Hey... make me a Hero-level Nahualli!
For a Hero-level nahualli, you have to make a few adjustments. You want it to be powerful enough to seem important, but it can't overpower other Hero-level relics.
I think the best eventual solution is to tie the nahualli into the PSP. The temporary solution I came up with requires an excellent role player and may not be for everyone. It's borrowed in part from a god-level nahualli I made for Kettilla. I'll be making it here for a Death-focused Scion whose totem animal is a vulture, but it should be easy to see where you can adjust it for any character type (though I would not change out the ability bonus for a combat one).
****Nahualli
Add your Animal Ken dots as dice to all Survival rolls.
Add your Animal (Vulture) boons as autos to all Death rolls.
Faunaphagia costs double, but lasts for a week.
Disadvantage: At the start of each day (midnight on earth, others depending on realm), roll 1d10. This die cannot be rerolled. On a roll of 1, you become a vulture. You are the other half of your soul and act exactly like a vulture. You keep all your stats, but cannot use Animal boons. You don't speak or understand languages, nor can you read. Your goals should change as the other half of your soul has complete control. You probably just feel like getting meat. You remember the people you have been around and know that they aren't enemies, but you're a vulture; act like one. At the end of the day roll again and you will probably change back.
So that's my balanced Hero nahualli. I still think they could be handled better with a PSP, but there you have it for now if it's something you might want to use in your games.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Mokomokomate
Question: When your PCs were becoming gods, how did their players go about deciding what their character would be the god of? For instance: I have a scion of Tongaroa with the Animal (Lizard), Death, Mana (the psp), Psychopomp and Sky. I was thinking that he would be the Maori god of bad omens, but I'm not sure and I'm looking for something to give me an idea on how to decide. Any help you could give me would be awesome. Thanks!
For most PCs in our games, there are two different routes they go when approaching their role as a god: either the player had a definite idea what they wanted to be and intentionally strove toward that, or they didn't and their behavior and Fatebonds made the choice for them. Vala is a good example of the first; her player knew she wanted to be a goddess of prophecy and hope from very early on, so she invested in powers that supported that. Zwazo Fou Fou is a good example of the second path; his player really had no idea what his character was going to be as a god, so his mortal cults believe in him as the god of abandon and madness, thanks to his heavy Moon powers and tendency to go batshit insane and blow things up at a moment's notice.
As for your awesome Polynesian Scion here, my only thought is that it might be difficult to be a god of omens if you aren't kind of prophecy-heavy - after all, omens are portents of the future, and if you don't know the future you're going to have trouble warning people about it. However, there's a definite hole in the Maori pantheon when it comes to psychopomping; nobody is really conducting the dead to the Underworld, so that might be a great role for your Scion to take over. Alternatively, since he has Death as well as Psychopomp, he might try to set up an alternative afterlife for the Maori dead - Hine's not exactly pleasant times to hang out with, so he might set up a new Underworld (in the sky, perhaps? I am just tying all the purviews together today!) that he conducts particularly worthy souls to so that they don't end up with her. (Of course, this might start a turf war with Hine, but nothing worth doing doesn't come with angrily rampaging deities.)
I got nothing on the lizards, but that's probably okay. Animal totems don't necessarily have to be attached to a god's role. Maybe you could come up with something where you relate psychopomping off with someone's soul, leaving Hine stuck with a broken-off tail in spite of her attempts to stop you or something. Or perhaps you can use lizards as your little messenger or psychopomp emissaries (though again, too much lizarding will probably start arguments with Punga... but hey, arguments are part of the divine landscape).
Really, if none of these ideas are floating your boat and you're still not sure what to do, go with tried-and-true: what is it your character does most of the time? What does he like to do and what does he do most often? What does he do that affects humanity in some way - that is, what would he be likely to be worshiped or remembered for? Those are the questions that usually lead players to figuring out their divine roles, so pursue them and see if they take you anywhere awesome.
For most PCs in our games, there are two different routes they go when approaching their role as a god: either the player had a definite idea what they wanted to be and intentionally strove toward that, or they didn't and their behavior and Fatebonds made the choice for them. Vala is a good example of the first; her player knew she wanted to be a goddess of prophecy and hope from very early on, so she invested in powers that supported that. Zwazo Fou Fou is a good example of the second path; his player really had no idea what his character was going to be as a god, so his mortal cults believe in him as the god of abandon and madness, thanks to his heavy Moon powers and tendency to go batshit insane and blow things up at a moment's notice.
As for your awesome Polynesian Scion here, my only thought is that it might be difficult to be a god of omens if you aren't kind of prophecy-heavy - after all, omens are portents of the future, and if you don't know the future you're going to have trouble warning people about it. However, there's a definite hole in the Maori pantheon when it comes to psychopomping; nobody is really conducting the dead to the Underworld, so that might be a great role for your Scion to take over. Alternatively, since he has Death as well as Psychopomp, he might try to set up an alternative afterlife for the Maori dead - Hine's not exactly pleasant times to hang out with, so he might set up a new Underworld (in the sky, perhaps? I am just tying all the purviews together today!) that he conducts particularly worthy souls to so that they don't end up with her. (Of course, this might start a turf war with Hine, but nothing worth doing doesn't come with angrily rampaging deities.)
I got nothing on the lizards, but that's probably okay. Animal totems don't necessarily have to be attached to a god's role. Maybe you could come up with something where you relate psychopomping off with someone's soul, leaving Hine stuck with a broken-off tail in spite of her attempts to stop you or something. Or perhaps you can use lizards as your little messenger or psychopomp emissaries (though again, too much lizarding will probably start arguments with Punga... but hey, arguments are part of the divine landscape).
Really, if none of these ideas are floating your boat and you're still not sure what to do, go with tried-and-true: what is it your character does most of the time? What does he like to do and what does he do most often? What does he do that affects humanity in some way - that is, what would he be likely to be worshiped or remembered for? Those are the questions that usually lead players to figuring out their divine roles, so pursue them and see if they take you anywhere awesome.
Third One's the Charm
Question: Is the Morrigan really one person, or three people? Or do the myths offer more support to the idea that the term 'Morrigan' is a title held by any pissed off female war leader, and the title might just be held by some people longer than others?
While there are some schools of scholarly thought that believe that female Irish war leaders might have used the title of Morrigan for purposes of shock and awe on the battlefield, that practice shouldn't be confused with the real thing; there is most definitely a mythological entity called the Morrigan, and she's her own show whether or not there were also mortals using her name. A mortal war leader calling herself the Morrigan might be badass on the field, but she isn't going to be making binding prophetic announcements or shapechanging like it ain't no thang. I would suggest, however, that if you use the idea of little Morrigans, it might be fun to explore how they're connected to the big one - are they related? Does she give them any special blessing? Do they have nothing to do with her and not realize what crazy thin ice they tread by using her name?
As far as whether or not the Morrigan is truly triplicate, that mostly depends on which scholarly theory you like best. When the Morrigan appears in myth, it's always as herself singly, hitting on the dudes until they drop dead or ruining everything with declarations of doom. Those who stick to a pure interpretation of the stories (handed down by word-of-mouth and recorded by Christian monk revisionists, so "pure" is not really a good word here) won't find much to support her as a goddess who is actually three instead of one. But ancient Irish art that depicts her (or is thought to depict her) often shows her standing with two other unexplained women, and debate continues to rage over whether these are attendants, other goddesses of the pantheon (specifically her sisters), symbolic figures or truly separate aspects of the Morrigan herself. The triplicate goddess theory is especially popular, I suspect in part because of the nice parallels it historically made with the Holy Trinity of Christianity.
If you do roll with the Morrigan as a triple goddess, it's pretty clear that she's the star of the show and that her alternate aspects don't get nearly as much press or respect. No one can even agree on who exactly make up the other two parts of her triad; Anand, Badb, Fea, Macha and Nemain are all attested as alternate names of her other parts, and few of them have nearly the impressive resume of their sister. I generally tend to favor Badb and Macha, since the former is often doing things that clearly seem to be the Morrigan's area and the latter is outright noted to be an aspect of the Morrigan in late texts (and also pretty badass for a pregnant lady).
If you don't want to use the Morrigan as a triple goddess because you don't want to wade into that weird pool of theoretical symbolism, it's also perfectly easy to just treat the other two ladies (whichever of them you prefer) as her sisters, goddesses who resemble her but are not Legend 12 due to their lack of comparable badassery. They could easily accompany her around, but could be free agents if necessary. Another scholarly theory points to the Morrigan's similarity to the Norse goddess Freya, and suggests that the women shown with her in art might represent a host of valkyrie-like followers that come with her into battle, making it easy for them to be Followers of any power you like, or even for all five of the possible Morrigan analogues to be with her at any given time, thus fostering confusion and awe (similar to Ares rolling into battle with all his panic-causing children).
When you get into scholarly theory (and, especially in Celtic and Norse myth, you really can't avoid it since it's almost all there is to go on), every Storyteller pretty much has to make a choice as to what they like best, feel will work most smoothly, and fits their game's atmosphere the snuggest.
We personally like to keep the Morrigan ambiguous; sometimes she shows up alone, sometimes she shows up with other scary ladies, and none of the PCs have ever wanted to get close enough to really figure that out, so her true nature remains one of the game's many mysteries. Triple or double gods are certainly possible - our PCs have met Hecate, who confused them pretty severely - but whether or not the Morrigan's one of them is a matter of debate.
While there are some schools of scholarly thought that believe that female Irish war leaders might have used the title of Morrigan for purposes of shock and awe on the battlefield, that practice shouldn't be confused with the real thing; there is most definitely a mythological entity called the Morrigan, and she's her own show whether or not there were also mortals using her name. A mortal war leader calling herself the Morrigan might be badass on the field, but she isn't going to be making binding prophetic announcements or shapechanging like it ain't no thang. I would suggest, however, that if you use the idea of little Morrigans, it might be fun to explore how they're connected to the big one - are they related? Does she give them any special blessing? Do they have nothing to do with her and not realize what crazy thin ice they tread by using her name?
As far as whether or not the Morrigan is truly triplicate, that mostly depends on which scholarly theory you like best. When the Morrigan appears in myth, it's always as herself singly, hitting on the dudes until they drop dead or ruining everything with declarations of doom. Those who stick to a pure interpretation of the stories (handed down by word-of-mouth and recorded by Christian monk revisionists, so "pure" is not really a good word here) won't find much to support her as a goddess who is actually three instead of one. But ancient Irish art that depicts her (or is thought to depict her) often shows her standing with two other unexplained women, and debate continues to rage over whether these are attendants, other goddesses of the pantheon (specifically her sisters), symbolic figures or truly separate aspects of the Morrigan herself. The triplicate goddess theory is especially popular, I suspect in part because of the nice parallels it historically made with the Holy Trinity of Christianity.
If you do roll with the Morrigan as a triple goddess, it's pretty clear that she's the star of the show and that her alternate aspects don't get nearly as much press or respect. No one can even agree on who exactly make up the other two parts of her triad; Anand, Badb, Fea, Macha and Nemain are all attested as alternate names of her other parts, and few of them have nearly the impressive resume of their sister. I generally tend to favor Badb and Macha, since the former is often doing things that clearly seem to be the Morrigan's area and the latter is outright noted to be an aspect of the Morrigan in late texts (and also pretty badass for a pregnant lady).
If you don't want to use the Morrigan as a triple goddess because you don't want to wade into that weird pool of theoretical symbolism, it's also perfectly easy to just treat the other two ladies (whichever of them you prefer) as her sisters, goddesses who resemble her but are not Legend 12 due to their lack of comparable badassery. They could easily accompany her around, but could be free agents if necessary. Another scholarly theory points to the Morrigan's similarity to the Norse goddess Freya, and suggests that the women shown with her in art might represent a host of valkyrie-like followers that come with her into battle, making it easy for them to be Followers of any power you like, or even for all five of the possible Morrigan analogues to be with her at any given time, thus fostering confusion and awe (similar to Ares rolling into battle with all his panic-causing children).
When you get into scholarly theory (and, especially in Celtic and Norse myth, you really can't avoid it since it's almost all there is to go on), every Storyteller pretty much has to make a choice as to what they like best, feel will work most smoothly, and fits their game's atmosphere the snuggest.
We personally like to keep the Morrigan ambiguous; sometimes she shows up alone, sometimes she shows up with other scary ladies, and none of the PCs have ever wanted to get close enough to really figure that out, so her true nature remains one of the game's many mysteries. Triple or double gods are certainly possible - our PCs have met Hecate, who confused them pretty severely - but whether or not the Morrigan's one of them is a matter of debate.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
We're what now?
Don't mind me poking my head in here, but I want to derail this onto a semi-serious topic. Have you guys considered that you are role models for the scion community? How do you both feel about that?
Anne's answer
Hmm... is role model the right term? We certainly try to create useful things, provide useful information and have fun and creative discussions, but lots of people do those things. I guess it's more that we (or I - I guess I shouldn't speak for John since I haven't asked him and he's embroiled in an MMO at the moment) want to do as much awesome for the community as it does for us, and that's a lot of awesome to measure up to.
Speaking of which, back into my writer's dungeon.
John's answer
Hrm. I have to agree role models is a strange word. Maybe? If I saw our work spawning many more people working on Scion rules that tried to stay as core to the mythology and balance as we did, yes. However, I'm not sure I see that. It seems most of our "fans" fall into two catagories. Those who see our work and are happy to adapt their games and use it as written, and those who like some of our work, but disagree with our hardline mythology stance and change our work for what we consider "the worse". I'm not sure either of those groups would tout us as "role models".
I don't mean to sound cocky when I use this word, but a more appropriate word, I would imagine would be "celebrity." We're in the spotlight, some people like to agree or disagree with us, and hopefully sometime, somewhere, we're inspiring someone else to follow in our footsteps.
As an actor and ex-star athlete, this is something I'm fairly accustomed to, but it's also something that Anne does not, generally, enjoy. (She does love getting praise about writing, website design and character sheet design, so feel free to cover her in that).
I generally see it as a neat side effect of making the best game possible for our players, and Anne's need to get everything up on the website perfectly (otherwise all my players would have to find the rules in tiny notebooks scattered about my house). If another side effect was eventually we were actually able to make some semblance of a living off game design, or Scion, that would be awesome. But until then it's just a nice thing that is happening.
(and a place I can rage at people without threat of being banned from anywhere)
Anne's answer
Hmm... is role model the right term? We certainly try to create useful things, provide useful information and have fun and creative discussions, but lots of people do those things. I guess it's more that we (or I - I guess I shouldn't speak for John since I haven't asked him and he's embroiled in an MMO at the moment) want to do as much awesome for the community as it does for us, and that's a lot of awesome to measure up to.
Speaking of which, back into my writer's dungeon.
John's answer
Hrm. I have to agree role models is a strange word. Maybe? If I saw our work spawning many more people working on Scion rules that tried to stay as core to the mythology and balance as we did, yes. However, I'm not sure I see that. It seems most of our "fans" fall into two catagories. Those who see our work and are happy to adapt their games and use it as written, and those who like some of our work, but disagree with our hardline mythology stance and change our work for what we consider "the worse". I'm not sure either of those groups would tout us as "role models".
I don't mean to sound cocky when I use this word, but a more appropriate word, I would imagine would be "celebrity." We're in the spotlight, some people like to agree or disagree with us, and hopefully sometime, somewhere, we're inspiring someone else to follow in our footsteps.
As an actor and ex-star athlete, this is something I'm fairly accustomed to, but it's also something that Anne does not, generally, enjoy. (She does love getting praise about writing, website design and character sheet design, so feel free to cover her in that).
I generally see it as a neat side effect of making the best game possible for our players, and Anne's need to get everything up on the website perfectly (otherwise all my players would have to find the rules in tiny notebooks scattered about my house). If another side effect was eventually we were actually able to make some semblance of a living off game design, or Scion, that would be awesome. But until then it's just a nice thing that is happening.
(and a place I can rage at people without threat of being banned from anywhere)
John Sometimes Forgets to Title His Posts
Question: I was just looking to get some clarification on your system for Perception & Distance. Humans can see skyscrapers from miles away but Hero Scions can't? How do you and John handle sight in terms of ranged combat at Hero level in your games? If, according to the chart, my character could only see 8 yards, would my character be unable to fire his gun at anything further than 8 yards? Or say he liked to throw spears and could hurl them 600 yards - would he not be able to hit anything that was further than 8 yards away without some penalty?
Great question and one I've been meaning to address.
On the perception chart, you'll notice that an average score for a human would be 3. On the chart, this corresponds with 6 yards, or almost 20 feet. This was the starting point for the chart the hopeful correlation between an average human's 20/20 sight and a Scion's growth beyond that 20/20 sight. So for the rest of the chart, it expands on that idea, each level showing how far you can see with about an average human's 20 foot accuracy. You could read big letters, but not a book. You can see movements in someone's facial muscles, but not see nose hairs. You could smell a flowering rose, but not a piece of chicken in an airlocked plastic container. You could hear normal conversation, but not whispering.
And then, of course, your senses go past these points. A Scion who can see 10 miles away with 20/20 vision can probably see 100 miles away as a human could see a skyscraper downtown. Mostly the chart rating shows a distance that is useful for most things in game; how far the PC can see and still get useful information, colors of clothes, make Perception + Empathy rolls about deceit, and use powers accurately.
What does use powers accurately mean? Just like range on a gun or bow, I would add increasing difficulty based on the increments in distance they are away. And for things that didn't have a roll (Shadow Step usually comes up), they can't quite see clearly enough to succeed. Yes, you can see a "shadow" on the top of that mountain, but you actually can't quite see it very clearly. A lot of the darkness you see isn't actually dark, it's actually a dark-colored object or your vision just sucks, etc.
The second question is about ranged combat, and I think you nailed it on the head. Small penalties make sense for both Scions and humans (and help balance the potency of ranged combat). If I can't see your body as well, I can't aim as well. If you double the distance of a dart board, even world pros will become significantly less accurate (obviously also there's a bit of muscle difference for that). Olympic javelin throwers can hurl a javelin, but if asked to be accurate to the point of hitting someone who is attempting to dodge, and hitting them in the right spot to do maximum damage, that's gonna be significantly more difficult (and for humans, fairly impossible). So just like boon usage, increasing dice penalties for the further away the target is. Not crippling penalties at first, but continually more difficult. Guns get to cheat and add scopes of course, so even a human can be a crack shot at 200 yards.
Great question and one I've been meaning to address.
On the perception chart, you'll notice that an average score for a human would be 3. On the chart, this corresponds with 6 yards, or almost 20 feet. This was the starting point for the chart the hopeful correlation between an average human's 20/20 sight and a Scion's growth beyond that 20/20 sight. So for the rest of the chart, it expands on that idea, each level showing how far you can see with about an average human's 20 foot accuracy. You could read big letters, but not a book. You can see movements in someone's facial muscles, but not see nose hairs. You could smell a flowering rose, but not a piece of chicken in an airlocked plastic container. You could hear normal conversation, but not whispering.
And then, of course, your senses go past these points. A Scion who can see 10 miles away with 20/20 vision can probably see 100 miles away as a human could see a skyscraper downtown. Mostly the chart rating shows a distance that is useful for most things in game; how far the PC can see and still get useful information, colors of clothes, make Perception + Empathy rolls about deceit, and use powers accurately.
What does use powers accurately mean? Just like range on a gun or bow, I would add increasing difficulty based on the increments in distance they are away. And for things that didn't have a roll (Shadow Step usually comes up), they can't quite see clearly enough to succeed. Yes, you can see a "shadow" on the top of that mountain, but you actually can't quite see it very clearly. A lot of the darkness you see isn't actually dark, it's actually a dark-colored object or your vision just sucks, etc.
The second question is about ranged combat, and I think you nailed it on the head. Small penalties make sense for both Scions and humans (and help balance the potency of ranged combat). If I can't see your body as well, I can't aim as well. If you double the distance of a dart board, even world pros will become significantly less accurate (obviously also there's a bit of muscle difference for that). Olympic javelin throwers can hurl a javelin, but if asked to be accurate to the point of hitting someone who is attempting to dodge, and hitting them in the right spot to do maximum damage, that's gonna be significantly more difficult (and for humans, fairly impossible). So just like boon usage, increasing dice penalties for the further away the target is. Not crippling penalties at first, but continually more difficult. Guns get to cheat and add scopes of course, so even a human can be a crack shot at 200 yards.
Make Me a Magic
Question: I'd like to ask about your creation process when it comes to new boons. Do you have any general guidelines for what's an acceptable Hero/Demigod/God boon? How do you balance them out?
Well, when you call it a process it all sounds very scientific, but in practice it's more a constant round of trial and error, checking and rechecking until everything comes out right. John and I do separate parts of the gruntwork when it comes to designing new boons, but it usually looks something like this:
1) One of us comes up with an awesome idea for a new boon. Usually it's based on something someone or some creature does in myth - "Hey! You know, sun-gods tend to do that whole making-the-sun-rise thing, we should have a boon that does that." - but occasionally it might also be something that it feels like a god or Scion with that particular purview should be able to do (and that isn't weirdly dissonant with mythology).
2) I write it up as a full boon, complete with mechanics, costs and flavor text. It looks like it's done now, but it really, really isn't.
3) John looks at my mechanics and costs and tells me they're all terrible. (This is probably true; I'm the art side of this operation, not the engineering side.) He reworks them to rebalance the boon and make sure it's not making any critical mistakes, such as being more or less powerful than other boons its level, reproducing something other powers are already doing, or accidentally becoming an unbeatable superpower when combined with something else.
4) I rewrite it based on his input, and we do a final round of edits to make sure it still balances on paper.
5) Player volunteer time! The boon gets field-tested by both John and me rolling scenarios and then players in the game itself. This is usually where any glaring flaws it might have left surface, such as when a player says, "So, according to this boon I can have infinite dice?" We're thorough, but if there's a way to totally take advantage of a loophole, players will always find it if we don't.
6) Final round of edits, and success! The boon is probably play-worthy and gets added to the website and official character sheets for anyone who buys it.
Of course, at any point during this process we might end up throwing the boon away; usually this happens near the beginning, if we can't come up with a mechanical system that matches what we want the boon to do spiritually, but it can occasionally happen later, if we suddenly realize that we've strayed too far from our intent or that it turns out not to be adding anything to the game after all.
In general, when trying to decide the level of a new boon we look first at the boon's flavor - is this something it feels like only gods should do? Is it something everybody with a little divine blood might be able to pull off? - and then try to build the mechanics to suit the level that makes most sense to us. If it doesn't work there, it might end up getting bumped up or down a few levels to make sure it balances with the rest of its purview.
As far as balancing boons and deciding where they fall, that's a tricky science all in itself that I'm sure John will be happy to discuss specifics of in the comments. You have to take into account not only what other boons in the purview are doing at that level, but what all boons from all purviews are doing at that level, to make sure the new boon isn't appreciably way more or less powerful than they are. You have to also make sure it isn't outshining anything above it in the purview, or underperforming anything below it. You have to make sure it isn't duplicating other powers too much and that it can be useful without being boring (no more dice adders, please!). You have to consider all the ways it could be combined with other boons, knacks or spells to become more powerful and whether any of those cross the line from clever application to broken hack.
It's different for every one, so I'm not sure how to proceed without specific examples. We ought to go write up one of the to-be-written boons in our file and document the process, and then post the play-by-play; that'd probably be more enlightening.
Well, when you call it a process it all sounds very scientific, but in practice it's more a constant round of trial and error, checking and rechecking until everything comes out right. John and I do separate parts of the gruntwork when it comes to designing new boons, but it usually looks something like this:
1) One of us comes up with an awesome idea for a new boon. Usually it's based on something someone or some creature does in myth - "Hey! You know, sun-gods tend to do that whole making-the-sun-rise thing, we should have a boon that does that." - but occasionally it might also be something that it feels like a god or Scion with that particular purview should be able to do (and that isn't weirdly dissonant with mythology).
2) I write it up as a full boon, complete with mechanics, costs and flavor text. It looks like it's done now, but it really, really isn't.
3) John looks at my mechanics and costs and tells me they're all terrible. (This is probably true; I'm the art side of this operation, not the engineering side.) He reworks them to rebalance the boon and make sure it's not making any critical mistakes, such as being more or less powerful than other boons its level, reproducing something other powers are already doing, or accidentally becoming an unbeatable superpower when combined with something else.
4) I rewrite it based on his input, and we do a final round of edits to make sure it still balances on paper.
5) Player volunteer time! The boon gets field-tested by both John and me rolling scenarios and then players in the game itself. This is usually where any glaring flaws it might have left surface, such as when a player says, "So, according to this boon I can have infinite dice?" We're thorough, but if there's a way to totally take advantage of a loophole, players will always find it if we don't.
6) Final round of edits, and success! The boon is probably play-worthy and gets added to the website and official character sheets for anyone who buys it.
Of course, at any point during this process we might end up throwing the boon away; usually this happens near the beginning, if we can't come up with a mechanical system that matches what we want the boon to do spiritually, but it can occasionally happen later, if we suddenly realize that we've strayed too far from our intent or that it turns out not to be adding anything to the game after all.
In general, when trying to decide the level of a new boon we look first at the boon's flavor - is this something it feels like only gods should do? Is it something everybody with a little divine blood might be able to pull off? - and then try to build the mechanics to suit the level that makes most sense to us. If it doesn't work there, it might end up getting bumped up or down a few levels to make sure it balances with the rest of its purview.
As far as balancing boons and deciding where they fall, that's a tricky science all in itself that I'm sure John will be happy to discuss specifics of in the comments. You have to take into account not only what other boons in the purview are doing at that level, but what all boons from all purviews are doing at that level, to make sure the new boon isn't appreciably way more or less powerful than they are. You have to also make sure it isn't outshining anything above it in the purview, or underperforming anything below it. You have to make sure it isn't duplicating other powers too much and that it can be useful without being boring (no more dice adders, please!). You have to consider all the ways it could be combined with other boons, knacks or spells to become more powerful and whether any of those cross the line from clever application to broken hack.
It's different for every one, so I'm not sure how to proceed without specific examples. We ought to go write up one of the to-be-written boons in our file and document the process, and then post the play-by-play; that'd probably be more enlightening.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Give Her a Hand
Question: I was looking at Yoloxochitl's character sheet and I noticed that two of her birthrights are jade hands and jade feet. Does she actually have feet and hands made of jade? And if she does what's the story behind that? Because that sounds really cool.
Kettila's hands and feet are indeed solid jade. She's very heavy for such a little girl.
Jade was one of the most precious stones for the ancient Aztecs and was a favorite offering to Tlaloc; the lustrous blue-and-green stone was considered to be representative of moisture, life-giving water and the growth of vegetation, so it was a natural thing to associate with the god of rain and growth. Tlaloc's wife, Chalchiuhtlicue, is also strongly associated with jade (it's even in her name - "chalchi"!), and Kettila has recently adopted her as a sort of surrogate mother figure.
Kettila originally had her fingernails torn out when she became a Demigod (evocative of ancient sacrifices to Tlaloc, in which fingernails and hair were sometimes torn from child sacrifices in order to make sure they wept, which was considered pleasing to the god and necessary to bring rain) and replaced with jade ones. At her ascension to God, she had begun to be an Earth goddess in her own right and was gaining in power, and the fingernails became full jade hands and feet. The effect is jarring and somewhat unreal looking; makes her look a little bit like her father, in fact, though I doubt it's occurred to her.
Since she's an Earth goddess, I wouldn't be surprised if eventually she were all jade all the time. Her Body Armor already manifests itself as a coating of tortoiseshell jade on her skin.
Kettila's hands and feet are indeed solid jade. She's very heavy for such a little girl.
Jade was one of the most precious stones for the ancient Aztecs and was a favorite offering to Tlaloc; the lustrous blue-and-green stone was considered to be representative of moisture, life-giving water and the growth of vegetation, so it was a natural thing to associate with the god of rain and growth. Tlaloc's wife, Chalchiuhtlicue, is also strongly associated with jade (it's even in her name - "chalchi"!), and Kettila has recently adopted her as a sort of surrogate mother figure.
Kettila originally had her fingernails torn out when she became a Demigod (evocative of ancient sacrifices to Tlaloc, in which fingernails and hair were sometimes torn from child sacrifices in order to make sure they wept, which was considered pleasing to the god and necessary to bring rain) and replaced with jade ones. At her ascension to God, she had begun to be an Earth goddess in her own right and was gaining in power, and the fingernails became full jade hands and feet. The effect is jarring and somewhat unreal looking; makes her look a little bit like her father, in fact, though I doubt it's occurred to her.
Since she's an Earth goddess, I wouldn't be surprised if eventually she were all jade all the time. Her Body Armor already manifests itself as a coating of tortoiseshell jade on her skin.
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