[C.W.Richeson]

Originally Posted by Tim Gray

Great review, Chris. I certainly feel better informed about Scion now.

Thanks, Tim!

I kind of get the impression that they've come up with as many mechanics related to the source material as they could and chucked them all in there, whereas an "indie" game might have picked one or two and built everything around that.

It depends on the indie game. SotC has plenty of fiddly bits - Fred has said that he thinks they're part of the fun of playing and games need them - and I like it. While something really straightforward like PDQ can be fun, I've found that something is often lost in lite games that heavier games manage to retain. So I find merit in both approaches and like playing both heavier games and liter games.

That said, the Boons are fairly straightforward. Fertility lets you help plants or fields of crops go with little in the way of mechanics, etc. This game doesn't come close, in terms of special abilities, to the level of detail Charms in Exalted often involve.

It might well have been a deliberate marketing choice - to follow the success of Exalted, which appeals to a similar audience as D&D, namely people who enjoy mastering lots of detail.

Sure. The more complex your ruleset is the more room you have for expansion. A large scale marketing campaign is only going to really pay off if you're selling multiple items in the same series or can find some other way of taking advantage of it, such as by increasing the value of your publishing mark.