Scion

Scion is a game I had big hopes for - I mean, come on, you get to play the sons and daughters of old pagan deities in the modern world, fighting against the evil Titans/Jotun/ what have you and their minions to decide the fate of the world! how could that not be cool? Sadly, it didn't work out as well as it could have; mechanical elements of the game - using White Wolf's Storyteller system - just didn't work very well in implementing the feel of playing a modern-day Hercules. It's still a cool game to think about, though, and maybe somewhere on the internet, somebody has managed to figure out how to rework the game so that it works on a higher level. In any case, that's my game for tonight.

When making a Scion character, the first thing I really have to consider is which divine pantheon to make a scion of. My options are Norse, Greek, Egyptian, Japanese, Voodoo, and Aztec; there are other options outside the basic book, but those are the ones I'll start from. I'm feeling Northern tonight, so I'll go with Norse. Then I choose a god (or goddess) to have my character be the child of; my options are Baldur, Freyr, Frigg, Heimdall, Hel, Loki, Odin, Sif, Thor, Tyr, and Vidar. I think I'll go with Baldur. This means that when I get to Powers later, I'll know my parental associated powers are Epic Appearance, Epic Charisma, the Guardian, Jotunblut, and Sun Purviews. Baldur's associated abilities are Art, Athletics, Brawl, Melee, Marksmanship, and Presence. I'm also likely to have trouble with any scions or servants of Hel or Loki, and also Apollo, Horus, Izanami, Kalfu, and Miclantecuhtli.

As a Storyteller game, it uses the standard Attributes, and so there are three division, Physical, Social, and Mental. As a Scion of Baldur, I'll make Social my Primary, Physical my Secondary, and Mental my Tertiary. So I have eight points to spread in Social; I will put 4 in Charisma, 3 in Appearance, and 1 in Manipulation; I don't think my character will be much of a plotter. For Physical, I'll make it an even spread, 2 each in Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina. Finally, for Mental, I have 4 points, so I'll put one each in Perception and Intelligence, and 2 in Wits.

For Abilities, I have 30 points to spread around, and can't raise any ability above 3 yet. Since I'd like to be pretty competent in any skill I take, I'll go with ten skills at 3 points each. I want to be faithful to my deific dad, so I'll choose Athletics, Brawl, Melee, and Presence for his associated list. Then I'll choose Awareness, Control (so I can drive some kind of cool divine vehicle), Empathy, Fortitude, Integrity, and Investigation. At this point, it kinda looks like I'm shaping up to some kind of super-cool two-fisted private detective with divine heritage, which sounds cool to me; I'll roll with it. Then I get 5 points to spend in the four Birthright categories: Creature, Followers, Guide, and Relic. I'll put 3 points in Followers to represent some friends my character has who happen to be in a Norse-themed biker gang, and 2 points in Relic, allowing me access to two of Baldur's divine Purviews.

I then get 10 points to distribute between Epic Attributes and Boons from Baldur. I'll split the points - 5 for Epic Attributes, 5 for Boons. I'll put a point each in Epic Dexterity, Stamina, Charisma, Appearance, and Wits; I then get a special Knack for each epic attribute; in order, I'll take Cat's Grace (it is hard to knock me off my feet, and I take difficult terrain well), Solipsistic Well-Being (once per scene, I can't be hurt by an attack I don't see coming), Charmer (I'm good at convincing even skeptical or suspicious or even hostile people to help me), Center of Attention (I can literally draw everyone's attention in any room I walk into) and Instant Investigator (I take an intuitive 'read' of any crime scene, knowing clues in seconds). For Boons, I'll take a 2-point Guardian Boon called Aegis, which grants a measure of divine protection to a person or object I designate, and then the 1-point Sun Boon, Penetrating Glare - which lets me see through smoke, fog, and similar translucent impediments with no penalty - and then the 2-point Sun Boon, Divine Radiance, allowing me to literally emit sunlight.

Then I proceed to Virtues; each pantheon has a set of four, and the Aesir have Courage, Endurance, Expression, and Loyalty. I start with one point in each, and then have 5 additional points to distribute; I'll put two each in Courage and Loyalty, and 1 in Endurance. My character isn't much of a poet or artist, so no points in Expression.Then I move intot he final stages of character creation. My Legend , which is the measure of my power as a scion, is 2; I'll raise that to 3 with bonus points. My Willpower, which represents my strength of purpose and determination, is the same as the total of my two highest Virtues; that makes it 6. Then I have 15 bonus points. 7 of these go to raising my Legend, and I'll spend another 2 to make my Willpower 7. I'll spend 4 more to add another point of Epic Charisma, and take the Knack Never Say Die (I can inspire allies even after taking a beating). The last 2 I'll spend on 2 points of Marksmanship - even a two-fisted detective with a winning smile might need to use a gun sometimes.So, the final character looks like:

Don (Short for Donar) Knight
Two-Fisted Private Eye
Attributes
Strength 3, Dexterity 3 (Epic 1), Stamina 3 (Epic 1)
Charisma 5 (Epic 2), Manipulation 2, Appearance 4 (Epic 1)
Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 3 (Epic 1)

Abilities
Athletics 3, Awareness 3, Brawl 3, Control (Automobiles) 3, Empathy 3, Fortitude 3, Integrity 3, Investigation 3, Marksmanship 2, Melee 3, Presence 3

Birthrights
Followers 3 (10 biker gang berzerkers)
Relic 2 (Grants access to Sun and Guardian Purviews)

Knacks
Cat's Grace
Solipsistic Well-Being
Charmer
Never Say Die
Center of Attention
Instant Investigator

Boons
Aegis
Penetrating Glare
Divine Radiance

Virtues
Courage 3
Endurance 2
Expression 1
Loyalty 3

Legend 3
Willpower 7