[RPG]: Scion: Hero, reviewed by C.W.Richeson (4/3)

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12910.phtml

Christopher W. Richeson's Summary:

In <i>Scion</i> you play the child of a God, fight against the Titans, and weave your own legend!

Go to the full review for more information.

[C.W.Richeson]

Every God has specific Purviews listed. The listed Purviews are limits on what Purviews a character may have Boons in at character creation. For my example character I could have a Boon in the Purview Animal (Peacock) but not in the Purview Animal (Leopard). This may make it more difficult to realize some character concepts at character creation, but it does provide an incentive for characters to do favors for other Scions/Gods/Titans/Magicians in the hope of learning new Boons and acquiring new Relics.

Automatic access to Purviews does not occur. A character *must* purchase a Relic in order to access *any* of the Purviews *except* the Pantheon specific Purviews and the special Purviews, such as Magic. This makes Relics substantially more important than I suggest, and many characters will spend their Birthrights on acquiring at least minor Relics so they can make use of the powers in one or more Purviews.

Ultimately I think this makes Purviews even less useful for their cost, but if your character is purchasing the power to control peacocks you're probably not trying to power game the system. The Purview/Relic combination is a neat idea and has a lot of flavor associated with it. It plays up the importance of ancient (or modern) mystical artifacts and I suspect it's just downright fun in any game.

[owe for the flesh]

It seems a little odd that the Voudoun Loa are portrayed as withdrawn from the world and resistant to change when in the actual traditions they are exactly the opposite. Is this addressed in the game at all?

[wyrdlyng]

Sounds like a Mage (the comic about Kevin Matchstick and friends) rpg. Mythic avatars reborn in mortal form doing mythic things, sort of. It would make good inspirational reading nonetheless.

[Dan Davenport]

Well done, CWR!

Not many WW games have interested me all that much, but this is now certainly a member of that select group. I'm especially happy to hear that the antagonists come from a broad range of the supernatural, rather than taking the WoD approach of rivals and diametrically opposed forces almost exclusively.

The Epic Attributes don't bother me that much, although I can see where you're coming from regarding their effects on skills. Seems to me that there should be Epic Skills as well.

[C.W.Richeson]

Originally Posted by owe for the flesh

It seems a little odd that the Voudoun Loa are portrayed as withdrawn from the world and resistant to change when in the actual traditions they are exactly the opposite. Is this addressed in the game at all?

I couldn't say right now (no book) but if no one else is answered by late tonight I'll let ya know

Originally Posted by Dan Davenport

Well done, CWR!

Not many WW games have interested me all that much, but this is now certainly a member of that select group. I'm especially happy to hear that the antagonists come from a broad range of the supernatural, rather than taking the WoD approach of rivals and diametrically opposed forces almost exclusively.

The Epic Attributes don't bother me that much, although I can see where you're coming from regarding their effects on skills. Seems to me that there should be Epic Skills as well.

Thanks, Dan!

The bad guys really are diverse - if you can find it in mythology it's a perfectly appropriate villain, and the Titans could be creating new and strange things at any time (such as the motorcycle-based centaurs).

The biggest thing with Epic Attributes is really Epic Dexterity. It's just sick - higher DV, bonus successes to attacks, useful for a variety of skills, etc. In my games I'll probably house rule the bonus attack successes away and keep an eye on Epic Attributes generally. I think as long as you don't end up with players buying a whole lot of them you're probably fine.

[C.W.Richeson]

Devarash writes:

Special Purviews /do/ still require relics to use. The pantheon-specific purviews are the only exception to the 'need a relic' rule, and they can't be used by any other pantheon.

The Animal purview isn't restricted to your parent's(or the granting god's) favored animal. It's just there as an example.

Thanks, Devarash!

[C.W.Richeson]

Originally Posted by owe for the flesh

It seems a little odd that the Voudoun Loa are portrayed as withdrawn from the world and resistant to change when in the actual traditions they are exactly the opposite. Is this addressed in the game at all?

The short bit on the Pantheon generally mentions that the Pantheon is still growing and changing.

[HeridFel]

A bigger problem with character creation (if what you say about only favored-purview boons allowed at creation is right) is that it could be pretty hard to spend the starting 10 dots on epic attributes and boons if you stick to the base Legend 2. You're limited to a max of 1 in each attribute and boon, and a lot of the gods only favor 3 or 4 purviews. That means you'll have a lot of epic attributes at 1, I guess.

[C.W.Richeson]

Originally Posted by HeridFel

A bigger problem with character creation (if what you say about only favored-purview boons allowed at creation is right) is that it could be pretty hard to spend the starting 10 dots on epic attributes and boons if you stick to the base Legend 2. You're limited to a max of 1 in each attribute and boon, and a lot of the gods only favor 3 or 4 purviews. That means you'll have a lot of epic attributes at 1, I guess.

I think that's a good point. There is enormous incentive to increase Legend to at least 3 at character creation.