Callings

Human beings are vast, and contain multitudes. Not so the Gods, who by their very nature are archetypal beings: warriors and heralds, tricksters and psychopomps. From a certain point of view, a god is nothing but her Purviews reflected through these archetypes, refined by Legend. That may or may not be true, but the gods have difficulty thinking or acting out of “character.” Odin is a Leader, a Sage, and a Trickster, but without some fundamental shift in his nature he will never grow to encompass the role of Lover or Hunter. His role is defined, his dominions assigned by myth and the weight of his own Legend. He is a god of sacrifice because he hung from an ash tree. He is a Sage because this ordeal gave him wisdom.

Scions feel the pull of these mythic roles, the ichor in their veins pulled by Legend as the tides are pulled by the moon, but where the gods are defined by the myth cycles that give them form, Scions (at least, Hero- and Demigod-level Scions) are still very much human, capable of defying their own archetypes or even changing them altogether. A child of Ares might begin her heroic career as a brute warrior in the image of her father, but as she quests and builds her Legend she might grow into a clever tactician, a mistress of the chaos of the battlefield, or even a pacifist who only draws her weapon when there’s no other choice. The summation of a divine being’s Legend, God, Demigod, or Hero, is her collection of Titles. Each title reflects a Deed in her past, dedication to a task, an accomplishment, or authority over a subject. When a Hero acts in accordance with a Title, his ichor responds and grants his efforts Legendary weight. If, in time, he becomes a Demigod or God, his Titles will become the basis of his divine Mantle.

System
Divine characters — Scions and Gods — define their mythic archetypes by dot ratings in three of the 11 possible Callings. Every Divine character also has a Legendary Title, which defines the circumstances in which he may invoke a Feat of Scale.

Callings

 * Callings are rated between one and five dots. A Legend 1 character has five dots of Callings. Two of their three Callings have two dots each and the third has the remaining one.
 * One of your Callings must be from your Divine Parent's Callings, but the other two are free choice.
 * Each Calling is associated with three Fatebinding roles.
 * On even-numbered Legend Rank, you gain an extra dot of Calling which can be applied to any of the three chosen Callings as long as they don't increase pass five dots.
 * On odd-numbered Legend Rank, you may reassign you Calling dots as long as the new ratings leave at least one dot in each Calling per keyword incorporated into your Legendary Title. Also no Calling can have zero dots in it.
 * You may exchange a Calling for one of the eight unused Callings by performing a pair of Deeds in the same story:


 * Failure Deed sheds the existing Calling by denying its nature
 * Adoption Deed marks the character's ichor with the new Calling.
 * Once both Deeds are done, the dots in the old Calling are transferred to the new one.
 * Each Calling informs the character's choice of Knacks. You can only use one Knack per dot of Calling. You can buy additional Knacks, but can only have as many Knacks active as they have dots of Callings.

Legendary Title
Legendary Titles act as special Paths, and may be invoked as such — including activating Twists of Fate in an obviously supernatural manner. Each Calling has a list of associated keywords used to build a character’s Legendary Title. These lists are not exclusive; if the group is in agreement, a player may choose a keyword not on the list that nonetheless seems appropriate for a Calling.

Choose one keyword per dot in each Calling: These provide your particular Legendary focus within the Calling. For every Legend dot you have or gain, you may invent a new Title that incorporates one of her keywords. The collection of a character’s Titles is her Legendary Title. The first Title (for Legend 1) is often related to a character’s Visitation.

A character who reassigns a Calling used in her Titles through Failure and Adoption Deeds does not lose those Titles, though can’t use the former Calling’s keywords to build any further Titles. Loki is legendarily the parent of several monsters, and retains those dubious accomplishments among their Titles, but they haven’t been a Creator for centuries, exchanging the Calling for Lover after consuming their rival god Logi and taking his wife.

Invoking the Title: When a character attempts an action covered by one of her Titles, her player may spend one Legend to increase Scale by one for that action as a Feat of Scale.

Invoking the Calling: When you attempt an action covered by one of her keywords but not one of her Titles, you may spend one Legend and two Momentum to increase Scale by one for that action.

List of Callings
Here are the 11 Callings that a player may choose, along with appropriate skills, keywords, roles, deeds and Gods. In addition, there are the 5 Callings available in Scion: Titanomachy.

Adversary (Titanomachy)
Where the Trickster accomplishes goals through deceit and becomes a cultural example through their failures, the Adversary antagonizes. Sometimes, an Adversary’s antagonism is a means to an end — nothing pleases an Adversary more than watching her enemies rail against the pressure of her opposition. She is the fire by which they are forged, the grain upon which they are refined. Sometimes this opposition comes in the form of deceit and betrayal and occasionally through physical violence, though most Adversaries prefer to use their words and their connections to teach valuable lessons. Whatever the Adversary does, she does for a reason. A good reason if you ask her, and the ends always justify the means.

Skills: Culture, Persuasion, Subterfuge

Example Keywords: subversive, devil’s advocate, cunning, liar, adversity, opposition, betrayal, rivalry

Fatebinding Roles: Jinx, Nemesis, Traitor

Example Titans: Isfet, The White Eyebrow

Failure Deeds: Be talked out of a great test or betrayal, allow the unworthy to rise unchallenged, avoid confrontation in favor of compromise, kill someone without telling them why you struck them down

Adoption Deeds: Ruin someone’s life for the better, aggravate a friend into a change of heart

Creator
Almost every religion in the World has an explanation for where the universe, or its contents, came from. While the initial act of genesis is usually (though not always) ascribed to a Titan or Primordial, most pantheons include at least one member responsible for bringing something new into the World and giving shape to its myriad forms. Some Creators shape raw Primordial chaos and bring the World itself into being, some bring life or fertility as gardeners, child-bearers, and lifegivers, and still more consume or use raw materials as divine artists, craftsmen, builders, and artisans. Finally, some Creators don’t make anything physical at all, but instead inspire or guide others as inventors or architects. Many Creators are destructive in equal measure, taking a balance for their gifts from the World, but by no means all.

Skills: Academics, Culture, Technology

Example Keywords: Fertile, gifting, generous, inspired, inventor, deft, hammer, maker, shaper, sculptor, painter, demiurge, builder, blacksmith, crafter, mother, father, farmer, gardener, growth, designer, architect

Fatebinding Roles: Apprentice, Jinx, Rival

Example Gods: Het-Heru, Khnum, Wesir, Ptah, Re, Parvati, Sarasvati, Obàtálá, Òrúnmìlà, Ògún, Yemoja-Oboto, Fuxi, Huangdi, Nüwā, Inari, Okuninushi, Benzaiten, Dian Cécht, Goibniu, Brigid, Lugh, Aphrodite, Demeter, Hephaestus, Kitchi-Manitou, Tawiscara, Sif, Njörðr

Failure Deeds: Design something with an intentional flaw that sees it fail in its purpose at a crucial time, allow your own creation to be used against you, accept an impossible commission knowing you’ll fail.

Adoption Deeds: Pass on a creation to another in support of their Legend, reshape Terra Incognita, construct a Legendary item, invent a new technology that becomes part of your Legend.

Destroyer (Titanomachy)
Though defined by their desire and capacity to break things, Destroyers are far from mindless brutes. For some Destroyers, this is the first step in the process towards rebirth; the flames must first burn and leave behind ash so that new life might rise. For others, it is to challenge the status quo, to see structures and order overturned. That being said, some Destroyers are just that: agents of utter destruction or entropy. Titans (and some Gods) with this Calling might be forces of nature, or the lingering void at the edges of creation. Nothing can stop a Destroyer from sundering what was once whole.

Skills: Athletics, Close Combat, Science

Example Keywords: destruction, entropy, threatening, sharp, crush, demolish, unmake

Fatebinding Roles: Canary, Nemesis, Rival

Example Titans: Citlali, Surtr

Failure Deeds: Fail to destroy something priceless, refuse a chance to unmake something, assist another in creating a new structure or institution, allow yourself or someone to stagnate

Adoption Deeds: Break something invaluable, perform an epic show of force, demolish something belonging to an enemy until there is no trace left

Guardian
Many Gods and lesser Scions become associated with a territory, concept, class of people, or a place, acting as its defender, patron, or steward. Where the Legendary being has authority over her protectorate as a participant, a Scion who is king of a small nation, for example, the Leader Calling is more appropriate, but those who stand back from their charges and promote them, protect them, and act on their behalf are Guardians. A Guardian’s protectorate can be as specific or general as her Legend dictates; a patron goddess of a city is a Guardian, but so is a Scion known as the defender of children, or a Demigod who fights for anyone lost in darkness.

Skills: Athletics, Close Combat, Empathy

Example Keywords: Defender, steward, shield, protector, patron, den mother, rescue, warden, shepherd, guide, shelter, aegis

Fatebinding Roles: Canary, Martyr, Nemesis

Example Gods: Anpu, Bast, Heru, Aset, Set, Sobek, Djehuty, Agni, Durga, Ganesha, Indra, Varuna, Vishnu, Morèmi, Oya Iyansan, Yemoja-Oboto, Erlang, Guan Yu, Guanshiyin Pusa, Nezha, Nüwā, Takemikazuchi, Bishamon, Kisshōten, Hotei, Aengus the Mac Óg, The Dagda, Ériu, Manannán, Ogma, Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hestia, Poseidon, Geezhigo-Quae, Winonah, Thor, Frigg, Hel, Baldr, Heimdall, Freyja

Failure Deeds: Sacrifice your charge for your own ends, see the destruction of a place you hold dear, have to choose between two harms

Adoption Deeds: Stay behind and fight when you could run, eliminate a threat to a holy place, fight on behalf of someone not because of them, but what they represent.

Healer
Any animal can destroy, injure, or kill, but to take the broken and repair it is divine. Healers are those divine beings whose Legends feature restoration in any form — godly doctors, true, but also Scions who purify the corrupted, repair broken treasures, and put things right. Many Healers demand conditions or repayment for their miracles (an altruistic attitude is also common, but not necessary), but this isn’t the Calling for charlatans or quacks. A Healer’s Legend comes from success, turning back the clock to make something as it once was.

Skills: Empathy, Medicine, Science

Example Keywords: Restoration, renewal, health, balm, succor, doctor, nurse, vet, repair, purifier, rebuild, cure, treat

Fatebinding Roles: Boon Companion, Canary, Rival

Example Gods: Het-Heru, Aset, Khnum, Sarasvati, Surya, Ìbejì, Òrúnmìlà, Òsanyìn, Òshun, Sònpònná, Chang’e, Guanshiyin Pusa, Nüwā, Yandi Shennongshi, Tsukiyomo, Susano-Ō, Inari, Fukurokuju, Kisshōten, Brigid, Dian Cécht, Apollo, Artemis, Hestia, Geezhigo-Quae, MuzzuKumik-Quae, Winonah

Failure Deeds: Withhold treatment, ruin something beyond repair, leave the person you’re healing diminished

Adoption Deeds: Restore the lost, cure an epidemic, purify a titanspawn

Hunter
Truly the world’s oldest profession, mortal hunters gave the very first Gods their Legends, calling on now-forgotten deities for assistance and telling tales of Scions who brought down impossible prey. Guardians fight to protect, Judges to punish, and Warriors simply to fight, but the violence of the hunt’s end is only part of the divine Hunter’s Legend. This Calling is held by Scions and Gods who pursue prey or a quarry, whether traditional (a God Legendary for skill with a bow, who brought down an infamous titanspawn) or more metaphorical (a Scion private detective that always finds her missing person).

Skills: Athletics, Firearms, Survival

Example Keywords: Ranger, tracker, tireless, pursuit, unshakable, surveying, all-seeing, shadowing, relentless

Fatebinding Roles: Boon Companion, Paramour, Rival

Example Gods: Bast, Sobek, Durga, Shiva, Ògún, Òrìshà-Oko, Òsanyìn, Oshóssí, Sònpònná, Erlang, Fuxi, Ebisu, Artemis, Poseidon, Muzzu-Kumik-Quae, Maudjee-Kawiss, Cheeby-auboozoo, Nana’b’oozoo, Heimdall, Skaði, Njörðr

Failure Deeds: Take pity and allow a target to escape, realize that your quarry has as much right to live as you

Adoption Deeds: Stalk a great beast, follow a quarry into another world, turn someone’s own assets against them.

Judge
Someone has to enforce the rules. Cultures all over the World have stories of divine Judges, Gods, Demigods, and Scions who weigh mortal lives. Sometimes, the Judge herself creates the laws she imposes. Others are dispassionate enforcers of cosmic (or pantheon) law, or serve another character of the Leader Calling. Either way, a Judge is Legendary for finding transgressors against her rules and what she does to them, which doesn’t have to be horrific punishment. Some religions praise their Judges for their mercy, or for dutiful neutrality.

Skills: Academics, Culture, Persuasion

Keywords: Mercy, punishment, weigher, assessor, adjudicator, advocate, test, ordeal, legal, law, commandment, oath, fair, even-handed

Fatebinding Roles: Balm, Worshipper, Traitor

Example Gods: Anpu, Wesir, Re, Lakshmi, Varuna, Yamaraja, Ìbejì, Obàtálá, Òrìshà-Oko, Òrúnmìlà, Oshóssí, Confucius, Amaterasu, Tsukiyomo, Dian Cécht, Ériu, Apollo, Demeter, Hades, Hera, Hestia, Persephone, Kitchi-Manitou, Cheeby-aub-oozoo, Hel, Tyr, Skaði

Failure Deeds: Pronounce a deliberate injustice, break the rules you uphold, abandon your beliefs

Adoption Deeds: See to the heart of corruption, swear to a code of behavior, define commandments for others to follow.

Leader
All Gods command respect, with authority over their purviews, but some divine beings are Legendary for leadership itself. Divine kings, queens, CEOs, and motivational speakers, Leaders are those Gods, Demigods, and Heroes who make decisions for others, lay down laws, inspire their followers, and lead from the front. Although some Leaders are Judges, the two Callings are distinct; Leaders show their subordinates what’s expected, while Judges discern if they’ve followed it.

Skills: Culture, Empathy, Leadership

Example Keywords: Ruler, wise, inspiration, orisha, commander, lawgiver, code, proclaim, director, rank, officer, authority

Fatebinding Roles: Boon Companion, Traitor, Worshipper

Example Gods: Heru, Wesir, Re, Set, Indra, Karttikeya, Lakshmi, Surya, Varuna, Yamaraja, Obàtálá, Òrúnmìlà, Shàngó, Yemoja-Oboto, Guan Yu, Huangdi, Confucius, Laozi, Yandi Shennongshi, Amaterasu, Hachiman, Takemikazuchi, Okuninushi, The Dagda, Donn, Ériu, Lugh, Nuada, Hades, Hera, Persephone, Poseidon, Zeus, Maudjee-Kawiss, Odin, Thor, Tyr, Freyr, Njörðr

Failure Deeds: Deliberately lead them to catastrophe, exalt someone else above you, deny your authority

Adoption Deeds: Seize the reins of power, lead them to triumph, be recognized for your authority

Lover
Gods marry, Gods fuck, Gods cheat on one another. The pantheons are extended families of parents and Scions, with complex relationships between members. When those relationships become central to a God or Hero’s Legend, they’re a Lover. The Calling encompasses Legendary seductresses and divine cads, but also those famous for commitment to a single partner, those who fall into serially deep love affairs, or even the asexual but romantic.

Skills: Culture, Empathy, Persuasion

Example Keywords: Seductive, devoted, romantic, beauty, dedication, marriage, husband, wife, sex

Fatebinding Roles: Balm, Paramour (or Unrequited), Rival

Example Gods: Het-Heru, Sobek, Lakshmi, Parvati, Shiva, Vishnu, Èshù Elègbará, Morèmi, Òshun, Shàngó, Chang’e, Ama-no-Uzume, Sarutahiko, Benzaiten, Fukurokuju, Kisshoten, Aengus the Mac Óg, The Morrígan, Aphrodite, Ares, Dionysus, Hera, Zeus, Winonah, Pukawiss, Frigg, Sif, Loki, Freyr

Failure Deeds: Do something that causes others to reject you, take a lover into a situation that could get them killed, cut someone out of your life because you’ll never love them like they love you.

Adoption Deeds: Fall in love, support young lovers, start an affair that dooms a nation

Liminal
In any large gathering of divinities, at least one will stand apart. Most pantheons have a member or two defined by being on the outside of the social order, either metaphorically (a Hero in a legalist pantheon who represents lawbreakers, for example) or literally (the God of a particular Underworld or Overworld separate from the pantheon’s usual meeting grounds). Liminals are Legendary for crossing boundaries and thresholds, venturing out of the pack, rejecting society (rather than subverting it as a Trickster) and going on journeys.

Skills: Athletics, Manipulation, Pilot

Example Keywords: Traveler, Underworld, Overworld, boundary, threshold, portal, sailor, driver, guide, messenger, alone, transition, change, difference, separation, outsider

Fatebinding Roles: Canary, Jinx, Unrequited Paramour

Example Gods: Anpu, Ptah, Djehuty, Agni, Ganesha, Yamaraja, Èshù Elègbará, Oshóssí, Oya Iyansan, Sònpònná, Sun Wukong, Tsukiyomo, Inari, Ama-no-Uzume, Sarutahiko, Ebisu, Okuninushi, Hotei, Donn, Manannán, The Morrígan, Dionysus, Hades, Hermes, Persephone, Cheeby-aub-oozoo, Hel, Baldr, Loki

Failure Deeds: Arrive too late to save them, refuse the call of adventure, cling to the safety of home

Adoption Deeds: Survive a harrowing journey, go into exile, claim another world.

Monster (Titanomachy)
Myths and legends drip with terrible creatures who swallow the sun, who chew at the roots of the World Tree, or who eat the flesh of humans. These creatures are Monsters: inhuman and grotesque of body, possessed of terrible might. Monsters are beasts of fear and hunger. They prey upon the weak and gnaw at the fabric of reality. Some Monsters can learn to rearrange their forms, wearing pleasing disguises or bursting into a towering, horrific shape. Wherever a Monster lurks, tales of their fearsome presence spread like wildfire.

Skills: Athletics, Medicine, Survival

Example Keywords: shapeshifter, fearsome, bloody, hunger, deceiver, murderer

Fatebinding Roles: Nemesis, Rival, Traitor

Example Titans: Echidna, Rangda

Failure Deeds: Refuse to take advantage of an enemy’s fear, fail to reveal your true nature when doing so would cause panic and terror, spare a terrified foe

Adoption Deeds: Terrify an enemy into a change of heart, devour the flesh of your defeated foe, reveal your true face to someone you know fears you

Primeval (Titanomachy)
Things of untamed primal power, Primeval Calling Titans are literal fixtures of the World. A Primeval is the depths of the ocean, the unforgiving disc of the sun, or the rage of a volcano. They are the land itself, implacable and austere. These are the most likely to have no shred of humanity, for they are too vast to ever understand something as small as the human mind. Whatever the Primeval represents, they embody it entirely.

Skills: Academics, Occult, Survival

Example Keywords: primordial, vast, infinite, elemental, conceptual, depths, universal

Fatebinding Roles: Balm, Nemesis, Worshipper

Example Titans: Cernunnos, Fūjin

Failure Deeds: Allow a great source of natural energy to be harnessed by artifice or mortal forces, allow mundane or human concerns to guide your use of elemental forces, fail to stop the destruction of a font of natural power or place of primal majesty

Adoption Deeds: Allow something to return to its natural state, advance the cycle of something’s growth or decay, contribute to the damaging effects of a natural disaster

Sage
The pen — or the thought — is mightier than the sword. To teach, or to learn, is divine. Sages are Legendary for their use of thought; teachers and students, custodians of knowledge and wise fools, riddle-solvers and namers. Being Legendary for knowing many secrets does not necessarily imply that a Scion must pass those secrets on, only that the Scion’s Deeds include using that knowledge effectively.

Skills: Academics, Occult, Subterfuge

Example Keywords: Pupil, teacher, mentor, wise, riddle, puzzle, conundrum, clever, expert, academic, learned

Fatebinding Roles: Apprentice, Jinx, Traitor

Example Gods: Khnum, Ptah, Djehuty, Agni, Ganesha, Karttikeya, Sarasvati, Shiva, Surya, Òrìshà-Oko, Òrúnmìlà, Òsanyìn, Òshun, Fuxi, Guanshiyin Pusa, Huangdi, Confucius, Laozi, Yandi Shennongshi, Amaterasu, Hachiman, Bishamon, Benzaiten, Fukurokuju, Hotei, Brigid, The Dagda, Goibniu, The Morrígan, Nuada, Ogma, Apollo, Athena, Dionysus, Hephaestus, Hermes, Kitchi-Manitou, Geezhigo-Quae, Muzzu-Kumik-Quae, Pukawiss, Odin, Frigg

Failure Deeds: Get someone killed because you think you’re cleverer than you are, fail to solve a riddle, keep a secret at the expense of another.

Adoption Deeds: Save the day with your intelligence, encounter something completely new, pass on knowledge vital to another’s Legend.

Trickster
Some Scions never take the expected route, but see and take the unexpected path out of a problem. Tricksters succeed by breaking conventions, solving situations with cleverness, flouting society’s rules, and often tricking others into going along with it. They survive by their wits, empowered by transgression. Some pantheons (especially those led by Leaders or Judges) dislike Tricksters for flouting heavenly law; others take a more pragmatic view and use them as problem-solvers and tests of their ideals, the exceptions that prove the rules. A Trickster’s schemes can sometimes cause more problems than they solve — more than one Trickster God is Legendary for leaping from frying pan to fire and dragging others in their wake.

Skills: Culture, Persuasion, Subterfuge

Example Keywords: Transgression, subversive, antinomian, devil’s advocate, cunning, liar, disguise, rascal, wit, chaos, criminal

Fatebinding Roles: Boon Companion, Nemesis, Traitor

Example Gods: Aset, Set, Parvati, Vishnu, Èshù Elègbará, Ìbejì, Morèmi, Chang’e, Laozi, Nezha, Sun Wukong, Susano-Ō, Ama-no-Uzume, Ebisu, Aengus the Mac Óg, Donn, Manannán, Hephaestus, Hermes, Zeus, Pukawiss, Nana’b’oozoo, Tawiscara, Odin, Loki

Failure Deeds: Get caught in your own trick, cause collateral damage, be outsmarted

Adoption Deeds: Trick the bad guy into topping themselves, escape an inescapable situation, make another Scion act against their own interests but add to their Legend in doing so.

Tyrant (Titanomachy)
While Leaders represent those in power who care for and guide their people, Tyrants crave power for themselves. A Tyrant desires unquestioning servants, sycophants, and yes-men. They cannot abide criticism and spare little thought for those they’ve stepped on so long as they rise to the top. A Tyrant’s word is absolute, inviolable. Their edicts must be obeyed, on pain of punishment. Titans with the Tyrant Calling think only of themselves and their own selfish gain. While a Tyrant may make fair-weather friends, their selfishness quickly drives them from others’ good graces.

Skills: Empathy, Leadership, Persuasion

Example Keywords: stern, unforgiving, absolute, selfish

Fatebinding Roles: Apprentice, Rival, Worshipper

Example Titans: Aten, Cronus

Failure Deeds: Treat your lessers with compassion, compromise your goals for someone else, allow one of your edicts to be broken

Adoption Deeds: Coerce an enemy of equal power into your service, intimidate a large group into obeying you, seize vast political power unjustly

Warrior
The World teems with the enemies of the pantheons, enemies for whom force is the only answer, and Warriors are Legendary for applying that force. The Calling encompasses fighters, combatants, and soldiers of all sorts, as long as they fight themselves. Legendary strategists are more often Sages (and sometimes Leaders), while Warriors are the Scions who get their hands bloody. Whether by individual martial prowess or leading thousands into battle, killing their opponents outright or accepting surrender, Warriors perform Deeds of violence.

Skills: Athletics, Close Combat, Firearms

Example Keywords: Fighter, martial artist, bloody, weapon, soldier, killer, murderer, insurgent, terrorist, sniper, undefeated, sharp, threatening

Fatebinding Roles: Balm, Nemesis, Rival

Example Gods: Bast, Heru, Durga, Indra, Karttikeya, Òrúnmìlà, Ògún, Oya Iyansan, Shàngó, Erlang, Guan Yu, Nezha, Sun Wukong, Susano-Ō, Hachiman, Takemikazuchi, Bishamon, Goibniu, Lugh, Nuada, Ogma, Ares, Athena, Maudjee-Kawiss, Tawiscara, Thor, Baldr, Heimdall, Tyr, Freyr, Skaði

Failure Deeds: Lose a physical contest or test of skill when death is on the line, lay down your arms and find another way, succumb to cowardice.

Adoption Deeds: Stand between the enemy and your friends, overcome incredible odds, defeat a foe greater than yourself.