Ask a question, get an answer: Scion Edition

[marin]

21C Hermit mentioned they hadn't seen an 'Ask a Question' thread for Scion, so I decided to create one.

This thread is for Scion questions which don't require a thread to themselves, and which only need answers from other Scion players/STs/Storyguides.

Questions can be for 1e or 2e, but clearly mark which edition you're asking about.

[21C Hermit]

Do we still have cases of Mantles as “two gods, but they were identified as the same so they’re Mantles of the same god,” or are Mantles something more like Apollo having the Mantle of Phoebus? (I only skimmed through existing previews due to time constraints, so point me out if they already imply something.

[Samudra]

Do we still have cases of Mantles as “two gods, but they were identified as the same so they’re Mantles of the same god,” or are Mantles something more like Apollo having the Mantle of Phoebus? (I only skimmed through existing previews due to time constraints, so point me out if they already imply something.

A Mantle is a Specific Divine Identity... Ares and Mars are two Mantles currently being worn by the same God... Yama, on the other hand, is a member of 4 different Pantheons and has no separate Mantles since he's basically the same guy in each. The Shen have merged Mantles and given them to the same person for administrative purposes. The Orisha of Yoruba and the Goddesses of Hinduism constantly shift and borrow each other's Mantles as a matter of course. From what we know so far, a Mantle is a construct within Fate, built of Legend, and can move from person to person... You can, technically, literally become Zeus by stealing his Mantle for yourself.

Apollo being Phoebus is, on my opinion, more an example of a Title, which is a seperate thing entirely.

[Iceblade44]

A question on the Dream virtue for the Manitou. Exactly what type of behavior is it trying to encourage and how does it becomes in conflict with Pride? That is something that i was unclear of after reading their previews.

Also how strong can a Sorcerer can get? As the Orisha's normal antagonists would be them I'm curious on how that would work?

[MoroseMorgan]

Do we still have cases of Mantles as “two gods, but they were identified as the same so they’re Mantles of the same god,” or are Mantles something more like Apollo having the Mantle of Phoebus? (I only skimmed through existing previews due to time constraints, so point me out if they already imply something.

There's actually a nice little chunk of info on Mantles in the Companion outline that Neal so graciously shared with the latest ks update.

[Hawthorn]

OK so I have a question.

Actually, it a question from a friend that I was kinda giving the Scion 2E blurb to and realized I did not know the answer.

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere, I've not trawled through the forums nearly enough.

So from what I understand the general premise of Scion 2E is that the supernatural is an accepted part of the modern world. There is no masquerade. In addition, all these old pagan faiths never died out and modern day paganism is not a reconstructed religion but actually has a mostly continuous history.

Am I also right in saying that, in broad strokes, the last couple of thousands of years of human history roughly matches that of our own world?

If both of these are true then the following question got asked:

How is this the case? Considering that a huge number of historical social and religious trends in the last couple of thousands years kinda rely on Christianities predominance of at least Europe and via that several other parts of the world during the age of exploration?

For an example, the many, many religious schism in Christianity over that period seem less likely to happen if that religion was facing several other competing religions during say...the dark ages. Especially when said competing religions have Gods that actually get involved in things directly sometimes or at least send powerful proxies to do their bidding.

Basically, have I missed something about the games pitch or setting that kinda explains this.

[Samudra]

Yes, Scion works on the premise that the mythic is a known thing, since a Masquerade would be completely antithetical to the basic feel of the genre that Scion is trying to emulate i.e. mythology, where gods are usually not known for trying to hide their presence from mortals. That being said, most of the World knows about the mythic the way you and I know about organised crime... We know it exists, we may have some wild ideas about how it actually works stemming from pop culture, we may think it'd be really cool to meet one, or that their not worth the hype... But by and large most of us will go out entire lives without knowingly meeting anyone from that Sphere.

In addition, while a most of the religions that were popular in ancient times continue unbroken, the Abrahamic religions are still the dominant religions of the World, and many people, just like in the real World, don't find anything particularly contradictory in going to church and also invoking Jove.

The history of the World remains largely the same, true, but there are subtle differences in the way people's lives go about... The central conceit of the setting exists to facilitate mythic gameplay, which is the primary point.

As another point, why would you think the Abrahamic God didn't get involved in his people's history? Sure the other Pantheons have Gods, so do they... It is not too much of a stretch to imagine that they neutralized each other from doing anything greatly flashy and changing the course of history too broadly.

Finally, Gods don't need worship... Some of them like it, some demand it, some like the Orisha will happily tell you that they're not gods on the first place, but none of them need it... So the idea that the old Pantheons would get up in arms and persecute and stop every single human that converted in order to not lose worshippers is not really something that has reason for happening.

[MoroseMorgan]

Also of note, the Gods weren't always active in The World. Due to the vagaries of Fate and Fate-binding, they apply a lighter touch to interacting with The World, if at all.

While it doesn't answer every question, the Religions and Cults section on page 24 of Origins sets up good guidelines for how these things unfolded.

[MorsRattus]

The explanation, broadly speaking, is "this is our big ask. This is how it is - now we can backfill to decide how."

[milo v3]

Do Hero-tier denizens PCs that aren't scions still get purviews at character creation? The game says they're playable, but I can't see any text describing whether they can pantheon purviews or if they can start with any fitting purview since they lack a divine parent?

[ahather]

So the section on converting Origin characters to hero (for both scions and denisens ), says give them purviews as described in part 6, part 6 however only describes things for scions so i would say whatever purview seems fitting,

my question is can the legendary creature paths in hero be used in an Origin level game?

[Manbat]

I would guess tehy can, but should not, mostly due to power balance, but I didnt read them through very carefully, so I might be talking nonsense. But would explain why the Scion Origin have fewer Legendary Paths than Hero, as creatures are usually quite stronger than a pre-visitation Scion would be.

By the way, my two doubts.

Maybe someone already answered, but how does defense for players works? For monster I get it, a fix ammount of extra success needed. Easy. But it says players can choose their way of defending on the turn (which I imagine is something like rolling away or blocking or parrying) but doesnt say which skill to use. Is it Athletics (Dexterity)?

Second, but not least important, does Scions on Hero have less Skill points than Scion on Origin? Asking because in the character creation on Origin, on the final steps, there says the get 5 extra skill points to distribute as they wish, but says nothing on the Hero creation chart.

I believe those are two mistakes that will be fixed on the final product, but planning a game to this July. Thanks in advance to everyone.

[Kyman201]

I would guess tehy can, but should not, mostly due to power balance, but I didnt read them through very carefully, so I might be talking nonsense. But would explain why the Scion Origin have fewer Legendary Paths than Hero, as creatures are usually quite stronger than a pre-visitation Scion would be.

By the way, my two doubts.

Maybe someone already answered, but how does defense for players works? For monster I get it, a fix ammount of extra success needed. Easy. But it says players can choose their way of defending on the turn (which I imagine is something like rolling away or blocking or parrying) but doesnt say which skill to use. Is it Athletics (Dexterity)?

Defense for PCs is a pool of your highest Resilience Attribute. Stamina, Composure, or Resolve.

When you first get attacked in a round, you roll your Defend pool. You can spend your successes on Defense stunts, such as "Dive for cover" or just to boost your defense.

For the purposes of defense calculations, Neall confirmed that your Defense starts at 1 and can be boosted with successes. But don't underestimate blowing some successes on diving for cover. Cover gives bonus health levels to soak an incoming attack, not unlike Hard Armor.

Second, but not least important, does Scions on Hero have less Skill points than Scion on Origin? Asking because in the character creation on Origin, on the final steps, there says the get 5 extra skill points to distribute as they wish, but says nothing on the Hero creation chart.

Ah, that's some wires crossed when Neall was writing the Hero Chargen. Heroes should get all the bonuses when freshly created that an Origin character should. The bonus skill points, the extra attribute dot, the choice of two additional Knacks or four extra dots of Birthright

Edit: Now's probably a good point to link this. It's an FAQ of questions I've seen answered on the Scion Discord, each answered by Neall himself.

[StarkJunior]

If you have choose to have the 4 dots of Birthrights at Origin, is it possible to gain access to a Purview, then? With just the innate power and a motif?

[Kyman201]

If you have choose to have the 4 dots of Birthrights at Origin, is it possible to gain access to a Purview, then? With just the innate power and a motif?

I'm pretty sure that beings without Legend don't get Purview Access, including the Innate powers. Some Sorcerers can weave Marvels but even they need to steal the power to do so