have god profiles for the PCs who've become gods. (As in, their associated Epics, Purviews, and Abilities). Could you give those for the NPCs who've attained godhood? (Unless spoilers make that an issue.)
Well, for some of them I suppose spoilers would make it an issue; some of these guys, like Hachiro Taro Koga or Jay Ortiz, still sometimes function as antagonists for the PCs and probably shouldn't have their stats all spelled out, and others the PCs haven't checked on in a long time (years in some cases) and should remain mysteries to them until they do.
The biggest reason we haven't done that, though, is just mythological confusion for other people using the site. While we originally set it up just for our games, we know there are folks out there who use our family trees and god pages as reference for their own chronicles, and we don't want to confuse anybody with a bunch of gods who don't actually exist outside our own games. Believe it or not, we actually get a decent number of confused inquiries per year from people who want to know what source we found Zwazo Fou Fou in, whether or not Vala is the same as the Vala in the Hauksbok Voluspa (no, although bravo to you researchers who even noticed that), and why when they click on the name of an Aztec god it goes to a page about a Norse guy named Sowiljr.
We try to make it clear which deities on the family trees are obviously PCs rather than figures from a religion - the quickest rule of thumb is that if they have a character sheet, they're a PC! - but confusion remains even so, and it would only get worse if we started adding yet more of our own fictional characters to the tree. Of course, it's our website and we could do that if we wanted to, but currently we're not feeling like the amount of work it would require would really be worth it for our own games, so we see no reason to screw up yours.
Also, we do now have three games set in three different universes, so it would probably get confusing even for us to weed through a lot of NPCs from Universe A when working on things for Universe C, so while we love giving our PCs who have achieved godhood their moment in the spotlight, we probably won't be letting the NPCs join them any time soon. John already knows he's great. He doesn't need the ego-boost.
However, we do intend to get our NPC section fixed and running again at some point here, so hopefully we'll be able to include some fun stuff in the revamping of that. Stay tuned!
Well, for some of them I suppose spoilers would make it an issue; some of these guys, like Hachiro Taro Koga or Jay Ortiz, still sometimes function as antagonists for the PCs and probably shouldn't have their stats all spelled out, and others the PCs haven't checked on in a long time (years in some cases) and should remain mysteries to them until they do.
The biggest reason we haven't done that, though, is just mythological confusion for other people using the site. While we originally set it up just for our games, we know there are folks out there who use our family trees and god pages as reference for their own chronicles, and we don't want to confuse anybody with a bunch of gods who don't actually exist outside our own games. Believe it or not, we actually get a decent number of confused inquiries per year from people who want to know what source we found Zwazo Fou Fou in, whether or not Vala is the same as the Vala in the Hauksbok Voluspa (no, although bravo to you researchers who even noticed that), and why when they click on the name of an Aztec god it goes to a page about a Norse guy named Sowiljr.
We try to make it clear which deities on the family trees are obviously PCs rather than figures from a religion - the quickest rule of thumb is that if they have a character sheet, they're a PC! - but confusion remains even so, and it would only get worse if we started adding yet more of our own fictional characters to the tree. Of course, it's our website and we could do that if we wanted to, but currently we're not feeling like the amount of work it would require would really be worth it for our own games, so we see no reason to screw up yours.
Also, we do now have three games set in three different universes, so it would probably get confusing even for us to weed through a lot of NPCs from Universe A when working on things for Universe C, so while we love giving our PCs who have achieved godhood their moment in the spotlight, we probably won't be letting the NPCs join them any time soon. John already knows he's great. He doesn't need the ego-boost.
However, we do intend to get our NPC section fixed and running again at some point here, so hopefully we'll be able to include some fun stuff in the revamping of that. Stay tuned!
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Gifts On!
Woohoo!
Thanks to everyone who volunteered to participate - the JSR Secret Scion gift exchange is on! You should be getting emails with your chosen person in the next few minutes.
We are super excited. Hooray!
Edit: It has come to our attention that at least one person tried to volunteer but somehow didn't get onto the list. We've already sent out all the info, so if you haven't heard back from us, please email us again so we can make sure you don't get left out!
Thanks to everyone who volunteered to participate - the JSR Secret Scion gift exchange is on! You should be getting emails with your chosen person in the next few minutes.
We are super excited. Hooray!
Edit: It has come to our attention that at least one person tried to volunteer but somehow didn't get onto the list. We've already sent out all the info, so if you haven't heard back from us, please email us again so we can make sure you don't get left out!
'Tis the Season!
This post is being pinned to the top of the blog until December 5th. If you're looking for new blog posts, scroll down!
Hey, folks! It's been a little while since we did something fun that all of you got to participate in, and with the holidays coming up (at least here in the U.S.), we thought now would be the perfect time to do something awesome. So, we present to you the first-ever JSR Secret Santa gift exchange!
The rules are simple (and familiar, if you've ever done one of these before!). We, the awesome Scionites who hang out on this site and blog, are going to give one another gifts, either in the holiday spirit if you celebrate solstice/Christmas or just because we know that all our friends here are awesome. You get to give a gift, you get to receive a gift, and then we all get to show off our gifts to one another. Hooray!
If you want to participate, here's how it works:
1) Send us an email at ampstorytellers@gmail.com by December 5th, letting us know you want in and giving us the following information:
3) Get a small gift for the person you receive, and ship it to them. Please keep the price of your gift at $20USD or less; that way, everyone gets a basically equal gift and nobody has to feel like they can't participate because of expense. Please let us know via email once you have sent your gift, so we can make sure nobody gets left out. If it turns out you can't participate after signing up, let us know that, too - we won't have any hard feelings!
4) The fun part - receiving a gift! You will also receive a gift from a person chosen at random by us, from parts unknown! If you can, take a picture of it - or of you with it, if you want - and email it us.
And that's it! We're super excited and will also be participating ourselves, and we hope some of you guys want to as well. We promise that if you participate, you'll get a gift no matter what - even if your gift-giver has to drop out, we'll make sure you get one ourselves. The only guideline is to keep it in some way Scion, mythology or gaming-related, and to have as much fun as possible!
If you've got questions, hit us up here, and we hope to hear from some of you in email soon. We'll keep participation open for signup until December 5th!
Hey, folks! It's been a little while since we did something fun that all of you got to participate in, and with the holidays coming up (at least here in the U.S.), we thought now would be the perfect time to do something awesome. So, we present to you the first-ever JSR Secret Santa gift exchange!
The rules are simple (and familiar, if you've ever done one of these before!). We, the awesome Scionites who hang out on this site and blog, are going to give one another gifts, either in the holiday spirit if you celebrate solstice/Christmas or just because we know that all our friends here are awesome. You get to give a gift, you get to receive a gift, and then we all get to show off our gifts to one another. Hooray!
If you want to participate, here's how it works:
1) Send us an email at ampstorytellers@gmail.com by December 5th, letting us know you want in and giving us the following information:
- Your name and address. The only people who will see your address are us and the person who sends you a gift.
- Whether or not you're willing to send gifts internationally. If you're not in the U.S. or Canada, you'll probably want to say yes to this - we can't promise we'll get someone else in your home country.
- What your favorite mythology or pantheon is, so your gift-giver has an idea what you might like! If you have any other guidelines - no mature material, or anything like that - include those, too.
3) Get a small gift for the person you receive, and ship it to them. Please keep the price of your gift at $20USD or less; that way, everyone gets a basically equal gift and nobody has to feel like they can't participate because of expense. Please let us know via email once you have sent your gift, so we can make sure nobody gets left out. If it turns out you can't participate after signing up, let us know that, too - we won't have any hard feelings!
4) The fun part - receiving a gift! You will also receive a gift from a person chosen at random by us, from parts unknown! If you can, take a picture of it - or of you with it, if you want - and email it us.
And that's it! We're super excited and will also be participating ourselves, and we hope some of you guys want to as well. We promise that if you participate, you'll get a gift no matter what - even if your gift-giver has to drop out, we'll make sure you get one ourselves. The only guideline is to keep it in some way Scion, mythology or gaming-related, and to have as much fun as possible!
If you've got questions, hit us up here, and we hope to hear from some of you in email soon. We'll keep participation open for signup until December 5th!
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
Not Originally Calling This "Secret Scion" Was a Missed Opportunity
OKAY, FIRST OF ALL: I wrote a post today and not only did Blogger somehow not post it, it also deleted half the draft. So sorry, no vision quests today. Blame Google.
But more importantly, this is just a quick update to remind you guys that the Secret Scion Gift Exchange signup is going to end at midnight sharp tomorrow night, so tomorrow is your last day to let us know if you want to participate! We have a pretty good group at the moment and are very excited about it, so if you want in, drop us a line.
If you're already signed up to participate, you'll receive your secret gift recipient from us either after midnight tomorrow or on Thursday morning some time. Please remember to let us know if you have to back out, so nobody ends up giftless.
Back to rewriting my post... sigh.
But more importantly, this is just a quick update to remind you guys that the Secret Scion Gift Exchange signup is going to end at midnight sharp tomorrow night, so tomorrow is your last day to let us know if you want to participate! We have a pretty good group at the moment and are very excited about it, so if you want in, drop us a line.
If you're already signed up to participate, you'll receive your secret gift recipient from us either after midnight tomorrow or on Thursday morning some time. Please remember to let us know if you have to back out, so nobody ends up giftless.
Back to rewriting my post... sigh.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Magical Menagerie
Question: You gonna put a bestiary in someday?
Maybe. Maybe not. You're not the boss of us.
We've definitely talked about it, but statting a lot of creatures is a really huge project, so we'll probably wait until we're in the mood to tackle it head-on. It was on the polls for a little while but didn't get much voting love, but that doesn't mean it won't show up there again someday!
Honestly, a bestiary is just so big - there are a lot of mythical creatures, guys, and giving them raw stats just means that anyone who wants to use them will have to change those stats if we don't put them at the exact power level your game needs them - that it's not a project I'm personally eager to embark on soon.
Maybe. Maybe not. You're not the boss of us.
We've definitely talked about it, but statting a lot of creatures is a really huge project, so we'll probably wait until we're in the mood to tackle it head-on. It was on the polls for a little while but didn't get much voting love, but that doesn't mean it won't show up there again someday!
Honestly, a bestiary is just so big - there are a lot of mythical creatures, guys, and giving them raw stats just means that anyone who wants to use them will have to change those stats if we don't put them at the exact power level your game needs them - that it's not a project I'm personally eager to embark on soon.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Spot the Spider
Question: In Vlog 22, you talked about statting up Anansi and putting him up on the site. Did that ever happen? If not, how come? If so, where should I be looking?
Anansi has not been statted yet, though not from any lack of love on our parts. We have frequently talked about two different projects that might include doing so, but so far haven't moved to those projects in the constant sea of things we could be doing.
The first project, which you'll see on the poll over to the right, is the statting of lower-Legend gods. While we would definitely say that Anansi is Legend 12, this project seems like a great time for us to mess around with adding all kinds of gods to the site.
The second, which isn't up for voting right not but probably will be in the future, is the creation of a "non-pantheon" god section for deities from pantheons that aren't officially written up and available for Scion play at the moment. Anansi would belong here in the absence of an official Ashanti pantheon, along with other major figures that are famous independent of their fellows.
So you're not missing him; he's not here, but hopefully he will be someday.
Anansi has not been statted yet, though not from any lack of love on our parts. We have frequently talked about two different projects that might include doing so, but so far haven't moved to those projects in the constant sea of things we could be doing.
The first project, which you'll see on the poll over to the right, is the statting of lower-Legend gods. While we would definitely say that Anansi is Legend 12, this project seems like a great time for us to mess around with adding all kinds of gods to the site.
The second, which isn't up for voting right not but probably will be in the future, is the creation of a "non-pantheon" god section for deities from pantheons that aren't officially written up and available for Scion play at the moment. Anansi would belong here in the absence of an official Ashanti pantheon, along with other major figures that are famous independent of their fellows.
So you're not missing him; he's not here, but hopefully he will be someday.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Lovefest
Question: I see the Donate Button, and I read that it goes to hosting and bandwith, but is that it? I want to donate because I love this site and love your vlog. Is there a minimum ammount you need to maintain to keep the site up and running and to provide for your games or vlogs?
Dear, dear friend, you are adorable and wonderful and we love you. The fact that you really enjoy stuff we do warms us down to our toes, and the fact that you want to help is like a delicious whipped topping of awesomeness. You rock.
I'm not going to do lots of financial math here because nobody cares about specifics and I'm sure many people are already scrolling past, but website, bandwith and hosting costs generally run us about $60 or so a month. Awesome, awesome people out there in the community help us out with that, so it's usually no problem. If we're about to run the well dry and not be able to keep things going for a little while, we usually make a small post to warn people, but that's only happened a couple of times ever, and each time winged angels of mercy swooped in and saved the day.
Outside of that, our game costs are mostly fringe stuff; paper and ink for our face-to-face games, food and caffeine for twelve-hour work marathons, gas for when we have to haul ourselves to a library an hour away for source material. Our local players are also fantastic pillars of the community, so they tend to show up at our house now and then with reams of cardstock or twelve-packs of soda like the champions they are. Between your and their efforts and our own, we don't see any reason this ship can't keep on sailing just fine for the foreseeable future.
Sometimes folks send in donations because they really liked something we just released, or because they know we're working on something they're excited about and want to encourage us, or because they're worried we live in a cardboard box somewhere (it's okay, guys, it's a sturdy box), or just because they feel like being amazing. We love hearing from you guys about what we're up to all the time, and donations are always encouraging as well.
If you feel like using the donate button, we love you. If you gave us a chunk of change and encouraging thumbs up, we love you. If you gave us five bucks, we love you. If you never donate but you hang out and participate in discussions and enjoy our stuff, we love you, too. Frankly, we love doing this and we love getting to talk to all you fine people about it, so while donations make us able to do more or do it more quickly, even without any we would keep right on trucking.
Did we mention that we think you're great? Because we totally do. Thanks for being an awesome group of players, Storytellers and people.
Dear, dear friend, you are adorable and wonderful and we love you. The fact that you really enjoy stuff we do warms us down to our toes, and the fact that you want to help is like a delicious whipped topping of awesomeness. You rock.
I'm not going to do lots of financial math here because nobody cares about specifics and I'm sure many people are already scrolling past, but website, bandwith and hosting costs generally run us about $60 or so a month. Awesome, awesome people out there in the community help us out with that, so it's usually no problem. If we're about to run the well dry and not be able to keep things going for a little while, we usually make a small post to warn people, but that's only happened a couple of times ever, and each time winged angels of mercy swooped in and saved the day.
Outside of that, our game costs are mostly fringe stuff; paper and ink for our face-to-face games, food and caffeine for twelve-hour work marathons, gas for when we have to haul ourselves to a library an hour away for source material. Our local players are also fantastic pillars of the community, so they tend to show up at our house now and then with reams of cardstock or twelve-packs of soda like the champions they are. Between your and their efforts and our own, we don't see any reason this ship can't keep on sailing just fine for the foreseeable future.
Sometimes folks send in donations because they really liked something we just released, or because they know we're working on something they're excited about and want to encourage us, or because they're worried we live in a cardboard box somewhere (it's okay, guys, it's a sturdy box), or just because they feel like being amazing. We love hearing from you guys about what we're up to all the time, and donations are always encouraging as well.
If you feel like using the donate button, we love you. If you gave us a chunk of change and encouraging thumbs up, we love you. If you gave us five bucks, we love you. If you never donate but you hang out and participate in discussions and enjoy our stuff, we love you, too. Frankly, we love doing this and we love getting to talk to all you fine people about it, so while donations make us able to do more or do it more quickly, even without any we would keep right on trucking.
Did we mention that we think you're great? Because we totally do. Thanks for being an awesome group of players, Storytellers and people.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Shall We Art?
Question: Now that you have replaced Craft, Art and Science with Art alone, will you be releasing some character sheets where this is apparent?
Yes, indeed, and we will be doing it right now!
The character sheets up on the downloads page have been updated; not only do they now no longer mention Craft or Science, but Artistry has also replaced Industry, and the editable PDF now features updated lists of boons and the inclusion of the K'uh, who hadn't been added to the site yet last time we put up a sheet.
Happy playing, you guys. Off to bed for me!
Yes, indeed, and we will be doing it right now!
The character sheets up on the downloads page have been updated; not only do they now no longer mention Craft or Science, but Artistry has also replaced Industry, and the editable PDF now features updated lists of boons and the inclusion of the K'uh, who hadn't been added to the site yet last time we put up a sheet.
Happy playing, you guys. Off to bed for me!
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Layout Woes
Question: The character sheets of Eztli and so on are all individualized. Wich softwares could your recommend to do just that?
Ooh, I am so sorry. I hate answering these questions because there is actually no answer.
Our character sheets are actually PNG images with nine thousand moving parts; each line of text and each dot filled in is a separate object, meaning that I just go in and manually change things to customize. It allows flawless flexibility - literally, I can do anything my meager image-editing skills can dream up - but it's not easily reproducable. There's no program that you can just plug your stuff into and go.
However, we have some kinda helpful stuff here on the website. For those who don't need to customize as much of the sheet (for example, you don't have to add Ori channels or extra Legend blanks or whatever else), there's an editable PDF version of the standard character sheet that you can download and use to your heart's content, provided you have a program that can save editable PDFs without losing their contents (Adobe's a real bitch about this, but we've had good results with PDF Xchange Viewer). Alternatively, if you want to go the same insane route I do, you can download the PNG version; it has all the movable individual objects of our sheets intact, so as long as you have a program that can edit PNGs - Photoshop, GIMP or PictureIt should all work - you can move stuff around and do it the long, painstaking way I do it.
Before anyone asks, both of these sample sheets haven't been updated for recent changes - they both still feature Industry, Craft and Science as well as some knacks we phased out, and the drop-down menus for the PDF version have the defunct Industry boons as options - but I'm hoping to take a day and knock those out soon. In the meantime, good luck!
Ooh, I am so sorry. I hate answering these questions because there is actually no answer.
Our character sheets are actually PNG images with nine thousand moving parts; each line of text and each dot filled in is a separate object, meaning that I just go in and manually change things to customize. It allows flawless flexibility - literally, I can do anything my meager image-editing skills can dream up - but it's not easily reproducable. There's no program that you can just plug your stuff into and go.
However, we have some kinda helpful stuff here on the website. For those who don't need to customize as much of the sheet (for example, you don't have to add Ori channels or extra Legend blanks or whatever else), there's an editable PDF version of the standard character sheet that you can download and use to your heart's content, provided you have a program that can save editable PDFs without losing their contents (Adobe's a real bitch about this, but we've had good results with PDF Xchange Viewer). Alternatively, if you want to go the same insane route I do, you can download the PNG version; it has all the movable individual objects of our sheets intact, so as long as you have a program that can edit PNGs - Photoshop, GIMP or PictureIt should all work - you can move stuff around and do it the long, painstaking way I do it.
Before anyone asks, both of these sample sheets haven't been updated for recent changes - they both still feature Industry, Craft and Science as well as some knacks we phased out, and the drop-down menus for the PDF version have the defunct Industry boons as options - but I'm hoping to take a day and knock those out soon. In the meantime, good luck!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
We Have a Knack for It
Question: Just to keep the ball rolling... what would the New Knacks look like?
Oh, man, tons of things! It's always hard to talk about adding new powers to the game because I don't want to promise stuff we end up not doing and disappoint someone, but we definitely have a file of possible knacks that's been spoiling on our hard drive for almost a year, and now seems like a great time to get some of those powers into the game and being used by Scions for their epic adventures. I stress that I am not promising these will happen, but some of our current possibilities include:
And possibly more, too (I didn't have any great examples for Strength or Wits off the top of my head, but they'll get a look at the same time). Other knack-related projects would also probably happen at the same time, including restructuring trees where necessary, making some knacks more globally applicable and adding clarification (like something to deal with the problem of Appearance shapechanging and size!) to currently vague effects. Knacks haven't gotten a good hard look in a really long time, and we've had enough playtesting since then to see where some of their problem spots and glaring holes are.
Sorry this isn't more detailed, but, as always, we won't really know specifics until we're actually down in the trenches. New, sweet powers for Scions almost never hurt, however, so if you'd like to see some, cast your vote and we'll be happy to oblige!
Oh, man, tons of things! It's always hard to talk about adding new powers to the game because I don't want to promise stuff we end up not doing and disappoint someone, but we definitely have a file of possible knacks that's been spoiling on our hard drive for almost a year, and now seems like a great time to get some of those powers into the game and being used by Scions for their epic adventures. I stress that I am not promising these will happen, but some of our current possibilities include:
- Appearance Knacks involving more chameleonic powers;
- Charisma Knacks involving extending your influence to more beings;
- Dexterity Knacks involving stealth, hunting and escaping injury;
- Intelligence Knacks involving mental synthesis, possession and riddles/mind games;
- Manipulation Knacks involving solidifying your hold over certain marks over time, obsessions and groveling;
- Perception Knacks involving seeing through different kinds of mediums;
- Stamina Knacks involving creative ways to handle damage, bodily secretions and sensation
And possibly more, too (I didn't have any great examples for Strength or Wits off the top of my head, but they'll get a look at the same time). Other knack-related projects would also probably happen at the same time, including restructuring trees where necessary, making some knacks more globally applicable and adding clarification (like something to deal with the problem of Appearance shapechanging and size!) to currently vague effects. Knacks haven't gotten a good hard look in a really long time, and we've had enough playtesting since then to see where some of their problem spots and glaring holes are.
Sorry this isn't more detailed, but, as always, we won't really know specifics until we're actually down in the trenches. New, sweet powers for Scions almost never hurt, however, so if you'd like to see some, cast your vote and we'll be happy to oblige!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
House Heavens
Question: Why do you have two different version of the Anunna online? Once in the Download section, and once along with your regular pantheons?
Hey, there! The short answer is that we write our downloadable PDFs to be compatible with those using the rules of Scion as written, but the pantheons on our site are tweaked to work best with our own games and house rules. There's a more in-depth post about it back here, if you're interested in details.
If you're mostly using our rules, the version on the site is probably more useful; if you're using your own set of house rules or the original book's setup, the PDF is a better choice.
Hey, there! The short answer is that we write our downloadable PDFs to be compatible with those using the rules of Scion as written, but the pantheons on our site are tweaked to work best with our own games and house rules. There's a more in-depth post about it back here, if you're interested in details.
If you're mostly using our rules, the version on the site is probably more useful; if you're using your own set of house rules or the original book's setup, the PDF is a better choice.
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Anne Likes Grammar, Guys
Question: On the Sraosha page, the line "Sraosha is an enforcer for his pantheon, making sure that the laws are followed and that those who break them are subjected to their just deserts. " Has a typo. Deserts should be Desserts!
Actually, no, it shouldn't. The phrase "getting one's just deserts" refers to getting exactly what you deserve (usually because you've been bad). The word "deserts" means "what you're deserving of", so the phrase literally means "getting what you deserve." However, "deserts" is pronounced identically in English to the word "desserts", which refers to treats or sweet foods usually eaten after a meal, which has led to a lot of confusion and people who think maybe this is some kind of food metaphor for what you deserve.
It's not, though. "Deserts" is correct, even though you'll see "desserts" frequently in colloquial usage. :)
However, I love that you guys send in corrections to help us not have errors on the site, so don't let me discourage you! If this had been a real error, I would have leapt to correct it like a feline gladiator. Thank you guys for always eagle-eyeing the site for us!
Actually, no, it shouldn't. The phrase "getting one's just deserts" refers to getting exactly what you deserve (usually because you've been bad). The word "deserts" means "what you're deserving of", so the phrase literally means "getting what you deserve." However, "deserts" is pronounced identically in English to the word "desserts", which refers to treats or sweet foods usually eaten after a meal, which has led to a lot of confusion and people who think maybe this is some kind of food metaphor for what you deserve.
It's not, though. "Deserts" is correct, even though you'll see "desserts" frequently in colloquial usage. :)
However, I love that you guys send in corrections to help us not have errors on the site, so don't let me discourage you! If this had been a real error, I would have leapt to correct it like a feline gladiator. Thank you guys for always eagle-eyeing the site for us!
Orisha Housekeeping
Question: So, love the site, and truly appreciate all the work you guys do in researching the mythologies and pantheons. What I wondered was this: is there any way I can get an easier to read version of the Oruba? The downloadable pantheons you have are great for ease of reasing, but the family tree format is a bit tougher when you just want to look the entire pantheon up at one time. Thanks!
Question: Which Ori boons can a Bogovi Scion use with Dva Dukhom and Dvoinobog?
A little Orisha housekeeping! As the only pantheon that we've done in quite that format - written directly for the site instead of for PDF - it has a few weird wrinkles that others don't.
To start with, there is indeed no PDF version of the Orisha. They weren't the same kind of pantheon project we normally do, like the K'uh or Elohim; instead of writing a new pantheon from scratch, we were in a sense updating one that already existed in the game line, much as we'd edited and updated the Aesir or Pesedjet. It was just on a much more ambitious scale than usual, being as it was an update from the modern Loa to the ancient Orisha and an addition and serious overhaul of the entire pantheon and PSP. But that does mean there's a lot of new stuff in all kinds of different places on the site and it's not centralized conveniently anywhere. Bummer.
We weren't planning on doing a full PDF for the Orisha, partly because it's a lot of extra work and partly because it would lack a lot of the things we normally include in PDFs, such as a Titanrealm, Birthrights and extra non-Legend-12 gods. But we can definitely see that having it all in one document would be helpful. Quick experiment: how many of you would find that useful? I'm happy to whip something up, but it'll be higher on the priority scale if more people would be using it.
As for the second question... holy crap, it's definitive proof that we're the worst RPG game tinkerers ever. Way back when we released the Orisha (which was in March, for god's sake), we said, "Oh, hey, we have to figure out how the Slavic PSP interacts with the Yoruba one, we'll have that done as soon as possible!" Then we didn't do it, because we're terrible. And then we forgot we were even supposed to be doing it, because we're awful. Way to fail, us.
So I'm putting it on the Do It Now, Dummy list to make sure we do it soon, and our profound apologies to everybody. Sorry for sucking.
Anybody got any other Orisha issues, while we're at it?
Question: Which Ori boons can a Bogovi Scion use with Dva Dukhom and Dvoinobog?
A little Orisha housekeeping! As the only pantheon that we've done in quite that format - written directly for the site instead of for PDF - it has a few weird wrinkles that others don't.
To start with, there is indeed no PDF version of the Orisha. They weren't the same kind of pantheon project we normally do, like the K'uh or Elohim; instead of writing a new pantheon from scratch, we were in a sense updating one that already existed in the game line, much as we'd edited and updated the Aesir or Pesedjet. It was just on a much more ambitious scale than usual, being as it was an update from the modern Loa to the ancient Orisha and an addition and serious overhaul of the entire pantheon and PSP. But that does mean there's a lot of new stuff in all kinds of different places on the site and it's not centralized conveniently anywhere. Bummer.
We weren't planning on doing a full PDF for the Orisha, partly because it's a lot of extra work and partly because it would lack a lot of the things we normally include in PDFs, such as a Titanrealm, Birthrights and extra non-Legend-12 gods. But we can definitely see that having it all in one document would be helpful. Quick experiment: how many of you would find that useful? I'm happy to whip something up, but it'll be higher on the priority scale if more people would be using it.
As for the second question... holy crap, it's definitive proof that we're the worst RPG game tinkerers ever. Way back when we released the Orisha (which was in March, for god's sake), we said, "Oh, hey, we have to figure out how the Slavic PSP interacts with the Yoruba one, we'll have that done as soon as possible!" Then we didn't do it, because we're terrible. And then we forgot we were even supposed to be doing it, because we're awful. Way to fail, us.
So I'm putting it on the Do It Now, Dummy list to make sure we do it soon, and our profound apologies to everybody. Sorry for sucking.
Anybody got any other Orisha issues, while we're at it?
Friday, June 21, 2013
I Am a Selfishness Beast
Question: If one of your plans for the future is an Atua supplement, have you taken a look at the existing one that some fans already made? Maybe you could get together with the writer and make a new and improved version together.
I assume you're talking about the Atua supplement written by Scion forumites Pashupatastra and Coachman, which was a big fan-supported project on the forums a while ago, released in PDF form and has even recently gotten an update in the form of a new alternative PSP. We're aware of it and really enjoyed watching the community pull together to do some cooperative suggesting, proofreading and enjoying during the time that it was being put together!
It's actually not the only fan Atua out there, though, which shouldn't be a surprise since the Atua are awesome and everyone should love them. The Scion forums feature another version of the Atua, and hunting through websites for various chronicles will get you a slew of other little house versions of the pantheon, invented for individual games to allow players more room to choose new divine patrons. Polynesia's one of the areas that Scion ignored almost totally but that a lot of players obviously really wanted to get involved in, and that translates naturally to a ton of fan-produced material to make up the difference.
Now, I'm going to level with you, question-asker: we're probably not going to go out and look up any of these previous fan writers to ask for input. That's not because we hate them or anything or think they're bad; on the contrary, they put a lot of work in and have a product they should be proud of. But there are several fundamental things about it that we strongly disagree with (the entire Titanrealm opposing the Atua, for starters), and more importantly we have a well-oiled and smoothly-running work plan that we're by now practiced pros at, and bringing more people into that would seriously slow the machine down. While we love to get as many expert opinions as possible while we're working, we don't know any of these other writers and have no idea if they have credentials we'd like to explore or are just enthusiastic fans like us, and if it's the latter, there may not be much they can offer us.
Also, and this is probably the strongest reason, I am super touchy about working with other people. I promise it's not you, other people; it is totally me. I love to hear input from others and I love to share information, but the second there's a real opinion clash and someone wants me to change/add/include/rework something that I think is already awesome/bad/horrible/sublime, I usually throw them out a window. It's a temperamental writer thing and I'm not entirely proud of it, but me saying, "Hey, you want to come work on this creative project with me?" to another writer is pretty similar to me saying, "Hey, you want to come let me plunder you for useful information and suggestions, listen to me ignore any ideas of yours I don't like and deal with me getting pissed off if you want to change something I do like?" Nobody wants to sign up for that. I sure wouldn't, if I were them.
Or, to put it in a much more polite way that doesn't make me sound quite as much like a cannibalistic ogre woman, I take great pride in my writing, am independent and intuitively-minded, and am very invested in creative control. I put up with John, but that's only because I'm married to him and he knows more about game balance than I do.
So... yes, basically I am a terrible person to work with, so currently we're not planning on subjecting any of the previous Polynesian fan-writers to the meat-grinding gauntlet that is my cooperative process. If they're out there reading this and wanted to talk shop, trade sources or discuss what they think worked and didn't in their version, however, we would totally love that! We are all about some fun and friendly talk about a subject we love, and suggestions and sources are always awesome bonuses.
And Polynesia will have its windswept, glittering oceanside day in the sun. Some folks will like our version, some will like the forum version, some may like both or neither or their own homebrew, and all of that is totally fine with us!
I assume you're talking about the Atua supplement written by Scion forumites Pashupatastra and Coachman, which was a big fan-supported project on the forums a while ago, released in PDF form and has even recently gotten an update in the form of a new alternative PSP. We're aware of it and really enjoyed watching the community pull together to do some cooperative suggesting, proofreading and enjoying during the time that it was being put together!
It's actually not the only fan Atua out there, though, which shouldn't be a surprise since the Atua are awesome and everyone should love them. The Scion forums feature another version of the Atua, and hunting through websites for various chronicles will get you a slew of other little house versions of the pantheon, invented for individual games to allow players more room to choose new divine patrons. Polynesia's one of the areas that Scion ignored almost totally but that a lot of players obviously really wanted to get involved in, and that translates naturally to a ton of fan-produced material to make up the difference.
Now, I'm going to level with you, question-asker: we're probably not going to go out and look up any of these previous fan writers to ask for input. That's not because we hate them or anything or think they're bad; on the contrary, they put a lot of work in and have a product they should be proud of. But there are several fundamental things about it that we strongly disagree with (the entire Titanrealm opposing the Atua, for starters), and more importantly we have a well-oiled and smoothly-running work plan that we're by now practiced pros at, and bringing more people into that would seriously slow the machine down. While we love to get as many expert opinions as possible while we're working, we don't know any of these other writers and have no idea if they have credentials we'd like to explore or are just enthusiastic fans like us, and if it's the latter, there may not be much they can offer us.
Also, and this is probably the strongest reason, I am super touchy about working with other people. I promise it's not you, other people; it is totally me. I love to hear input from others and I love to share information, but the second there's a real opinion clash and someone wants me to change/add/include/rework something that I think is already awesome/bad/horrible/sublime, I usually throw them out a window. It's a temperamental writer thing and I'm not entirely proud of it, but me saying, "Hey, you want to come work on this creative project with me?" to another writer is pretty similar to me saying, "Hey, you want to come let me plunder you for useful information and suggestions, listen to me ignore any ideas of yours I don't like and deal with me getting pissed off if you want to change something I do like?" Nobody wants to sign up for that. I sure wouldn't, if I were them.
Or, to put it in a much more polite way that doesn't make me sound quite as much like a cannibalistic ogre woman, I take great pride in my writing, am independent and intuitively-minded, and am very invested in creative control. I put up with John, but that's only because I'm married to him and he knows more about game balance than I do.
So... yes, basically I am a terrible person to work with, so currently we're not planning on subjecting any of the previous Polynesian fan-writers to the meat-grinding gauntlet that is my cooperative process. If they're out there reading this and wanted to talk shop, trade sources or discuss what they think worked and didn't in their version, however, we would totally love that! We are all about some fun and friendly talk about a subject we love, and suggestions and sources are always awesome bonuses.
And Polynesia will have its windswept, glittering oceanside day in the sun. Some folks will like our version, some will like the forum version, some may like both or neither or their own homebrew, and all of that is totally fine with us!
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Terra Incognita
Question: What is this site about?
Hey, there, internet traveler!
This blog (and the website that goes with it, John's Scion Resources) is dedicated to a roleplaying game called Scion, published by the White Wolf gaming company back in 2007. Players of the game take on the roles of modern-day demigods, children of the ancient deities of the world's bygone myths and legends, and forge their own new marks on the world, eventually becoming gods themselves.
This blog mainly talks about things relating to the game, from discussions on world mythology and literature to examinations of mechanics and house rules; the website has a lot of house rules, custom powers, fiction stories and information on our games and their starring characters. If you're interested in the game and want to find out more, we suggest grabbing a copy of the PDFs over at DriveThru RPG or saying hi to the larger Scion community over on the official forums for the game. We're not running any new games at the moment, but there are usually folks looking for new players for games both online and in person.
Thanks for dropping by, even if it was by accident. :)
Hey, there, internet traveler!
This blog (and the website that goes with it, John's Scion Resources) is dedicated to a roleplaying game called Scion, published by the White Wolf gaming company back in 2007. Players of the game take on the roles of modern-day demigods, children of the ancient deities of the world's bygone myths and legends, and forge their own new marks on the world, eventually becoming gods themselves.
This blog mainly talks about things relating to the game, from discussions on world mythology and literature to examinations of mechanics and house rules; the website has a lot of house rules, custom powers, fiction stories and information on our games and their starring characters. If you're interested in the game and want to find out more, we suggest grabbing a copy of the PDFs over at DriveThru RPG or saying hi to the larger Scion community over on the official forums for the game. We're not running any new games at the moment, but there are usually folks looking for new players for games both online and in person.
Thanks for dropping by, even if it was by accident. :)
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