Mist of Myths - Should mortal remember mythical?

[wyrdhamster]

It's a hack talk, about concept related to Masquerade Trope. It's roughly based on idea of Mist from Percy Jackson's universe.

If we have concept of Mist covering mythical and supernatural, should mortals remember mythical encounters, later on? Like, let's assume Scions do Marvel to the mortal, to scary him - but not kill him. Would after encounter, mortal remember that 'those guys done scary things to me'? Or even 'monsters are real, guys, we need to make army'?!

I'm pondering pros and cons mortals remembering mythical events.

[Purple Snit]

Well, the short answer is; if mortals don't remember Mythical events, then who tells the tales later to spread the myths in the first place?

[glamourweaver]

If you’re doing Percy Jackson where the mythic is hidden for some reason, then I guess it gets mentally cloaked, whatever.

of course you’ve rejected actually doing epic myth in the modern world where heroes are heroes who reshape society in their deeds at that point. If you’re doing that than the whole masquerade and mist thing needs to get thrown out as 2e did.

[Mockery]

I tend to walk a middle ground, where people without a Legend Score or a path or condition reflecting a connection to the supernatural* don't actively forget, but the supernatural elements of their experiences tend to sink to the bottom of their memories. The fantastical absolutely exists, it just happens to other people.

* Paths reflects like, the cryptid-focused park ranger , the detective whose cases always end up involving the weird, as well as Origin-tier characters. Conditions can reflect wounds, fatebindings, or other weird crap.

[moonwolf8]

Earlier tis evening I watched Ancient Aliens: the Shadow People. I've never experienced these Shadow People myself, they are something that happens to other people. Perhaps all encounters with Shadow People are foreign myths intruding on our mythopoeic establishment.

[gscrap]

It's a choice, and the writers go into some detail on it in an early chapter of Mysteries of the World. As others have said, the default in 2e is that scions' legend is literally and mechanically enhanced when word of their deeds spreads among mortals, so that kind of necessitates mortals remembering the supernatural. I find it a bit frustrating as a storyguide myself, since it's hard to rationalize the World having any real resemblance to our world when everyone's aware that giant monsters and divine champions exist. But then I remind myself that Marvel and DC have both been doing that for decades and no one complains too strenuously-- you just handwave speculation into the natural repercussions of the change and go on with your game the way you want to play it.

But, as I said, Mysteries of the World offers suggestions for customizing the World to fit the story you want to tell, and one of the options they present is to shift mythology more into the shadows. Having mortals automatically forget and come up with alternative explanations for everything supernatural that they experience could work, but that also limits storytelling and creates its own set of contradictions.

[Jürgen Hubert]

It's a choice, and the writers go into some detail on it in an early chapter of Mysteries of the World. As others have said, the default in 2e is that scions' legend is literally and mechanically enhanced when word of their deeds spreads among mortals, so that kind of necessitates mortals remembering the supernatural. I find it a bit frustrating as a storyguide myself, since it's hard to rationalize the World having any real resemblance to our world when everyone's aware that giant monsters and divine champions exist. But then I remind myself that Marvel and DC have both been doing that for decades and no one complains too strenuously-- you just handwave speculation into the natural repercussions of the change and go on with your game the way you want to play it.

Superhero settings are a good analogy. And one of the things that attracts me to Scion is that the supernatural isn't secret, since "Masquerade"-type settings tend to break my suspension of disbelief more fiercely.

For most people in the World, the supernatural is similar to celebrities, tv shows, sports teams, and so forth. Something they hear about, and talk about, and write fanfiction about - but it doesn't really show up in their daily lives all that often unless they are one of those (un)lucky sods who get Fatebound by a Scion.