The World

[Redwulfe]

So I am learning Scion for the first time and am reading Scion: Origins second edition and wanted to ask some questions about The World.

Do people Know scions and God’s exist? It seems to imply that in my readings.

[Mateus Luz]

The oficial answer is, if you want they do. But the way it is written for sure they know.

[Redwulfe]

OK, I am having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around it coming from the World of Darkness.

Would a cop know a crime might have been committed by a titanspawn or have an otherworldly cause? I mean if it was an unexplainable murder or something that looked supernatural?

What podcasts or actual plays would you suggest I look at to get a good feel for The World?

[Redwulfe]

Could a person have a contact that is specialized in cosmology?

Sorry if these questions seem dumb I am just trying to get a good understanding of the world. I am going to be the ST for a game and want to portray it close to form and it is very different from the games I am used to running.

[Mateus Luz]

Not dumb questions, actually there is a huge discussion about it that calmed down by February.

The true is, it’s impossible to say because there is not a official description of this answers. You must define it as a Story Guide with your players.

I am adept of the gods are hidden on their own myths, coming to the world in mortal forms and hardly appearing for mortals, but it’s not the way it appears on the book at all.

[Redwulfe]

Thanks I will try to find that thread so I am not repeating questions as I try to wrap my head around The World. It seems harder to conceptualize when everything is true, including how the world was created. Confusing.

[glamourweaver]

OK, I am having a bit of trouble wrapping my head around it coming from the World of Darkness.

Would a cop know a crime might have been committed by a titanspawn or have an otherworldly cause? I mean if it was an unexplainable murder or something that looked supernatural?

Different primary source material. World of Darkness is rooted in Gothic horror, which rose out of the 19th century sense of a separation between the mundane and the supernatural with the latter being hidden or beyond some kind of “veil”. Scion’s primary source material are the epic myths themselves, in which the numinous is ever present and never doubted even if most mortals don’t personally encounter it - Scion just adds cars and smartphones.

As to the cops question: this is a huge part of why governments tend to tolerate Scions and their cults despite their relative inability to control them. Because they deal with the mythic threats the cops can’t handle. That said, if you want to have an elite FBI division that includes recruited Scions et all that get called in in such cases, that would be completely in keeping with the World.

[Jürgen Hubert]

I wrote down some of my thoughts on how government agencies handle the supernatural here:

http://forum.theonyxpath.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/scion/1318835-fatebinding-and-government-agencies

[No One of Consequence]

That said, if you want to have an elite FBI division that includes recruited Scions et all that get called in in such cases, that would be completely in keeping with the World.

The God-Files. "Of course we believe."

If something like that isn't coming soon to the Nexus, it needs to.

I think Origin or Hero has a mention in it about Scions in the military as well. And I could easily see a major city like New York, London, Tokyo or Mumbai having a special police division that deals with mythic crimes. (And probably a dozen anime series that would serve as possible inspiration for such a thing.)

[Redwulfe]

It seems to me to be more akin to a superhero setting with more street level heroes. Obviously they are imbued mortals rather than mutants of course.

Also they seem there but more prevalent.

Is this correct?

It also seems like a what if the gods where real and did not get mostly deplaned by a Brahmin religions and we moved forward to the modern day.

Kinda like Kevin Sorbos Hercules in the modern day?
Correct?

[glamourweaver]

It seems to me to be more akin to a superhero setting with more street level heroes. Obviously they are imbued mortals rather than mutants of course.

Also they seem there but more prevalent.

Is this correct?

It also seems like a what if the gods where real and did not get mostly deplaned by a Brahmin religions and we moved forward to the modern day.

Kinda like Kevin Sorbos Hercules in the modern day?
Correct?

The western Abrahamic religions are still there in the World too, and a lot of people would identify as Christian, go to Church on Sunday, but still make a small sacrifice to Zeus in hopes of that promotion, or Xochipilli for that cute guy to call them back, etc etc, and not give much thought to the contradiction.

More mythically accurate to the Hercules the Legendary Journeys I would hope, but in terms of “is a Scion who is a traveling do-gooder who is more often that not at odds with capricious deities to protect mortals playable?” the answer is 100% yes!

[Nyrufa]

So I am learning Scion for the first time and am reading Scion: Origins second edition and wanted to ask some questions about The World.

Do people Know scions and God’s exist? It seems to imply that in my readings.

While 1st edition took the approach that Legendary beings tried to avoid public recognition out of fear of Fate Binding, 2nd edition's default approach is that total secrecy is no longer the case. The World is aware that monsters, Gods, magic and such exists, but the majority of people around the world probably won't encounter any of it during their life time. Meeting a Scion is like meeting a famous celebrity. You know they're out there, you know they're doing whatever it is that Scions do, but the chances of you running into them on any given day are quite slim.

Additionally, the pantheons and governments of the world seem to have come to some sort of understanding. Gods don't interfere in the affairs of mortal governments, and mortal governments likewise do not interfere in the affairs of Gods. If society is facing a threat of the more Legendary variety, they call in a specialist. That is to say, they get in contact with another Legendary being (such as a Scion) to handle the problem.

Cops deal with the regular, every day criminals, like common murderers, phone scammers and drug dealers. While Scions handle the tribe of Giants, pack of Werewolves, or coven of Witches that have been terrorizing the local citizens.

[Kyman201]

Now to build on Nyrufa's comment... The Gods in 2e are still wary of Fatebinding. With good reason, as 2e Fate can make a God run into recurring problems based on their past deeds.

But yes, as for the belief and the lack of secrecy... Through most of history, there was no Masquerade. The people of Hellenic Greece knew the Gods existed. They live in Olympus, which is a mountain on our world that you can find and climb. But don't try, Zeus may blast you.

To the Feudal era Japanese practitioners of that era's Shintoism, the Kami were very real things. You performed these rituals to appease them, and you don't wander into the woods with a gorgeous stranger.

Hell, ask any of the many practicing followers of Hinduism if they think their Gods are real.

So Scion's assumptions of "The Gods are real and nobody doubts this" is only a bit harder to swallow because of the Gods in question.

As for Heroes, yeah, many of them live in the limelight. Many appear on Social Media, make speeches, some probably give their names to crappy products for a cut of the sales. Now your game may have fewer or more heroes than others. I know a lot of people like to keep Scion numbers low.

Like. Less than a thousand worldwide, small. The books at one point tell you that the number of Scions in the World is "As many as your game needs"

And as a final point... A lot of Mythic Creatures like being left alone. And a lot of people, while they may believe in say, vampires, also know when something not their problem, just wear some garlic and let a Hero solve the problem.

[Nyrufa]

Now your game may have fewer or more heroes than others. I know a lot of people like to keep Scion numbers low.

Like. Less than a thousand worldwide, small. The books at one point tell you that the number of Scions in the World is "As many as your game needs"

I would personally rule that the pantheons came to an agreement that no individual deity should have more than 1 (mortal) Scion at any given time. With the intention being to limit the possibility of igniting a war between faiths, or worse, having their children squabble among themselves for their pantheon's favor.

Before a deity could produce a new Scion, the one they currently have needs to either ascend to divinity, or else... die permanently.

[MythAdvocate]

Yes. The world certainly knows they exist. And the gods are not the monsters they are in mythology either. At least that's what their PR departments say.