Scion Fatebinding - I dont get it....

[icarr757]

Can anyone help me wrap my brain around the fatebinding...

1 - No fatebinding can happen unless a God directly interacts with the World, in the World.
2 - Fatebinding yanks mortals from their normal "fates" and... kinda chains them to the God in question? (ie Jane Foster -> Thor(?)). They do not have to be worshipers of said god and (the books make it seem) more of a "you were in the wrong place at the wrong time" kinda thing. So if you are a God with a little respect for the lives of everyday humans (kind of a streach) then you don't want Fatebinding out of respect for mortals and their lives. Not to mention Fatebinding can build you a entorage of mortals that is similar to a pack of starving puppies underfoot all the time while you are in the world.
3 - (This is the one i really don't get) With modern mass media/tech if a God is captured doing "God like things" it can radically alter the nature of the God themselves. Then the book points to some weak example of how the African Gods got shifted to the Loa by trying to interfeer with colonial slave trade (?)

I am sure I have some of this misunderstood. I can understand #2, though it seems mostly an annoyance, but it can easily snowball into more. #3 does not make sense as the book says that human worship does not effect the Gods directly. So I am not seeing how Fatebinding can boomerang and smack the Gods themselves in the teeth. I have not gotten to the actual mechanics of Fatebinding in the book yet so that might shed some light on it... but not holding my breath.

[Samudra]

Belief has no effect on the Gods... Legend and Notoriety on the other hand, do. A million mortals could believe that Zeus loves shrimp and this would not matter in the slightest... but if Zeus ever eats a single shrimp and someone caught it on tape and uploaded it to Youtube (or even spread the story around by word of mouth), now there's a problem... every single restaurant he visits will start to have shrimp night, every friendly neighbor in the vicinity of his Incarnations will start bringing over their famous shrimp casserole etc... Fatebinding for Gods works by placing expectations on them, that the way they act is the way they will always act, and then Fate starts twisting the narratives to make those events more likely to happen... when the Orisha (who are the Yoruba Gods, there is hardly a single Pantheon for all of Africa) saw their people suffering in the Chattel Trade, they came down to the World and started doing new things and therefore getting new expectations thrust upon them which eventually led to a whole set of different Mantles forming with different stories and actions than the Orisha.

This system in general makes Gods think carefully about what direct Actions they take in the World, since doing anything outside of their usual purviews tends to create new expectations they don't want, hence necessitating the need for Scions who can do things the God doesn't want to get caught doing... it also ensures that insulting pop-culture portrayals, popular though they may be, have no effect on the Gods... no matter how many people watch Temple of Doom, Kali does not in the slightest feel the need to rip hearts out, neither does Supernatural make her want to cheat on her husband with the archangel Gabriel and Baldur.

Also, I'll note that all these things are God level Fatebindings... the rules for Heroes work much more loosely and are overall much more benefit than hindrance, which is also part of what lets them do the will of the Gods more easily... they don't get caught up in Expectations. But I would suggest reading the rules for that.

[Kyman201]

I have not gotten to the actual mechanics of Fatebinding in the book yet so that might shed some light on it... but not holding my breath.[/COLOR]

You know it's probably best to read the relevant sections of a book before you open your mouth and look like a jerkface.

Though admittedly, the Fatebinding Mechanics in Hero are mostly concerned with Hero-tier Fatebindings, which don't quite have the teeth that they do at Demigod and God tiers. The way God-tier Fatebinding works (as Samudra notes) is basically the thing of "If you do something and that catches on and joins your Legend, Fate makes it easier to do it again".

Now Hero-Tier (I'll give you a quick version so you can take a breath before getting to the part of the book) Fatebinding... One, the mechanics are entirely Player-Opt-In. It's not like 1e where it tried to punish you each time you tried to do something cool.

Basically, when a Fatebinding occurs, Fate decides the Hero needs a supporting character. It assigns a Fatebinding role, usually based on one of the Hero's Callings. Someone who fits the needed role, Fate will conspire to enable the kind of situations that match the Fatebinding. If the Hero has someone Fatebound as, say, a Boon Companion, Fate will nudge things so that the Companion will show up when they're needed, and for the Hero and Fatebound to stumble into situations where they'll probably bond.

Accepting a Fatebinding will give you a new Point of Legend, and it's one of the more reliable ways to regain Legend. Then while the Fatebinding persists, you can Invoke it to get a benefit, or it can get Compelled against you to have Something Difficult happen to you or the Fatebound Mortal. But if it gets Compelled, you get more Legend. Yay! You can also Resolve a Fatebinding, which involves a VERY powerful effect, but has a very severe consequence. A Nemesis may get replaced by a stronger Nemesis. A Paramour (an explicitly romantic role) may decide that they can't HANDLE the pressure that comes from dating a Hero and break it off. A Boon Companion may dramatically die helping the Hero.

Honestly, Fatebinding at Hero Level is a REALLY great Mechanic that enables a LOT of storytelling. I love it.

[EmperorClydeIV]

Until now, I didn't quite get how fate was supposed to function in practice, but now I do. thanks Samudra and Kyman.