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Scion 2nd Edition
Scion: Origin
ou are the child of a God, born to the magic of yesterday and the promise of tomorrow. You live in a World of myth, where every ancient story is true. Your ancient enemies, the Titans, stir in their prison beneath the lands of the dead. Their spawn issues forth from lands of myth, and the specter of war falls across the heavens. In this age of turmoil, you seize your birthrights and feel the call of your blood.
Find your destiny. Live the myth. Embrace your Fate.
Scion is a game about Gods and humanity, and everything in between. It’s a game about mythic Deeds and the reasons people talk about those mythic Deeds. Scion: Origin details the Scions when they’re still (mostly) human, before the Visitation that introduces them to the divine World — they’re exceptional humans, perhaps, blessed with luck and skill or cursed with ill fortune and strange trials in their lives, but humans nonetheless.
Find your destiny. Live the myth. Embrace your Fate.
Scion is a game about Gods and humanity, and everything in between. It’s a game about mythic Deeds and the reasons people talk about those mythic Deeds. Scion: Origin details the Scions when they’re still (mostly) human, before the Visitation that introduces them to the divine World — they’re exceptional humans, perhaps, blessed with luck and skill or cursed with ill fortune and strange trials in their lives, but humans nonetheless.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2019
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16 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 4, 2023
Ugh. A rare swing and a miss from Onyx Path. I kickstarted this book a couple of years ago and was really looking forward to it. The book itself is beautiful with fantastic art and the writing is top notch as always, but the system has problems.
In general, the mechanics are just too complex for each roll with complications, stunts, twists of fate, and consolations all on a single roll. Admittedly there are some people that may enjoy that level of complexity on each roll, but it just seems like it will slow down play quite a bit and puts a lot of creative pressure on the GM.
I’m also not a fan of the new setting, The World. The idea of “all myths are true” and yet the world has progressed as normal is just too much for my suspension of disbelief. I really really wanted to love this game, but unfortunately it’s going back on the shelf. Sorry Onyx Path. I love all of you, but this one just didn’t work for me.
In general, the mechanics are just too complex for each roll with complications, stunts, twists of fate, and consolations all on a single roll. Admittedly there are some people that may enjoy that level of complexity on each roll, but it just seems like it will slow down play quite a bit and puts a lot of creative pressure on the GM.
I’m also not a fan of the new setting, The World. The idea of “all myths are true” and yet the world has progressed as normal is just too much for my suspension of disbelief. I really really wanted to love this game, but unfortunately it’s going back on the shelf. Sorry Onyx Path. I love all of you, but this one just didn’t work for me.
June 19, 2019
So, this is the first volume in the revival of one one of my favourite (if mechanically dissatisfying) games of the last decade or so.
So far I am not too impressed. The setting conceit that all myths are (and always have been) true and the Scions, Gods and mythical creatures are out in the open, existing right alongside the big monotheistic religions, and yet, basically the world (or The World...) is still as we know it just doesn't really work for me.
I cannot yet say much about the tweaked rules set, for that I'd have to play it, but the way Enhancements and Complications appear to work seems a bit unnecessarily complicated to me.
Let's see if Book Two, Scion: Hero, manages to rekindle my enthusiasm.
So far I am not too impressed. The setting conceit that all myths are (and always have been) true and the Scions, Gods and mythical creatures are out in the open, existing right alongside the big monotheistic religions, and yet, basically the world (or The World...) is still as we know it just doesn't really work for me.
I cannot yet say much about the tweaked rules set, for that I'd have to play it, but the way Enhancements and Complications appear to work seems a bit unnecessarily complicated to me.
Let's see if Book Two, Scion: Hero, manages to rekindle my enthusiasm.
June 25, 2019
Scion 2ª edición es una apuesta que sale mal. En lugar de hacer como hicieron con Mundo de Tinieblas, que simplemente mejoraron y depuraron, con Scion han querido reinventar la rueda y la nueva no funciona. Para empezar, el trasfondo nuevo no tiene sentido. No solo es opuesto al anterior, con lo cual ya jode a todos los que éramos fans, sino que además se basa en un sinsentido como es que los antiguos dioses nunca han sido olvidados, pero la historia y todo del mundo sigue siendo la misma. Lo cual es imposible, con cosas como ¿qué sentido tiene el cristianismo si sabemos que Odín es real? Y así, hasta el extremo, en un trasfondo que ni es coherente, ni me gusta, ni encaja con el antiguo al cual los fans le teníamos cariño.
El sistema de juego también ha sido cambiado por completo. El nuevo sistema tiene algunas cosas que me gustan mucho y otras que no me gustan nada, como suele pasar. Pero, de nuevo, el sistema de Scion 1ª edición era bastante bueno, todo lo que tenían que hacer era depurar. Muchas de las ideas nuevas se podían haber introducido en el sistema viejo y tener lo mejor de ambos, en vez de este sistema nuevo que no respeta muchas de las cosas básicas del anterior (como los atributos épicos).
Así que, en resumen, Scion 2ª edición no vale la pena si se compara con la primera. Y el trasfondo no vale la pena y punto.
El sistema de juego también ha sido cambiado por completo. El nuevo sistema tiene algunas cosas que me gustan mucho y otras que no me gustan nada, como suele pasar. Pero, de nuevo, el sistema de Scion 1ª edición era bastante bueno, todo lo que tenían que hacer era depurar. Muchas de las ideas nuevas se podían haber introducido en el sistema viejo y tener lo mejor de ambos, en vez de este sistema nuevo que no respeta muchas de las cosas básicas del anterior (como los atributos épicos).
Así que, en resumen, Scion 2ª edición no vale la pena si se compara con la primera. Y el trasfondo no vale la pena y punto.
March 30, 2021
Good evening and welcome fellow Children of Chaos
While too early to tell it looks like their momentum and enchantment system weakened some of the power bloat issues in Scion 1E. One of my favorite game worlds.
HOWEVER. This book somehow made this system even crunchier, and White Wolf has some crunchy games. Crunchier than chunky peanut butter on toast.
This game has mechanical rules for forming relationships, including rolls needed to be made and the mechanical benefits.
I started the hero book, but I don't think this is going to replace my M&M game that takes place in this world. Sorry Onyx Path
While too early to tell it looks like their momentum and enchantment system weakened some of the power bloat issues in Scion 1E. One of my favorite game worlds.
HOWEVER. This book somehow made this system even crunchier, and White Wolf has some crunchy games. Crunchier than chunky peanut butter on toast.
This game has mechanical rules for forming relationships, including rolls needed to be made and the mechanical benefits.
I started the hero book, but I don't think this is going to replace my M&M game that takes place in this world. Sorry Onyx Path
January 12, 2021
Needed a better editor. Layout and text needed adjustment for clarity. But the system seems pretty good.
August 6, 2019
This review has also been published at The Tabletop Almanac gaming blog:
https://thetabletopalmanac.wordpress....
At the end of my first month of university, I picked up a copy of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. My memory is that it had just been released but research suggests it was a few months prior to my purchase. Despite having two or three assignments due, I sat down and cracked the cover to dive into a gripping story of modern mythology. My academic irresponsibility isn't really the point though. The point is I had been eager to read it for some time - I was ready for this book. I had been raised with mythology as my bedtime stories and knew the stories of Odysseus and King Arthur by the time I was in primary school.
Throughout high school I fed myself a diet of urban fantasy, White Wolf roleplaying games, and the Sandman series. I had been waiting for a book like this for a long time. When I heard about the first edition of the roleplaying game Scion I was initially excited - playing the descendants of the Gods in a modern setting? How cool! This could be like an American Gods RPG! Then I became wary as I read the system was similar to Exalted. I had loved Exalted but felt overwhelmed at the time by the weight of the rules and dice pools - I didn't want to run combat in it because my initial experiences had those scenes take too long. These worries about Scion were confirmed by a friend who ran it, so sadly I never took the plunge. I should say he really enjoyed the game and ran a lengthy chronicle of it, so it's more that it wasn't to my taste at the time. Upon hearing a second edition was in the works I got excited all over again, especially when I learned one of the goals would be streamlining the system.
I think Onyx Path hit the nail on the head with this version and it's a game I would love to play in or to run. I'm only reviewing the first book here: Origin. Book 2 - Hero has been released and expands further on the game. Origin details the setting, rules, and allows you to make beginner characters - Hero raises the power level and scope of the game as your characters fully embrace their divine heritage.
In Scion you play...Scions. The descendants of the gods of mythology who have always had something different about them - particularly lucky, regularly followed by ravens, a tendency to engage in drunken revelry, and so on. You may even have a few magical tricks up your sleeve. Then one day your divine parent approaches you (your Visitation), informs you of your heritage, and pulls you fully into their world. You will adventure, perform great deeds, and build your Legend - eventually able to ascend to becoming a God yourself.
The Setting: Scion takes place in The World. It appears similar to ours, but there's a key difference ... All myths and mythology, all belief systems are true. Creatures, places, otherworlds, everything. All myths exist at once even if they contradict each other. The nature of these beings and places, or alternate versions are also all true - therefore Diana and Artemis exist at the same time (and there may be multiple versions of each), there is more than one underworld and heavenly realm, every Creation myth happened, etc. The World is simultaneously on the back of a turtle and on Yggdrasil.
History has progressed essentially the same way as ours up to the current era. In a sense though, our mythology is The World’s history. Imagine if the “old ways” were never pushed away by the dominance of monotheistic religions. Those religions still exist but at the same time people also give devotions and prayers to the Gods.
Everyday life is affected by the objective presence of the Gods. Television and movies depict their exploits, weather is attributed to the favor or disfavor of particular deities, sports teams praise gods of Victory after winning a match (one of my favorite examples), celebrities and politicians try to gain favor, and so on. They form Incarnations to interact with The World and involve themselves with their worshippers. At the same time, the Gods collectively make a point of not directly intervening in The World or taking sides in mortal affairs, and mortal institutions don’t get involved with godly matters without very good reason. While the U.S. government may claim to be favored by particular deities they won’t send their soldiers to fight directly for the Gods and won’t levy taxes on divine lands in the middle of the country, unless those areas are throwing off the stability of the economy by magically creating gold.
One of the major conflicts of the setting is between the Gods and the Titans. Both immensely powerful beings, the Gods master The World, and the Titans are a part of The World - embodying the creative and destructive aspects without regard to the impact. The Gods oppose them, as the disregard of the Titans for human life threatens the nature of the Gods, who require human worship to identify and differentiate themselves from the Titans. Long ago, the Titans were imprisoned and as they break their chains and escape, the war begins again with Scions on the frontline.
Fate is a powerful presence in The World, which makes sense considering how big a part destiny plays in the game. It guides people along certain paths to achieve particular outcomes, and is another reason the Gods don't directly intervene more than necessary - they don't want to risk the ramifications of messing with Fate's plan. Scions are slightly less restricted and can twist Fate to work for them.
The Scions: One of the other primary ways the Gods do get involved in the world, and make their power known, is through Scions. They are chosen champions - the offspring of the Gods. They use their great powers to adventure in The World and commit great deeds. Scions are like superheroes but without the spandex (unless they want it). One may be your neighbor who works at the local library, be a captain of industry, or a movie star. They may not know their heritage (and may never come to know it) or they may have been raised by a society to prepare them for their destiny. They are as public as they want to be and, over time, may gather worshippers of their own, putting them on the path to their own godhood.
Character creation is a mix of point allocation and narrative construction that clearly determines the PCs capabilities, position in The World, and grants them some narrative control over the setting and their lives. They possess Knacks, which at the level of Origin are certain abilities that are just more than human, but not at the degree of power they will receive in Hero after their Visitation; these are tied to the portfolio of their particular divine ancestor.
The System: As I mentioned before, the first edition system made me wary to really try it out. However, the Storypath system used by the Second Edition is a delight, with a few particular elements that I really like.
Scion uses a d10 die pool system. Tests are performed by rolling dice equal to an Attribute (inherent capability like Might or Intellect) plus dice equal to a Skill (Close Combat, Medicine) and counting all the dice that roll higher than a target number (Successes) - in this case 8. The difficulty of your task is determines how many Successes you need to roll. 1 is all that's required for a successful attempt. That's very simple and doesn't require much thought, which is really nice.
What I really like is that a player can use any Attribute they and the Storyguide agree upon. This makes sense - in a duel, a Scion of a trickster god and one of a warrior god will fight differently. The trickster may use Cunning and the warrior Might. If the warrior god is a strategist, maybe the player rolls Intellect instead. Now you may think that would result in "spamming" the character's strongest attribute and a) you're right, they'll play to strengths but b) they'll need to deal with the in-game ramifications. Two characters may have the exact same number of dice to roll while attempting to open a locked door, but the one that opens it with Might is going to be a lot louder than the one who gracefully picks the lock.
The next thing I think is pretty elegant is that the specific dice-rolling mechanic allows for big effects without rolling handfuls of dice. Anything that would give you a greater chance of success doesn't come into play until after you roll 1 success, and then they add additional successes, rather than add dice to your roll. These are then spent to overcome the Difficulty of the task and any other circumstantial modifiers, to gain extra effects or some narrative control, and then the leftover determines the degree of success. This is a very accommodating means of task resolution and accounts for a vast number of factors, including the relative size of opposed actors.
Besides the near-ubiquitous Combat rules, Scion also includes detailed Social Conflict Rules, Investigative Rules, Crafting, and more - covering everything your Godling might want to acccomplish.
The Storyguide: There's a lot of really good advice on how to guide a game of Scion. This book focuses on the Origin level, of course, but it's applicable to the higher levels too. Structuring a story, using the themes of the game, mythic tropes, incorporating mythology, and the role of the Storyguide are covered, unsurprisingly using myths as examples. There are a few alternate rule possibilities and an examination of the genre of Urban Fantasy, as it relates to Scion: Origin. Antagonists are presented simply, with guidelines and examples on how to design great threats for your players.
While I feel there's a lot to get your head around cosmologically in Scion: Origin, it's definitely worth it. It's a fantastic and encompassing modern mythological setting with gameplay implemented via a particularly smooth task resolution system.
https://thetabletopalmanac.wordpress....
At the end of my first month of university, I picked up a copy of Neil Gaiman's American Gods. My memory is that it had just been released but research suggests it was a few months prior to my purchase. Despite having two or three assignments due, I sat down and cracked the cover to dive into a gripping story of modern mythology. My academic irresponsibility isn't really the point though. The point is I had been eager to read it for some time - I was ready for this book. I had been raised with mythology as my bedtime stories and knew the stories of Odysseus and King Arthur by the time I was in primary school.
Throughout high school I fed myself a diet of urban fantasy, White Wolf roleplaying games, and the Sandman series. I had been waiting for a book like this for a long time. When I heard about the first edition of the roleplaying game Scion I was initially excited - playing the descendants of the Gods in a modern setting? How cool! This could be like an American Gods RPG! Then I became wary as I read the system was similar to Exalted. I had loved Exalted but felt overwhelmed at the time by the weight of the rules and dice pools - I didn't want to run combat in it because my initial experiences had those scenes take too long. These worries about Scion were confirmed by a friend who ran it, so sadly I never took the plunge. I should say he really enjoyed the game and ran a lengthy chronicle of it, so it's more that it wasn't to my taste at the time. Upon hearing a second edition was in the works I got excited all over again, especially when I learned one of the goals would be streamlining the system.
I think Onyx Path hit the nail on the head with this version and it's a game I would love to play in or to run. I'm only reviewing the first book here: Origin. Book 2 - Hero has been released and expands further on the game. Origin details the setting, rules, and allows you to make beginner characters - Hero raises the power level and scope of the game as your characters fully embrace their divine heritage.
In Scion you play...Scions. The descendants of the gods of mythology who have always had something different about them - particularly lucky, regularly followed by ravens, a tendency to engage in drunken revelry, and so on. You may even have a few magical tricks up your sleeve. Then one day your divine parent approaches you (your Visitation), informs you of your heritage, and pulls you fully into their world. You will adventure, perform great deeds, and build your Legend - eventually able to ascend to becoming a God yourself.
The Setting: Scion takes place in The World. It appears similar to ours, but there's a key difference ... All myths and mythology, all belief systems are true. Creatures, places, otherworlds, everything. All myths exist at once even if they contradict each other. The nature of these beings and places, or alternate versions are also all true - therefore Diana and Artemis exist at the same time (and there may be multiple versions of each), there is more than one underworld and heavenly realm, every Creation myth happened, etc. The World is simultaneously on the back of a turtle and on Yggdrasil.
History has progressed essentially the same way as ours up to the current era. In a sense though, our mythology is The World’s history. Imagine if the “old ways” were never pushed away by the dominance of monotheistic religions. Those religions still exist but at the same time people also give devotions and prayers to the Gods.
Everyday life is affected by the objective presence of the Gods. Television and movies depict their exploits, weather is attributed to the favor or disfavor of particular deities, sports teams praise gods of Victory after winning a match (one of my favorite examples), celebrities and politicians try to gain favor, and so on. They form Incarnations to interact with The World and involve themselves with their worshippers. At the same time, the Gods collectively make a point of not directly intervening in The World or taking sides in mortal affairs, and mortal institutions don’t get involved with godly matters without very good reason. While the U.S. government may claim to be favored by particular deities they won’t send their soldiers to fight directly for the Gods and won’t levy taxes on divine lands in the middle of the country, unless those areas are throwing off the stability of the economy by magically creating gold.
One of the major conflicts of the setting is between the Gods and the Titans. Both immensely powerful beings, the Gods master The World, and the Titans are a part of The World - embodying the creative and destructive aspects without regard to the impact. The Gods oppose them, as the disregard of the Titans for human life threatens the nature of the Gods, who require human worship to identify and differentiate themselves from the Titans. Long ago, the Titans were imprisoned and as they break their chains and escape, the war begins again with Scions on the frontline.
Fate is a powerful presence in The World, which makes sense considering how big a part destiny plays in the game. It guides people along certain paths to achieve particular outcomes, and is another reason the Gods don't directly intervene more than necessary - they don't want to risk the ramifications of messing with Fate's plan. Scions are slightly less restricted and can twist Fate to work for them.
The Scions: One of the other primary ways the Gods do get involved in the world, and make their power known, is through Scions. They are chosen champions - the offspring of the Gods. They use their great powers to adventure in The World and commit great deeds. Scions are like superheroes but without the spandex (unless they want it). One may be your neighbor who works at the local library, be a captain of industry, or a movie star. They may not know their heritage (and may never come to know it) or they may have been raised by a society to prepare them for their destiny. They are as public as they want to be and, over time, may gather worshippers of their own, putting them on the path to their own godhood.
Character creation is a mix of point allocation and narrative construction that clearly determines the PCs capabilities, position in The World, and grants them some narrative control over the setting and their lives. They possess Knacks, which at the level of Origin are certain abilities that are just more than human, but not at the degree of power they will receive in Hero after their Visitation; these are tied to the portfolio of their particular divine ancestor.
The System: As I mentioned before, the first edition system made me wary to really try it out. However, the Storypath system used by the Second Edition is a delight, with a few particular elements that I really like.
Scion uses a d10 die pool system. Tests are performed by rolling dice equal to an Attribute (inherent capability like Might or Intellect) plus dice equal to a Skill (Close Combat, Medicine) and counting all the dice that roll higher than a target number (Successes) - in this case 8. The difficulty of your task is determines how many Successes you need to roll. 1 is all that's required for a successful attempt. That's very simple and doesn't require much thought, which is really nice.
What I really like is that a player can use any Attribute they and the Storyguide agree upon. This makes sense - in a duel, a Scion of a trickster god and one of a warrior god will fight differently. The trickster may use Cunning and the warrior Might. If the warrior god is a strategist, maybe the player rolls Intellect instead. Now you may think that would result in "spamming" the character's strongest attribute and a) you're right, they'll play to strengths but b) they'll need to deal with the in-game ramifications. Two characters may have the exact same number of dice to roll while attempting to open a locked door, but the one that opens it with Might is going to be a lot louder than the one who gracefully picks the lock.
The next thing I think is pretty elegant is that the specific dice-rolling mechanic allows for big effects without rolling handfuls of dice. Anything that would give you a greater chance of success doesn't come into play until after you roll 1 success, and then they add additional successes, rather than add dice to your roll. These are then spent to overcome the Difficulty of the task and any other circumstantial modifiers, to gain extra effects or some narrative control, and then the leftover determines the degree of success. This is a very accommodating means of task resolution and accounts for a vast number of factors, including the relative size of opposed actors.
Besides the near-ubiquitous Combat rules, Scion also includes detailed Social Conflict Rules, Investigative Rules, Crafting, and more - covering everything your Godling might want to acccomplish.
The Storyguide: There's a lot of really good advice on how to guide a game of Scion. This book focuses on the Origin level, of course, but it's applicable to the higher levels too. Structuring a story, using the themes of the game, mythic tropes, incorporating mythology, and the role of the Storyguide are covered, unsurprisingly using myths as examples. There are a few alternate rule possibilities and an examination of the genre of Urban Fantasy, as it relates to Scion: Origin. Antagonists are presented simply, with guidelines and examples on how to design great threats for your players.
While I feel there's a lot to get your head around cosmologically in Scion: Origin, it's definitely worth it. It's a fantastic and encompassing modern mythological setting with gameplay implemented via a particularly smooth task resolution system.
July 25, 2019
What a magnificent book. Don't make me wrong, there are many things I honestly don't concur, both world-building and pantheons creation. But it does its work in making it both approachable and mysterious, with a mythic feel of the verse.
Great for people who want to play scion that is not profoundly ethnocentric like first edition and normal works of White wolf (because what the hell, millions of Chinese dead is considered a net loss but 9/11 is one of the worst crimes in the last century. The fuck man).
It's also amazing for writers who want to create an urban fantasy setting that fusion seamless the supernatural and the mundane world, that you feel the magic covering the entire world without mutating the modern world without recognition but doesn't handwave the sheer presence of the hidden world and is not a copy paste of Dresden files
Great for people who want to play scion that is not profoundly ethnocentric like first edition and normal works of White wolf (because what the hell, millions of Chinese dead is considered a net loss but 9/11 is one of the worst crimes in the last century. The fuck man).
It's also amazing for writers who want to create an urban fantasy setting that fusion seamless the supernatural and the mundane world, that you feel the magic covering the entire world without mutating the modern world without recognition but doesn't handwave the sheer presence of the hidden world and is not a copy paste of Dresden files
November 18, 2019
Excellent improvement from the first edition. The rules are great but some of the problems with the book lies in the graphical design and presentation. Some rules are difficult the read because they are scattered throughout the book and there is a lack of examples. Some of the art are not that good.
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