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Scion: Legends of the Wild West - Character Creation Rules


Ouroboros

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So? Char Gen ... as standard from the book? Yes, mostly. Except...

House Rules:

  • Epic Attributes - Require a bare minimum of 3 dots in the baseline Stat before you can purchase your 1st dot of Epic (I would prefer 4 but the signature PCs in the game have done it at 3)
  • Legend – All PCs start with Legend 3 at no cost but cannot purchase additional points of Legend with Bonus Points.
  • Bonus Points – remain at standard 15 during chargen
  • Gaining Legend - During play players will not be allowed to purchase Legend with Exp. Instead I will hand out Legend, free of cost, periodically when the group has earned it.
  • I want to be a Scion of ... See the below...
  • Allowed Pantheons and Gods:
    • All Pantheons in the books will be allowed with the exception of the Atlantean Pantheon.
    • The “modern” Pantheons presented in Part 6 of the Scion Companion contain some Gods who don’t yet exist in the time frame of this game, they are:
      • American: Rosie the Riveter, Pecos Bill (still a Scion at this time), and Paul Bunyan (likewise still a Scion at this point),
      • Soviet: The Citizen
      • A note: Br'er Rabbit is at this time not yet affiliated with the Yankee Pantheon and is known primarily as Coyote and/or Raven, a member of the broken Pantheon of Great Spirits. Replace Industry with Illusion as an associate Purview.
      • While there is no cannon Native American Pantheon(s) detailed I will consider player requests to custom made NA Gods as part of the broken Pantheon of Great Spirits.
  • Ethnicity: The gods are all whatever ethnicity their Pantheon was created by, as such unless you are an adopted scion you are going to be at least half of whatever ethnicity your parent is. Adoption is the only way around this and of course begs the question of why your true parent disowned you.
  • Likewise some ethnicities will be far rarer in the US in this time period than others. Players are advised to use this opportunity to come up with detailed backgrounds to justify their presence and/or their adoption by another Pantheon.
  • I want to play an old dude! Good for you, there are plenty of other games where you can go complain about dentures and healthcare. Scions are young and vital, visitation happens in the late teens maybe as late as 20. Since the PCs are all going to be Legend 3 that’ll give you some upward leeway, say between 18 and 30 or so…
  • Can I use Boon/Relic/Creature/etc. XYZ from Book ABC? At this time we will be using the following Scion Books: Hero, Demigod, God, Companion, and Ragnarök as resources for this game. For anything cribbed from a book other than the Hero core rules please reference the Book and Page where the entry can be found. This will help the ST stay sane.
  • Geasa ... cool! Hold up there bub. Members of the Tuatha Dé Dannan may NOT choose their own Bans when creating their geasa. The ST will find something appropriately mean for you. Yes I am a meany.
  • I want a birthright that allows me access to a Purview I don't yet have boons for ... is that ok? Yes and no. If the Birthright in question has multiple purviews and you will be using some but not all at char gen that is fine, if you are just buying a 1 dot relic with a future boon purchase in mind ... Well why would mommy or daddy give you something you couldn't use right now? See below ...
  • I want to reserve some of my Birthright dots for later is that ok? Yes. If you want to be able to have your PC gain a new birthright after some RP time you can reserve points at Char Gen and assuage some of the hoops that the ST will push you through to get a new birthright. This is also appropriate if you know at Char Gen that you will want a relic for a purview you will not start with any boons for...
  • Control and Athletics seem to have some overlap, what's the deal? They work as written. More specifically Control covers anything that isn’t you. Horses, wagons, bikes, steamships, rowboats, griffons, etc etc. If you are in doubt ASK ME.
  • How do Bonus Points work when buying Boons? OK Boons bought with BPs cost 5 (or 4 if favored) Bonus Points per dot. For General Purviews this means you take the value/rank of the boon and mutiply by the cost above. For Specialty Purviews and Pantheon Specific Purviews which must be bought in order the cost works just like a skill or attribute.
    Quote:
    Example: Bob wants the 3 dot War Boon. He has no other War boons and it is not one of his Parent's purviews. He pays 15 Bonus Points for that boon.

    Example: Kelly wants the 2 dot Animal Boon. Animal is a purview of her parent. It costs her 8 BPs to purchase.

    Example: Theo, a Scion of Thor, wants to have Jotunblut 3, but he did not allocate any dots to it already. He pays 4 BPS for rank 1, 4 BPS more for rank 2, and 4 BPs more for rank 3. The total cost would be 12 BPs.

  • Do the bonus dice from Arete or Geasa for the Athletics ability apply to DV? I'm going to rule that they do not. My logic being that DV is not rolled and Arete/Geasa grants bonus dice, re-rolls, or auto sux to Ability Rolls. If anybody locates and can provide an official answer to that question (either supporting or supplanting my ruling) we will abide by said Official answer.
  • Detecting Other Legendary Beings We will not be using the optional sidebar on page 57 of the Scion Companion. Either buy it as a knack or find out when somebody beats you down with a covered wagon.
  • OK I built my PC and wrote my background, now what? Once you are ready to submit please send the character to the Ouroboros as a PM with the subject [sCION] {Character Name}. Include and accounting of your bonus point Spends as well please. I will review and feedback to you.

My mommy says I can't play big boy/girl games. Is this a big boy/girl game? Yes, Scions fight hard and play hard.

I'm a touch confused about X, what should I do? You can ask your fellow players, the ST, or check WW's official FAQ found HERE.

A few useful references:

Scion Quick-Reference Information

Comprehensive List of Knacks

Comprehensive List of Purviews

So I've got this relic, and it's awesome ...

Yeah relics are awesome, as are followers, and even creatures and guides to an extent. Putting them down on paper is one thing but give me more, give me something to make them pop out as part of your PCs legend, or part of the greater legend of his pantheon.

Example:

Bob submits a PC names Hercules, he has relic armor that is a lion's pelt. That's all he gives up for detail. Its kind flat and boring, nothing about that says that its legendary or myth worthy.

Example 2: Bob submits a PC names Hercules, he has relic armor that is a nemean lion's pelt. Maybe he even says that its nearly impossible to cut. Better that the above but still not something fully myth-worthy.

Example 3: Bob submits a PC names Hercules, he has relic armor that is a nemean lion's pelt. He goes on to explain that his PC was tasked with killing the beastie but found that its hide couldn't be cut so he hand to wrestle it down to the ground and choke the life out of it. Once he did his father (ZEUS) removed the skin and gave it to Hercules as armor, knowing that it could never be cut. ... That is LEGEND. That's the kind of detail, in only a couple of sentances that makes a relic pop off the page.

Example 4: Tim sumbits a character (Maerlyn) who has a book that gives the Magic, Mystery, and Prophecy Purviews. *yawn*

Example 5: Tim's character Maerlyn is given a tome of power by his mother Brittania. The book lays open the secrets of Fate as recorded by over 1000 years of mystics and wizards since the British Isles were first settled. AWESOME. Even though this relic was just given/gifted to Tim's PC it has a sense of history and Legend of its own, its no longer just some book, its a tome with the work of generations of magic users and prophets.

Dude what's your point?

My point is that relics should never be just a couple of dots and a 3 word description. Do yourself, myself, and the other potential players a favor and put a little effort into your relics (and you followers, etc). It'll help to establish a sense of both depth of character and a sense of wonder.

A note on skills: A few skills require that you select a specialty with which the skill applies. These skills are Art, Control, Craft, and Science. You'll need to buy these skills multiple times if you wish to cover multiple angles; i.e. Control (Horses) 3 and Control (Stagecoaches) 1, or Art (Painting) 2 and Art (Sculpting) 2, etc ... I've noticed this on more than one of sheets submitted thus far so I thought I'd pop you all a line.

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character sheet template ...

Birth Name:

Nick Names:

Aliases:

Calling:

Known Relatives:

Nature:

Age:

Gender:

Ethnic Background:

Nationality:

Height:

Weight:

Eye Color:

Hair Color:

Handedness:

Distinguishing Marks:

Appearance:

Personality:

Interests:

History:

Pantheon:

Patron:

Virtues:

Physical: Strength, Dexterity, Stamina

Epic-Physical:

Knacks:

Mental: Perception, Intelligence, Wits

Epic-Mental:

Knacks:

Social: Charisma, Manipulation, Appearance

Epic-Social:

Knacks:

Abilities: Academics, Animal Ken, Art, Athletics, Awareness, Brawl, Command, Control, Craft, Empathy, Fortitude, Integrity, Investigation, Larceny, Marksmanship, Medicine, Melee, Occult, Politics, Presence, Science, Stealth, Survival, Thrown

Birthrights:

Boons:

Join Battle

Attacks:

Soak

Stamina:

Epic-Stamina:

Armor:

Total:

Health Levels:

Dodge DV:

Willpower:

Legend:

Legend Points:

Misc. Equipment:

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