Birthright

The gifts of the Gods are many and varied. When the Visitation occurs, many Gods grant their children Birthrights, powerful tokens of their esteem that become tied to the Scion’s Legend. Birthrights for Heroes come in four forms: Creatures, Followers, Guides, and Relics. Demigods and Gods have access to more rarefied Birthrights in the form of mythic associations and personal Terra Incognita. Creatures Several of the most prominent Gods and pantheons in all of myth have been aided by Legendary creatures. With the Creature Birthright, the Scion has been given an extension of their pantheon’s influence over this creature type or they may have developed their own unique affinity. The creature can be mundane in nature, such as Odin’s ravens or one of Bast’s many cats she calls her children, but others may call upon mythological creatures like basilisks, dream-eating baku, or even a dragon they can mount into battle. Whether the creature possesses human-level intelligence or not should be a discussion between the player and Storyguide, depending on how much this choice will impact the story. Legends tell of many mythic beasts having said intelligence, like a sphinx or a dragon, while others not so much, such as Odin’s eight-legged horse, Sleipnir. Some creatures even skirt the line, like unicorns who have intelligence in some myths and don’t in others. If the creature is too intelligent, however, it may fall better under the Followers Birthright instead. The connection between Scion and creature is a mythic one, making them companions. The creature is assumed to be loyal to the Scion for most purposes; their Fates are tied together, after all. Creatures will fight to the death for their Scion, though not if they don’t also feel the Scion would do the same for them. Creatures aren’t any more prone to suicidal missions than anyone else, and their lives (or deaths) should reflect a caliber of heroism similar to the character. Communication with the creature is not assumed unless the Scion has a Purview or Knack that allows for such. Creatures assumed to be trained in number of tricks or commands equal to their Creature dots, thus reflecting a stronger connection with higher number of dots, though fully intelligent creatures can be negotiated with normally. Players should remember that their creature becomes another character in the story. Charging a cadre of titanspawn with a flaming sword is one thing, but if the Scion’s also mounted upon a nightmare steed blazing a trail of broken dreams behind them, that’s going to be quite the signature Deed. Enemies and allies can target the creature with any number of divine effects, and the creature seldom enjoys any resistance. Building the Creature When selecting this Birthright, the player should consider what type of creature they want connected to their Scion. Examples have been provided in Chapter 6: Storyguiding (p. XX), listed by how many dots in the Creature Birthright would be required to obtain that creature as a companion. In general, a Creature • animal would have three dice to act with, whereas a Creature ••••• beast would enjoy 15 dice for their actions. By sacrificing two dice from these pools, the player may purchase an Antagonist Knack or Flair from this book or Scion: Origin to add to the creature. For instance, if the player wanted to have a Creature •••• (a phantom death spirit), she could sacrifice four dice to give it Incorporeality (p. XX) and Miasmic Presence (p. XX), and still have eight dice for the creature’s primary actions (defined as stealth, perceiving threats, intimidating others, and attacking). The following dot descriptions are guidelines only; Odin’s ravens Huginn and Muninn (“Thought” and “Memory”), while appearing quite mundane, are actually immortal and can transfer their senses to any Incarnation of their master. These abilities make them much stronger than a Creature • beast. Likewise, taking a powerful basilisk, but deciding the Scion only has a hatchling, would make it lower than a Creature ••••• animal. • Generally, these creatures are small, mundane, or otherwise mostly ineffectual. They are great for scouting ahead or being used to create a horrific appearance, such as a god who always has a vulture on her shoulder or another who wears his snake as a necklace. Player-created creatures have three dice in their Primary Pools. •• The creature may be a larger mundane creature, such as a tiger, crocodile, wolf, or dangerous bird of prey. Likewise, it could also represent weaker mythological creatures like the Chinese fox, serpopard, or a variety of different nature spirits. Player-created creatures have six dice in their Primary Pools. ••• The creature now possesses modest power, such as a hellhound, golem, or nightmare steed (or pegasus). Player-created creatures have nine dice in their Primary Pools. •••• The beast is even more powerful, such as a manticore, Chinese guardian lion, or the anka. Player-created creatures have 12 dice in their Primary Pools. ••••• These creatures possess a unique quality and strength that makes them truly terrifying and particularly dangerous, including such beasts as a sphinx, basilisk, or kirin. Player-created creatures have 15 dice in their Primary Pools. Tension Pools and Player Creatures Many Antagonists make use of the Tension Pool, a sort of narrative fuel for a player’s nemesis, the dark counterpart to the Momentum Pool. For PC creatures with traits that use the Tension Pool, substitute Momentum instead. Followers Hercules and Aeolus. Fionn mac Cumhail and the Fianna. Xuanzang and his compatriots, Pigsy and the Sand Monk. Heroes often find themselves with loyal companions, bands of warriors, and students drawn to their glory. Though they are not the protagonists of the tale, their roles are no less ordained by Fate, and though they rarely strike the fatal blow against the monster, their assistance often paves the Hero’s way to victory. The Followers Birthright reflects the forces Scions have arrayed behind them, whether inherited from their pantheon or forged by their own wit and skill. In either case, the Followers can come from almost any background that fits with the Scion’s concept: zombies, hoplites, amazon warriors, or even faerie knights. Followers are assumed to be loyal to the Scion, either because a greater deity has commanded their service or because the Scion has earned obeisance own loyalty and leadership. Followers are often, but not always sentient beings; if their loyalty is mistreated, they might eventually wise up and abandon the malevolent Scion. Followers can take many forms, from a remarkably loyal manservant to an entourage of flunkies. They can be mortal, but they’re more often creatures of Legend, or at least touched by Fate. A Hero’s Labrador retriever probably isn’t a Follower, unless it’s a Cu Sith in disguise. A highschool quarterback Scion of Ullr might have his teammates as Followers, but it’s likely that at least a few are Alfar in disguise. Whatever their nature, Followers are Storyguide characters, but they don’t make rolls or act on their own. Instead, they grant their Hero additional options, and function as a sort of living equipment. Creating Followers First, describe your Follower in a short phrase. This works a lot like a Path, in that it gives your followers the ability to do things that fit with their description: A flock of ravens can fly, peck, and croak ominously, a shieldmaiden can fight by your side, and so on. Followers can use equipment if it makes sense for their description, and start with whatever fits their nature. (e.g. berserkers have swords, axes, and probably armor, Alfar club kids have flash clothes and designer drugs, etc.) Followers start with one of the following archetypes, which determines what Arena they can act in: • Heavy: Physical • Entourage: Social • Consultant: Mental In addition, Followers have one tag per dot. Followers can take one Bruised and one Maimed Injury Condition before being Taken Out. Their Defense is equal to half their dot rating. Tags Much like tags on weapons or armor, Follower tags describe the important elements that distinguish one Follower from another. Some have specific mechanical effects, while others serve as cues for the Storyguide to create Complications and Consolations. If a tag says it requires another tag, the Follower must have the requisite tag. If a tag says it replaces another tag, you still have to buy the requisite tag, but the new one supersedes it. • Archetype: The Follower gains an additional archetype (Heavy, Entourage, Consultant). • Group: The Follower is actually a group of 5-10 individuals. You can use a mixed action to command your Followers to take two actions at once. • Mob: Replaces Group. The Follower represents 20-50 individuals. Your Followers have Scale one level higher than the Hero they serve when raw numbers come into play. You can use a mixed action to command your Followers to take two actions at once. • Savage: The follower is especially brutal. On actions meant to harm others (physically or emotionally), the Follower gains Enhancement +2. Creatures often have this tag. • Access: The Follower can get their Hero (and the rest of her band) into some otherwisedifficult-to-reach locale. Specify what access your Follower grants: either a single Terra Incognita, Overworld, or Underworld (e.g. Valhalla or Hades), or a broad class of mortal institution (police stations, the hottest clubs, etc.). Followers can have multiple instances of this tag. • Smooth: The Follower improves the Attitude of Storyguide characters by 1, as long as they’re present and the character is receptive based on the Follower’s description. Against particularly opposed characters (e.g. a hair-metal band against a classical-music snob), they might worsen the Attitude instead. • Helpful: As long as a complex action fits with the Follower’s description, you gain one additional Interval to complete it. • Knack: Choose a single Knack that fits your Follower’s description. Your Follower may use it on your behalf. If the Knack requires a dice pool, it uses your Attribute + the Follower’s dot rating. Followers can have multiple instances of this tag. If the Follower’s dot rating is • - •••, the Knack must be Heroic. If the rating is •••• - •••••, it may be Immortal. • Terrible: Choose one area in which the Follower has Scale (e.g. Size, Speed, Intellect). The Follower’s Scale is one level higher than the Hero’s. • Unruly: The Follower doesn’t take orders well. All Difficulties on actions to command the Follower increase by 1, but you add Momentum to the pool whenever you fail to meet the Difficulty. • Tough: The Follower adds 1 Armor. • Defensive: The Follower adds 1 to their Defense. Alternately, if it fits their description, this can add 1 to the Difficulty of intrigues or other opposed actions instead. Using Followers When you command a Follower to do something, the dice pool is one of your Attributes + the higher of the Follower’s rating or your Leadership. Commanding your followers is a Simple action, but you can take a mixed action to act yourself while commanding them. Followers don’t get a spot in the initiative roster and don’t act independently — they always act on your turn, and their action always takes up your turn. If you’re Taken Out, your followers can keep acting on your turn, but their dice pool becomes your Attribute + their rating. If you’re present in the scene and you or your Followers suffer an Injury Condition, you can decide whether the Condition affects you or your Follower. Followers that are Taken Out typically return to form at the beginning of the next session. If being Taken Out means they’re permanently removed from play, you can reassign any dots in Followers to other Birthrights (including new Followers, if you want). Roleplaying Followers The player is the one who dictates what Followers do when the dice come out. Otherwise they’re Storyguide characters, and the Storyguide is free to use them to inject drama into the story at regular intervals. Grumbling, dissatisfaction, and even outright mutiny can result from Complications, but unless the table is actively interested in stories of operatic betrayal, Followers are generally assumed to stay loyal. For groups of Followers, the player is encouraged to name and describe a few key members of the group. The Storyguide should flesh them out and use them mercilessly as reasons to make players care. Single Followers can’t be Fatebound to characters other than their own Hero, but individual members of a group or gang can. Anything that permanently removes such a character from play requires the consent of both players. Guides The Gods are by necessity distant parental figures, watching their Scions’ deeds and struggles from the Overworld except when circumstances demand an Incarnation’s intervention. Even then, such circumstances are usually too dire to include a few hours of quality time and advice over beers. Scions rely on other mentors in the day-to-day quest to find their destinies and learn a few tricks their parents never knew. Guides can be Godly Incarnations, usually when another God has a particular fascination or liking for the character, or when Fate has insisted she play the role. They can be Legendary creatures like kitsune and dwarves, Titans and titanspawn, or arcane figures like oracles and witches. They can be other Scions with more or specialized experience, willing to play the part of older sibling for a time. Guides are usually characters, but they can be even stranger things: spirits of the dead, disembodied souls, sapient relics, the touch of prophetic dreams or visions, or even half-remembered hints and legacies left by the fingerprints of past lives. The dot value of a guide is an indicator of its overall usefulness to the character, though that doesn’t necessarily translate into raw power. A guide with a low rating could be a mortal prophet, or it could be a potent imprisoned Titan who just can’t — or won’t — get much help to the Scion very often. Benefits A guide is both a character and a resource. The Storyguide may or may not give a guide real character traits, depending on whether he expects it to play a more active role in the story. Either way, a guide functions similarly to the way a Path does, granting an array of related benefits as the result of the Scion having earned or inherited its help. The player can invoke a guide like a Path, and can push its benefits to even greater limits in exchange for a Condition that makes the guide unavailable until it’s resolved. The Path Condition for invoking a guide more than once is Paying Tribute. Paying Tribute The Scion pushed his luck with his mentor and now she’s pushing back. System: The Storyguide gives the character a new Aspiration in addition to those he already has, representing the favor he owes his guide. The character feels the eyes of Fate upon him until the debt is paid, taking a Complication of a severity equal to the guide’s dot rating to any action that doesn’t make progress toward achieving the new Aspiration. Resolution: The player achieves the Aspiration as above. The Scion may also call upon his guide for a deus ex machina once per arc. Only one deus ex machina may be in effect at a time. Whether by literal divine intervention, occult ritual, the fulfillment of a dire prophecy, or some other method within the guide’s power, the Scion gains the following for the rest of the scene: He acts in all ways as though he were one Tier higher than he is, and may use one boon he doesn’t know in a Purview to which he has access. In exchange, at the end of the scene, he gains the Tempted Fate Condition. Tempted Fate The Scion’s mentor took time out of her busy schedule to call down the wrath of the Gods for him. He’s used up his goodwill for a while. System: The Scion immediately compels one of his Fatebindings when he gains this Condition, in a way that’s appropriate to the situation. Until Tempted Fate is resolved, he has no access to any benefits normally granted by the guide who caused this Condition, including access to Boons or Knacks from the guide’s Purview or Calling. Resolution: Tempted Fate resolves after the Scion has separately resolved a number of Fatebinding role Conditions equal to (6 - the guide’s dot rating). By default, a guide has the following elements. • Asset Skills: as Path Asset Skills, but the Scion doesn’t gain +1 to these. Instead, they grant access to the guide’s Stunt (see below). One-dot guides grant one Asset Skill, while those at 2+ dots grant two. • General Benefits and Invocation: Guides can grant access to equipment, locations, allies, contacts, and narrative editing the same way Paths do, using the same guidelines for what requires invocation and what doesn’t. Narrative editing usually takes the form of the guide showing up or pulling strings to help the Scion out. • Guide Stunt: Every guide grants access to a unique Stunt, accessible by invoking the guide when the player rolls one of the guide’s Asset Skills; the player may wait to invoke until after he makes such a roll. For each dot above two, the guide also gains one of the following elements; a guide can only have one each of these elements: • Purviews: A guide can grant a Scion access to a Purview just like a relic, although never a Pantheon Signature Purview. The Scion can learn Boons in this Purview, and can use marvels through her own native pantheon motif with that Purview as long as it’s possible for the guide to have taught their tricks that way. Scions with guides from other pantheons may need to bridge the divinity gap with lessons of their own — perhaps a child of Lugh must teach an Incarnation of Tsukiyomi the scathing ways of satire before he can pass on his secrets, while Netjer guides must adjust to hearing Scions of the Theoi shout at them. If the Scion ever loses her guide’s favor, either through Tempted Fate or through story events, she also loses access to these marvels until she makes amends. • Callings: The Scion can learn Knacks in the guide’s Calling. • Legendary Titles: The Scion can invoke the guide to make use of her Legendary Title as though it were his own. A guide with a rating of 3+ may also grant access to a unique Knack in her Calling. Depending on the power of the Knack, it may preclude the inclusion of some or all the above elements, such as a Purview or Calling. Example Guides The following are example guides that you can pick up and play with as is, or use as templates to help design your own guides. Bodhisattva (•) A bodhisattva works not only for his own enlightenment, but for the enlightenment of all, and enjoys helping Scions of the Devá explore their own paths toward divinity. Bodhisattvas can provide guidance on philosophical and ethical issues, particularly when it comes to questions of Conscience and Duty. Asset Skill: Culture Guide Stunt (1-3 successes): Gain an Enhancement equal to successes spent to the next roll you make in the current session while taking an action that slides you away from the center of your Virtue track. Tengu (•) While the tengu are quite powerful, they’re picky about who they’ll apprentice, and they refuse aid — or worse — for the slightest of perceived affronts. These corvid kami live on secluded mountain peaks in remote areas, and on the top floors of skyscrapers or in penthouse lofts in urban environs. They wear red masks with enormous, elongated noses, and only take them off in the presence of those who have earned their respect. They’re masters of the sword and of ruthless negotiation tactics, and to those Scions who show them proper deference, they teach their arts. Asset Skill: Close Combat Guide Stunt (successes equal to opponent’s Defense): Next time your opponent attacks you at close range, you may immediately make a reflexive Close Combat counterattack afterward. Tonalpouhque (•) These expert calendar-readers decrypt and interpret the tonalpohualli for agents of the Teōtl. They can divine the future, read Fates and the stars, translate obscure signs from the Gods, and advise a Scion about the best timing for a divine ritual. Asset Skill: Occult Guide Stunt (1-3 successes): Gain an Enhancement equal to successes spent to the next roll you make in the current session to address a Peril for one of your Fatebindings. Animikii (••) These shapeshifting thunderbirds serve Muzzu-Kumik-Quae, and can appear in human form or in their natural eagle-like form. They command the wind and rains, and can strike with lightning from their eyes. They protect their chosen Scions, teach them how to read weather patterns and prepare for disasters, and occasionally bring messages from the Gods. Asset Skills: Firearms, Survival Guide Stunt (1-3 successes): Increase or decrease the rank of a Field feature by successes spent in the Field where you currently stand. Crane (••) Among Scions of the Manitou, the crane is a common personal dodaem. One that attaches itself to a Hero as companion and guide appears larger and haler than its mortal bird counterparts, lending its talents as she needs them and teaching her the ways of grace, beauty, and fluid movement. Asset Skills: Athletics, Pilot Guide Stunt (2 successes): Gain a +1 to your Defense against the next attack that targets you this scene, or a +2 Enhancement to the next action you take to impress someone with your moves, either your own or while operating a vehicle. Ifá Diviner (••) A babaláwo (male) or iyálawo (female) is a priest who has memorized and mastered Òrúnmìlà’s most sacred divinatory method, known as Ifá. These diviners use palm nuts to read patterns based on a canon of sacred poems they know, and they’ll share their counsel for a fee. Asset Skills: Academics, Occult Guide Stunt (2 successes): With the diviner’s insight, you roll twice for the next roll you make and keep the better result. Satyr (••) These fun-loving goat people, favored of Dionysus, can be a bit perverse in choosing Scions to help out — they’re drawn to those who like to have a good time, of course, but they also aren’t above deliberately taking serious, stoic Scions under their wings to try to loosen them up. Their revels don’t look much like guidance at first glance, but where hangovers lurk in the morning, epiphanies follow. Asset Skills: Medicine, Persuasion Guide Stunt (3 successes): Immediately shift your target’s Attitude toward you by one in whichever direction you choose for the scene, even if you’ve already succeeded at a Shift Attitude action this scene. Crow of the Morrígan (•••) The Phantom Queen’s favored birds open the Scion’s eyes to signs and portents, whether he asked for them or not. They like to hang around looking mysterious wherever he goes, speaking dire warnings that only make sense when battle begins. Asset Skills: Pilot, Subterfuge Guide Stunt (1-5 successes): Gain an Enhancement equal to successes spent on your next initiative roll in the current session. Purviews: Fortune Dverg (•••) The dvergar (singular: dverg), or dwarves, are skilled artisans who insinuate themselves into mortal societies as workers for hire or teachers of ancient crafts, in exchange for wealth and services. A Scion taking one as a mentor should prepare for grueling days at the forge or hunched over a workbench, but he’ll come out of it with a singular eye for how things are made. Asset Skills: Science, Technology Guide Stunt (1-3 successes): Gain an Enhancement equal to successes spent to your next roll in the current scene to destroy an object, pick a lock, or perform another non-crafting action that would benefit from knowing how something is put together. Purview: Forge Ghost of Duat (•••) Anubis is a busy God, so when he wants to send Scions of the Netjer some guidance, he releases souls of the dead from Duat to travel to the World for a time in his service. They teach Heroes sacred funerary rites, reveal hidden paths, whisper obscure names from the depths of the Underworld, and pass messages between the living and the dead. Asset Skills: Empathy, Survival Guide Stunt (1 success): The Storyguide reveals to you the presence of one non-verbal deception, mystery, or concealed secret present in the scene, although you don’t learn any details about what’s deceptive about it or what it hides. Calling: Liminal Scarab Beetle (•••) Scarab beetles are sacred to Re, helping him roll up the sun each night to renew it in preparation for its journey across the sky the next day. Scions can gain wisdom and revitalizing power from such a guide. Asset Skills: Academics, Medicine Guide Stunt (1-4 successes): Ignore any detrimental effects from one of your Injury Conditions until the end of the scene, with a severity equal to successes spent. Purview: Sun The White Eyebrow, Betrayer of Shaolin (•••) The Scion who became a Titan through treachery and dark alchemy can’t keep his nose out of other people’s business, constantly looking for his next avenue to power. The Shén have disavowed him, but a Hero of any pantheon might strike a deal with him, favor for favor. Of course, with a reputation for betrayal, he’s not exactly reliable…but he’s always willing to strike another deal once all that messy backstabbing is in the past. Asset Skills: Close Combat, Subterfuge Guide Stunt (1 success): Reduce the rank of the Critical Strike Stunt to 2 for the next Close Combat attack you make during the current session while betraying someone who trusts you. Legendary Title: Fist of the White Lotus Demigod of Confucius (••••) Children of the Philosopher God take his teachings squarely to heart, mentoring younger Scions as a matter of course. These Worldly guides see Heroes of the Shén as little siblings who need tutoring in the ways of familial piety and ethical duty, and often go out of their way to offer themselves up for this role without being asked (or necessarily wanted). Asset Skills: Academics, Leadership Guide Stunt (1-3 success): Gain an Enhancement equal to successes spent to the next action you take in the current session to either follow instructions or advice from someone of higher Tier than you, or lead or advise someone of lower Tier than you. Calling: Sage Purview: Order Dis (••••) The disir (singular: dis) are ancestral spirit women that act as tutelary guardians of families and clans, particularly heiresses and other women who carry on legacies. They often protect someone until she has daughters of her own, and then move on to protect those daughters instead. Disir are warrior spirits who can predict when people Fatebound to their charges will die. Asset Skills: Close Combat, Leadership Guide Stunt (1 success): Choose one character within close range and apply your own Defense against any attacks targeting that character until your next turn; you suffer the consequences of successful hits as well. Calling: Guardian Unique Knack: Whenever you resolve a Fatebound Condition in such a way that the Fatebound character was removed from play, gain a point of Momentum. Égún (••••) Spirits of the dead that have ascended to Heaven and become honored ancestors are known to the Òrìshà’s followers as égún. They possess their descendants during festivals and sacred rituals to dispense advice and pass judgment on their actions. Asset Skills: Culture, Persuasion Guide Stunt (1-3 success): You allow your ancestor to possess you briefly, guiding your hand. Gain an Enhancement equal to successes spent to your next roll in the current scene to perform an action that slides you further toward your Tradition Virtue. Unique Knack: When you attempt to convince titanspawn or a Titan to lay down arms and negotiate or work together with you, imbue a point of Legend, rather than spending, to invoke your Legendary Title as a Feat of Scale. Ītzpāpālōtl, the Obsidian Butterfly (••••) Like everything about Ītzpāpālōtl, having one of her Incarnations as a divine mentor is a doubleedged sword. The savage maneuvers and disguise tricks she teaches are invaluable, but she’s overprotective of her charges and tends to want to murder anyone who threatens them. Asset Skills: Close Combat, Subterfuge Guide Stunt (3 successes): Become invisible, gaining a +3 Enhancement to avoid detection, including by cameras and other devices. This lasts a number of rounds equal to your Legend. Purview: Beasts (all) Calling: Hunter

Muse (••••) The inspirational Goddesses of the Theoi have long been patrons of the arts and sciences for deity and mortal alike. Nine in number, each with her own specialty, they usually choose one among them to foster creativity and grant blessings for a Scion who seeks their aid. When you purchase this guide, choose one Skill specialty in an Asset Skill that relates to the particular muse your character calls upon. Asset Skills: Culture, Science Guide Stunt (1-3 successes): Gain an Enhancement equal to successes spent to the next action you take in the current scene using your chosen Skill specialty. If that action fails, gain an extra Momentum. Purview: Artistry (all) Calling: Creator Kodama (•••••) When a tree grows to be a century old, a kodama may take root within it, inflicting baneful curses upon those who mistreat it. Kodama are hoary Kami with a symbiotic relationship to nearby mortals — they remember the people’s long histories going back to their beginnings and keep the land green and vital, while the people protect the trees with sacred shimenawa ropes and ensure their continued longevity. A Scion may make offerings to the kodama’s sacred tree to receive blessings and learn ancient secrets, and in return it expects her to defend it, at any cost. Asset Skills: Academics, Survival Guide Stunt (1 success): The Storyguide provides you with one insight or historical fact about the current situation that you didn’t already know, even if you have no way of gleaning it yourself. Unique Knack: You possess a nigh-perfect memory, reducing the number of required milestones for complex research actions by one and reducing the rank of Complications based on remembering things by 1. Calling: Judge Purview: Wild Lugh Lámhfhada (•••••) Lugh is the Tuatha God of Excellence, and his favor as a foster Godparent or mentor grants a portion of this excellence to all who follow him. He’s known to favor Irish and Welsh Scions, but other pantheons’ chosen have occasionally received his fortunate eye; and with the return of the Gaulish Gods, Lugh may favor their children as well. Asset Skills: Athletics, Leadership Guide Stunt (Any number of successes): Once per scene, gain a number of relevant temporary Skill specialties equal to successes spent, which persist until the end of the scene. You can assign them to any Skills, not just the one that generated the Stunt, and can keep them for yourself or distribute them among your allies in any combination. Unique Knack: Lugh’s favor grants you a +3 Enhancement to any one Skill roll per scene involving a Skill in which you do not already have dots, but only if you haven’t rolled that Skill yet in the current scene. Purviews: Epic Dexterity Preceptor Drona (•••••) Once the martial-arts instructor for the Kauravas, Preceptor Drona teaches still at the military academy he founded in Gurgaon, India. He knows the secret ways of divine weaponry and many ancient techniques no one else in the World remembers. Asset Skills: Firearms, Technology Guide Stunt (4 successes): You study your opponent and find their secret weakness, gaining the Battle Wisdom Condition. It has no innate effect, but you may resolve it to upgrade one Injury Condition you inflict on the same opponent in a later scene by one level, including from Maimed to Taken Out. Unique Knack: Reduce the clues required to uncover a combat-related Relic’s secrets by one. Calling: Warrior Legendary Title: Battle Guru Relics Second only to the names of great Heroes in the eyes of Legend are the names of their Relics, the tools of their divinity. Entire arcs can hinge on the search — or war — for a single piece of the Gods’ panoply. The name Excalibur excites as much fervor as the name of the Scion who wielded it, and Relics from that famous sword to the Golden Fleece to the Stone of Fál have been used to claim worldly power as well as divine. A Relic can represent a Scion’s inheritance, but it can also set her apart. It’s an obvious visible symbol of her growing Legend, one the World learns to associate inextricably with her. More practically, it grants her access to powers beyond those she earns from her parent pantheon. Thus, Relics are how a Scion forges her own unique identity as a fledgling God, mixing and matching power and theme to craft her personal divinity. Acquiring Relics Most Scions receive Relics during their Visitations, as tangible expressions of the destiny they’ve inherited. Their divine patrons may bestow more of their treasures upon them as their Legends progress. Beyond this, a Scion might quest for a Relic in the far reaches of the Terra Incognita, or unearth one in the World’s own forgotten places. She might steal one from another Scion, or a Titan, or even the Gods themselves. She could commission one from divine craftspeople, like Legendary creatures or titanspawn. Given the right Purviews and a hell of a workshop, she could even forge her own Relics. A Relic could also be handed down from heroic forebears. A Scion might leave a Relic deliberately for a successor via prophecy, or she might inherit one naturally through the workings of Fate. Perhaps she and the Scion who went before were Incarnate from the same God, or perhaps she’s even a direct reincarnation of that Scion. Perhaps the Relic was stolen from one of her divine parent’s previous children, or that Scion betrayed his pantheon and sold the treasure to Titans, and she’s meant to restore its rightful lineage. Whenever a player purchases a Relic, she and the Storyguide should work together to decide how it works and what form it takes. Below is a list of example Relics that players can easily pick up and use, based on the pantheons presented in this book. A player can also design her own, as described on p. XX. Look at the individual pantheons (p. XX) for more guidelines on what sorts of Relics are associated with each pantheon and its Gods. Relics come in five varieties, although a single Relic might fit more than one. • Classic: Classic Relics are original artifacts from myth and legend, ones the Gods themselves or their previous Scions used or owned that are already known for those associations. Example: Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. • Archetypal: An archetypal Relic is one made to resemble an original artifact and call upon its legend directly. It might be a replica or an homage. Archetypal Relics more or less keep the forms of their predecessors. Example: Twofold Guise. • Modernized: A modernized Relic is one that indirectly calls upon the legend of an original artifact but greatly alters form and function to fit in with the modern World. It might contain an actual piece of the original, might have been reforged from it, or might simply inherit its power through Fate and association. Example: iGjallar. • New: A brand new Relic is one designed to follow the themes of a Scion’s parent pantheon and Callings while expressing her own growing Legend, with no specific ties back to existing Gods. A Scion might craft her own new Relic, or might have someone else do it for her. A new Relic is just as much a Birthright as any other — a Scion is entitled to such wonders as a matter of Fate and inheritance, regardless of where they come from. • General or Mass-Produced: one of a series of identical or similar Relics, either copied from a unique and more powerful artifact or designed to be generic. They might allow an army or cult access to the pantheon’s power in a small way, or they might allow Scions of the same God or pantheon to each have a piece of a larger pie. Example: Amulet of Resurrection. Benefits A Relic may allow a character to channel one or more Purviews he can’t access innately or through his pantheon. Much as Pantheon Signature Purviews (p. XX) do, Relics grant the ability to purchase boons in their associated Purviews, and allow a Scion to perform marvels through a motif particular to the Relic. A character may only use these Boons while he has the Relic on his person and can use it as intended. He may only channel a Purview the Relic provides and his Pantheon Signature Purview through its motif for marvels. Some Relics also provide access to unique Knacks, or alter the use of Knacks or Boons the character already has. A Relic often contains an innate Enhancement to make it an exemplar of its type. Relic effects that require non-reflexive actions can’t be included in mixed actions. Anatomy of a Relic Every Relic has a dot rating and an associated Deed. It may have the other listed traits. • Rating: Each Relic is rated from 1-5 dots. Its rating informs how powerful and/or versatile it is. • Deed: Upon acquiring a Relic, the player chooses one of his character’s Deeds — personal or band — with which to associate it. If he begins the game with it, it’s associated with the character’s Visitation instead. Whenever the Scion uses or flaunts the Relic while interacting with someone who knows about that Deed, he gains a social Enhancement based on his Tier: +1 for Hero, +2 for Demigod, +3 for God. This stacks with the Relic’s usual Enhancement where applicable, to a maximum of +3. Using a borrowed Relic this way grants an Enhancement based on the original owner’s Legend. • Purview(s): The Purview or Purviews this Relic allows a Scion to channel for marvels and learn Boons in. A Scion can’t gain access to a Pantheon’s Signature Purview through a Relic. If a Scion already has innate access to a Purview a Relic would provide, or gains it over the course of play, then using the Relic to access that Purview grants the ability to eliminate one point of relevant Complication per dot of the Relic’s rating. • Motif: A short phrase that determines the scope of the marvels that a Scion can — and thus, can’t — perform through the Relic. For instance, Eric Donner’s Giantsbane has a motif of “the flash and fury of the thunderstorm.” It can perform Sky marvels that are forceful and flashy, but couldn’t call up a gentle breeze or cause the sun to shine. A Relic’s motif describes the concept of its Legend, like a Legendary Title does for a Scion. • Enhancement: The rating of the equipment Enhancement that the character enjoys when he uses the Relic for its intended purpose, including for rolls to activate Boons in its Purviews. • Knack: A Relic may provide access to a unique Knack. The Scion can access a Relic Knack anytime she has the item on hand. Depending on the Knack, she may need to actually use the Relic, or it may be enough just to have it on her person. • Flaw: A Relic may have a Flaw that allows for more powerful effects at a price. Some Relics also have weapon traits, armor traits, or vehicle traits. Borrowed Treasures Relics can be stolen, lost, given away, abandoned, sold, or bartered. A character using a Relic that isn’t his own Birthright gains its benefits as long as he has the traits necessary to use them. The downside of such purloined power is that each use of the borrowed Birthright costs Momentum equal to the Relic’s dot rating. Relics that have passive abilities cost that much Momentum per scene to benefit from them, instead. A Scion can fully claim a Relic that didn’t initially belong to him to eliminate this Momentum cost by Fatebinding the Relic as though it were a character (p. XX). When the Strength of the Relic’s bond exceeds its dot rating, it becomes his Birthright in truth and the Fatebinding ends. For five-dot Relics, the bond must reach an effective Strength of 6. The Fatebound Relic Condition A Scion may Fatebind someone else’s Relic to claim it as his own Birthright. If he does, it gains this role Condition as an archetype. Invoke: The Scion’s player chooses a Storyguide character present in the scene. That character recognizes the Relic he wields by its reputation or its original owner’s, and the Scion may benefit from one of that owner’s Legendary Titles or relevant Paths as though it were his own while interacting with that character in this scene. Compel: As invoke, but the Storyguide chooses the character who recognizes the Relic, and instead of benefiting from it, the Scion experiences the backlash of Fate tugging the Relic’s strings. He gains one point of Legend and the Difficulty of his next task while interacting with the character increases by one. Resolve: Ordinarily, a Scion wouldn’t resolve this Condition, instead simply invoking and/or compelling it to increase the Fatebinding’s Strength until the Relic became his Birthright. But no Scion’s life is bereft of dramatic twists of Fate. The Scion may resolve this Condition to boldly renounce the Relic, giving up any claim to it and instead immediately acquiring a new Fatebinding to another character in the scene equal to the Strength of this one, with an archetype appropriate to the way in which the Scion renounced the relic. The Relic is either returned to its original owner or abandoned to be claimed by another. Designing a Relic A player can work with her Storyguide to design her own Relic rather than take one of the given examples, using the following guidelines. Players can design any type of Relic this way, not just new ones created for or by the character. If a player finds a reference to a legendary artifact in a mythic story and wants to claim it — or something based on it — for her Scion, the Storyguide can help her design it in quick-and-dirty fashion, as follows. • Enhancements: A one-dot Relic can have a situational +1 Enhancement that only applies to certain types of rolls. A two-dot Relic can have a general +1 Enhancement that applies all the time. Add one dot to the Relic’s rating for each situational Enhancement you add. Add two dots for each general Enhancement you add. General Enhancements can’t exceed +3, and situational ones can’t exceed +4. • Purviews and Motifs: A one-dot Relic can’t grant a Purview unless a Flaw balances it out (see below). A two-dot Relic can grant one Purview. Add two dots to the Relic’s rating for a second Purview. Add three dots to the Relic’s rating for a third Purview; to do so, you must offset the dot value with Flaws. A Relic can’t grant more than three Purviews. If the Relic grants at least one Purview, it also gains a motif. • Weapons and Armor: Start with the standard tags for a mundane weapon or piece of armor of the type you want. Each additional point of tags adds one dot to the Relic’s rating; you can also remove a negative tag, like Loud, by adding dots equal to the tag’s negative point value. You can add tags with negative point values as Flaws with dot values equal to the tag value (see below). • Other Effects: Custom Knack effects add a number of dots to a Relic’s rating based on how powerful or broad the effect is. Generally speaking, an effect that’s broad enough to apply any time the Relic is used should add one dot more than one that only applies in certain situations. Use the example Relics and the Calling Knacks (p. XX) as a gauge for how many dots a custom effect should add. • Flaws: Adding a Flaw to a Relic decreases its dot rating based on the severity of the Flaw, so that its benefits can exceed five dots’ worth of effects and tags. See the chart below for sample Flaws. [THIS IS A CHART] possession of Relic, but without it lose access to that dot and all its benefits varies Weapon or armor gains a tag with a negative point value equal to this Flaw’s dot rating, such as Loud, Two-Handed, or Weighty. varies Relic has a built-in Complication with a rank equal to this Flaw’s dot rating, e.g. “Heavy,” “Complex,” “Flashy,” etc. varies Relic is strongly tied to Fate; in each scene it’s used, the Scion must resolve a Fatebinding of the player’s choice with Strength equal to this Flaw’s dot rating [END OF CHART] Crafting Relics The basic rules for a character crafting her own Relics are found on p. XX, though doing so is restricted to Demigods and Gods. Generally, Flaws generated from Relic design and Flaws generated from the crafting process are compatible, and you can translate one over to the other in either direction when figuring out how to design traits for something you’ve made, or how to make something you’ve designed. Full rules can be found in Scion: Companion. Example Relics The following are example Relics that you can pick up and play with as is, or use as templates to help design your own relics, as detailed above. Soma (• - •••••) Soma is the moon deity among the Devá, and his blood is the plant sap that makes their favorite drink. A soma plant is sacred, and by mixing its sap with milk and other sweet ingredients, a Scion may brew an intoxicating divine beverage that grants health, wealth, and success. Those who imbibe experience euphoria and a burst of confidence. One soma plant yields enough sap to make one batch of the drink per session. Each batch provides the Scion with a number of soma points equal to the Relic’s rating, which disappear if he doesn’t use them by the end of the session. If he shares the drink with others, he can spread these points out among as many characters as he likes, but one batch only ever produces (rating) points per session. Knack: The beneficiary may spend a soma point at any time to do one of the following: • Gain one additional Injured Condition level for the scene • Reduce a Complication’s rating by one • Break a tie on an opposed roll in your favor • Experience a minor convenient stroke of luck, such as stumbling across someone you wanted to find or guessing a lock’s combination on the first try Fae-Shot Weaponry (•) The aes sídhe use weapons of bronze harder than the finest steel that cause paralysis and painful, seizing injuries when they strike their targets. Scions of the Tuatha Dé Danann (and more rarely, the Æsir, who call these relics “elf-shot” instead) wield ranged weapons of bright shining bronze, graven with leaf-shaped designs and inlaid with silver, that possess the same properties. A weapon must have the Ranged or Long Range tag to be a fae-shot Relic. Knack: The Scion may perform the Paralyze Stunt, as follows. If he does, his attack may not inflict any Injury Conditions. Paralyze (1 success): Your target’s muscles seize up and their nerves scream in agony. Result: Your target suffers Complication 2 on her next turn. If she doesn’t buy it off, she can’t take any movement actions until the end of her next turn. Healing Knacks and Boons can’t alleviate this Complication, though the victim can buy it off normally. Red String of Fate (•) Red strings of Fate connect people across space and time, ensuring they’ll be important to one another at some point regardless of how. Both the Kami and the Shén may distribute them to their Scions, in some cases before a Scion even experiences her Visitation — she can’t use the Relic yet, but she can see it and knows it’s momentous somehow. Red strings of Fate are invisible to anyone who doesn’t have a direct connection to the divine, so mortals can only guess at their influence based on auspicious events or seeming coincidences. As a Relic, the red string needn’t be a literal string; it might instead be a bracelet, a shoelace, or a belt. A Hero who wears such a Relic tied around part of her body, like a finger or an ankle, or perhaps as a ribbon in her hair, chooses to entangle herself further in the complex webs Fate weaves across the World. Knack: The Scion may have one additional Fatebinding Condition beyond her dots in Legend. The benefits of multiple red strings don’t stack. Twofold Guise (•) Purview: Deception Motif: Everything is a matter of perspective. Enhancement: 1 when used to deceive or as a disguise Once, Eshu Elegbara walked through a village wearing a hat that was black on one side and red on the other. Half the village saw only one side and insisted the hat was black, while the other half insisted the opposite. Eshu let them come to blows before he stepped in to show them that differing perspectives can both be right. Scions wear all manner of dualistic garments that embody the archetype of Eshu’s black-and-red hat: scarves that display different patterns depending on the light, caps in two colors, reversible jackets, and so on. Through marvels, these help a Scion provoke conflict from nothing, see a situation from a new angle, don two disguises at once, and perform feats of a multiform nature. Flaws: Once per arc, Eshu requires the Scion’s service; gain the Paying Tribute Condition (p. XX). Wayang Kulit (•) In traditional Indonesian theater, masters of puppetry perform tales of the Devá’s exploits and those of their Heroes by crafting wayang kulit, or shadow puppets, in the shapes of figures from the stories. By manipulating the puppets behind a backlit screen, the dalang creates shadows that bring those stories to life. In the hands of a cunning Scion, a wayang can literally project these shadow figures into life, creating servants to lend helping hands or serve as cannon fodder. Knack: By imbuing the wayang with a Legend point for up to a scene, the Scion may create shadow figures that rise from the surface on which they’re projected to become featureless physical beings. These figures are trivial characters and can perform only physical tasks, with dice pools equal to the Scion’s Legend x 2. It takes a simple action to create one wayang figure, and the Hero may have up to Legend x 2 figures at a time. Flaws: The wayang kulit doesn’t work if no shadows can be cast, whether because the Scion is in total darkness or too much light. Amulet of Resurrection (••) Osiris fashions these golden amulets in the shape of the djed pillar, a symbol representing stability and the spine of the afterlife god himself. A Scion who knows the right ritual can place the amulet upon a mummified corpse and perform the spell, allowing the mummy to regain the use of its spine for a short while and do the godling’s bidding. Knack: A Scion can use one of these amulets to animate a properly mummified corpse as a complex action rolled with Occult + Intellect at Difficulty 2, with an interval of one round and a goal of eight successes. If successful, the Scion temporarily gains the Mummy Follower (p. XX) at one dot per corpse animated for the scene, to a maximum of five dots. These followers can take up to two each of the Bruised and Maimed Injury Conditions. Icarian Wings (••) Once, Daedalus the master artisan crafted artificial wings that allowed a person to fly like a bird. But his son Icarus came to a tragic end when he failed to heed his father’s warnings. He flew too close to the sun, melting the wax that held the wings together and falling to his death. Since then, Hephaestus has improved upon Daedalus’ design and taught Scions how to make wings that function without fear of sun or sea. These relics can take on various appearances, from traditional feathered wings to leather bat wings to modern mechanized wings of shining metal or clockwork wings with whirring gears. They’re always golden, no matter their form. A Hero straps them to her back, and can fold them up whenever she’s not using them. Knack: The wearer spends a point of Legend to activate the wings for the day. For the duration, she can fly — she can take reflexive move actions vertically as well as horizontally, and for a point of Momentum she can move two range bands instead of one with a single move. She can’t rush or disengage while flying. She can also glide safely down from great heights at no Legend cost, by simply spreading the wings and letting them slow her descent. iGjallar (••) Enhancement: 1 when used to gather, summon, or coordinate others The great sounding horn of Heimdall is the Gjallarhorn, a clarion with a blast audible in all worlds that summons Gods and signals doom. Prophecy holds that when Ragnarok comes, the Gjallarhorn will herald its beginning. The iGjallar is the modern Scion’s tribute to the mighty call of the Æsir’s hawk-eyed sentinel: a smartphone with a direct uplink to the Overworld. It requires no service contract or battery and can communicate across boundaries between realms, including from the World to almost any Terra Incognita and vice versa. Knack: In addition to all the functions of a normal smartphone, the iGjallar has crystal-clear reception no matter where the Scion goes and never loses signal except when brought to realms that have no connection to the Overworld or other locations sacred to the character’s divine benefactor. With it, the Scion can call anywhere as long as there’s a phone or similar device on the other end to receive it. Jade Seal (••) Purview: Order Motif: “I’m going to need that in triplicate.” This seal, reminiscent of the ancient Heirloom Seal of China, is a small, rectangular cylinder made of jade with the bearer’s personal name and Legendary Title embossed on the end. The Shén give them to their Heroes with great frequency, to legitimize a Scion’s duties within the Celestial Bureaucracy and grant her a measure of judicial authority. Most Shén Scions grow used to carrying around forms on silk paper, dashing off quick prayers to work their marvels. Oyohualli (••) Purview: Passion (varies) Motif: Stop and smell the flowers. The oyohualli is a teardrop-shaped pendant made of mother of pearl. Xochipilli the Flower Prince hands them out to anyone who, in his estimation, needs to chill out and enjoy life — or who agrees to spread the good word to everyone around her. This relic can be made into jewelry of various kinds, or can adorn weapons or clothing. Marvels and Boons it channels can apply to a variety of Passions, as long as they’re the kind that get people having fun and following their hearts. Sacred Boombox (••) Enhancement: 1 while using Gún/Cheval boons or dealing with ancestor spirits Percussion instruments and music with heavy, complex beats are the core of worship and ritual for the Òrìshà. A Hero blasting music from one of these enormous portable sound systems can call Gods and spirits from anywhere, regardless of distance or the depths of the Terra Incognita they inhabit. It’s not unheard of for street performers to accidentally summon up a deity or an ancestor with a sacred boombox, as the music pumps through the hidden places of the World with irresistible energy. Knack: When performing summoning rituals, acting as a medium, using Gún/Cheval Boons, or with other similar actions, your ritual reaches across any barrier and into any realm, and prompts a Clash of Wills against any magic that would oppose it. Tears of Re (••) When the great sun God of Egypt weeps, his tears fall down to the World as honeybees, providing sweet nectar to humanity. Bottling the tears before they get that far, however, can give Scions a potent weapon to wield in battle. The Tears of Re come in a tiny clay jar, tightly stoppered with wax and engraved with hieroglyphs. When spilled in battle, they unleash a swarm of bees under the Hero’s command. Knack: With the Tears of Re in hand, a Scion may take a simple action to spill them onto the ground, emptying the jar and creating the Bee Swarm Field feature (below), which only affects her enemies. It lasts for the scene. The character may take the swarm with her as she moves or leave it in place at her option. Bee Swarm (rank 3 Complication): Countless bees swarm around you, buzzing interminably and stinging with abandon. This Complication applies to all physical actions, and moving away from it requires successfully disengaging; the swarm uses the Scion’s Presence + Occult to oppose. Result: Take an Injury Condition and reduce your Defense by 1 until your next turn. Flaws: A jar of Tears of Re refills in the next session after it’s emptied, but only if the Scion’s player succeeds at a Presence + Occult roll with Difficulty 2 to appeal to Re in a sacred ritual that takes an hour to perform. Winonah’s Jingle Dress (••) Winonah lends her jingle dress out to Scions when they face the daunting task of clearing out dark and dangerous spirits. The ornate, buckskin medicine dress is covered all over with tin cones that make a jingling sound whenever its wearer moves. By simply walking through a place where twisted titanspawn lurk, she frightens the least of them away and gives even the strongest some pause. Knack: The Scion may imbue the dress with a Legend point and take a simple action to roll Presence + Occult, performing a sacred dance with a Difficulty of the highest Legend among all titanspawn and other malignant spirits present. Success forces those within short range to flee the scene outright if they are of lesser Tier than she is. Those of an equal or higher Tier instead suffer a rank 2 Complication for the scene that applies to aggressive actions; failing to buy it off makes them unable to come within close range of her until the end of their next turn. Bear-Warrior’s Bludgeon (•••) Enhancement: 1 Once, the great warrior Maudjee-Kawiss coveted the wampum sashes of the Bear Nation and, on a sudden impulse, stole one. When the bear people pursued him, he used his peerless might to slay one in a single blow. Rather than punish him for his transgression, the Bear Nation offered to make him their champion — an opportunity to make up for what he’d done in service to their people. Maudjee-Kawiss still acts brashly, but he learned something that day about responsibility and justice. When he blesses a Scion’s weapon, he ensures his chosen will learn the same lesson. Any Relic with the Bashing tag can be a Bear-Warrior’s Bludgeon. Knack: The Scion may imbue the weapon with a Legend to gain access to the Dizzying Blow Stunt for the scene, as follows. Dizzying Blow (4 successes): Your attack packs enough of a punch to dizzy your opponent. Result: The opponent must spend a point of Tension (or Momentum) per attack they wish to make against you for the rest of the scene, unless they spend a Legend instead to end this effect. Flaws: If the Scion kills a non-trivial character with this weapon, he gains the Making Restitution Condition: Until he performs a service to make up for his actions, perhaps by aiding the deceased’s loved ones or putting her restless spirit at ease, he suffers a +1 Difficulty to all acts of violence or aggression. Green Dragon Crescent Blade (•••) Enhancement: 1 vs. trivial foes; 1 while mounted Enshrined at the Purple Heaven Palace in the Wudang Mountains, this massive guandao, or Chinese polearm, belongs to Guan Yu and fits best in the hand of a Scion with truly heroic strength. It’s best known for its ability to singlehandedly mow down armies, and many a Hero charging into the fray on horseback with it has seen even the most disciplined troops scatter like so much dust on the wind. Guan Yu allows Scions to sign it out when they need it, provided they go through the proper approval process first. Tags: Lethal, Melee, Reach, Two-Handed, Versatile Knacks: This weapon also has the Shockwave tag, but only when every target in the range band is a trivial character. Flaws: If the wielder’s Might is less than 5, he suffers a -3 Complication on all attacks with a value equal to (5 - his Might). This Complication doesn’t apply to characters with at least one Boon in the Epic Strength Purview. Result: You may only take reflexive actions on your next turn. Hill-Striding Moccasins (•••) Purview: Epic Dexterity Motif: No hill too steep, nor too far. A Scion who wears a pair of these leather moccasins becomes incredibly fleet of foot, overtaking prey and outrunning pursuit with equal swiftness. Each pair is decorated with beads in the shapes of clouds, birds, and bolts of lightning, all to speed the Hero’s steps. Knack: The wearer reduces the rank of all Complications by one to avoid difficult or dangerous terrain features. Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, the Sword that Cuts Grass (•••) Purview: Sky Motif: Who controls the battlefield rises on wings of valor. Susano-Ō pulled Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi from the tail of the dragon he slew and gifted it to his sister Amaterasu as an apology for his irresponsible behavior. Later, numerous emperors wielded it, until it fell into the hands of the prince Yamato Takeru. The sword earned its name when Yamato was trapped by an enemy warlord in a large field that burned on every side. He sliced at the grass to remove the fuel from the flame and discovered Kusanagi’s power to control the winds. Corralling the fire toward his ambushers, he soundly defeated them as they fled. Scions to whom the blade falls gain control of the field of battle in clever ways, using the environment to gain advantages and slipping away from unwinnable fights like leaves on the breeze. Tags: Lethal, Melee, Versatile Knack: The character may use the Grass-Cutter Stunt whenever he inflicts a successful hit with Kusanagi on an opponent or inanimate object, as follows. Grass-Cutter (1-3 successes): Create or suppress one feature in the Field in which the Scion stands, with a value equal to successes spent. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to successes spent, and only one such effect can exist at a time. The feature must make sense within the bounds of what controlling the wind or cutting with a blade could accomplish. Mead of Poetry (•••) Long ago, the Æsir and the Vanir created Kvasir, a God of poetry and wisdom, as a symbol of their truce. Dwarves murdered Kvasir and mixed his blood with honey, creating a divine drink they called the mead of poetry. Odin later stole it back for the Gods, and shared it with his buddy Ogma of the Tuatha Dé Danann while they devised runes together. Today, Scions can find rare meaderies hidden away in the World’s stranger niches that produce bottles of poet’s mead and distribute them through divine channels. Those who get a taste gain a honeyed tongue that speaks beautiful, wise words. Knack: If a Scion drinks a dose of poet’s mead, he gains the ability to imbue a point of Legend rather than spending it to invoke his Legendary Title as a Feat of Scale on a roll to recite poetry, convince someone his advice is sound, or otherwise speak eloquently, until the end of the scene. This doesn’t apply to using speech or poetry to perform marvels or use Boons. Once per arc, a mortal who drinks a dose may add 1 Scale to the next roll he makes to do one of the above tasks. If he does, he immediately becomes Fatebound to the nearest Scion, or increases the Strength of a nearby Scion’s Fatebinding to him by one. Flaws: Each bottle of poet’s mead holds a number of doses determined by rolling a die when the Scion comes into possession of it. Once it’s empty, it stays empty unless the Hero accepts the Paying Tribute Condition (p. XX) from one of the Norse or Irish Gods and then resolves it, at which point the bottle fills back up to its full 10 doses. Quill of Ma’at (•••) In the Hall of Two Truths, Osiris weights the hearts of the dead against the feather of Ma’at to judge their worthiness. When Ma’at lends the feather out to her Scions, it takes the form of a tall, crisp quill pen that generates its own ink. Her Heroes use it to discover the truths others hide deep in their hearts, and leverage them to get what they want out of people. Knack: If the Scion uses the quill to write the true name of someone with whom she’s interacted in the last 24 hours, it will leap from her hand to scribe the following truths about that character: their Callings, and general information about any Crises of Calling they’ve undergone recently; their Virtues, and where they currently lie along their Virtue track; and their most destructive or dishonest current Aspiration or Drive. Knack: The Scion may imbue a Legend point and write someone’s true name. While the Legend remains imbued, the Scion reduces the Scope of any attempt to influence that character by 1, as long as the influence relies on judgment, shame, blackmail, or other such approaches that bank on information she knows about her target. This effect can be indefinite so long as the name remains readable and the surface upon which it’s inscribed remains intact. Tezcatlipoca’s Mirror (•••) Purview: Fortune Motif: Secrets beg for revelation; mysteries beg for solution. The obsidian mirrors of Tezcatlipoca unveil many secrets, even those a Scion may not wish to know. These come in many shapes and sizes — some are massive discs of polished, night-black glass set in heavy frames to hang upon a wall, while others masquerade as compact mirrors or grace the inner surfaces of pocket-watch cases. A Hero may consult such a mirror to see what has not yet come to pass, to scry upon faraway places, or to read the heart’s darkest desires. Through Fate, the mirror always finds a way to return to the Scion whose Birthright it is, even if she loses it or deliberately abandons it. It keeps turning up regardless, and no one else may use its powers until they Fatebind it completely to claim it as their own. Knack: The mirror’s wielder can learn Blurt It Out (p. XX) as a Fortune boon, but rather than speaking aloud, the subject is reflected in the mirror and their thoughts are clear to anyone who can see them in the glass. Knack: By imbuing the mirror with a Legend point, the Scion may view what’s happening in a given location from anywhere, as long as she’s been there before. She may do this indefinitely, but can’t take any non-reflexive actions while she does so and can’t apply her Defense. Flaws: Tezcatlipoca’s favor is as fickle as fortune itself. Each time the Scion scries with the mirror or channels a Purview through it, the Storyguide adds one point to the Tension Pool. Uaithne, Harp of the Dagda (•••) Purview: Passion (Joy, Sorrow) Motif: Music sways the heart and defies the enemy. Ireland’s coat of arms bears a noble harp, the most beloved musical instrument of the Tuatha Dé Danann, and it long ago adorned the banners of the High Kings of Ireland. The harp has been, at times, a symbol of righteous rebellious spirit. Bards and filid use them to accompany their scathing satire and beauteous poetry. The Dagda’s enchanted harp has many names: Uaithne; or Dur da Blá, the Oak of Two Blossoms; or Coir Cethar Chuin, the Four-Angled Music. When the Fomorians dared steal the harp from the Irish All-Father, he set out with Lugh and Ogma to retrieve it. He called to the harp in poem and song, and it flew to his hands, cutting down nine titanspawn on its way there. A Scion trusted with such a rare treasure must be favored of the Dagda, indeed. Knack: Uaithne allows its player to play the three sacred harp tunes: that of laughter, that of weeping, and that of slumber. In addition to using Passion Boons to coax joy and sorrow from listeners, the Scion can use Irresistible Impulse (p. XX) to fill someone with the urge to fall asleep immediately. Knack: If the Hero speaks or sings the secret words as a simple action, Uaithne responds to the call if it’s within medium range, flying to his hand. It makes an attack against anyone who tries to stop it or who stands in its way, and if the attack hits, it flies unhindered; the attack uses the Scion’s Might + Close Combat and has the following tags: Lethal, Loud, Melee. Flaws: The Scion must speak or sing the secret words that activate the harp’s powers at the beginning of any scene in which he wishes to use it; otherwise, it won’t play. Designated Constellation (••••) Purview: Fortune, Stars Motif: All Fates are reflected in the stars. While modern science knows that stars shine from light-years away in space, Heroes of the Shén know they’re also Relics the Gods hand out in heaven as rewards for services well-rendered. A Scion can’t hold his constellation in his hand, but he can manipulate its glittering bounty through the threads of his Fate as long as it shines overhead. The Theoi and other pantheons with zodiacs of their own occasionally dole out constellations as well, but the practice is uncommon for anyone but the Shén. Knack: The constellation’s ruler can learn Muse’s Kiss (p. XX) for any kind of art as a Stars Boon. Knack: The Scion can spend a point of Legend to make his constellation impart a specific message to anyone in the World who divines or navigates by the stars. The message must be brief, no more than a sentence or two, and lasts until the character changes it to a new message. Flaws: This Relic’s abilities, and all Boons and marvels channeled through it, may only be used when the constellation itself is visible in the sky. Giantsbane (••••) Purview: Sky Motif: The flash and fury of the thunderstorm. Enhancement: 1 general, or 2 vs. foes of larger Size Anyone who’s ever run afoul of the Æsir knows the thunderous power of Thor’s hammer Mjolnir, probably far better than they ever hoped to know it. The Norse guardian doesn’t like to part with his hammer, but he once broke off a small piece of its stone and gave it to the dwarves for use in forging a new weapon with its potent magic, destined for his child’s hand. That weapon was Giantsbane, the prodigious revolver with a barrel as long and as thick around as the forearm of the Scion who wields it. As the gun’s wielder cocks back the hammer, anyone nearby feels the thrill of ambient static electricity. With extraordinary stopping power and a deafening crackle, Giantsbane tears through a Hero’s enemies like a force of nature. Tags: Firearm, Lethal, Loud, Piercing, Pushing, Ranged Knack: If the wielder knows the Boon Bolt from the Blue (p. XX), he may fire the bolt from Giantsbane rather than calling it down from the sky, thus potentially getting around roof cover or aiming it in a specific direction. He may substitute Firearms + Dexterity for the Boon’s normal roll. Knack: The Scion can use Giantsbane to call down a tempest from a sunny sky as a complex action rolled with Firearms + Presence at Difficulty 2, with an interval of one round and a goal of eight successes. If successful, the weather shifts to a wild thunderstorm, a hurricane, a tornado, or similar in an area with a one-mile radius, centered on the character. It lasts for the scene and imposes Complications appropriate to the type of storm, at the Storyguide’s discretion. Flaws: Like many Relics of the Æsir, Giantsbane is inextricably tied to dire Fates. Each time the Scion successfully calls a storm down with the gun, the Storyguide adds three points to the Tension pool. Irish Muscle Car (••••) Purview: Chaos Motif: The road is my battlefield. The chariot is the traditional conveyance of battle for the Tuatha Dé Danann, favored by the Morrígan. A sturdy chariot pulled by noble steeds and bristling with weaponry could make a simple drive-by deadly in the hands of a skilled charioteer. Modern Scions prefer to pay homage to this tradition with a different kind of horsepower. The Irish muscle car is usually a Mustang or Charger, tricked out with gadgets, guns, hidden blades, and more to make chases a dicey prospect for a Hero’s enemies. Souped-up engines that roar like lions and stylish paint jobs are practically required — no stealthy spy vehicles receive Badb’s blessing. Knack: This vehicle constitutes a rank 2 Hazard Complication for any other vehicle involved in a chase or race (p. XX). Once per scene, the driver of the Irish muscle car may gain one Momentum whenever the driver of another vehicle spends from the Tension Pool. Knack: This vehicle never runs out of fuel, and its driver always begins any chase or race with the Head Start Enhancement at rank 1, reflecting its ability to go from zero to breakneck in mere seconds. It applies only to the first lap. Flaws: Reduce the car’s Head Start Enhancement or Hazard Complication by one rank at the end of any scene in which it was used in a chase or race without its driver or another occupant fulfilling his Prowess Virtue. Restore these traits to full value as soon as Prowess is fulfilled this way. Other similar Virtues may substitute at the Storyguide’s discretion. [ART NOTE: I WOULD LOVE IT IF WE COULD HAVE ONE OF THESE CARS IN THE ART, SPORTING A FEW GADGETS, READY TO BATTLE-DRIFT SOME POOR BASTARD OFF THE ROAD WITH TIRE SHREDDING BLADES.] Oshe of Shàngó (••••) Purview: Epic Strength Motif: Go big or go home. Enhancement: 1 when deliberately showing off In the SLB (Scion League of Baseball), where the World Series is a true World Series and games are hosted by various Godsrealms in turn, Shàngó’s Heroes walk away with the MVP trophy more often than not and they don’t let the other pantheons forget it. One reason is that the God himself likes to lend out his oshe — his double-headed axe, which is also a wooden baseball bat decorated with red and white beads — for the post-season. The crack of its home runs lingers in the air like thunder, and nobody in her right mind tries to catch one without magic of her own. In battle, the bat may become an axe with the fury of the storm behind its powerful swings. Tags: Lethal, Loud, Melee, Piercing (axe); Bashing, Loud, Melee, Pushing, Versatile (bat) Knack: The oshe’s wielder can take a simple action to change the bat to an axe or vice versa. Knack: The Critical Strike Stunt costs only four successes with either version of the oshe. Flaws: If the Scion doesn’t spend a simple action “calling his shot” with the bat or axe, making his intent in the scene 100% clear ahead of time to all present, it functions only as a mundane weapon. Once activated, it retains its abilities for the scene. Magatama (••••) Purviews: Order, Prosperity Motif: By the grace of the Kami do I claim the right to lead. The magatama is a comma-shaped bead, made of precious stone or glass, that denotes high status and the authority to lead. The Japanese Gods use magatama for all manner of divine miracles. The most sacred set is the Yasakani no Magatama, which Izanagi originally gave to Amaterasu as a symbol of her rulership of the Kami, and which she in turn gave to her grandson Ninigi as a symbol of his rulership of Japan. To this day, this necklace plays a role in the enthronement ceremony for Japanese emperors. Many magatama are lesser charms that merely bestow minor blessings of wealth or success. A true magatama Relic, however, is made of jade and allows a Scion to access the Order and Prosperity Purviews, marking her as unequivocally chosen for greatness by the Gods. Golden Stag (•••••) Purview: Journeys Motif: Swift and agile as the deer. Enhancement: 2 general, or 3 while attempting stealth When Artemis was young, she captured four golden-horned deer and bade them pull her golden chariot. Though she sometimes travels this way still through Olympus’ steep passes, some of her Incarnations prefer to cruise in more modern style. When she lends her wheels out to her Scions, it’s this custom chopper bike they ride. Painted a bright gold, it sits low to the road, with an elongated frame and an engine that hums too quietly — until revved up for effect. Faster and more maneuverable than any mortal motorcycle, the Golden Stag boasts a pair of deer antlers made of solid gold and comes with a sleek full-face helmet which acts as armor with the Armored tag. Flaws: During any scene in which the Scion rides the Golden Stag, other characters gain Enhancement 2 to convince or urge her to exact vengeance for any slight — real or imagined. Ternion (•••••) Enhancement: 3 vs. targets marked for destruction Once, the brave Scion warrior Barbarika carried three arrows in his quiver, the Teen Baan, and they were the only three arrows he would ever need to win a battle. He proved his worth — and theirs — to Lord Krishna by collecting together every leaf from a tree with just one arrow. Legend tells that the first arrow could mark every target Barbarika wanted to destroy; the second arrow could mark every target he wanted to save from harm; and the third arrow would wreak merry violence, as the marks dictated, before returning to his quiver. Today, the Teen Baan together take the form of a single sleek sniper rifle called Ternion, which only fits one special bullet that always returns to its chamber at the end of the round in which it’s fired. Tags: Firearm, Lethal, Long Range, Piercing, Returning, Two-Handed Knack: The wielder may spend a simple action aiming through the rifle’s scope to mark a target for destruction. Targets remain marked for the scene or until he successfully hits them, whichever comes first. Knack: The wielder may spend a simple action aiming through the rifle’s scope to mark a target for protection. Targets marked this way gain Enhancement 1 to take cover and upgrade light cover to heavy. They remain marked for the scene or until they’re hit by an attack, whichever comes first. Knack: The wielder may split successes on an attack roll to apply the attack to as many targets as he likes with a single shot, as long as they’re marked for destruction. This can’t be part of a normal mixed action. Tideshaper (•••••) Purviews: Earth, Water Motif: Great and terrible are my works. The Greek God of land and sea shakes the World with every step he takes, and those to whom he lends his power are no less monumental in their miracles. Poseidon’s own weapon is a trident, but the Tideshaper Relics that call upon its Legend can take the form of any polearm, or any three-pronged weapon, such as a pair of sai or even a pitchfork. One Scion famously wielded a Tideshaper dessert fork in battle. Knack: The Scion need only imbue the weapon with a Legend point for the scene, rather than spending one, to perform upheaval marvels (p. XX) with the Tideshaper as rank 4 Stunts. Flaws: A Tideshaper weapon carries a built-in Flashy Complication, as follows. Flashy (rank 2 Complication): Whenever you use this weapon to attack or channel a Purview, the effects are obvious and attention-catching in some way appropriate to the action. Result: Using this weapon obviates mundane stealth of any kind and requires a Clash of Wills to maintain magical stealth (even potentially against yourself). In general, all eyes and ears are on you. Tyrfing (•••••) Purview: Passion (Spite) Motif: Relentless bringer of perfect destruction. Enhancement: 1 general, or 2 when used to damage or destroy objects The gleaming blade Tyrfing has a long and bloody history. The Scion king Svafrlami, grandson of Odin, forced a pair of dwarves to forge for him a sword that would never rust and never miss its mark. They did that, but spite led them to also curse the sword so it would always kill when drawn in battle. Tyrfing in fact killed Svafrlami himself before changing hands many times, ending each of its conflicts in tragedy. Its reign of violence ceasing after it perpetuated its first three great evils is just a rumor Hel spread to ensure the blade’s continued work in her indirect service. Tags: Lethal, Melee, Piercing, Versatile Knack: Tyrfing never rusts or dulls, and can swing just as easily underwater, through mud, or against other similar impediments without difficulty. Its wielder never suffers Complications related to these issues. Flaws: Tyrfing is a cursed blade, married to dire Fates. Once per scene in which the Scion wields it in combat, his player must resolve one Strength 1 Fatebinding Condition if he has any. Once he has resolved three Fatebinding Conditions this way, the Scion has a choice. He may give up the sword to someone else, relinquishing it as a Relic and gaining a different Birthright (or Birthrights) of the same dot value in its place. Alternatively, he may keep it and increase the Strength of the Fatebinding Condition that must be resolved whenever it’s used by one. Once Tyrfing’s curse has resolved three Strength 3 Fatebindings, the character must give the Relic up. Xiuhcoatl, the Flaming Serpent (•••••) Purview: Fire Motif: A flame’s light banishes all darkness. With this atlatl, or spear-thrower, the war God Huitzilopochtli banishes night and incinerates his enemies, slinging not spears but bright tongues of flame from its carved turquoise shaft. These are the nagual, or spirit form, of the fire god Xiuhtecuhtli made manifest, conjured by relentless aggressive intent. A Hero who commits fully to her fight may ignite her foes and dispel darkness with abandon. The atlatl throws projectiles using the wielder’s strength of arm, but propels its ammunition farther and faster than most thrown projectiles can go, giving it the Ranged tag. Tags: Arcing, Lethal, Ranged Knack: Xiuhcoatl’s wielder can learn Blinding Glory (p. XX) as a Fire boon. Knack: The Scion can sling thin spears as normal with the atlatl, but she can also throw serpentshaped flames, adding the Aggravated tag to these attacks and always causing burn-related Injury Conditions. Each point of Momentum she spends per attack grants it Enhancement 1, to a maximum of +3. Knack: If the Hero uses the Heaven’s Fire boon (p. XX) through Xiuhcoatl, she may spend a Legend instead of imbuing it for the scene to make a single attack that adds the Shockwave tag to the boon’s usual traits. Flaws: Once Xiuhcoatl’s wielder makes a flame attack with it, she can’t back down from the fight. She must continue until she or all her opponents are Taken Out. Taking Relics to the Next Level A Relic in the hands of a Hero is plenty wondrous already. How much more, then, should mortals stare in awe at the panoply of Demigods and Gods? As a character grows in Tier, her Relics grow with her. Their existing benefits increase in power, scope, or flexibility, and they may gain new ones as well. Other Relics may become more effective in her hands even if they belong to a Hero. In Relic-design terms, Demigods and Gods get more effects out of each dot of a Relic’s rating. Full rules for how this works are presented in Scion: Demigod Second Edition and Scion: God Second Edition, resp