What are the things you can marvel with Wyrd?

[Sakii]

The entry in Hero says: "These include galdr (spells and
charms) cast through runes or chanting, spá (prophecy),
and the practice of seiðr in emulation of the Nornir"

I look up what exactly is a galdr and the effects where so varied, like from help childbirth, protect against attacks or summon storms.
I think there was a bit about Odin using it to speak to the dead.

So i feel i have to change the question to, What are the things you can't marvel with Wyrd? It seems like such a versatile Purview.

[Mateus Luz]

Theoretically it could be used to almost anything, but many of those things are related to purviews using the same motif.

My approach on Wyrd is that it’s related to embracing your fate as foretold before. So you can’t really use it to predict the future, but can sense your fate approaching (the fate you already know). So you can grant blesses and curses that are “supposed to be”, cause random effects that are “supposed to be” or force the final fate of people to happen because that is the time it is supposed to happen.

[Astromancer]

Going with the "supposed to be" theme. A sword that supposed to give victory if you are careful not to kill or cripple with it because it is supposed to be the sword of the gentle hero. Or a car that takes you to were you need to go because you are supposed to be there. Would these fit the theme?

[Mateus Luz]

Yes.

I would say more, things like the “target is destined to die today” (granting enhancements on your attacks), “I will become the defender of this town” (granting advantages when defending the town) or even “I am not destined to die today” (avoiding a mortal injury).

It can be versatile, but still limited, like all other purviews.

[milo v3]

It's worth saying that most of the signature purviews are very very broad. Some even being so broad that they actually replicate the marvel's of all purviews for that pantheon, such as the Kami's signature.

[Mateus Luz]

All purviews are considerably flexible, but we have to calm down on that. Yes, you can do a lot of things with the PSPs as they are not “part of what we know”, like Fire, Fertility or Sky, so we have some issues to point the, properly.

Kami PSP is one example of flexible to certain limits, the Kamis of the objects have a limited conscience and limited power over the thing they are, so you can’t ask a rock to move or watter to create a wall, it must be within certain limits, usually what the object do if left alone or with a little help, for example a rock would roll down a hill, but not up, and what’re may evaporate and condensate, but it will not condensate around a bonfire enough to make it stop burning.

Same for Wyrd, you can do some crazy stuff, but it must make some sense, yes the target can be fated to die in that place, but you must follow your fate too and fight, they are not going to die by themself, and maybe calling a meteor to fall from orbit just to hit in the head may be a bit to extreme.

The game can get really crazy if you don’t put a line to not be crossed, or at least some references. If everybody is having fun it’s ok, but using your hyper versatile purview to solve all your problems of the band can make other players be left behind and not having fun.

[wyrdhamster]

The game can get really crazy if you don’t put a line to not be crossed, or at least some references. If everybody is having fun it’s ok, but using your hyper versatile purview to solve all your problems of the band can make other players be left behind and not having fun.

What would be those lines, in your mind? Could you made those statesman for all those universal PSP?

[Mateus Luz]

What would be those lines, in your mind? Could you made those statesman for all those universal PSP?

That’s a hard question. I think the idea is to keep it in a way every player can be part of the game. If there is one Theoi, Shapeshift should be his thing, while all purviews can do some Shapeshift, Theoi will do it as they wish, if there is a Fortune scion, just because you have Wyrd you don’t need to predict the future, you can just go with the embraces fate, and let the fortune guy play the fortune teller thing. Also, if the idea is to use your purview to do everything, it gets a bit boring after a few sessions, even playing solo, you never fail because you have the ultimate tool that can be. Used to solve all the problems.

I have a very restrictive view of what a hero can do with purviews to be fair, but my approach is: the list of generic marvels (Hero, page 238+) and the booms listed for each of the purviews individually. Simulating booms from other purviews must be something unusual but possible. Keep in mind that heroes are not that divine, they can do fantastic things but they are still mortals and have limited power not just on how many times they can use their powers, but also on how powerful they are.

[Florin]

I'd argue the Legend cost with emulating a Boon combined with the fact you can only use one Marvel per scene does enough to keep things feeling in the right power scale. Marvels are meant to be open to a lot of uses, and the book basically says, "If your Purview and motif can be used to explain it, do it." (Which I think ties into the idea the SG should be a cheerleader for the PCs.) After all, any starting Hero who uses a Marvel to emulate a Boon is then stuck with their Boons which don't require them to imbue Legend until they can recover that Legend point.

All that said, I haven't had a chance to play or run Scion yet, and I believe Mateus has.

[Mateus Luz]

I played, sure, but we didn’t had the chance to play on high Legend yet, when the Marvels become more frequent. My suggestions are based on playing other free magic systems (Mage, Ars Magica, even some D&D).

Anyway, Scion is very open ended to the uses of the purviews, I like it more straight to the purview name, but many players prefer to be open minded about what can be done.

[Sakii]

The examples that i read seem to fit with the themes of manipulate fate, but what would you people take as the kind of things Galdr could do?
The book defines a Galdr as:

The magic incantations of the runes are chanted in a
falsetto voice, in a special lyrical meter called the galdralag.
The runic magic of the Æsir takes the form of charms or
certain purpose-made miracles, spoken and sung aloud in
a specific lyrical meter. Most of these runes and charms are
harmless and without power, but a few invoke the power of
the Gods and their Purviews. Many of the Marvels of the
Æsir are performed through these runes, created to serve
a specific purpose.

I understand that this is describing the Aesir motif, and what the PSP should do. But im not sure how to take "purpose-made miracles".


(Btw, i think that the most flexible PSP are Yoga and CHEVAL/GUN.
With yoga you could spend the scene saving people in a burning building to then ask the Deva for rain for example. Or with time, have access to any relic.
With the Loa, as long as you have time, you have access to all previews.
And as a bonus, the close dealings with the divine and ancestors open so much social challenges, so you can help generate story content)