Scion: Living Legends - New Scion Game

[Dave ST]

Interest check.

Premise: Scion Demigod game.

Style: Fun, with some dark to it.

Number of Players: 4-5 (Genders must be equal (2/2, 2/3 or 3/2, if you guys all hand me female PCs, I won't even consider them)

Synopsis: Normally you have to earn Demigod status, in this game you will start as a Demigod. Once you have your visitation you are promoted to Demigod and away you go. Why are we starting at demigod? Seriously, don’t dwell on it, it will allow you access to more powerful purviews and more options for advancement without having to load up on legendary deeds. Higher Legend will mean more of a burden, but those are the breaks.

The PCs will start as high school students, all in attendance at the same school in a state I’ve not decided (open to idea of someone has one). Chances are your PCs will know each other from the hallways; maybe even one or two of you are friends. Perhaps all of you hate each other because you’re all in different cliques (see The Breakfast Club). Whatever, it’s up to you; you’re adults, talk and figure it out.

As Fate would have it you’re all going to be brought together to protect each other and survive those evils that are now hunting you. As the game moves on I’m hoping to time lapse a bit and press them beyond the high school years, we’ll see.

Unless the Gods intervene and make this mythic… I don’t see this game reaching Godhood.

Character Creation: Real simple and done in three easy steps.

1. Make a Hero. Any of the 6 core Pantheon’s are permitted. Do not spend any Bonus Points.

2. Apply the Demigod template. Do not spend any Bonus Points.

3. Spend 30 Bonus Points. Since you spent 0 at the Hero stage and 0 at the Demigod stage, 30 are the total amount of Bonus Points you should have to spend. That’s it, no more than 30.

Caveats:
Only 1 of your Attributes can be rated at 5, regardless of what your Legend allows.

You are not given free Legend. Whether you decide to go with Legend 2 or Legend 6, you have to pay for it with your Bonus Points, so, if you choose, you can start with a Legend of 6, but it will cost you 28 of your bonus points.

Even if your starting Legend is 4 or below, you still apply the Demigod template, everyone gets this, regardless of their Legend.

If your Legend is 5 you will start with one permanent mortal Fatebinding. If your Legend is 6 you will begin with three permanent mortal Fatebindings. Who these people are is up to you, and if you can’t think of something, I’ll pick for you. They don’t need long, drawn out stories, just a synopsis will do.

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When making your Scions, don't include in their history anything about having been visited by their parent. As the game starts, no one has been visited by any Gods... at least, none that said so.

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Now, I'm hoping to get this game started by January 13th. This gives you guys plenty of time to mull this over and to make your PCs. If also allows you guys plenty of time to talk amongst yourselves and decide how you wanna handle your PC interactions. If some of you are done before the 13th and people are itching to start, we might get it going sooner.

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As always I'll answer any questions you have.

[Gabe Meadow]

I'm in. This is Jer's author-RL adaption PC, like Jas/Kylie did in Azure. Scion of either Odin, Athena or Isis.

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And I vote for Massachusetts.

[Nadya Lunălescu]

I would like to remake Nadya (larcenous Romani daughter of Bastet) but if that would throw off the gender balance, I have an idea for a shapeshifting Son of Apollo (possibly adopted by Artemis).

[Gabe Meadow]

I would like to remake Nadya (larcenous Romani daughter of Bastet) but if that would throw off the gender balance, I have an idea for a shapeshifting Son of Apollo (possibly adopted by Artemis).

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So far it's only 1:1, and I doubt it will throw anything off, as long as people who next submit are sensible.

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Also, just to be clear, I have decided to declare Gabe a Scion of Athena.

[Dave ST]

I would like to remake Nadya (larcenous Romani daughter of Bastet) but if that would throw off the gender balance, I have an idea for a shapeshifting Son of Apollo (possibly adopted by Artemis).

Either is fine, but remember there are not a lot of Romani in America, and the Romani culture is drastically different here. Point being, it'd be incredibly hard to justify a Romani in this particular setting. That doesn't mean she can't be of Romani decent, but she herself being a gypsy is unlikely. Larcenous, however, is perfectly acceptable.

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Since most people tend to go with daughters of Artemis, it would be different to see a son of Artemis and, considering he biased towards men in general, why she adopted a male. What did she see in him that their other patron did not?

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Also, for everyone, when making your Scions, don't include in their history where they've been visited by their parent. As the game starts, no one has been visited by any Gods... at least, none that said so.

[Hyoseph]

I'm definitely interested in this, looking at either Kalfu or one of the Greeks.

Gender-wise, I's a guy

~H

[Gabe Meadow]

I'm definitely interested in this, looking at either Kalfu or one of the Greeks.

Gender-wise, I's a guy

~H

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I did Athena, so I vote you going Kalfu to keep things diverse.

[Dave ST]

Personally, I don't mind if everyone plays members of the same Pantheon. Athena and Ares were two totally different gods and their children would be drastically different as well. Just because 4 or 5 people are playing doesn't mean that there has to be 4 or 5 different pantheons represented. If everyone goes Greek, or Aesir, or Loa then that's perfectly acceptable as well as diversity among the Pantheons too.

[Vivi OOC]

Sure, sounds fun, and things have been slow. Put me down for a female.

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EDIT: Meant to specify, probably Aesir, haven't nailed it down 100% yet.

[darksol-aeternium]

I may have missed the last one but I'm up for this! What ISN'T allowed here? I've heard a bunch of ideas that come from the core, but is it legal to play something exotic? (say, an Annuna or a Manitou?)

Oh and the character would be male, so that would be 3:2

[Dave ST]

Any of the 6 core Pantheon’s are permitted.

[darksol-aeternium]

6 core eh? That's fine, switch idea #1 I sent you via PM to Egyptian.

[Dozer]

I'm In.

[Dawn OOC]

Interested, looking at revamping Ian for this.

[Dave ST]

Okay, the game has room for 5 players which means that, with all the avail interest, it boils down to attrition. When I get all the submissions for PCs I will review them and select the ones that best fit the game. I might permit 6 players if the entries are really good and I find myself torn.

[Dave ST]

With a fwe entries already in, I'll make the setting official. The setting will be Salem Massachusetts. All the PCs will be students of Salem High School.

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Also, DarkSol... when you send me all the PC, not just half of it, I'll review it.

[darksol-aeternium]

Should be sent now.

[Dave ST]

Rockin' I'll give it a looksee.

[Dave ST]

I've gotten several submissions so I'm going to go over a few things now that I've read over them...

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1. Your PCs are in high school. It's unlikely they will be wearing 6" heels to school, be allowed to dress like sluts (on school grounds), have numerous 'adult piercings', or tattoos. You are playing young adults, please don't play this like some Aberrant game. While my games generally include adult themes and dark and twisted events/humor, I still need some foundation of practicality to work from. Oh, and Asa, I'm not directing this one at you... I've gotten a few colorful submissions besides yours.

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2. I don't see a lot of talking going on in here about who's making what and who is going to pick up the slack on certain roles. Granted, you're not required to, but right now I have 4 submissions and three of them have EDex 3-4, which is cool, but has anyone given any thought about how you will survive a hit once one slips through your defenses (Because it will. That I can guarantee you.) I'm not saying dump everything into soak, but you might want to try and find a decent medium ground between passive and active defense. You guys have a thief (Nadya), which is good, she fills a dexterity based role (Actually, she sort of fills every role, with at least a 1 in every epic att). You have a thinker (Gabe) which is good, he fills the intellectual role allowing you to plan and do research... but what is everyone else doing?

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The reason I'm saying 'think of roles' is because if you have a PC that is good at something it will help you feel involved more. If all of you make the same thing (which, in essence, three of you have) then all the cross over will make the game repetitious as you all stand Legend x 5 yards away and attack with your ranged melee weapons, which, by the way, all of you took the 'strike target Legend x 5 yards away' on your weapons which is hilariously tacky.

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General assessment at the moment? You guys are going to get creamed. Compliment each other with your builds.

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Talk. You're adults. You're allowed to converse. If people want advice I'm here to help. I know I'm abrasive with my opinions sometimes, but it's nothing personal. I'm just direct and trying to be honest with everyone. If those of you who have already submitted your PCs want some advice, I'll be happy to lend you some ideas. I'm still reading and assessing the characters, however, which is why you haven't heard anything back from me via a PM.

[Gabe Meadow]

Whuh? Wooow.

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Okay then.... let's see if I can help talking out roles then...

Jack of Trades/Thief (Nadya/Asa)

Thinker (Gabe/me)

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What we probably could use filled:

- Brick (to actually take blows and dish them out in turn)

- Charmer (our social siren/maven to really do the talking for us)

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From there, it's a bit more nebulous, but I think the key is to still avoid excessive overlap.

[z-Ian]

I'm going to expound on that list, Gabe.

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Rogue - Nadya

Brain - Gabe

Brick -

Face -

Damage dealer (this can be overlapped and we need a mix of ranged and melee) -

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These are, of course, the classic D&D party roles, with a bit of alteration because D&D doesn't really have the need for Faces. It'd be nice to have a 'cleric' in there, too. Not all of us will have regenerate... Unless we all do, which might get weird. None of these are set in stone but I think they'd all be useful to have.

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Anywho, Ian probably is going to fit Brick or Damage dealer most closely. I haven't decided for sure which way he's going on that, but his dad is the second-strongest of the Aesir so I lean toward melee damage output.

[Gabe Meadow]

PC Gabe is a Scion of Athena and has the Health purview with full dots up to the limit of his Legend. So he's partly cleric.

[darksol-aeternium]

I admit it, I asked for a sack piercing of power! XD

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But seriously, if we've already got a rogue and a cleric, I can alter my character slightly and create a DPS fighter (as opposed to a Tank fighter).

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My character is Khalid, and would be working towards being a god of darkness. As such he isn't meant to be really bulky since he's more suited to assassinating the target with precision than cleaving through the battlefield like a war-god. That actually sounds like a melee rogue or ranger build really...

[Dozer]

I'm going with a sniper-type build. Ranged DPS. And no, I'm not going with a melee weapon that can also do ranged. I have two separate weapons.

[Vivi OOC]

Okay, um. This is a pen-and-paper style tabletop game. It's not World of Warcraft. Where are you guys getting "DPS?" It's not a term that even makes sense in this context.

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And, seriously dude? A nutsack piercing? You're trolling, right?

[z-Ian]

We're taking the concept of roles a touch too seriously but I reached for that to avoid everyone doing the same PC, given Dave's comments above. I admit, I wasn't talking much about my PC until yesterday because I wasn't sure where I was taking him. Looking at the roles in the game and what has already been done has helped me to figure out where I'm taking Ian.

[Sunstar]

After much debating I think I'll be rolling up a scion of Persephone

[Dave ST]

Alright, at this point I'm waiting on Ian, Vivi and AP's submissions. In the days to come I'll be posting up some the setting stuff, like a who's who Salem and few of you fellow classmates at Salem High. Take a bit to familiarize yourself with the Salem area with Google Maps

[Dawn OOC]

Just so you know, the mechanics are done (I hope) so it's down to the background. That shouldn't take me long, I hope. You should have something from me soon.

[Dave ST]

Cool. You guys still have plenty of time, so it's all good.

[mjorkk]

I hope a late last-minute application from someone who just discovered this site (but not Scion) wouldn't be too frowned upon. Actually grew up a medium-drive from Salem in Marblehead. Give it a few hours, I'll have one.

[Dave ST]

First off, welcome to the site.

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Secondly, this is a game for 4-5 players and I have almost seven (I think) people who want in. So, as I said in a previous post (in case you skimmed all 30 replies, which I don't blame you... I do it to), I've narrowed the game down to attrition. I'm asking everyone interested to submit a character and I will review all the entries and select the ones who would best fit the model of the game I'm planning for them. So, the same applies for you as well Mjorkk, submit to me a PC (PM it to this account) and I'll review it.

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For everyone, please understand that those not selected are in no way 'bad characters' and if your interest remains with the game then I will keep any or all of he character on the 'reserve' list in case I open more slots for the game or someone drops out, both of which happen quite often around here, given real life being what it is.

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So, yeah, again, welcome to the site. Have a look about and seriously if you have any questions feel free to ask me or anyone else. There is also a Chat, so don't be shy.

[mjorkk]

A Few questions before I finalize my application and send it to you.

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1-Does that "Only one stat may be 5, and every other stat must be lower" apply to pre-Demigod Stats, or post-Demigod Stats? If it applies to post-demigod stats, with the starting 1 pt in each, the initial 8,6,4, array, and the +4, +3, +2, then a maximum of 1 stat can mechanically be below 4, and that has to be a 3. Personally I find it fun to make characters who have exploitable holes in their arrays, or at least role-play characters with flaws/hubrises... especially in a game drawing so much from greek mythology; but then again the genre of high school dramas tends to employ nothing but near-perfect attractive individuals, so it'd make sens if the gods were intentionally drawing on the narrative fate-strings of that genre of storytelling... and would also be hilarious,

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2-If your parent's associated powers says Animal(Gopher) do you have JUST the animal (Gopher) purview associated, or the entire Animal purview.

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3-When Fight with your Head is negating successes/dice, and the victim has both magical dice (like from animal aspect/arete or something) and magical successes (from an epic stat,) does the user or the victim decide which are negated first?

[Dave ST]

1-Does that "Only one stat may be 5, and every other stat must be lower" apply to pre-Demigod Stats, or post-Demigod Stats? If it applies to post-demigod stats, with the starting 1 pt in each, the initial 8,6,4, array, and the +4, +3, +2, then a maximum of 1 stat can mechanically be below 4, and that has to be a 3. Personally I find it fun to make characters who have exploitable holes in their arrays, or at least role-play characters with flaws/hubrises... especially in a game drawing so much from greek mythology; but then again the genre of high school dramas tends to employ nothing but near-perfect attractive individuals, so it'd make sens if the gods were intentionally drawing on the narrative fate-strings of that genre of storytelling... and would also be hilarious.

Post.

I know this leaves everyone starting off with some insanely high stats for high school kids, however I did it for a couple reasons. One was to keep everyone from dumping it all into appearance, which irritates the shit out of me. Second was to balance out the PCs for the upcoming challenges. Having a minimum possible Strength of 3 helps the not so combat-centric PC out a little bit when it comes time for them to have to defend themselves (and everyone will find themselves in a scrap, eventually).

Everyone should end up with one 5, one 3, and all the rest should be 4's. Where you go from there is entirely up to you, he players. Once the game starts all caps are removed and your free to excel in any direction you choose (within the limits of your Legend score, of course).

2-If your parent's associated powers says Animal(Gopher) do you have JUST the animal (Gopher) purview associated, or the entire Animal purview.

Technically only Animal (Gopher) is considered associated. I tend to leave it open to interpretation, since somethings just make sense. For example, a Scion of Poseidon gets Animal (Horse) (Poseidon was the God of horses as well as the sea). However if a Scion PC of Poseidon were to take Animal (Fish) as one of their purviews, I'd consider it associated. I also allow crossover for some of the Boons as well. So if you have Animal (Eagle) but wanted to use the Animal Communication boon on a falcon or a hawk, I'd probably allow it (they're birds of prey) but you couldn't use it to talk with pigeons in the park.

Most of the time it's sort of handled on a case by case.

3-When Fight with your Head is negating successes/dice, and the victim has both magical dice (like from animal aspect/arete or something) and magical successes (from an epic stat,) does the user or the victim decide which are negated first?

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The user decides. This one is also risky, since it provokes a Fatebinding. It's useful, but I'm not a big fan of it.

[mjorkk]

The "instant demigod" thing your doing is definately interesting. It gives you a short-term power boost, but DRASTICALLY increases the lifetime XP costs of nearly every character concept, by almost 100XP. Sort of like the dark side of the force: much more power in the short term, but much less power in the long term. It's not much of an issue, because you say you don't see it reaching God level, it's just mathematically interresting.

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P.S. Can someone give a rundown of the gender balance right now. Don't want to waste time if I'm going to be adding another male into a sausage-fest pigpile. If that's not the case I'll have the app in within 24 hours. Mechanics are done, just working on some back-story (I know, no visitation yet and all.)

[Nadya Lunălescu]

From what I've heard talked about in chat and what has been mentioned in this thread, I think the gender-balance is pretty even, with maybe a slight bias towards male (which oddly enough bucks the usual trend around here). Though to be fair, I'm not entirely sure how many full submissions Rev has gotten.

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Oh, and welcome to the site, Mjorkk.

[Dawn OOC]

P.S. Can someone give a rundown of the gender balance right now. Don't want to waste time if I'm going to be adding another male into a sausage-fest pigpile. If that's not the case I'll have the app in within 24 hours. Mechanics are done, just working on some back-story (I know, no visitation yet and all.)

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Round here, it's way safer to assume that a game is being overpopulated with women, not men. We have a lot of people who play female (exclusively or nearly-exclusively). However, Jer and I have both made guys, so if you're a dude, then I think we have something approaching balance.

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These are my guesses, if all of the people who've expressed interest submit:

Jer - dude

Me - dude

Asa - dudette

Abyss - dudette

Vivi - dudette

Hyo - dude

Dozer - dude

You - dude

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5:3 is not great, but I have definitely seen worse around here. Plus Dave will shave three of them off to get to five, and those will probably be two men and a woman.

[darksol-aeternium]

Back when I expressed interest it was only split 3:2 male to female including myself. Did all these other people come from chat or something?

[Dawn OOC]

Back when I expressed interest it was only split 3:2 male to female including myself. Did all these other people come from chat or something?

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Yes, this is my accounting (not what Dave's recieved) based on chat-talk and what I've seen people post in this thread. Just because someone has expressed interest doesn't mean that they're going to actually submit, though, so this is an estimate.

[mjorkk]

Sorry for taking so long. Post holiday business has been crazy. Promise that I'll get a character in today some time.