History TabletopGame / Scion

* LighterAndSofter: 2E compared to 1E. Keeping in mind that the World is still a dangerous place, overall 2E leans in a slightly more optimistic direction tha

* LighterAndSofter: 2E compared to 1E. Keeping in mind that the World is still a dangerous place, overall 2E leans in a slightly more optimistic direction than its predecessor did.

* LighterAndSofter: 2E compared to 1E. While the "softer" part is debatable, as the World is still a dangerous place, overall the 2E leans in a slightly more optimistic direction than its predecessor did.

* TwoFaced:
** Hel. She's stunningly beautiful on one side, and very obviously a corpse on the other.
** Hel is described that way in the [[Literature/TheEddas Norse Eddas]].
** Most of the time. They were all agreeing upon that half her body was dead. Now, there was argument if the split was vertical, leaving her left side dead, or horizontal, leaving her dead from the waist down.

''Scion'' is a tabletop roleplaying game by Creator/WhiteWolf, though not one that takes place in either of that company's trademark [[TabletopGame/TheWorldOfDarkness Worlds of Darkness]]. Instead the setting is the world as we know it, but there's one big difference: the various gods and goddesses of mankind's pagan pantheons really exist. [[AllMythsAreTrue The myths about them are true]], and they do walk the Earth in human guise, looking for men or women to mate with.

The game's default setting has also received a major shakeup, with the assumption of a [[TabletopGame/TheWorldOfDarkness World of Darkness-like]] state in which [[{{Masquerade}} the mythical is hidden away from the public]] replaced with a more in-depth look at the [[AlternateHistory realistic implications of powerful gods and monsters existing throughout and influencing history]], both openly and behind the scenes. The modern-day World is one where pagan religions are popular and accepted, and where the mythical hides in plain sight, with tengu nests among Japan's skyscrapers and [[MemeticMutation Norwegian government troll preserves]].

* {{Masquerade}}: This was implied to be the case in the 1st edition, with the books mentioning [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight mortals seeing massive fire giants as irregularly large people with severe burns]], the fictional adventures always taking place outside the public eye and the world being described as looking, on the surface, just like our own. Unfortunately, the books included no details on how to enforce such secrecy in play, with the amount of power given to the players making it all but impossible, outside of [[DeusExMachina GM's fiat]], to stop them from irrevocably changing the world by punching a dragon straight through the Empire State building. Imagine trying to maintain the status quo of TabletopGame/TheWorldOfDarkness, but instead of vampires, it's Marvel superheroes who are walking around. The 2nd edition decided to make away with the silliness and just go for an explicit AlternateHistory UrbanFantasy setting.

Think of it as ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''Literature/AmericanGods'' or ''Comicbook/TheWickedAndTheDivine''.

The rulebook (''Scion: Hero'') includes six possible pantheons to choose from, using the time-tested White Wolf concept of [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits making members of different groups team up into a motley crew]]. They are: the Pesedjet (Egyptian), Dodekatheon (Greek), Aesir (Norse), Amatsukami (Japanese), Atzlanti (Aztec), and Loa (Voodoo). Additional pantheons include the Tuatha De Danann (Irish), the Celestial Bureaucracy (Chinese), and the Devas (Hindu) from ''Scion Companion'', as well as nationalistic pantheons of America and the Allies in the same sourcebook for running games during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, and it's implied that yet more pantheons exist as well - there's a PDF covering the Yazata, the Persian pantheon (''Yazata: The Persian Gods''), as well as a supplement not available in English detailing the Gaulish pantheon; several fan-made pantheons can be found on the net as well. There is also the Atlantean pantheon, although they are canonically dead after having been corrupted by the Titans; details on the actual Pantheon and their Cosmology are in ''Demigod'', while the Pantheon's original Virtues (Duty, Intellect, Order, Piety) and Purview (Scire) are in the Scion ''Companion''.

At [=GenCon=] 2012, it was announced that Scion had been acquired outright by Onyx Path Publishing, a company set up to handle White Wolf's tabletop [=RPGs=], and a new edition was planned.

[[Characters/{{Scion}} Has a characters page.]]

Not to be confused with the Franchise/TombRaider artifact, the Toyota car, or the Creator/CrossGen [[Comicbook/{{Scion}} comic]].

** ''Comicbook/TheMightyThor''

** First is Mara Secare, a {{succubus}} who was freed from the underworld in the wake of the Titans' escape. She helps Scions because she likes the world of flesh, and wants to be good so that she can stay and enjoy living.

* {{BFG}}: Giantbane, the huge revolver that's the WeaponOfChoice of pregen character Eric Donner (both editions), "with a barrel as long and as thick around as the forearm of the Scion who wields it."

** Second edition has ten pantheons in ''Hero'', three more in the Companion[[note]]though one is a sub-pantheon[[/note]], five more in ''Demigod'', and another five more in ''God'', making for a total of ''twenty-three''[[note]]twenty-two if you count the Loa as part of the Orisha[[/note]] pantheons. Plus the [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos fictional 'pantheon']] in ''Masks of the Mythos'' and the one made up for the game in the Companion.

** As well as one in a PDF supplement and one in a supplement released (so far) [[NoExportForYou only in French]]. Not to mention all the fan-produced writeups.
** Second edition has ten pantheons in ''Hero'', three more in the Companion[[note]]though one is a sub-pantheon[[/note]], five more in ''Demigod'', and another five more in ''God'', making for a total of ''twenty-three''[[note]]twenty-two if you count the Loa as part of the Orisha[[/note]] pantheons.

** This is explicitly the difference between evil gods and the Titans, on some level all the gods care about mortals and the World. Even the most bloodthirsty of the Aztec pantheon does not indulge in mass slaughter just ForTheEvulz and even Loki, as malevolent as he is, draws the line somewhere. For example while Loki just wants to survive Ragnarok and preferably get ultimate power along the way, Surtur on the other hand wants to burn the World to ash. And Surtur is hardly alone among the Titan avatars in wanting genocide, making the World uninhabitable or both.

* LovecraftLite: Very much so. The closest things to truly unknowable beings (the Greater Titans) aren't truly malevolent (hell, a possible ending to ''Ragnarok'' involves convincing Muspelheim that it's in his best interests to only burn away the toxic parts of the Earth), and much of the theme involves taking the "chaotic, dark power" and either kicking it across the room or turning it into something useful.

* {{Seers}}: In addition to any Scion or God with the [[WindsOfDestinyChange Fortune]] purview, [[NotThatKindOfMage two kinds]] of seer exist as a Supernatural Path in Second Edition. Prophets do not actually have the ability to perceive the future, but have an intuitive understanding of fate, allowing them to predict it. Since fate runs on storytelling logic in this setting, this makes them {{Meta Guy}}s par excellence. Meanwhile, [[TheCassandra Cassandras]] know precisely what is happening in the moment, but isn't immediately visible, such as the fact that the TrojanHorse is the setup for an ambush, or that the paramedic that just arrived is a shapeshifter in disguise. Unfortunately like their namesake they are cursed to never be believed. Prophets are a potential background for Scions, but Cassandras are not and can't ascend beyond mortal tier. Both are useful allies for player characters, as beings of Legend are immune to the Cassandra's curse.

** In 2e, the entire setting is a mess of this, as becoming a God retroactively changes history so that they were ''always'' that way. The Dragons (introduced in a forthcoming supplement) also have a bit of this -- they remember the time ''before'' the Gods started screwing around with fate, and they have Memories that can extend into the future. Some dead dragons can actually be viable patrons to their Heirs, directing them with Memories just like any other dragon, because of stuff they set up in advance of their own deaths.

* YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord: In response to many complaints by fans of the 1st edition that the featured Pantheon names were historically, mythologically or linguistically inaccurate (for example, the word "Dodekatheon" specifically refers to the Twelve Olympians of Greek mythology, and as such shouldn't include Hades), Onyx Path Publishing has decided to go down this route. [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks Almost as soon as this was revealed, a minority among the fans started complaining]] that this didn't actually make things any better, since "the word 'Gods' in each people's language" is perfectly applicable, by the speakers of each, to all gods everywhere, rather than just the members of each culture's own Pantheon (e.g. to a Japanese speaker, Poseidon is every bit as much of a "Kami" as Izanagi). A third group argues that, with most ancient peoples having not designed their views of the cosmos with the intention of accommodating the creation of future roleplaying games and thus not ''having'' a special title for their own gods, considered to be a natural part of the world, the only intellectually honest way of going about things was to either use the [[BoringButPractical boring but accurate]] "The [Culture's] Gods" for all the Pantheons, or to embrace the silliness fully and use whatever sounds cooler.

** Second edition has ten pantheons in ''Hero'', three more in the Companion[[note]]though one is a sub-pantheon[[/note]], and five more in ''Demigod''.

** The very point of ''Masks of the Mythos'' a supplement about Franchise/CthulhuMythos in Scion - more specifically, how to play ''[[HumanoidAbomination Scions]]'' of the Mythos, who do not inherently lose their human moral compass at all. In fact, a heroic Mythos Scion is [[HunterOfHisOwnKind probably the worst enemy a genuinely malicious Mythos cult has]], and one of the factors of [[PowerBornOfMadness Awareness]] is its capacity to ScrewDestiny; part of the appeal of the Old Ones is partial freedom from Fate.

** This is a major plot point in ''Ragnarok'' - sparing Hod (Baldur's accidental killer) ''really'' derails the prophecy (he trades his life for Baldur's, Loki is never imprisoned, Thokk is revealed to be [[spoiler:Baldur's {{Yandere}} wife...]]). And that's only ''one'' of the things that can be done; it's quite possible to kill Garm before he gets Tyr (which is actually rather easy for a God, he being a Demigod-level adversary, although there's a sidebar about how to power him up to fight god-tier characters), or convince Fenris to sit out the battle in return for allowing him to live in [[EnchantedForest the Dark Forest]].

** Though the waters there are a bit muddy, as ''Titanomachy'' unveils Saita, a rakshasi Titan who claims to be the lovechild of Ravana and Sita, with the claim that Sita's capture by Ravana was faked and she actually went with him willingly to escape an unhappy marriage. Of course, with all myths being true, both states could be the case at the same time...

* DeityOfHumanOrigin: [[ExaggeratedTrope Exaggerated]] in 2E, where not only can Scions become gods, ''Demigod'' states that ''every'' god was once a mortal; aside from the ones for whom apotheosis itself was part of their legend, Fate simply rewrote history so they were ''always'' a god.

** First is Mara Secare, a [[HornyDemons succubus]] who was freed from the underworld in the wake of the Titans' escape. She helps Scions because she likes the world of flesh, and wants to be good so that she can stay and enjoy living.

** As of 2E, all three {{Mayincatec}} cultures are represented: the Aztec (Mexihcah) Teotl, the Incan Apu, and the Mayan K'uh.

A [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/scion-2nd-edition-tabletop-rpg Kickstarter campaign]] to get 2e ''Origin'' and ''Hero'' into stores launched in late September 2016. It was fully funded in less than an hour and by its end had exceeded its original goal by over $300,000. Completed stretch goals enabled, among other things, introductory fiction by Creator/KieronGillen, the game's license being opened up to fans and other companies, and the creation of a 2e ''Companion'' featuring the Loa (Vodou), Nemetondevos (Gaulish), and Yazata (Persian), with 1e's Atlantean pantheon being used as the example for building your own pantheon, reimagined in terms of ''ComicBook/NewGods''-style divine technology. The second edition was officially released on June 5, 2019. A [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/scion-demigod-book-3-for-the-scion-second-edition-rpg campaign]] for 2e ''Demigod'' was held in September 2020, with the book's pantheons including the Anunna (Mesopotamian), Apu (Incan), Atua (Polynesian), Bogovi (Slavic), and Tengri (Mongolian), which is available for purchase as of July 2022. The [[https://www.backerkit.com/c/onyx-path/scion-god#top campaign]] for 2e ''God'' was held in October 2022, which added yet more pantheons: the Balahala (Philippine), the Ilhm (Sumerian), the K'uh (Mayan), the Pālas (Buddhist), and the Zemí (Taíno).

** As of 2E, all three {{Mayincatec}} cultures are represented: the Aztecs Teotl, the Incan Apu, and the Mayan K'uh.

A [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/scion-2nd-edition-tabletop-rpg Kickstarter campaign]] to get 2e ''Origin'' and ''Hero'' into stores launched in late September 2016. It was fully funded in less than an hour and by its end had exceeded its original goal by over $300,000. Completed stretch goals enabled, among other things, introductory fiction by Creator/KieronGillen, the game's license being opened up to fans and other companies, and the creation of a 2e ''Companion'' featuring the Loa (Vodou), Nemetondevos (Gaulish), and Yazata (Persian), with 1e's Atlantean pantheon being used as the example for building your own pantheon, reimagined in terms of ''ComicBook/NewGods''-style divine technology. The second edition was officially released on June 5, 2019. A [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/scion-demigod-book-3-for-the-scion-second-edition-rpg campaign]] for 2e ''Demigod'' was held in September 2020, with the book's pantheons including the Anunna (Mesopotamian), Apu (Incan), Atua (Polynesian), Bogovi (Slavic), and Tengri (Mongolian), which is available for purchase as of July 2022. The [[https://www.backerkit.com/c/onyx-path/scion-god#top campaign]] for 2e ''God'' was held in October 2022.

A [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/scion-2nd-edition-tabletop-rpg Kickstarter campaign]] to get 2e ''Origin'' and ''Hero'' into stores launched in late September 2016. It was fully funded in less than an hour and by its end had exceeded its original goal by over $300,000. Completed stretch goals enabled, among other things, introductory fiction by Creator/KieronGillen, the game's license being opened up to fans and other companies, and the creation of a 2e ''Companion'' featuring the Loa (Vodou), Nemetondevos (Gaulish), and Yazata (Persian), with 1e's Atlantean pantheon being used as the example for building your own pantheon, reimagined in terms of ''ComicBook/NewGods''-style divine technology. The second edition was officially released on June 5, 2019. A [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/scion-demigod-book-3-for-the-scion-second-edition-rpg campaign]] for 2e ''Demigod'' was held in September 2020, with the book's pantheons including the Anunna (Mesopotamian), Apu (Incan), Atua (Polynesian), Bogovi (Slavic), and Tengri (Mongolian), which is available for purchase as of July 2022.

** In ''Ragnarok'', the game discusses alternate ways to cue Fimbulwinter rather than the default meteor strike. The title of the sidebar is "But ''Film/{{Armageddon}}'' Sucked".

** About the only major exception is Miclantecuhtli of the Atzlanti, who is pretty much a JerkAss - 1e ''Hero'' describes him as "suffering a permanent case of schadenfreude". Then again, with the possible exceptions of Quetzalcoátl and Tlazolteotl[[note]]And she's a goddess of ''shit''[[/note]], none of the Atzlanti are really portrayed in a flattering light. This extends to the Scions; of the four official examples, one is a psychotic self-mutilator, one is an Assigned Male At Birth transsexual who uses the flayed skin of a woman to change sexes, one is a self-hating DeathSeeker, and the other, after ascending to godhood, is pretty much disgusted with his own pantheon.

* GenderBender: The Epic Appearance Knack "Undeniable Resemblance" lets Gods (and Scions, and Titanspawn) pull this off. They are even fertile in their new form, allowing former-women to impregnate other women and former-men to bear children.

A [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/scion-2nd-edition-tabletop-rpg Kickstarter campaign]] to get 2e ''Origin'' and ''Hero'' into stores launched in late September 2016. It was fully funded in less than an hour and by its end had exceeded its original goal by over $300,000. Completed stretch goals enabled, among other things, introductory fiction by Creator/KieronGillen, the game's license being opened up to fans and other companies, and the creation of a 2e ''Companion'' featuring the Loa (Vodou), Nemetondevos (Gaulish), and Yazata (Persian), with 1e's Atlantean pantheon being used as the example for building your own pantheon, reimagined in terms of ''ComicBook/NewGods''-style divine technology. The second edition was officially released on June 5, 2019. A [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/scion-demigod-book-3-for-the-scion-second-edition-rpg campaign]] for 2e ''Demigod'' was held in September 2020, with the book's pantheons including the Anunna (Mesopotamian), Apu (Incan), Atua (Polynesian), Bogovi (Slavic), and Tengri (Mongolian).

** This is a major plot point in ''Ragnarok'' - sparing Hod (Baldur's accidental killer) ''really'' derails the prophecy (he trades his life for Baldur's, Loki is never imprisoned, Thokk is revealed to be [[spoiler:Baldur's {{Yandere}} wife...]]). And that's only ''one'' of the things that can be done; it's quite possible to kill Garm before he gets Tyr (which is actually rather easy for a God, he being a Demigod-level adversary), or convince Fenris to sit out the battle in return for allowing him to live in [[EnchantedForest the Dark Forest]].