Escaping from Polyphemus’s cave. Freeing the valkyrie Brunhild from her fiery prison. Serving as a loa’s steed. Slaying the ahuitzotl. Scribing the Papyrus of Ani. Darkening the river with Orochi’s blood. These are just a few of the epic deeds performed by the Gods and their descendents in the epic folklore of humankind. Each tale is a memorable event, showing the precarious relationship between Gods, mortals and those who find themselves somewhat between the two. In the parlance of the game you are about to experience, these are the Scions.
The savage Titans have escaped their eternal prison to wage war with the Gods once more, and those battles in the Overworld have spilled over into our World. Armed with Birthright weapons and possessed of mighty Boons granted by their divine parents, the Scions, the offspring of both God and man, stand as humanity’s only defense against the dread Titans’ spawn.
When a string of murders points towards Las Vegas, the City of Sin, things quickly become more complicated than a standard murder case. Is this the work of the Titans and their spawn or Scions driven to desperate and evil acts? Will you rise to the heights of power through your heroism? Will you become more than just a pawn in a divine game? What great events will mark your divine ascent?
The Game: The Scion game from White Wolf is a game of heroes carrying divine blood, like Hercules or Perseus from Greek myth. You are literally the child of a god and carry a divine spark that can be fanned into the flame of godhead. The game uses a version of the Storyteller system, similar to the World of Darkness and Exalted games, and a quickstart version of those rules can be found here. This game is going to follow the Of Shadows Yet to Come adventure scenario, so if you have access to that don’t read it. I would like to use other scenarios as well, so steer clear of any of the Scion SAS documents.
Characters: I’m willing to accept any character from any of the non-historical pantheons, that is any except the Atlantean (from Demigod), Yankee, or Allied (both from Companion). We’re starting out a year or less after the characters’ Visitations so no experience points and if you are using a mechanic outside of the core Hero book, please give me a page number reference to save me time reviewing. Mostly, I’m looking for characters with really strong background stories and compelling personalities. A little inter-character connection wouldn’t be amiss either.
Setting: The story takes place in Las Vegas in the southwest United States. Assume that your character was visited by a messenger of your divine parent about a week ago and told to seek out other Scions in Las Vegas. It’s what the scenario calls for and it’s the easiest way to get a group together who is potentially spread throughout the world. Still, feel free to form connections with other PCs that pre-date the start of this chronicle.
This looks great but I have absolutely no Scion resources.
No problem. Well, minor issues but certainly nothing to stop you from playing. First, take a look at the quickstart rules in the link above. Second, pick one of the pre-generated characters here who are already connected to other pre-gens. You can rewrite backgrounds a little bit and if you want to make small mechanical adjustments I can help with that. Lastly, feel free to peruse the White Wolf wiki articles for Scionwhich will answer a lot of setting questions.
Not sure what you mean by the "from any of the non-historical pantheons". Does this mean we have to be from those Pantheons or just that you will accept those as well as the Historical ones?
Is the game going to be high investegation and story with little or no combat?
If there is going to be moderate amounts of combat are there any houserules to deal with unhittable/undamageable characters? (Not to mention some of the more esoteric strangeness that can make a combat very 1 sided.)
@Cailte: By "non-historical" I meant not the pantheons written for past settings (the Atlanteans and the Yankee and Allied pantheons from WWII). The chronicle should be a mix of investigation and combat, although the epic battles of Scions are definitely a major part of the setting in my opinion. I'm going to try and avoid having unhittable creatures or unattainable tasks but I also think I'll import the "chance roll" from World of Darkness so that if you have a dice pool of zero you can always try a single die roll with the risk of failing dramatically.
Sorry... I'm lacking words to express my excitment !!!!!!!!!!!!
Count me in with a Scion of Zeus: half-judge, half-vigilante, full Justice !
For the record, there are a few House-Rules that are so common as to be considered "fixes", and not HR per se. Do what you want from it.
- Legend is never bought. It is fixed by the ST, and increased through ST will only. - Untouchable Opponent adds +Epic Dexterity dots, not +Epic Dexterity successes. - Perception adds to firearms damage (including Epic Perception)
Fluff here is of a very first version. I'm not satisfied with it, and will deeply edit it. Please feel free to make any comment, though, it can only be helpful.
Crunch is a straight from a word file, and looks ugly. I will edit it asap, but once again, it can give you an idea of what I have in mind.
Looks: Penthos looks to be in his late twenties. He is obviously in very good health, and not to be trifled with.
Background: Penthos was born in a family of greek immigrants in NY, who worked a grocery nearly day and night. He was very close to his parents, and even more so of his little sister Katea who was the apple of his eye. While she was as beautiful as their mother, she was frail, and often sick. As soon as he was grown enough, Penthos was charged with looking after her when she was ill, or helping at the store during evenings, and had very little free time. You have to work hard to get anything, his parents used to say. While it was a heavy burden to lay on a children, he never chafed, and faced it head-on, ever trying to help his parents he loved so much, never to hinder them.
The young boy learnt the value of work, but that is not the only thing he learnt. He learnt too that there were murky waters hidden in the dark spots of the city, in the heart of the night. Belated customers with strange eyes, and stranger shadows. Envelops to be given for protection, and a lot more. He greatly resented the unsafety of his parents, of his family, and wanted nothing more than to drive those things away. But he was only a kid. and the only time he tried anything, he was given a thorough beating by the tax-collecting thug, ending in the hospital for days.
When time came for Penthos to enter university, he managed to get a scholarship, and chose to focus on Law, since he felt it was the proper way to fight back the fears of his youth. He was a good student as usual, and ended a judge. His continual good marks, as well as the numerous gifts he began displaying (girls, sports, etc) were slowly coming to his head, and were it not for his sister, the only one he really listened to, he would have become completely detached from everyone. More than once he dropped everything he was doing to go and care for her without even looking back.
In a professional respect, Penthos proved to be a fair judge, if heavy handed, and had a real feeling for plain people, in which he saw likeness to his parents. He was harsh on the transgressors, though, and very involved in his numerous cases. There were a few convicts that he couldn't prove guilty, even though he knew them to be, and that he had to release. His resentment at seeing people out of Justice's reach, out of his reach, surfaced back, ever nagging. On a particularly bad case, a grocery just like his parents got robbed, and the owners shot. PD couldn't prove a thing, even though they knew the culprits to be thugs of the local mob "making a statement". It was too much for Penthos, who used his contacts with the law enforcement to find them, stalked them at night, and ambushed them, beating them up with a bat till his arms ached. He had found how to clear the night, and felt good "doing the right thing again". Judge by day. Vigilante by night. Good for him sleep was a commodity he had learnt to shed off since very young.
At first, Penthos accumulated successes, since he was careful, and prepared his "operations" well. But as his presence became known, the mobsters were more and more prepared, and he grew cocky with his successes too, and lenient in his preparations. One night, the ambush backfired, and he became the prey to an angry gang, striking back with a vengeance all the more for the fear they had felt. He was cornered in a building, had already taken a lucky shot in the leg, and was about to be found, when suddenly the mist in the street seemed to solidify, and a tall, regal man in his fifties came up, revealing to Penthos who he really was : the son of Zeus, King of Gods. Shocked as he was, the first thing that came to Penthos's mind was that his mother had been unfaithful to his father, a strain he hasn't recovered from yet. Zeus didn't let that get in the way, though, and showered the young man with gifts, then let him to face his threat, and prove himself, which he did easily. His self-confidence pumped up yet again after that, but he grew distant from his mother.
As time passed by, he learnt of the Titans, their cultists, and the evil influence they exerted on Earth. Since obviously noone was better suited to fighting them than he, Penthos geared all his activities, daily and nightly, toward restraining them. He has had no personal life of his own since he took the burden of protecting mankind. He doesn't necessarily like it, but who else could be up to the task ? He didn't allow the question of "what would you do without that duty" to pop in his mind. As for how he handles it all, well, his body got his limits too, even if they're further away than most. So he pushes himself to the limits, farther, and when he breaks, once in a while, he's too proud and stubborn to admit it, and hides it as best he can.
Personality: Penthos is a man dedicated to a mission : see to it that Justice is metted out everywhere, everywhen. While it may seem quite grandiloquent, to him it's merely how he wants his family to be protected. But he's taken too much to heart the saying "For a job well done, do it yourself", and he's working himself like a dog. He is low on trust, and works alone. Whenever he's too tired to bear it any longer, he sleeps straight for two days, but he would never admit it to anyone (but his sister). He's officialy on some trip, whether it's business or family depends on who is asking.
On a personal level, it's been a hard blow to learn that his mother had been unfaithful to his father, and he resents Zeus for doing that. While not quite hatred yet, still he views the god with distrust, and scorn. And he is too proud to keep his mouth in check.
@KayneRahl: I like Heimdal, and a Viking Scion would be fun. Looking forward to what you come up with!
@Grawln: Let me know if you have questions, I'm making sure I answer all of mine as well. Part of the difficulty of starting can be solved with a pregen, and there are plenty more where those others came from. The list off the top of my head is:
@Thot: Looks good so far. Some things I noticed: What is Penthos's Nature? What are your Virtues? That will determine your final Willpower, increased by 1 through freebie points. Some additional details like his age and appearance will help to flesh him out, and pick out a portrait for his token when I display him on maps and battlewheels... Also, possessions!
