Lovecraftian mythos in Scion

[happilyevil321]

So as the title says, how would the lovecraftian (or cthulhu) mythos fit in the Scion setting? What would the many deities and old ones be? Titans? Gods? Something else? And could they have or would they have scions themselves? What would the other pantheons reaction be?

[glamourweaver]

There’s a Kickstarter this month you’re going to want to back (Masks of the Mythos).

Personally I wouldn’t mix Lovecraft into Scion proper (I.e. the World setting) because the themes of Lovecraft require a cold unknowable alien nihilistic universe, that living myths that embody meaning in the universe kind of fly in the face of, so the core thematic conceits just collapse - but as it’s own setting using Scion mechanics, or harvestable rules for weirder deities I’m definitely interested in Masks. It’s in the hands of a developer I absolutely trust to handle the issue of Lovecraft’s racism woven throughout his work with proper deftness.

[Dataweaver]

I take it you've heard of the upcoming Kickstarter which will be featuring Masks of Mythos and Dragons?

The consensus here seems to be that it doesn't fit: of you want to do Lovecraft in using the Scion rules, do it as a stand-alone setting without any of the traditional Pantheons. We'll see what advice Masks of Mythos will provide.

[Penelope]

Totally backing this Kickstarter

[a2a3a2a3]

I am curious about how MotM will handle it. Given Scion's conceit, I imagine that it will have players play scions of the Great Old Ones, but I'm just wondering why they would have these scions. Like, the Old Ones are utterly apathetic towards humanity, they have no kind of investment in them beyond large groups of disposable cultists. Why would they bother with creating people invested with their power who could threaten them? Like, 'yeah, my dad's Yog-Sothoth' is cool and all, but why did Yog-Sothoth decide to have a human (or at least human-esque) daughter in the first place?

I'm sure this will all be answered soon enough with the Kickstarter, but yeah. It's simultaneously a very obvious choice of setting for Scion, and a very strange one.

[Trippy]

Not sure how any pantheon can’t fit, when the premise of the game is all myths are real. I would tend to see Cthulhu Mythos gods as ‘new gods’ which would make them good antagonists to the old gods represented by the PC Scions. The fact that the Cthulhu Mythos are nihilistic and apocalyptic even more so - I’m thinking a sort of Never Ending Story scenario (albeit set in the World), where old myths are dying out as the winds of nihilism take hold.

[Heavy Arms]

Given Scion's conceit, I imagine that it will have players play scions of the Great Old Ones, but I'm just wondering why they would have these scions.

I think this will be more variable. The Old Ones work rather well as non-Titan Titans unattached to any Pantheon; entities even the Orisha would agree need to be fought even if they thing the Titanomachy is BS. Like Titans the Old Ones have spawn for lower powered Scions to fight.

Of course, playing the Scions of them is also functional, esp. as rebels since the Old Ones aren't great about keeping their servants on this plane in line (because of this apathy).

Like, 'yeah, my dad's Yog-Sothoth' is cool and all, but why did Yog-Sothoth decide to have a human (or at least human-esque) daughter in the first place?

In the Dunwich Horror, it's very much implied that Yog-Sothoth didn't really decide actively to do this, but that their cults can compel such things.

[Penelope]

Right! I never actually read it, but the Dunwich Horror is about a Scion of Yog-Sothoth.

[Aristarkos]

Right! I never actually read it, but the Dunwich Horror is about a Scion of Yog-Sothoth.

Yes, and he is a sadistic and horrible goat boy if I remember correctly. I certainly hope that being twisted, corrupted fragments of humanity following the agendas of dark gods is not all that this book will be about.

You have a cool quote by the way.

[TheStray7]

Right! I never actually read it, but the Dunwich Horror is about a Scion of Yog-Sothoth.

Two of them, actually. One looked more like their father, though.

[Heavy Arms]

You could make the case that one would mechanically be a Scion, and the other would mechanically be a Titanspawn... assuming such labels apply in the supplement.

[Penelope]

Yes, and he is a sadistic and horrible goat boy if I remember correctly. I certainly hope that being twisted, corrupted fragments of humanity following the agendas of dark gods is not all that this book will be about.

You have a cool quote by the way.

Thanks! I stole it off the back cover of the original Vampire: the Masquerade book. (My ex had a copy.) But I attributed it to the last Ahrimane to give it more of a feminist feel and make it more relatable (in my version Mithras called a Blood Hunt on the Ahrimanes when they backed the Highland clans in the Jacobite Rebellion) and changed “damnable” to “damn” so it wouldn’t sound so old-fashioned.

[Florin]

I could see the Mythos wanting to destroy the World. Not rule it. Not replace the other gods. Just wipe it out of existence. Obviously that would make them good antagonists for a more core Scion experience.

I also imagine humans stumbling across the Mythos while hunting for power of some kind (for good or bad reasons) and effectively being made into Scions of Mythos gods. The Mythos gods would be trying to use the Scions to destroy the World, while the Scions would have to decide for themselves if they want to pursue that agenda or their own. I assume there would be punishment of some kind for not following orders. I think that is how I'd structure a game where the PCs are Mythos Scions.

[Dataweaver]

My understanding is that the lovecraftian pantheon isn't malevolent. It's apathetic. Passively destructive rather than actively so.

[Florin]

Interesting. I assume they'll have motivations of some kind, because completely apathetic gods/masters/whatever would be pretty boring. I'm curious as to what the motivations will be now.