Scion Variant - Genii Loci

[LordHeru]

So instead of a standard Scion campaign where you play a regular god in a pantheon I was wondering about the potential of say playing the god of a place. Obviously it would start small but as said god grows in power they can grow in size and such. The campaign could start with the character being a normal human (origin) and then something happens that causes them to become the embodiment of a place - or maybe the campaign could skip that and start with them becoming a god of a place.

I could see there be some sort of avatar to let them leave, with lesser power, their places - thus allowing the campaign to progress elsewhere. Or maybe they can leave their direct place of power and operate around the region, allowing for a group campaign to exist.

I don't have all the details or anything but the idea of a campaign centered around te spirit of a place just really seems to interest me, and I figured maybe (with some modification) Scion could serve as the rule base for such a campaign.

[Mateus Luz]

I see an option of using a denizen path, but it need to be created for that end. You would start with a location, maybe a important room in a castle or a memorable battle ground. From that you can embody people or objects that have the same “aura”, or maybe create an avatar (I have the image of the Egyptian gods from Riordan-verse/Percy Jackson-verse, that exist mainly in the Maat and need to embody things to stay in the real world).

Anyway the condition could be something like:

Genii Loci: your existence is linked to a certain place. Whenever you stay away from that place your legend is treated 1 dot lower (minimum 0). Whenever it impact your roll, you add a momentum to the pool.

You could add a knack that teleport you beck to your place, or that open a portal, I don’t know, it’s just a suggestion. It could maybe work as a realm birthright from Demigod.

Maybe the character is linked to a conceptual place and not a specific place, so a death genius could be linked to sepulcres, or to mausoleums, and not to an specific cemetery. In this case the condition would apply only when away for any of that kind of place, giving some versatility.

[LordHeru]

Mateus Luz thanks, that is some nifty ideas.

I really like the whole Legend penalty for being away from it. (I could also see, like Dragons, changing the name.) Maybe it starts as a penalty of 1 but as a Scion grows in connection the penalty becomes even higher - leading to say a full blown god Scion having a huge penalty when outside of his place of power. I especially like this as it allows for the early game to be quite similar to a standard Scion game in that it can go where it needs to go.

I also like the idea that some such beings are capable of being linked to a conceptual place, leading to the existence of certain Genii Loci that are capable of much easier movement than others. Like you said a death genius or maybe a trader one or something.

I'm a fan of the idea that at first the being themselves is able to leave the area but that upon reaching certain thresholds they are more nad more restricted, to the idea that when they become a full god they need to create an avatar because they can't leave directly. Of course, by that point, there place of power has probably grown to realm size itself, meaning its not so much a day to day limitation. hehe

But yeah, the idea that the place starts as a field or pond or room and in time grows to a region or lake or city could be interesting.

I honestly think that such a variant would be really fun to do.

[FallenEco]

There are a number of Birthrights outside the first two corebooks (Covenant and Realm jump to mind) that aim for something similar in concept, as well as the Primordial Calling.

I say similar, because the above concept is a lot more restrictive. I could see a Denizen Calling/Path drawing upon Primordial Knacks (extra limitations), with a condition that creates a penalty aware from your place of power.

[LordHeru]

There are a number of Birthrights outside the first two corebooks (Covenant and Realm jump to mind) that aim for something similar in concept, as well as the Primordial Calling.

I say similar, because the above concept is a lot more restrictive. I could see a Denizen Calling/Path drawing upon Primordial Knacks (extra limitations), with a condition that creates a penalty aware from your place of power.

Oh that's cool. Especially the fact that others have thought of somewhat similar things. I mean beyond the whole idea of a focus on having a place of power that one is bonded to I am open to other possibilities for this campaign.

So, with that said, what books (or materials) are those Birthrights written in?

[Mateus Luz]

Covenant birthright is described in Mysteries of the World
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/315311/Mysteries-of-the-World-The-Scion-Second-Edition-Companion

Realm birthright in Demigod (not yet available)

Primordial Calling is described in Titanomachy
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/326635/Titanomachy-A-Collection-of-Threats-for-Scion-Second-Edition

[FallenEco]

Oh that's cool. Especially the fact that others have thought of somewhat similar things. I mean beyond the whole idea of a focus on having a place of power that one is bonded to I am open to other possibilities for this campaign.

So, with that said, what books (or materials) are those Birthrights written in?

The Demigod preview has the Realm Birthright (and at least one of PSPs that also focus on places of power); the Covenant birthright is in Mysteries of the World, the Origin/Hero companion, along with the Nemtondevos PSP which has a 'sacred shrine' thing going on, though it refers to both Demigod and God for some of those effects.
Both Titanomachy and the Dragon preview have the Primeval Calling, which is about being a concept or a piece of the World.

This is just off the top of my head, so there may be more.

Edit: Mateus Luz beat me here. Kudos

[glamourweaver]

The “be an elemental” Calling is Primeval. Primordials are something different in Scion.

[LordHeru]

Interesting stuff. The dragon calling of Primeval is very much in theme to what I am thinking about. (It also works mythically due to the many spiritual begins that have taken on a dragon form as a sign of their power.)

I don't have Demigod (missed that kickstarter) so I can't see Realm but I figure that as more power comes out the idea of what I am going for gets filled in a bit more.

[FallenEco]

Interesting stuff. The dragon calling of Primeval is very much in theme to what I am thinking about. (It also works mythically due to the many spiritual begins that have taken on a dragon form as a sign of their power.)

I don't have Demigod (missed that kickstarter) so I can't see Realm but I figure that as more power comes out the idea of what I am going for gets filled in a bit more.

The Primeval Calling is also in Titanomachy.


The Realm Birthright can provide Knacks, motifs and limited Marvels. Demigod also has fatebinding rules for locations.