DAVID CASTRO, STEFFIE DE VAAN, ERYKAH FASSET, VIOLET GREEN,

CATIE GRIFFIN, JOSH KRUTT, GEOFFREY MCVEY, SPIDER B. PERRY,

JOHN SNEAD, MONICA SPECA, H. ULRICH, PABLO VASQUEZ,
VERA VARTANIAN
CREDITS
Lead Developer: Neall Raemonn Price
Developer: Vera Vartanian
Writers: David Castro, Steffie de Vaan, Erykah Fasset,
Violet Green, Catie Griffin, Josh Krutt, Geoffrey McVey,
Spider B. Perry, John Snead, Monica Speca, H. Ulrich, Pablo
Vasquez, Vera Vartanian
Editor: Matt Click
Art: Pat McEvoy, Grzegorz Pedrycz, Andrea Payne,
Farri Lensen
Art Director: Mike Chaney
Creative Director: Richard Thomas
SPECIAL THANKS
Max Lee and J Harrison, for developing Player Profiles
and Questionnaires.
John Stavropolous, for developing the X-Card System.

REQUIRES THE USE OF

SCION ORIGIN, SCION HERO,
AND SCION DEMIGOD

© 2022 Onyx Path Publishing. All rights reserved. References to other copyrighted material
in no way constitute a challenge to the respective copyright holders of that material. “Scion” and all
characters, names, places, and text herein are copyrighted by Onyx Path Publishing.
Keep up to date with Onyx Path Publishing at theonyxpath.com.

2 SCION PLAYER’S GUIDE — SAINTS AND MONSTERS

INTRODUCTION 6
Living in Shadow 7
How to Use This Book 8
More Inspirational Media 8
CHAPTER ONE:
HEROIC COMPENDIUM 10
New Callings 11
Outsider 11
Fungible Knacks 11
Shepherd 12
The Smell of Sainthood 14
Virtuous 14
Saints 14
Mechanics 14
Knacks 15
Birthrights 17
Can This Happen? 17
Blessed Virtue 17
Sainthood and Immortality 18
Relics 18
Storyguiding Saints 18
Prophets 20
Prophetic Destinies 20
Sword of Damocles 22
Prophetic Purposes 22
Prophetic Knacks 23
Storyguiding Prophets 25
Character Creation 27
Step One: Concept 27
Step Two: Paths 27
Step Three: Skills 28
Step Four: Attributes 28
Step Five:
Callings and Knacks 29
Step Six: Birthrights 30
Step Seven: Finishing Touches 30
Experience 31
CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS 32
Humanoid Denizens 33
Animal Headed Creatures 33
Fair Folk 34
Fair Folk Variant: Hidden Folk 35
Fair Folk Variant: Little Folk 35
Giant 35
table of contents
Underfolk 36
Water Spirit 37
Drowning In Air 37
Winged 38
Partially Humanoid Denizens 38
Centaur 38
Centaur Variant: Lamia 39
Centaur Variant: Motorcycle Centaur 40
Centaur Variant: Nuckelavee 40
Nonhumanoid Denizens 40
Sphinx 40
Sphinx Variant: Lamassu 42
Sphinx Variant: Komainu, Shisa, Shishi 42
Magical Animals Who Really Shouldn’t Be 43
Rakshasa 44
Denizen Mechanics: Purviews 45
Denizen Purview: Earth Friend 45
Denizen Purview: Illusions 45
Denizen Purview: Lair 46
Denizen Purview: Obdurance 47
Denizen Purview: Transformation 48
Denizen Purview:
Water Friend 48
Denizen Purview: Wind Friend 49
A World of Peoples: Storytelling Denizens 49
Who Are You Really? 50
Session Zero 50
The Monstrous and the Beautiful 51
Colonial History 51
Player Profiles & Questionnaires 53
The X Card 54
Stoplight System 54
Example Communities 54
Denizen Character Creation 55
Step 1: Concept 55
Step 2: Path 56
Step 3: Skills 57
Step 4: Attributes 58
Step 5: Condition 58
Step 6: Knacks and Purviews 58
Step 7: Finishing Touches 59
CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS 60
Motifs 61
Traditional Motifs 61
Clash of Wills 63
3
Sorcery Mechanics 63
Sources of Power 63
Workings, Techniques, and Charms 65
Spells and Rituals 65
Stolen Talismans 65
Ritual Sorcery 66
Lifting Spells 66
Binding 66
Poisoned Apples and Treacherous Rings 68
Divining 69
Summoning 70
Wonderment 71
Shapechanging 73
Techniques 75
Divining 75
Binding 75
Summoning 75
Wonderment 76
Peak Performance 77
Mindmask 77
Denizens, Saints and Sorcery 77
Purview: Magic 78
Boons 78
Gods And Magic 78
Storyguiding Sorcerers 79
Playing a Sorcerer 79
Sorcerers as Antagonists 80
Sorcerers in Mixed Bands 80
“Evil” Sorcerers, Demonized
Practices, and Racism 80
Bands of Sorcerers 82
Creating Sorcerer Characters 83
Character Creation 83
Who the Devil is that? 83
Experience 86
CHAPTER FOUR:
TITANIC SCIONS 88
Unquenchable Fires: Titanic Power 89
In Its Image: Origins 89
Titanic Knacks 89
Titanic Nature 90
New Alternate Rule: Collateral 90
Knack Notes 90
General 91
Adversary 91
4 SCION PLAYER’S GUIDE — SAINTS AND MONSTERS
Destroyer 92
Monster 93
Condition: Monstrous Urges 93
Primeval 95
Elemental Tag 95
Maelstroms’ Hearts: Epicenters 97
Earthcracking Disaster People:
Titanic Demigods and Dominion 101
Titanic Mutations 101
Step 1: Design Your Motif 102
Step 2: Answer Your Calling 102
A Different Person Now 102
Step 3: Distribute Dots 103
Step 4: Gain a Condition 103
Sample Mutations 104
Storyguiding Titanic Scions 105
What makes a Titan? 105
What makes a Titanic Scion? 106
Lost Scions 106
Playing a Titanic Scion 107
Band Harmonics 107
The Inner Struggle 107
Titanic Apotheosis 108
Handling difficult themes with care 108
Character Creation 110
Step One: Concept 110
Step Two: Paths 110
Step Three: Skills 111
Step Four: Attributes 111
Step Five: Callings and Knacks 111
Step Six: Birthrights 112
Step Seven: Purviews 112
Step Eight: Boons 113
Step Nine: Finishing Touches 113
CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES 114
Edges 115
Mental Edges 115
Physical Edges 116
Social Edges 118
Mythic Edges 119
The Lifepath System 120
Age Ranges 121
Adolescence 122
But What About Denizens? 122
Creating Adolescent Characters 125
 Balancing Characters of
Different Ages in Play 125
Adulthood 126
Role Paths 126
Playing Older Characters 129
Visitation During Character Generation 129
Playing and Storyguiding Elderly Characters 129
Draconic Lifepath 130
Mythic Scion: Narrative System Options 131
Calling Dice 131
Clash of Myths 132
Casual Miracles 134
Unfurling Legends 134
Tempting Fate: Advancement Options 136

table of contents 5
 “I do not know whether there are gods, but there ought to be.”
— Diogenes
T here’s more in Heaven and Earth than is dreamt of in
your philosophy. More in Hell, more in the Underworld,
more in the Terra Incognitae that hide in the secret nooks
and crannies of the World. There’s more than a kernel of
truth to every story, and sometimes that truth lies closer
than you think. The World is a place of magic and myth, of
Heroes and their ever-greater deeds, of stories that might
ensnare you and drag you along for the ride at any moment
if you’re uncareful — but The World is far more than just
the Gods, the Scions of the Gods, and mortals.
No, for though mortal humanity has spread across
the face of the World, has raised towers of glass and steel,
has made purely-mortal wonders of stunning scope and
complexity, they are not the only audience privy to Fate’s
grand tale. Mythic beings lurk just out of sight among the
masses, hiding their true natures from the inquisitive eyes
of humans (and especially from deifans!). Some carve out
isolated homes for their own kind, and still others retreat
entirely to Terra Incognitae, where things seem more as
they once did. Sorcerers eke every last erg of mystic force
out of the World that they can, often without care for
where it comes from so long as it grants their desires. The
children of the Titans struggle to reconcile their mortal
nature with the inhuman power roiling within them and
bleeding out into the World, torn between a terrible doom
and the hope of apotheosis, forever living in the shadow
of annihilation. Prophets whisper secrets into the ears of
any who will listen, building quiet empires and shaping
the destiny of the World. Saints make Virtue a weapon
potent enough even to face down the Gods themselves,
and pull mortals along in their spiritual wakes.
This is the story of the World you haven’t been told,
the story of those who don’t tend to get the headline role.
Now is your time to stop waiting in the wings, to take cen-
ter stage and let your dramas rise to the occasion. This is
your story now, and it’s got more than enough twists and
turns to satisfy even Fate.
LIVING IN SHADOW
Scion is a game of narrative action, of larger-than-
life heroes (or Heroes) doing the nigh-impossible, of the
universe itself (or Fate, at least) steering things toward
ever-greater and ever-more-dangerous spectacle. Scions,
with divine ichor running through their veins, are called
to that sort of thing, impelled by Fate towards greatness
even if they never embark on the road towards apotheo-
sis. Belief, heroism, destiny —  the struggle against Fate,
against the weight of the past, to determine one’s own
future — this is all the stuff of Scion.
living in shadow
But there’s another side to that coin, a different kind of
tale that doesn’t end with a throne in Heaven if one plays their
cards right. To be a Denizen, a Sorcerer, a Prophet, a Saint,
or even a Titanic Scion is to have a rougher life, without the
blessing of a divine parent looking out and pulling strings.
A lucky few might, to be sure, make such connections, but
they’re not born with them. What they have, they more than
likely built for themselves, and it was no simple task.
One might think this gives these outsiders a measure
of freedom — no patron, no demands, no responsibili-
ties. Nothing gained, nothing owed. But what of Titanic
Scions, empowered by inhuman beings to fight in the
Titanomachy with no thought given to their place in a
future beyond it? Can a Sorcerer, who has glimpsed the
keys to remaking their life, turn away from expending
everything they are to have it? Is a Prophet who knows
what will happen if he doesn’t act truly free? Is a Saint,
embodiment of and empowered by Virtue, not bound by
that Virtue? Is a Denizen not marked, indelibly, by who
and what they are? Truly, though they may not occupy
Fate’s grandest designs, they are nevertheless subject to
its whims, as are we all.
To be any of these beings — be they mythic or a mortal
who has seized myth’s reins for herself — is to walk a dif-
ferent path, to be an outsider in much of the World, but to
do it on one’s own terms. Prophets and Saints can change
the world, for all that they’re mortal, though it may cost
them everything and more. Sorcerers can reach terrify-
ing heights of power so long as they’re willing to pay a
commensurate price. Titanic Scions stand at a crossroads
— become the monster, or fight against everything in your
divine nature to become something else? Denizens live
in parallel communities, or alone amongst the throng of
humanity, with their own needs, their own problems, and
their own solutions.
Ultimately, this is a book that’s largely about playing
the people who don’t get the spotlight, or, if they do, don’t
find it casts them in the best light. The children of the
Gods, for all they’re pawns of their divine parents, are
beloved (or at least known and respected) the World over
in myriad ways, the subject of documentaries, books, and
fancams. Such is not your lot, or at least, not without far
more work than Scions must put in to get it. This is a book
about finding a place for yourself in a world that isn’t for
you, and making your mark on it nevertheless, however
you must. Whatever shape that journey takes, and what-
ever vicissitudes Fate has in store, it’s about taking that
next step, and the one after that, and so on down the line,
the journey and the destination one and the same.
7
 Be yourself, as best as you can, however you can
— and to hell with anyone who stands in your way.
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Scion Player’s Guide: Saints and Monsters is a
companion to the core Scion books (Origin, Hero, and
Demigod), providing new options or expanding upon
options in those books for playing non-Scion characters
at each of the various tiers of gameplay. Each chapter in
this book focuses on a specific kind of being, and has its
own self-contained character creation section.
• Chapter One: Heroic Compendium adds two new
Callings, Outsider and Shepherd, providing yet more
roles for your characters to play in the legends their
lives will become. It also details two similar kinds of
empowered mortals, Saints and Prophets. Both take
relatively small quirks — the ability to see the future,
or the ability to channel Virtue — and use it to affect
change in the World around them. Don’t take these
mortals lightly, children of the Gods, for Prophets
have seen all your tricks and are prepared for them,
while Saints will simply shrug them off.
• Chapter Two: Denizens centers on mythic beings
like centaurs or satyrs who share the World (or
Terra Incognitae) with mortals. They may be mortal
themselves, or bound to the land, or simply Not Quite
Ordinary. They have their own needs, their own tra-
ditions, and their own cultures — and must find a way
to make those fit in a World increasingly dominated
by mortal humans.
• Chapter Three: Sorcerers details mortals who beg,
borrow, or steal the fire of the Gods and work mir-
acles with it. Power isn’t free, though, and Sorcerers
always pay a high price for theirs. Some cut a deal,
others bind themselves to powerful Relics, and some
walk inhuman paths, all in the name of the power to
make or take what they desire.
• Chapter Four: Titanic Scions gives the children
of the Titans their due. These Scions have inhuman
ichor running through their veins, ever pulling them
away from their mortal nature. The tools of their in-
comprehensible parents, few outlive their usefulness
in the Titanomachy, for their masters have little desire
for more peers. It’s not all doom and gloom, though,
for Titanic Scions are still children of divinity, and are
still able to choose to strive for a divine apotheosis.
• Chapter Five: New Rules presents new rules for use
in Scion games. Supplement Birthrights with Edges,
perks that reflect special training or traits, or use a
lifepath system to create your characters. Mythic
Scion showcases a variety of rules modifications to
streamline the Storypath system, boost the narrative
sway of your character, and even make wagers against
Fate itself.
8 INTRODUCTION
MORE INSPIRATIONAL
MEDIA
The following media present excellent inspiration
for Scion stories having to do with Denizens, Sorcerers,
and the other sorts of characters this book concerns.
ANIMATION
Gargoyles: Cursed to remain stone for a thousand
years, the last remaining gargoyles awaken half a world
away and must cope with the changes that have happened
while they’ve been asleep. The world has forgotten them,
forgotten magic and the things it now calls myth. Where
does a flying creature that turns to stone by day fit into
that? Think of it like a trip from Terra Incognita, many
of which could easily pass for 10th century Scotland, to
downtown New York City, an experience more than one
Denizen has gone through.
Hilda (Comic and TV Series): Hilda lives in a world
where trolls are a public safety hazard, elves are her (ad-
mittedly reclusive) next-door neighbors, and maintaining
a positive relationship with one’s nisse (a house spirit) is
an essential lifehack for a well-kept home. It’s marvelous
family-friendly Scion inspiration however you look at it,
but it’s an especially good example at how Denizens can
live among humans in the World without said humans
paying them much mind or even necessarily noticing —
which often causes problems the heroine and her friends
have to solve.
CINEMA
A Dark Song: This horror film centers on a ritual
conducted by two people with the intention of summon-
ing a guardian angel to allow a mother to speak to her
dead son. The ritual is brutal and agonizing, taking its toll
on both the ritualist and the postulant, and driving both
to the very edge of reason. Watch this film for a perfect
demonstration of the price sorcerers must pay for their
power — though, go in prepared, because it’s a rough ride.
The Fly (1986): One of Cronenberg’s best, this
film’s depiction of Seth Brundle’s transformation is a
science-fictional analogue for the life of a Titanic Scion.
At first, the telepod accident seems like a blessing, giving
him enhanced strength and stamina, but as time goes on
and the changes become more and more profound, the
ultimate consequences of his condition become horrify-
ingly clear. Most Titanic Scions, of course, won’t turn into
enormous fly-monsters — they have other fates in store,
few of them as clean-cut.
The Matrix: Neo’s journey from ignorance into
knowledge, and from knowledge to true liberation of
thought, is a perfect example of a Saint awakening to and
channeling Virtue. Agents, once an existential threat, be-
come powerless against him. In further films, his presence
and charisma, subtle though they may seem, provided
guidance and hope to his community; in the end, his mar-
tyrdom brings salvation for humanity. He grapples with
things far larger than himself and emerges victorious, not
through strength of arms but through commitment to
what he believes.
NOVELS
Dune, Dune Messiah, and Children of Dune,
by Frank Herbert: Prescience — the ability to see the
future — is one of the cornerstones of how the Dune
universe works, commodified and distilled into spice.
Paul Muad’Dib’s own prescience shows him a path, less
terrible than the others but still terrible, that he feels
More Inspirational Media
compelled to walk, and when he can walk it no more, his
children take up the task. It’s the perfect example of the
pressures Prophets feel and the changes they leave in
their wake.
Winter Tide, by Ruthanna Emrys: Turning
Lovecraft’s “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” on its head,
Winter Tide casts the last survivors of the Innsmouth
Raid as its protagonists, as they try to piece together the
remnants of their heritage in the shadow of the Cold War.
It’s a darker look at the Denizen experience — even in the
World, humans aren’t always understanding or accepting
of their mythic neighbors.
9
 “Whither the fates lead virtue will follow without fear.”
— Marcus Annaus Lucanus

T o hear some tell it, a Hero is a tightly constrained

definition, one born of divine ichor and channeled
down a few predetermined paths. This is far from the
truth. Heroism, in the broad sense, is the heritage of any
willing to sacrifice and strive to see their will done, and
there is no shortage of such individuals in the World —
even among mortals.
In this chapter, we introduce two new Callings: the
Outsider and the Shepherd. The former is as likely to
recognized as a villain than as a hero, while the latter is
more concerned with working at a remove and allowing
others to claim the heroic mantle (if not necessarily a
Mantle). We also expand options for playing Saints, mor-
tals empowered to semi-divine status via their superhu-
man Virtue, and Prophets, mortals able to perceive (and
manipulate) the weft and weave of Fate itself.
NEW CALLINGS
E leven Callings covers the majority of mythic archetypes,
but there’s always edge cases, stories and characters
who don’t cleanly fit into one category or another. Having
more than one Calling, of course, helps ameliorate that,
but still, there are a few core tendencies unrepresented.
The following Callings are optional, and may be used
by Scions, Gods, or any other being able to access divine
Callings. They may be chosen as usual during character
creation, or acquired through the appropriate Deeds by
shedding another Calling.
OUTSIDER
boundaries kept by their Liminal kin. Occasionally, an
Outsider may even be tantamount to Titans, thorn in the
side to their brother and sister gods, and perhaps are key
figures in the stories of the end times. For each tale of one
of Loki’s (relatively) harmless pranks, there is another
where they’re the murderer of Balder or the parent of the
monsters who fight the gods at Ragnarök. An Outsider is
Legendary for how they ride that line, a member of their
family, but standing against them at the same time. An
Outsider often bucks the roles of tradition, prosperity,
and sometimes, morality.
While the Outsider might be alluring for those who
want to strike out on their own, one must remember that
it’s often their relationships that make them who they are.
They need a foil: Loki has Thor, Sun Wukong has damn
near everybody, and thus you, too, need the bonds of your
bandmates to fulfil your role as the Outsider.
Skills: Integrity, Occult, Subterfuge
Example Keywords: Loner, mountebank, cheater,
troublemaker, black sheep, outcast
Fatebinding Roles: Balm, Rival, Nemesis
Example Gods: Ama-no-Uzume, Ares, Chang’e,
Chernobog, Circe, Coniraya, Dionysus, Donn, Erlik Khan,
Huehuecoyotl, Loki, Nergal, Obàtálá, Prince Nezha,
Pukawiss, Set, Sun Wukong, Tāwhirimātea, Tezcatlipoca,
Tsukiyomi, Veles
Failure Deeds: Allow a limitation to prevent you
from reaching a goal, do what is expected of someone of
your station, take a formal role within a group.

Every family and pantheon have their black sheep,
those who distance themselves (or are forcibly dis-
tanced) from their kin. In some stories they may be
cast as Tricksters, ever the cause of problems the Gods
must solve. More often, though, they exist outside the
pantheon’s social order entirely, exiles or black sheep
intentionally working to upend it, going well beyond the
Adoption Deeds: Act in favor of your own good over
those of the group, interfere in the goals of a member of
the same pantheon as you, refuse to play by the rules.
HEROIC OUTSIDER
Outsider Knacks at the mortal level grant you the
power to interact with groups that you are not a part of,
be unnoticed by others, or fortify boundaries between

FUNGIBLE KNACKS
Outsider and Shepherd occupy niches that stand between several Callings — sometimes even overlapping
with them just a little. Some players may be interested in Outsider or Shepherd Knacks that suit their
characters, but not in the role these Callings play in stories. Alternately, a Storyguide may wish to focus on
the eleven default Callings. In such a case, as Outsider and Shepherd are optional Callings, it’s permissible
to choose these Knacks without either Calling, as long as it makes sense for the character. Be sure to have
the asset of the Storyguide and other players before you do so!
If someone at the table is using either optional Calling, this rule doesn’t apply.

new callings 11
themselves and others. These Knacks are driven by the
concepts of otherness and bending the generally accept-
ed rules.
• I Can’t, You Say: Once per session, you may reroll
a failed roll. You gain a +1 Enhancement to the roll
if that failure was a botch. If another character
advised against that course of action or said you
would fail, gain +2 Enhancement.
• Lovable Scamp: When an action you took would
cause a character’s attitude to drop, make a Knack
Roll. Each success on that roll negates one level of
Attitude reduction. With additional successes, the
target gains a +1 Complication, which applies to
any future Intrigue action targeting your character.
Until they buy the Complication off, no action you
take can lower their Attitude toward you.
• Narrow Trolling: When you cause a character’s
Attitude to drop, it only drops for you, and the
character’s Attitudes toward the rest of your Band
raises.
• Exceptions that Prove: When interacting or
entering a Field with a Complication on it, once
per scene, spend Momentum and ignore that
Complication. If you are alone (not within line of
sight to another character, separated by impassable
barriers, etc.) do not spend Momentum.
• There’s no I in Team: When a target tries to af-
fect multiple people in an effect that includes you,
spend Momentum to exclude yourself from the
effect.
• Master of Interference: Once per session,
when you compel another character’s Fatebound
Storyguide character, you gain one Legend and
that character gains two points of Legend instead
of one.
• Petard Hoister: When you uncover an otherwise
secret plot, you gain a +2 Enhancement when in-
teracting with the plotter or the effects of the plot
as it’s set into motion. This effect ends once a day
in game time has passed from the Enhancement’s
first use or if anyone else outside the plot becomes
aware of it.
• With Friends Like These: When a Scion, God, or
Legendary Creature of your pantheon tries to en-
gage with you socially, you can spend Momentum
and make a Knack roll. On a success, the target gains
a +2 Complication which applies to any Procedural
or Intrigue roll involving you. If not bought off, you
will be drawn into the target’s scheme, taking some
of the credit (or blame) and bringing notice to their
plot.
12 CHAPTER ONE: HEROIC COMPENDIUM
IMMORTAL OUTSIDER
• Black Sheep: When another character uses Scent
the Divine or a similar ability, you present as a
member of any pantheon you wish other than your
own.
• Fate Twister: When interacting with a Fatebound
character, make a Knack skill roll. If you roll a
number of successes equal to or greater than the
Fatebinding’s Strength, their Fatebound condition
becomes Jinx for the session. This Knack cannot be
used on a Fatebound character with the Imperiled,
Nemesis, Rival, or Traitor conditions.
• Friendly Face: Once per session, you may declare
yourself an ally, companion, or otherwise connect-
ed with an individual, and sever that individual’s
tie to a group or Path they possess. You must open-
ly act on their behalf or otherwise prove your ties
in order to do so. This effect lasts for the remainder
of the session.
• Nowhere Man: Efforts to find or track you auto-
matically fail unless supplemented by some form
of magic (a Knack, sorcery, etc.), in which case they
suffer from a +3 Complication that, if not bought
off, warns you that you’re being followed.
• Outside Looking In: While you are outside of a
building or room, you can spend Momentum to
see and hear as if you were within said room or
building, provided someone you know is within it.
These senses last for one scene, or until you relin-
quish it, and you cannot see or hear normally for
the duration.
SHEPHERD
Every hero has a hype-up person, their trainer in
their corner, the person who believes most that the hero
can complete any challenge put before them. Shepherds
are those Gods, and their Scions play those supportive
roles. They don’t do the work for their Wards, as that
would deny them glory and victory they would otherwise
earn with their strength and cleverness. Nothing worth
doing gets done easily, after all, and there’s a reason why
some of the most famous stories in myth and history are
the trials and tribulations of one hero or another, but
always feature the person who starts them on the path.
Even as the shit hits the fan, your Shepherd is always
there, making sure you can make it through. You may be
beaten, battered, and worse for wear, but no one can say
victory isn’t yours.
Skills: Empathy, Integrity, Leadership
Keywords: Ally, guide, coach, trainer, pusher, orga-
nizer, quest giver, cheerleader, support
Fatebinding Roles: Apprentice, Boon Companion,
Nemesis
 Example Gods: Amaterasu-Omikami, Apollo, Athena,
Aset, Bast, Brigid, Centeotl, Chasca, Chicomecoatl,
Chinggis Khan, Confucius, Djehuty, Doluvan Edugen,
Enlil, Eriu, Éshú Elégbará, Fuxi, Ganesha, Geezhico-
Quae, Hachiman, Heimdall, Hera, Heru, Huītzilōpōchtli,
Íbejí, Indra, Jayaghaghtsi, Karttikeva, Lugh Lámfhada,
Mama Cocha, Mama Killa, Morémi, Nimhursag, Ninlil,
Nuada, Odin, Ōkuninushi, Pele, Persephone, Quetzalcoatl,
Rehua, Rongomātāne, Set, Shamash, Sin, Susano-O,
Takemikazuchi, Umai, Vichama, Vishnu, Xīpe Totēc,
Yandi Shennogshi
Failure Deeds: Allow your Ward to fail, knowingly
give bad advice to an ally, take the spotlight yourself, turn
on your Ward.
Adoption Deeds: Expend yourself in the service of
another, give wise counsel, put yourself at risk to aid an
ally.
HEROIC SHEPHERD
Shepherd Knacks at the mortal level have the pow-
er to choose a Ward and support them, allowing them
to shrug off wounds or effects that would otherwise be
debilitating, or Fatebind them with others with relative
ease. These Knacks operate on the concepts of allyship
and aid. Your ward may be a bandmate, if that player and
your Storyguide both agree, but under most circumstanc-
es, they will be a Storyguide character.
• A Friend to All: You and your Ward may have ad-
ditional Fatebinding Conditions over the limit set
by Legend, equal to the difference in tier between
you and your Ward.
• Aim For My Mark: You gain access to the follow-
ing stunts, which may be used in close and ranged
combat:
• Weak Point (1s): On his next attack, your Ward
may purchase the Critical stunt at a discount
equal to the difference between you in Tiers
(i.e., if he is a mortal and you are a Hero, it costs
3s; if you were a Demigod, it would cost 2s).
• Find the Opening (2s): The opponent’s Soft
Armor doesn’t apply to your Ward’s next
attack.
• And My Shield: When you take a Full Defense
action and your Ward is within short range, he also
doubles his Defense pool.
• In the Nick of Time: If your Ward is attacked with-
in your line of sight, you can spend Momentum to
instantly move to him.
• Leading by Example: When your Ward gains a
Complication, you may choose to suffer its con-
sequences, and may overcome the Complication
with any roll, even unrelated ones. If you success-
fully overcome the Complication, your Ward gains
new callings
Enhancement on their next action equal to the
Complication’s rating; you gain half that, round up.
• Matchmaker: Instead of using your once per ses-
sion ability to acquire a new Fatebinding, another
consenting player or a Storyguide character may
use that ability instead.
• Taught You Everything I Know: Once per ses-
sion, when you spend a scene training your Ward,
make a Shepherd skill roll and note your successes.
For the remainder of the session, you may spend
these successes for any of the following effects,
once per turn, so long as they mirror an aspect of
the training you provided.
• Just Like in Training (1s): Grant +2
Enhancement to your Ward’s action
• You Won’t Stop Me (2s): Negate any
Complications or Conditions your Ward is suf-
fering for the remainder of the turn, including
Injury Conditions.
• I Can Do This (variable): When your Ward
spends Momentum, add an additional die for
every Momentum and success spent. If your
Ward is an SGC, you may spend Momentum
on their behalf for this roll.
IMMORTAL SHEPHERD
• My Senses are Tingling: You are aware if any
Storyguide characters you meet have the Jinx,
Nemesis, Rival, or Traitor Fatebinding Condition
with your Ward or your Bandmates, but not which
Condition they have.
• Out of the Frying Pan: If your Ward is Taken Out
within your line of sight, roll a Knack Skill. On a
success, they negate the damage after Armor is
applied and are not Taken Out. You may use this
Knack a number of times per Episode equal to the
difference in tier between you and your Ward.
• Punching Above Your Weight: Once per episode,
you may spend Momentum when your Ward makes
or defends against an attack. They make that action
at Scale equal to the difference in tier between you
and him.
• Wise Counsel: While together in a Procedural
scene, if your Ward is rolling to do research with
a Skill they do not have any dots in, you may spend
Momentum once per session and make a Knack
Skill roll. They make their research roll as if they
have a number of dots equal to the number of suc-
cesses you rolled, up to five.
• You Can Do This All Day: When your Ward is
trying to buy off a Complication, spend Momentum
and make a Knack Skill Roll. Your Ward may
spend successes from this roll to buy off that
Complication.
13
 THE SMELL OF SAINTHOOD
Saints can be detected by Scent the Divine, but only while they are Virtuous. While they do not have the
Virtuous Condition, this Knack cannot tell them from normal mortals. A Virtuous Saint, however, mixes the
scents and sounds of the pantheon whose Virtues they share with the scent of human sweat and the sound of
indistinct human voices.

SAINTS on whether the Saint is currently at an endpoint or the

S aints are not chosen by the Gods, nor do they wield
divine power. They are culture heroes, but they are not
Heroes. They are human, quintessentially and completely.
While many are moral paragons, they don’t have to be, and
no small few are terrors. One of the most famous Saints is
Amergin mac Mil of Ireland, whose power drove the Tuatha
out but who is no more a paragon of modern morals than
any of his foes.
center of the track, respectively.
Humanity’s Finest: A Saint cannot be a Scion and
cannot gain Legend unless they are also a Sorcerer (p. XX).
In most cases, a Saint will not have any other Supernatural
Paths, but if the other players are fine with it, it’s possible
to combine them. If a Saint ever gains access to a Marvel
or Boon with a Legend cost via a Birthright, they activate
it by immediately ending the Virtuous Condition and re-
turning to the center of the Virtue track.

Saints, instead, embody the values of their culture.
While they share Virtues with the pantheons of the
World, a Saint whose Virtues are Kinship and Egotism
need not worship the Theoi nor be Greek. Instead, they
must embody those Virtues and derive from a community
that holds them to be important. Saints are the voice of
their community’s beliefs and values, as manifested in
Virtue. They lead by example, showing others the path
that they could take, if they only had the will and the
Virtue to do so. They are often champions of their com-
munity, but sometimes grave enemies of it if they feel that
their people are not living up to their own values.
MECHANICS
Saints are described briefly in Scion: Origin (pp.
162–163), but the Saint Path is distinctly different from
other Supernatural Paths. A Saint has the following traits,
in addition to the Virtue track described in Scion: Origin:
Cardinal Virtue: When a Saint’s actions cause them
to move on their Virtue track, they move twice as far as
normal. Thus, a Saint can only occupy the endpoints or
exact middle of the Virtue track. Saint Knacks may refer
to a Saint’s Virtue rating; this is either 3 or 1, depending
Culture Hero: While a Saint cannot gain Legend,
they are able to have up to three Callings. Whenever a
Band’s members would gain Legend, a Saint in that Band
gains one dot to spend on Callings at appropriate Legend
dots, either Saint or up to two others, as if they had gained
Legend like their Bandmates. When they first enter Hero
Tier, they gain 4 dots of Callings despite remaining a nor-
mal human, for a total of 5 dots. All of their Callings must
have at least one dot.
HERO TIER
Fated Exemplar: Saints do not have Legend or
Omens, but can still have Fatebindings. A Saint may have
a number of Fatebindings equal to their Saint Calling rat-
ing. Any time a Fatebinding would cause the Saint to gain
Legend, they instead inflict the Virtuous condition on the
Fatebound Storyguide Character; if the Saint is currently
Virtuous, it applies to the same Virtue. Otherwise, the Saint
selects one of their Virtues for the condition to apply to.
Any time that the Saint’s Legend would be called for when
dealing with the Fatebound for any reason, use the value of
the Saint’s Saint Calling instead.

VIRTUOUS
You are suffused with the philosophy of your culture’s ethos. While this grants you additional power and
puissance, it also limits your ability to act freely.
Effect: Every point of Momentum you spend to augment a roll with a Virtue generates two dice. However,
you must continue to act and fulfill the pantheon Virtue, and you cannot act against it.
Momentum: Every time your adherence to your Virtue causes trouble, add another point of Momentum
into the pool.
Resolution: Reinforcing the opposing Virtue resolve the Condition. Note that this can only occur with an
action that reinforces the opposing Virtue without contradicting the Condition’s effect.

14 CHAPTER ONE: HEROIC COMPENDIUM

DEMIGOD TIER
Saints gain all of the same benefits from Demigod
Tier that Scions do with the following exceptions:
Saints do not gain An Ear for Prayer or Ichor for
Blood (see Scion: Demigod, p. 130) and continue to have
no Omens. They can gain Realm Fatebindings, Knacks
and Birthrights, though they cannot learn Purviews from
them normally. They are able to gain specific Marvels or
Boons, however.
Fated Champion: Saints may now have additional
Fatebindings on top of the ones they were allowed via
Fated Exemplar. Double the Saint’s Saint Calling when
using its value in place of Legend per Fated Exemplar.
World-Shaking Virtue: Saints have access to
Divinity Dice (see Demigod, p. 154) but may only use
them while Virtuous.
KNACKS
Some Knacks have prerequisite Knacks listed. While
a character must possess all prerequisites to learn a Knack
that requires it, they do not need to have the prerequisite
Knacks active to use their new Knack. It should also be
noted that Saints will get no use out of any Knack that
requires or allows them to imbue Legend, which they do
not have.
It is impossible for any Scion to ever have a Saint
Knack by any means, including Followers Birthrights.
These Knacks simply do not function for Scions, whose
ichor flows too strongly. Their divine power prevents
them from accessing the mortal nature of Sainthood.
HEROIC SAINT KNACKS
• From Hell’s Heart: When you become Taken Out,
you may perform a single action before it takes
effect. You gain Enhancement to this action equal
to your Virtue rating or the Enhancement of the
attack that made you get Taken Out, whichever is
greater. Once per session, you may choose to end
the Virtuous Condition and return to the center
of the Virtue track to use this when you gain any
Injury Condition rather than Taken Out.
• Blood of the Valiant (Prerequisite: From Hell’s
Heart): When someone would suffer an Injury
Condition and is within Close range of you, you
may take the Injury Condition instead. If you or
they have the Virtuous Condition, their next action
gains Enhancement equal to your Virtue rating. If
this causes a Maimed or worse Injury Condition
and you were not already Virtuous, you become
Virtuous in the Virtue of your choice.
• If I Can Do It, So Can You: You show humanity
what they are capable of by your very existence.
Once per session, when you succeed at an effort
to overcome an obstacle, such as climbing a cliff,
Saints
solving a maze or breaking through a blockade, you
can bring up to your successes in other characters
with you, granting them automatic success at the
same deed. This does not count as spending those
successes on a stunt. Characters Fatebound to you
and trivial targets do not count against that limit.
• The Divine Eye (Prerequisite: If I Can Do It, So Can
You): You always know the Virtues that most influ-
ence anyone you meet, even if they do not actually
have a Virtue track. You get Enhancement equal
to your Virtue rating on all Social rolls that align
with or encourage these Virtues when dealing with
them. If you have the same Virtues as they do, this
Enhancement applies before rolling.
• It Is Not in Heaven: You act with Virtue, and you
demand that the powerful live up to their Virtue
as well. Once per session, when you are arguing
or fighting with someone and they spend Tension
or Legend, you may clearly stand against them.
They get Complication 3 to their next attempt to
argue with or fight with you. If this is not bought
off, every Storyguide Character nearby not directly
involved in the conflict believes they are in the
wrong, no matter what, and cannot be convinced
otherwise for the rest of the scene.
• Voice of the Mob (Prerequisite: It Is Not in
Heaven): While you have the Virtuous Condition,
any action that would stop you from being able to
speak suffers Complication 3 which, if not bought
off, causes all human Storyguide Characters pres-
ent to become angry at whoever silenced you.
While you do not have the Virtuous Condition,
any action trying to track you or your whereabouts
suffers Complication 3 which, if not bought off,
gets the tracker into trouble with a local human
organization.
• Miracle: Once per session, a Saint can perform a
Twist of Fate that’s not tied to their Path. This can
be anything from healing the sick masses to bring-
ing a newly-dead person back to life from being
mostly-dead. This may border on the supernatural,
though it’s rarely anything explicit; the dead man’s
heart starts beating again, while the sufferers of
plague feel their coughs recede over the course of
a scene.
• Stainless: While you have the Virtuous Condition,
it is impossible for anything to make you act against
your Virtues, even divine powers seizing control of
your body directly. When someone attempts to do
so, you may choose to pass your Virtuous Condition
to them. If you do, you return to the center of the
Virtue track and lose the Condition yourself. Even
if they have different Virtues than you, their new
Condition is identical to the one you had.
15
 • My Cause Sustains Me (Prerequisite: Stainless):
While you have the Virtuous Condition, you do not
need to eat, drink, or sleep. You may choose to end
the Virtuous Condition immediately and return to
the center of the Virtue track to ignore the effects
of a single Injury Condition for the rest of the
scene. If you do, once the scene ends, you must rest
for a full day.
• Virtuous Might: Once per session, a Saint may
cancel out Scale equal to their position on the
Virtue track (maximum 3, minimum 1) for the
scene on a single target. This can be anything from
stopping a speeding truck from killing them (Scale
2 to 0) to slapping a God like they would any oth-
er mortal (cancelling the God’s defensive Scale).
Despite the name, this applies to any expression of
Scale, including social and mental.
• Castigate (Prerequisite: Virtuous Might): When
you witness someone acting against one of your
Virtues, you get Enhancement on your next ac-
tion that would harm them this scene, physically
or otherwise. This Enhancement is equal to your
Virtue rating.
• Renunciation (Prerequisite: Miracle): Your
strength of will ensures that even the divine hesi-
tates in the force of your Virtue. When you are tar-
geted by a divine Marvel or other effect that costs
Legend or Tension, you may choose to end the
16 CHAPTER ONE: HEROIC COMPENDIUM
Virtuous Condition and return to the center of the
Virtue track to cause a Clash of Wills against the
effect’s source. If you succeed, the effect does noth-
ing to you. If you fail, the roll generates Momentum
like a normal failed roll.
IMMORTAL SAINT KNACKS
• Beyond the Ninth Wave (Prerequisite: My
Cause Sustains Me): While you have the Virtuous
Condition, you ignore the Scale of anything that
would physically harm you. A tank shell is like a rifle
bullet, a divinely charged fist like a normal punch
from a master fighter. You can still be harmed,
but Scale does not provide extra successes. Once
per session, you may end the Virtuous Condition
immediately and return to the center of the Virtue
track to negate a single attack entirely — it doesn’t
affect you or anyone else in any way.
• The Deserved Gift (Prerequisite: Renunciation):
Once per session, you may call on your Virtues for
a greater miracle. Select another character. They
gain the Blessed Virtue Condition toward one of
your Virtues of your choice.
• Heaven’s Will (Prerequisite: Castigate): While
you are Virtuous, you ignore the defensive Scale
of anything you attack. You can cut through tank
armor like it was Kevlar, fistfight a God or wrestle a
giant. Once per session, you may end the Virtuous
Condition immediately and return to the center of
 CAN THIS HAPPEN?
It is entirely possible that a Saint will place the Virtuous Condition, whether via Fatebinding or knacks such
as Stainless, on someone who has Virtues of their own. They’re still stuck serving the Saint’s Virtue until they
can reaffirm one of their own Virtues or otherwise end the Condition normally.

BLESSED VIRTUE
You are charged with the power of Virtue, granting you power while you act in accord with the blessing
and weakening you when you act against it. This is always aligned toward a specific Virtue, which should be
noted when the Condition is gained.
Effect: Whenever you act against the Virtue this Condition is aligned with, you suffer Complication 2,
as Fate turns against you. When you act in accord with the Virtue this condition is aligned with, you get +1
Enhancement.
Momentum: Whenever you act against the Virtue this Condition is aligned with or when acting in accord
with that Virtue gets you into trouble, gain 1 Momentum.
Resolution: You may choose to resolve this Condition at any time. When you do, you may invoke it for
a Twist of Fate as if it were one of your Paths. This Twist of Fate must be related to the Virtue this Condition is
aligned with. Alternatively, this Condition ends at the end of the session.

the Virtue track to ignore all immunities to damage
for a single attack.
• Martyr (Prerequisite: Blood of the Valiant): Your
Virtue shines brightest at your worst moments.
While you are Virtuous, when you are Taken Out,
you may choose: any trivial targets or foes of lesser
Tier than you immediately stop fighting and stare
in awe for the rest of the scene or until attacked,
whichever comes first, or all of your allies gain
Enhancement equal to your Virtue rating to any
attack against the foe that caused you to become
Taken Out for the rest of the scene. Once per
session, you may immediately end the Virtuous
Condition and return to the center of the Virtue
track to gain this benefit when you take any Injury
condition rather than when you are Taken Out.
• Passion Play: The strength of your dedication and
passion is contagious. Everyone in your presence
who has a Virtue track moves twice as far on the
Virtue track as they normally would whenever
they move along the Virtue Track. Whenever
someone in your presence becomes Virtuous, gain
Momentum.
• Svabhava (Prerequisite: The Divine Eye): While
you are Virtuous, anything you say which is true
is obviously true to everyone hearing it - no one
can doubt you when you say something that is
true. Whenever you witness someone take an ac-
tion resonating with one of your Virtues, you may
immediately end your Virtuous Condition and
return to the center of the Virtue track to reinforce
the basic truth of their actions, reducing the total
Complication they suffer on the action by 3.
• We Are Greater (Prerequisite: Voice of the Mob):
While you are Virtuous, anyone that follows you
who would normally be considered a trivial target
does not count as one for any effect that might
harm them. In addition, they are entirely fearless.
Once per session, you may immediately end the
Virtuous Condition and return to the center of the
Virtue track to temporarily turn a crowd of normal
mortals into a temporary Followers birthright
for the rest of the scene. They have dots equal to
your Saint Calling rating, but must have one of the
Group or Mob tags.
BIRTHRIGHTS
Followers and Creatures function as normal.
Guides cannot grant Purview access. However, in-
stead, a Saint may gain access to a single type of Marvel
or a single Boon from a single Purview via their Guide,
usable through the pantheon Motif most suitable to the
Guide.
Relics cannot grant Purview access. However, in-
stead, a Saint may gain access to a single type of Marvel
or a single Boon through a single Purview via their Relic.
This costs one dot, and may be taken up to twice on a
Relic. If this option is taken, the Saint also gains a Relic
Motif through the Relic. At Demigod tier, each dot may
provide two types of Marvel, but still only a single Boon.
Saints cannot gain the Cult Birthright (see Scion:
Mysteries of the World, p. 23) or the Sanctum Birthright
(see Demigod, p. 138).

Saints 17
 SAINTHOOD AND IMMORTALITY
It is an open question how some Saints, such as Amergin mac Mil, have become apparently ageless. There
is no single, generalized answer to this, and in Amergin’s case, it is likely tied to a potent Realm Birthright
seized from the Tuatha De Danaan. Other Saints of old may also have access to such methods, if your game
would be improved by their presence. Still, most Saints live out entirely human lifespans, when they manage
to survive to old age in the first place. Unfortunately, many Saints do not. It is all too common for Saints to die
in pursuit of their causes, their Virtues refusing to allow them to take a slower and safer path.

Saints may gain Realm Birthrights (see Demigod, p.
141) at Demigod tier as normal.
While Saints do not have a Legend score, they are still
able to have a single Legendary Birthright at Demigod
tier. However, their lack of Legend score means that they
will not be able to use all the benefits of every Legendary
Birthright; for example, they cannot use the Calling All
Creatures benefit of a Legendary Creature (see Demigod,
p. 132) because they have no Legend to use to invoke for
Scale.
RELICS
BLESSED DASTAAR (RELIC •)
These blue turbans are not easily told from the nor-
mal dastaars worn by Sikhs. They are believed to have
been worn into battle by mighty heroes of the Sikhs.
Certainly, they seem to have been imbued with the cour-
age and faith of these mighty defenders of the weak. They
will not function at all for Scions, but when worn by a
Saint, their true power is unlocked.
Enhancement: +2 to Defense rolls when protecting
others.
Knack: While you are Virtuous, your foes cannot
target any trivial targets within Close range of you.
Flaws: All Difficulties on your Defense rolls increase
by 1 for the scene if you harm an innocent.
THU N THI N (RELIC ••••)
The legendary blade Thuận Thiên, or Heaven’s Will,
was wielded by the Vietnamese king Lê Lợi during the
liberation of Vietnam from the Ming. Its power earned
him the right to be king of the nation, and when he wield-
ed it he was said to have the strength of ten thousand
men. It was granted to him by the god Long Vương, the
Dragon King, but he had to construct the weapon himself
from blade and hilt. After ascending the throne, Lê Lợi re-
turned the sword to its master by giving it to a giant turtle
with a golden shell. Now, the blade sometimes finds its
way into the hands of those who would protect the people
of Vietnam from oppression or those who earn the favor
of Long Vương — though many of those, like Lê Lợi, have
turned out to be Saints rather than Scions.
Enhancement: +2 when leading followers, +1 when
Virtuous
Tags: Lethal, Melee, Versatile
Knack: While you hold the sword, you gain the ben-
efits of the Lighthouse of Society Knack (Hero, p. 230).
Knack: Whoever possesses the sword may use the
Divine Right Boon, even if they do not possess it, but only
targeting themselves. If they already have this Boon or
are a Saint, the Attitude boost increases to 2, or 3 while
Virtuous.
Flaws: Remove one point of Enhancement or one
Knack cumulatively at the end of any scene in which the
Relic is used but a Virtue is not fulfilled. Full functionality
is restored as soon as the user fulfills a Virtue while using
the blade.
STORYGUIDING SAINTS
Saints are the absolute embodiment of the virtues
their communities hold sacred. They are not chosen by
gods or titans or anything else, but have become them-
selves the conduits for the highest values of the society
they affiliate with. Saints are not just the haloed figures
of righteous living that most of us are familiar with —
they can be great and powerful warriors like Rostam, the
renowned paladin of Iranian legend who embodied the
Yazata’s virtues of Honesty and Free Will in his own bra-
zen way. Their accomplishments and deeds ring through
history much like a Scion’s would, but they are distinctly
mortal and are driven because they believe, with a full to-
tality, what many of their fellows proclaim half-heartedly.
WHAT TYPE OF GAME IS
A SAINT MOST SUITED FOR?
Saints are a great fit for any game — their Virtue grants
them the ability to, at least for a short while, go toe-to-toe
with threat that ought to utterly outclass a mortal. They
also bring a dynamism and drive to a group, because their
Virtues naturally impel them toward action. Saints don’t
stand by when action must be taken, according to their
internal sense of ethics. They do what must be done and
damn the consequences, so enraptured by their Virtues
that they’re unlikely to let a silly thing like caution get in
the way.
While Prophets are drawn to Scions and others
whose Fate fascinates them, there is no similar mecha-
nism for Saints. Unless their Virtues demand it of them
or they happen to be tugged gently together by Fate,

18 CHAPTER ONE: HEROIC COMPENDIUM

there’s nothing drawing Scions and Saints together. The
most common reasons for a Saint to pursue a Scion are
probably to chastise or challenge them for not living up
to a divine standard of Virtue — after all, if a mortal can
do it, what excuse do the children of the Gods themselves
have? If a Scion of the Teotl (quote understandably) fears
to undertake a likely suicide mission, a Saint sharing
the Virtues of Hunger and Sacrifice will have no qualms
about marching right in, slapping the Scion around, and
telling them that the possibility of sacrifice in the name
of their friends, loved ones, and community is something
to look forward to, not fear. Hunger for victory, and know
that your duty is to Sacrifice if you must!
With abilities that allow them to challenge anything
that comes their way, Saints are powerhouses of inspi-
ration, driving their comrades to attempt ever-greater
feats. If they end up tagging along with a Scion, the Saint
wouldn’t view the Scion as superior in any sort of way
unless their Virtues demanded it. A Hindu Saint would
acknowledge their Duty to a Scion of Shiva and accord
proper devotion, but such a Scion on the wrong path
would cause the Saint to acknowledge that part of their
Duty is to follow their Conscience and therefore get the
Scion back on the right track.
A Band of multiple Saints can be a chaotic experi-
ence, particularly if their Virtues are at cross-purposes,
since unlike Scions Saints rely upon and are driven by
their Virtues to a far greater extent. For a Saint, there is
no middle ground on the road to the Virtuous Condition
— the minute they’re inspired, they become enraptured,
and frequently drag others along for the ride. If there’s
multiple Saints in a single Band, and especially if the
entire Band is made up of Saints, it’s important for there
to be a unifying factor, something that keeps the group
focused and tight-knit. A common enemy is the simplest
choice, but a common patron with great enough import
to (or sufficient leverage over) the Band could serve just
as well, provided they don’t manage to get on the Saints
wrong side — they’re not great at backing down, after all.
Be prepared for things to go in strange directions, but to
be perfectly honest, if your players all made Saints, you
probably have the sort of group that likes bombastic
in-character arguments anyway.
Inspiration for Saints can be found virtually any-
where one finds larger-than-life heroes, whether in myth,
fiction, or even real-world history. Look no further than
the tales of Hua Mulan, Cécile Fatiman, or Kaveh the
Blacksmith. Journey to the West is tailor-made inspira-
tion — imagine a road movie starring a Saint and their
less-than-virtuous companions. Porthos, Athos, Aramis,
and d’Artagnan exemplify the virtues of the Musketeers.
The possibilities are endless for a Saints game, so don’t be
restrained with what source materials you seek to derive
inspiration from as both Storyguide and Player.
Saints
SAINTS AS VILLAINS AND ALLIES
For players, running across a Saint in the story should
be an exciting moment, and Storyguides should make
good use of these virtuous champions. Saints with oppos-
ing Virtues to those of the Band can be a great obstacle to
whatever they’re trying to accomplish. Whether a clash
of wits or striking of swords, Saints aren’t going to let the
Band off easily and will provide a challenge to those who
stand against their truths — it doesn’t matter to the Saint
charged with protecting a sacred grove that the Band
needs the wood to build a barge for an Underworld voy-
age. A Saint with their virtues behind them can stand up
against anything and anyone in the right circumstances,
and just because they’re virtuous doesn’t mean they can’t
be villainous. Combine the Æsir virtues of Audacity and
Fatalism with a Wall Street fuck-you-got-mine mentality,
and you’ve a recipe for a capitalist Saint who will think
nothing of ruining thousands of lives in pursuit of the
proverbial wealth of Croesus. Just because the Saint’s
Virtues reflect a community they exemplify doesn’t mean
the community is nice, healthy, or likely to be friendly to
the Band’s aims or needs.
If values align, however, Saints can be a Scion’s most
stalwart ally or the moral glue that holds a Band togeth-
er. Apart from being able to go toe-to-toe with virtually
anything and have a reasonable expectation of walking
away alive, they provide a moral anchor for the Band that
will not waver or lose focus. This can aid the Storyguide
if players are easily distracted or lose themselves down
wrong turns — the Saint is there to remind them precisely
what they’re meant to be doing. Don’t take that as license
to dictate to the players, but sometimes it’s handy to have
an in-character circuit-breaker.
There are many other dimensions in which Saints
could support a Band. They can be guides, mentors, heal-
ers, savvy operators, political heavyweights, community
leaders, and more. Whether their battle is against devel-
opment of wilderness areas or a fight against racism, if
the Band’s aims align with their own they’ll have a friend
for life, braver and more stalwart than they could ever ask
for. If there’s a role that needs to be filled, a Saint is always
a fine choice.
Dropping a Saint into your story as neither villain
or ally can also be an excellent way to hook the players
— Saints are not known, on the whole, for their subtlety,
and will almost certainly get their attention. If the Band
encounter the Saint on the road, he might know the way
through confusing terrain and be able to help them get
there faster, or perhaps he can tell them of the foes that
await them that the Saint was unable to vanquish them-
selves. Perhaps the Scions need someone to advise them
of protocol when entering a God’s chosen temple-complex
or someone to make introductions to the border guards of
a difficult to reach Terra Incognita. A Saint is a versatile
element in any story, and for Scions wanting to prove their
19
worth and trustworthiness to any community, nothing gets
the job done like having a Saint vouch for them.
PLOT HOOKS FOR SAINTS
Not every Saint is above board, but then, metaphys-
ics notwithstanding, “saint” isn’t exactly a word people
tend to use regarding Mr. Donovan, unless they work for
him. He’s turned a crew of grifters, thieves, and assorted
ne’er-do-wells into a burgeoning criminal family cum cult
of personality, bound by choice and affiliation rather than
blood kinship — but Mr. Donovan insists that the blood of
the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. Their
racket specializes in the mythic underside of the World,
and they traffic in everything from curses to prophecy.
The Band has just come onto Mr. Donovan’s radar, and
he’s already set his sights on “liberating” some of their
more valuable possessions — and if they have to fight for
it, so be it.
When Freygunnr received Odin’s blessing and the sa-
cred charge of caring for a cutting of Yggdrasil, the World
Ash, it gave her life purpose in a way that nothing else
had before. She planted the little sapling, and it quickly
took root and began to grow…and grow… and grow. It’s
cracking into electrical lines, strangling water mains, and
tearing up concrete with its roots, all right in the Band’s
backyard. Freygunnr, not a small or timid woman, will
defend that tree with her life and all of her considerable
strength, for (so she’s been told) it’s the tree from which
Hoddmímis holt, the woods that will shelter Líf and
Lífthrasir through Ragnarök, will spring.
Being a Saint means always being on call — even if
you don’t consciously live your life that way, Fate and
your Virtues will intervene. Case in point: when the Band
hears tidings of titanic activity that threatens the com-
munity they hold dear, there’s no question about whether
they’re going to act. The trouble is, said titanic activity
seems to emanate from the local apparatus of government
— something wicked squatting in the heart of the bureau-
cracy and manipulating things according to its design, yet
still all perfectly above board and on-paper legal. When
Virtue demands action but the situation demands caution,
is there a middle path to be found, or is the Band going in
all guns figuratively (or perhaps literally) blazing?
PROPHETS
T hroughout history, there’ve been those that could see
the paths beyond time itself and were driven to explore
those possibilities. Prophets don’t just exist within the
zeitgeist; they embody and accelerate it toward eventual
fulfillment through Fate’s machinations. They peer directly
behind Fate’s veils at differing levels and, with the many
interconnected and invisible strings visible to them, they
pluck them until the desired harmonies ring forth. Though
they can see Fate’s workings, Prophets are incapable
of understanding its totality, driving some to become
20 CHAPTER ONE: HEROIC COMPENDIUM
intoxicated by Fate itself. Some Prophets are blinded or
driven insensate by glimpsing the inner workings of destiny.
Though they’re not properly Legendary figures, they leave
indelible marks regardless of whether they’re believed
or not, and sometimes they even end up worshipped
themselves. Whether advising great kings and generals who
make pilgrimages to hear their utterances or summoning
sudden miracles while glorifying one who is to come, these
are all signs of unwise it is to ignore Prophets.
Scion: Hero (p. 316) provided players with a base-
line Path for Prophets unsure of their destiny yet able
to glimpse into Fate. This chapter will provide four
new Prophetic Destinies in addition to Cassandras
(found in Scion: Hero): Heralds, Oracles, Architects,
and Miracleworkers. Prophetic Destinies also provide
Prophets access to Legend, though in restricted and dan-
gerous ways. Prophets can now be Fatebound into three
Prophetic Purposes, giving them blessings unique to their
circumstances: Prophet of a Purview/Patron/Pantheon,
Prophet of the People/Land/Culture, and Prophet of
the Chosen/Cursed/Exiled. A player may combine any
Prophetic Destiny (including the baseline Prophet path)
with any Prophetic Purpose. As mentioned in Scion:
Hero, Prophets tend to have physical Omens that reveal
their unique status. Players can choose one physical Omen
and those who notice it must roll Culture and Occult
to recognize it as a prophetic mark. Prophets are also
recognizable through Scent the Divine, which Prophets
have access to innately. Also, Prophets have a Legendary
Title which is usually a combination of their Destiny and
Purpose. The Player may then end up the Oracle of Taipei
or Miracleworker of The Dagda and can use this title just
like any other Legendary Title mechanically.
PROPHETIC DESTINIES
While many Prophets don’t push beyond what
they can’t understand, some discover that they have a
Prophetic Destiny and embrace it for better or for worse.
All a Player needs to create a baseline Prophet is in Scion:
Hero (p. 316) where another Prophetic Destiny, the
Cassandra, is detailed. The Path Effect listed for Prophets
in Scion: Hero applies to the following Destinies, and
Knacks listed there can be used for any Prophet.
ARCHITECTS
Many have lamented tragedies that foreknowledge
might have prevented, but only a few among those bless-
ed (or cursed) to know Fate’s workings have the will to
turn aside what otherwise will be. By laying the ground-
work for designs of their own, they throw a wrench in
the machinery of destiny. They’re master manipulators
and astute planners who see the denizens of the World,
mortal and divine alike, as pawns in an all-stakes chess
game against Fate itself. Whether this requires arranging
certain romances to blossom at the right time or leading
mystery cults whose initiates enact the Architect’s will
behind the scenes, Architects will do anything to manifest
their utopic visions. Others often see them as cold and
calculating, without a care for trivialities like collateral
damage, however behind Architect’s drive lies deep com-
passion and an astounding bravado against supposed in-
evitability. Fate is not so easily turned aside, though, and
sooner or later the price for one’s design must be paid:
no Architect has ever lived to see the world they create,
but nevertheless trade their lives gladly knowing that the
future will be of their own making.
Path Effect: Architects gain a fourth Deed, a Design
Deed focused on the ultimate goal of their designs
(Prevent Zeus’ overthrow, avert a war between panthe-
ons, ensure the Mariners finally win a World Series, etc.)
and a Legend Trait, which begins at 1. When they make
progress toward fulfilling their goal, they gain Legend,
which can only be used with Birthrights or for Prophet
Knacks. Upon reaching Demigod Tier, the Architect’s
design enters its endgame; upon achieving Legend 9,
the Architect seals both their newly-forged destiny and
their own doom, and perishes, having changed the World
forever.
HERALDS
Fate is a glorious tapestry with myriad fascinating
designs, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that some Prophets
become enraptured by them. These Heralds immerse
themselves in the current of destiny, for they are ensnared
Prophets
and can’t imagine existence without the focus of that des-
tiny. Heralds become priests, advisers, the right-hands of
their charges, sometimes well before those charges know
what’s coming. They buttress and reinforce the Legend
of those they’ve chosen, guiding their destiny toward
ever-greater ends, as cults and shrines spring up in their
wake. Often a welcome addition to Bands of Heroes for
their prophetic services, they can just as easily create
problems for them by steering them into danger, knowing
they’re up to the task to surviving and besting whatev-
er the Herald has (intentionally or otherwise) set them
against.
Path Effect: Heralds are obsessed with the destiny of
a given person or small group of people, such as a Band of
Scions. Heralds do not have a Legend score, but can gain
Legend. Once per session, when the focus of a Herald’s
obsession rolls more than five successes on a single roll
(Enhancement counts!) gain Legend. Once per session, if
the Herald’s focus accomplishes a Deed, gain Legend.
Heralds cannot use Legend to fuel Knacks, Boons,
or Birthrights (unless they received those through a
Prophetic Destiny). Instead, Heralds can spend Legend
to immediately create Twists of Fate without invoking a
Path, counting one Legend as one success. These chang-
es cannot be overtly supernatural, but can rely on the
Herald’s foresight.
21
 SWORD OF DAMOCLES
You have meddled with Fate, and Fate now demands atonement. Tread carefully, Miracleworker, for you
may meet your doom at any moment.
Effect: Every time you imbue Legend, you incur a cumulative +1 Complication that persists even if bought
off, until this Condition is resolved. If you don’t buy off the Complication, Fate turns your works back upon
you in increasingly nasty ways. If you spend Legend while you have this Condition, immediately raise the
Complication to 5.
Momentum: Every time a marvel would solve a complex problem immediately but you refrain from
doing so, add 1 Momentum to the pool.
Resolution: Going an entire session without imbuing or spending Legend ends the Condition. You may
also balance Fate’s designs as penance, a task that usually takes at least a scene of effort —  treat this
(Scion: Origin,
as an obligation, like with a Path (Scion: Origin, p.100). Completing the obligation ends the Condition
immediately.

Add the Herald’s current Legend to the default
Tension Pool (the amount of Tension the Storyguide
begins a session with). Whenever the herald expends
Legend, add that amount of Tension to the Tension Pool
immediately.
MIRACLEWORKERS
Some Prophets learn to use Fate itself as a tool, re-
working its strands and thereby allowing them to pro-
duce wonders. These Miracleworkers do the impossible,
turning existence itself into a weapon against their ene-
mies and a wonder to awe and terrify their fellow mor-
tals. However, such raw power is not without its dangers
— those who succumb to hubris or unleash ever-greater
marvels tend to find themselves subject of Fate’s ire for
disrupting its machinations. Miracleworkers who push
things too far encounter lethal situations and dangerous
circumstances until they either learn their place in the
scheme of things or suffer the consequences.
the Storyguide will answer in the form of keywords, one
per dot of the Oracle’s Legend, that accurately answer the
question — it’s up to the Oracle to interpret the sign he’s
been given. If the Storyguide actively uses the Oracle’s
foresight as a plot hook (which she is encouraged to do!)
this does not constitute a use of this power.
Oracles must choose a Permanent Condition (Scion:
Origin, p. 66).
PROPHETIC PURPOSES
As Prophets can embrace Prophetic Destinies grant-
ing them blessings in exchange for riding the waves of
Fate, they can also fulfill Prophetic Purposes. Prophets
may attach themselves to people, places, or even
Purviews, gaining access to special benefits. This section
will provide three Prophetic Purposes: Prophet of the
Purview/Patron/Pantheon, Prophet of the People/Land/
Culture, and Prophet of the Chosen/Cursed/Exiled.

Path Effect: Miracleworkers have a Legend Trait,
which begins at 1. They have no native access to Purviews,
but can gain such access through Relics, Guides, or
Prophetic Destinies. Miracleworkers may imbue Legend
without risk, but spending Legend incurs the Sword of
Damocles Condition.
ORACLES
All Prophets can see the inherent workings of Fate,
but some go beyond even such miraculous heights.
Oracles peer deep into Fate without obstruction, in-
terpreting the swirls of information that Fate provides.
This constant forbidden knowledge profoundly alters an
Oracle; they end up forever intoxicated by their experi-
ences like the Delphian Oracles or blinded like the Itakos
of Japan, among other possibilities. Still, their incredible
insight surpasses all others, and Oracles are often highly
respected.
Path Effect: Oracles have a Legend Trait, which
starts at 1, but cannot gain or spend Legend. Once per ses-
sion, the Oracle may ask any question of the Storyguide;
Prophetic Purposes function like a special Path, in
that they provide access or connections and can incur
obligations (indeed, they’re highly likely to do so on a
regular basis).
PROPHET OF THE
PATRON/PANTHEON/PURVIEW
Prophecy and divinity go hand in hand in the com-
mon imagination, and there’s a reason for it — a Prophet
is an excellent conduit for divine powers to influence the
World. Whether the Prophet serves a particular God, an
entire Pantheon, or simply the numinous powers of the
World itself, she is blessed and empowered even beyond
normal Prophetic limits. Such Prophets are often well-
known, if not as a Prophet then as a public figure outspo-
ken on a given issue or set of issues, and can frequently be
seen strolling the corridors of power — but then, they’re
just as comfortable on a street corner, if it serves their
patron’s commands.
Blessings: Prophets of Patrons or Pantheons gain
five dots to spend on Birthrights related to the Patron or

22 CHAPTER ONE: HEROIC COMPENDIUM

Pantheon. A Purview’s Prophet gains access to its Boons
innately — if her Prophetic Destiny doesn’t allow her to
accrue Legend, she gains the ability to do so through ap-
propriate ritual sacrifice.
PROPHET OF THE
PEOPLE/LAND/CULTURE
Sometimes, to find your purpose, you don’t need
the stars or great figures or the gods, but the mountains
that surround your city, your neighborhood’s monthly
potluck, or your favorite science fiction convention. This
Purpose binds the Prophet through a sacred pact which
benefits both the Purpose and Prophet in intricate ways.
Prophets will find themselves welcomed by their Purpose
not just socially but also in ways not usually experienced.
The Black Forest’s tree stumps will be comfortable seats
for its Prophet, Prophets of the Goths will always hear
their favorite songs when they strut into the clubs, and
a Prophet of Miami will see billboards celebrating their
birthday and sandcastles built in their honor. They’re
intricately tied to their Purpose in unseen ways and work
hard to help and protect them however they can.
Blessings: Prophets of a People never suffer
Complication on rolls for communicating or influencing
those people or those closely associated with them. She
may purchase the Covenant Birthright (Mysteries of the
World, p. 69) with them as the Birthright’s focus.
Prophets of a Land may always perfectly orient them-
selves with respect to their land and cannot become lost
while within it. They have an innate sense for the health
and stability of the land and are always aware of anything
that disturbs the status quo. Gain +2 Enhancement for
actions taken to navigate, find someone or something, or
establish stealth within the Prophet’s land.
Prophets of a Culture may purchase the Covenant
Birthright with respect to that culture. In addition, she
may create a Legendary Title for herself describing her
relationship to that culture. Once per session, she may
invoke that Title to gain +1 Scale for a single action.
PROPHET OF THE
CHOSEN/CURSED/EXILED
There are Prophets who look upon those closest to
them and find Fate’s plans for them unacceptable. Like
Merlin guiding Arthur, the Prophet steers their compan-
ion onto new paths, taking an unremarkable or unde-
sirable Fate and transforming it into something grand.
Whether their companion is destined to be a savior,
cursed in grotesque ways, or exiled from their communi-
ty for myriad reasons, this Purpose drives the Prophet to
protect their companion, to right all wrongs done against
them, and to see their glories and vengeance amplified.
Blessings: This Purpose grants the Boon Companion
Fatebinding from Scion: Hero (p. 198) permanently.
Prophets with this Purpose, thanks to their obsession
over a single individual’s destiny, gain the ability to work
Prophets
Fatebindings on behalf of their companion. They may en-
gineer up to their highest Finesse Trait in Fatebindings,
even if their companion could not ordinarily form a
Fatebinding to begin with. The Prophet may also compel
or invoke these Fatebinding after they’re formed.
PROPHETIC KNACKS
In addition to three new Knacks available to all
Prophets, Knacks for Architects, Heralds, Miracleworkers,
and Oracles may be found below.
NEW PROPHET KNACKS
• This is Not the Way: Sometimes, a person loses
their way, but you’re particularly adept at finding
their path again. When you advise another charac-
ter, you may grant Enhancement and Complication
equal to that character’s Attitude toward you (pos-
itive or negative!). The Enhancement applies to
any action in keeping with your advice, while the
Complication applies to actions that would work
against it. If not bought off, despite the character’s
success, Fate arranges for reminders in the form of
strange happenstance, odd encounters, and others
repeating your advice to the character unprompt-
ed. This effect lasts until the end of the session, and
may only be used on a given character once per arc.
• You’re Going to Regret This: Without realizing
it, one wrong choice can lead to catastrophic con-
sequences. When you declare that an action taken
by a character will have terrible and unforeseeable
results, you may spend Momentum. At any time
later in the session or even in future sessions, you
may impose Complications on the character equal
to Momentum points spent to power the cursed
prophecy.
• Let Me Get That for You: Prophets can be shields
against catastrophes and beacons of love and care,
warning against Fate’s obstacles and hazards. Once
per session, you can remove all Complications from
a roll for yourself or another character. In addition,
you gain the following Defensive Stunt:
• Come Prepared (varies): You may expend
successes on your Full Defense Roll to negate
Complications suffered by yourself or other
characters on a one-for-one basis, represent-
ing your foreknowledge of such dangers.
ARCHITECT KNACKS
• Ever Dream This Man?: It is more advantageous
at times to be a friendly mystery than a loathed
known. Once per session, the Architect can im-
bue a point of Legend to cause people to see the
Architect in their dreams, on posters they’ve
walked past, in the background of TV shows, and
more. This affects an area with Scale equal to the
Architect’s Presence. Anyone within this area gains
23
 +2 Enhancement to recognize the Architect, and
cannot have their Attitude toward the Architect
lowered save by magical effects. The Architect
gains a +2 Enhancement to any Intrigue rolls
against targets in this area.
• This Must Be the Place: During their travels,
Architects come across places they know play an
important role in their design. Once per session,
the Architect can spend 1 Momentum to declare an
area (no larger than a single mid-size building) to
be sacred ground. For the duration of the session,
the Architect and those with a positive Attitude
toward them suffer no Complications while in the
sanctified area, and anyone opposing the Architect’s
design suffers a +3 Complication. If not bought off,
their efforts are stymied as little things go wrong,
all artfully arranged by the Architect ahead of time.
By spending a point of Legend, the site becomes a
shrine and has the effect permanently.
• Machines of Loving Grace: When it comes to
their grand design, no detail is too small for an
Architect’s notice, no action too far removed from
them to be altered. By imbuing Legend when you
interact with an individual, you can ensure that a
single action or event takes place at a specified time
and location, such as a certain switch being flipped
at a particular time. You may operate a number of
individuals away from your desired effect equal to
your Legend Trait; at Legend 1, you could ensure
24 CHAPTER ONE: HEROIC COMPENDIUM
action by another person by talking to them, while
at Legend 3, you could have that person interact
with someone who interacts with your actual tar-
get. This is not mind control, but mere engineering
of happenstance and happy (or unhappy) accidents
on the part of mortals. The Storyguide is the ulti-
mate arbiter of what is possible with this Knack,
and how long the “setup” will take, but generally
speaking each step removed from the Architect
should require a minimum of 1 hour.
HERALD KNACKS
• His Master’s Voice: Once per session, add your
Presence score and your focus’ Legend score to a
limited Enhancement pool. This pool can be ap-
plied to any roll made on behalf of the focus for the
remainder of the session.
• Marked with Myrrh: Once per session, you can
spend a Momentum point to anoint your focus as
is appropriate to your context (oils, ghee, ashes,
etc.) through a ritual that should take a scene to ac-
complish. Once the ritual is complete, the marked
character is granted spiritual armor with the Soft 1
and Innocuous tags for the rest of the session.
• Private Caller: Despite all the speeches and ser-
mons, there’s always at least one person that, if
convinced, can bring their entire community into
line. Spend 1 Momentum to gain perfect knowledge
of how to bypass any security or other obstacles
 between yourself and your target, and gain +2
Enhancement on any rolls to do so. This Knack’s
effects end once you’re in your target’s presence.
MIRACLEWORKER KNACKS
• Greatest Show on Earth: You have a particular
flair for showy miracles, which tends to get you lots
of attention. When attempting to influence anyone
who has seen one of your marvels at least once, gain
+2 Enhancement. If you’ve used a marvel in their
presence within the scene, gain +3 Enhancement
instead.
• The Sincerest Form of Flattery: Miracleworkers
manipulate the stuff of Fate rather than the inner
workings of Purviews themselves, meaning that
to them one marvel is much like another. If you
witness another character create a marvel, for the
remainder of the session you can create the same
marvel, even if you don’t possess the Purview used.
• When You Believe: Miracles aren’t always a thing
of faith in the World, but faith certainly doesn’t
hurt. When you have the Sword of Damocles
Condition, all your Integrity and Persuasion rolls
not only don’t suffer from the Complication, but
gain half the Complication (round up) as a stand-
ing Enhancement to those rolls. When the Sword
of Damocles causes your marvels to go awry, they
never do so in a way that would lower the Attitude
of onlookers (which, in the absence of other easy
targets, may mean it targets you more directly).
ORACLE KNACKS
• Empathy for the Seer: Once per scene, you can,
upon achieving physical contact or locking eyes
with another character, wordlessly provide infor-
mation that the character was previously not privy
to. This often takes the form of visions or sudden,
numinous intuitions. If you spend a Momentum
point when you do so, the character gets access to
your skill specialties for the scene.
• Show Me: The vision of an Oracle is incomparable,
sometimes resolving actions moment to moment.
Once per session, spend Momentum to effectively
“rewind” time — what transpired before was mere-
ly a perfectly clear vision of the immediate future.
The amount of Momentum required varies accord-
ing to the amount of time rewound: a single turn
costs 1 Momentum, a full round 2, and an entire
scene might cost anywhere up to 5 Momentum,
which should represent about an hour’s time.
• Visions of What Went Before: An Oracle’s vision
isn’t always locked to the future, for Fate carries a
memory of has come before. You can recall events
from the past, slipping into a trance as history plays
out before your eyes in real time. You may spend
Prophets
Momentum to “scrub” around in time looking for
critical moments; each Momentum spent allows
you to identify a moment and search for it. For
example, you might say, “show me when the fight
starts.” If no moment in the scene matches your
query, no Momentum is spent.
STORYGUIDING PROPHETS
Prophets are the luck few who can clearly see Fate’s
usually indiscernible hand at work, and are either its
greatest rivals or its right hand in determining the course
of destiny. They can be outsiders who disrupt the status
quo and change everything in their wake, or they can be
champions and leaders who guide the World through
troubled times. Even when (often) ostracized for their
strangeness and power, especially by governments who
rarely like what Prophets have to say, they can find sym-
pathetic hands — there’s always someone with sufficient
anxiety about the future that they’ll listen to anything,
even if it’s not what they want to hear. Prophets are in-
valuable to those who know what they’re capable of and
who respect their insight — ancient Prophets were re-
sponsible for founding societies, nations, religious move-
ments, philosophies, and more that have lasted the test of
time. Their followers and friends may not always under-
stand them, but they love them and know that wherever
the road may lead, their Prophet has seen it already.
WHAT TYPE OF GAME IS
A PROPHET MOST SUITED FOR?
If you’re a Storyguide wishing to run a Prophets game
for your players, don’t expect it to behave like a lower-tier
Scion game. Prophets are less likely to charge in to fight
a monster directly, and far more likely to arrange for the
monster to come to misfortune indirectly long before
they ever become a threat. Arranging for a desirable fu-
ture is a puzzle, a problem to solve, and Prophets have all
the tools necessary to solve it. Prophets are methodical,
prone to planning and working to make sure all the piec-
es are in order, and so games focused on them aren’t the
sort where you have to worry about your players figuring
things out — you can lead them along with visions, show
them the problem, and then ask them how they’re going
to solve it. Chances are, they’ll surprise you, and that’s the
best part of Storyguiding.
Prophets fit in well with virtually any other charac-
ter type in Scion. The ability to perceive Fate is a useful
complement for anyone, whether they’re Scions trying to
do right by their divine parents or sorcerers seeking out
new sources of power. Regardless of who the Prophet or
Prophets have teamed up with, they’re using the more
direct powers of others to work their will on Fate and the
World, and that’s the lens to consider the relationship
through.
Scions and Prophets are natural allies, and the most
likely pairing you’ll see. Prophets are drawn to Scions due
25
to their resonance in Fate, but even as fast friends the
Scion lives in a different World than the Prophet does.
Perceiving Fate is not the same thing as being caught up
in its current. Prophets can’t just rush into situations —
and thanks to their perception of Fate, they often know
the consequences of doing so. Having Scions around is
a great shortcut to solving problems directly. From the
Scions’ perspective, a Prophet is a fantastic addition to a
Band, serving as a support and advisor and helping them
engineer their own destinies with a far greater eye to de-
tail than their own nascent gut feelings.
While Scions may be flashier and more likely to draw
the attention of Fate, they’re far from the only people
with problems that Prophets could become interested in.
Mortals are far more populous than any Denizen (at least,
in the World proper), and have built a complex society
that seemed designed to create undesirable conditions.
Games involving Saints, who are emblematic of their peo-
ples’ Virtues, covers much the same territory.
Denizens are obvious to the eyes of a Prophet, and so
it’s no surprise that they might find themselves sharing
a cause with them as well. Some Denizens are power-
ful, able to hold their own against Scions, but many are
mortal-tier, doing their best to get along in a World that’s
different from the usual stories told about them. What
Denizens offer Prophets are problems that are very much
out of the ordinary, problems that humans just don’t have,
and that the solutions for may involve journeys to strange
and new places or even Terra Incognitae.
Sorcerers and Prophets may seem strange bedfellows
at first. Though the strange backlashes and eddies in Fate
they create as they work with power not their own is li-
able to draw a Prophet’s interest, their needs and drives
are thoroughly personal, for regardless of their end goals
their immediate purpose is “more power.” However, for
the Prophet, who can see the consequences of a sorcerer’s
hubris coming, they’re actually quite an attractive option
if only for the sake of leveraging their power for the
Prophet’s ends. Of course, once you’re connected with
someone, it’s rarely a simple thing to disentangle yourself
— especially when the other party has magic at their beck
and call.
Finally, consider the possibility of a solo game, with
a Storyguide and a Prophet. This is an excellent way to
change things up, introduce someone to Scion, or get
around a lack of available players. A solo game ramps up
the sense of isolation a Prophet feels and gives them the
chance to play into the classic fantasy of knowing the fu-
ture and being the only one who can change it.
PROPHETS AS ANTAGONISTS AND ALLIES
Prophets can be many things, from mysterious villain
to enigmatic ally, but a Storyguide shouldn’t just treat
a Prophet as an easily dismissible character. They have
plans, Destinies, Purposes, powers, the ability to perceive
and manipulate Fate, and the drive to not let anyone stand
26 CHAPTER ONE: HEROIC COMPENDIUM
in their way. Such Prophets have their agents, knowing
and otherwise, everywhere, so come up with a way to
identify the Prophet’s handiwork. This calling card might
be anything from a whistled tune to a certain occult sign,
but whatever shape it takes it will become emblematic
of the villain for the players. Remember: every Prophet
wants something. Perhaps they seek to destroy the city
where the Band resides because a prophetic dream told
them the whole World would perish otherwise — a major
villain then sets up a longer arc with higher stakes!
As allies, Prophets can be indispensable, providing
welcome support in difficult situations and providing
Storyguides with a ready-made way to slip plot hooks to
players whenever she needs to, without disturbing the
flow or feel of the game. Fate works in strange ways, and
the players needn’t even seek out such an ally —  they’ll
come to the Band, knowing how critical they are to things
going “the right way.” Don’t just let them become a quest
dispenser, though: Prophets have their own purposes (and
Purposes) they’ll want to work toward, and will steer the
Band that way subtly or otherwise. Sometimes, of course,
the Band will be the Prophet’s purpose —  an Architect
who has seen the Band’s rise and eventual apotheosis as
a new pantheon working to ensure it, for example — but
be careful with this, because if you push it too hard, it’s a
good way to diminish the players’ sense of agency.
PROPHET PLOT HOOKS
Luka Karlsbur, child of Loki, was born as part of one
of their divine parent’s many plots to escape their Fate
at Ragnarök. Luka, naturally, has no interest serving as
a decoy for destiny’s purposes, especially not for their
lousy divine parent who ditched their dad the minute
it was practical. Fortunately for them, they’ve inherited
Loki’s cunning, and they have a plan — all they need is
the willing cooperation of a local VFW, a frost giant, and
a Prophet willing to act as lookout (and definitely not as a
patsy). After all, it was a seer who prophesied the twilight
of the Gods — surely another seer can help them find a
loophole. Neither Loki nor Luka are keen on having their
plans disrupted, so how will the players thread the needle
between divine vengeance and semi-divine leverage?
When he was young, Ankit beheld a vision of a
tranquil and peaceful World in the summer sky, and that
vision led him to become an Architect. Over the course
of his life, he has gathered followers, who now number
in the thousands. Together, they labor not only to aid
others and generally make the World a better place, but
as Ankit’s instruments in achieving a glorious destiny.
Unfortunately, either Ankit has a rather large blind spot
in his vision of the future or has an odd definition of
peaceful, because part of his magnum opus involves an
attempt to manifest the Brahmashirsha astra, a weapon
powerful enough to obliterate all of creation, from a Relic
he’s obtained. While the Deva don’t believe he’s likely to
succeed in such an ambitious goal, they’d rather not take
chances —  thus, Ankit and his commune of extremely
nice people who might destroy the World are now the
players’ problem.
Joshua Shelby, a skinny and slightly awkward Herald,
approaches the group and introduces himself — he’s fore-
seen a grand and glorious destiny for the Band and is only
too happy to expound upon it at length. Regardless of
whether the Band accepts his assistance or not, though,
things rapidly get weird. The Band is pulled into vendet-
tas with people they’ve never met, given quests by people
they have no connection with (but have every expectation
of satisfaction), and generally have their lives turned up-
side-down. They’ll likely intuit that something is behind
this, and maybe blame the enthusiastic Joshua, but can
a Herald really cause so much disturbance in Fate, or is
Joshua merely another symptom of something larger?
CHARACTER
CREATION
C haracter creation has seven steps: Concept, Paths,
Skills, Attributes, Callings and Knacks, Birthrights,
and finishing touches.
STEP ONE: CONCEPT
The first and most basic element of your character is
their concept. Think of this as a short phrase encapsulating
the basic essence of the character — the sort of thing you
might see in a movie synopsis or on the back cover of a
novel. Maybe they’re the “Defender of Dublin” or a “Sister
of Delphi.” If you are having trouble encapsulating a good
concept, try considering which values you wish to embody
and what sort of community would foster such thoughts.
Part of a Saint’s concept are their virtues (Scion:
Origin, p. 162). Even if they aren’t called out in your con-
cept, you should decide this now. Likewise, for Prophets,
you’ll need to decide what kind of Prophetic Destiny they
have (p. XX) and what their Purpose (p. XX) may be. This
concept doesn’t have any direct mechanical effects, but
any time you find yourself stuck further in the process,
returning to your concept can help you figure out the best
choice for your character.
Character Creation Example: Saints
David wants to create his Saint, Juan Carlos
de la Cruz. He wants him to be a paragon of
the Òrìshà Virtues of Tradition vs Innovation,
believing in moving his community in Elmhurst,
New York forward, but not at the cost of
forgetting their rich Latin heritage. As the forces
of the city move ever forward, he doesn’t want
his people to fall behind and get mowed down
by the engines of progress, but neither does he
want them to lose what makes them unique in the
whitewashing of gentrification.
Character Creation
David chooses three Deeds for Juan Carlos,
one short-term (“Get Elmhurst the city services
it deserves”), one long-term (“Prevent the gen-
trification of Queens”), and a Band Deed that
binds the Band and Juan Carlos’ story’s together
(“Bring the Community into the Future”)
Character Creation Example: Prophets
Sarah has the idea for her Prophet, Hannah
Grace, as a Miracleworker of the Netjer who
believes that only through law and order can
justice be achieved and Ma’at upheld. To ac-
complish this, she followed in the footsteps of her
law enforcement family and became a member
of the FBI.
Sarah chooses three Deeds for Hannah, one
short-term (“Bust someone taking advantage of the
powerless”) a long-term one, (“Discover a Titanic
plot”) and her Band Deed (“Establish connections
with the NYPD Supernatural Crimes Unit”).
STEP TWO: PATHS
Define three Paths (Scion: Origin, p. 95) for your
character. The first Path corresponds to your character’s
Origin, who they were before the story started. The sec-
ond corresponds to their Role, who they are now (your
character’s concept is usually a good fit here). The third
relates to their Gifted Type; Saint or Prophet. For Saints,
that involves their Virtues, the two themes that shape
them and how they relate to their convictions, and the
juxtaposition between the two concepts. For Prophets,
it involves their Destinies and Purposes, the former being
how they see the waves and eddies of Fate, the latter what
they do with what they see and who or what they serve.
Each Path consists of the following elements:
• A short description of the Path (e.g. “Michelin
Starred Chef” or “WHO Viral Researcher”)
• Three Skills associated with the Path. Which
three Skills you choose are up to you, but you
should be prepared to justify non-obvious choices
like Medicine for “Platinum Recording Artist.”
For Saints, two of the Skills you choose for your
character’s Gifted Path must be the Skills from
the Patheon associated with your Virtues. For
Prophets, two of the Skills you choose for your
character’s Gifted Path must be aligned with your
sight, the ways your visions manifest or informs
your abilities. Any given Skill can be associated
with at most two of your Paths.
• A Path Condition that triggers when you invoke the
Path too often. You can choose one of the example
Conditions or use them as a template to create your
own.
27
 Character Creation Example: Saints
David knows Juan Carlos’ history, but the future
is more difficult to ascertain. Juan Carlos has
protested against expensive high-rise develop-
ments and house flippers making the community
more expensive than those who already live
there can afford, and fought to make sure that
they and other communities get the same city
services as the ritzy parts of Manhattan. He’s
worked to keep health centers open for low
income and marginalized people. Marching in
cultural parades, he worked hard to ensure that
the next generation remembered the history that
came before them.
His first Path is “Bogota Born, New York Raised,”
to describe his origins as an immigrant who
came to New York City with his family looking
for that American Dream. “Shield against
Gentrification” explains his connection to the
Òrìshà Virtues he upholds. Finally, while you
want to discuss what the Role your character will
have within the Band, David is pretty sure that
Juan Carlos’ Role will have something to do with
being a leader of people.
He takes the Òrìshà skills for his Gifted Path, as
well as Leadership, and chooses skills for his oth-
er two Paths. Culture, Empathy, and Persuasion
for his Origin Path; and Leadership, Integrity,
and Persuasion for what he believes his Role will
be. Juan Carlos understands people, what they
need, and how to lead them, but doesn’t have a
leg to stand on when it comes to fisticuffs.
Character Creation Example: Prophets
Working on Hannah’s history, Sarah makes
some choices. She comes from a family of cops,
third generation, through the first were in the
NYPD. In her band, she uses her connections in
law enforcement and investigative skills as an
FBI Special Agent to ferret out whatever they
are tackling. As a Prophet of the Netjer, it is her
duty to ensure that the ebb and flow of Fate, and
Ma’at, are maintained.
Hannah’s Origin Path would be “NYPD Blue
Blood,” to denote her heritage in law enforce-
ment. “Truth, Justice, and the Netjer way”
describes her Gifted Path, as a Miracleworker
for the Netjer with a focus on defending Ma’at.
For her Role Path, “Dogged Crime Fighter” rep-
resents her passion to bring offenders to justice
and the truth to light.
For her Origin Path, she takes Empathy,
Firearms, and Integrity. For her Gifted Path,
Sarah decides that her uses Occult and Culture
as the skills through which her visions come to
her, as she has dreams of the various gods of
Egypt coming to her to show her what she must
do. Integrity is her third skill for that path. Finally,
she takes Empathy, Subterfuge, and Firearms for
28 CHAPTER ONE: HEROIC COMPENDIUM
her Role Path. Hannah is well trained both by
her schooling at Quantico and her police family,
and her insights into Fate allows her to know the
inner workings of the World around her.
STEP THREE: SKILLS
Prioritize your characters’ Paths as primary, second-
ary, and tertiary. Your character receives three dots in
each Skill associated with their primary Path, two dots
for each Skill associated with their secondary Path, and
one dot in each Skill associated with their tertiary Path.
These dots are cumulative for Skills associated with two
Paths.
For every Skill that ends up with three or more dots,
choose a Specialty (Scion: Origin, p. 59).
Character Creation Example: Saints
David makes Juan Carlos’ Gifted Path primary,
Role secondary, and Origin tertiary. This results
with Juan Carlos having Culture 1, Empathy
1, Integrity 2, Leadership 5, Medicine 3,
Persuasion 3, Subterfuge 3. He’s well spoken
with a steadfast will and a good head on
his shoulders to lead people. As Leadership,
Medicine, Persuasion, and Subterfuge are all
at or above 3, David chooses four specialties:
“Rousing Speeches,” “Triage,” “Political
Debates,” “Hiding Secrets,” respectively.
Character Creation Example: Prophets
Sarah chooses Hannah’s primary Path to be her
Gifted Path, her Origin secondary, and her Role
tertiary. This makes Hannah’s Skills as follows:
Culture 3, Empathy 3, Firearms 3, Integrity 5,
Occult 3, Subterfuge 1. Because five of her skills
are at 3 or above, she takes the following spe-
cialties: Culture (Religions), Empathy (Motives),
Firearms (Pistols), Integrity (Conviction), Occult
(Titanomachy).
STEP FOUR: ATTRIBUTES
Your character begins with a single dot in all
Attributes for free.
Prioritize the three Arenas (Scion: Origin, p. 97)
as primary, secondary, and tertiary. Assign six dots to
Attributes in the primary category, four the secondary,
and two to the tertiary. Divide these dots however you
like, but no Attribute can be higher than five.
Next, choose one of the three Approaches (Scion:
Origin, p. 97). Add two dots to each attribute in that
Approach; any Attribute dots beyond 5 may be reassigned
elsewhere in the high Attribute’s Arena.
Character Creation Example: Saints
Jumping off from his Skill choices and Juan
Carlos’ interpersonal skills, David believes that
the best way to build him is to prioritize Social
as his primary Arena, then Mental, and finally
Physical. Each Attribute starts with one dot,
and David places three dots into Presence, two
into Manipulation, and one into Composure.
Next, for Mental, he puts two dots into Resolve,
then one each in Intellect and Cunning. Finally,
for Physical, he puts one into Dexterity and
one into Stamina, leaving Might at one. As a
community organizer, having to move between
spheres of power with grace, David believes
that Juan Carlos’ Favored Approach should
be Finesse. His final Attributes are: Intellect
2, Might 1, Presence 4; Cunning 4, Dexterity
4, Manipulation 5; Resolve 3, Stamina 2,
Composure 2.
Character Creation Example: Prophets
Sarah, thinking about how a cop would go
about doing things, makes Hannah’s Mental
Arena her primary, then her Social secondary,
and finally Physical. All Attributes start at one
dot, and Sarah addresses Hannah’s Mental
first. She puts three dots into Cunning, two into
Intellect, and one into Resolve. With Social up
next, Sarah puts two dots into Manipulation and
one dot each into Presence and Composure.
Character Creation
Finishing with Physical, she puts a dot each into
Dexterity and Stamina, leaving Might at one.
Believing that one has to be as shy as a criminal
to be able to stop one, Sarah makes Hannah’s
Favored Approach Finesse. This would take
her Cunning over 5, so she puts the extra dot
into her Resolve. Hannah’s final Attributes are
as follows: Intellect 3, Might 1, Presence 2;
Cunning 5, Dexterity 4, Manipulation 5; Resolve
3, Stamina 2, Composure 2.
STEP FIVE:
CALLINGS AND KNACKS
Choose three Callings (Scion: Hero, p. 190) inspired
by your Paths. At Origin level, your character chooses one
Calling, related to their Gifted type, and a single knack
with one dot. At Hero level, your character receives five
dots to be split between their Callings, but each must
have at least one dot. One of your callings must be that of
your Gifted type, Saint or Prophet, respectively.
For each Calling, choose a number of Heroic Knacks
equal to the Calling’s rating; while a character can
learn more, they may only have as many active as they
have Calling dots. Alternately, you may choose a single
Immortal Knack instead of two Heroic Knacks for any
Calling with two dots or higher. As Saints and some
Prophets don’t have Legend, they have no way of using
any Knack that interacts with Legend, and thus it is not
advised that they take them.
29
 Character Creation Example: Saints
As an immigrant and accustomed to watching
over others, Juan Carlos fits the Guardian
Calling pretty well. “Community Organizer”
sounds like a Leader to David, and he takes
Saint as he must. He puts one dot into Guardian,
and two each into Leader and Saint.
Juan Carlos’ Knacks reveal him to be the
defender of the community and someone who
will come to the aid of others: A Purpose, Good
Listener, Inspirational Aura, It is Not in Heaven,
and Virtuous Might.
Character Creation Example: Prophets
Sarah chooses Judge for her Origin Path “NYPD
Blue Blood,” and Hunter for “Dogged Crime
Fighter,” as two sides of the same coin, her life
coming from an old New York City Police family
and her job as an FBI Special Agent. Hannah’s
Gifted Path, “Truth, Justice, and the Netjer Way”
gives her the Prophet Calling, of course. She puts
two dots into Judge and Prophet, and one in
Hunter.
For Hannah’s law enforcement background and
the mission given to her by the Gods of Egypt to
deliver justice, Sarah picks the following Knacks:
Glimpses Forward, Keen-Eyed Predator, On the
Case, The Truth Arises, and When you Believe.
STEP SIX: BIRTHRIGHTS
Your character receives seven dots to allocate to
Birthrights (Scion: Hero, p. 201). You may choose from
the example Birthrights in that book, this one (p. XX), or
design your own.
For Saints, Birthrights don’t give Purview access the
way they do for Scions, instead giving a single type of
Marvel or a single Boon through a single Purview (p. XX
for more information).
For Prophets, your Prophetic Purpose (p. XX) defines
some of the Birthrights you have access to. Furthermore,
some Prophetic Destines (p. XX) provide additional ac-
cess to Motifs, Purviews, or Boons.
Character Creation Example: Saints
As it is very important that Juan Carlos be
available wherever he may be, it makes sense
that he was, perhaps through a past interaction
with a Scion of Heimdall, gifted with an iGjallar,
taking two of his seven dots. He also, from a
drunken contest on one of his many travels with
an Incarnation of Lugh that neither of them can
(or wants to) remember, has a Silver Shilling
worth two dots. It has the Motif of “Never with-
out my lucky coin,” a 1 enhancement to games
of chance, and he spends another dot so that
30 CHAPTER ONE: HEROIC COMPENDIUM
he can use it to channel the Divine Providence
Prosperity Boon. David spends he last two dots
on an Ifá Diviner, an iyálawo named Clarissa
Duwalo, who shares her counsel with him.
Character Creation Example: Prophets
Given that Hannah is a Prophet of a Pantheon,
she gains 5 additional dots for pantheon-related
Birthrights on top of the seven she would usually
get, as well as the Netjer’s Motiff. She spends
those extra dots, as well as some of her normal
ones on gaining a Scarab Beetle and a Ghost
of Duat, named Henry Buchard, as a guide, as
well as a jar of the Tears of Re and a Quill of
Ma’at as the gifts given to her from the Netjer
to fight for justice and truth. She also has an Elf-
Shot Pistol that she confiscated from a Loki Scion
without a valid permit.
STEP SEVEN:
FINISHING TOUCHES
To finish out your character, Fill in the following:
• For Saints, you should have already decided on
your Virtues and have your character begin at the
center of the track. Prophets do not have Virtues
and thus skip this step.
• For some Prophets (see p. XX), you gain Legend 1.
For other Prophets and all Saints, skip this.
• Health: One slot each Bruised, Injured, Maimed,
and Taken Out; add an additional Bruised slot if
your character’s Stamina is 3–4, or two additional
Bruised slots if their Stamina is 5.
• Defense: Based on a character’s Physical Resilience
Attribute (Stamina, Resolve, and Composure). Just
note the Defensive pool the character will roll when
they take a Defensive action; generally, this is based
on Stamina, but determined or calm and collected
characters may avoid attacks with equal alacrity.
Each player character receives 5 extra Skill dots, and
extra Attribute dot, and either two additional Knacks
or four points of Birthrights at this point in character
creation.
Character Creation Example: Saints
David jots down all of the above on Juan
Carlos. He spends two dots each on Culture
and Empathy, and one on Integrity, leaving all
three Skills at three. David adds the following re-
spective Specialties: “Well Traveled,” “Calming
Emotions,” and “Resisting Influence.” He then
adds a dot to Juan Carlos’ Composure, bringing
it to 3, then take two additional Knacks: Voice of
the Mob and Perfect Poise.
 OBJECT CHANGE COST
Attribute Add one dot to a single Attribute 10 Experience
Birthright Add one dot in a new or existing Birthright 5 Experience
Favored Approach Change a character’s Favored Approach 15 Experience
Skill Add one dot in a new or existing Skill 5 Experience
Knack Purchase a new Knack 10 Experience
Specialty Add a Specialty to a Skill 3 Experience

EXPERIENCE
EVENT XP COST RECIPIENT
The character’s player attends the game 1 Solo
A player achieves their short-term Deed for their character 1 Solo
All players achieve their short-term Deed for their character in the same session 1 Group
A player achieves their long-term Deed for their character (all players must achieve 3 Solo
their long-term Deeds before a player can earn this experience again)
The players spend half the Momentum pool in a single scene (the amount spent must 1 Group
be greater than 1)
The characters reach a story milestone 1 Group
The characters complete a group Story 5 Group

on a sheet. What do they look like? How do they dress?

Character Creation Example: Prophets
Sarah completes Hannah’s character sheet. She
increases her Occult by one, her Subterfuge by
two, gaining the Specialization “Shadowing
Perps” for it, and puts the final two dots into
Survival. Sarah adds the dot to Hannah’s
Resolve, making it 4. Finally, she takes the Terror
of the Guilty Knack.
That finishes the mechanical aspects of your charac-
ter, but now is a good time to think about the things that
makes your character a character, not just a bunch of dots
Who are their family and friends? Do they have any ri-
vals? What’s their name?
You may spend experience to purchase dots in Skills
and Attributes. If your character has access to supernat-
ural powers via his Path, you may spend Experience to
purchase Knacks.
The below table lists the costs for each change. The
table does not include prerequisites, such as having ac-
cess to Knacks from a Path before purchasing. Players
may spend their Experience at the end of an Arc.

Character Creation 31
 “It’s not that they’re small, the fair folk.
Especially not the queen of them all, Mab of the flashing eyes and the slow
smile with lips that can conjure your heart under the hills for a hundred years.
It’s not that they’re small. It’s that we’re so far away.”
— Neil Gaiman
T here’s no such thing as an average Denizen — they are
exceptionally diverse, and range from nearly human
creatures like strange folk, to Denizens who appear to be
intelligent but otherwise ordinary looking animals like Cú
Sith, to bizarre hybrid creatures like motorcycle centaurs or
the horrific nuckelavee. There’s nothing like a single Path,
Knack, Purview, Condition, or other trait that can define all
Denizens so the only way to represent the vast diversity of
Denizens is with a wealth of different Conditions, Knacks,
and Purviews.
The basic physicality of any specific type of Denizen,
like a centaur or a giant is defined by a one, or occasion-
ally two Conditions. A Denizens’ special abilities linked
to its physical form are represented by Knacks. In con-
trast, Purviews represent special types of magic that
some Denizens possess, which are connected with their
particular physical abilities and mythological resonances.
In addition, Denizens’ physical capabilities are not static.
While a motorcycle centaur will always be half person
and half motorcycle, she can learn to push herself to drive
faster than she ever could have managed before, gaining
new Knacks.
HUMANOID
DENIZENS
S ome Denizens look like animals, and others can change
their shape, either to a single other form, or a multitude
of other possible forms. However, many Denizens appear
more or less human. They may have the legs and hooves of
a goat, or stand ten feet tall, but they have two arms, two
legs, and the rough proportions of a person — even if they
appear sufficiently different that they could only pass as an
ordinary person by wearing bulky clothing while standing
in dim light.
The following are nine of the most common
Conditions, and their associated Knacks and Purviews,
possessed by humanoid Denizens. While most Denizens
possess only a single Denizen Condition, some possess
two Denizen conditions. For example, a Scandinavian
Knocker possesses both the Little People and the
Underfolk Conditions, while some an Assyrian Anzû has
both the Animal Headed and the Winged Conditions.
In general, characters should have a maximum of two
Denizen Conditions.
Humanoid Denizens
ANIMAL HEADED CREATURES
Examples: Anzû, cynocephalus, horse-head and ox
face
Example Calling Keywords: Beast, [animal]-head-
ed, ferocious, hermit, vigorous, wild
Path Asset Skills: Athletics, Survival
Path Contacts: Couriers, call centers, delivery firms,
veterinary dentists
PERSISTENT CONDITION: ANIMAL HEADED
You have the head of an animal. Your body appears
human or mostly human, although it might be covered in
fur, feathers, or scales that match your head. Depending
upon what sort of head you possess, your bite likely has
the Lethal, Melee, and Natural tags. Also, because reading
your facial expressions is considerably more difficult,
you gain +1 Enhancement to all Subterfuge rolls to lie or
conceal your thoughts and feelings. In addition, you have
at least one sense that is superior to an ordinary human’s,
like a hawk’s keen vision, a dog or snake’s excellent sense
of smell, a cat’s night vision, etc. You gain +1 Enhancement
for rolls where this sense is useful. However, you cannot
pass as human, and because people cannot read your
expressions, you have more difficulty in some social
situations and increase the Difficulty of Leadership and
Persuasion rolls by +1 with ordinary humans. This pen-
alty does not apply to other Denizens or to anyone with
divine blood.
KNACKS
• Armored Skin: You may have dense fur, pre-
ternaturally hard feathers or scales, or perhaps
ordinary-looking skin that is as tough as shoe
leather. Even when you are naked, you are always
considered to have the Armored (Soft) Tag. This
benefit stacks with the increased difficulty of the
inflict damage Stunt granted by any other armor
you wear.
• Deadly Bite: Your bite automatically possesses
both the Brutal and the Piercing Tags.
• Venomous: Your bite is poisonous and inflicts the
Poisoned Condition on those you successfully bite.
You normally need to have the head of a venomous
animal, like a serpent, to possess this Knack.
33

FAIR FOLK
Examples: Sidhe, djinn
Example Calling Keywords: Clever, hidden, keeper,
mercurial, noble, strange
Path Asset Skills: Culture, Occult
Path Contacts: Academics, local weirdos, noble
courts, socialites, occultists
PERSISTENT CONDITION: FAIR FOLK
You are highly resistant to all sources of damage that
are caused by anything not made a particular substance.
Regardless of whether the damage is caused by a punch, a
wooden quarterstaff, a fire, poison, electricity, or even an
explosion, you instantly recover from your most severe in-
jury condition caused by any source that is of that source
at the end of combat or the scene, whichever comes first.
You cannot be killed by this damage; if Taken Out, you
return to consciousness at the end of combat or the scene.
However, all damage from that source gains the
Aggravated tag (Scion: Origin, p. 122) when used against
you. In addition, you increase the Difficulty of all rolls to
use weapons or tools made primarily of that source by +1,
and also suffer a similar increase in the difficulty of all
rolls when surrounded by it in a confined space. You gain
Momentum when you are forced to do so.
Some sources are fairly straightforward, such as
weapons made of iron or silver. Some potential sources,
34 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
such as sunlight or the color blue, will lean more into
the additional Difficulty rules. While all banes associat-
ed with this Condition should be reasonably common,
sources difficult to weaponize should present themselves
more often than their more prosaic kin.
HEROIC KNACKS
• Impossible Beauty: You’re attractive even by the
standards of the Fair Folk, which makes you in-
humanly and stunningly beautiful by mere mortal
standards. Injuries and other misfortune cannot
make you look bad — a roll down a muddy hill
will leave you artfully disheveled, like you spent
an hour in front of a mirror perfecting the look.
In action scenes, if you haven’t yet acted this turn,
you can spend Momentum to stun a target, moving
your initiative slot to just before theirs.
• Overlook: Spend Momentum to become invisible.
You instantly become visible if you do anything
that attracts attention, like yelling or attacking
someone, but are otherwise impossible to see, even
if someone was looking right at you when you used
this ability. This Knack doesn’t affect electronic
media, like security cameras, but it does affect the
people watching it until the Knack’s effects are
negated.
• Perfect Charm: You have a preternatural way
with words and are extremely good at getting peo-
ple to do what you want. Treat a target’s Attitude as
 if it were two higher than it is for the purposes of
influence actions. Once per session, perfectly read
a character and learn exactly what they want from
you or someone else present.
IMMORTAL KNACKS
• Binding Vow: You may bind others in a vow, which
you need not be a party to. This vow weaves itself
into Fate, acting as a kind of sub-Fatebinding,
which punishes oathbreakers. Whenever a party to
the vow violates it, they suffer a Complication equal
to the Fair Folk’s Legend that lasts either for one
scene or until bought off. This Complication caus-
es endless small misfortunes to befall the target,
which may prove dangerous in certain situations.
• Here and Not: Distance is a meaningless thing to
you. So long as the appropriate object or terrain is
available to you (a hillock, a silver mirror, etc.), you
may return to your native realm or travel to any
other such location or object with a single scene of
travel.
• Wild Hunt: You are party to the Wild Hunt, and
so may invoke it. Once per arc, name a target. Fae
steeds and hunters arrive almost instantly — treat
this as a temporary Heavy Followers Birthright,
with the Group and Terrible (Speed) tags (Scion:
Hero, p. 203). These riders aid you in tracking
down the target, granting +2 Enhancement for any
relevant actions. Once the target is apprehended,
the riders either slay the target or drag them back
to the Wild Hunt’s native realm (your choice). For
the remainder of the arc, you may be called upon
by others in the Wild Hunt to aid them in hunting
their quarries.
FAIR FOLK VARIANT:
HIDDEN FOLK
Examples: Brownies, elves, hulder, mazikeen
PERSISTENT CONDITION: HIDDEN FOLK
You are inherently difficult to notice. Ordinary
people increase the Difficulty of all rolls to remember
or describe you by +2, and you gain +1 Enhancement to
all Subterfuge rolls to avoid being noticed or to seem
unremarkable and easily overlooked. However, you also
cannot lie. You can refuse to tell the truth, lie by omission,
or imply a falsehood, but you can never speak or write an
outright lie — you simply cannot force yourself to speak
or write anything you know to be false. Hidden Folks may
purchase appropriate Fair Folk Knacks.
Humanoid Denizens
FAIR FOLK VARIANT:
LITTLE FOLK
Example: Dwarf, nuno, sprite, spriggan
PERSISTENT CONDITION: LITTLE FOLK
You are exceedingly small. Your build may vary, but
you are no more than four feet tall, and may be as short
as two feet tall. Regardless of your actual stature, the
Difficulty of all rolls to move or use any object, weapon,
or tool that ordinary people must use two hands increases
by +1, and you must use both hands to manipulate objects
that most people can use with one. Because of your size,
cities and other places built by and for humans are not
built for you. You gain Momentum when hindered by
environments made for humans, but you also gain +1
Enhancement on all Subterfuge rolls involving hiding or
avoiding been noticed. Little Folk may purchase appro-
priate Fair Folk Knacks.
HEROIC KNACKS
• Minute Passage: Spend Momentum to pass
through any barrier, like a door or window that
has an opening large enough to see light through
or feel a breeze through. Cracks underneath doors
and old-style keyholes are examples of this sort of
opening, as are any sort of bars on windows.
• Shrink: Spend Momentum to become even small-
er, anywhere from one foot to a few inches tall. You
are far too small to use most tools and weapons
made for ordinary people, but you are also small
enough that someone normal sized who attempts
to strike you in combat increases the Difficulty of
their roll by +1. In addition, gain +2 Enhancement
on Subterfuge rolls involving hiding or avoiding
notice.
GIANT
Examples: Daitya, giant, ogre, troll
Example Calling Keywords: Brute, Cunning, gigan-
tic, mighty, monstrous, wild
Path Asset Skills: Athletics, Integrity
Path Contacts: Construction and demolition firms,
geologists, park rangers
PERSISTENT CONDITION: GIANT
You are exceptionally large — you are at least nine
feet tall and may be as much as 12 feet tall. Your size is
Scale 1, allowing you to lift objects with ease that an ordi-
nary human could barely move at all. However, cities and
other places built by and for humans are not built for you.
You gain Momentum when hindered by environments
made for humans.
35
HEROIC KNACKS
• Inhuman Strength: In addition to being excep-
tionally large, when you exert yourself you can
become even more powerful. Spend Momentum
to treat your Size scale as 1 point higher than nor-
mal for purposes of lifting, carrying, or throwing
objects. This increased strength lasts for a single
action that takes no more than a minute or two,
and only applies to wielding weapons to do damage
if you use a weapon of appropriate Size scale, like
using a telephone poll as a club or throwing a car
at someone.
• Perspective Tricks: Spend Momentum to either
enlarge yourself even further or to “shrink” your-
self down to Scale size 0. Anything you are wearing
or holding changes with you — this does not in-
clude other characters. When you grow, you reach
Size Scale 2, standing between 15 and 20 feet tall,
and can easily damage objects (or even floors) that
aren’t solidly built just by standing on them. Stay
enlarged until the end of the scene. You may only
grow once per session.
When you shrink, you’re still very large, but within
the normal human range — typically no more than
six and a half feet tall. While you aren’t comfort-
able in an economy airline seat or the back seat of a
compact car, you fit. Stay shrunken until the end of
the scene.
• Thunder Strike: Spend one Momentum and strike
the ground with a club or other large weapon or
even your foot. Everyone standing on the ground
within Short range must make an Athletics +
Dexterity roll or fall down due to the shockwave
you generate. Anyone within Close range increases
the Difficulty of this roll by +2.
IMMORTAL KNACKS
Gigas Form (Prerequisite: Perspective Tricks): When
you purchase this Knack, permanently increase your Size
Scale to 2. If you use Perspective Tricks, you can grow to
Size Scale 3 or shrink to Size Scale 1.
Immutable: You are incredibly difficult to harm.
Gain Soft Armor 1. Once per session, when you would take
damage, don’t — instead, grant a consolation success to
the attacker’s roll to purchase other, non-damage stunts.
Quake Step: Where you walk, the World shakes;
where you stomp, buildings sometimes tumble. Spend
Momentum to create an Earthquake Field Condition,
extending over an area roughly equal to your Size Scale.
Everyone in the Field must succeed at a reflexive Athletics
roll each turn or be knocked prone. If you are using the
Collateral Pool, add a die each turn.
36 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
UNDERFOLK
Examples: Dwarf, gnome, goblin, knocker, troll
Example Calling Keywords: Artisan, craft, delver,
earth, shadow, wise
Path Asset Skills: Science, Technology
Path Contacts: Geologists, metallurgists, miners,
safety inspectors
PERSISTENT CONDITION: UNDERFOLK
You are at home underground. You can see in the
dark, and you have a natural sense of direction, including
how far above or underground you are. In addition, you
can sense the existence of hidden chambers by careful-
ly exploring a wall. However, you are uncomfortable
outdoors, and find sunlight to be somewhat blinding.
You increase the Difficulty of all rolls involving sight or
using ranged weapons by +1 in bright sunlight. You also
gain Momentum when bright lights or large open spaces
hinder you.
HEROIC KNACKS
• Digger: Without tools, you can dig through earth,
stone, and even worked versions of both, like con-
crete and brick, as rapidly as several strong people
with high quality tools. If you have access to a good
pick and shovel, you can dig as rapidly as a backhoe.
You instinctively know how to dig safely, so your
excavations will not cave in unless there’s an earth-
quake or some powerful entity uses some form of
magic to collapse your chambers and tunnels.
• Crafter’s Touch: Without tools, you’re able to
craft as well as a mortal crafter could with the
finest tools available. With tools, you create crafts
without peer, granting +2 Enhancement to their
use or to any rolls made while offering such crafts
as a gift or bribe.
• Unflagging: You’re able to work tirelessly, getting
more done in less time. Add Intervals equal to your
Legend to any complex actions involving physical
labor you participate in.
IMMORTAL KNACKS
• Crafter’s Guile (Prerequisite: Crafter’s Touch): You
are able to craft objects one Tier higher than you
normally could. You still must put in the requisite
labor and have the appropriate materials.
• The Nose Knows: Your sense of smell is particu-
larly acute. Apart from providing +2 Enhancement
on any Survival rolls to track a quarry and allowing
you to track by scent alone, you can also inerrantly
sniff out metals, metal-bearing ores, and precious
stones, even through obstructions that would
otherwise block scent (such as the stone walls of a
 DROWNING IN AIR
Effect: You suffer an Injury Condition once per hour until you immerse yourself in water. Armor does
nothing to resist the Injuries that this Condition causes. As long as you are still alive, spending half an hour
immersed in water cures all damage caused by this Condition, and allows you to safely spend another 24
hours out of water.
Deserts and other hot, dry environments reduce the time before you are Drowning in Air to 12-16 hours,
humid environments like a rainforest or during a monsoon can increase the time you can safely spend out of
water to 36-48 hours.
Momentum: Every time you take damage.
Resolution: Immerse yourself in a body of water large enough to completely submerge yourself for at
least half an hour.

mineshaft). You are able to clearly distinguish any-
thing by scent, even if they look identical or even
if they’re composed of extremely similar materials.
• Gremlin Syndrome: The workings of craft, mortal
or otherwise, are utterly transparent to you. When
looking at a machine or piece of infrastructure, you
may ask the Storyguide the most efficient way to
break it — they’ll answer truthfully. Once per arc, you
may declare that a complex machine is on the verge
of breakdown and describe precisely how it will fail.
This prediction will come true within the scene.
WATER SPIRIT
Examples: Nixie, Rusalka, Vodanyo
Example Calling Keywords: Current, deep, flowing,
quick, tide, wave
Path Asset Skills: Athletics, Empathy
Path Contacts: Dockworkers, fishers, lifeguards,
marine biologists, sailors
PERSISTENT CONDITION: WATER SPIRIT
While water spirits from different parts of the World
look different, all are roughly humanoid. Some look per-
fectly human except for a persistent dampness in their
touch or on the clothes, while others may be covered in
fish scales, or have features from various aquatic animals
like frogs or turtles. Regardless of their appearance, all of
them can breathe water as easily as they can breathe air,
ignore underwater obstacles, and swim as fast as they can
run. However, all water spirits are also tied to water. At
least once a day, a water spirit must immerse herself in a
sufficient amount of relatively clean and pure water and
remain in it for at least half an hour. A very large bathtub
(think the big claw-footed kind) or hot-tub-sized body
of water will do, but most ordinary tubs are too small.
Failing to do so results in the Drowning in Air Condition.
HEROIC KNACKS
• Breathe With Me: While underwater, you may
provide air to up to your Legend in other characters
who cannot breathe water. Doing so is always a val-
id opportunity to form or reinforce a Bond.
• False Face: While underwater, you have absolute
control over how you appear to those above the
surface. You may use this as a disguise (a dolphin,
for example), but you may also use this to mimic
a particular person who you have seen before. In
both cases, this imposes a Complication equal to
your successes on a Knack Skill roll. If not bought
off, observers who succeed will know that some-
thing uncanny or strange is happening, but they’ll
still believe that you’re whatever you appear to be.
• Swift: You increase your Scale speed by 1 when
swimming. You can breach the surface in acrobatic
displays — treat this as a vertical jump from a solid
surface and apply Scale. Underwater, gain access
to the following stunt, which may be purchased on
Athletics rolls:
• Slipstream (variable): By swimming past a
target at high speed, you catch them in your
slipstream and drag them with you, forcing
them to move along with you for the turn. To
resist, they must succeed on an Athletics roll,
difficulty equal to successes spent.
IMMORTAL KNACKS
• Ride the Flow: You are one with the water, and
so have learned to travel through it in novel ways.
Spend 1 Momentum to immediately travel from
one body of water to another body of water that
you could not otherwise reach, so long as they’re
connected in some way. For example, you could
swim from one sink to another in the same build-
ing, or up the channels of a dam. You may also use
Ride the Flow to instantly relocate yourself in the
same body of water, up to medium range.
• Undertow: When you are in or close to the water,
your grip becomes stronger. Add Enhancement
equal to the Size Scale of the body of water in ques-
tion — a stream you could wade across grants Scale

Humanoid Denizens 37
 1, while the Pacific Ocean would grant Scale 5. The
water in question need not be natural.
• Whisper From the Deep: Your hearing is inhu-
manly sharp. You never suffer penalties due to
darkness (though you can’t do tasks that require
vision, such as identifying wires by color, through
hearing). You can focus on conversations up to
long range; underwater, you can pinpoint sounds
at extreme range. You can also transmit sounds
underwater, up to long range, even making them
audible above the surface.
WINGED
Examples: Anzû, harpy, peri, tengu
Example Calling Keywords: Aloof, messenger, per-
egrine, sky, unfettered, wind
Path Asset Skills: Athletics, Survival
Path Contacts: Extreme athletes, mountaineers,
pilots, wilderness enthusiasts
PERSISTENT CONDITION: WINGED
You appear basically humanoid, except that you have
a pair of wings, which may emerge from your back, take
the place of your arms, or express themselves in some
other way. These wings can have any appearance – bat-
like, bird-like, or even moth, butterfly, or dragonfly wings.
You can fold your wings so that you can walk through
doors, but you have difficulty with cramped spaces be-
cause the wings still take up space when folded. You gain
Momentum when hindered by environments made for
humans. You will also need to cut holes or otherwise alter
your shirts can jackets to accommodate your wings. You
cannot fit them under an overcoat or suit jacket. You can
conceal your wings with a poncho or a cloak, but you look
like you have a small backpack or some other object on
your back. You must have space to fully spread and flap
your wings in order to fly, but when you fly you move at
Scale 1 speed. If you have almost enough space to spread
your wings, you can partially spread them to slow your
fall, but cannot fly.
HEROIC KNACKS
• Grasping Sky: Gain Scale 1 for the purposes of
lifting objects (or people!) into the air.
• Razor Pinions: Your feathers have a razor-sharp
edge, granting them the Brutal, Messy, and Worn
tags (Scion: Origin, p. 122).
• Swift: You increase your Scale speed to 2 while
flying. You can only travel at this speed when
moving in a straight line, not when attempting
to maneuver, and can only use it in combat when
either charging or attempting to flee from a battle.
You can purchase this Knack twice, allowing you to
have a Scale speed of 3.
38 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
IMMORTAL KNACKS
• Lover’s Cloak: Love conquers all, even shape.
Once per session, when a character you have ro-
mantic feelings toward is present, you may assume
a mortal shape for the duration of the scene. If you
forge a romantic Bond with that character, you
may retain your human shape indefinitely. If the
Bond is fully expended, Lover’s Cloak immediately
fails. If the character is mortal and knows you’re a
Denizen, Lover’s Cloak won’t work with them.
• Mesmerizing Song: Your song has mystical
qualities that draw others in and, if you so desire,
entrance them. When you perform, either with
your voice or with an instrument, you may make
a Knack Skill roll; successes on this roll become a
Complication applied to everyone who can hear
the music, which if not bought off causes them to
lose interest in anything besides listening enrapt.
Higher Tier beings may make a Clash of Wills to
resist the effect entirely.
• Pathfinder: Winged peoples are often messengers
of the gods, and if not the gods, then of others who
dwell in strange realms, for birds know no borders.
You automatically recognize any passages to other
realms, such as gates or Axes Mundi, including any
requirements necessary to make use of them. Your
ability to travel throughout the World’s realms does
not protect you from the consequences of doing so
— a god who wishes not to be bothered will find it
much more convenient to smite you up close than
personal than he otherwise would.
PARTIALLY
HUMANOID
DENIZENS
S ome of the strangest Denizens are those that possess
some human-looking body parts but are not shaped
like any human who has ever existed. The most common of
these are the type of Denizen loosely called centaurs. While
classic centaurs consist of the upper body of a person and
the lower body of a horse, complete with four legs, some
centaur-like creatures have the lower body of a serpent
or even a motorcycle, and others are strange and terrible
amalgams of disparate parts like the monstrous nuckelavee.
CENTAUR
Example Calling Keywords: Endurance, far-roam-
ing, herd, hooligan, reveler, sure-footed
Path Asset Skills: Athletics, Survival
Path Contacts: Bacchanalians, brewers, farriers,
large animal veterinarians, wedding planners
PERSISTENT CONDITION: HORSE BODY
Classic centaurs have the upper body of a human and
the lower body of a horse. Gain Momentum when hin-
dered by environments made for humans: travel by car,
narrow hallways, revolving doors, and so on. You cannot
pass as human, which makes you memorable to any mor-
tals whose paths you cross. Finally, you have Scale 1 speed
when running on relatively level ground.
CENTAUR KNACKS
Iron Liver: You’re particularly inured to toxins, and
especially to liquor. When inebriated, gain +2
Enhancement for all Stamina actions, but suffer a
+2 Complication to all Composure actions. If not
bought off, you must do something untoward, in-
advisable, or otherwise likely to cause offense and
future problems.
• Hooves of Steel: When you kick, treat your hooves
(or relevant other extremities, if you’re not a tra-
ditional centaur) as having the Pushing and Reach
tags (Scion: Origin, p. 122).
Swift: You increase your speed Scale to 2 on relatively
level ground. Motorcycle Centaurs who take this
Knack may increase their speed Scale to 3 on road-
ways, but double damage from any crashes when
they do so.
IMMORTAL KNACKS
• Mentor Figure: The spirit of Chiron lives within
you. When teaching or mentoring others, forge a
Bond. You may spend the successes from this Bond
for the following effects:
• Ensure the student’s presence during a scene,
even if otherwise impossible. If your student is
a player character, they may also spend a suc-
cess from this Bond to ensure your presence.
• Grant +2 Enhancement to any action the stu-
dent undertakes.
• Negate a Complication the student suffers for
a single turn.
• The Parthian Shot: You have an advantage over
mortal horse archers, as you’re both horse and
archer. When using ranged weapons, you may take
two reflexive Move actions per round, which need
not be taken during your turn. You never suffer
Complications to ranged attacks due to environ-
mental conditions.
• Sky Runner: Helios’ chariot crosses the sky in a
day, and while you are no beast of burden (even
for a god!), you can perform like feats. When you
name a destination and run at your full speed, you
suffer no fatigue and no penalty for your footing —
indeed, you can cross any surface, including water
Humanoid Denizens
or open air, if it stands between you and where you
mean to be.
CENTAUR VARIANT: LAMIA
Example Calling Keywords: avenger, hunter, night,
seducer, skulker, vampiric
Path Asset Skills: Close Combat, Subterfuge
Path Contacts: Herpetologists, night security, small
animal breeders, tanning salons
PERSISTENT CONDITION: SNAKE BODY
You have the upper body of a human and the lower
body of an enormous snake, which is typically at least
three meters long, and is often longer. You have Scale
speed 1 when swimming and gain +1 Enhancement for
Athletics rolls involving climbing. Gain Momentum when
hindered by environments made for humans: travel by
car, narrow hallways, revolving doors, and so on. You
cannot pass as human.
HEROIC KNACKS
• Constrictor: You gain +2 Enhancement to use
the establish grapple or knockdown stunts when in
close combat, and you also gain +2 Enhancement to
resist attempts to break you grapple.
• Paralyzing Gaze: You can spend Momentum to
paralyze a single target by staring in their eyes.
You must be within short range and able to see the
target’s eyes. Trivial opponents cannot resist and
remain paralyzed until you cease gazing at them.
Anyone of your Tier or higher gains a Clash of
Wills, with you rolling Persuasion + Presence, and
they can roll once a round to break free of your
control.
• Venomous: As the Animal-Headed Creatures
Knack (p. xx).
IMMORTAL KNACKS
• Enduring Sight: Zeus’ gift, granted to cure a curse
of insomnia, lets you painlessly and bloodlessly re-
move your eyes. Normally, this blinds you; however,
if you spend a point of Momentum, you may con-
tinue to see through your eyes even while they’re
disconnected. This lasts until the eye is reinserted,
and prevents the eye from suffering any injuries or
damage due to the environment it’s placed in.
• Serpent Prophet: Your prophetic sense, com-
mon to all lamia, is finely honed and able to truly
glimpse the future. Once per scene, you may ask
the Storyguide one of the following questions:
• What secrets are hidden here?
• Who or what here poses the greatest threat to me?
• What can I do to achieve my wishes here?
39
 • Vitality Drain: While not all lamia indulge in
vampiric practices, some do — and some refine it
to an art. You may bite a restrained, unconscious,
or willing target and draw forth their life essence.
Each Injury Condition you inflict, one per turn,
heals one of yours; if you’re uninjured, each Injury
Condition instead adds +1 Enhancement to a pool
with a maximum equal to your Legend, which you
may spend on any action.
CENTAUR VARIANT:
MOTORCYCLE CENTAUR
Example Calling Keywords: Courier, enforcer, out-
law, raucous, racer, roughneck
Path Asset Skills: Pilot, Technology
Path Contacts: Biker gangs, fences, mechanics,
truck stops
PERSISTENT CONDITION:
MOTORCYCLE BODY
You have the upper body of a human and the lower
body of a motorcycle. Gain Momentum when hindered by
environments made for humans: travel by car, revolving
doors, and so on. You cannot pass as human, which makes
you memorable to any mortals whose paths you cross.
Finally, you have Scale 1 speed when running on relatively
level ground, and Scale 2 speed on roads and other solid,
artificially smooth surfaces. You can survive on either
food or gasoline, but you’re happiest and most comfort-
able when you can ingest both. Motorcycle Centaurs may
take appropriate Centaur Knacks.
CENTAUR VARIANT:
NUCKELAVEE
Example Calling Keywords: Disaster, horror, night-
mare, sickness, stalker, tempest
Path Asset Skills: Athletics, Integrity
Path Contacts: Coastal workers, doctors, fishers,
sailors
PERSISTENT CONDITION:
NUCKELAVEE BODY
You superficially resemble a centaur — upper body
of a human, lower body of a horse — but also have trans-
lucent skin and fins atop your hooves. Like centaurs, you
gain Momentum when hindered by environments made
for humans. You cannot pass as human, and your appear-
ance makes you both monstrous and memorable to any
mortals whose paths you cross. Unlike centaurs, you do
not have increased speed on land, but you can breathe
underwater, ignore underwater obstacles, and swim as
fast as you can run — however, you cannot tolerate fresh
water. Nuckelavee characters may choose Knacks belong-
ing both to Centaurs and to Water Spirits.
40 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
NONHUMANOID
DENIZENS
E ven for Denizens and Legendary Creatures who live
more or less comfortably alongside modern humanity,
it can be difficult to make headway in a World defined by
human logistics and norms. For those who are obviously
“nonhuman persons,” remaining in the World can be an act
of defiance against both Fate and an oblivious society, or
simply another day navigating the bipeds’ world.
SPHINX
The image repeats itself repeatedly: a human head
and face atop a powerful animal body. Travelers to the
Middle East will occasionally remark upon the isolated
populations surviving off what predation they can man-
age in rural surroundings and inaccessible wildernesses.
Followers of Netjer remember them fondly, loyal temple
guardians protecting the places of the Gods and their
chosen, now long gone. The Theoi and their Heroes recall
the famous victory of Oedipus’s wit over the Theban ter-
ror, even if they can rarely agree on who dispatched the
beast to threaten the city-state. For most modern sphinx,
hearing any of these stories for yet another time leads to
cursing, or at least some pointed eye-rolling.
Modern sphinx tradition varies by region and family,
but many tell some variation of the same story: In the ancient
World and still in distant Otherworlds, the sphinx were cre-
ated in the image of god, mortal, and animal together. The
sphinx served the Gods and were powerful and blessed, or
ranged about the world as they pleased, rubbing shoulders
with great Heroes and incarnate Gods. They fought for and
against the Netjer and their regional rivals, stalwart guard-
ians, and terrifying harriers. But the World turned onward,
many of the greatest sphinx passing to Otherworlds to be
with the Gods they served faithfully, or eventually finding
their doom at the hands of a human Hero or Demigod, who
Fate seemed to favor. Those who remained in the World had
to choose: leave for the remote places, away from human-
ity, and pretend to live on as God-blessed masters of their
increasingly marginal realms; or find a different way to live.
Modern sphinx who don’t live as dangerous ambush
predators in steadily shrinking wilderness areas in the
Middle East come from those latter lineages. They’ve
consciously tried to fit into the edges of human society
across generations, often the strangest of immigrants and
new citizens. Many search out communities that already
accept nonhuman members, or who are clearly in need of
a strong, wise protector and need all the help they can get.
Those who have adapted to society the best have turned
their natural protective and perspicacious inclinations to
modern pursuits; at least one isolated Michigan commune
has its finances managed by an accountant whose staff
leaves the windows open so she can fly into her office.
 Few modern sphinx like discussing it, but there’s still
something that calls to them from their deep past, urging
them to stand in guardianship over something precious
and stop anything that would assail or steal it. It’s pos-
sible for a sphinx to follow these urges and gain Legend
once more, building themselves into the divine terrors
they once were. Many sphinx approach such a path only
with trepidation, for it represents leaving behind the lives
they have built amongst humanity.
Example Calling Keywords: guardian, sentinel,
searcher, librarian, patient, unshakeable
Path Asset Skills: Academics, Survival
Path Contacts: antiquarian, community organizer,
mobility assistant
PERSISTENT CONDITION:
IN TRIPARTITE IMAGE
Your face and mind are that of a human; your body,
the mighty trunk of a lion, bull, or other great animal,
pulled aloft by divinely crafted wings. While your might
is unquestionable, the modern World is not made for
your convenience, and the lack of ready thumbs is often
a problem. Gain Momentum when your lack of hands or
impressive size causes you or your Band problems, or
when your inhuman nature elicits a hostile response. You
are Scale 1 for purpose of unarmed combat and natural
speed.
Nonhumanoid Denizens
HEROIC KNACKS
• A Face Without Hatred or Mercy: All attempts
to ascertain your secrets, hidden motives, or other
information you actively conceal suffers two ad-
ditional Difficulty, as do attempts to sneak into a
building or other structure you guard.
• Strangler of Kings: Your kind has gone for the
throat and snapped the spines of their foes since
before humanity had words for what you are. When
you are in control of a Grapple, your grappled ene-
mies do not benefit from Light Armor, and you may
apply the pin or takedown Stunts for 0s every time
you succeed at the Inflict Damage.
• Skybound: You have cultivated abilities of flight
so fine as to challenge the Mediterranean-crossing
ancestors of old. When you use your natural flight
in Chase scenes, whenever you successfully gain
a lap, you immediately gain another lap. In other
Action Scenes, you may move an additional range
band when making the Move or Disengage action.
IMMORTAL KNACKS
• Behold the Plain Without Shelter: Your reach
is long and your grip firm. Characters of lower
tier automatically fail Disengage actions against
you and Chase attempts to escape. Other charac-
ters suffer your legend in Complication: Hunted.
For each point of the Complication targets fail to
41
 overcome, you gain +1 Enhancement for all rolls
related to hunting or grappling them for the rest
of the scene.
• Behold the Icon of Stone: Time is not a weapon
that may be wielded against you. You can stay
perfectly attentive and alert indefinitely, and you
require no sleep or sustenance as long as you re-
main stationary. Nonmagical attempts to surprise
or ambush you always fail, and magical attempts
must succeed in a Clash of Wills against you.
• Behold the Sandstorm and Weep: Ancient size
and might have begun to return to you. You gain
+1 Scale for all purposes, explicitly stacking with
In Tripartite Image. However, you are now large
enough that many human buildings are difficult to
fit into, and impossible to enter if you want to avoid
discomfort or property damage; gain Momentum
when this causes you a serious problem.
SPHINX VARIANT: LAMASSU
From their earliest days dispatched by the Gods,
the Lamassu guarded mortal humanity upon the World.
At first tasked with protecting home, hearth, and civic
building against demons and other unwholesome things
from the darkness beyond, modern Lamassu believe it
was their involvement in protecting the interests of kings
and entire cities that saw them settle into the forms that
have marked them ever since: powerful bull-like bodies,
majestic human faces, and divine wings upon their back.
So reformed, they promoted justice, order, and prosperity
across many nations, bowing to serve the Annuna, the
Yazata, and more distant pantheons as mortal populations
shifted and spread. Tyrants and peasants, priests and beg-
gars — they supported all upon their broad backs. Even
after centuries of their numbers and influence declining,
Lamassu will still approach civilization on occasion to
support justice, protect the innocent, and see to its flour-
ishing. Their unusual appearance occasionally sees them
mistaken for monsters, but a Lamassu set on becoming
part of a human community will often find work protect-
ing it from supernatural threats, or even as a part of its
systems of law and order if given the opportunity.
Example Calling Keywords: abjurer, councilor, ex-
orcist, law, protector, wise
Path Asset Skills: Culture, Integrity
Path Contacts: lawyer, judge, politician
PERSISTENT CONDITION:
FORM OF SHINING SERVICE
Your face is that of a human; your body, the mighty
trunk of a bull, a strangely ambulatory leviathan, or some
other great animal; divine wings adorn your back. The
modern World is not made for your convenience, and the
lack of ready thumbs is often a problem, but somehow,
this never causes issues for your involvement in civic or
42 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
legal matters. Gain Momentum when your lack of hands
or size causes you or your Band problems, or when your
inhuman nature elicits a hostile response; problems will
somehow never occur. You are Scale 1 for purpose of
unarmed combat and gain +2 Enhancement for all inter-
actions with members of government, the justice system,
or related services.
HEROIC KNACKS
• The Pillar at the Entrance: Attempts to injure
people under your care or protection within your
range band suffer 2 Complication: Warded. For
every point of Warded not resolved on an attack
or other potentially harmful action, the difficulty
of Inflict Damage and Critical stunts for that action
increase by one. Characters in a zone indicating a
building or other structure you have sworn to pro-
tect may also benefit from your protection.
• Tireless Justice: Take a Guardian or Judge Heroic
Knack.
• Unblinking Eyes: During Information Gathering
play, you automatically benefit from the extra
clue Stunt if it would reveal a crime or deliberate
deception has taken place. Other attempts to delib-
erate deceive you in person suffer two additional
Difficulty.
IMMORTAL KNACKS
• Eternal Justice: Take a Guardian or Judge
Immortal Knack.
• Behold the Icon of Stone: As Sphinx Knack.
• Bearing the Weight of Nations: When you pro-
tect the safety and well-being of characters of
a lower Tier than you in your presence or in an
edifice you guard, they may ignore the first injury,
other Condition, or Intrigue roll that would affect
them in a scene. Characters of your tier or higher
benefit from +2 Enhancement to opposed rolls or
+2 Defense as applicable, instead.
SPHINX VARIANT:
KOMAINU, SH S , SHISHI
Strong as stone, guarding shrine, monastery, and
Imperial abode, the lions have long served. Originally
arriving along with Buddhism as properly dispatched
emissaries from Heaven, it’s unclear when they began
to awaken from statues and carvings of human artisans
as well, but the Shén quickly put the loyal guardians to
work. They spread through ancient China loyally pro-
tecting emperors and sages as shishi, found cousins with
the body of dogs but no less devotion in Japan’s komainu
and shīsā, and continue as devoted servants and reliable
retainers by Shén and Kami alike Often assigned in pairs,
shishi, komainu, and their rarer cousins devote them-
selves to long watches and dangerous duties with similar
determination, as willing to spend decades guarding a
quiet temple as facing down monsters storming out of an
axis mundi.
Guardian lions who lose their partners or places they
guard to the machinations of Fate or tides of change in
the mortal World often find themselves at loose ends.
The divine bureaucracy of the Shén often fails to reassign
them quickly enough before a bereft shishi wanders away,
and the Kami are unlikely to demand a bereaved komainu
take up a new duty after losing its partners to mischance
or foul play. Such wandering guardian beasts often search
for new purposes in the World, often at the side of Scions
or in communities who welcome their reliable presence
and refusal to suffer evil.
Example Calling Keywords: bodyguard, champion,
friendly, vigilant, watchdog
Path Asset Skills: Athletics, Integrity
Path Contacts: architect, monk, sculptor
PERSISTENT CONDITION:
STEADFAST BODY OF STONE
You have a dense and compact body, the might of
a great beast condensed into the size of a large dog.
However, you have the weight to match, and occasionally
crack floor tiles, break stairs, and cause damage to mortal
interiors despite your best efforts. Gain Momentum when
your lack of hands or unusual density causes you or your
band problems. You have Scale 1 for purposes of unarmed
combat, durability, and toughness.
HEROIC KNACKS
• Behold the Icon of Stone: You may take this as a
Heroic Knack.
• Loyal Guardian: You may take a Heroic Guardian
Knack.
• Still a Partner: Whenever you make a Bond with
another character, you contribute an extra point to
it. Whenever you benefit from a Bond, you gain +1
Enhancement to the affected roll.
IMMORTAL KNACKS
• Endlessly Loyal Guardian: You may take an
Immortal Guardian Knack.
• Still a Lion: Your natural weapons gain your
Legend as Enhancement, and they gain one of the
following tags on each attack: Brutal, Grappling,
Piercing, or Shockwave (Close).
• Voice of Warning: You let out a terrifying roar or
bark that stuns your enemies. Spend Momentum to
make a Knack skill roll as a shockwave (medium)
effect; enemies that fail an opposed Integrity (or
applicable antagonist action pool roll) lose their
next action.
Nonhumanoid Denizens
MAGICAL ANIMALS WHO
REALLY SHOULDN’T BE
Other Examples: Any sort of trouble causing magi-
cal animal with special commendation to the tanuki and
bake-danuki.
Despite all the Shén’s efforts, it keeps happening. An
ox ingests a piece of a fallen star and decides to become a
scholar. A hummingbird drinks ichor from a fallen mon-
ster and suddenly wants to conquer the neighborhood.
A cat smuggles delicious food out of heaven, eats it, and
proceeds to commit feline crimes. Bad enough that when
mundane animals get ahold of paranormal power, some-
times they become awful monsters — sometimes they
become sapient individuals driven by desire and will, and
that makes the divine bureaucracy cross. Animals should
not try to trick humans or divine beings. Animals do not
belong on their hind feet, hatching schemes in popular
urban hangouts. Animals should not pursue magical pow-
er and attempt to topple the order of the World.
And yet animals keep doing all these things and more.
Perhaps the legacy of Journey to the West imprinted itself
upon Fate and the World, luring common beasts to super-
natural excess. Perhaps animals are simply using Journey
as a how-to guide in this modern age. Or perhaps there
have always been some beings bridling against the laws of
the World, Fate, and Heaven. The Shén are left to do their
best to police illicitly magical beasts when they encounter
them, often assigning Scions, priests, or other minders to
try and reform errant creatures into respectable Animal
Officers. Sometimes, it even works.
Example Calling Keywords: bandit, defiant, en-
lightened(?), hungry, rebel
Path Asset Skills: Athletics, Subterfuge
Path Contacts: exhausted monk, former owner, park
ranger
PERSISTENT CONDITION:
INHUMAN PERSON OF INTEREST
The supernatural power that transformed you allows
you to make your way in the mortal World: Despite your
animal form, you can walk on two feet, interact with
technology, and generally function without issue in the
human world! However, you’re still a cat, pig, snake, or
other animal. You can do anything your animal form
could reasonably do (a bird can fly, a pig can easily devour
a field of turnips), but this occasionally draws unwanted
attention or ire from society, and your native form and
vices can be used against you with intentional effort.
Characters attempting to use your animal traits against
you gain +2 Enhancement to the roll, whether physical
(such as a bonus to toss a rooster out a window due to
their small size and hollow bones) or mental (such as at-
tempting to entice a pig with food). You gain Momentum
43
whenever this is done to your determent, or your animal
nature causes you material trouble in society.
HEROIC KNACKS
• Rebel and Revolutionary: Take a Heroic
Adversary or Trickster Knack.
• Standing Tall: Your form has shifted more toward
that of a human, while you still possess animal fea-
tures. You gain +2 Enhancement to any attempts to
disguise yourself as a human, and +2 Enhancement
when you take actions directly benefitting from
your animal features.
• Transformation Tricks: You may transform
inanimate objects into useful equipment or other
inanimate objects. This takes an action and may af-
fect any mundane object you can hold. Equipment
created this way grants +1 Enhancement for appro-
priate uses (such as turning a shoe into a pot for a
Survival roll related to cooking), or it may be more
easily held and hidden (such as turning a cooler full
of fish into a matchbook). Characters who suspect
an item may be transformed may take an unrolled
action if they have the item firmly in their posses-
sion to simply shake, stretch, or poke the item back
to its original form.
IMMORTAL KNACKS
• Defy Heaven: Take an Immortal Adversary or
Trickster Knack
• Animal Officer: You’re reformed, or at least do a
good impression of it. You have a theoretical rank
and office in the Heavenly Bureaucracy, and you
can call upon its resources and members even in
the most unlikely of situations. Spend Momentum
to benefit from an appropriate one dot Creature,
Follower, or Guide Birthright for a Scene.
RAKSHASA
The demonic inhabitants and erstwhile rulers of
Lanka, the rakshasa struggle. Not merely in contests for
power, across a thousand different battlefields and inside
countless palaces. Not merely in prestige and position,
through martial contests and scholarly debates. The mod-
ern rakshasa struggle for definition. as a people they seek
recognition and standing in the face of their traditional
struggle with the Devá, while as individuals they must
choose whether to embrace traditions of shape-changing,
illusion, and sorcery or try to find meaning and purpose
in modern life.
Rakshasa vary greatly in physical form. Larger on
average than adult humans, their forms may be hairy,
scaled, twisted with muscle, lean and predatory, hulking
44 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
and ungainly, formed in a hundred different ways, but al-
most always sport impressive fangs. Many rakshasa who
regularly interact with mortals cloak their appearances in
illusions to better fit into the mundane World, but mem-
bers of the rising rakshasa rights movement often wear
their natural forms with pride.
Rakshasa can comfortably consume raw meat with-
out issue and find drinking warm blood pleasant. Modern
rakshasa thought firmly rejects consuming sentient
creatures, and most rakshasa find the very idea abhorrent
outside of a Legendary context, historical incidents re-
maining a touchy subject.
Example Calling Keywords: ambition, activist,
businessperson, sage, warrior
Path Asset Skills: Athletics, Occult
Path Contacts: inhuman rights supporter, regular
rival, supernatural business contact,
PERSISTENT CONDITION:
FANGED HUNGER
You’re not quite an obligate carnivore, but you’re an
obviously inhuman creature who naturally craves raw
meat and warm blood. Going without them for more
than a meal or two may make you irritable, frustrated,
and prone to hasty action. Gain Momentum when hun-
ger driven behavior causes you material disadvantage or
when indulging in raw meat an inopportune time causes
serious social issues.
HEROIC KNACKS
Everyday Devil: Gain a Heroic Monster Knack (p.
XX).
Everyday Illusion: You have cultivated an illusion-
ary human form to navigate the world with. Your disguise
is impervious to mundane scrutiny and detection by any-
one with less Legend than you have; those with equal or
more much succeed at Clash of Wills roll to successfully
pierce it. While so concealed, you gain +2 Enhancement
for any action to convince others that you are human,
mundane, or harmless. You can turn your cultivated dis-
guise on or off reflexively. If you wish to abandon your old
disguise and assume a new one, you may after a session of
cultivating the new form.
Everyday Might: You can push your form past hu-
man limits. Spend Momentum to gain +1 Scale for size
and force for a Scene.
IMMORTAL KNACKS
Supreme Devil: Gain an Immortal Monster Knack
(p. XX).
Supreme Might: You cannot help but be mighty. You
have +1 Scale for Size and force.
DENIZEN
MECHANICS:
PURVIEWS
A s Denizens and legendary creatures grow in Legend,
old mastery and kinship with ancient forces rises to
the fore. These powers tend not to apply the same scale
of energies as do the Purviews of Gods and their Scions.
Instead, Denizen Purviews focus on a particular slice of
those creatures’ existences, offering a powerful innate
ability. Wielders of these Purviews develop Boons only
through considerable effort or personal growth, rather
than as a natural outgrowth of their powers. Not all
Denizens choose to pursue such powers, even if they do
grow in Legend, but those that do can use these Purviews
to command Marvels just as Scions do.
Denizens and other natural users of Denizen
Purviews do not need to access their purview through
a Birthright or other external source. Denizens do not
automatically receive a Boon when they gain access to a
Denizen Purview, but they may purchase them with ex-
perience points as they progress.
It’s possible for Scions or other beings to gain access
to these Purviews through Relics or related Birthrights,
but they will often be narrowly specialized compared to
divine powers.
DENIZEN PURVIEW:
EARTH FRIEND
Innate Power: You can see through solid earth or
stone (including brick and concrete) out to short range.
As a result, you can both see what is on the other side of
a brick wall, and you can also look at the ground and see
whatever is buried in it, as long as it’s no more than short
range from you. You can see ore seams, buried bodies (or
treasure), and you can also see caverns and faults in the
rock. You do not require any light to use this ability, so you
can clearly see the interior of a cave or hollow space even
if it has never seen the light of day.
ANIMATE EARTH
Cost: Imbue or spend 1 Legend
Subject: Earth within Medium range
By imbuing 1 point of Legend, you can animate the
earth itself, causing dirt, stone, metal, or mixtures of
all three to become a human shaped creature that is
utterly mindless and entirely under your control. This
creature counts as a professional (Scion: Origin, p.
145), and it excels at lifting, moving, and throwing
heavy objects. Animated constructs all possess the
Heavily Armored and Natural Weapon Qualities,
and they gain the Subterranean Movement and
Sure-footed Quality when they are walking on the
ground.
Denizen Mechanics: Purviews
Creatures you create using this Boon can walk, run,
climb, or burrow, but cannot fly or even jump and
they also cannot swim because they are too heavy.
You can give the creature simple, obvious directions,
like telling it to attack someone you indicate. If you
do this, you can also act normally, but you must
take an action to tell the creature to change what it
is doing. Alternately, you can effectively possess this
creature, using its senses and controlling its body as
if it were your own. In this case, you can use your
Knacks and Purviews through it. However, you can-
not act yourself unless you either perform a mixed
action or spend one or more actions not controlling
the creature, which will stand motionless unless given
simple instructions.
If you instead spend 1 Legend, you can create a
number of animate earth creatures equal to your
maximum Legend. However, all of these creatures
must act together, you cannot direct them separately.
Regardless of how many such creatures you animate
or how you use them, all creatures made using this
Boon are obviously made of dirt, rock, concrete, or
metal, and cannot disguise themselves as any sort of
living being.
COMMANDING THE SOLID EARTH
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Subject: Earth within Long range
You can alter the earth, metal, and stone around you
in complex ways. You can either cause a building
or other structure that’s within Long range to topple
in whatever direction you desire, or turn the local
earth, metal, and stone into walls, ramps, ditches,
or even simple buildings or statues. Using this boon
requires a Persuasion + Presence roll. Destroying
a structure has a Difficulty equal to the Size scale
of the structure. When creating structures, you can
spend successes to cause the result to appear more
finished, even, and precise. A single success results
in a crude but workable effort, while five or more
successes allows you to give the result the appear-
ance you desire. You can use this Boon multiple times
to create vast cave complexes suitable for dozens or
even hundreds of humans or Denizens to live in.
DENIZEN PURVIEW:
ILLUSIONS
You can pierce deceptions and craft clever illusions
that can fool almost any observer.
Innate Power: You gain the ability to see through
all illusions and disguises. In addition, you automatically
know when a trivial opponent speaks a lie in your pres-
ence, although you only know you have heard a lie, not the
nature of the truth. In addition, you gain +2 Enhancement
for detecting deliberate and knowing lies in either the
speech of non-trivial opponents or in print.
45
 DISGUISE
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: One Day
You can’t change the actual shape of people or ob-
jects, but you can disguise them with an illusion. This
illusion can disguise a group of twice your Legend, a
single object of up to Scale size 2, or a location no
larger than a medium-sized house.
Disguised people and objects appear lifelike and
seem completely authentic — a person’s hair ripples
in the breeze, a car’s engine throbs, a fire gives off
heat. This illusory disguise even feels real to brief,
non-forceful touch, but it has no physical substance
and cannot exert force or cause harm. These dis-
guises remain even after you leave their presence. A
non-trivial character who wins a Clash of Wills can
see through the disguise. Also, attempts to physically
interact with a disguise may reveal it to be fake. You
cannot make people or objects invisible, but you can
make them look like anyone or anything you want.
IMPERSONATION
Prerequisite: Disguise
Cost: Spend 1 Legend
Duration: Indefinite
Subject: Self or touch
You can disguise the target as a specific individual.
You must have either touched the individual or seen
them in person and heard them speak for at least
several minutes. This disguise is perfect, and includes
appearance, accent, body language, and even
scent, so that it fools someone’s dog as well as their
allies. Also, your fingerprints and other physical
details appear to match perfectly. Although this
Boon does not provide the subject with any special
knowledge of the person they are impersonating, it
helps convince people of the subject’s identity. As
a result, all trivial targets are firmly convinced that
you are who you appear to be. Also, if you win a
Clash of Wills with characters of your Tier or higher,
you gain +3 Enhancement to all rolls to dispel their
doubts about your identity. This Boon ends when you
decide to end it.
DENIZEN PURVIEW: LAIR
Some entities occupy places for so long or so com-
pletely that their nature begins to merge with the very
substance of the place. Some are elusive caverns which
have been home to serpents for as long as there has been
memory, others, places of worship marked by the tower-
ing creatures which protect them. In the modern world,
there are heritage sites under the watchful eyes of some
inhuman observer unwilling to allow the past to be paved
over. Lair is the purview of creatures who have mingled
their Legend with that of place and location, allowing
them to access both its physical presence and inherent
46 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
essence wherever they might be, and to infuse their lairs
with their own power.
Innate Power: You have a Lair, whether it be a natu-
ral structure you’ve traditionally made your home, a hu-
man construction you’ve protected or occupied, or some
other distinct place. You are always aware when someone
enters, materially affects, or supernaturally interferes
with your Lair, and have perfect awareness of any chang-
es made in your absence. No matter where you are in or
beyond the World, you can magically access your Lair if
you’re not restrained. This allows you to store or fetch an
item you can comfortably carry as a simple action once
per scene, or travel between your current location, your
lair, and back as the work of an hour if you need to head
there bodily. Accessing your Lair from an Otherworld re-
quires you to spend a Legend unless your Lair is strongly
associated with that Otherworld.
Example Marvels: A Lamassu causes the temple
they protect to turn aside gunfire from those worshippers
huddled inside (Blessing); a magical crocodile pulls a boat
down into the depths of their swamp (Attack); a dwarf
magics up weapons from their distant forge (Equipment).
LAIR BOONS
HOMEWARD SHORTCUT
Cost: Spend 1 Legend
Duration: One Scene
Subject: One location
Action: Complex
You miraculously bridge the connection to your lair,
allowing instant access for your allies and yourself.
When you activate this power, select a liminal space
such as a doorway, tunnel entrance, or the banks of
a stream. For the duration, you and characters you
choose to allow can step between that location and
your Lair freely. If you have not left your Lair since
the last time you’ve invoked this power, you may use
it to return to the most recent place you traveled to
your lair from.
ENCROACHING DEN
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Range: Short
Subject: One Field
Action: Simple
You pull elements from your lair into another area, its
influence temporarily spreading throughout the land-
scape: High cave walls and subterranean shadows
suddenly cover an urban intersection, a coffee shop
fills with marble pillars and the scent of incense. In
Intrigue play, this allows you to adjust or create an
atmosphere appropriate to your lair, such as “quiet
introspection” or “creeping dread.” In Action play,
 you create a Field that provides Heavy Cover that
you may move to reflexively, and which counts as ei-
ther a Barrier, Dangerous Terrain, or Difficult Terrain
(with Complications or Difficulty values equal to your
Legend) as you choose against hostile characters.
SANCTUM AND REFUGE
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Indefinite
Subject: One Lair
Action: Simple
Your home becomes a place of healing and refuge
for any who enjoy your hospitality. Characters who
rest or recover there resolve a Damage Condition
every night in addition to regular healing, and any
attempts to treat wounds or similar conditions gain
your Legend in Enhancement.
DENIZEN PURVIEW:
OBDURANCE
To stand guard in utmost devotion! To be as endless
sky and engulfing desert against those who would come
against you, drowning them in your opposition! To con-
sume yourself in the crucible of your own oaths, destroy-
ing your body rather than being untrue to your essence!
Obdurance is the purview of creatures and inhuman peo-
ple who bind themselves to principals and guardianships
so tightly their upholding those responsibilities becomes
as definitional as any physical law of the World. The she-
du who stares down a curse, the sphinx who swats an ar-
tillery shell away from their temple, the shi who crumbles
to dust rather than be seduced by demons do not merely
wield the purview, they embody it. Marvels employing
Obdurance often involve pushing the already impressive
bodies of its users to extremes of effort, or manipulating
the environment and edifices they’re sworn to defend.
Innate Power: You may swear oaths backed by
the whole of your being, whether to a particular task,
guardianship, or moral stance. Any attempts to convince,
coerce, or trick you into betraying such oaths suffer three
additional difficulty. If such an attempt succeeds, you
immediately take the first Wound condition available,
and the attempt instead fails. Similarly, if a physical or
mystical condition would prevent you from attending to
an oath (such as being trapped under a landslide while a
ward you had sworn to protect is being kidnapped), you
may take the first Wound condition available and bypass
the obstruction. The wounds tend to reflect the envi-
ronments the oath-bearer has sworn in, sphinx bleeding
sand and heat or shi crumbling into mountain stone. You
may swear a number of such oaths equal to your Legend.
Oaths with indefinite or unclear limits may be honorably
set aside at the end of a Season.
Example Marvels: A sphinx’s utter conviction rallies
their allies in battle to defend a Netjer temple (Blessing);
Denizen Mechanics: Purviews
a lamassu’s presence forces demons to leave local mortals
alone or burn in righteous indignation (Complication);
a shi’s bark brings the walls together to smash those at-
tempting to rob its monastery (Attack).
OBDURANCE BOONS
BAR THE WAY
Cost: Imbue One Legend
Duration: One scene
Subject: One ward
Action: Reflexive
Despoilers and defilers must grind you to dust before
approaching what you protect. Select one target
which you have sworn an oath to defend: As long as
you are present and able to fight, enemies attempt-
ing to harm or otherwise target the subject of your
Oath increase the difficulty of their actions by your
Legend, to a maximum of 5. Individuals attacked or
directly interfered with by the subject of your oath
are immune to the effects of this Boon for the rest of
the scene.
BOOMING VOICE OF CONVICTION
Cost: Spend One Legend
Duration: Instant
Subject: One character
Action: Reflexive
Speak the truth of your dedication to your oath and
ignite the flame of passion in others’ hearts. Spend
one Legend to create a positive Attitude toward the
subject of one of your oaths with a value equal to
your Legend, to a maximum of 5. At the end of the
scene, this artificial fervor settles in and cools some-
what; halve this Attitude (round up). This does not
require an Intrigue action, and you may not target
a character who already has a negative attitude
toward the subject of your oath.
ICON OF RESOLVE
Cost: Imbue One Legend
Duration: One scene
Subject: Multiple characters
Action: Simple
Those who fight by your side to defend what is pre-
cious find their wills bolstered and their spirit carrying
the day. Friendly characters in the scene (including
yourself) who fight to defend, uphold, or otherwise
support the target of one of your Oaths may ignore
the effect of Bruised and Injured Conditions; those
who possess a positive attitude to the Oathed subject
may also ignore Maimed Conditions. After the Scene
ends, the effects of such Conditions immediately
assert themselves.
47

DENIZEN PURVIEW:
TRANSFORMATION
Flow between forms. Reshape your appearance to
please or terrify. Move from biped’s form to crawling
beast to stranger things. Change. Transformation is the
Purview of entities who refuse to be bound into a single
shape, and who can change both the façade they present
to the world as well as what lies beneath. The rakshasa
who turns into a dozen different people to do a dozen dif-
ferent jobs in a day, the bakemono who turns into fright-
ening forms to vex humans who have bothered it, the
unruly animal whose stolen power allows them to shed
their skin and cause mischief live through the Purview.
Transformation’s Marvels alter the user’s appearance to
deceive, shock, or please, materially shift its wielder’s
forms to enhance their own actions or hinder their foes,
or other acts of personal transformation.
Innate Power: You may change between forms
freely. During Action Adventure play, this takes a simple
action. Whenever you transform, trivial characters and
those with lower Legend are unable to determine your
true nature unless you do something particularly out of
character for your assumed form (a bluebird placing an
order for pizza, a Wall Street executive hurling another
through the penthouse window of a skyscraper). When
you transform, pick one of the benefits for your new form;
you may imbue Legend to pick additional options, one for
one:
• You become an anonymous or fictive individual.
Your identity passes any causal examination or
routine inspection flawlessly.
• You become an inanimate object. As long as you
don’t interact with the world around you, only a
Clash of Wills will allow others to realize you’re
anything but a persimmon, watering can, or leaf.
• You assume a form with alternative forms of move-
ment, such as a bird’s flight, a dolphin’s ability to
swim, or a dandelion tuft’s ability to float on the
breeze. You gain those movement abilities while in
that form.
• You assume a particularly tough form, such as a
hulking monster or elephant. You gain two levels
of Light armor or one level of Heavy armor, as
appropriate.
• You assume a form with dangerous natural weap-
ons, such as a crocodile’s jaws or a cassowary’s
spurs. You gain +2 Enhancement and the Lethal tag
for unarmed combat.
Characters who aware of your powers may attempt
to force you back into your true form through a Clash
of Wills accompanying physical duress or an applicable
Marvel.
48 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
Example Marvels: A rakshasa rapidly shifts forms to
escape the grasp of an angered Devá (Resolve Condition);
Brother Toad transforms himself to stone in order to
break the blades of his attackers (Create Complication); a
bake-danuki turns herself into a bottle of particularly bad
wine to ruin the night of targets who try to drink from her
(Inflict Condition).
TRANSFORMATION BOONS
COUNTERFEIT VISAGE
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: Self
Action: Simple
You transform into the shape of an existing person,
creature, or object you know of. Your disguise is
flawless; attempts by lower Tier or trivial characters
simply fail. Characters of your Tier or higher who
don’t possess an Attitude toward the character or
otherwise know them intimately are unable to realize
the deception without supernatural aid and a Clash
of Wills, and you gain your Legend in Enhancement
to fool even those who know the character well.
PARADE OF SKINS
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: Self
Action: Reflexive
You twist your body repeatedly, rapidly taking
and discarding forms, your identity existing in the
procession of changes rather than any one shape.
You may change shape Reflexively, and you gain
+2 Enhancement on a single roll with which your
newest form would potentially aid you every time
you change.
SHAPES OF MIGHT
Cost: Spend 1 Legend
Duration: 1 Scene
Subject: Self
Action: Simple
You stretch your shape past the boundaries Fate nor-
mally imposes onto fluid forms, becoming a thing of
shattering power and might for a moment. You gain
+1 Scale in Force or Speed as appropriate, and you
may also gain +1 Scale for Size purposes if you so
choose.
DENIZEN PURVIEW:
WATER FRIEND
You are not merely at home in lakes, rivers, and
oceans, you can command water to do your bidding.
 Innate Power: You move at Scale speed 1 in the
water, and can move and fight effortlessly underwater, al-
lowing you to make attacks and use weapons like bows or
firearms, that normally do not function well underwater.
Also, you automatically increase the Attitude of all aquat-
ic, non-Legendary animals toward you by 1. This bonus
stacks with ones provided by other powers.
WATERY HOSPITALITY
Cost: 0 or Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Indefinite
Subject: Multiple people, or a single structure
Even without imbuing Legend, your clothes are im-
pervious to moisture, and anything you carry or hold
is similarly shielded as long as these items can fit
into your pockets or hands. You can also extend this
benefit to a number of targets equal to your Legend
times 2. Conversely, you can use this Boon to protect
the contents of a single structure (or vehicle) no
larger than a small house. The inside of the structure
remains cool and dry, with an infinite supply of fresh
air. When you reclaim your Legend, the effects end
immediately.
WATER MASTERY
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Subject: Water that you can touch
You can shape water to your will and can also cause
it to briefly become as solid as steel. This water can
take exceedingly precise shapes that conform to
its environment. As a result, you can command a
small amount of water to enter a lock and become a
key that fits and can open it. Alternately, you could
transform a larger amount of water into a crowbar
to pry a door open, or a sturdy lock that prevents
anyone from opening a door for the duration. You
cannot make water into any sort of complex mech-
anism, but in addition to a watery key being able to
open the lock it is in, tools made of water provide +3
Enhancement to the use you make them for. Finally,
you can pour water on the ground and transform
it into an area of difficult or dangerous terrain. In
an emergency, you can also transform water into a
Close Combat weapon.
DENIZEN PURVIEW:
WIND FRIEND
Mighty winds are yours to command. You can cause
winds to blow or to cease blowing and can even summon
powerful highly focused winds capable of moving people
and relatively large objects.
Innate Power: You can normally breathe in any
circumstances, regardless of the presence of safe air. You
are immune to all damage or Conditions caused by smoke,
bad air, or toxic gases that are not part of a supernatural
attack. In addition, smoke, fog, and other airborne sub-
stances do nothing to block your vision and if you fall,
Denizen Mechanics: Purviews
winds automatically slow your fall so that you take no
damage.
GALE FORCE
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Subject: A single Range Band
You can buffet an area with wind. Select a Range
Band no further than Medium range away. That
Range Band becomes difficult terrain with a +2
Complication to movement due to buffeting winds. If
not bought off, the character is subject to the Shove
or Knock Down Stunts, your choice. The force of the
wind you create blows leaves, sand, ash, and similar
light materials around and can obscure visibility
in the right location. However, this wind can also
improve visibility by blowing away smoke or fog, but
it causes any fire in the area to spread rapidly.
WIND BLAST
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
You shape an ephemeral weapon out of pure air.
The weapon has the Ranged (Short), Pushing, and
Shockwave tags. The weapon’s Shockwave effect
applies to uses of the Shove and Knockdown Stunts,
and it applies to the knockdown effect of the Pushing
Tag. You cannot use this ability against targets with
greater size Scale than you.
Also, you can use these wind attacks for narrative
effects like ripping cloth, blowing shingles off a roof,
tipping over furniture, or turning an orderly desk into
a scattered mass of shredded paper.
A WORLD
OF PEOPLES:
STORYTELLING
DENIZENS
I n many scenarios within roleplaying games, inhuman
creatures merely appear within the narrative: they jump
out of an alley or stand in a glade into which characters
wander. Mythological creatures presented in this fashion
exist solely within their function relating to the PCs. Scion
offers the opportunity to create a richer, more complex view
of the world’s non-human residents, from individuals to
the communities in which they live. Whether or not these
Denizens are offered within a given chronicle as player
options, developing them as though they might be player
options creates a richer tapestry for players to interact with
over the course of a story arc. Likewise, the development
of a full Denizen community in your chronicle’s home base
city allows for a far more “open world” take, permitting
players to reach out to a greater number of resources and
story hooks within your chronicle.
49
WHO ARE YOU REALLY?
Each town or city’s population of Denizens consists
of not just individuals but numerous subgroups over-
lapping and intermingling with one another. A popular
method of designing a location’s populace for the pur-
poses of Storyguiding consists of building a few notable
Storyguide Characters and allowing them to stand in for
the entire city. As an alternative, consider creating a brief
sketch of the population itself as if writing up a character
background, treating each group of Denizens within that
population as a background section. Figurehead SGCs or
SGCs who will serve important roles in your chronicle
are still important, but by understanding the underlying
societal pressures coming to weigh on these characters,
you can create a deeper, richer pool for players to swim
in.
Take for example the fictional city of Nirvana, PA,
created by Evelyn for her Scion chronicle. Rather than
creating a concise list of individuals necessary for the im-
mediate story, Evelyn decides to create the population of
Nirvana in order to make it possible for players to interact
with the city in a more organic fashion. In the likely event
that players act in an unexpected fashion and interact
with the city in a way that Evelyn didn’t plan for, she’ll
be able to more easily pull an appropriate SGC out for her
players and improvise their interactions with her city’s
population.
Evelyn begins by considering the history of Nirvana
and sketching out the main Denizen communities likely to
be represented within the city. How many different groups
live in your city is entirely up to you as a Storyguide: you
may feel that it makes more sense to present a more ho-
mogenous city with a few large groups, or a more diverse
city made up of several smaller populations. Nirvana is a
small city about the size of Bethlehem, PA – a little more
than 75,000 people – and Evelyn decides to give the town
three main populations and assorted individuals of less
numerous Denizen types.
Looking at the history of the general region and
the stories she wants to run, Evelyn decides that her
three main groups will be Gwragedd Annwn, Dwarves,
and Nuno Sa Punso: the Gwragedd Annwn arrived with
the Welsh settlers who introduced names such as Bala
Cynwdd and North Wales to Pennsylvania. John Roberts
and his Welsh-speaking Quakers arrived alongside
the first wave of English colonialists during the time of
William Penn. Their presence and settlements were cen-
tral to pushing out the native Denizens already resident
in central Pennsylvania when the Welsh settlements
spread west. Also present during the westward push of
colonial settlers, the Dwarf community accompanied the
arrival of the Mennonites not long after the arrival of the
water spirits, though they did not arrive in substantial
numbers until the early 1800s, as Mennonites fled to the
North American colonies during the Swiss persecution
50 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
SESSION ZERO
Many tables find it useful to preface a new
chronicle with a gaming session known as
Session Zero. During Session Zero, either no
gameplay occurs, or only backstory gameplay
occurs; the purpose of Session Zero, rather than
gameplay, revolves around establishing the
shared world and the expectations of players
and Storyguide alike. During Session Zero, the
table reviews character sheets, knits backstory
ties together, and reviews safety mechanics.
Taking the time for a Session Zero rather than
just diving in—though many people do want to
dive right in with a new chronicle, because we’re
always excited for the new game—helps to “set
the stage” and discuss everyone’s shared desires
and concerns as well as setting ground rules for
both the game world and the playgroup’s out of
character conduct.
of the 18th century. The Nuno Sa Punso arrived in the
Nirvana along with the Filipino nurses whose arrival was
facilitated by the Pesionado Act of 1903, making them the
most recent group.
When Evelyn decides on her three groups, she may
then expand upon the history of the groups, adding more
detail to Nirvana’s build. For example, she decides that
Nirvana’s local hospital system experienced the nursing
shortage that many American hospitals experienced
during the 1970s, leading to a second wave of Nuna Sa
Punso arriving alongside the Filipino nurses immigrat-
ing to the United States. This not only provides a richer
and less static worldview as one would get with ‘we have
these three groups and they have always been here,’ but
also builds in some of the essential mundane conflict of
Evelyn’s town: for a town in a section of Pennsylvania
which is overwhelmingly white, Nirvana has an excep-
tionally large immigrant population. Not only does this
introduce organic stresses into the town’s populace but
also offers opportunities to players to establish ties to or
draw their character from one of the family groups that
Evelyn has established. Essentially, the Storyguide builds
the basic history of the city’s Denizen population not too
differently from establishing the core backstory of a char-
acter: how did we get to now?
From that point on, Evelyn decides that the Gwragedd
Annwn have the greatest amount of influence in the hu-
man-adjacent community, while the Nuna Sa Punso’s
relatively recent arrival has been accompanied by a pop-
ulation boom. The long history of the Gwragedd Annwn
long in the area means they’ve got money, connections,
and an established community, and this puts them into
direct conflict with the Nuna Sa Punso’s sudden influx
of numbers. (She makes a note to discuss the explicit
immigrants vs. white supremacy establishment with her

COLONIAL HISTORY
When building the Denizen population
for American cities, give special weight to
indigenous populations vs those populations
brought in by colonial forces. How does the
colonial history of America impact the Denizens
within its borders to this day? Outside of normal
migration patterns as individuals move from one
place to another in the present day, the history of
the extermination of the original residents of Turtle
Island undoubtedly weighs heavily on today’s
Denizen populations in your city. Sometimes it’s
easier to talk about the difficult realities of the
impact that genocide and displacement have on
indigenous populations when framing it through
myths and human-adjacent groups. But striving
to tell those conversations intentionally makes for
much more powerful stories—and those stories
deserve consideration and intentional weight.
As with all other difficult and potentially
triggering topics, the topics of genocide and
forced displacement require thoughtful discussion
at your table before game begins; make these
discussions part of your Session Zero and give
players the opportunity to communicate with
you as Storyguide about the topic. Fostering
a healthy table means the opportunity to tell
stronger, more vibrant stories.
players during Session Zero, as per The Monstrous and
Beautiful, below.) Stuck in the middle, the Dwarves must
contend with the greater power of Gwragedd Annwn and
the resentment that the general Gwragedd Annwn com-
munity feels toward the sudden influx of Nuna Sa Punso.
Keep in mind while creating Denizen communities
that most of them live alongside rather than openly with-
in human communities, which presents its own issues.
Therefore, Evelyn sketches out a couple of organizations
created within Nirvana for the express purpose of creating
community and assisting with getting along in a modern
World created for humans, not human-adjacent popula-
tions. She creates an association which helps Denizens
in attaining the necessary paperwork to be able to work,
get loans, and build homes, and another which provides
mental health assistance to Denizens. Lastly, she sketches
out an association which works with Denizens to alter or
create accommodations for them in their living and work
situations – how does a centaur fit into a one-bedroom
apartment, other than “with some difficulty?” How does
a Gwragedd Annwn comfortably spend hours away from
water, driving rideshare for a living?
After she has set up these disparate groups, Evelyn
has a much easier time creating her figurehead SGC, with
whom the players will be interacting during her chron-
icle. A centaur who works in helping Denizens acquire
paperwork and work on home loans and a nereid focused
Denizen Mechanics: Purviews
on working with the ADA for seeking accommodations
for various Denizens make the most immediate sense,
and other SGC ideas flow more easily, making the con-
struction of her city’s populace much easier.
THE MONSTROUS
AND THE BEAUTIFUL
While she’s writing up her community, Evelyn makes
a note to discuss with her players the fact that many of
these issues are issues which players face in their daily
lives, and to bring to the table the concepts of accessi-
bility for disability vs accessibility for Denizens, as well
as issues of queerness or race, and how these items can
impact player enjoyment and engagement. Since she has
chosen multiple Denizen types which will undoubtedly
rely upon mundane accessibility options, she underlines
the concept of accessibility; since she has created an in-
herently racialized conflict between the Nuna Sa Punso
and the Gwragedd Annwn community, she underlines the
concept of race, making sure to discuss both in depth.
Storyguides should take the time to open this dis-
cussion during Session Zero and have an ongoing con-
versation with those at your table about how these topics
impact their emotions. The concept of a roleplaying game
as a cooperative storytelling endeavor isn’t a new one,
and stories make people feel things. Discussing this openly
at the beginning of your chronicle doesn’t detract from
the verisimilitude of your game—rather, it enables your
players to engage with difficult topics more intensely and
with greater confidence, knowing that at any time, they
can pull the metaphorical ripcord on a difficult theme if a
scene or storyline gets to be too much emotionally.
Many Denizens in mythology arise from, or have
ties to, the concepts of disability, queerness, race, along
with further concepts of the Other. Black and Indigenous
players, queer players, disabled players, and players from
other marginalized communities may find themselves
face to face with Denizens whose original mythological
forms were created to discuss their marginalization
within a mythological framework, and that’s not always
comfortable at a gaming table.
On the other hand, when handled cooperatively as
a gaming table, Denizens may provide a framework for
players to explore topics of race, gender, disability, and
neurodiversity in a sensitive and thoughtful manner.
Scion: Demigod covers this in detail starting on p. 42
where it pertains to Scions themselves, but a thoughtful
conversation with players on the topic during Session
Zero sets good ground rules for the handling of where
Denizens impact the discussion of marginalized identi-
ties with mythological frameworks. A player may not feel
comfortable with the way that the conceptualization of
a changeling or fae overlaps with the concept of autism,
for example, and that’s a perfectly acceptable boundary
to draw.
51
 In attempting to draw those boundaries firmly, sev-
eral tools can be brought to the table. The venerable and
well-tested techniques of Lines and Veils, as well as Player
Profiles/Questionnaires, the Stoplight System, and the X
Card, foster effective communication between Storyguides
and players when dealing with the complicated feelings
which storylines centered around Denizens can engender.
LINES AND VEILS
As a safety technique, Lines and Veils permit players
to choose which sensitive topics they wish to address
and which they wish to have firmly excluded at the table
and in their chronicle. Before the game’s Session Zero,
the Storyguide prepares two collaborative documents
such as shared computer documents or sheets of paper,
one labeled “Lines” and the other labeled “Veils.” During
Session Zero, the group lists in the “Lines” document
those story elements or topics which the group’s coop-
erative storytelling will never engage in any way, shape,
or form. In the “Veils” document, the group lists the
story elements or topics which will never be roleplayed
out during a game or storytelling session or discussed in
depth. Even if the initial documents are created on paper,
many groups find shared online documents which any-
one can access at any time to be useful, especially in our
52 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
current reality where many game sessions happen via on-
line means. These documents should remain accessible to
players at all times, no matter what form they take.
The Storyguide reiterates with players once the lists
have been completed that both are living documents for
the game which may be updated at any time. Veils and
Lines may move from one list to another – the group
may decide that they’re more comfortable handling the
topic of humanity rejecting certain Denizens due to
physical appearance or “ugliness” and how that impacts
depictions of disability and feelings around disability
as “monstrous.” After moving it from Lines to Veils, the
group may decide a week later, after a session in which
that occurs off-camera, to move that topic back to Lines.
Lines and Veils should ideally be approached on
a consensus basis with the entire table participating
in the discussion, but the concept of table consensus
should never be leveraged to railroad a single player into
approaching a topic which makes them uncomfortable.
Furthermore, Lines and Veils should not be used to ex-
clude whole classes of antagonist or character types (i.e.
“I don’t want Titanspawn to appear at all in this chron-
icle, not even mentioned in passing”) but could restrict
how they interact with the storylines within the chronicle
(i.e. “I don’t want cyclops to be used as stand-ins for the
Blind community or to have to deal with bias or discrim-
ination from the binocular people in our game world”).
Given the highly discriminatory symbolism which many
Denizens embody, it is reasonable for a player to place a
specific subset of Denizen on the Lines list — for example,
a Jewish player uncomfortable with dealing with goblins
due to the antisemitic implications thereof doesn’t mean
that Dwarves are off-limits. Debating a player’s comfort
level or getting into extended discussions about who is
“right” about what a particular Denizen represents is
counterproductive. Engage with your fellow players in
good faith, and if someone of a marginalized identity
expresses that a particular topic is upsetting or harmful,
rather than debating the correctness of their interpreta-
tion of myth, consider asking: what can we do instead that
will be more interesting and fun for everyone?
Common Lines: Sexual violence; explicit depictions
of torture; food-related triggers including intentional
withholding of food, forced feeding, or someone being in-
tentionally fed allergens or non-kosher food; mutilation;
use of slurs including homophobic, transphobic, racist,
ableist or gender-specific slurs; spiders; centipedes; try-
pophobia-inducing imagery; needles; bestiality; explicit
depictions of bodily functions; medical abuse including
experimentation and medical kidnapping or restraint
Common Veils: Explicit depictions of consensual
sexual activity; torture; emotional abuse; physical abuse;
body horror; consensual human experimentation, such
as a person experimenting on themselves or consenting
Zero has people drafting their sheets before Session Zero
subjects; dream or nightmare sequences; childhood
or making them entirely during Session Zero, she may
memories; prophetic visions; memory loss
ask players to complete their Questionnaire after Session
PLAYER PROFILES & Zero, since many of the questions on it cannot be properly
answered until the character is finished.
QUESTIONNAIRES
Player Profiles serve as a useful auxiliary tool to Lines
& Veils, allowing for even better communication of player
expectations and feelings. Building on the Player Profiles,
Player Questionnaires are intended as a Storyguide-
facing tool. Utilizing both tools allows a Storyguide to
foster open communication between players at the table,
while also encouraging players to entrust more sensitive
or specific information to the Storyguide.
In preparing for her Session Zero, Evelyn sends an
email to her players with the Player Profile information,
so they can have time to think about what they’d like to
put into their profiles. She also sends them the informa-
tion she’s requesting they put in their questionnaires and
asks them to email her back privately with their answers.
Alternately, she might use a Google Form or other tool,
to make things easier for her to compile the information
into a spreadsheet for ease of her use.
Denizen Mechanics: Purviews
JEN’S PLAYER PROFILE
One of Evelyn’s players spends some time think-
ing about her answers, and brings this player
profile to Session Zero to share with Evelyn and
the other players:
Player Name/Nickname and Player
Pronouns: Jen, they/them
Character name and pronouns: Lux, they/them
Content warnings required or triggers to
avoid in RP: Warn: medical abuse or experi-
mentation; homophobia or transphobia; forcible
restraint. Avoid: Harm to dogs; centipedes;
religious homophobia or transphobia; even the
merest hint of anything like incest, including with
people who aren’t technically related.
Experiences or topics I want to engage:
Puzzles, awesome queer storylines; class strug-
gles; helping other people feel awesome (both
characters and players!)
Experiences or topics I want to avoid:
Cheating or unfaithfulness in romantic relation-
ships; trans 101 for cis people
You can make me feel included as a
player by... allowing me to support your
awesome! I love to give people their moment
to shine. Please tell me how I can make your
character look cool, because doing that makes
me feel included.
Depending on whether or not Evelyn’s style of Session
Eliot’s Player Questionnaire
Evelyn sends out an online form to her players
after Session Zero, and Eliot answers:
What stats on your sheet would you like
to be sure that I see and utilize? My Relic!
I really love my character’s Epic Dexterity com-
bat wheelchair and I want it to get a spotlight at
some point.
How can I facilitate your Crowning
Moment of Awesome in this game? The
fact that my character, Jack, has family ties to
both the Nuna Sa Punso and Gwragedd Annwn
Denizen communities is really important to me
as a character from an interfaith family, I would
really like for Jack’s family ties to matter.
What would you consider to be Good
Trouble for your character to get into?
See above! I would really enjoy Jack’s loyalties
pulling him in multiple directions, or the compli-
cated nature of family ties making his life difficult.
53

Is there anything not covered by our
discussions in Session Zero that you’d
like for me to be aware of? I have memory
issues, and while I take extensive notes, please
help me out or give me the ability to roll to
remember important pieces of information, be-
cause Jack’s memory is way better than Eliot’s. I
find my memory issues frustrating so please don’t
call attention to it at the table.
With this trifecta of tools, players and Storyguides set
themselves up for creating stories together with a mini-
mum of friction and a maximum of awesome and commu-
nication. Of course, even with incredible communication,
unforeseen events can and will occur — that’s just the
nature of game play. Therefore, other safety tools assist
with the unforeseen, such as the X Card and Stoplight
System mechanics.
THE X CARD
The X Card is a simple and powerful technique
for players to opt out when the action makes them feel
uncomfortable in a way which interferes with their en-
joyment – as opposed to being uncomfortable and also
enjoying themselves, as one might be when watching a
horror movie that’s still enjoyable despite being horrific. A
piece of paper with an X on it is placed in the center of the
table, and if at any time players (or Storyguide!) require
a break or stop to the action, they simply tap the X. The
person requesting the time-out should never be required
or pressured to explain what made them uncomfortable,
either in that moment or after a suitable break period
when everyone is reconvening at the table. While check-
ing in with someone who has utilized the X Card to step
away from the table remains a good idea, the difference
between “would you like to talk about it?” and “you need
to tell us what happened, if only so we cannot do it again”
is vast. The former opens the door for someone to express
their feelings should they choose to do so, and the latter
places pressure on the player to discuss an upset which
may be too personal or which they simply may not feel
comfortable discussing for any reason or for no reason at
all. The decision to disclose rests entirely with the upset
party, and not disclosing should not be read as a reflection
on the table.
STOPLIGHT SYSTEM
A fluid and flexible system, the Stoplight System is
intended to foster ongoing communication especially
during difficult interactions. Some groups approach the
Stoplight System by placing three cards — red, yellow, and
green — on the table. Others approach it with a thumbs-
up/thumbs-down/flat-hand gesture. Some groups ver-
bally ask, “Stoplight check-in?” if they feel uncertain or
think others might not be enjoying themselves.
54 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
There are pros and cons to all systems, so choose
the one that works best for your group. Encourage your
playgroup to be proactive with check-ins — if another
player looks uncomfortable, or if you feel uncomfortable,
engaging the Stoplight System can help with making cer-
tain that you’re not misinterpreting your friend’s facial
expression. Maybe he’s really in-character, or maybe he’s
uncomfortable with some of the things the SGC you’re
running in this scene just said to his character. By tap-
ping the green card, showing a quick thumbs-up with a
questioning expression across the table, or asking for
an out-of-character Stoplight Check-in, you reinforce as
Storyguide that player comfort remains the first consid-
eration of everyone at the table. While these tools may
feel clunky or disruptive to the flow of play when a group
is getting used to using them, once they become habit,
utilizing them disappears into the flow of play, and not
checking in sticks out more than asking.
Any safety system only exists to facilitate communica-
tion, and it falls on the Storyguide and the group as a whole
to foster healthy dialogue at the table. When dealing with
Denizens especially, who in many mythological continu-
ities stand in for all manner of marginalized identities, it is
important to not further “other” players whose identities
are mythologically alluded to by these Denizens, and in-
stead to foster a welcoming table where difficult issues may
be meaningfully discussed and approached respectfully.
EXAMPLE COMMUNITIES
HELL, ILLINOIS
The Denizen community of Hell, Illinois has grown
up from its rather disparate roots into one which some of
the residents call “the Island of Misfit Toys.” An almost
completely Denizen-populated community, Hell has
gathered a rather incredible cross-section of lost and
displaced Denizen populations from across the United
States to itself, and purposefully so. In Hell, Denizens
walk openly.
Hell’s current mayor, Catherine Zelly, is a brùnaidh
or Brownie, and so can appear completely human when
necessary, in front of cameras and on regional news.
The community carefully curates its outward-facing
representatives so as to protect those who cannot appear
human on camera. An insular community, they exist to
protect their own.
For such a little nowhere town, Hell boasts a surpris-
ingly large, diverse population. Due to the fact that there
are so many distinct groups, no single group holds deci-
sive control of the town’s politics, and a constant struggle
exists for control of Hell’s direction. Old grudges often
resurface within these internecine scuffles, disrupting
the putative peace of this would-be Denizen paradise.
For many Denizens trapped in even smaller towns or
remote enclaves, Hell represents one of a few possibilities
of living among their own without having to apologize for
their existence or identity. For all its struggles in dealing
with the human world, Hell for many represents the clos-
est thing to Utopia, a little like the kibbutzim of pre-Israel
Palestine, formed entirely of like-minded individuals rath-
er than the happenstance geography of one’s birthplace.
DAWSON CITY, YUKON
A Sphinx named Jabari Hananyah took over leading
the population of Dawson City over a hundred years ago,
and their children have been carefully looking after the
city ever since. With a population of only about 1500
people, the community finds it easy to protect the small
sphinxes living within its borders, and the existence of
the Denizens of Dawson City remains an open secret.
Such few newcomers as ever arrive get quickly brought
into the town’s secret, and those who can’t abide find
themselves not-so-gently scooted out of town.
With the modern age’s technological advancements
making it possible to record and disseminate images
of Dawson City’s inhuman residents, the town has ap-
proached this problem by instituting strong social barriers
against recording people without their permission as well
as local regulations forbidding the recording of conversa-
tions or people without consent. Privacy advocates praise
Dawson City for their small-town regulations protecting
the privacy of individuals without understanding that the
town has done this to protect its sphinx population.
While the town’s populace tries to protect the
sphinxes now because they’re part of the community,
there’s a long history of members of the sphinx family
traveling abroad and returning to Dawson City with new
tales: the new generation always leaves during adoles-
cence, a little like a sort of feline Rumspringa, for a period
of five to ten years, before returning home and taking up
the family’s inherited job of teaching the town’s children.
Those who do not directly take up a teaching position at
the town school (there’s only two jobs, really, one for art
instruction and the other for general instruction) find
themselves in positions such as running the local library.
As a result, Dawson City boasts a near-perfect high school
graduation rate and an astonishingly high literacy rate for
an isolated town its size.
The most recent generation struggles with the real-
ity of more sphinxes than jobs, leading to several young
sphinxes staying on their Rumspringa longer than usual,
and another pair discussing the possibility of finding
another town to sponsor, creating the beginning of a net-
work of small towns with sphinxes imbedded in the heart
of their populations, teaching the young and fostering
knowledge.
Jabari would be so, so proud.
JEKYLL ISLAND, GEORGIA
A small and insular community just off the Georgia
coastline, Jekyll Island’s population largely consists
of natatory Denizens of every variety. The community
Denizen Character Creation
functions to mundane eyes primarily as a tourist destina-
tion. Most of the residents have awareness on some level
that not all of the year-round residents are human, though
not everyone really believes the rumors, or openly ac-
knowledges the reality of their hometown. Tourists gen-
erally see only what they want to see. Most of the island’s
summertime visitors don’t concern themselves over the
actual species of the beach’s lifeguards or the people at
the roadside seafood shack, frying up hush puppies.
Aquatic Denizens live more openly on Jekyll Island
than they do just about anywhere else in the United
States. While young motorcycle centaurs fantasize about
roaring out I-80 to Hell, Illinois, young nereids whisper
wistfully about moving to Jekyll Island the same way
young theatre kids sigh dreamily about moving to New
York City. The existence of a community of like-minded
(and like-bodied) individuals lures marine Denizens to
Jekyll Island as inexorably as a siren’s song.
PORTLAND, OREGON
As one of the whitest cities in the United States, the
mundane population of Portland doesn’t appear to contain
an awful lot of diversity; behind the dividing line between
humanity and Denizens, however, a great deal more vari-
ety exists. Chinook and Clackamas Denizens never left; a
vast number of shapeshifters and animal-headed Denizens
make their homes along Portland’s tree-lined streets in one
form or another. (Sometimes quite literally: Portland also
has one of the highest unhoused populations in the United
States, with disproportionate representation among the
unhoused population of Black and Indigenous people.)
The children of Bluejay, Coyote, Crow and Fox lead the
Indigenous population’s resurgence in Portland; residents
of the Mount Tabor neighborhood often report spotting
bands of coyotes on their morning walks. This resurgence
does put them at odds with the many Denizens whose
forebears traveled west across the Rockies: the Nyx who
live in the Willamette River; the trolls who sharpen their
teeth and paint thin blue lines on their jackets when they
fall in with the Titanspawn who go by the same name; the
Sidhe who have taken up residence in the hills west of the
river. The ongoing internecine tension of Portland’s human
residents finds itself written larger than life — sometimes
literally — in the conflicts between the city’s disparate
groups of Denizens.
DENIZEN CHARACTER
CREATION
C reating your Denizen has seven steps: Concept, Paths,
Skills, Attributes, Condition, Knacks and Purview, and
Finishing Touches.
STEP 1: CONCEPT
Take some time to think about your Denizen. A
Denizen can be either a non-human, or — albeit more
55
rarely — a human touched by myth. Satyrs and nymphs
are non-human Denizens, while Amazons are human
Denizens. The children of Legendary creatures are also
Denizens, with Offspring being an alternate term for them.
Make sure your Denizen fits with the group
out-of-character, if not in-character. It’s fine if your
plucky Satyr antagonizes the Scions around her, but
you don’t want to be an asshole at the table. Consider
both your Denizen’s origins and plans for the future
— which needn’t be your plan for their future. Who is
their Legendary progenitor — is it a neglectful God, a
Demi-God, or a mythical creature? Is your Denizen con-
tent being a Denizen, or are they resentful they’re not
uplifted into a Scion? Once you have the basics, and your
Storyguide signs off on them, pick three Deeds.
A Deed is something you, the player, would like to see
happen for your character. While you choose them, the
entire table is responsible for making them happen — and
likewise you should try to help other players with their
character’s Deeds. Pick one short-term, one long-term,
and one band Deed. A short-term Deed is something
your character can accomplish in a single session, like
“ask that cute selkie out.” A long-term Deed is exactly
that and should reflect how you want your character’s
arc to unfold. It might be “become a Scion,” or “realize
being a Scion isn’t really for you.” Lastly, the Band Deed
is something the characters accomplish as a group and
should be shared by all of them. “Defeat the dark child of
Hela” is a good band Deed.
Creating a Denizen, look for ways to make your short-
and long-term deeds uniquely, well, Denizen. Choose
another Denizen as their focus — someone a Scion might
find beneath their notice, but who is kin to you. Or relate
them to a struggle only Denizens have to deal with, like
feeling just a tad unwanted compared to Scions. These
Deeds should be positive and goal-oriented. Denizens are
heroes too.
Character Creation Example:
Steffie wants to play a Satyr — and that’s all she
has at first. A little prompting from the Storyguide
has her land on a Satyr who works the bar in
Club Paradiso, Amsterdam, with dreams of
someday performing in that fabled music hall. She
spent most her life far away from the mythical,
until an as-of-yet unknown assailant used clearly
mythical powers to attack the Paradiso audience.
Her short-term Deed, amid all the hectic, is to
show up for her shift and earn that next pay-
check. Her long-term Deed is to keep Paradiso
safe. The Storyguide reveals that the assailant is
a villain in all the characters’ stories, so stopping
them becomes her band Deed.
56 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
STEP 2: PATH
Your character, presumably, has a past. The decisions
they made, and experiences they had along the way, are
represented by Paths. Paths gives you access to people
and resources. You get to choose three Paths for your
Denizen: Origin, Role, and Legacy. Two of these — Origin
and Legacy — hail from your character’s unique existence
as a Denizen. You can choose to fit their Role into their
myth too or choose something focused on the mundane
world to create a bit of tension.
Your Origin deals with your character’s legacy and
upbringing. This may already enhance their mythical
nature but might also serve as the opposite.
Examples: Apollo chose me as his prophet,
I was raised by sentient wolves, grandpa is a
faerie and we don’t talk about it.
Your Role represents what your Denizen does. Keep
in mind that Denizens are goal-oriented, driven people
and their role should reflect that. Your character should be
happy with their role and jump on any opportunity to ad-
vance it. An aspiring actor working as a server is an actor.
Examples: World-famous actor (just wait for it),
envoy to the centaurs of Creek Bay, anti-fascist
fighting the government.
Lastly, your Legacy Path connects your Denizen to
their mythical legacy. You can choose to link this to a
Pantheon. Your character’s feelings about their legacy
needn’t be all peaches and roses. Though even if they do
view their legacy as negative though, or are on the run
from it, they should still have some legacy friends so you
can reap the mechanical benefits.
Examples: Descendant of Sleipnir (part of
the Aesir pantheon), no I do NOT want to be a
divine warrior, mom is a centaur stan and it’s a
little weird.
Once you have your Paths sorted, design the follow-
ing for each:
• A brief description
• Three Skills associated with your path. Any given
Skill can be associated with at most two of your
Paths.
• Group, Contact, and Access connections.
• A Path Condition that triggers when you invoke the
Path too often. Ideally your Condition should tie
into your Denizen legacy, but you can also choose
one of Scion’s existing Conditions.
Character Creation Example:
For her Origin, Steffie decides her Satyr hails
from four generations of Satyrs. Her great-great-
grandmother slept with the God Pan, which was
a bit of a scandal and is Not Talked About in
the family. Steffie chooses Athletics (everyone
in the family has a knack for it), and Occult
and Subterfuge to represent a secret pursuit of
knowledge on the Greek Pantheon. Her family
constitutes her Origin group. If she invokes this
Path too often, she loses access to her Satyr
heritage as her family disapproves of that. When
that happens, she can’t use her Songbird Knack.
As to her Role — this Satyr a musician. Or will
be soon. Steffie takes Culture, Empathy and
Persuasion. Her band members and nascent
fan following constitute her Role contacts. For
this Path, Steffie goes with the standard Path
Conditions of Suspended and Revokes.
Lastly, as her mythical legacy hails from the
god Pan, Steffie chooses Athletics, Culture, and
Persuasion as legacy Skills. She could also have
chosen the Theoi Pantheon skills instead. She
asks the Storyguide to help her create a Legacy
contact, and they settle on a fellow Satyr who
she’ll meet in the first session. Invoking this Path
too often reinforces her Satyr nature, leading to
a -1 Penalty on rolls that requires planning and
forethought and a +1 Enhancement on rolls that
require impulse.
Denizen Character Creation
STEP 3: SKILLS
Sort your character’s three Paths into primary, sec-
ondary, and tertiary based on how important they are to
them. You gain three dots in each Skill associated with
your primary Path, two dots in each of your secondary
Paths, and one dot in each of your tertiary Paths. These
dots are cumulative.
For every Skill dot above three, choose one Specialty.
These are free during character creation — if you raise
a Skill above three later, you don’t gain a new Specialty.
This Specialty represents an area of narrow expertise
within the Skill, such as Empathy (Selkies). A Specialty
grants a +1 Enhancement to other, related Skills — your
character might gain it using Leadership on a band of
selkies. Failing a roll on the original Skill and Specialty
(trying to use Empathy to read a selkie’s body language)
also grants an additional point of Momentum.
You can use Specialties to create a unique niche for
your Denizen. Other Denizens might talk to them and
shun other characters in the Band. Or they might know
something only a Denizen would — not everyone hears
the Little Mermaid’s tale right from her lips.
Character Creation Example:
Steffie chooses Role as her Satyr’s Primary path.
Of the two others, she picks Origin as secondary
and Legacy as tertiary. That leaves her with the
following Skill dots: Athletics ••• (2+1), Culture
57
 •••• (3+1), Empathy •••, Occult ••, Persuasion
•••• (3+1), Subterfuge ••.
That means she gets to pick Specialties for
Culture and Persuasion. Combining her char-
acter’s dreams as a musician, work as a bar
tender, and status as an Offspring of Pan, she
settles on: Culture (music), Persuasion (music).
If her Satyr had been more involved with the
Denizen community, she might have chosen
Persuasion (Satyrs) instead.
STEP 4: ATTRIBUTES
Scion has nine Attributes, divided across three Arenas
(Physical, Social, and Mental) and three Approaches
(Force, Finesse, and Resilience). Attributes represent
what your Denizen is plain good at, though it might not
always be how they like to do things — or even how they
most often go about it. This gives you an excellent chance
to lean into your Denizen’s mythical origins. A Berserker
might excel in physical confrontations but abhor them
and do whatever they can to talk or reason their way out
of problems.
Rank the Arenas in primary, secondary, and tertiary.
Every Attribute starts with a free dot, and then you assign
six more to your character’s primary Arena, four to their
secondary, and two to the tertiary.
Next, choose how your Denizen likes to solve prob-
lems Your character might favor the Force Approach,
whether that’s physical ( just hit it), social ( just wear
them down), or mental (reason your way through it).
Meanwhile a quick and clever Satyr is probably good
at Finesse Approaches. Assign two more dots to each
Attribute in your Favored Approach.
No Attribute may have more than five dots at charac-
ter creation. If a Favored Approach bonus would take an
Attribute over five dots, you must relocate the excess dots
to one of the other Attributes in the same Arena.
Character Creation Example:
Steffie decides that an aspiring musician who is
also a Satyr has Social as her Primary Arena.
She also thinks her character is probably more
about brawn than brains, making Social her
secondary and Mental her tertiary.
Looking at the individual Attributes, she assigns
them: three to Presence, one to Manipulation,
two to Resolve, none to Might, two to Dexterity,
two to Stamina, none to Intelligence, two to
Cunning, none to Resolve. She also decides
Dexterity is her Satyr’s favored Approach, add-
ing two dots each to Manipulation, Dexterity,
and Cunning.
With the free starting dot, that brings her Satyr
up to Presence ••••, Manipulation ••••, Resolve
58 CHAPTER TWO: DENIZENS
•••, Might •, Dexterity •••••, Stamina •••,
Intelligence •, Cunning •••••, Resolve •. She has
no overflow points from exceeding the Attribute
cap of Five.
STEP 5: CONDITION
No one ever said being a Denizen was easy. In fact, it’s
decidedly not. Your Denizen has a permanent Condition
that hinders them — though on the upside it also serves
as steady source of Momentum and may grant some bo-
nuses. Maybe they only gain sustenance by eating bloody
hearts, or the ram horns curling from their head make it
impossible to pass as human.
You can find sample Conditions listened with
Denizens above, or work with the Storyguide to create a
new Condition that is fun to play for you (though it may
frustrate the heck out of your character), and fruitful for
them to use against you.
If you and the Storyguide both agree, and only then,
you may choose a second permanent Condition.
Character Creation Example:
Scion: Hero includes a Condition for satyrs,
Hooves (p. 311).
Satyr Body Condition: Your hooves
are noisy when you walk and mark you as
distinctly non-human unless you find a pair of
custom-made boots. Gain Momentum when they
give you away when you’re trying to be sneaky,
when they reveal your true nature at a time you
want to keep it hidden, or when they otherwise
make your life more complicated.
STEP 6: KNACKS AND
PURVIEWS
A Knack is a special ability tied into your charac-
ter’s physical form, like running extremely fast if you’re
a centaur. Denizens listed above have several example
Knacks, which you can use as inspiration or choose as-is
for characters of that type. Denizens, more than any other
kind of character in Scion, require a bit of fudging some-
times due to the sheer variety of Denizens in the World.
If you don’t want to create your own Knacks, you can
borrow a Knack from one of the Denizens in this book or
use Knacks from other character types. Be sure to check
with the Storyguide and other players when doing so, to
make sure everyone agrees that it makes sense and is fair.
Origin-Tier Denizens may select a single Knack at this
time; Hero-Tier Denizens select three and may optionally
choose an Immortal Knack in place of two Heroic Knacks.
A Purview, meanwhile, represents innate magic
tied to your Denizen’s myth. They let you shape-shift or
sing lullabies that put people to sleep. Denizen-specific
Purviews can also grant Boons, but these are earned
during play and not taken during character creation.
Purviews require a Legend score, so Origin-Tier Denizens
don’t receive one; Hero-Tier Denizens may choose a sin-
gle Denizen Purview, or if appropriate a normal Purview.
Both Knacks or Purviews are subject to change, as
they grow and evolve alongside your character. You may
revisit them later in the campaign.
Character Creation Example:
Satyr Knacks can be found in Scion: Origin (p.
165) and Scion: Hero (p. 311). Steffie wants to
lean into the musical side of satyr myth, so she
writes a new Knack, Songbird.
Songbird
You gain a +1 Enhancement to calming or
rousing emotions through music. People who
hear your music stop to listen unless they’re in
immediate danger or highly focused on what
they’re doing and increase their Attitude to you
by 1 for the remainder of the scene.
STEP 7: FINISHING TOUCHES
You may allocate five additional Skill Points (these
don’t grant Specialties if you go above three now), one
Attribute Point (remember you can’t go above five),
and either two Knacks or an additional Purview. Your
Storyguide may hand out starting Experience Points at
character creation — defer to the table to see what you
can purchase with them.
EXPERIENCE POINT COST
OBJECT CHANGE COST
Attribute Add one dot to a single 10 Experience
Attribute
Favored Change a character’s 15 Experience
Approach Favored Approach
Skill Add one dot in a new or 5 Experience
existing Skill
Specialty Add a Specialty to a Skill 3 Experience
Knack Purchase a new Knack 10 Experience
Purview Add a new Boon 10 Experience
Character Creation Example:
Steffie assigns her extra Skill points to Empathy
(she’s a bartender), two to Integrity (goats are
Denizen Character Creation
stubborn), Persuasion (tying into her musical
prowess), and Subterfuge (she’s about to em-
bark on a journey her family does not approve
of). That brings those skills to Empathy ••••,
Integrity ••, Persuasion •••••, Subterfuge •••.
Her extra Attribute dot goes to Resolve, raising
it to ••.
She selects two new Knacks: Aura of Greatness
and Scent of the Divine, both taken from Scion:
Origin (p. 105).
Then calculate and add the following:
Your character’s Defense is based on a Resilience
Attribute (Stamina, Resolve, and Composure). Most char-
acters use Stamina, but Denizens especially have a talent
for avoiding attacks in unconventional ways by being
unflappable.
Your character also has an Injury Condition track-
er. They start with four levels of Injury at character cre-
ation: Bruised, Injured, Maimed, and Taken Out. Add an
additional Bruised slot if your character’s Stamina is 3 or
4, or two additional Bruised Slots if their Stamina is 5.
Character Creation Example:
Steffie chooses Stamina as her Defense, making
her Defense pool 6 total for Athletics + Stamina.
Her Stamina also grants her character an addi-
tional Bruised slot.
With all dots filled in, take a moment to visualize your
character in your mind. What do they look like, what’s
their sense of fashion? What does their voice sound like?
Do they have any endearing or annoying quirks? Do they
have any family, friends or enemies not yet represented in
their Paths — if so, flesh those out and tell the Storyguide
about them now. And lastly, the hardest one: what’s their
name?
Character Creation Example:
Steffie decides her Satyr is a technogoth punk,
partially because the big boots help hide her
hooves. She dyes her hair bone white and wears
it in twin buns to hide her horns, with varying de-
grees of success. She chews too much gum and
blows bubbles when she’s agitated. She makes
a mean cocktail. If asked, she says she has only
friends and fans — but the attack on Paradiso
hints to a hidden enemy. Her name is Nora.
59
 “My benefactor said that when a man embarks on the paths of sorcery he
becomes aware, in a gradual manner, that ordinary life has been forever left
behind; that knowledge is indeed a frightening affair; that the means of the
ordinary world are no longer a buffer for him; and that he must adopt a new
way of life if he is going to survive.”
— Carlos Castenada
M ost mortals are content to let miracles remain the
domain of the gods, their Scions, and the occasional
Denizens who share the World with them. But Sorcerers
are not most mortals. Craving power, these too-clever-by-
half practitioners of hidden ways tamper with Fate and
Legend, weaving spells to remake their lives, their World,
their reality according to their own design. No few stray
too far into spheres of influences jealously guarded by the
divine, and no few are struck down for their hubris.
Yet power is not freely offered, not for these self-made
masters of miracles. To be a Sorcerer is to mortgage your life
upon the altar of magic. Those who start down such a path
will rarely turn away from it, and the further down it they go,
the less recognizable they become. There is, after all, no such
thing as a free lunch — to do magic is to sacrifice your nature,
your future, your identity, your freedom. Few can make such a
choice, but then, to a Sorcerer, it’s no choice at all. Even before
they took the first step, their resolve was unshakeable.
MOTIFS
A s with the miracles of Scions, Sorcerers channel their
power through the use of Motifs. Every spell must
be cast through a Motif, and every Sorcerer has an innate
Motif they use to perform their Sorcery. When a Sorcerer
increases in Tier, they gain an additional innate Motif as
a result of further study or understanding, for a second at
Hero, a third at Demigod and a fourth at God.
A Sorcerer’s first innate Motif is the one which they
learned to perform their magic with. This can be selected
from any Pantheon Motif or from the list below (chosen
to represent other magical traditions).
Sorcerers may choose to apply multiple Motifs to
a spell they cast to increase its power. Each Motif ap-
plied grants the player’s choice of +1 Enhancement (to
a maximum of Enhancement 3 from Motifs alone) or -1
Complication to the spell. However, each Motif added af-
ter the first requires an additional action be taken before
making the Sorcery roll, delaying the use of the spell.
The Magic Purview does not grant the ability to ap-
ply multiple Motifs to a spell.
TRADITIONAL MOTIFS
AMULETS
Defixiones and katadesmoi are the most famous
forms of this Sorcery, the lead curse tablets of Greece and
Motifs
Rome. However, variations on the technique are common
around the world. Practitioners use the power of words,
writing or carving their desires into amulets or other ob-
jects as focuses for their power. These objects are then
carried or disposed of in ritual manners, enacting the
Sorcery. The Greco-Roman tradition uses thin sheets of
lead which are buried or hidden, but other traditions used
paper, clay amulets, pot shards or other forms of record-
ing their will. Talismans are the most frequent Source of
Power among these Sorcerers, followed by Prohibitions.
Motif: Inscribing one’s desires on a ritually prepared
object, properly hidden or protected, can make them be-
come real.
BENANDANTI
The Benandanti are merely the most famous of a
number of traditions whose Sorcery is derived from un-
binding their own spirits. These traditions are common
across Europe, and many are considered to be innate,
rather than taught. Those born to the task are born with a
caul over them, allowing them to master the techniques.
The Benandanti of Italy use fennel stalks and psychoac-
tive reagents along with their caul to call on their power,
fighting endless wars in the night to protect or harm com-
munities. Similar traditions can be found in the Serbian
zduhac, Livonian Wolves of God, Slovenian kresnik, and
Bulgarian dragon men, though the tools wielded often
change. Blades, sticks, plant stalks, eggshells, and other
implements are all possible. Prohibitions are common
among these Sorcerers, as is Invocation.
Motif: By using my caul, my ritual weapons and
psychoactive herbs, I can send forth my soul to effect
miracles.
CHAOS MAGICK
Chaos Magick is a recently developed form of Sorcery,
dating to around the 1970s. It is different from many oth-
er forms of Sorcery in that it rejects most set technique,
ritual and systemic belief. Its philosophy focuses on re-
placing set dogma and systems with elements of personal
symbolism, collecting symbols from different techniques,
religious traditions and pop culture into something that
is personally relevant. These personal symbols are used
to create dynamic rituals on the fly, frequently focused by
altered states of consciousness, including fatigue, drug
usage and ecstatic meditation. Two chaos magicians are
unlikely to practice their Sorcery in the same way, as
each will find symbols and techniques that have strongest
61
personal meaning to them. Invocation is common among
these Sorcerers, as is use of Prohibitions.
Motif: By wielding symbols that have deep personal
meaning to me and engaging in altered states, I am able to
enforce patterns on reality dynamically.
GOETIC SORCERY
Goetic Sorcery is most commonly practiced among
academics, especially in Europe and the Middle East.
It does not have the best reputation, thanks to many
Sorcerers who practice it dealing frequently with de-
monic spirits as their chief source of power. The most
famous of these are the Solomonari, graduates of the
Transylvanian Scholomance, a school said to be run by
the Devil. However, the summoning of demons, while the
most famous form of Goetic Sorcery, is not the only one.
Practitioners may call on jinn, angelic names or other
potent spirits as the channels for their Sorcery, focusing
their power through the entities they deal with. Many
Goetic Sorcerers use Patronage as their source of power,
but Invocation is a close second.
Motif: By using sacred names, the seals of powerful
demons and spirits, and binding potent spirits into pacts,
I may channel their power.
NECROMANCY
Feared by many, necromancers communicate with
the dead and wield their power. These Sorcerers have a
sinister reputation, but much of it is merely due to fear
of death and the grisly materials that necromancers work
with. By wielding the body parts of the dead, they can call
on dead souls to rise up out of the Underworlds and serve
them or give them information. Most sell their services
as did the infamous Witch of Endor, communicating
with those who have died to bring solace or advice to the
living. They may be reviled for their practices, but most
make a decent living anyway. Bones, powdered flesh, un-
guents using body parts and similar pieces of bodies are
the key tools they call on to enact their will. Patronage
and Prohibitions are most frequent among necromancers.
Motif: By wielding pieces of corpses and the remains
of those passed on, I can command dead spirits to per-
form magic.
NEIDAN
Neidan, the practice of Daoist internal alchemy, focus-
es on self-mastery, but this does not mean it is unable to
influence the world. Breathing exercises, retention of bodi-
ly fluids and visualization of the kingdom that is the body
allow them to refine their internal workings and learn to
guide their intention without stray thought. Via secrets
taught only directly from master to student, this leads to
refinement of the energies that animate the self and com-
munion with the spirits that live within them, developing
from physical breath and essence into the true Breath,
Essence and Spirit that flow from the Dao. A master of
62 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS
Neidan ceases aging and becomes immortal, can identify
and channel the flow of spiritual power around them, and
with ultimate refinement of the true Spirit returns to emp-
tiness and abandons their form, becoming one with the
universe. The process is difficult, and many practitioners
end up somewhere along the path, capable of miraculous
feats but still seeking transcendence. Prohibitions and
Invocations are the most common Sources of Power for
Neidan, as they rely most on the self.
Motif: Through deep breathing and managing my
internal landscape, I can alter the nature of my body and
identify key junctures that let me shift the energies of the
world around me, aligning them with my intention.
OBEAH
Defining Obeah is not always easy, as the term has
come to encompass a variety of Afro-Caribbean practices
considered evil, illegal or otherwise forbidden by author-
ity, particularly white colonial authority. Even today, it
remains illegal in much of the Caribbean. Its power is
strongest when hidden, and its practitioners consider it
a high science that draws on truths from many religions,
not a tradition. The power it wields can harm as easily as
heal, and its use has often been in the hands of those seek-
ing justice for the harms dealt to them by colonial power,
or those hired by them. Experimentation with methods
and adapting the tools of other esoteric practices and reli-
gious rituals into the practitioner’s works is common, and
many spiritual beings may be called on during Obeah rit-
uals, from ghosts to deities, and practitioners know that
experiments can go wrong and rebound on them if they
are not careful. Invocation and Talismans are common
Sources of Power, followed by Patronage.
Motif: By use of prepared talismans, oils, and chalks
to balance powers in my work, I can create experimental
seals and anointments that will enact my will.
ONMYODO
Onmyodo is a Japanese tradition developed in concert
with Daoist techniques, operating outside the normal bounds
of Shinto understanding. It teaches practitioners to read the
signs of the natural world and correlate them mathematically
to chart the flow of the elements. Tapping into these and the
forces of Yin and Yang allows onmyoji, as practitioners are
known, to create and empower weak Kami, which are then
frequently bound into paper figures or charms. In the past,
they were even an official part of the Japanese government
as diviners, choosing the best times and methods to do near-
ly anything, and some onmyoji became quite famous. The
greatest of these was the mighty Abe no Seimei, who has now
been enshrined as a Kami in Kyoto. Onmyoji frequently use
Prohibitions or Talismans as their Source of Power.
Motif: By using key elements of the natural world
and spirits bound into paper talismans, I can predict and
transform elemental energy or the balance of Yin and
Yang.

CLASH OF WILLS
Sorcery Clash of Wills are rolls of [Sorcery Skill] +
Legend. If no Sorcery Skill applies, substitute Occult.
SORCERY
MECHANICS
S orcerers stand apart from Scions in two ways that
significantly change the way that they act in The World.
First, because they lack divine ichor, they cannot naturally
contain reservoirs of Legend to power their supernatural
abilities. Across cultures and throughout history, Sorcerers
have found several ways around this limitation, all of which
come at the cost of either restricting their behavior or
relying on some source outside of themselves to provide
the Legend they need.
The second quality that distinguishes Sorcerers is
the way they work their magic. Instead of having access
to Callings and Purviews that represent the archetypal
boundaries of their powers, a Sorcerer learns simple
magical Workings that focus on outcomes and gradually
hone them through a set of Techniques that allow them
to achieve more impressive results. An inexperienced
Sorcerer, for example, could use the Shapechanging
Working to let her spirit leave her body in the insubstan-
tial form of a butterfly or mouse. Later, she might learn a
Technique to make her projected spirit more substantial,
another that would allow her to transform her body in-
stead of projecting her spirit, or one that lets her shape-
shifted form travel into Underworlds.
SOURCES OF POWER
As far as many Gods are concerned, Sorcerers are
thieves: they take power that doesn’t rightfully belong to
them and use it for ends that don’t further the goals of any
Pantheon. While this impression isn’t exactly accurate —
some Sorcerers are as devoted to the Gods as any Scion
or mortal follower — the ways that Sorcerers feed their
need for Legend can come across as greedy even to their
close allies.
Every Sorcerer chooses one of four sources of power
upon reaching Legend 1. The four sources are:
• Invocation: By temporarily masquerading as a
God through ritualized re-enactments of myth or
bold declarations of authority, the Sorcerer siphons
a fraction of the God’s Legend for his own use. The
more power he tries to draw on at once, the more
brazen his claims must be, and the more likely it is
that the God will strike back to punish the theft.
• Patronage: The Sorcerer strikes a bargain with
otherworldly powers, whether recognized Gods or
independent spirits. So long as she keeps her pa-
tron satisfied through sacrifices or by carrying out
Sorcery Mechanics
their wishes in The World, she has a steady source
of Legend, but their demands will always expand
to match the amount of power she desires.
• Prohibition: By submitting to limits on her actions
and how she can use her magic, the Sorcerer draws
on some of the power of Fate itself. If she breaks
her self-imposed rules, she loses her powers until
she can make amends. As she grows more power-
ful, she must accept more prohibitions and become
increasingly careful about how she acts.
• Talisman: The Sorcerer uses a Relic as a battery
of Legend. If he loses control of it, he also loses his
magic until it is in his hands again. At higher tiers,
a Sorcerer becomes so attuned to his talisman that
damaging it can kill him, and the methods he must
employ to sustain its powers grow increasingly
costly.
INVOCATION
Sorcerers who gain Legend from Invocation do so by
boldly identifying themselves as specific Gods, tapping
into that God’s divine power while hoping to keep ahead
of whatever retribution they might provoke. Most such
Sorcerers treat divine identities as costumes to put on and
take off as needed, but some make a full-time career out of
pretending to be a God. They are the Sorcerers that most
Scions know about — are warned about, even — as exam-
ples of arrogant mortals who only want to steal what isn’t
theirs. It’s no exaggeration to say that they’re singlehand-
edly responsible for the general reputation of Sorcerers
among immortals.
System: The Sorcerer begins each session with a
full pool of Legend. Every time she casts a spell with a
Legend cost (spent or imbued), she replaces one die in
her Sorcery skill pool with a hubris die. If, at any point,
she then makes a Sorcery skill roll and any of the accu-
mulated hubris dice come up as successes, she immedi-
ately suffers consequences based on the number of hubris
dice. Hubris dice that are successes on this roll are then
removed from the pool. If the Sorcerer casts a spell that
does not require a Sorcery skill roll, but while he still has
hubris dice in the pool, roll anyway to see if divine ven-
geance manifests itself.
Once per session, a Sorcerer who uses Invocation for
power can make a minor sacrifice to appease the Gods.
Instead of regaining Legend as a Scion would, he instead
reduces his hubris pool by two.
Example: Dora’s Sorcerer, Inga, has accumulated
three hubris dice so far by casting spells while wearing a
rune-embroidered cloak and declaring herself to be Freyja.
When she then uses Untether to fly, she adds a fourth die and
rolls Culture + Presence as her Sorcery skill: out of her usual
8-die skill pool, four are replaced with hubris dice. Two of
them come up successes, she feels the invisible flutter of a
falcon’s wings rush past her, and gains a 2 Complication on
63
 HUBRIS DICE RESULT
1-2 2 Complication on further spells cast in the same scene. Failing to overcome the Complication
adds an additional hubris die to the pool, accompanied by a warning omen from the offended
God.
3-4 The Storyguide either adds the current hubris dice to the Tension pool or creates a Twist of Fate
that works against the Sorcerer and her allies.
5-6 The Sorcerer gains a Nemesis Fatebinding with a strength equal to half the hubris dice pool
rounded up, taking the form of an agent of divine retribution. If the character is already at his
maximum number of Fatebindings, one of the Sorcerer’s Fatebound SGCs is immediately put in
Peril instead.
7-8 The Sorcerer suffers a harmful supernatural Condition appropriate to the God. It can only be
removed by performing a major sacrifice to that God or by the intervention of another God-tier
being.
9-10 The Sorcerer and the area around her become the targets of a Marvel of the Storyguide’s choos-
ing that falls within the God’s Purviews.

any other spells she casts that scene. Her hubris dice pool is
reduced from four to two.
PATRONAGE
A Sorcerer with a patron accepts a permanent
Fatebinding with a God or powerful spirit in order to bar-
gain for Legend. Unlike Chosen Scions whose divine gifts
can never be taken away by the God that first bestows
them, Sorcerers of this kind must constantly placate their
patrons in order to have access to power. For some —
Sorcerers who learn magic through intense devotion to a
God — following the patron’s request is no great sacrifice.
Others, however, discover that the entities most willing to
impart their secrets are the ones who intend to exact the
highest prices for them.
System: The character gains a permanent
Fatebinding, Patron. He cannot take on any other
Fatebindings, and can only gain Legend through sacrific-
es or by compelling his Patron. Once per session each, he
can invoke or compel his Patron as follows:
Invoke: The Sorcerer invokes the Patron to gain
access to Path resources of the Patron as if they were a
Path he possessed himself. This can be used to ask for
help from the Patron’s followers, gain access to temples
or cult sites, or borrow equipment that the Patron could
reasonably supply.
Compel: The Sorcerer gains a point of Legend but
must replace one of her Short-term Deeds with one that
the Patron demands. If she does not complete the Deed
by the end of the episode, she loses 1 point of Legend and
must perform a minor sacrifice before she can invoke or
compel the Patron again.
Upon reaching Legend 5, a Sorcerer with a Patron
finds their requests more demanding. Once per arc, the
Patron can demand that the character take on a Long-
term Deed of their choice. In any session during which
the character does not make at least minor progress
toward accomplishing the Deed, she can neither invoke
nor compel the Patron.
PROHIBITION
By taking on strict limitations on his own behavior, a
Sorcerer strikes a bargain with Fate: I will become a char-
acter in your story if you grant me the power to influence
it. He loses some of his freedom, entangles himself in a
web of rules to follow, but can be sure of having access to
Legend so long as he obeys.
Prohibitions are more extensive than the geasa of
the Tuatha De Danann. Instead of describing specific
actions to avoid, they encompass entire codes of conduct
that affect a character every day of her life. “Never take
a lover” is a geis. A comparable prohibition would be
never to display any affection for anyone through words
or actions: treat family and friends the same as strangers,
never touch anyone with whom you have any emotional
connection, and never grieve the loss of someone close
to you.
As a general guideline, the prohibition should have
a moderate effect on the character’s behavior at all times
(e.g., requiring an ascetic lifestyle or the maintenance of
ritual purity) or enforce strict limitations about a quarter
of the time (e.g., cannot use magic during the full moon,
must sleep in a graveyard).
System: The character gains the Persistent Condition,
Sorcerous Prohibition, that limits his behavior as de-
scribed above. Gain Momentum any time the Condition
significantly interferes with his ability to act, but once per
scene, he can choose to spend 1 Momentum and gain a
point of Legend instead. If he violates his prohibition, he
immediately loses all Legend points and cannot use one
of his Motifs to perform any magic until the next episode.
The Sorcerer acquires a second prohibition at Legend 5
and a third at Legend 9.

64 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS

 STOLEN TALISMANS
While the main disadvantage of a player
choosing a Talisman as his character’s source of
power is that it can be stolen, it should also not be
taken as an invitation for someone to take it away
frequently. Disarming a Sorcerer for a few rounds
is fair, but the risk of losing it for longer shouldn’t
come up more than once every few arcs.
TALISMAN
Talismans are Relics whose fame gradually eclipses
that of the Sorcerer who uses them, so that they become
sources of Legend for the character to tap into rather
than simple tools or foci for power. To rely on a Talisman
means for a Sorcerer to accept that she will be remem-
bered less for who she is and more for the fact that she
was one wielder of the Book of Thoth, Gwydion’s magic
wand, or the obsidian mirror of Tezcatlipoca; its name
will be famous long after hers has been forgotten.
Unsurprisingly, then, most Sorcerers become in-
tensely possessive of their Talisman, not only because
they cannot use most of their magic if they lose it, but be-
cause their entire identity becomes bound to the fact that
they have it. As they increase in power, this connection
takes on a supernatural quality to the extent that losing
access to the Talisman can be a life-threatening event.
System: A Talisman must be purchased as a Relic
Birthright with a minimum level of half the Sorcerer’s
Legend (rounded up). Although the Sorcerer’s Legend
increases over time and through Deeds as it does for oth-
er characters, it’s effectively the Talisman’s Legend that
grows and it is that pool of Legend that he draws upon for
his spells or rituals.
At the beginning of each session, a Talisman can
provide Legend equal to the lower of twice its Relic level
or its wielder’s Legend so long as it is in her possession.
These points are the character’s only source of Legend;
she cannot perform sacrifices or Fatebindings to regain
it. If she loses her Talisman, she can only use Sorcery that
has no Legend cost, and any spells that rely on imbued
Legend end immediately.
At Legend 5, a Sorcerer’s bond to his Talisman allows
him to use it to preserve his own life, but at a cost. Once
per session, if the character is Taken Out, he can imbue
a point of Legend to delay the injury that caused it so
that it does not take effect until he either reclaims that
point or loses control of the Talisman. The injury cannot
be healed until it is released from the Talisman, but will
remain suspended for as long as he keeps that point of
Legend imbued.
Spells and Rituals
WORKINGS,
TECHNIQUES, AND
CHARMS
T he many magical powers attributed to Sorcerers
in The World fall into five broad categories called
Workings. Every Sorcerer knows at least one of these, and
the vast majority of them that mortals encounter will never
master more than one. Within each Working are several
Techniques that hone the Sorcerer’s abilities and add new
ones. For example, the Wonderment Working at its basic
level allows a character to disguise people or change the
appearance of objects, but Wonderment Techniques give
him the power to turn invisible, create entire illusory scenes,
or conjure items out of thin air.
When a character learns a Working, she also ac-
quires that Working’s inherent Technique. She gains two
Techniques of that Working at Legend 1, then one more
for every point of Legend after that. Sorcerer characters
know one Working and its inherent Technique at Legend
0, and gain additional Workings upon reaching Legend 1,
5, and 9. Learning a new Technique beyond those gained
naturally costs 10 Experience. Additional Workings can-
not be purchased with Experience.
Charms are minor magical effects available to any
Sorcerer who knows a Working. Most of them can provide
a 1 Enhancement or Complication to mundane actions
associated with the Working, such as using a Divining
charm to enhance research or a Binding charm to briefly
inconvenience an enemy. Charms cannot be used of any-
one of a higher tier than the Sorcerer.
SPELLS AND RITUALS
A Technique used to produce an immediate effect is a
spell. Casting a spell is a simple action in combat and re-
quires the Sorcerer to invoke a Motif to do so. Some spells
call for a Sorcery skill roll. As with Knack skills (Origin,
p. 105), the player and Storyguide agree on the appro-
priate skill. The Storyguide then chooses the Arena and
the player chooses the Approach. By default, the skill for
Sorcery rolls is determined by how the character is casting
the spell, not the desired outcome. It might be Culture for
a prayer or song, Academics to recite an incantation in a
dead language, Science when concocting potions, and so
on. If the skill roll fails, the spell has no effect, no Legend
cost (if there is one), and can be tried again next round.
If the spell has a Legend cost, the character pays it
when it succeeds. Spells that require a Sorcerer to imbue
Legend keep that Legend invested at least until the end
of the scene or until he spends a point of Momentum and
makes a Sorcery skill roll to recover it.
65

RITUAL SORCERY
A Sorcerer can go far beyond his normal limits by
turning a Working into a ritual. When people tell stories
of curses that last for generations, armies of spirits rising
from the Underworld, or forests coming to life to defend
their inhabitants, they’re describing rituals that can take
Sorcerers weeks or months to perform.
Casting a ritual is like crafting an item: each step in
the process is a Milestone that the Sorcerer’s player and
the Storyguide agree to, usually requiring a Short-term
Deed to accomplish. The more powerful the final effect,
the more Milestones the character needs to complete.
The first Milestone always involves researching or cre-
ating the ritual, which might require the Sorcerer to get
access to an occult tome, consult with a mentor, or busy
herself with experimentation in an alchemical laboratory.
Afterward, add one Milestone for each of the following
effects:
• Spend Legend instead of imbuing to make an effect
last for the duration of the current arc or until dis-
pelled by any ability that can remove supernatural
Conditions
• Allow the Sorcerer to cast a spell on a target at any
distance so long as he possesses something with
a strong sympathetic connection (a lock of hair,
some blood, a clear photograph, etc.) to the target
• Allow the Sorcerer to share the effect of a spell that
would normally only affect herself with her allies
• Spend Legend to apply a Feat of Scale to one fea-
ture of the spell.
The Milestones after the first one can involve locat-
ing components for the ritual, undergoing purifications,
performing sacrifices, waiting for the proper alignment of
stars, gathering helpers to aid in the final rite, or anything
else that the player and Storyguide agree upon. Because
it’s usually not fun for a character to be taken complete-
ly out of play in order to prepare for a ritual, choosing
Milestones that allow fellow players to help or ones that
drive the Sorcerer to start a subplot that’s still connected
to the main story is better than asking him to meditate in
a cave for a month while his friends are on an adventure.
Example of a ritual: Josh’s Sorcerer, Ayta, must
descend into Tamu to speak with her dead mentor by
using the Secret Paths Technique. Knowing that Erlik’s
Underworld can be dangerous, she wants to bring her
companions with her for support, and so must perform the
spell as a ritual requiring the completion of two Milestones
(one to make it a ritual, one to extend the effect) and the
normal cost of 1 Legend. For the first Milestone, Josh tells
the Storyguide that Ayta is going to reach out to the local
Tengri community to find shamans and storytellers who
know the best route to take on the journey. For the second,
her plan is to construct the ritual space and tools she will
66 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS
need: a thatch-roofed hut in the wilderness built around
a central pole, an animal-skin drum painted with a rough
map of the Underworld, and a potion for herself and her
companions to drink to induce their shared trance. By
dividing up the work between herself and her friends, she
completes this part in a few days, and the entire group
begins their descent.
LIFTING SPELLS
When mortals go to visit their local Sorcerer, it’s al-
most always for the same reason: to break a spell that’s
been placed on them. Some people might ask for a divina-
tion first to make sure that their sickness or streak of bad
luck is, in fact, the work of magic, but if they’re paying for
a Sorcerer’s time, it’s easier to go straight to asking him to
lift whatever curse they think they’re under. Fortunately,
lifting supernatural influence is something any Sorcerer
can do through ritual.
Lifting a supernatural effect requires ritual Sorcery
that generally takes one scene per Milestone to complete.
The first Milestone is used to determine whether or not
the subject is under magical influence, and will always
produce a yes or no answer without requiring any skill
rolls. (A Sorcerer with the Divining Working can accom-
plish this in one round instead of one scene.) Removing
the spell then requires the Sorcerer to complete one
Milestone if it was cast by someone of her tier or lower,
or two Milestones if cast by someone of one tier high-
er. Spells cast by beings two more tiers higher than the
Sorcerer cannot be broken through this ritual.
A character can reduce the time necessary to lift
a spell by spending one point of Legend per Milestone
bypassed. At the end of the ritual, he makes a Clash of
Wills (Sorcery skill + Legend vs. Integrity + Legend) to
determine success.
BINDING
Love spells, curses, and the evil eye are the powers
that mortals most associate with Sorcerers, and all of them
are forms of Bindings. It’s common for people to assume
that every Sorcerer can work spells of this kind, which
lends to their general reputation around The World for
bringing trouble to their communities.
Charms: Binding charms produce brief and immedi-
ate effects that hinder their target in some way: they can
force a person to look at the Sorcerer, garble her speech
while trying to call for help, mistype a password, and so
on. If appropriate, the hindrance adds +1 Difficulty to a
specific roll that the target makes in the next round or
minute.
Inherent Technique: Spite
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: 1 Momentum or 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: One character
Range: Short
With a few words or an angry gaze, a Sorcerer can
inflict either misfortune or injury on a target. To inflict
damage, the character spends 1 Momentum and
rolls his Sorcery skill to make the initial attack. For the
rest of the scene, he can use Spite on the same target
at no extra cost. He can also apply the following
Stunts:
Eyebite (0s + opponent’s Defense): Force the target
to maintain eye contact with the Sorcerer, preventing
either one from performing mixed actions or any
basic action other than Move. Eyebite can only be
used on a given target once per scene, but lasts until
the Sorcerer breaks eye contact or some obstacle
blocks her line of sight.
Under the Skin (2 or 5s): For 2s, inflict an Injury
Condition on the opponent. For 5s, inflict an Injury
with the Aggravated tag.
Staggering Words (0s + opponent’s Stamina): Knock
the target prone.
Howl (0s): Spend 1 Legend instead of Momentum to
affect every opponent in the same range band as the
target.
Alternately, the Sorcerer can either spend 1 Legend
to apply a difficulty penalty equal to half the number
of Sorcery skill successes to all of a target’s rolls for
the remainder of the scene or spend 1 Momentum to
add difficulty equal to the full number of successes
Spells and Rituals
for one roll of her choosing in the current scene. The
maximum difficulty in either case is 5.
BINDING TECHNIQUES
Curse
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: One character
Range: Short
The Sorcerer applies a harmful Condition to a target
for the duration of the spell. The player must specify
the curse before rolling; the Storyguide assigns a dif-
ficulty to the spell based on how significant an effect
it will cause. In the case of Conditions that don’t have
a direct mechanical effect (e.g., causing someone’s
hair to fall out, their socks to always be wet, or for
them to forget the names of everyone they know),
the Storyguide can use the s table (Origin, p.64)
as a guide. For Conditions that add difficulty to the
target’s actions, the difficulty penalty is equal to half
the number of successes rolled.
Draw Out
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Indefinite
Subject: One character
67
 POISONED APPLES AND TREACHEROUS RINGS
Sorcerers who know the Curse Technique can, as a ritual, leave a curse in waiting on an object, together
with the conditions that cause it to take effect. The requirement for activation must be a simple one, like
“Whoever touches this,” “Whoever disturbs this grave,” or “Whoever reads these words aloud.” Applying a
curse in this way costs 1 Legend, but the Condition that it applies lasts until it is removed.
Range: Long
When mortals talk about love spells, this is the
Technique that they usually mean. It doesn’t inspire
love at all, but if successful, compels the target
to come to the Sorcerer. Until he does, the victim
gains the Wasting Condition, which prevents him
from eating or sleeping and imposes an increasing
Difficulty penalty to all actions the longer it goes on:
+1 in one day, +2 in three days, +4 in one week.
After one week, the target suffers an Injury Condition
every day until the effect is resolved. Drawing Out
cannot be used on anyone of a higher Tier than the
Sorcerer. Targets of the same Tier can roll Resilience
+ Resolve each day to break free of the effect, with
a difficulty equal to the number of successes of the
original spell.
Envessel
Skill Roll: See below
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Arc
Subject: One spirit
Range: Short
Commonly used by Sorcerers who also know the
Summoning Working, Envessel allows the character
to trap a defeated spirit in an object. Against a spirit
that has been Taken Out, the Technique requires no
roll to succeed. Against spirits that are still active,
the difficulty of the Sorcery skill roll is equal to its
remaining Health levels and costs 1 Momentum per
attempt.
A spirit can be interrogated by the Sorcerer once
per session while it is trapped, or it can be released
and commanded to perform one service afterward.
Spirits given orders in this way tend to become
resentful: if the player wishes, she can take it on as a
Nemesis Fatebinding immediately after the service
has been completed.
Forbiddance
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: One character
Range: Short
68 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS
Similar to the geis, this Technique allows the
Sorcerer to command the target to refrain from a
certain activity. If successful, the spell applies the
Forbidden Condition for the rest of the scene or
until the Sorcerer chooses to end it. The target of the
Forbidden Condition is unable to perform the named
action, so long as it is one that is normally under his
conscious control. (“Do not move” is valid; “do not
breathe” is not.)
Spirit-Wrestling
Skill Roll: No
Cost: None
Duration: Scene
Subject: One spirit
Range: Short
The Sorcerer engages a spirit in a ritualized contest
in order to drive it away from his presence for the
remainder of the session. The contest is a complex
action using a skill of the spirit’s choosing, requiring
a base 1 to 4 Milestones to complete. For spirit
Antagonists, the Storyguide should use its Archetype
rank as a measure: one for the lowest, four for the
highest. If it is one higher tier than the Sorcerer,
add 2 Milestones; if one tier lower, subtract 2 to a
minimum of 1.
The contest, which might be an exchange of riddles,
a competitive dance, actual wrestling, or anything
else appropriate to the nature of the spirit, must be
played out to its conclusion to have any effect. If the
Sorcerer wins, the spirit departs. If he loses, he can-
not use Spirit-Wrestling on it again for the remainder
of the current arc. If the contest is interrupted, he can
cast the spell again, but either loses any progress he
has made toward victory (if he was ahead or tied in
Milestones) or treats it as a defeat (if the spirit was
ahead).
Subversion
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: 1 Momentum
Duration: Scene
Subject: One character
Range: Short
The Sorcerer alters the Attitude of a Storyguide
character toward her (only). The player first tells the
 Storyguide what Attitude she wants the target to
have (negative or positive, level 0 to 5), then makes
a Sorcery skill roll with a difficulty equal to the differ-
ence between their current Attitude and the desired
one. It cannot be used on targets two or more tiers
higher than the caster.
DIVINING
The first thing that most Sorcerers learn is how to
interpret the hidden signs of The World and put them to
use. Whether they do it through calendrical calculations,
observing nature, or speaking to spirits, they gather in-
formation in ways that are inaccessible to other mortals.
Charms: Divining charms allow casters to gain
knowledge in ways that would generally be available
through non-supernatural means, but without having to
go through the effort of research. Using a divining charm
during Procedural play gives 1 Enhancement to attempts
to gather information.
Inherent Technique: Read the Signs
Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Momentum or imbue 1 Legend
Duration: One roll or indefinite
Subject: Self
During procedural play (Origin, p. 73-75), the
Sorcerer can spend a point of Momentum to use his
Sorcery skill in place of any other skill roll required to
gather clues. In addition to the usual Stunts available
when finding clues, he also gains the following:
Mythic Traces (1s): If the scene that the Sorcerer
is investigating involves magic or is connected to
supernatural beings, he can identify the Pantheon to
which they are most closely aligned.
Guilt-finding (2 or 4s): As a 2s Stunt, the player can
ask the Storyguide for a general description of the
cause of a situation that her character is studying.
For four successes, the Sorcerer learns the current
location of who- or whatever has caused it and can
choose to imbue a point of Legend to continue to
track that cause wherever it goes.
DIVINING TECHNIQUES
Avert Doom
Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: One character
Range: Short
The Sorcerer spends 1 Legend and names a specific
source of damage. For the duration of the scene, the
subject of the spell cannot be killed by that source.
She may suffer all other appropriate Conditions,
Spells and Rituals
including being Taken Out, so long as none of them
are fatal.
Ecstatic Trance
Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: Self
The Sorcerer invites a spirit into his body to offer
guidance to others while also protecting him from
harm. The character names the spirit or type of spirit
to call up, after which he can use his Sorcery skill
in place of a specific skill roll for the duration of the
spell. For example, by becoming possessed by an
ancestor who was a great warrior, he can substitute
his Sorcery skill for Close Combat, while the spirit of
a wise sage allows him to substitute it for Academics.
In addition, being in the trance allows the Sorcerer
to ignore pain to a limited degree. For the duration
of the spell, she gains one extra Bruised Health Level
and is Resistant to one of the following: fire, cold,
sharp weapons, poison, or drowning.
The possessing spirit may have its own agenda if it is
summoned without a clear purpose or if it completes
its task before the spell is done: the warrior might
demand a feast when it has defeated its enemies,
the sage might become engrossed in learning about
the internet, and so on. If the player accepts an
inconvenient distraction as a result of the possession,
he gains Momentum. If the character wants to end
the trance before the scene has finished, she must
succeed at a Sorcery skill roll.
Necromantic Consultation
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: One corpse
Range: Close
The Sorcerer calls up the spirit from a corpse in order
to communicate with it. If she wishes, she can make it
visible and audible to others, but by default, only she
can see or hear it. The spirit has the same Attitude to
the Sorcerer as it did when it was alive and cannot
interact with its surroundings in any way beyond
speaking and gesturing.
Pronouncement
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: None
Duration: Scene
Subject: One character
Range: Short
69
 The Sorcerer offers advice to another person on how
to succeed at a specific task and makes a Sorcery
skill roll. The number of successes become a pool of
Enhancements that the subject can draw on, up to 3
at a time, for any rolls to complete that task for the
duration.
Sudden Insight
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: None
Duration: Scene
Subject: One character
Range: Short
Through her experience in recognizing portents,
the Sorcerer is able to determine the best way to
navigate obstacles before her. The subject of the
spell gains an Enhancement equal to the number of
successes on any one skill roll within the duration.
This Enhancement can only be used to overcome
Complications or difficulty penalties on that roll; any
leftover Enhancement has no effect.
Synchronicity
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: 1 Momentum or 1 Legend
Duration: Instant
Subject: One character
Range: Medium or unlimited
The Sorcerer creates a Twist of Fate (Origin, p.
68) for herself or another without having to invoke
a Path. The magnitude of the effect is based on the
number of successes. If she possesses something be-
longing to the subject and spends a point of Legend,
she can do this at any distance.
SUMMONING
The World is full of invisible entities that can be
brought forth through the proper incantations and en-
treaties. The Summoning Working governs all forms of
such magic, whether that means calling up storms, con-
sulting ancestors for knowledge, or commanding house-
hold spirits to act as personal servants.
Charms: Summoning charms can be used to nego-
tiate with or threaten spirits, adding 1 Enhancement to
rolls to exert influence (Origin, p. 79) on them.
Inherent Technique: Familiar Spirit
Skill Roll: No
Cost: None
Duration: Scene
Subject: Self
70 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS
Whether by binding a minor spirit to his service or
projecting his own will in semi-material form, the
Sorcerer can use this Technique to act on The World
at a distance. He creates a 1-dot Follower (Hero,
p. 201) of the Heavy, Entourage, or Consultant
type with no Follower tags for the duration. He can
choose a different type every time he casts this spell.
Familiars of the Heavy type can perform basic
manual labor or engage in close combat. Those of
the Entourage type can deliver messages or act as
seductive distractions. Consultant familiars gather
information and perform research on the summoner’s
behalf. They use the Sorcerer’s Leadership + his
highest Power attribute as their dice pool, and act as
Followers in all other ways. If a familiar spirit is Taken
Out, the Sorcerer cannot summon another for the
duration of the scene.
Summoning Techniques
Embody
Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Legend
Subject: One character
Range: Close
The Sorcerer turns a harmful, non-Injury Condition
affecting herself or another person into a physical
entity with the goal of subduing it. The difficulty to
cast the spell is for the Storyguide to determine,
using the guidelines described above under curses.
Persistent Conditions that are part of a character’s
natural being, such as those of many Denizens,
cannot be embodied.
Treat the embodied Condition as a hostile Antagonist
of the same tier as the person it was drawn from, and
an archetype commensurate with its severity: a mild
flu drawn from a mortal has the Mook archetype,
while the lethal poison running through the veins of a
Hero is probably a Nemesis or Titanspawn. It has the
Incorporeality Quality (to anyone but the Sorcerer,
Origin, p. 148), and only one Flair: Plague Touch
(Hero, p. 290) that transmits the Condition that
it embodies. The Storyguide can spend from the
Tension pool to improve its abilities as normal.
If the embodiment Takes Out another person, it
immediately enters that person’s body and must
be summoned again to confront it. If it is Taken Out
itself, the Condition is resolved.
Evocation
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Indefinite
Subject: One creature
Range: Close
 The Sorcerer calls forth a temporary creature of his
choosing to serve him for as long as he keeps a point
of Legend imbued in the spell. The creature’s base
attributes are as follows:
Primary Pool: Successes x3
Secondary Pool: Primary Pool -2
Desperation Pool: Primary Pool -4 (minimum 1)
Health: Successes x1
Defense: 1 + half the Sorcerer’s Legend
Initiative: Primary Pool -2
The number of successes that a Sorcerer can roll is
capped 5x her tier, including Enhancements. The
Sorcerer can add Qualities or Flairs at a cost of one
success each, choosing from the Antagonist lists ap-
propriate to her tier. (Any ability that would normally
have a cost in Tension instead requires the player
to spend a point of Momentum to use.) Otherwise,
summoned creatures follow the general rules for the
Creature Birthright (Hero, p. 201-202).
Forces of Nature
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: 1 Legend
Duration: Scene or special
By commanding minor spirits of nature, the Sorcerer
can alter either the weather or the landscape around
herself. She can either add up to a 3 Complication to
the Field she occupies by calling up hostile weather
conditions or reduce Complications in the Field
caused by similar phenomena.
Alternately, this Technique can be used to bless or
blight plants in the same way as the Favor of Nature
Boon (Hero, p. 250). This use of the Technique
requires no skill roll and lasts for a number of years
equal to the Sorcerer’s Legend x10.
Resurrection
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: One corpse
Range: Close
The Sorcerer uses a minor spirit to restore a corpse
to a semblance of life. If the corpse is larger than a
human, add twice its size Scale to the difficulty of
casting the spell. The animated body has the same
non-supernatural physical characteristics that it did
while alive, but it takes all actions with a +2 difficulty
penalty and only possesses the barest spark of
intelligence that it uses to obey the Sorcerer’s com-
mands. If the Necromantic Consultation Technique
(see above) is used on a corpse animated in this
way, Resurrection can be used to restore the original
Spells and Rituals
personality and mental faculties to the corpse for the
duration.
Servitors
Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Legend
Duration: Milestone
Range: Close
The Sorcerer assigns a small host of invisible spirits
to carry out a time-consuming activity in his place.
The spirits can be used for construction, research,
crafting, or general physical labor, but in any case
will work long enough to complete one Milestone in
a complex action while their summoner is freed to do
other things. Using Servitors still requires the Sorcerer
to have access to raw materials if required, but
reduces the time needed to perform the task by half.
If any skill rolls are necessary, they use the higher of
the Sorcerer’s own relevant skill or his Sorcery skill to
determine the outcome.
Spirit Teacher
Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: One spirit
Range: Close
The Sorcerer spends 1 Legend to call up a spirit that
acts as a temporary Guide for the duration of the
scene. The player should first give the Spirit Teacher
and name and a short description of its area of
expertise (use the guidelines for Legendary Titles
to choose one: a keyword related to a role and a
descriptor of how that keyword can be applied).
The Sorcerer gains the following advantages, all of
which must relate to the spirit’s description:
• Invoke the Spirit Teacher once as a Path for
access to information, contacts, or locations
• Gain a +1 Enhancement on two appropriate
skills or a +2 Enhancement on one skill
• Invoke a Twist of Fate once.
WONDERMENT
Wonderment is the magic of folk- and fairytales, the
Working by which Sorcerers vanish from sight, disguise
themselves, fly through the air, and appear to turn lead
into gold. Most of the effects that it produces are illusions
intended to impress and deceive onlookers, but in the
hands of a clever Sorcerer, they can be just as powerful as
spells of other Workings.
Charms: Wonderment charms can be used to dupli-
cate feats of sleight of hand or perform simple actions
that the Sorcerer could do himself with minimal effort:
71
turning lights on and off, opening unlocked doors, con-
juring an apple from a fruit bowl into his hand from
Animation
across the room, producing music out of nowhere, and
so on.
Inherent Technique: Veil
Skill Roll: Special
Cost: None or imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: One character or one object
Range: Short
The simplest Wonderment Technique disguises one
thing as another. If used on a person, it can give
them the appearance of another human of roughly
similar size for the duration of the scene, also
changing the target’s clothing into whatever the
Sorcerer wishes. If the Sorcerer is trying to imitate the
appearance of a specific person, she must imbue 1
Legend and succeed at a Sorcery skill roll.
The power can be used on objects as well, up to
the size of whatever an ordinary person could lift
and carry, so long as the resulting illusion’s shape Concealment
bears some resemblance to the original. A handful of
leaves could be disguised as a stack of dollar bills,
for example, but not as a chair. Again, the Sorcerer
must only imbue Legend and make a skill roll if trying
to duplicate a specific object.
72 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS
WONDERMENT TECHNIQUES
Skill Roll: No
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: One object
Range: Short
With this Technique, a Sorcerer causes a Scale 0
object to move under her command (walking if it
has something resembling legs, crawling or rolling
otherwise), bend itself as if it were made of flesh,
and even fight for her as if it were a 4-dot Follower
with the Heavy archetype and up to four points of
tags appropriate to its material, with the exception of
Knacks.
In addition, Animation can be used to make a vehi-
cle up to the size of a small airplane operate on its
own without a driver or pilot, so long as the Sorcerer
is occupying it, using his Sorcery skill in place of any
Pilot skill rolls during travel.
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: 1 Momentum
Duration: Scene
Subject: Self or one object
 Range: Close
The Sorcerer can vanish from sight. While invisible,
he gains +3 Defense and a 3 Enhancement on
stealth rolls, reduced to +1 and 1e if an opponent
has some way of detecting his general presence
(supernaturally keen senses, following tracks in mud,
spotting eddies in smoky or misty air, etc.). If he takes
an Injury Condition while invisible, he must make a
Resilience + Integrity roll to avoid ending the spell,
but otherwise can act freely.
Concealment can also be used to hide objects (up
to the size of a pillow or backpack) from a target’s
senses. The concealed item becomes undetectable to
the target (only) by any means, even if she is in direct
contact with it or it injures her. If used on a weapon,
the wielder gains a 2 Enhancement on all attacks
against the target.
Conjuring
Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Legend
Range: Close
The Sorcerer creates an ordinary object or related
collection of objects whose total size doesn’t
exceed what he can hold comfortably in both arms.
The Technique does not duplicate specific items,
but only general types that the player describes,
such as “a sword,” “a cooked dinner for two,” “a
fancy wristwatch,” or “a heap of coins.” If used to
create money or precious commodities, Conjuring
produces roughly enough to cover an ordinary day’s
expenses.
Glamour
Skill Roll: No
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
This Technique allows the Sorcerer either to cover
an entire Field with an illusory scene or to create
a realistic but insubstantial phantom. A phantom
created through Glamour follows the same rules as
the Ephemera Boon (Hero, p. 246). To create an
illusory scene, the player describes the intended
result in one phrase (“An opulent throne room,” “A
burning hellscape under a blood-red sun,” “The
same place, but under a full moon”) and makes
a Sorcery skill roll. The skill roll doesn’t determine
whether or not the spell is successful, but provides
the difficulty of any roll needed to recognize that the
scene is false. Nothing created through Glamour has
any substance: if the Sorcerer produces the illusion of
a crowded city street, the pedestrians and vehicles
will pass through real people, while someone in an
illusory forest could walk through trees if she desires.
Spells and Rituals
Transfer Wound
Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Momentum
Range: Close
Sorcerers have little direct power over injuries, but
this Technique can save a life if they are willing
to pay the price: the caster can heal an Injury
Condition by transferring it to himself or another will-
ing individual. If the subject who takes on the wound
has no unfilled injury boxes of the appropriate level,
it fills the next higher one. The Technique cannot
bring someone back to life who has died, but it can
be used to move the Taken Out condition from a
dying person.
Untether
Skill Roll: Special
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend or 1 Momentum
Duration: Scene
Subject: Special
Range: Self or Short
By imbuing 1 Legend, the Sorcerer either gains
the power to fly at her normal running speed or
levitates a Scale 0 object. If the object is dangerous
enough to use as a weapon, she can wield it using
her Sorcery skill at Short range for the duration
of the spell, applying whatever weapon tags the
Storyguide thinks are appropriate. If it’s large
enough and solid enough, the object can instead act
as cover (Origin, p. 72).
Untether can also be used to unlock doors and
cause chains or ropes to fall off whatever they are
binding. This use of the Technique costs 1 Momentum
instead of having a Legend cost and requires a
Sorcery skill roll to succeed. The Storyguide can
apply difficulty modifiers in the case of complex
locks or supernatural bonds; in the case of the latter,
the Sorcerer cannot break any bonds applied by a
being of a higher tier than herself.
SHAPECHANGING
Possibly the oldest Working after Divination,
Shapechanging comes in two forms: the first allows a
Sorcerer to separate his consciousness from his body in
spirit form, usually that of an animal; the second produc-
es a complete physical transformation. Although most
Sorcerers who learn this Working specialize in one ap-
proach or the other, the most prudent ones will study both
so as to surprise enemies who underestimate their limits.
Charms: Shapechanging charms do not involve
transformations of any kind, but rather to communicate
better with animals. They can be used to understand their
speech, calm or excite them, or persuade them to do minor
73
favors on the Sorcerer’s behalf. Where applicable, they add
1 Enhancement to rolls to influence animal behavior.
Inherent Technique: Flying Soul
Skill Roll: No
Cost: None
Duration: Special
Subject: Self
By falling into a deep trance that takes ten minutes
to induce, the Sorcerer can separate a part of his
soul from his body and send it into The World. The
soul either takes the form of a candleflame-sized ball
of light or a small, harmless animal of his choosing.
As a ball of light, it can float at walking speed and
pass through narrow cracks. As an animal, it has
whatever form of locomotion a normal animal of that
kind would.
If attacked, the soul can only use defensive stunts
and is driven back to the caster’s body after taking
any Injury Condition, but gains +2 Defense and 3
Enhancement on stealth rolls due to its small size.
If it is successfully grappled and pinned, an enemy
can keep hold of it or put it in a suitable container to
prevent it from returning to the Sorcerer. If, for any
reason, the soul does not return to its body before
the next sunrise or sunset, the Sorcerer remains un-
conscious, suffers an Injury Condition immediately,
and another one each day until it returns.
SHAPECHANGING TECHNIQUES
Dueling Forms
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: Self
The Sorcerer takes on a series of forms that counter
harm against herself or an ally in Close range, no
matter what the source of the threat. The only actions
that she can take under the effect of the spell are
to defend, in which case she increases the Defense
of herself or whoever she is protecting by twice
the number of successes she rolled, or to move. If
defending against sources of damage that don’t
involve attack rolls, such as a raging fire or a toxic
cloud, the Technique adds double the successes as
an Enhancement for the defender or as Difficulty for
the source (whichever is most appropriate, favoring
the defender). Although the Sorcerer can only focus
on one threat in a round, she can take a different
shape each round to protect against other ones.
Fierce Projection
Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
74 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS
Subject: Self
While using Flying Soul, the Sorcerer can turn her
soul into the semi-substantial form of a larger and
more dangerous beast. In animal form, the Sorcerer
can attack using the highest of her Close Combat,
Athletics, or Survival skills, but otherwise retains
all of her normal attributes and dice pools. The
spirit nature of the form gives +2 Defense against
injury from non-supernatural sources. Any injuries
that the Sorcerer sustains during the transformation
carry over to her physical body immediately; if
she is Taken Out, the spell ends and the projection
disappears.
Lord of Animals
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: None
Duration: Scene
The Sorcerer can, while in animal form through other
Shapechanging Techniques, take control over a
group of animals of the same kind. The animals then
act as Followers with the Heavy archetype and a
number of points of appropriate tags equal to the
successes on a Sorcery skill roll (maximum 5). If the
animals are not already present in the Sorcerer’s
vicinity, the Technique will attract them in (10 -
Legend) rounds, but will not work if there are none in
the area to begin with. When they arrive, the animals
are completely under the Sorcerer’s command and
will willingly sacrifice their lives if ordered to.
Secret Paths
Skill Roll: No
Cost: 1 Legend
Duration: Special
Subject: Self
In her Flying Soul form, the Sorcerer can locate a
tiny entrance to an Underworld and travel there in
a trance. Once she has entered the Underworld,
she can shift back and forth from animal to human
shape as she pleases, but will still be driven back to
her body if she sustains any injuries. The Technique is
often used to find and speak with spirits of the dead,
request audiences with the appropriate Underworld
Gods, or negotiate with entities who make a particu-
lar Underworld their home.
Transformation
Skill Roll: No
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: Scene
Subject: Self
The Sorcerer instantly changes his physical body into
that of an animal up to the size of a horse. Although
the character keeps his normal skills, attributes,
 and traits, the animal form gains the following
advantages:
• an additional Bruised Health Level, plus an
Injured Health Level for the largest forms
• whatever natural means of movement the
animal possesses, with +1 Speed Scale for
animals known for their speed
• any natural attacks that the animal form
possesses.
Vampirism
Skill Roll: No
Cost: None
Duration: Special
Subject: Self
While using Flying Soul, a Sorcerer with this
Technique can steal the life-force from a sleeping,
unconscious, or otherwise helpless victim within close
range. Vampirism can only be used once every day
on any given target, and inflicts an Injury Condition
as well as an additional +1 Difficulty on all physical
actions for the next day due to lingering weakness.
The Sorcerer, meanwhile, can heal one Injury
Condition on himself each day after successfully
using Vampirism on another person. Where feasible,
the victim can make a Resilience + Integrity roll to
wake up upon taking damage.
TECHNIQUES
DIVINING
Haruspicy
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: None
Duration: One scene
Subject: Self
Range: Close
You may spend a round concentrating and examin-
ing a character’s injuries to get a glimpse of the near
future. You generate a pool of points equal to the
value of the highest Injury Condition involved (or 5,
for Taken Out). If you use this on a mundane animal
that is not an Antagonist, you receive only 2 points.
You may spend these 1 for 1 to grant Enhancement
to any roll by anyone for the rest of the scene, with a
cap of Enhancement 3 from this to any specific roll.
If you personally inflicted the Injury Condition, apply
this Enhancement before the rolls it enhances. You
may only examine a given character once per day
this way.
Red String
Skill Roll: Yes
Techniques
Cost: 1 Momentum, optionally 1 Legend
Duration: One roll or one session
Subject: Self or one character
Range: Short
You have a sense for the people around you, iden-
tifying the strands of Fate connecting them and how
they can be manipulated. You may take a round to
concentrate and use your Sorcery skill roll as a Shift
Attitude action. If you also spend 1 Legend when
doing, you may allow one character (which can be
you) to acquire an additional Fatebinding this ses-
sion, though they are still bound by the normal limits
on how many Fatebinding Conditions they have.
BINDING
Command
Skill Roll: No
Cost: None
You excel at enforcing your will on others. When
using the Spite technique, you gain a new option:
Command (0s + opponent’s Composure): Declare a
single basic action the target must take on their next
turn, and if necessary a target for that action. Your
foe must spend 1 Momentum or Tension to take any
other action, and if their action does not target the
character you specified, they suffer Complication
2, which if not bought off prevents any movement
actions until the end of their next turn.
Inner Voice
Skill Roll: Difficulty of target’s Resolve
Cost: None (1 Legend)
Duration: One scene
Subject: One character
Range: Short
You can bind yourself to someone, riding in their
mind and influencing them. You share all of that char-
acter’s senses and can speak to them telepathically,
without anyone else hearing. Any Momentum you
spend to boost their rolls gives two dice instead of
one. While you are bound to them, you may spend 1
Legend and make a Sorcery skill roll to force any roll
to be a mixed action requiring an Integrity roll with
difficulty equal to your successes.
SUMMONING
Gift Horse
Skill Roll: No
Cost: None (1 Legend)
Subject: One summoned Creature or Follower
When you use the Summoning working to summon a
Creature or Follower, you may gift command of it to
75
 someone else present in the scene instead of you. It
obeys them, not you, and belongs to them for the du- WONDERMENT
ration. It cannot harm you directly, and any time it is Eternal Youth
used to indirectly hinder you, you gain 1 Momentum.
If you spend 1 Legend while the summoned being Skill Roll: Yes
is present, you may give it a single command that Cost: Spend 1 Legend
it cannot disobey in letter or spirit, even if doing so
would harm the master you bound it to. Duration: Permanent
Single-Minded Subject: One character
Range: Close
Skill Roll: No
You are able to reverse the ravages of time, bringing
Cost: None someone back to the peak of their health. Your target
Subject: One summoned Creature or Follower gets the Peak Performance Condition. You may also
choose to reduce the target’s apparent physical age
When you use the Summoning working to summon to whatever the target desires. 
a Creature or Follower, you may choose to give up
control of it. If you do, you may give the entity only Golden Apple
a single command, no more than a simple sentence,
when it is first summoned, and it will then pursue Skill Roll: Yes
the letter of that command to the best of its ability Cost: Imbue 2 Legend
and gains Enhancement 2 to all rolls to do so. In the
case of a Follower, it acts independently of you and Duration: Indefinite
gains its own position on the Initiative track. It will not Subject: One object
listen to you further unless it feels like it and may do
anything it pleases, so long as it continues to pursue Range: Close
the letter of the command given to it for the duration. You may imbue an object with power and emotion,
If it completes the order entirely, it is free to do what granting it great power over whoever possesses it.
it likes for the rest of the duration. This functions as the Boon Irresistible Impulse (Hero
p. 257) with the following changes: the Difficulty

76 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS

 PEAK PERFORMANCE
Your body is operating at the best it ever has.
Effect: You get Enhancement to resist poison,
disease and other ailments equal to the successes
on the Sorcery roll to create this Condition,
maximum 3.
Resolution: End this condition to
automatically end a harmful condition related to
poison, disease or similar.
increase to actions and the Enhancement to detect
the emotion are equal to your successes on the
Sorcery roll, maximum 5, and the effects apply to
whoever currently carries the object. When they
resolve the Condition, the object vanishes from their
possession and reappears elsewhere in the scene. If
you reclaim your Legend, the object loses all power.
Shapeshifting
Mental Transformation
Skill Roll: Yes
Cost: Imbue or Spend 1 Legend
Duration: One scene
Subject: Self
You are able to turn yourself into someone else not
only physically, but mentally. Your memories and
personality are suppressed, replaced by a false mind
of your own design, and you may temporarily trans-
fer a number of Ability dots equal to your successes
between Abilities. You describe this identity briefly,
such as “a stubborn banker,” “a loyal dog,” or “a
fanatical zealot of the Cult of Dionysus,” though it
cannot be a specific person. You may set a condition
that will return you to normal before the end of the
MINDMASK
Reflected Desire
You have taken on the form of the person you
believe yourself to be.
Effect: You get Enhancement 2 to any
Sorcery rolls to perform Charms which your
assumed identity should be able to perform,
such as a kitsune being able to perform minor,
inconsequential illusions. This does not give you
any ability to do things you normally can’t.
Momentum: Every time you are unable to
do something that your assumed identity should
be able to, gain Momentum.
Resolution: This condition ends when your
Mental Transformation ends.
Techniques
DENIZENS, SAINTS
AND SORCERY
Sorcerers, unlike most other characters, do
not have Callings or access to Knacks most of
the time. There are two ways of handling this,
for players that wish to play a Denizen, Saint or
Scion that is also a Sorcerer.
The first method is usable by Scions and
any Denizen with a Legend score, and it is the
simpler method: take the Magic Purview. For a
Denizen, this means a greater reliance on their
natural abilities and Callings, but still grants
them access, if somewhat more limited, to uses
of Sorcery.
The second method is usable by Saints and
Denizens, but not Scions. In this case, it reflects
a character who relies primarily on Sorcery, but
still has access to other methods. Such characters
must have a Path that reflects their status as a
Denizen or Saint, and with permission from the
rest of the group, they may learn Knacks from that
character type as if they were Techniques. For
all purposes, including Knack slots, the effective
Calling rating of such characters is 1 at Origin or
Hero Tier, 3 at Demigod Tier and 5 at God Tier.
They also gain any innate traits of the associated
Path, such as the modified Virtue rules of Saints
or the Persistent Conditions of many Denizens.
scene. If your new personality does anything to get
you or your Band in trouble, gain 1 Momentum.
While you are transformed this way, nothing of your
Tier or below can reveal your thoughts or memories
to be false, while anything of higher Tier requires
a Clash of Wills. Once you return to normal, you
remember everything that happened during the
transformation, and all Ability dots return to their nor-
mal place. When you use this Technique to assume a
human or Denizen identity, you may spend Legend
instead of imbuing to physically transform into that
identity, gaining the Mindmask Condition.
Skill Roll: Difficulty of target’s Composure
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: One scene
Subject: One character
Range: Close
You may take on the forms feared and desired by
those around you. Choose a target. You transform
into the appearance of the human or animal they ei-
ther most desire to see right now or most fear seeing
right now, your choice. This grants Enhancement to
appropriate Influence actions and similar rolls equal
77
 to your successes. As a side benefit, any forensic
evidence you leave behind is that of whoever you
became, rather than yourself.
PURVIEW: MAGIC
W hile all divine miracles are magical, they are not all
Magic. The Gods who wield the power of Magic
understand the occult laws that bind the world together,
making it dance to their will. The power of Magic is an
innate understanding of how to tap into power external to
a God’s own nature. Through mystical understanding and
mastery of technique, they can perform feats of infinite
variety, calling on their Legend to connect them to the
occult laws of their pantheon to master the feats that mortal
Sorcerers must bind themselves or steal scraps of power
to command. Many Magic Marvels resemble the Charms
of Sorcery, but raised to greater levels of power by the use
of divine ichor.
Innate Power: You can tell at a glance if someone is a
Sorcerer, as long as they aren’t trying to mystically conceal
that fact. Further, your mastery of magic gives you a sense
for how to tap into the power of others, tracing the routes
of their miracles with your own sorcery. When someone
else performs a Marvel or Boon in your presence, for the
rest of the scene, you reduce the Legend cost to emulate
that effect with the Magic Purview by 1 for the rest of the
scene, to a minimum of 1.
BOONS
Assumption of the Godform
Cost: Imbue 1 Legend
Duration: One scene
Subject: Self
Action: Simple
Where mere mortals must steal scraps of divine pow-
er to channel their magical might, yours flows freely
from within you. For the rest of the scene, you gain
Enhancement 3 on any Sorcery roll to perform spells
that are related to any other Purview you have.
Bend Fate
Cost: Spend 1+ Legend
Duration: Instant
Subject: One ritual, curse or other magical effect
Range: Close
Action: Simple
You wield your mastery of sorcery with subtlety,
winding it through the miracles of others. This can be
used to target any ongoing ritual, curse or ongoing
magical effect whose details you know. You may
make a single alteration to the effect, no more than
a brief phrase. It cannot alter the fundamental nature
78 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS
GODS AND MAGIC
This Purview is unlike the normal Purviews that
Gods and Scions wield. Those Purviews tap into
their divine power directly, altering the world
miraculously as an expression of their nature.
The Magic Purview, however, draws power
from outside the Gods that wield it, allowing
them to tap into the same sources of power that
Sorcerers normally draw on.
No Scion or God, no matter how cunning, is
born with access to the Magic Purview. While
a God is able to subsume its power within
themselves, as they do all of their Purviews
eventually, they cannot pass it on to their
children or their Chosen directly. Magic comes
from without, and so all Heroes and Demigods
must access the Purview by means of Relics or
Guides. Of the two, Guides are most common,
as the Gods seek to teach their Scions how to
“properly” wield the power of Sorcery rather
than running the risk that they may favor the
methods chosen by some of the more dangerous
Sorcerers.
Still, the Gods never deny the power that
properly wielded Sorcery can command. Most
Pantheons have their own masters of Magic,
those who study the methods of calling on
others’ power. Generally speaking, these Gods
use their own ichor as a Source of Power rather
than relying on the methods of Sorcerers, having
no need to rely on lesser methods to gain the
Legend that fuels their sorcery.
Heroes get access to a single Working,
Demigods two and Gods three. They may
purchase Techniques as if they were Heroic
Knacks, and may use any Knack slots for them.
Gods with access to the Magic Purview
include (but are hardly limited to) Apollo,
Aset, the Dagda, Djehuty, Eshu Elegbara,
Enlil, Freyja, Frigg, Fukurokuju, Geser Khan,
Hecate, Hermes, Huangdi, Kali, Laozi, Mokosh,
Ninlil, Ninurta, Odin, Orunmila, Osanyin,
Pachacamac, Pachamama, Perun, Pukawiss,
Quetzalcoatl, Shango, Shiva, Sin, Tezcatlipoca,
Tsagan Ebugen, Umai Khatan, Veles, Viracocha
and Zorya.
of the effect, but can change it within reason. For
example, a cursed sword that drives its wielders to
jealousy might be altered so that it causes its wield-
ers to become jealous only of kings, or a blessing on
a field of crops might be altered so that it not only
makes the crops grow wildly but also the vermin that
live in the field. This costs 1 Legend per Tier of the
effect you are trying to alter.
Thrice-Great
Cost: Imbue 2 Legend
 Duration: Until ritual is completed
Subject: Self
Action: Reflexive
Your mystical knowledge is infinite, and the ichor
flowing through your veins sings out to channel the
forces of power. For each Milestone you complete,
you may make a Feat of Scale without spending
Legend on any roll to share mystical knowledge or
perform a spell. Any unused Feats of Scale are lost
when the ritual is finally completed.
As the cultists chanted, Sigrun checked her weav-
ings, comparing them to the ritual circle far below.
The summoning would be completed soon, she
knew, and she didn’t have the tools to stop it. It had
been enough of a challenge to get in with only
some threads and her wits. She smiled, twisting her
hands as her legs gripped the rafter. Her cat’s cra-
dle was a perfect mirror of the demonic seal below.
Her fingers moved, shifting the strings. A few key
changes in the weave. They had prepared for months,
she knew. Done everything right. “And let them bind
you, then. Come to their call. They want you to purge
the corrupt from their world? Well, fine. Do that. But
you will harm none whose heart is true.” 
As the shadowy Titanspawn took shape within the
cult Sorcerer’s binding circle, the magic twisted and
bent. They’d have no idea why it wouldn’t dare to
strike her friends when they broke in.
STORYGUIDING
SORCERERS
T o become a Sorcerer is to decide to take the reins of
power for yourself. Few other paths to power for the
people of the World are so defined by an individual drive
to acquire power. Many might wish to become Sorcerers,
but relatively few will succeed at learning to channel (or
steal) the energies of the Gods and the World. While every
Sorcerer with Legend is in part defined by their drive to
learn Sorcery, their motives for doing so are as varied as
other humans. Sorcery is work and sacrifice. Every Sorcerer
must give up something in their life to gain the power they
seek. Many sacrifice careers and life opportunities to learn
their arts, while others pay more dire prices for access
to the power of the Gods. There is no room for abstract
curiosity among Sorcerers, for every one of them is driven
to accomplish the impossible.
When designing Sorcerers for play or as an SGC,
the Storyguide should ask to what end a character is
learning Sorcery. Is it to achieve eternal youth? To get
revenge on a bully? To achieve wealth and power? To
change their circumstances in the World? The answer to
Storyguiding Sorcerers
this question helps define both what the objectives of a
Sorcerer might be in a given chronicle, but also the kinds
of Techniques they might wield: A Sorcerer on the quest
for eternal life will likely learn Wonderment, while one
who wishes to rule over others might learn Summoning
instead. Sorcerous power is not intuitive, but intentional.
Whatever power a Sorcerer wields, it was acquired to
help solve particular problems.
These ambitions, desires, and goals which drive
Sorcerers provide a nigh-infinite source of plot hooks, as
Sorcerers set out to accomplish a variety of tasks using
their new power. The same drive that allowed them to
grasp the power of Sorcery doesn’t gutter out upon its at-
tainment, likewise when a Sorcerer accomplishes a goal,
there is always more they can do with their power, always
another mountain to climb. Every Sorcerer is a dynamo of
desires and the power to fulfill them, moving from goal to
goal in the ascent to ever greater heights of power.
PLAYING A SORCERER
You have power, revel in it! A Sorcerer player char-
acter has acquired tools to affect the World in dramatic
ways and may seek every opportunity to use these powers.
Indulge them! Allow players to invent creative solutions
using the magic at their disposal. Storyguides should en-
courage the usage of Sorcery to accomplish tasks to reflect
the ease with which Sorcerers may indulge themselves.
This may lead to complications or draw attention to the
Sorcerer, but this is a feature of playing one, not a bug.
The most defining choices for a character using
Sorcery is what Workings they will specialize in. At
Origin-Tier this is just a single Working, but Heroic Tier
allows the Sorcerer to attain two. These will define a
great deal of the magic that a Sorcerer is known for and
give them a unique playstyle: A Sorcerer with Divination
and Shapechanging won’t feel quite the same as one with
Wonderment and Summoning. While a Sorcerer’s power
is determined in part by the problems they wished to
solve, it’s okay to give them Workings that present uncon-
ventional solutions to the problems they faced; don’t feel
constrained to a particular Working just because it feels
“logical.”
While Sorcerers are capable of inflicting powerful
curses through Rituals and Workings, straightforward
violence is not typically their forte. The clever application
of Techniques can weaken enemies and prepare allies
for great success, and that kind of preparation is where
Sorcerers can shine in comparison with Scions whose
power may be more spontaneous and shorter in duration.
Storyguides should be accommodating of Sorcerers who
wish to prepare for difficult situations and encourage
playing to the Sorcerer’s strength. More so than Scions
who intuitively grasp power, Sorcerers are keenly aware
of their areas of strength and their limitations and must
be in order to plan around them.
79
 While Sorcery, particularly through Rituals may be
powerful, a Sorcerer’s power is not just their magic, but
their reputation as well. They are frequently the subject
of outsized rumors and speculation, enigmatic figures
whose capabilities are not well understood by the com-
munities they live near. This, they turn to their advantage.
A Sorcerer is often aware of their limitations, but their en-
emies may not be. Carefully planned and executed Spells
may allow a Sorcerer to project power more impressive
than their true limit. Many Sorcerers overcome obstacles
without using their Sorcery at all, instead relying on rep-
utation and rumor to persuade others into acting in their
interest.
Sorcerers may not always be sociable people, but they
are rarely disconnected from the community around them.
In the absence of Scions, mortals often seek out Sorcerers
as intercessors with the supernatural. Scions who might
possess connections to the perpetrator of supernatural
crimes or the scruples not to help a mortal commit them
might also drive community members to seek a Sorcerer
instead. A mortal might stop in a Sorcerer’s door to lift a
spell, or sometimes to inflict a curse on someone else can
be the perfect start to a campaign or just a session. Others
may come to Sorcerers with mysteries, hoping their ru-
mored powers might help uncover the truth. Workings
like Divining and Summoning can be extremely useful in
Procedural and Intrigue scenes, allowing the Sorcerer to
pull a subtler weight in a Band than Scions might.
SORCERERS AS ANTAGONISTS
Sorcerers are an easy choice for an antagonist. The
stories and legends of nearly every pantheon of deities are
filled with stories of mortals seizing the power of sorcery
and using it to inflict evil upon the World. But not all
Sorcerers are malicious or even particularly evil! Instead,
many may come into conflict with Bands of Scions by
accident, stealing Relics or offending divine parents in
the course of using their powers. Many Sorcerers may do
so without even realizing the trouble that tangling with
Scions involves. Some Gods may task their children with
curbing the excesses of young Sorcerers without seeking
to harm them.
Some Sorcerers however are malicious, selfish or
have willingly aligned themselves with destructive forc-
es such as the Titans. Such Sorcerers are dangerous not
only for the power that they wield but the allies they
may have acquired. Many can count numerous Denizens,
Titanspawn, and other strange beings as allies, and the
danger of these Sorcerers lies not just in the powerful
Rituals they can command, but how they might deploy
these allies in conjunction with their power. Sorcerers
may be able to curse the Band’s allies or threaten their
loved ones using terrible magicks, but don’t use these
tactics to punish the Band — use it to give them new op-
portunities to use their powers.
80 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS
“EVIL” SORCERERS,
DEMONIZED PRACTICES,
AND RACISM
Television, literature, and cinema are littered
with antagonistic Sorcerers and magicians that
are based on a wide variety of racial stereotypes
from evil witch doctors in crime fiction to long-
nailed immortal sorcerers from the Far East in
American films. Not only are these character
archetypes harmful depictions of marginalized
people, they perform the insidious and
xenophobic function of demonizing religious,
magical, and cultural practices that fall outside
of the viewers experiences. These characters
are not just depicted as evil, their practices are
essentialized as fundamentally antagonistic
and harmful to the privileged. When designing
Sorcerers from diverse cultural backgrounds,
particularly those outside your personal
experience, be mindful of stereotypes and the
way that they Other cultures which are not your
own. Never allow your villains to be the only
members of a given marginalized demographic
that appear in your game.
SORCERERS IN MIXED BANDS
Sorcerers are a strong complement to a Mixed Band
of Scions, Denizens, and others. They bring diverse and
interesting powers as well as motivations that can gen-
erate many stories and Deeds for the band. A Sorcerer’s
ambitions can be an excellent driver for the Band’s Deeds
and their Sorcery can provide a striking contrast to the
Purviews commanded by Scions and other supernatural
beings.
An agenda which might run counter to the rest of the
Band’s interests can provide a Storyguiding challenge,
however. Storyguides and Sorcerer players should work
together to ensure broad alignment between the agenda
of a Sorcerer and their Band, even if there is some diver-
gence. This can happen naturally if the Sorcerer shares
a pantheon or cultural association with one of the other
characters, but that isn’t always the case. Regardless,
even if there is a divergence between the Band and the
Sorcerer’s interests, Storyguides should encourage Deeds
that help bind the Band together to ensure the flow of
play.
Many Sorcerers who join Mixed Bands with Scions
may have a relationship of some kind with one of the
Pantheons, particularly those whose Source of Power
is Patronage. This kind of relationship can provide the
perfect connection between player characters and a mo-
tivation for the Sorcerer to join the Band. It also offers a
unique storytelling opportunity to compare and contrast
the relationships of Scions and Sorcerers with the Gods.
Some Scions may have lived with privilege or blessed
guidance from their divine parents or may enjoy their fa-
vor as one of their many children. Not so with Sorcerers,
who often find relationships with the Gods to be tense
affairs, where resentment over “stolen power” and expec-
tations of servitude are commonplace. Sorcerers can also
add introspective themes to a game — after all, it’s much
easier to simply be born a Scion than to have to wheedle
power from a patron or walk a behavioral tightrope for
power.
Some Scions may have more in common with
Sorcerers entangled with their Pantheon than they re-
alize. Created and Chosen Scions who owe their power
to their Divine Parent and are expected to work for it
may share common ground with Sorcerers and other
Bandmates, drawn together by their common lot. Self-
conscious Scions or Sorcerers can also be driven to con-
flict by frustration or anxiety over the apparent similari-
ties in their situations.
Sorcerers often resent the ease with which Scions
command Legend itself as well as the respect and re-
sources of their Divine Parents. Most Sorcerers by virtue
of their Source of Power might find themselves at odds
with the Gods whose power they might steal to fuel their
Sorcery. Scions may be seen rightly or wrongly as the
Storyguiding Sorcerers
representatives of their family who Sorcerers may blame
for withholding power and blessings from them in the
past. These kinds of interpersonal conflicts can provide
a rich framework for the Band’s evolving relationship
but take care that they don’t drive the Band apart if your
group is not interested in telling that kind of story.
Some Sorcerers befriend Scions and join forces with
them, whether they were friends pre-Visitation or after-
ward. Despite the differences in their power, the knowl-
edge of Sorcerers and the facility for the supernatural
displayed by Scions can synergize well, making them able
companions. Sorcerers might befriend Scions earnestly,
or even do so opportunistically, knowing that a child of
the Gods will be an excellent ally and a good avenue to
acquire Legend for future sorcerous endeavors. Whether
or not that opportunism becomes genuine friendship can
be a source of great drama for the Band.
Sorcerers may be led to ally with Scions as a result of
the Gods they know. Patrons like Hecate may introduce
fascinating witches and Sorcerers to Scions as allies,
mentors, or friends. Gods and fellow Scions may point
out resourceful Sorcerers as potential resources, and
Cults will gladly share the news about powerful practi-
tioners of magic with patrons and Heroes, unless they
have been instructed to keep quiet. Finally, Sorcerers may
be known troublemakers who the Gods task their Scions
81
with watching. This kind of relationship can easily start
off antagonistic, but quickly become one of the previously
described relationships as well.
Perhaps one of the more difficult but rewarding ways
to introduce a Sorcerer (whether a player or SGC) to the
Band is as an antagonist who becomes an ally. Sorcerers
who act as initial antagonists or those who are only occa-
sionally antagonistic present the best opportunities to do
this, given their defeat at the hands of the Band, but not
every group will be ready to accept a Sorcerer who was
once their enemy as their friend. As described previously,
Sorcerers who are incidentally rather than maliciously
antagonistic are best suited to occupying this role. While
more malicious and seemingly evil Sorcerers may seem
like excellent subjects for reform, their actions may cross
lines that the Band is uncomfortable forgiving. It can be
useful to check-in while Storyguiding a Band where an
antagonist Sorcerer may become an ally, particularly
if a player is considering using them as a replacement
character.
Should a player wish to turn an SGC Sorcerer into a
playable character, follow the normal Character Creation
rules for Sorcerers (p. XX). Consider offering Experience
commensurate to the Band to help them catch up quickly.
In-character, the sudden growth in power that might re-
sult from becoming a player character can potentially be
celebrated as the benefits of an alliance.
BANDS OF SORCERERS
Many Sorcerers are highly independent people,
who forge alliances with Scions, Denizens, and other
beings to advance their interests, but some may choose
to work with other Sorcerers to accomplish greater feats.
Much like their sorcery, Bands of Sorcerers are always
intentional, brought together by shared goals, circum-
stances, or mutual need. Below are three examples of
circumstances which can bring about Bands of Sorcerers
in the World. These groups could easily be the genesis of
your own Band of Sorcerers or of Storyguide-controlled
Sorcerers who appear in your games.
THE CROSSROADS SOCIETY
An alliance of Sorcerers, occultists, scholars, and
cults from across the World, the Crossroads Society
conceives of itself as a support network for Sorcerers
who act as intermediaries between mortal communities,
Denizens, the Gods and their Scions. Wary of the power
and influence wielded by the Gods, Crossroaders orga-
nize to use their Sorcery to protect local communities at
the most basic level. At the heights of their power, ancient
Sorcerers wield their power to oppose Gods and Titans in
the interests of their communities or themselves.
Decentralized to avoid being compromised by the
Gods and other powerful beings, membership in the
Crossroads Society is regionally based, with assemblies
that gather to discuss supernatural threats in Liminalities
82 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS
that evoke their namesake; these ensorcelled locations
conceal the Sorcerers from eavesdroppers underneath a
pall of shadows and an always-midnight sky. Membership
is by invitation, and usually offered by Sorcerers to their
apprentices, or those they recruit in the field.
Crossroaders vary heavily in their opinion of the
Gods. Some take powerful gods such as Hekate and Èshù
Elègbará as patrons and allies, working closely to protect
their community from other supernatural threats. Others
keep the Gods at arm’s length, concerned more with for-
tifying their own power against rival supernatural powers
than with combatting mutual threats. When Crossroaders
have disagreements over how to proceed, they are most
often settled with competitions, games, and duels under
the midnight sky of the Crossroads.
Crossroaders are selective about recruiting Sorcerers
to their numbers, but they are not shy about using out-
siders as their agents. Sorcerers may be invited to the
Crossroads to be offered work by the Society, which re-
wards service with accumulated knowledge, relics and
other goods. More than one Crossroader was initially
brought on to perform a task and found themselves join-
ing by the end.
THE ARCHIVE OF CEREMONIES
The Archive of Ceremonies prides itself on an attrac-
tive sales pitch: Study Sorcery from all over the World!
Learn the secrets of magical traditions both contempo-
rary and ancient! While everyone receives the same pitch,
only the talented few Sorcerers among the Archive’s
employ gain the full range of access and privileges; the
support staff of academically-trained demons and gradu-
ates from the C9 universities and the Ivy Leagues get the
grunt work.
The Archive of Ceremonies is tasked with keeping
records of every act of sorcery and magic ever per-
formed. All of them. To that end, it employs a sprawling
organization out of its office in Heaven and dozen sister
facilities across the World to monitor Sorcerers and mag-
ical communities and record the feats they accomplish.
This organization exists to support its chief stars: the
Sorcerers, field experts who lead the pack in identifying
novel sorcerous practices, recovering records of extinct
traditions, and occasionally involving themselves in oc-
cult conspiracies.
While the Archive prides itself on professionalism,
its Sorcerers are drawn from a variety of backgrounds,
from self-initiated occultists, disciplined graduates from
the school of Daoist sorcery maintained by the Wǔdāng
Clan, foreign Sorcerers, and the most eccentric: reformed
Sorcerers captured by Heaven who have been made to put
their powers toward a good cause. This eclectic gathering
ensures that rarely a day passes without dramatic, sorcer-
ously-empowered arguments about the right approach to
archival work.
 The Archive’s policies are to avoid intervention by
default, their job is to keep records of magical traditions
and magical acts, not to regulate them. Despite this, an
activist culture has emerged among the Archive’s more
youthful Sorcerers, who try to support marginalized com-
munities whose traditions are threatened or disseminate
some of the archive’s wealth of knowledge in the form
of magazine instruction manuals and online drop boxes,
occasionally causing new acts of magic for the Archive to
record.
THE SCHOLOMANCE
Not many people can claim they went to school to
learn sorcery from the “Devil.” The Solomonari, students
of the Scholomance, can do exactly that. Prospective stu-
dents take a train from Bucharest into the Terra Incognita
the school calls home, nestled underground amidst high
mountains shrouded by cold fog, where the silhouettes of
flying serpents perch among the peaks.
If there were an Ivy League of Sorcerers, the
Solomonari belong to it. Drawn from driven, intelligence
and fearsome individuals across the World, each of the
thirteen students in each class received a personal invita-
tion from the “Devil,” called the Headmaster by students.
They offer an education in Goetic Sorcery, the art of
sealing and binding demons and other powerful beings
into pacts. Students train for seven years, and those who
survive will graduate, joining the powerful network of
mercenary Solomonari alumni who make pacts to enrich
themselves and those who purchase their services, but
with one catch: The very top of the class is taken by the
Headmaster, never to be seen again.
The Headmaster offers lectures on a variety of
topics ranging from the humanities to the arts of bind-
ing dragons, controlling the weather, and the secrets of
magic. Practical experiments in the caves in which the
Scholomance were built consume students time outside
of lectures. The Black School also offers guest lectures
by Gods, Sorcerers and demons of all kinds: dog-like
Markoláb, who devours the sun and moon to hide them
beneath his black fur; Lidérc, the personification of night-
mares who dotes upon the Headmaster as if they were a
lost lover; Sákány, the thunderstorm dragon who fathers
the serpentine mounts upon which the Solomonari may
ride; and many others.
From their opening ceremony, students are caught
in a game of intrigue, fighting to achieve strong results
without placing themselves in the Headmaster’s sights.
Students conspire to sabotage one another to improve
their standing, but their most hated rivals often receive
boosts and subtle support, to ensure that they are taken in
place of their fellows. Some classes are entirely individu-
al, while others form pacts to work together that survive
past graduation.
Creating Sorcerer Characters
WHO THE
DEVIL IS THAT?
The Headmaster’s true identity and
appearance is shrouded in mystery, but a few
things are known to the Solomonari: The current
Headmaster is not the founder of the Black
School, but someone else who has usurped
their power and identity. Ancient books in the
Scholomance refer to the Headmaster as the
satyr-like Ördög, but they no longer answer
to the name. Students who attempt to uncover
the Headmasters identity are humored for a
time, but those who get too distracted from their
studies wind up disappeared, or worse.
In Scion
Scion,, the Headmaster’s identity is
indeterminate. They might be a God in disguise,
a powerful Sorcerer, or a different being entirely.
CREATING
SORCERER
CHARACTERS
By definition, all Sorcerers are self-made. Scions
require a Visitation, Dragons require a Bequeathal, and
Denizens are born magical, but Sorcerers are humans
who gain power, and perhaps even begin to transcend
mortality by gathering, borrowing, or even stealing power
from Relics, and Gods, Titans, or other powerful beings.
Although luck is often a factor in someone becoming a
Sorcerer — such as finding an ancient grimoire or a po-
tent Relic — most of the process of becoming a Sorcerer
requires a mixture hard work, assiduous study, and some
combination of courage and foolhardy daring.
CHARACTER CREATION
Sorcerer character creation happens in s seven
steps: Concept, Paths, Skills, Attributes, Workings,
Paraphernalia, and finishing touches.
STEP ONE: CONCEPT
Begin character creation by deciding on a concept.
This helps define what you want your character to do and
what kind of character you are making. Concepts should
be a short phrase or sentence that defines key character-
istics about the character. Concepts for a Sorcerer include
“Flashy magical daredevil,” “Survivor seeking power to
wreak revenge,” “Stage magician seeking to learn actual
magic,” “failed academic who now seeks otherworldly
power,” and many more. The heart of the concept should
include why your character is driven to study obscure
texts and risk her mind and body to gain magical power. If
83
you aren’t certain of this, one solution is to go through the
rest of the character creation process to find inspiration
for what drives your character that way.
The concept you choose doesn’t directly change your
character’s traits. Instead, during character creation it
helps you determine what traits to select, and during play
it helps you decide the kinds of actions your character
might take.
Characters start game with three Deeds. The first is
a short-term Deed that relates somehow to her attempt-
ing to increase her command of Sorcery. This could be
anything from acquiring a particular Relic she’s heard ru-
mors about, gaining access to a particular rare grimoire or
difficult to access site of magical power, or performing a
favor for a powerful Sorcerer or other magically powerful
being as payment in advance for some form of tutelage or
gift of power.
Long-term Deeds may also relate to learning or
otherwise gaining more access to magical power, or they
could relate to one of the important goals that drove your
character to learn magic. This choice is up to you and
helps determine whether your character is someone who
is learning magic to accomplish one or more specific goals
or because Sorcery and the power and wonder it provides
is its own reward. Examples include everything from
learning to perform some particularly impressive feat of
magic, to using magic to render a wealthy and powerful
enemy destitute and helpless.
Finally, the last Deed is a Coven Deed, meaning that it
is shared by all of the members of the character’s Coven.
This Deed is usually focused on increasing magical power
or knowledge, like building or acquiring a shared magical
working space, or gaining a divine patron. However, this
goal could also be far more prosaic, like defeating a shared
foe or the members of the Coven gaining membership in a
particular magical secret society.
In addition, if you are creating a Heroic Tier Sorcerer,
you need to decide which of the four sources of power
(see p. XX) they are using — prohibition, theurgy, patron-
age, or talisman. Remember that any Sorcerer who choos-
es talisman must also possess at least one Relic.
AJ wants to create a Heroic Tier Sorcerer,
Robert Chen, who was initially drawn to magic
in order to avenge his brother’s death by Alia,
a vengeful and petty Scion of Thor. However,
Robert has also learned to value Sorcery for its
own sake and is now torn between his desire for
vengeance and his increasing fascination with
the occult.
AJ chooses two Deeds for Robert: one short-term
Deed (“Acquire a Relic known as the Crown
of Sorcery”), one long-term Deed (“Avenge
his brother’s death”). The third Coven Deed he
leaves up to the group to determine during their
first session together.
84 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS
Finally, AJ likes the idea of Robert being fasci-
nated by Relics and so she chooses talisman as
his source of power. She’ll need to give him a
Relic in Step Six: Paraphernalia.
STEP TWO: PATHS
Define three Paths (Scion: Origin, p. 95) for your
character. The first path defines your character’s origin,
which is who they were before this story started. The
next Path defines her role and defines how she learned
Sorcery (p. XX). The final Path is the society Path. If your
character is a Denizen, her society Path is replaced by her
supernatural nature.
Each Path consists of the following elements:
• A short descriptive phrase for the Path. (e.g.
“Failing College Student” or “Occult Bookstore
Owner”)
• Three Skills associated with the Path. Which three
Skills are up to you, but you should be prepared
to justify non-obvious choices, like Firearms for
“Private Chef for The Wealthy.” Any given Skill can
be associated with at most two of your Paths.
• A Path Condition that triggers when you invoke the
Path too often. This is normally Path Suspension or
Path Revoked (Scion: Origin, p. 101). But feel free
to use that as a template to make your own.
AJ selects Robert’s Paths. AJ decides that Robert
has a pretty ordinary and uneventful life prior
to his younger brother’s death, and selects
Suburbia (Scion: Origin, p. 102) as his origin
Path. For Robert’s sorcerous Path, AJ decides
that Robert is a bit of a loner, and selects the
Self-Taught Path (p. XX). She also decides that
the injustice of his brother’s death convinced
Robert to join a magical organization known as
the Magic Rebellion, which is dedicated to using
magic to write wrongs and fight oppression, and
which provides the skills Leadership, Persuasion,
and Subterfuge.
STEP THREE: SKILLS
Prioritize your character’s Paths as primary, second-
ary, and tertiary. Your character receives three dots in
each Skill associated with their primary Path, two dots
for secondary Path, and one dot for tertiary Path. These
dots are cumulative for Skills associated with two Paths.
For every Skill that ends up with three or more dots,
choose a Specialty (Scion: Origin, p. 59).
AJ decides that Robert’s primary Path is his
sorcerous Path, his society Path is his secondary
Path, and his origin is his tertiary Path. She
assigns three dots each to Academics, Integrity,

and Occult, then two dots each to Leadership,
Persuasion and Subterfuge, and finally one dot
each to Culture, Empathy, and Technology.
Robert gains Specialties in Academics, Integrity,
and Occult which are all ranked at 3 or higher.
AJ decides that Robert’s twin focuses on revenge
and the wonders of magic gives him a specialty
in “Mythology” for Academics, “Resisting
Magic” for Integrity, and “The Norse Pantheon”
for Occult.
STEP FOUR: ATTRIBUTES
Your character begins with a single dot in all
Attributes for free. Next, prioritize the three arenas
(Scion: Origin, p. 97) as primary, secondary, and tertiary.
Assign six dots to Attributes in the primary category, four
to the secondary, and two to the tertiary. Divide these dots
however you like, but no Attribute can be higher than five.
Finally, choose one of the three Approaches (Scion:
Origin, p. 97). Add two dots to each Attribute in that
Approach; if this would bring any Attribute above five,
then reassign the dots to Attributes within the same
arena.
AJ decides that Robert’s primary arena is
Mental, followed by Physical, with Social as his
weakest arena. She assigns two dots to Robert’s
Intellect, two dots to Cunning and two dots to
his Resolve. For Physical, she assigns two dots
each to Dexterity and Stamina, and for Social
she assigns one dot to Presence and one dot to
Composure. Next, AJ decides that Robert isn’t
the most subtle individual and chooses Power for
his Approach.
Roberts Attributes are currently: Intellect 5,
Cunning 3, Resolve 3, Might 3, Dexterity 3,
Stamina 3, Presence 4, Manipulation 1, and
Composure 2.
STEP FIVE: WORKINGS
Workings are the basis of every Sorcerer’s magic
(see Workings, p. XX), and even the weakest and most
inexperienced Sorcerer knows at least one. Mortal Tier
Sorcerers automatically know one Working — Divination
is the most common, but players are free to choose any of
the Workings as their initial choice.
Heroic Tier Sorcerers automatically know two work-
ings, gaining their second as soon as they reach Legend
1. Sorcerers gain additional Workings as soon as the in-
crease in Tier, so the handful of inhumanly mighty Divine
Tier Sorcerers know four of the five Workings. No mortal
Sorcerer can master all of the available techniques.
When selecting your character’s Workings, consider
who they are and what motivated them to learn magic.
Someone who is learning Sorcery to gain revenge on an
Creating Sorcerer Characters
enemy who is too powerful to attack with purely mor-
tal means will choose to learn different Working than
someone who studies Sorcery for the thrill and wonder
of using magic.
Every Working possesses an Inherent Technique
that all Sorcerers who learn this Technique automatically
possess, as well as five other Techniques that they can
learn. Mortal Tier Sorcerers do not automatically begin
play knowing any Techniques other than their chosen
Working’s Inherent Technique, but they can purchase up
to two Techniques in Step Seven: Finishing Touches.
Heroic Tier Sorcerers automatically know one
Technique for each of their Workings (in addition to the
Working’s Inherent Technique).
As a Heroic Tier Sorcerer, Robert gains two
Workings. Given his desire for revenge and his
lack of subtlety, AJ decides that Robert’s two
working are Binding and Shapeshifting. At this
point, he knows one Technique for each (in addi-
tion to each Working’s Inherent Technique) – AJ
selects Curse for Binding and Fierce Projection
for Shapeshifting.
STEP SIX: PARAPHERNALIA
Scions and other powerful entities possess
Birthrights. Sorcerers must acquire their power on their
own and so the items and other advantages they obtain
are not freely given gifts from divine parents, but peo-
ple and things they have had to work to gain access to.
However, they can acquire the same sorts of advantages
as Scions — Creatures, Followers, Guides, and Relics (see
Scion: Hero, p. 201).
Mortal Tier Sorcerers do not automatically gain
any Paraphernalia, but they can purchase some in Step
Seven: Finishing Touches (p. XX).
Heroic Tier Sorcerers gain seven dots to distribute
among Paraphernalia. You may select example Birthrights
from Scion: Hero, or design your own.
Robert receives seven dots of Paraphernalia.
Since AJ already knows that Robert’s source of
power is a talisman, he needs a Relic, and she
decides Robert needs something to help make
up for his lack of subtlety, which also helps him
with his magic. This ring was allegedly made by
a Scion of Loki, which pleases Robert, since Loki
is often Thor’s foe.
The Trickster Ring (••••)
Enhancement: 2 when used to perform
Sorcery
Knack: Spend 1 Momentum to activate the In
Sheep’s Clothing Knack (Scion: Hero, p. 234)
This leaves Robert with 3 more dots of
Paraphernalia, and AJ decides any good
85
 Sorcerer needs a familiar. Robert has a preter-
naturally intelligent blue point Siamese cat that
can become intangible at will (the Incorporeality
Knack, Scion: Origin, p. 148), and can also
heal injuries by washing someone (the Touch
of Asclepius Flair, Scion: Hero, p. 293). As
a three dot Creature, this cat, unsurprisingly
named Pyewacket, has a dice pool of 9 dice,
but subtracts two dice for each of its two special
abilities, leaving it with a pool of five dice.
STEP SEVEN: FINISHING TOUCHES
Finalizing a Sorcerer again depends on their Tier.
Mortal Tier Sorcerers are treated much like other
human Tier characters. The Sorcerer receives five extra
Skill dots, an extra Attribute dot, and either two additional
Techniques, four points of Paraphernalia (see p. XX), or one
Technique and two points of Paraphernalia at character
creation. The Storyguide may award additional Experience
at her discretion to further improve characters. In addition,
you need to choose your character’s Motif or Motif’s for
casting spells (p. XX). Mortal Tier characters possess one
Motif.
Heroic Tier Sorcerers are notably more powerful, but
in this stage their only difference is that they also gain a
Legend of 1, and they possess two Motifs.
Last of all, record your character’s movement dice,
defense pool, and health (Scion: Origin, p. 98).
AJ assigns five dots to Robert’s Skills and decides
to give him one dot in Pilot (Robert can drive),
two dots in Firearms (in his quest for vengeance,
Robert is also ready to use conventional weap-
ons), one dot in Occult (bringing it to 4 dots), and
one dot in Technology (bringing it to 2 dots).
In addition, AJ gives Robert one more Technique
(The Binding Technique Command), and two
more dots of Paraphernalia. One dot raised
Pyewacket to a 4 dot Creature, giving her a dice
pool of six dice, and also giving her the Dread
Gaze Flair (Scion: Origin, p. 149). For his final
point, he gains a one dot Relic – The Peacock
Jacket – it’s a nice-looking leather jacket with a
peacock embroidered on the back. It provides
the wearer with 2 points of soft Armor and 1
point of hard armor.
Robert has a Legend of 1, and AJ decides that
Robert’s first Motif is based on his interest in
Binding, and is Amulets, but that he also recently
learned Goetic Sorcery.
Finally, AJ records Robert’s Legend as 1,
and She then records Roberts’s health as two
Bruised, and one each of Injured, Maimed, and
Taken Out. Robert’s Defense is 3, based on his
Stamina of 3, and his Movement Dice are 3 for
Dexterity 3.
86 CHAPTER THREE: SORCERERS
That finishes the mechanical aspects of your charac-
ter, but now is a good time to think about the things that
make your character a character, not just a bunch of dots
on a sheet. What do they look like? How do they dress?
Who are their family and friends? Do they have any ri-
vals? What’s their name?
EXPERIENCE
Through the course of play, you may earn experience
for actions in the following table. In general, we suggest
awarding 5 experiences per game session to everyone in
your play group.
If your Storyguide gives you additional starting ex-
perience, you may spend experience to purchase dots in
Skills and Attributes, or to purchase new Techniques or
Paraphernalia.
The below table lists the costs for each change. The
table does not include prerequisites, such as having ac-
cess to Knacks from a Path before purchasing. Players
may spend their Experience at the end of an Arc.
OBJECT CHANGE COST
Attribute Add one dot to a 10 Experience
single Attribute
Paraphernalia Add one dot in an 5 Experience
existing or new
Paraphernalia
Skill Add one dot in an 5 Experienc
existing or new Skill
Technique Purchase Technique 10 experience
for a Working
Specialty Add a Specialty to 3 Experience
a Skill
SAMPLE SORCEROUS PATHS
A Sorcerous Path defines both how a character first
learned sorcery and also who she knows in the larger mag-
ical community. The following are three of many possible
Sorcerous Paths. Like all Paths, Sorcerous Paths must
include a concept three Skills, and a list of connections.
Apprentice
Your character apprenticed herself to a mentor who
gradually taught her Sorcery in return for money and
effort on her part. She may have searched for many years
to find a teacher who was an actually Sorcerer and not
merely a con artist, she may have saved her teachers life
and been offered Sorcerous instruction as a reward, or
she may have gone seeking some other form of tutelage
and ended up learning Sorcery when her mentor saw that
she was a promising student. In addition to having a close
relationship with her mentor, your character also knows
his allies and those of his former students who he re-
mains on good terms with. Depending upon her mentor’s
personality, she may also have rivals and enemies who
judge her because of the identity of her mentor.
Connections: Your mentor, your mentor’s col-
leagues, your mentor’s former students
Skills: Academics, Culture, Occult
Member of a Magical Society
Your character joined or was recruited into a magical
society. It could be anything from a small select group
of skilled Sorcerers who study and work magic together
and occasionally recruit new members, to a large mystery
cult where upper level members learn Sorcery, or even a
group of half a dozen college or graduate students who
worked together to find fragments of accurate magical
knowledge amidst vast amounts of nonsense. In addition
to learning magic, part of belonging to any such group is
managing the interpersonal tensions that arise in every
small insular group. His entire view of both sorcery and of
the occult community has been shaped by the magical so-
ciety he belongs to, but he has numerous contacts within
this society and any magical societies that it is allied with
and excels at performing sorcery with others and sharing
magical insights. Of course, many such organizations also
Creating Sorcerer Characters
have enemies and rivals, which can easily become his
enemies and rivals.
Connections: Other members of your society, mem-
bers of other magical groups, occult groupies and dabblers
Skills: Empathy, Leadership, Occult
Self-Taught
Your character learned magic on her own, without
the aid of a teacher. She found old grimoires and books
about magic, and learned which websites and message
boards actually contained tidbits of worthwhile magical
knowledge. She is used to finding things out on her own,
excels at learning magic by trial and error, and makes up
for her lack of formal teaching by knowing large numbers
of more or less reputable people who at least claim to
study and practice magic and who collect supernatural
artifacts.
Connections: Rare book dealers and people who sell
supposedly magical Relics, other self-taught Sorcerers
and would-be Sorcerers, amateur occultists and occult
con artists
Skills: Academics, Integrity, Occult
87
 “They joined hands
So the world ended
And the next one began”
— Sarah J Mass
UNQUENCHABLE
FIRES:
TITANIC POWER
T he Scions of Gods inherit both the power of their divine
progenitors and their relationship to the World full of
humanity. The child of Zeus does not merely wield thunder
when they aspire to their father’s lightning, but a force which
wends its way through the hearts of mortals as it lifts the Scion
towards divinity. Even if a Scion of Thor becomes a hateful
leveler of human works, even if a Scion of Huitzilopochtli
devotes themselves to turning cities into engines for a new
age of eternal flower war and sacrifice, even if their names
are cursed and spat by those they’ve harmed, the decedents
of divine mantels are part of the ineffable circuit that exists
between the World’s inhabitants and its Gods.
Those Scions who trace their existence back to
Titanic roots know no such place between Gods and
mortals. Whether the result of some Titanic whim, super-
natural congress, or freak cosmic transfusion, the heart of
their nature does not lie within the orbits between divine
mantle and mortal heart. No matter how pure the intent
a Scion of Banasura may be, their Titanic nature flows
from a source of supernatural arrogance and opposition
utterly uncaring of any mortal concerns or attachments.
No matter the wondrous benefits to human civilization
that a Scion of Fūjin may accomplish, the Titanic essence
of their powers is that of the howling inchoate wind, to
which humans are mere detritus.
This doesn’t mean that Titanic Scions can’t be good
people by mortal or even Godly standards. It does mean
that their relationship to their powers differ somewhat
from that of divine Scions, and that as they grow in power
and Legend, so too does their potential for unleashing
awful devastation upon the existing World and its human
population.
IN ITS IMAGE: ORIGINS
Titanic Scions can theoretically be Born, Created,
Chosen, or Incarnate Scions, just like their divine
brethren. Sometimes this even happens in an analogous
manner. Princess Kiyo has more Born Scions than many
of the Gods amongst the Kami, children whose victories
and triumphs she treasures like any happy parent. Aten
chooses Scions who pursue Aten’s goals ceaselessly,
Titanic Knacks
their own methods matching his singular brilliant desire.
While Tenoch, founder of Tenōchtitlan is trapped beyond
the bounds of the mortal World, the renowned builder’s
creations may not be so limited; eventually one carefully
made person will open their eyes to the sun and sky de-
nied to the imprisoned giant, and perhaps work to free
their unfairly trapped father. And while it may be hard
to imagine the raging, untrammeled essence of a Titan
attempting to find rebirth in a meager mortal life, some
trapped or frustrated forces have escaped their divine
enemies through a route few would expect in a mortal
incarnation.
The unruly power of Titans and the inscrutable ac-
tions of Fate has resulted in stranger genesis still. While
mighty Apep is unlikely to engage in activities resulting
in a Born Scion in the traditional way, the great serpent’s
passage in front of the sun during a battle with champions
of the Netjar is reputed to have resorted in a number of
strange births across the World. Crom Cruach would be
enraged to discover that one of its stone idols was stolen
away from its place of power and transformed, opening
her eyes upon a human family embracing her as a living
child once more. White Eyebrow has, much to his irrita-
tion, created more than one Scion through mortals who
have survived his machinations and thrived despite his
plots. The Rakshasi Saita has claimed much of Ravenna’s
power and prestige as the new ruler of Lanka, but there
are still Rakshasa and others who claim to be the demon
king returned; and perhaps one of them isn’t lying! The
power of the Titans fights against containment or control,
even their own; no matter how much one despises hu-
manity or attempts to keep apart from the mortal World,
they cannot guarantee that Fate has not laid the seeds of
Titanic children in some cosmic miracle.
TITANIC KNACKS
L ike their heroic counterparts, Titan Scions learn
expressions of power derived from the parent’s Titanic
Callings. As with Divine Callings, these Knacks are either
Heroic or Immortal. Characters acquire them as normal
during character creation (p. XX), or through advancement
with experience (p. XX). A Titan Scion may spend her
starting Knack points on Knacks from her Titan Callings
to acquire any powers in this section and, if desired, in
Scion: Titanomachy, beginning on p. 150.
The five Titan Callings are Adversary, Destroyer,
Monster, Primeval and Tyrant.
89

TITANIC NATURE
Titan Knacks lean more into the supernatural aspects
of a character’s Calling than their Heroic counterparts, al-
lowing the Scions with access to them the ability to shape
fear into weapons or transform their bodies into hulking,
monstrous forms. Players creating their own should feel
free to express their creativity by leaning into the inher-
ent strangeness and monstrosity of Titanic power.
NEW ALTERNATE RULE:
COLLATERAL
In games of enormous power and massive effect,
there’s some expectation that buildings will crumble,
crowds will scatter, and havoc will be wreaked on a huge
scale. This can present an interesting way to provide
increased stakes and add a level of dramatic tension to a
game.
Building the Pool
At the start of any ongoing campaign or a one-shot,
the Collateral pool begins with zero dice. Whenever the
players’ characters take any of the following actions, add
one die to the pool for each applicable action.
• Performing marvels
• Performing Feats of Scale
• Making any roll enhanced by Scale
• Rolling a pool with divinity dice
• Failing to buy off applicable Complications
• Certain Stunts (this will be noted)
• Special Flairs or Antagonist abilities
The pool builds until it reaches 10 dice, and the num-
ber of dice in the pool roll over from session to session
until it hits 10. Once it has been filled, any actions that
would add additional dice instead add Enhancement.
At the end of any round in combat or after all player
characters have taken their actions outside of it, the play-
er whose action caused the pool to fill then rolls all 10 dice
and the Storyguide chooses from the following Stunts:
Echo (3 successes): Alter the Field with an aspect of
the rolling player’s Purviews. A building might sprout
flowers, a road could turn into a river, trees become metal
sculptures, and so on. These changes persist until the end
of the scene.
Harm (2 successes vs trivial targets/any successes over
Defense): Either a major character is hurt by an environ-
mental disaster caused by the characters’ actions or the
power unleashed causes injury (or death) to any number
of trivial bystanders.
90 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS
Incite (2 successes): Onlookers turn against the char-
acters, furious with them for their wanton destruction.
The triggering character has +1 Difficulty to social inter-
actions for the rest of the session for each time this Stunt
is chosen, to a maximum of +3.
Pin (2 successes vs trivial targets/any successes over
Defense): A massive piece of rubble falls either on a ma-
jor character in the scene, or on any number of trivial
bystanders, trapping them until they break free or are
rescued.
Raze (Successes equal to Size): Destroy an object es-
tablished in the Field such as a building, the getaway car,
an armored vehicle, etc.
Rift (5 successes): An aspect of an Overworld,
Underworld, Terra Incognita, or other cosmological place
associated with the rolling character appears, subsuming
part of the Field and displacing its reality. Threats from
this Otherworld may appear, if dramatically appropriate.
Reality reasserts itself at the end of the scene.
Scatter (2 successes): All trivial or non-magical tar-
gets (including followers and Mooks) flee the area, out
of terror or self-preservation. Even well-drilled military
units will run. This is a fear effect for the purposes of
Knacks and Boons.
Once the pool has been rolled, it resets to zero, and
resumes filling back up as normal. If the Collateral pool is
rolled before it reaches 10, reset the value to zero unless
otherwise stated. Some actions may cause the Collateral
pool to be rolled immediately. If so, the triggering player
rolls it right away and the Storyguide chooses the Stunts,
as normal.
Some actions, Powers, Flairs, or other mechanics,
may specify that the Storyguide must choose certain
Collateral Stunts. When they apply, this is not optional,
and the Storyguide must spend successes on the mandat-
ed Stunts first, before choosing any others.
Players may engage with the Collateral pool in
the following ways:
Unchecked Abandon: When a character makes any
action with unchecked abandon, she may declare before
she rolls any number of Enhancement, up to +5. The
Storyguide adds an equal number of dice to the pool in-
stantly, which may cause the pool to empty.
Devil’s Bargain: Once per session, a character may
take a devil’s bargain, and any Collateral they would
add to the pool during that action is instead given to the
Storyguide as Tension.
KNACK NOTES
Some of these rules refer to the Collateral rules. If
you’re not using Collateral, any Knacks or other effects
that would specifically add Collateral instead add Tension
to the Storyguide’s available pool.

GENERAL
Titanic Scions may take Aura of Greatness, Born to
be Kings, Scent the Divine, or Somebody’s Watching
Me (Scion: Hero, p. 224), which function identically as
they do for Divine Scions.
ADVERSARY
Adversary Knacks let you understand a person’s
weakness and turn it against them, whether to destroy
them or force them to change. Adversary knacks are
based around opposition and betrayal.
HEROIC
• Antagonistic Lessons: Whenever the results of
your actions cause a target of your antagonism to
fail, you may do one of the following:
• Adjust their Attitude to whatever level you
prefer.
• Cause the target to instead succeed at an ac-
tion you determine.
• Instantly create a Fatebinding with the target
• Jeering Taunts: Once per scene, you may taunt
and mock a target, either increasing your Defense
against their attacks by your Adversary Calling for
the duration on the Round, or penalizing the cost
of all their stunts by your Adversary Calling for
the duration of one action. You must choose which
penalty to apply when you activate this Knack. You
may not choose the same penalty twice in a row.
• Lingering Presence: After any scene in which
you have made a successful Encourage Behavior
roll, you may spend Momentum in the subsequent
scene to reapply the same effects of your initial
Encourage Behavior roll as though you had rolled
the same number of successes. If the target has a
negative Attitude towards you, this Knack is free.
• Spluttering Incoherence: When in a scene with
a target who has a negative Attitude towards you,
you may spend Momentum to prevent them from
making any social action until you have acted again,
driving them into a frothing, violent rage. You may
only do this once per scene.
• Sweet and Sour: Make a Knack Skill roll. With any
successes, you may curse a meal or drink consumed
by your target with the poison of spite. This functions
as the Poisoned condition but rather than inflict
Injury, it inverts the Attitudes of other characters
who interact with the poisoned target — transform-
ing boon companions into bitter enemies and hated
rivals into fair-weather friends. The Storyguide and
player should work together to determine how this
impacts the character as they progress through
Titanic Knacks
the story. This costs Momentum if you witness the
character partaking of food or drink and is free if you
successfully serve the refreshments to them yourself.
• Theft of Luck: While in the same scene as a target
with a negative Attitude toward you, after seeing
the result of any of their rolls, you may spend
Momentum and take any number of their suc-
cesses (before applying Enhancement and before
purchasing Stunts) and add them as Enhancement
to your next roll. If this causes the target to fail, get
the spent Momentum back.
IMMORTAL
• Opposition Without Limit: When you command,
rally, or intrigue enormous forces to oppose another
character, imbue, rather than spend, a point of Legend
to invoke your Legendary Title as a Feat of Scale
• Pawns for My Desire: When socially interacting
with a target who has a negative attitude toward you,
you may spend Momentum during any Encourage
Behavior roll and have it succeed as though you
achieved exactly the number of successes required.
• Spitting Curses: You gain the ability to layer curse
upon curse on a target, until they have no choice but
to do as you ask. Choose one of the curses below at
the time this Knack is purchased. This Knack can be
purchased a number of times equal to your Adversary
Calling, choosing a different curse each time. While
this is your active Knack, you gain access to any two
curses you know, and the following stunt:
• Sling Curses (2s): Apply this stunt to any
Encourage Belief or Behavior roll or any attack
action. The target must be within Close range.
When you purchase this stunt, apply one of
your curses to the target.
• Incompetence Curse: This curse condition
imposes an increased Difficulty to the target’s
actions equal to your Adversary Calling. This
persists until the curse causes the target to fail
a roll. If the target botches, gain Momentum.
• Curse of Ill Fortune: Impose this curse con-
dition which applies a Complication to all of
your target’s actions with a rating equal to your
Adversary rating which lasts until the target can-
not buy it off. Failing to buy off the Complication
results in an ill fortune of your choice.
• Curse of My Presence: This curse condition in-
creases the Difficulty of all of your target’s rolls
by 1. You may choose to end the condition and
appear in the same scene as the target. Your
sudden appearance also causes the target to
automatically fail their next roll, regardless of
the result on the dice.
91

DESTROYER
Destroyer Knacks bestow the power to crush and
destroy objects and enemies alike. They are driven by the
concepts of destruction and forcefulness.
HEROIC
• Equal and Opposite: Whenever you would be
moved by an enemy (pushed, knocked down, picked
up and thrown, etc.) you may spend Momentum to
apply the same effects to the attacker after resolv-
ing them on yourself.
• From Destruction: When performing an extended
action to create something (physical or otherwise),
you may destroy something related to the project.
For example: smashing apart bricks, rending fabric,
burning paper, drying out paint, etc. This adds one
completed milestone to the project but also impos-
es the complication “Limited Resources” (2c) on
the project. If not bought off, the lack of resources
causes a problem during the crafting process.
• Give-and-Take: You may end one condition on
your target (including yourself ), which may include
Injury Conditions, in exchange for a destructive
sacrifice of equal value. The Storyguide is the final
arbiter of this value, though should work with you to
detail what is appropriate. For example, removing an
92 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS
Injury Condition might require a character to slash
the tire of their car; while any 1 round of Stunned
might involve ripping up a five-dollar bill.
• Mantle of Unmaking: You have +1 Defense
against attacks made at close range. When you
use the Disarm Stunt (Scion: Origin, p. 116), you
may destroy a mundane weapon instead of simply
disarming it.
• Mine, Now: If you break an enemy’s weapon fol-
lowing the use of the Disarm stunt (either through
your own strength or through use of Mantle of
Unmaking, you may apply that weapon’s tags to
your weapon until the end of the scene. You cannot
destroy a Relic weapon this way. If any added tags
overlap, gain 1 Enhancement per overlapping tag to
all attack rolls with the weapon instead.
• Shattering Grasp: When you lay hands on an object
or structure with a size-based Scale less than your
Destroyer dots, roll Knack Skill. With any successes, it
shatters instantly. Spend Momentum and destroy any
object you can perceive without needing to touch it.
• Unstoppable Advance: As long as you keep mov-
ing, nothing can stop you. You must move continu-
ously, and while you can turn, your path cannot loop
back on itself. In the process of moving, you smash
through any obstacle and wade through any hazard
 CONDITION: MONSTROUS URGES
Some Knacks either force you to succumb to your Monstrous Urges or become more powerful when you
do. It’s up to you and the Storyguide to determine the exact nature of those urges, but by default, you are
compelled to solve any problem that presents itself with force.
Effect: You suffer a significant (3+) Complication on any task that requires logic, calm consideration, tact,
or restraint as you struggle against your instincts.
Momentum: Every time your urges cause you trouble, add a point of Momentum to the pool.
Resolution: Withdraw to a place of safety where you have time to collect your thoughts or commit a
heinous act of rage that you’ll regret when you snap out of it.

unscathed. This does not make you immune to be-
ing restrained by another character or from taking
any immobilizing condition. However, no terror or
obstacle can withstand your path. This effect ends
when you stop moving, whether at your own deci-
sion or otherwise, or if you retread your already-de-
stroyed footsteps. In combat, taking the Rush action
counts as forward movement, so long as you follow
the restrictions set forth in this Knack.
IMMORTAL
• Entropic Pull: Add up to your Destroyer Calling in
dice to a single roll, but for each die you add, add 1
to the Collateral Pool if in play or to Tension if not.
If this would fill the Collateral pool, roll it imme-
diately with your Destroyer dots in Enhancement.
If this would make Tension 10 or higher, the
Storyguide immediately promotes an enemy and
gives them your Destroyer dots in Enhancement
during their first action following this promotion.
• Hammer of the Gods: Spend Momentum to add
(Destroyer/2) in Scale to a single act of destruction,
demolition, or otherwise wide-scale violence. This
stacks with any other source of Scale, to the usual
maximum.
• Herald of the End: When you work to destroy a
person, place, or thing that can be measured with
Scale (overthrowing a World leader, razing a city,
or bankrupting a multinational corporation), you
may imbue, rather than spend, a point of Legend
to invoke your Legendary Title as a Feat of Scale.
• Made Favorable: Make a Knack Sill roll. On any
successes, destroy one Field Complication of your
choice. If this is not something that could be tan-
gibly destroyed (such as an overwhelming social
atmosphere) instead make the roll at a difficulty
equal to the Complication’s rating, and spend
Momentum. If the Collateral Pool is in play, add 1
to the pool. If not, add 1 Tension instead.
• On a Pale Horse: Instantly kill any trivial target
you can perceive. For 1 Momentum, instantly kill
one target within Close range of you so long as they
have less than half their Health remaining and are
of lower Tier. If the target is of the same Tier or
higher and otherwise meets the Criteria, they may
be Taken Out instead and the Storyguide deter-
mines the most appropriate outcome instead. This
Knack cannot target other players’ characters.
• The Ties that Bind: Spend Momentum and destroy
a relationship a target has with another character.
This can be a target’s connection to their employer,
a friendship, a romantic relationship, and so on. This
cannot affect magically protected relationships, or
undo Fatebinding and does not affect targets of a
higher Tier. This cannot be used on another player
character without their out of character consent.
MONSTER
Monster Knacks unleash your inner beast, often
transforming your flesh to match. They are powered by
the concepts of transformation and predation.
Characters with any dots in Monster gain access to a
Monstrous Urge — a condition that reflects the beast that
dwells within them. You can activate your Monstrous
Urge anytime you are injured, threatened, or embarrassed.
HEROIC
• Apex Myth: Gain your Monster dots in
Enhancement to all Encourage Behavior rolls in-
volving another monster — whether a non-human
character, or another character with the same
Monster Calling.
• Blood-Drinker: Gain Enhancement to attacks
against a wounded target for each of the Health
they’ve lost, or equal to the severity of their highest
Injury Condition, whichever is higher or applicable.
• Contagion: Your Natural Tag attacks are viru-
lent, dripping with disease. You inflict a Disease
Condition of your choice when you choose the
Inflict Injury Stunt. This disease must be chosen
when you purchase this Knack. Contagion can
be purchased a number of times equal to your
Monster dots, conferring a new disease each time.

Titanic Knacks 93
• Implacable: When you would be Taken Out, spend
Momentum. This allows you to continue fighting
for your Monster dots in Turns, after which you fall
into a deep sleep until the end of the scene. When
you wake, increase the Complication value of your
Monstrous Urge by 2 until you fail to buy it off.
• Keeper of Taboos: Once per session, you may get
away with a social taboo that would otherwise cause
problems or consequences. This cannot be anything
violent, such as assaulting or killing someone but
should otherwise be subversive. This might be
insulting a person in power or violating oppres-
sive cultural taboos. A character may ignore any
Complication or Condition that would inflict social
consequences. If none are present, the character
may instead walk away from a scene and ignore any
narrative consequences, such as a response from
authorities, or enemy characters seeking vengeance
or repayment. If this would cause a shift in Attitude,
the shift cannot go below 0. If the character’s
Attitude is already negative, it does not change at all.
If you have spoken truth to power through an act of
violence or destruction, increase the Attitude of all
friendly witnesses by 1, and increase the Bond of all
present players’ characters by 1. Note that monsters
afflict the comfortable and speak truth to power;
this is not a Knack for getting away with harassment
or making the other players uncomfortable.
• Red of Claw and Fang: You gain a monstrous
Natural weapon, like a stinger, horns, or spines. It
has the Natural tag, and a number of additional tags
equal to your Monster Calling. Attempts to conceal
this feature have a +1 Difficulty, but you can spend
Momentum to hide it, causing it to retract into your
flesh; it may then be released as a reflexive action.
You can take this Knack (Monster) times, creating
a new Natural weapon each time.
• Seizing Jaws: You may make grapple attacks without
needing to use your hands, instead ensnaring your
target with another part of your body. It might be your
wicked maw or sticky tongue, or writhing hair — what-
ever it is, your hands remain free, adding your Monster
dots in Enhancement to apply to grapple and other
combat Stunts while maintaining a hold on your target.
• Tell-Tale Heart: When using the Q&A procedural
Stunt, you may always ask an additional question
pertaining to the target’s fears, insecurities, or
vulnerabilities. When leveraging these against the
target, gain +2 Enhancement.
• The Monster Within: By purchasing this Knack you
gain a monstrous form. To shift into your monster form,
spend Momentum. This may be activated for free if you
have succumbed to your Monstrous Urge. You trans-
form into a terrible beast, a reflection of your true self.
All unarmed attacks gain the Natural Tag if they don’t
94 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS
have it already and two more Tags of your choosing. If
you know Red of Claw and Fang, your natural weapon
appears in this form as well, and gains +2 Enhancement
to attacks made with it. While in this form, you cannot
be perceived as anything other than a threat. Attempts
to seek peaceful or thoughtful resolution to conflict
have their Difficulty increased by your Monster rating.
Additionally, you gain a unique combat-focused Stunt
specific to your Monster form, which is created by you
and the Storyguide at the time of purchase.
IMMORTAL
• Compelling and Repulsive: Your appearance
inspires fear and disgust yet onlookers cannot
tear their gazes away. You gain the following Stunt
which applies to social actions involving face to
face interaction and close combat attacks.
• Reviled (2s): The target gains the Complication
“Revulsion” at a rating equal to your Monster
Calling. This Complication applies to any other so-
cial action or attack roll the target makes that does
not target you. If not bought off, the character’s
next action suffers a+2 Difficulty as they cannot
shake the horrifying, compelling memory of you.
• Drawn to Virulence: Spend Momentum and
instantly appear next to any target you can per-
ceive that is suffering from a Poison or Disease
Condition. Any attack or Encourage Behavior roll
you make immediately following this movement
receives your Monster dots in Enhancement.
• Predator’s Instincts: When you give in to your
animalistic urges on an epic Scale (hunting drag-
ons as prey, devouring a paramilitary force, or
rampaging through the Metropolitan Museum of
Art), imbue, rather than spend, a point of Legend
to invoke your Legendary Title as a Feat of Scale.
• Sloughing Form: When you would be Taken Out,
spend Momentum. Instead, you leave behind a
steaming, empty meat shell and reappear within
Close Range of where you were Taken Out, glisten-
ing and fresh. Recover your Monster dots of Injuries.
This may only be used once per session unless reset
by succumbing to your Monstrous Urge.
• Titanic Stature: When you are under the
Monstrous Urges condition, you grow to more
than twice your normal size and take on a fearsome
mien with throbbing veins and corded sinew. Your
size provides you +1 size Scale, and you can spend
Momentum to apply the Shockwave tag to any at-
tack that leverages your giant form.
PRIMEVAL
Primeval Knacks allow you to inhabit, exemplify,
and resonate with aspects of the World such as weather,
seasonal change, or the land itself. They are driven by the
concepts of embodiment and environment.
HEROIC
• Call of the Wild: Spend Momentum. With a ges-
ture or a summoning sound, you call forth the aid
of the world itself: whether it be dozens of local
animals, a sudden swelling of earth and plant life,
or summoning a beast sleeping deep within the
ocean. Whatever it is, it assists you, adding your
Primeval dots as Enhancement to any roll, which
applies before you roll.
• Depths of the World: Nothing from nature can
harm you, for you are the world itself. Gain your
choice of Resistant Tags for each time you pur-
chase this Knack, up to your Primeval Calling.
• Elemental Body: You shed your physical form,
which is a simple action that cannot be part of a
mixed action. For the rest of the scene or until you
choose to end the effect (whichever comes first)
choose one type of natural element to become. For
example: become a body of flame, a walking storm,
a moving rock, etc. While you are in your elemental
form, you cannot be affected by any environmental
effect (including Complications, Conditions, and
Field Complications) plus any appropriate narra-
tive effect this might have. For example, a body of
flame easily catches ordinary things on fire, while
a body of air can pass through even the smallest
crack.
• Fists of the World: Your unarmed strikes gain the
Elemental Tag, with an element of your choice. A
second purchase allows this to apply to any attack
using a weapon. You may continue to repurchase
this Knack up to your Primeval Calling, choosing a
different element each time.
• Tectonic Reveal: The first time you enter a proce-
dural scene, without needing to roll, you may ask
questions of the earth about what transpired. This
counts as though you used the Q&A Stunt a num-
ber of time equal to your Primeval Calling.
• Sheltering Presence: You may apply any Primeval
Knacks you know that grant immunity, resistance,
or protection from Field Complications or any oth-
er environmental detriments to all allies who stay
within Close range of you.
• The World Obeys: Spend Momentum. Reduce an
environmental-based Field Complication’s value by
your Primeval Calling, which may reduce it to zero
thereby canceling its effect. If this eliminates the
complication, get the Momentum back. This refund
does not apply to Field Complications you create.
Titanic Knacks
ELEMENTAL TAG
Elemental (1): This weapon deals elemental
damage, in addition to any other type of damage
tag it may have. This allows for a unique series of
Injury Conditions such as Third Degree Burns or
Frostbite. Additionally, this has any appropriate
narrative effects for being struck with a fist made
of ice or claws of magma. It ignores Armor unless
the Armor has a corresponding Resistant Tag.
IMMORTAL
• Alpha and Omega: When you are caught in the
middle of an environmental event or disaster (a
storm, a blizzard, a tornado, an earthquake, or any
more severe version) you may spend Momentum
and cause it to end immediately. This ends any
narrative effects appropriate to the event and dis-
misses any Conditions or Complications that might
have been caused by it. Alternatively, for the same
cost you can summon a disaster of your own design
which acts as a Field Complication with a rating
equal to your Primeval dots. This Complication
affects everyone in the Field, including your allies,
unless you have other Knacks or Boons that afford
specific protections against such a thing.
• Fly on Wings of Wind: Spend Momentum to up-
lift yourself and a number of allies equal to your
Primeval Calling. In a combat sequence, you fly
along upon a storm wind or other elemental source
(a jet of flame, a moving geyser, a floating platform
of ice, etc.), taking movement actions vertically as
well as horizontally. This may allow you to bypass
hazards, difficult terrain, or Field complications
that would involve ground-level presence.
• State Shift: Spend Momentum. You may transform
water from solid to liquid to gas by one state. This
affects all water or vapor by one state (from solid
to liquid or liquid to gas as an example) within
Close Range. Your character can use this ability to
evaporate a flooded room or freeze over a portion
of a body of water wide enough to run across, and
so on. This may be applied to other matter (such
as metal or ore), but it then also requires a Knack
Skill roll.
• Tidal Force: As fast as the ocean itself, you race
across the world, treating your Primeval Calling as
Speed Scale. When you make Combat Movement
actions, you may choose to apply the Shockwave
Tag to any attack following the movement. If you
choose to do so, add 1 to the Collateral pool, or 1 to
Tension if the Collateral Pool is not in play.
95
• The World Entire: When you work to turn exist-
ing natural forces to your will on a massive scale,
such as rerouting rivers, directing wildfires, or tak-
ing advantage of a tidal change, imbue, rather than
spend, a point of Legend to invoke your Legendary
Title as a Feat of Scale.
• Wild Growth: Spend Momentum. Bless a single
creature or character with the untamed power of the
World, causing them to grow to enormous size for
the duration of the scene. If the target is an animal,
it counts as a Creature Birthright under your control
with a dot rating equal to your Primeval Calling. If the
target is a Storyguide character, you determine their
course of action, which the Storyteller must agree
with. If the target is another player’s character, you
must get permission from the player first. Regardless,
any target gains half your Primeval dots, round up,
to Size Scale for appropriate actions. Other players’
characters cannot benefit from additional Size Scale
increases while benefitting from this Knack.
• World-Spinner: Spend Momentum and create
an environmental-based Field Complication with
a rating equal to your Primeval dots. This lasts
for the duration of the scene. Spend additional
Momentum to extend the duration by one scene
per Momentum spent. There is no limit to the
number of scenes this can be extended to, but must
end when the session of play does.
TYRANT
• Tyrant Knacks enable you to impose your will on oth-
ers, or make them suffer for disobeying you. They are
driven by the concepts of oppression and authority.
HEROIC
• Away From Me: Rebuke a target within the same
scene as you, whether in a social encounter or in
combat. If the target is of lower Tier, this Knack
has no cost. If the target is the same or higher Tier,
spend Momentum and make a Clash of Wills. If
successful, the target must leave the same Field as
you, thereby removing them from the scene.
• Die for Me: Once per session, make a Knack Skill
roll. On any successes, demand a target of lower Tier
become the subject of an attack or any other source
of harm targeting you, instead. If this causes the
subject to die, you may use this Knack a second time.
• Empowered by Sycophants: Gain Enhancement
equal to the rating of your Followers or Creature
present with you in the scene. This Enhancement
may be applied to Encourage Behavior, Encourage
Belief, or any Tyrant Knack Skill rolls, or any other
rolls made to intimidate, coerce, or otherwise make
demands not covered by these other restrictions.
96 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS
• First and Foremost: At the start of a social inter-
action, you may use this Knack to declare yourself
the focus of everyone’s attention. During the initial
interactions, all Storyguide characters must target
you first with their social actions. If they do not, they
suffer -2 dice to any applicable rolls. If more than one
character has this Knack, you must agree out of char-
acter who gets to be the focus for this scene.
• Great and Terrible: All things fear you. Spend
Momentum. Until the start of your next turn (or
action) characters who target you with actions can-
not benefit from additional Enhancement unless
this Enhancement comes from an innate magical
source — such as a Boon or a Knack.
• In My Stead: Once per scene, you may promote a
subordinate of lower Tier who you may then send
to perform a social action in your place. For all in-
tents and purposes, this character acts as you, us-
ing your applicable Skill and Attribute but not any
other Enhancement or special effects from Knacks
or Boons. If you fail this roll, you may choose to dis-
pose of the subordinate — either arranging for their
untimely death or destroying their social standing
— and instead choose to succeed as though you had
met the Difficulty exactly.
• Iron-Fisted Order: During Initiative, no
Storyguide character of lower Tier may act before
you, and must take initiative slots after yours, re-
gardless of the result of their roll. Only one of the
players’ characters in the Band may benefit from
this Knack at a time during a combat encounter.
• Pride Goes Before: You gain access to the follow-
ing Stunt, which applies to any social action.
• Inflated Ego (2s): In addition to any other
social effects, you afflict the target with the
“Hubris” Condition. While under the effects
of the Condition, any Enhancement the target
would benefit from removes successes, rather
than adds them. If this would create negative
successes, treat it as zero. When the target fails
the roll, you gain Momentum as if you’d failed
the roll instead, and the target must suffer
whatever consequences came from their fail-
ure. If the target of this Knack is another play-
er’s character, you must first obtain their con-
sent out of character, and if the penalty would
create negative successes, treat it as a botch for
the purposes of generating Momentum. The
target must still deal with the consequences of
failure and cannot dodge them with any ability
that might otherwise allow them to.
• Take the Fall: Once per scene, whenever you fail a so-
cial action or fail to buy off a social Complication, you
may instead redirect the narrative fallout or the result
 of the complication to another character to whom
you have a connection. This is typically in the form of
a Bond, though the Storyguide may permit any other
narrative connection — especially if the Tyrant was the
target character’s leader, boss, or other such figure of
authority. If targeting another player’s character, you
must get their permission out of character first.
• Terror at Hand: Spend Momentum. You tear the
fear out of a target, and shape it into something
real. Clear a target’s negative Attitude towards you
and reset it to 0. Then, summon a weapon or armor
shaped from the target’s emotions, using the at-
titude rating + Legend in points to spend on Tags.
This item persists until the end of the session, but
can be purchased as a Relic with a rating equal to
the target’s original Attitude when the session ends.
• Total Authority: Trivial targets in a procedural
scene instantly recognize you as a figure of au-
thority and are compelled to approach and provide
useful information relevant to your investigation.
This counts as though you had purchased the Extra
Clue or Interpretation stunts a number of times
equal to your Tyrant Calling.
IMMORTAL
• I Am Absolute: Spend Momentum. You command
a target to take a social, combat, or procedural
action (which may not be self-detrimental), which
they cannot refuse. If the target is the same Tier
or higher, this costs another Momentum. They roll
the action as normal, and may apply any special
abilities or powers they have, though they can
choose not to. If the target is a God, Titan, or other
being of equal power, they may make a demand of
you in return (unless you are also of the same Tier).
In this case, they may harbor resentment, resulting
in story consequences of the Storyguide’s choice.
This cannot be used on another player’s character
without their out of character consent.
• Petty Tyrant: While in your place of power (a
hideout, your corporation’s headquarters, your
army’s base camp, etc.), you may establish up to
your Tyrant Calling in arbitrary rules, which you
may change or adjust at the start of any scene. Any
Storyguide character who doesn’t follow your rules
gains a -2 Complication of “Rulebreaker” to all ac-
tions while within your domain. If a target refuses
or is unable to buy off the Complication, you may
forcibly eject them from your seat of power. Other
players’ characters are not required to obey your
petty edicts. This Knack applies even if you have
tricked an enemy into breaking your rules.
• Selfish Demand: Once per session, you may make
a demand of a target of lesser Tier, which they must
comply with. They perform this action as though
Titanic Knacks
they’d succeeded with a number of successes equal
to your Tyrant Calling, which they must spend on
Stunts if applicable. You cannot demand a target to
do anything self-harmful, or anything they physi-
cally could not do. For example, you could not de-
mand that a security guard walk into traffic, drink
bleach, or jump off a building or do things they
simply could not, such as fly or lift a car over their
head. You could demand the same guard to grant
you access to secured places or deliver a scathing
message to their employer, and so on.
• Solipsistic Disdain: Once per scene, you may spend
Momentum to ignore an attack against your person,
refusing to acknowledge its existence and becoming
utterly unaffected by any of its effects. If this was in
response to an ambush or surprise attack, you may
use this Knack without spending Momentum and
may use it one more time during the Scene.
• Squirming Masses: When attempting to inflict
fear or coerce obedience on a huge Scale, such as
cowing an army or demanding the labor of an en-
tire country, imbue, rather than spend, a point of
Legend to invoke your Legendary Title as a Feat of
Scale.
MAELSTROMS’ HEARTS:
EPICENTERS
While the Scions of the Gods enjoy access to their
Purviews Innate powers through the mastery they’ve
inherited, the Scions of the Titans are heir to more unruly
forces. Their parents, patrons, and progenitors bestow
unmediated and seething energies, which always seek
expression. As a result, Titanic Scions don’t automati-
cally receive the normal Innate ability when they obtain
a purview; instead, they are the Epicenters for related
effects. These are constantly active powers, occasionally
causing problems for the Scion and their allies, or even
providing thoughtless aid to an enemy. A Titanic Scion
may suppress any of their Epicenters and prevent any of
its effects by imbuing one Legend, though those Titanic
parents in regular communication with their children
often encourage them to simply let their powers run wild.
Titanic Scions can actively pursue the abilities of
Innate powers, paying 10 XP to gain access to the Innate
abilities of a Purview they possess. This doesn’t remove
their Epicenter or change its effects, however.
Likewise, Innate-possessing Scions can seek out the
wild power of Purview Epicenters, though many divine
parents may be unhappy with such behavior. This cost
them 10 XP as well. Unlike Titanic Scions, God Scions
must imbue Legend to gain access to the Epicenter’s ef-
fects, but are free of them when they reclaim their power.
97
 Epicenters only apply to universal Purviews; Titanic
Scions who cultivate Pantheon signature Purviews or
other such magics retain any normal innate abilities.
Some Epicenters reference the Collateral Pool (p.
XX), but alternate effects are provided for Heroic tier
games that choose not to engage with that subsystem.
Artistry
Your works shine transcendently, inner truth spilling
outwards. Those viewing your performances find it diffi-
cult to resist your emotional pull, and must succeed at an
Integrity + Resolve roll at a difficulty of your Legend or
gain a point of positive Attitude towards you. However,
those attempting to discern your secrets or motivations
gain two Enhancement to any such rolls.
Beasts
Your presence serves an inexhaustible beacon to what
lives and is wild. At the beginning of every Intrigue or Action
scene, local animals will make their presence known, small
creatures even spontaneously generating from your pur-
view and power. They will attempt to aid you, providing one
Enhancement to a task you accept their help for. The halo of
animals makes it difficult to hide your supernatural nature
or general presence in the area, increasing the Difficulty of
any such attempts by your Legend.
Beauty
Your beauty is a sublime force, leaving a wake of love
and terror. In Intrigue and Procedural scenes, you impose
your Legend in Complication: Adoration and Obsession
on all characters who interact with you; every point not
bought off causes them to gain a point of adoration (pos-
itive Attitude) or Obsession (negative Attitude) towards
you. You may choose which for Storyguide characters
with less Legend or who already possess an Attitude to-
wards you; the Storyguide chooses for other Storyguide
characters, and players choose for their characters.
Characters may possess positive and negative Attitudes
towards you without issue.
Chaos
Your very existence serves as the locus for swirling
disruption, chaos spreading out from you in an invisible
maelstrom. At the beginning of a scene, actions taken
in your presence by other characters suffer from your
Legend in Complication: Unfortunate Side Effects, in-
creasing the Collateral pool by the unresolved amount.
If the Collateral Pool is rolled as a result, its results will
direct the brunt of the effects towards that character and
their allies. A character who suffers the consequences
of this Complication is immune to it for the rest of the
scene. If not using the Collateral Pool rules, unresolved
Unfortunate Consequences result in a series of happen-
stance events and confusing accidents increasing the
Tension pool (for players’ characters or their allies) or the
Momentum pool (for antagonist characters).
98 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS
Darkness
Night and shadow adorn you, blurring the line between
the waking world of day and shifting world of darkness
and dreams. All characters in your presence gain two
Enhancement to rolls made to hide or conceal once a scene.
The dreams of sleeping characters you near also slip free,
allowing them to make Influence or other Intrigue rolls
against those present through shared visions and hallucina-
tions, whether their targets are sleeping or awake.
Death
Your presence thins the barriers between life and
death, inviting the deceased to make themselves known.
Underworld gates and other paths to deathly realms swing
open in your presence, potentially ushering more undead into
the world, while normally unperceivable and uncommunica-
tive forms of ghosts, spirits, and the undead can manifest and
make themselves understood in your presence. Such undead
are never hostile to you unless otherwise provoked.
Deception
Your words blur reality, making petty fancies, artful
illusions, and outright lies beautiful and believable as
they drop from your lips. Attempts made to see through
your lies, concealment, or other forms of deceit suffer
+2 Difficulty. However, you cannot escape the creep-
ing shadow of your own nature, even when telling the
truth: All your Intrigue rolls come with the one-point
Complication: Untrustworthy, which makes the target
of such actions gain the belief “This person is untrust-
worthy” if the Complication is not bought off.
Earth
Rock, soil, and all the good earth rise to sustain and
protect you. When you are on or under the ground (the
bottom floor or basements of a building still count), the
earth raises and shapes itself into Light Cover for you
after the first time you are attacked or put at serious risk
of harm during a scene, or Heavy Cover if you suffered
an Injury Condition. This will also unavoidably damage
the area, the earth caring more for your safety than any
human construction or happenstance surroundings.
Epic Dexterity
You are capable of fantastic bursts of movement and
increases in velocity, but speed kills. You gain +1 Scale
for purposes of Speed and movement, but suffer from
two Complication: Collateral Damage when you take
advantage of your speed. Unresolved points of this com-
plication directly add to the Collateral pool. If not using
the Collateral Pool rules, unresolved Collateral Damage
instead cause you to inadvertently damage either some-
thing important in the scene, or your own equipment.
Epic Stamina
Endless and unceasing, you gain +1 Scale against all
attempts to physically harm you, whether through direct
physical assault, poisons, environmental effects, or strang-
er methods. However, your form rejects such abuse so
firmly that every time an effect fails to damage you, it in-
stead causes collateral damage to things or people around
you. Add one die directly to the Collateral Pool. If not using
the Collateral Damage pool, you instead deal one point of
damage to a character or object near you. A character hurt
by this Epicenter is immune to it for the rest of the scene.
Epic Strength
Might that cannot be contained threatens the bones
of the world. You gain +1 Scale for all Strength or Might
related actions, but all physical actions you take suffer
from the two-point Complication: Grievous Collateral
Damage, increasing the Collateral Pool by the unresolved
amount and immediately roll it, regardless of current
total. If not using the Collateral Pool, for every point un-
resolved, you cause massive property, structural, or geo-
graphical damage to things you were not trying to break
or move. This complication may not be bought off with
any Enhancement gained from Scale.
Fertility
You are a font of life and animation, causing unruly
and out of control plant and small animal growth in your
presence. You always have access to Light Cover, but
Titanic Knacks
cause verminous and vegetal property damage and over-
growth everywhere you go.
Fire
Primal flame suffuses you, turning the whole World into
your tinderbox. You don’t suffer damage or discomfort from
fire, heat, or associated effects such as smoke inhalation, but
your possessions have no such protection, and those with
the Fire purview can still attempt to wield it as a weapon
against you. All attempts to start fires or wield fiery powers
of destruction gain +1 Enhancement while in your presence.
Forge
Labor and artifice spill forth from you, unceasing.
Whenever you succeed on a roll for a craft project, you
instantly complete an additional Milestone or create
an additional copy of the project if you would already
finish it. However, all your projects gain the two-point
Complication: Loose Ends, which if not resolved delivers
a copy of your work into a rival or enemy’s hands.
Fortune
Fate buckles and warps around you, drawing the
unwary into your orbit, carving strange futures for your
companions, and tangling Fate’s skein. You can have an
additional Fatebinding, regain an additional point of
Legend from obtaining or compelling Fatebindings, and
99
may choose to increase a Fatebinding’s strength by one,
to a maximum of four, if the Fatebinding’s duration would
end.
Frost
You are chill to the core, a still pool of absolute cold and
dark stillness lurking within. After you suffer an injury or
Complication related to temperature, snow, or related icy
terrain, you are immune to all such effects for the rest of
the scene. Once per Scene, atmospheres related to intense
emotion or passion in your presence decrease by your one,
and the first time a character attempts to use Speed-related
Scale, that character suffers two in Complication: Shocking
Chill; if not resolved, they lose their next action.
Health
Choose one of the following effects:
• You are a source from which wellness flows. Minor
ills, aches, and diseases end due to your mere prox-
imity, and treatment of all matter of physical insults is
easy. Reduce the difficulty of all First Aid rolls done in
your presence by your Legend, and cut all Resolution
time for Injury or related Conditions in half.
• You are a well of pestilence, an ever-present vector for
myriad maladies. As the ultimate Patient Zero, you leave
anything from a bad case of the sniffles to life-threaten-
ing illness in your wake. Any physically strenuous action
taken in your presence suffers a Complication equal
to half your Legend (round up, max 5), which if not
bought off causes the character to develop a Condition
reflecting an ongoing illness, with larger Complications
causing increasingly serious sickness.
Journeys
The road rolls ever onward, and you impel others to
follow it. Characters in your presence who wander away
from a Scene in progress, voluntarily get lost while jour-
neying, or otherwise give into wanderlust gain one point
of Legend (or, if they’re an SGC, the Storyguide gains
Tension).
Moon
Everchanging lunar light and penumbral darkness
pulses tidally about you. Attempts to actively hide or
conceal oneself from a specific hunter, investigator, or
other perceptive target, and attempts to actively dis-
cover hidden people or objects receive your Legend in
Enhancement in your presence. In either case, this does
not apply to general attempts to move stealthily or be
generally watchful, only specific, intentional actions.
Order
You breathe in the land’s law like air; you move through
cosmic order like a fish through water. You are aware of any
transgressions to local law occurring in your presence viscer-
ally, like a tooth ache or dull throbbing pain you can’t quite
100 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS
reach. Local mortals, denizens, and other creatures with less
Legend will instinctively attempt to bring further breaches to
your attention even if you have no official (or local) authority.
You feel transgressions against your pantheon’s laws and pre-
cepts as similar aches, and local faithful or denizens will at-
tempt to bring them to your attention. You gain your Legend
in Enhancement for any attempts to track down lawbreakers.
Passion
All hearts burn when yours is aflame, and that is a
fire which never dies. All attempts to create or increase
Attitudes or Atmospheres related to emotion or raw feel-
ing in your presence benefit from +1 Scale.
Prosperity
Blessings spring to life in your footsteps, granting
material wealth and plenty to those lucky enough to cross
your path. Mortals in your presence find their immediate
financial well-being improved as investments suddenly
pay off and windfalls pile up, while all characters who
attempt to use money, trade, or business to solve prob-
lems or advance projects benefit from your Legend in
Enhancement in your presence.
Sky
Your mood influences the local weather, bringing
pleasant winds or friendly flurries when you’re having
a good day, darkened skies or unpleasant precipitation
when you’re unhappy, and thundering precipitation,
dangerously strong winds, or unrelenting midday heat
and drought when you’re seriously upset. This makes
you easy to find and easier to read; characters benefit two
Enhancement to any attempts to track you or ascertain
your emotional state. However, you’re never impeded by
your own atmospheric outburst, and once per session you
may explain how your emotionally reactive weather helps
you, gaining your Legend in Enhancement to the roll.
Stars
The stars gaze down upon the World entire, and your
own perceptions mirror theirs, threatening to consume
you with the vastness of their gaze. Your rolls relating to
visual perception or awareness gain +1 Scale, but also suf-
fer from two Complication: Overwhelmed, which causes
you to suffer increased Difficulty equal to the unresolved
complication on your next roll.
Sun
You shine with certainty and solar fire, invisible
but blinding all the same. A character’s first attempt to
lie, conceal, or make attacks in your presence during a
scene suffers +2 Difficulty, unless they spend an action
protecting themselves from your invisible rays. You are
not exempt from your own brilliance — any attempt on
your part to conceal yourself suffers a +2 Complication,
which if not bought off fills those present with a sense of
certainty that there is something to find.
War
Conflict swirls about you, swift, bloody, and awful. All
characters in your presence may purchase the ‘Critical’
Stunt for one less success (to a minimum of one.), and
all attempts to encourage violent action or create violent
atmospheres gain your Legend in Enhancement.
Water
You are in your element in water, able to move
through it like a crashing wave. You benefit from +1 Scale
to Speed when moving through any aquatic or flooded en-
vironments. However, your passage also creates problems
for everyone else in the area, creating two Complication:
Swept Away, which causes them to be moved a range
band away for each unresolved point of Complication.
Wild
The World’s untrammeled wilderness stirs in your
presence, no matter where you might be. Ready foliage,
suddenly appearing animals, and rushing natural forces
spring to hand, providing two Enhancement for any
Survival or Stealth rolls in your presence, and even allow-
ing them to be made in such environments as an office
building or industrial park.
EARTHCRACKING DISASTER
PEOPLE: TITANIC DEMIGODS
AND DOMINION
Many Titans find Scions useful, ignorable, or even
embrace them as beloved children. However, this is often
contingent on those Scions living out their lives, however
long and impressive, as still-mortal heroes. Many Titanic
Scions have no idea that they could ever become Demigods,
and many Titans prefer it that way. After all, at the end of
the Demigod’s road lies apotheosis or death, and for many
Pantheons, that brings up aeons’ old concern over usurpa-
tion or replacement. But as much as Aten might disdain the
thought of one of his tools daring to set foot on the road to
godhood, or Tenoch may despise a child free in the bright
world reaching divinity on their own, the potential for
Titanic Scions to become Demigods is there.
Such scorned Titanic Demigods look outside their
parents for support and advice, even if they enjoyed it as
a newly visited Scion. Finding mentors in other supernat-
ural creatures, other Scions, or even friendly Gods is not
uncommon, but those Titans who can’t or won’t accept
such help may find their powers running rampant. A
Titanic Demigod who’s not careful may find the Devá or
Theoi declaring them an actual, enemy-of-the-Gods Titan,
or worse, the Shén may try to force them into a desk job.
Beyond familial and political concerns, Titanic
Demigods face another unique risk when chasing apo-
theosis. Divine Scions face godhood or death at the end of
their lives as Demigods; either they achieve immortality
and elevation, or they perish in the attempt. There is a
Titanic Mutations
third, unfortunate end possible for Titanic Demigods.
The unruly primal power they are heir to can burn past
the wick of their mortal lives, even if they fail to ascend
to godhood. The guttering flames of their titanic energies
can sustain such Demigods indefinitely, even though
godhood now forever eludes. Fate bridles against these
stunted godlings, setting slayers, hunters, and nemeses
onto their trails. Those who last across the ages often be-
come infamous monsters in obscure corners of the World
or remote Otherworlds, their curdled Legend giving rise
to lesser Titanspawn and driven enemies both.
For most purposes, Titanic Demigods follow the
rules laid out for all Demigods in Scion: Demigod. They
may use Dominion Boons and Stunts normally; whenever
a rule references the Innate Power of a purview, a Titanic
Scion may substitute the relevant Epicenter (such as for
the Gift of Power stunt).
The power that Titanic Scions wield traces itself
back to the primal World; as a Scion gains in power, so
too does their power’s excesses. For Series in which this
contrast with divine Scions is important, Storyguides
may choose to have Titanic Scions add an additional die
to the Collateral pool the first time their actions add to
the pool in a scene. In this case, such Scions are familiar
with the fallout of their powers and can try and channel
their excesses to some small extent. When they choose to
act with Unchecked Abandon, they may select one Stunt
from the Collateral Pool list which is not available for the
Storyguide to pick for any resulting Collateral Pool roll.
Casual Miracles come to Titanic Scions particularly easily,
their power acting out without their conscious control or will.
Such spontaneous expressions of power will never directly
harm the Scion, but may prove embarrassing or situationally
dangerous. While these are out of control of the character, the
player of the Scion always chooses when they happen.
Titanic Demigods who fail to ascend to godhood
may avoid death and instead persist in a continual state
of Failed Divinity. Such Demigods may no longer attempt
apotheosis, and Fatebindings will tend to attract inhu-
man denizens in line with the Demigod’s purviews and
powers, except for Slayers: Nemesis characters who find
themselves drawn to oppose the Titanic Demigod. While
a Titanic Demigod might survive as a Failed Divinity in-
definitely, Fate won’t stop sending such hunters against
the irritant that is the obdurate survivor.
TITANIC
MUTATIONS
Y our Titanic Scion oozes primordial power. It comes to
them unbidden, whether they want it or not. You may
substitute a dot of Knacks or Boons for a dot of Titanic
Mutation during character creation, or purchase Mutation
dots later at five Experience per dot. Titanic Mutations
always come with a base Boon and Bane. Apart from that
101
though, each is unique to each Titanic Scion.
This section discusses how to create Titanic
Mutations, and provides several example Mutations.
STEP 1: DESIGN YOUR MOTIF
Take a moment to imagine your Titanic Scion when
they call on their mutation — what does the Mutation
grant them. Much like Purview motifs, these are phrased
as statements. A motif needs to tie into their Titanic
Progenitor. A Scion of Nyx might cloak herself in dark-
ness to become a silent assassin (‘I bring death dark and
silent as the night’). While your Mutation can encompass
several benefits playing off that motif, detailed under Step
3, it can’t initially move beyond it. Our Nyxian Scion could
shape solid darkness into blades, but not a gun — guns
aren’t known for being silent.
A Titanic Mutation always has a physical tell when
you activate it — decide what that looks like too.
You don’t have to decide on everything your motif
allows at this point. You and your Storyguide should,
however, have a clear enough vision that you can make
swift judgment calls later.
STEP 2:
ANSWER YOUR CALLING
There are five Titanic Callings: Adversary, Destroyer,
Monster, Primeval, and Tyrant. Your Mutation always in-
corporates a fixed aspect based on one of these Callings.
This part is always-on, and gained when you purchase
your first dot of Mutation. You may suppress both Boon
and Bane together for a scene by spending a point of
Momentum.
We’ve listed Boons and Banes below. These are excel-
lent for most Titanic Scions and SGC, but don’t hesitate
to adapt or make new ones to better suit your character!
ADVERSARY
You don’t mean to set people up for failure, or to foil
your friends’ best laid plans. It’s just in your nature.
• Boon: Add a +1 Enhancement to any rolls that rely
on deception.
• Bane: You can never reveal the truth, or aid in its
revealing. This goes beyond just lying. In fact, you
usually tell the truth — so people trust you — and
then lie at the worst possible time. Gain Momentum
when you steer friends and allies wrong at a crucial
moment.
DESTROYER
Tear it all down. You yearn to burn and rage, slash
and break. You can control yourself sometimes, but the
urge to destroy is so strong it hurts inside.
• Boon: You are really good at finding the breaking
point. Add a +1 Enhancement to breaking things,
102 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS
A DIFFERENT
PERSON NOW
Your Spawn of Cronos started with the
Primeval Calling and matching Mutation, but
they since had a change of heart — or more
specifically, they dropped the Primeval Calling.
What happens to this part of their Mutation?
Well, if they switched Callings just go ahead and
switch Mutations too. However, if they shed their
Calling all together they still need the Boon and
Bane to even out the Mutation. Player’s choice
of keeping the one they had, or getting creative
with the Storyguide and designing a new one.
whether it’s a material object, a relationship, or
even a wall of secrecy.
• Bane: You suffer a -2 penalty at creating anything,
whether it’s art, cooking, or assembling Swedish
furniture. You can’t even create lasting relation-
ships. Gain Momentum any time you fail to create
something at a dramatic time. Failing at cooking
when you needed to impress a local Demi-God,
losing a map when you are the only person who
knows the way, and so on. Having a big falling out
with your Band definitely counts too — just don’t
make a regular habit of it, for the Storyguide’s sake.
MONSTER
You spread fear. And why wouldn’t you — it’s so deli-
cious as it rolls off mortals like fine spice.
• Boon: Add a +1 Enhancement bonus on any rolls to
cause fear, or on rolls that benefit from the target
being afraid of you.
• Bane: Choose one type of weak mortal. You can
never resist an opportunity to terrify them. While
the people you choose might have it coming — rap-
ists, for example, are weak and pathetic — the way
you go about it speaks to your monstrous nature.
You go after anyone matching your type. You can
control the immediate urge and visit them later on
the same day, but this adds a point of Tension. If
you don’t encounter your type over a story arc, you
must actively set out to find them and scratch that
itch. Gain Momentum when someone you didn’t
mean to scare is terrified by this Bane.
Be mindful of the other players’ and Storyguide’s
comfort — don’t cross any discussed boundaries and fade
to black judiciously. This Bane is about the fall-out of
your monstrous appetites, not the details of your hunt.
PRIMEVAL
You are the burning sun, the raging air, the deep of the
ocean, and the untamed wild. The world cannot hold you.
 • Boon: You have an extra Bruised Health lev-
el regardless of Stamina. You also gain a +1
Enhancement bonus on rolls to stop humans from
harnessing your Titanic element.
• Bane: You cannot heal Bruised Health levels un-
less you’re in reaching distance of your Titanic
element. You can’t loophole the letter of your Bane
either. A matchstick doesn’t hold the essence of the
Sun, but a raging inferno or active volcano does.
A placid beach shore is far too weak for a Titan of
Water — you must be either at open sea, no shore
in sight, or a storm needs to whip up waves as tall
as yourself.
If you don’t find your way to a healing environment
within 24 hours, or if your Taken Out, your body
reacts instinctively and generates the necessary
environment. It does this to spectacular effect like
rupturing a gas main and setting the city block
ablaze, or calling up a tsunami.
Gain Momentum if danger has not passed yet, and
your Bane prevents you from healing.
TYRANT
The world is yours by right. You scoff at anyone who
cannot see your greatness, your shining light, and how
much you deserve to rule.
• Boon: You gain a +1 Enhancement bonus on any
rolls relating to leadership.
• Bane: Your leadership could raise cities to glory —
or grind enemy states into dust — yet you always
end up making more enemies than friends. You
only regain points of Legend from Fatebinding (see
Scion: Hero p. 196) if the SGC is tied to an antago-
nistic role such as Nemesis or Traitor.
STEP 3: DISTRIBUTE DOTS
Here’s where you exchange dots for benefits. Some
of these benefits cost multiple dots. When you purchase
a dot of Titanic Mutation, you may redistribute all dots.
This allows you to purchase a first dot to gain a smaller
benefit, then purchase a second dot and re-spec both
to a larger one. When you purchase your fourth dot of
Mutation, you gain a Condition as detailed under Step 4.
Any benefit you purchase must initially fit the
motif you decided on in Step 1, or your Titanic Calling.
However, you may expand your motif or even tag on a
second if you receive the blessing of your Titanic progen-
itor. This means praying to them to beg permission — and
your Storyguide may decide they ask something in return.
If you’re really on the outs with your Titanic parent, and
unafraid of sinking the relationship even further, you can
bypass them and receive a motif directly from the thing
they represent. For example, both Big Ben and Prague’s
astronomical clock hold enough of the time element that a
Spawn of Cronos could receive the time motif by striking
Titanic Mutations
a bargain with the clock. This is a great chance for player
and Storyguide to get creative and weird. Fair warning
though: if Cronos was previously content to ignore you,
this will definitely earn his active ire.
By spending dots, you may:
• Name a Deed that aligns with your motif or Titanic
Calling. You gain a bonus on rolls that actively
further this Deed: +1 at the Hero tier, +2 at the
Demigod tier, and +3 at the God tier. If you accom-
plish the Deed, you can re-spec this Mutation dot
immediately.
• Name a Knack or Boon that fits your motif. You
gain a +1 Enhancement bonus on rolls for that
Knack. If your Knack or Boon already grants an
Enhancement bonus, raise it by +1.
• You may sculpt your Titanic ichor into a weapon
with 3 points of weapon tags. You may choose to
leave this weapon dormant until you need it. The
option of leaving it dormant effectively gives it the
Concealable tag, which comes for free. You may add
negative point tags as normal.
• You may sculpt your Titanic ichor into armor with
3 points of tags. You may choose to leave this armor
dormant until you need it. The option of leaving
it dormant effectively gives it the Concealable tag,
which comes for free. You may add negative point
tags as normal.
• You gain a +1 Enhancement bonus on a specific
type of Skill-based roll. You may purchase this
benefit multiple times to gain separate bonuses on
different rolls, or stack them for a +2 or +3 bonus.
Stacked Enhancement bonuses cannot exceed +3.
Your chosen bonus must not conflict with your
Titanic nature. A Titanic Scion of Nyx is excellent
at shrouding themselves in darkness, which brings
Enhancement bonuses to stealth and intimidation,
but is probably not great at making friends.
• You gain a +1 Enhancement bonus on all rolls
with one Attribute. You may purchase this benefit
multiple times to gain separate bonuses on differ-
ent Attributes, or stack them for a +2 or +3 bonus.
Stacked Enhancement bonuses cannot exceed +3.
Your chosen bonus must not conflict with your
Titanic nature.
• You gain access to a Purview, which may not be
another Pantheon’s signature Purview. The chosen
Purview must not conflict with your Titanic na-
ture — a Scion of Nyx can’t gain the Sun Purview
no matter how much she tries, but she could gain
the Water Purview. You gain access to its Epicenter
(see p. XX) as normal.
103
STEP 4: GAIN A CONDITION
When you purchase your fourth dot of Titanic
Mutation, choose one of the Persistent Conditions below or
design one with your Storyguide. Your character’s embrace
of their Titanic nature also empowers their Epicenters (see
p. XX). Choose up to two Epicenters that work with your
Mutation’s motif and raise any bonuses they grant by +1.
TITAN’S BLESSING
You are really living up to your progenitor’s expec-
tations. Receive a +1 Enhancement bonus on social rolls
against Titanspawn, and a -1 social penalty dealing with
God-born Scions. You receive Momentum when you fail a
crucial social roll with a God-born Scion.
TITANIC VISAGE
Your true lineage shows anytime you call on your
Mutation. You choose how this looks exactly, but it should
be terrifying. When your Titanic Visage activates, you
receive a +1 Enhancement bonus on intimidation, and a -1
penalty to soothe people or win their trust or friendship.
Your visage returns to normal at the end of the scene,
though this Condition re-activates next time you use your
Mutation. Gain Momentum when you fail a crucial roll
with someone because of this Condition.
104 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS
TITAN’S WHISPERS
You hear your progenitor in the quiet hours of the night,
you see them in the rays of morning sun, or feel their pres-
ence in the ocean. Once per story, your progenitor demands
a favor of you. Roll Resolve + Integrity, or pay 1 Momentum,
to resist. Your Storyguide sets the difficulty based on the
favor itself, and how often and how recently you used your
Mutation. Gain a Momentum when you agree.
SAMPLE MUTATIONS
KILLING FROST (••••)
Huldra channels the power of Jötun, the Ice Giant,
into raw physical strength. Her body gains a blue pallor
when she calls on her Mutation, and her breath turns into
little clouds.
Motif: I call upon the deadly ice
Calling: Destroyer
Condition: The ground freezes over when Huldra
uses her Mutation, inflicting an environmental Tilt on ally
and enemy alike. Huldra’s player adds 1 Momentum to the
group pool when her Band suffers injuries because of this.
Benefits
• Armor: Body of Ice (Hard, Resistant against frost)
• Weapon: Ice Fists (aggravated, brutal, natural)
 • +1 Enhancement Bonus on Strength Rolls
LION’S HEART (•)
Selim channels the power of Ammit to be unrelent-
ing. Their skin becomes scaly with a faint green hue when
they call on their Mutation.
Motif: I have the patience of a crocodile
Calling: Monster
Benefits
• Deed: Selim’s long-term Deed is to punish the
Titanspawn who killed their adoptive parents.
Patient Ammit approves of this.
OCEAN’S SPLENDOR (••)
Jason calls upon the gifts of Tethys to make him as
alien and mesmerizing as the deep ocean. When he ac-
tivates his Mutation, his hair floats like he’s underwater
and his eyes become deep dark orbs.
Motif: Look upon me and despair of my beauty
Calling: Primeval
Condition: n/a
• Jason receives a +1 Enhancement bonus on all rolls
to mesmerize and impress people.
• Jason also gains a +1 Enhancement bonus to en-
gender despair, or sway people who are feeling
desperate.
STORYGUIDING
TITANIC SCIONS
T here are the stories that everyone knows; stories of great
heroes, the Scions of the likes of Zeus, Durga, Bishamon,
and mighty Thor, inspiring awe and courage in the masses
and their faithful. Then there are the stories of the likes of
Loki, Set, Pukawiss, and Sun Wukong — gods who seem to
straddle the line between benevolent pranksters and devious
tricksters ready to trip up one of their own on a lark, usually
to teach them a vital lesson about the follies of pride. The
difference is though they are rascals, rogues, and rapscallions,
they are still seen and are respected as gods with a capital
G, ultimately having chosen a side in an on-going cold war.
Even still, there are lesser known stories Pantheons
would much rather forget and pass off as urban legends,
folktales, or campfire stories meant to instill a healthy fear
in those less in the know. Heroes fare better when they be-
lieve themselves to be near-invincible righteous do-gooders.
It makes for better front-page headlines, puts coins into
temple coffers, and so on and so on. The truth is, there is
something to fear. Just as the gods have their instruments to
exert their influence over the World, so too, do their Titan
counterparts. Did you think only gods could have children
and Scions? Where did you think those gods came from?
Storyguiding Titanic Scions
In this age of ever-increasing aggression of gods
versus titans, the titans have realized to fight on an even
footing, they need to follow the suit of their former
scions-turned-gods. Sure, the last time they produced
Scions, their children turned on them and painted them
with a villainous brush, but now they have learned to
better manage their Scions should they decide to follow
in the footsteps of their forebears. It isn’t always a sure
thing, but this time they aren’t too concerned about be-
trayal; if one of their Scions step out of line, the nuisance
is eliminated and that is that. It may seem inhumane, but
that is precisely the point — Titans are not humane by any
stretch of the imagination and are not bound by feelings
of camaraderie and common decency.
WHAT MAKES A TITAN?
There has long been a debate about what makes a
Titan, with each pantheon having its own opinions or
views, which leads to there being no one standard litmus
test or dividing line in the sand which easily places gods
on one side and titans on the other. The argument most
often given is Titans are more likely to be adversarial,
tyrannical, or outright monstrous in nature, possess a ten-
dency to destroy rather than create, and a good number
of them are beings who have existed for so long, they are
considered to be the foundations of the cosmos.
The callings of Adversary, Destroyer, Monster,
Primeval, and Tyrant are considered unique to those
deemed Titans by their counterparts, as it sets them apart
and on the opposite end of the spectrum from callings
like Creator, Guardian, Judge, Hunter, and others. To an
extent, Titanic callings are an indication a Titan is more
inclined to behavior humans might describe as sinful,
wicked, and without virtuous intent. And yet, Ereshkigal,
the Lady of the Great Earth, has some tyrannical leanings,
remains part of the Anunna proper and not seen as an en-
emy against the World — at least for now.
What sets Gods apart from their Titan counterparts is
that Gods are more sympathetic to humanity. They may be
intemperate, mercurial, even cruel to individual humans
who earn their ire, but on the whole most Gods believe that
humanity has inherent value and should be, if not respected,
at least acknowledged and watched over. The Anunna, for
example, may consider their followers (and every human,
living and dead, for that matter) servants obliged to obey
their dictates without question, but they still care for them.
Some Pantheons would have you believe Titans have
no such belief in humanity — their sole purpose in being
an agent of entropy. They existed long before humanity,
and so therein lies the disconnect — how can one under-
stand that which they have no true connection to? Rather
than working alongside humanity in a bid to be seen as
a benevolent force, Titans view humanity as little more
than a means to an end: that which is to be scooped up,
used against their rivals and enemies, and then discarded
when they no longer serve a needed purpose. More than
105
 LOST SCIONS
There are cases where the child of a God is, for whatever reason, misplaced or wholly forgotten about.
While Zeus would never own up to having sired more children than he can keep track of (much to the chagrin
of Hera, who seems to know where each and every one of her philandering husband’s forgotten offspring
resides), it is not uncommon for a god to unwittingly neglect a potential Scion — perhaps there is one who
has gained their greater attentions that they want to nurture to greater esteem, while another languishes in
uncertainty. That is, until they become too irresistible to ignore.
With nothing being sacrosanct during a time of war, Titans have often found the best pawns can be found when
you least expect them. The opposite of a cuckoo bird, when a Titan finds a forgotten godling in their proverbial
nest, they are compelled to take them in and turn them into a means to their own ends. What better weapon is there
against an enemy but their own flesh and blood? Such is the unfortunate case of Jennifer Walker.
Unbeknownst to Jennifer, she has divine parentage among the Netjer, and spent a good deal of her youth
being shipped from distant relative to distant relative until she aged out of the foster care system. Left to her
own devices to survive, Jennifer fell prey to the insidious machinations of Aten, and was soon following his
directives — unaware he only saw her as a pawn in his greater game against Atum-Re. This sort of narrative
has started to become common, and there may be a few Titanic Scions who were absconded with before
they came into their correct birthright.

one God has also behaved in this way, though they tend to
have more excuses of it being for the “greater good,” and
therefore the action was justified.
The truth is they exist as a counterbalance, to be the
reactionary force within the World when Fate deems it nec-
essary, and there are even Pantheons who don’t believe Titans
are actually a thing, as all divinity is divine regardless of how
it manifests that divinity. Agni, Ares, Shiva, Ītzpāpālōtl, The
Morrigan, and Tawiscara all exhibit some Titanic inclina-
tions, but are members of significant standing within their
respective Pantheons. Some attribute it to the fact that they
have managed to strike a balance within themselves, to be as
both God and Titan, but even that is an oversimplification.
So, what is it that differentiates them from the likes of
Ae-pungishimook, Coyokxauhqui, or Isfet? Little, other
than the need for there to be an “other” for whom all fault
for calamity and chaos could be laid upon. An argument
can be made that it is simply a matter of politics. How dif-
ferent would the Theoi be if Cronus were recognized as a
God rather than a Titan? It is clear the Theoi have a better
public relations team. Remember: Zeus has also killed out
of jealousy and maintains tight control over Mt. Olympus
with a thunderous fist. It is easy to set the narrative when
you make all the rules.
WHAT MAKES A TITANIC SCION?
To put it simply, a Titanic Scion is a Scion of a Titan.
Scions of Gods and Scions of Titans can be born, chosen,
or created, and all have a divine spark denoting their par-
entage. All Scions are, to a certain degree, shock troops in a
war that has been going on for eons. All come into this war
without knowing exactly what all it entails, leading to more
dead Heroes than the Gods would like to admit. Titanic
Scions differ because the Titans purposely obfuscate their
intent — and their entire nature — from their chosen. Of
course, it can be argued the Gods do much the same. Some
would say there’s a difference, but the lines are sufficiently
blurry that the Òrìshà cannot help but say “I told you so.”
The difference comes from how the relationship
between a Titan and their Scion functions, and further
still, the expectations of what a Titan wants from their
Scion as opposed to their non-Titanic cousins. One way
to put it is that Gods have an almost-parental relation-
ship with their Scions, whereas Titans have a one-sided,
almost-transactional relationship. Unrealistic goals are
par for the course with Titans, and sometimes flagrantly
outside the boundaries of basic morality.
As Titanic Scions can (and do) come from all walks of
life, they run the same gamut as their “morally upright”
cousins. From well-heeled to street kids, the Titans have
need for any and all to do their work in the world. There is
no one universal litmus for who makes a better Scion, and
sometimes you just take what you are given. The same
goes for would-be Scions — until (and if ) they experience
a visitation; they have no inkling as to who their divine
patron may or may not be. Have there been instances of
disappointment? Of course, but when you are given lem-
ons, you can either make lemonade or you can squirt the
juice into the eyes of your enemies. Either way, the lemon
gets utilized, and when it is squeezed of all its juice and
all that remains is pulp and rind? Well, then you merely
go back to the lemon tree and see if another shakes out.
Not every Titanic Scion wholly embraces their new
normal. The potential for being put at odds with friends
and loved ones weighs heavily on the mind, making the
forging of new relationships difficult at best. The best way
to keep any relationship at this juncture safe from poten-
tial abuse is to keep them at arm’s length — not just emo-
tionally, but sometimes even physically. Close bonds are a
luxury they cannot afford to have. Ghosting of once-allies
and going off-grid is a common tactic, with these Scions
resurfacing sometimes under a pseudonym to keep from

106 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS

being tracked. This sometimes results in some incredibly
determined friends or family moving mountains to find
their wayward kin, but almost inevitably ends in some
manner of tragedy which pushes the Scion even closer to
their destructive inclinations.
Those inclinations, stemming from the inherent
influence of their parent or patron Titan, are ultimately
what separates a Titanic Scion from their kin. Each step
they take away from upholding their own humanity, the
more they sink into casting away the ties that bind them
to the world into which they were born, all pushes them
towards a point seen as one of no return. Titanic Scions
have happy endings; many fail to reach Heroic heights,
fewer still see realization as Demigods, and rarer are the
ones who manage to achieve full apotheosis.
PLAYING A TITANIC SCION
When potential Titanic Scions are visited, they expe-
rience the same shock and awe as their counterparts and
even their predecessors — they have, after all, been cho-
sen to be the instrument of a divine will. The reactions
run the gamut from absolute shock (sometimes requiring
a brief visit to an emergency room), to incredulous bewil-
derment, and of course just bemused indifference, with
the latter usually resulting in the Scion becoming a cau-
tionary tale. No self-respecting Titan takes indifference to
their appearance kindly.
At their core, all Scions grapple with the revelation
that they are more human than human. They have the
same struggles as anyone else: balancing how to make
rent, attempting to maintain some sort of (mortal) family
life, meeting up with their romantic partners, all while
answering to a calling greater than themselves and doing
it either begrudgingly or gladly. Like everything else in
the World, there is always a choice: do you follow the duty
as laid out by your divine patron or do you go to a musical
festival with that actual pixie dream girl who works at the
corner coffee shop?
Titanic Scions have all that exact baggage with some
noted differences. Their relationship with their Titanic
patrons is less nurturing and could almost be considered
parasitic. Whereas gods like Aphrodite and Aengus are
loving and supportive while still pushing their chosen
forward, a Titan like Aten or Ae-pungishimook will take
everything their Scion gives them and more. A Titan can
and does give praise on occasion, but just enough to give
their Scion enough of a dopamine hit to allow them to
ignore every single red flag thrown on to the field. Titans
have next to no concept of empathy or humanity, unlike
their counterparts, and as such do not consider the ram-
ifications or implications of what the actions, they ask of
their protégés. All that matters are the results, not the
actions taken to get to those results. Few Titans tolerate
failure, and less still the number who will broker the dis-
respect of being disobeyed.
Storyguiding Titanic Scions
Origin wise, Titanic Scions can be individuals who
find themselves already in a diminished social stratum in
one way or another. They can be on the fringes of society,
people who the system failed, or who fell through the
cracks of what should have been social and community
safety nets. With nothing else left to lose, many find the
promises made by these ancient Titans to be too tempting
to not take up with. Did you always want a family? Now
you are part of a great and storied lineage of heroes going
back since time immemorial and isn’t that grand? Now,
because of that storied lineage, you have been charged
to destroy a Scion of Apollo’s life. It is just the price you
pay to have what you have now. You would not want to
go back to being a nobody, do you? Not when everything
you want is within your grasp and all you must do is one,
morally questionable action. Thought so, now go on and
bash their guitar to bits.
BAND HARMONICS
Getting along with others can be difficult when
you’re a Titanic Scion, especially when it comes to your
God-descended peers. A Scion of Aniwye might be kept
at arm’s length not because they tend to carry a bit of the
Giant Skunk’s eau de parfume with them, but because
they bring along an excess amount of baggage with them.
Never mind your nature — you’re a trouble magnet just
because of who your parent is. Your connections on the
divine end of things invite disaster. It makes fitting in dif-
ficult at best, and downright rancorous at worst.
When in a Band with a Scion of Loki, there is an un-
derlying understanding in them being somewhat chaotic
on account of Mischief Maker’s nature, and how it is often
passed down to his Scions. Scions in a Band with a Scion
of Loki know to expect shenanigans that may or may not
make a situation worse; it comes part and parcel with
the territory. With Titanic Scions, that understanding is
greatly diminished — Titans are alien and inhuman, their
whims and aims difficult to comprehend. Titanic Scions,
however, are not inhuman. At least, not yet. Like their
divine counterparts, they share the same mortal struggles
but wrestle with the knowledge of knowing that at some
point they may be forced to turn against their comrades
in arms at any moment.
Consider a Titanic Scion whose Patron has a thun-
derbolt aimed at the head of their best friend and Band-
mate, ready to loose it at any time to get back at the God
that wronged them a millennia or greater ago. It makes
for some awkward jokes that get laughed off more often
than not, but it is an all-too-real possibility that a Titanic
Scion carries with them when they make friends with
“the other team.” Further, Titanic Scions have a perspec-
tive that very few Divine Scions do: they have the benefit
of knowing the other side of the stories the gods and their
ilk tell, and not everything is as black and white as they
would like you to believe. Not everyone enjoys having
what amounts to (sometimes literal) devil’s advocate in
107
 HANDLING DIFFICULT THEMES WITH CARE
Titans, by their nature, have little to no deep connection to humanity and over the course of their journey,
Titanic Scions may find themselves questioning whether the actions they have taken are justifiable or not. This
can lead to difficult situations where a player of a Titanic Scion character may have to engage in behaviors
they may personally find abhorrent but fit within their character’s motivations and development. This struggle
is at the heart of playing a Titanic Scion: do you give in to these darker, inhuman impulses or do you rail
against it and still cling to the light of humanity?
In the context of a campaign, Titanic Scions have a greater chance to engage in acts which can have
a strong resonance with real world violence, oppression, and physical and psychological traumas which
may be triggering or difficult for themselves or other players to handle. Storyguides should be mindful of
the boundaries of players at their tables when dealing with these character types — dark and terrible things
befall heroes all the time, but there are times when those details are best left out of a story and the mind left to
wander on all its own. Be sure to check in with your players to ensure they are comfortable with proceeding
or if a brief session recess is warranted for some decompression.

their Band, but situations can and do arise when an out- holds a great deal of power; power which can turn the
sider’s perspective is direly needed. tide and lead to an even greater Legend being born.

THE INNER STRUGGLE TITANIC APOTHEOSIS

One questionable action quickly turns into two, then
four, eight, and eventually you lose count of how much red
might be in your ledger. For some Titanic Scions who may
have already made questionable choices even before their
Visitation, this is just business as usual — doing whatever it
takes to survive and maybe, just maybe, get ahead. For others,
it means acting so wildly out of bounds that there is an ev-
er-lingering sense of shame and guilt they feel they can’t ever
wash away, so they repress the memories of those actions just
to get by. Still, there is just something wrong with completely
giving up entirely on having a conscience, and therein lies the
struggle between their innate humanity and the siren call of
Titanic power and influence comes to a head.
This inner struggle is at the core of a Titanic Scion’s
existence, and it is constant. Imagine having your better
angels and your worst demons sitting on your shoulders,
except the angel is gagged and the demon is telling you to
not worry at all, everything is completely fine. You either
learn to ignore the demon completely, while still unable
to hear anything the angel has to say, or you begrudgingly
listen to the demon because some guidance is better than
none. Mistakes can still be made regardless of which in-
ner voice’s advice you heed, just so long as objectives are
accomplished — there is no need to worry.
Callings deemed Titanic seem to have a stronger
influence over the thoughts, actions, and behaviors of
Scions of Titans. It doesn’t always rise to the level of con-
scious thought because it has become woven into their
nature. While it might give some Titanic Scions cause for
concern that they have gone too far down the rabbit hole
and there is no path for redemption, there are Gods who
share a calling with a Titanic ancestor — proof that not all
is lost. There is always the opportunity for redemption, to
undo past wrongs. It may require a heroic sacrifice on the
part of the Titanic Scion, but that action in and of itself
Though exceedingly rare, Titanic Scions can achieve
apotheosis. By the time they find themselves in such a
state, their patron and perhaps even whole pantheons have
mobilized to stop this potential transformation. Titans dis-
like like being one-upped, and their Scions doing so means
there is yet another uncertain variable potentially sidelin-
ing their goal. Pantheons, on the other hand, do not want to
see yet another Titan rise because rarely ends well for the
World and usually requires a lot of clean-up on Aisle Earth.
Titanic apotheosis can best be described as the total
shedding of one’s humanity and empathy; you cease to
have any manner of care for the World or others in a way
easily comprehensible. What drives Titanic apotheosis is
pure, unadulterated selfishness; your goals, your desires,
become so all-encompassing that they take precedence
over everything else. You either get what you want or
unleash literal hell in order to do so — there is no middle
ground for you anymore.
However, there is still a choice which must be made:
whether to embrace their Titanic nature or to cast it off
in its entirety. Whether conscious or not, everything a
Titanic Scion does leading up to the point of their apothe-
osis, plays a role in determining which way the pendulum
may swing for them.
EMBRACING TITANIC NATURE
There comes a point where a Titanic Scion has
reached a proverbial cliff — they have either gone as far as
they can while resisting the siren call of embracing their
inner darkness, or they stand right on the razor’s edge;
there is no going back to from where they came. They are
too far gone and having destroyed the lives of so many
others for the gain of a divine patron who would just as
easily discard them, they find themselves at a breaking
point. It can be argued that a few Titans were perhaps

108 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS

born in this exact way: driven to a breaking point, got mad
as hell, and simply weren’t going to take it anymore.
When a Titanic Scion reaches the point of apotheosis,
the transformation is nothing short of terrifying, the after-
shocks being felt not just physically on the earth but echo-
ing throughout the cosmos. The Titanic energy coalesces
within the body of the Scion, enveloping them in a cosmic
egg or chrysalis as their very body and soul begin to change.
Instead of emerging like a butterfly, wet-winged and need-
ing to rest after the ordeal, a being of raw, unimpeachable
power and inhumanity emerges instead — fully prepared to
assume their place within the cosmic hierarchy they now
find themselves a part of, and prepared to tear it all asunder.
The birth of a new full-fledged Titan is not without its
physical effects on the World. Like the being within the chrys-
alis, the surrounding land undergoes irrevocable changes:
explosions of divine energy causing craters, mountains rising
from the depths of the earth, volcanos spewing forth magma,
or entire landmasses falling into the sea. On rare occasions, it
births a new Strange Place; not quite normal, but not a Terra
Incognita, either. Nevertheless, it becomes a place incorporat-
ed into their mythos; perhaps even visited and maintained as
a sacred place by members of a fledgling cult.
After apotheosis, there is no maintaining the physical
mortal form any longer, at least not in a way which can be
comprehended by the mind’s eye. When you need to appear
in a mortal guise, you might have a radiant glow about you,
reality bends and loses cohesion in your presence. Callings
can play a role in the new physical form of a Titan, with
Monster, Destroyer, and Primeval making a bigger “show”
than say Adversary and Tyrant. You may have sprouted
horns atop your head, have hands adorned with eagle-like
talons as a sort of twisted manicure, or you may have de-
cided to completely shed your human form and embrace
being a full-on lizard-person with a taste for human flesh.
Who is going to tell you, a newly born Titan, what
you can and cannot be? Go on, become the non-Euclidean
horror you wish to see in the world.
SHEDDING TITANIC CALLINGS
It was once widely believed Titanic Scions can only
have a Titanic apotheosis, and cutting that tree down to
the root and then salting the earth around it was the only
surefire way to ensure another Titan would never come
into their own. Yet whispers speak of a Scion of Raijin who
not only achieved an unhindered apotheosis but was able
to shed the nature which threatened to overcome them
and embrace an entirely divine existence. The ramifica-
tions of such were met with disbelief, and rightly so. Until
that point, it was widely believed (and propagandized)
that all Titanic Scions were no better than Titans, and
therefore had to be thwarted at every possible opportu-
nity, regardless if they had rejected their Titanic natures.
Make no mistake, it is possible, but it is an exceeding-
ly difficult process results in the Scion either becoming a
Storyguiding Titanic Scions
fully realized Titan, their untimely passing due to a failure
in achieving Apotheosis, or being killed outright by their
Patron (if not by another Scion or God directly.) In the
case of Raijin’s Scion, they performed a ritual yubitsume,
or “finger-shortening,” in the style of the Yakuza. It was
the ultimate slap to the face for the Titan who believes
in family above all else and was yet another betrayal they
had to endure. Sure, the would-be new Kami managed to
lose their destructive tendencies, but they also lost more
than their little finger in the end — they lost their life
without having achieved Apotheosis. Raijin isn’t keen on
upstarts, and he’s entirely over being disrespected.
When a Titanic Scion is successful in shedding their
Titanic nature, it is not entirely guaranteed that they are
then welcomed into their parent pantheon with open
arms. There are instances of a group of such new Gods
banding together to form their own pantheon when none
will accept them. While not as large or as well-known as
say the Theoi, the Kami, or even the Devás, they can and
sometimes do find themselves with a devout following. It
may take some centuries before they are fully recognized
as a pantheon unto themselves, but it is possible.
BECOMING SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT
Then there are those who fall between the cracks en-
tirely — they don’t achieve apotheosis in the truest sense
of the word, but neither do they fall to a nadir. Titanic
Scions who eschew both divine and titanic apotheosis
and instead seek out their own path are a conundrum due
to existing (and thriving) outside what has been a gener-
ally accepted norm within the World. They are not quite
heroes, but they aren’t antiheroes either. They never as-
cend to demigod-hood or beyond, but that does not make
them any less fearsome or powerful.
So, what do they become? There is really no one set
definition for individuals who eschew the concept of
Titanic Apotheosis. A few refer to themselves as seekers
looking for a middle path between two extremes, others as
mere loners just trying to get by without drawing too much
attention to themselves. They find themselves in a position
of deserved mistrust with Divine Scions not knowing how to
handle or work with these would-be apostates. Worse still,
these defectors are often on the receiving end of derision, if
not outright animosity from both ends of the spectrum, as
Titans aren’t entirely fond of having a surplus of would-be
demigods running amok who can easily spoil their plans.
No one said it would be easy saying no to godhood, but you
never were one to take the easy path at any rate.
Still, there are those who see the value in having an
ally able to fly under the radar, even if there is a sun-disk
Titan who is just waiting to zap you for merely existing.
Regardless of how they are defined, or how they define
themselves, one thing still holds true: they are fate-bound,
and it’s only a matter of when — not if — they perform a
deed which tips the scales requiring a correction. When
you find yourself on the outs with your divine patron, it
109
makes for some interesting living. You’ll make do, you
always have, and no one should count you out just yet.
APOCALYPTIC APOTHEOSIS NOW
Most Titanic Scions never reach the point of apotheosis,
many becoming casualties of the ongoing war, and others
deciding to break away to forging their own path and legend
by other means. What is rarely spoken of, even in Divine
circles, is what happens when a Titanic Scion undergoes the
trauma and transformation of apotheosis only to have it fail.
The result of a failed apotheosis is nothing short
of a miniature apocalypse waiting to happen, as the en-
ergy that would otherwise be used to shed the former
physical form is instead unleashed — causing chaos and
widespread destruction, and giving birth to a horrific
and monstrous being in its stead. These beings, no longer
Scions and not quite Titans, become creatures through
which new Heroes often hope to make their Legend
upon, and act as a cautionary tale of what happens when
one reaches for too much power too soon.
CHARACTER
CREATION
W hen creating a Titanic Scion, there are eight steps:
Concept, Paths, Skills, Attributes, Callings and Knacks,
Birthrights, Purviews, Boons, and Finishing Touches. When
creating a Titanic Scion, you’ll want to collaborate heavily with
the rest of your group to make sure it fits within your shared
story. In addition, Titanic Scions make for great antagonists.
As a Storyguide, you may choose to create Titanic Scions as
enemies for Scion characters to battle against.
More information on Titans from various Pantheons
is available in Titanomachy, but is not necessary to cre-
ate a character using this chapter.
STEP ONE: CONCEPT
One of the most important steps of creating your
Titanic Scion is their Concept. A great way of thinking
about this is distilling who your character is into a short
phrase. As an example, you may decide that the phrase,
“Aniwye’s wayward son fighting against his Titan nature,”
may best describe your character.
Within the world of Scion, Titans are often seen as
enemies. This means that you need to be especially aware
when creating your Titanic Scion. Is your Titanic Scion
fighting against their Titan nature, or have they largely
given into it? Have they discovered who their Titan par-
ent is, or are they a pre-visitation Titanic Scion? Make
sure that you work with the rest of the players and your
Storyguide to create a Titanic Scion that fits into the
shared story that you’re all telling together.
You also want to consider which Titan is your Titanic
Scion’s parent. This can be a great opportunity to make
ties with the characters of other players. As an example,
110 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS
you may decide that your character’s parent is Cronus,
who is the immortal enemy of Zeus, who also happens
to be the parent of a Scion in your group. The two of you,
however, decide to fight against the whims of your par-
ents and become friends, only to have to try and navigate
the tensions that arise as you gain more power over time.
The next step of creating a character concept is de-
ciding on three Deeds: one short-term, one long-term and
one band-term.
Laura is playing a Scion game with her friends,
and decides she wants to create an anti-hero as
a concept. She asks her friends if they would be
okay with a Titanic Scion as part of the shared
story, and they enthusiastically agree! She
wants to play with the concept of a Titanic Scion
battling against her nature, and so decides on
“Jörð’s rebellious daughter who wants to battle
climate change.” Laura also likes the idea of a
Titanic Scion who is trying to do things the “right
way” rather than the way their Titan parent
wants, and so decides that her Titanic Scion will
be an environmentalist who still clings to the idea
that humanity can be taught to change. One of
the other players at the table, Rachel, decides
to make a Scion of Odin and the two players
agree to create a shared story of building
tension between the two characters over time.
At this point, Laura also gives her Titanic Scion a
name: Lizzy Woodward.
Laura decides for a short-term goal, Lizzy will
try and join a local environmental group. For
a long-term goal, she will try to change local
environmental policies in the city. She leaves her
band-term goal for the group to discuss during
their first session.
STEP TWO: PATHS
Paths help define the experiences characters have
had and the decisions that they’ve made over the course
of their lives. Paths are connected to people, such as col-
leagues, co-workers, and friends, and resources, such as
food stores, computer equipment, and illicit goods.
When creating your Titanic Scion character, you’ll
need to decide on three Paths: Origin, Role, and Society/
Pantheon.
The Origin Path is your Titan Scion’s background. As
an example, this may be “Small town boy who moved to
a big city,” or “Part of the one percent whose family lost
their fortune.” Keep in mind that with a Titan Scion you’ll
want to consider how Titanic influence may have shaped
this background.
The Role Path is your Titan Scion’s area of expertise.
This isn’t just what the character does for a living, but
also what they define themselves as. This can be anything
from being a Healer to being a Mathematician.
 The Society Path or Pantheon Path is the connection
that a Titan Scion has to a cult, organization, group, or one
of the possible Pantheons that their Titan parent is associ-
ated with. The affiliation can be positive or negative, but
should have connections that the character can use.
Each Path has a short description, as well as three
Skills associated with it. These Skills must be relevant to
the Role Path. In addition, any Skill that you choose can,
at most, be associated with two of your Paths. Each Path
also has group, contact, and access connections. Each also
has a Path Condition which triggers when the character
invokes the Path too often. While you can choose one of
the Path Conditions found in Scion: Origin, you can also
create one of your own.
Laura decides on Chosen for her Origin Path,
since Titanic Scions are usually created with
a purpose by their Titan Parents. She decides
that Lizzy was created by Jörð to cull humanity
to heal the Earth, though Lizzy currently isn’t
onboard with that plan. She decides that for her
Role Path, Lizzy will have Charismatic Leader to
represent her time leading other, like-minded en-
vironmentalists. For her Society Path or Pantheon
Path, she chooses the Aesir.
STEP THREE: SKILLS
After choosing the Paths for your characters, you’ll
want to prioritize those Paths. Decide which aspect is
most important to your character and defines them the
most. After making that decision, you’ll receive three
dots in each Skill in your primary Path, two dots for each
Skill in your secondary Path, and one dot for each Skill
in your tertiary Path. If you have a Skill associated with
two different Paths, the dots are cumulative. If you have
more than five dots associated with a Skill, redistribute
the extra dot to a different Path Skill.
For each Skill that has three or more dots, choose
a Specialty. A Specialty is a narrowly focused expertise
within a skill. For example, a character may have the
Firearm skill, but may have a Specialty in Pistols. Once a
character has a Specialty, she may use that Specialty for
a one-point Enhancement for other, related Skills. If she
fails a roll in an Ability in which she has an Enhancement,
then she gains an additional point of Momentum.
Laura decides that the Charismatic Leader Path is
most important for Lizzy, followed by Aesir and
then Chosen. For the Charismatic Leader Path,
she chooses the Skills Leadership, Empathy,
and Persuasion. For Aesir, she chooses Close
Combat, Occult, and Survival. For Chosen,
she chooses Subterfuge, Occult, and Culture.
She places three dots in Leadership, Empathy,
and Persuasion. She places two dots in Close
Combat, Occult, and Survival. She places one
Character Creation
dot in Subterfuge, Culture, and Occult. This
means that Occult winds up with three dots total.
Since Leadership, Empathy, Persuasion, and
Occult all have three dots, she then decides to
choose a Specialty for each. For Leadership, her
Specialty is Environmental Organizations. For
Empathy, she decides on Reading Motivations.
For Persuasion, she decides on Action on
Climate Change. For Occult, she decides on Cult
Rituals.
STEP FOUR: ATTRIBUTES
Attributes are how Titanic Scions take actions in dif-
ferent ways. In total, a Titanic Scion has nine attributes
divided among three different Arenas: Physical, Social,
and Mental. Each Arena can pair with each Skill differ-
ently. To go back to the Firearm example, a character that
wants to shoot a gun would use Firearm + Physical. A
character that wants to intimidate someone with a gun
would use Firearm + Social, and a character that wants
to calculate the likelihood of making a shot would use
Firearm + Mental.
Rank your character’s Arenas from what they’re best
at doing to what they’re worst at doing. Each Attribute
starts with one dot total. Then, distribute six dots
among the Attributes in your top-ranked Arena, four
dots among your middle-ranked, and three among your
bottom-ranked.
Attributes also have an Approach. This is how your
character approaches a certain situation. The three main
Approaches are Force, Finesse, and Resilience. If your
character likes to be straightforward, then their favored
Approach is likely Force. If your character likes to handle
things politically or delicately, then their favored ap-
proached is likely Finesse. If your character likes to allow
others to tire themselves out against them, then their fa-
vored Approach is Resilience. Add two extra dots to each
of the Attributes in your character’s favored Approach.
If any of your Attributes go above five dots, then add
the extra dots to one of the other Attributes in the same
maxed-out Arena.
Laura decides that her Titanic Scion’s top Arena
is Social, followed by Physical and then Mental.
She adds one dot to each Attribute to start,
and then adds two dots to Presence, two to
Manipulation and two to Composure. She then
adds two dots to Dexterity and two to Might.
Finally, she adds two dots to Cunning and one
to Intellect. Finally, Laura decides that Lizzy
is a pretty forthright person, so her favored
approach is Force. She then adds two extra dots
to Intellect, Might, and Presence. None of her
Attributes are above five dots, so she’s ready to
go!
111

STEP FIVE:
CALLINGS AND KNACKS
Callings are archetypes that exist for Titans within
the stories of humanity. In this case, Titanic Scions have
access to different Callings than regular Scions. When
creating your Titanic Scion, choose one of the Callings
from the ones listed below. Then, choose two additional
Callings. While one Calling must be from the Titan list,
the two other Callings may be from Scion: Hero or Scion:
Origin. After choosing your Callings, assign five dots be-
tween them all. Each Calling must have at least one dot.
• Adversary: Where the Trickster accomplishes
goals through deceit and becomes a cultural ex-
ample through their failures, the Adversary antag-
onizes. Sometimes, an adversary’s antagonism is a
means to an end — nothing pleases an Adversary
more than watching her rivals and enemies rail
against the pressure of her opposition. She is the
fires by which they are forged, the grain upon
which they are refined. Sometimes this opposition
comes in the form of deceit and betrayal, and oc-
casionally through physical violence, though most
Adversaries prefer to use their words and their
connections to teach valuable lessons. Whatever
the Adversary does, she does for a reason. A good
reason, if you ask her, and the ends always justify
the means.
• Destroyer: Though defined by their desire and
capacity to break things, Destroyers are far from
mindless brutes. For some Destroyers, this is the
first step in the process towards rebirth; the flames
must first burn and leave behind ash, so that new
life might rise. For others, it is to challenge the
status quo, to see structures and order overturned.
That being said, some Destroyers are just that:
agents of utter destruction or entropy. Titans (and
some Gods) with this Calling might be forces of na-
ture, or the lingering void at the edges of creation.
Nothing can stop a Destroyer from sundering what
was once whole.
• Monster: Myths and legends drip with terrible
creatures who swallow the sun, who chew at the
roots of the world tree, or who eat the flesh of
humans. These creatures are Monsters; inhuman
and grotesque of body, possessed of terrible might.
Monsters are beasts of fear and hunger. They prey
upon weak and gnaw at the fabric of reality. Some
Monsters can learn to rearrange their forms, wear-
ing pleasing disguises or bursting into a towering,
horrific shape. Wherever a Monster lurks, tales of
their fearsome presence spread like wildfire.
• Primeval: Things of untamed primal power,
Primeval Calling Titans are literally fixtures of the
World. A Primeval is the depths of the ocean, the
112 CHAPTER FOUR: TITANIC SCIONS
unforgiving disc of the sun, and the rage of a vol-
cano. They are the land itself, implacable and aus-
tere. These are the most likely to have no shred of
humanity, for they are too vast to ever understand
something as small as the human mind. Whatever
the Primeval represents, they embody it entirely.
• Tyrant: While Leaders represent those in power
who care for and guide their people, Tyrants crave
power for themselves. A Tyrant desires unques-
tioning servants, sycophants, and yes-men. They
cannot abide criticism and spare little thought for
those they’ve stepped on so long as they rise to the
top. A Tyrant’s word is absolute, inviolable. Their
edicts must be obeyed, on pain of punishment.
Titans with the Tyrant Calling think only of them-
selves and their own selfish gain. While a Tyrant
may make fair-weather friends, their selfishness
quickly drives them from others’ good graces.
In addition to choosing a Calling for your Titanic
Scion, you should choose one of the Titan Knacks on p.
XX.
Laura decides that for the Titan Calling, she’ll
choose Primeval for Lizzy, since that fits with
Jörð. She then also chooses Guardian and
Judge from Scion: Hero. She places two dots in
Primeval, three in Guardian, and one in Judge.
Laura then looks through the Primeval Knacks
and decides on Depths of the World for Lizzy’s
Knack. This seems to be a perfect fit since Laura
sees Lizzy as a person who is a defender.
STEP SIX: BIRTHRIGHTS
The next step of your Titanic Scion is choosing their
birthrights. These are Creatures, Followers, Guides, or
Relics that your Titanic Scion receives from their Titan
Parent. Apart from their provenance, these function iden-
tically to Divine Birthrights. In all, you have seven dots to
spend on Birthrights for your Titanic Scion.
Laura decides that Jörð gifted Lizzy a polished
carnelian, welled up from the depths of her
earth. She also chooses a Hrafn, messenger
Raven, as a Creature. She spends three dots on
Hrafn and four on the Carnelian Tear.
STEP SEVEN: PURVIEWS
Titanic Scions gain their Pantheon Specialty
Purview as a Purview. In addition, you may choose one
of your Titan parent’s Purview as an Epicenter. All other
Purviews must be drawn from Relics or Guides and func-
tion as Epicenters.
Since Titanic Scions are different from the Scions of the
Gods, they tend to be the focus of related effects of Purviews.

This means that they become Epicenters for these effects,
which can either help or hinder them and their allies. To
learn more about these Epicenters, see p. XX.
Laura considers what Lizzy would be an
Epicenter of, considering that she’s a creation
of Jörð. She decides on Earth, one of Jörð
Purviews. This means that the earth itself will rise
up to defend her or potentially her enemies if it
suits Jörð’s wishes.
Since Lizzy is part of the Aesir, Laura puts
down Wyrd as her other Purview which means
that Lizzy knows that she’s destined toward a
certain fate. After talking things over with her
Storyguide, Laura decides that Lizzy’s eventual
fate is to attempt to destroy humanity to help
save the earth — a fate that she tries to fight
against. Laura likes the idea of an arc where
Lizzy becomes more jaded over time, allowing
her fellow Scions to either push her toward the
eventual outcome, or try and pull her back from
it.
Finally, she notes that the Carneliar Tear gives
her access to the Wild Purview, with the motif:
“Consuming the works of Man.”
STEP EIGHT: BOONS
Titanic Scions receive two Boons from any of their
character’s Purviews, whether innate or granted by
Birthrights. Boons are special powers that your Titanic
Scion has, allowing them to do extraordinary things.
For her Boons, Laura takes a look at Scion:
Hero and sees that there is a Boon called
“Shaping Hand” that she thinks will work well
for Lizzy. She likes the idea of Lizzy being able
to shape earth and metal at will when needed.
After considering for a moment, she also
includes “Stony Heart.” Being able to harden
someone’s heart against seductive words from
corporations seems like it would fit in perfectly
with Laura’s environmentalist concept.
STEP NINE:
FINISHING TOUCHES
Each character receives five extra Skill dots, one
additional Attribute dot, and either two additional Titan
Knacks or four points of Birthrights at character creation.
You may also choose to substitute a Knack or Boon for
a dot of Titanic Mutation (p. XX). A Storyguide may
award additional Experience at her discretion to further
advance characters.
Character Creation
You should also record your movement dice (Athletics
+ Higher of Might or Dexterity) and fill in your Defense
and Health.
Defense is based on your character’s Resilience
Attributes (Stamina, Resolve, and Composure). All you
need to do is note the dice pool that your character will
roll when they make a defensive action.
Health is calculated with your character’s Injury
Condition Tracker. Each character starts out with several
levels of Injury: Bruised, Injured, Maimed, and Taken
Out. If your character has 3 or 4 dots for their Stamina,
then they gain one additional Bruised slot. If they have a
Stamina of 5, then they gain two additional Bruised slots.
After, you should record your Virtue from the ap-
propriate Pantheon. Be sure to start in the middle of the
Virtue track.
Your Titanic Scion begins at one for their Legend.
Laura calculates Lizzy’s movement dice by
adding the amount in Athletics, which is zero,
to the amount of Might she has, which is 5. This
means that her movement dice is five. She then
calculates her character’s Defense and Health.
After, she records her Virtue as Audacity, which
comes from the Aesir.
Then, she decides that instead of taking two
additional Titanic Knacks, she will take two dots
in a Titanic Mutation, Primeval. She decides that
when in danger, the earth around Lizzy will react
in unexpected ways, either forming armor or
even a weapon. Laura puts a point into sculpting
Titanic ichor into armor, and a point in sculpting
Titanic ichor into a weapon.
At this point, your Titanic Scion is complete! Your
Storyguide may award more experience at the beginning,
depending on the style of game that she is running. This is
also a great opportunity to finalize connections between
your characters and others. Are they friends? Frenemies?
When playing a Titanic Scion, always keep in mind that
you’re playing a character who is walking a fine line in
between mortality and the divine. Any sudden action may
tip your character one way or the other.
With that in mind, you may want to work with your
Storyguide to craft a story where your character meets
that tipping point, or narrowly avoids it. Each Titanic
Scion has the chance to suddenly begin working against
other Heroes and the interests of the Gods, but whether
or not they walk that path is completely up to you and
your Storyguide.
113
 “If in any quest for magic, in any search for sorcery,
witchery, legerdemain, first check the human spirit.”
— Rod Serling
T he Storypath system, as a primarily narrative set of
instructions and rules, is flexible and extensible, able
to conform to the shape of your story rather than forcing
your story to conform to its own shape. We point out ways
to use systems in ways that might not be intended, but serve
certain purposes well — likewise, we encourage Storyguides
and players to modify and even create their own rules as
need be. What matters is your game, your story.
In this chapter, we offer a few extensions and new systems
of our own. Below, we discuss Edges, a feature of our sister
Storypath game line, the Trinity Continuum, and how to use
them in place of or in addition to Birthrights. We also provide
a lifepath character creation system as an alternative to the
standard character creation rules, which allows you to create
characters of varying ages and capabilities within the same Band.
Finally, we introduce Mythic Scion, a collection of streamlined
rules for those of you who most comfortable when the dice have
as little to say as possible. This is not, and is not intended to be, the
limit of what is possible with the Storypath system — if anything,
we’re hoping this chapter whets your own appetite for design.
EDGES
W hile Birthrights are what ties you to the world around
you, Edges are more about what your character can do
themselves. Think of Edges like highly specialized training
or unusual talents that don’t quite rise to the level of a Knack.
When picking Edges for your character, consider what
sort of character you have; are they more of a combatant,
or have they embraced their supernatural heritage? Have
they focused their mind, or are they more social?
Below are several categories of Edges for you to add
to your character. Keep in mind that each of these Edges
have a certain number of dots associated with them. These
represent the points a player needs to spend to purchase
the Edge for their character. While some Edges have stated
prerequisites, many Edges can be purchased regardless of
the character’s Paths, Attributes, or Skills. This allows you
to customize your character a bit more and add some per-
sonalization as to what they can do. Unless otherwise stated,
Edges can only be purchased once each.
MENTAL EDGES
Someone’s will can sometimes be so strong, it borders
on the divine. Scholars and scribes of the Gods have found
ways to channel their minds to be something stronger
than they were before. Scions that have Mental Edges are
those that have trained their will to be nigh unbreakable,
even under the most strenuous circumstances.
Edges
Conspiracy Seeker (•)
Sometimes, you’re given clues that don’t always add
up. Your character, however, can put all of the minute
details together to form a larger picture. Whenever your
character needs to make a roll involving putting pieces
together or finding out information that ties into a larger
conspiracy, they receive a +1 Enhancement.
Divine Calculations (••)
Being able to do minute calculations in your head can
be extremely useful in many situations. Whenever your
character needs to do calculations in their head quickly,
whether it involves gambling, calculating the trajectory of
something, code-breaking, or anything related to mathe-
matical calculations, they receive a +2 Enhancement.
Divine Will (•)
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. As long as your
character is alive and conscious, she receives a +1
Enhancement per dot to any action that involves resisting
mind-altering magic, drugs, or the effects of fear pain.
May be purchased up to two times.
Encyclopedic Knowledge [Topic] (•)
Your character has always loved learning and has
honed their attention on one subject in particular, ac-
quiring a vast and encyclopedic knowledge about that
particular niche topic. Your character receives a +1
Enhancement whenever making a roll that would involve
knowledge from their particular set of studies. This may
be purchased multiple times with different topics, repre-
senting acquiring knowledge in different fields of study.
Engineer’s Bane (•)
Pre-requisite: Scion
Your character has always had an almost super-
natural effect on mechanical and technological items.
Unfortunately, that effect means causing them to break or
malfunction. Light bulbs flicker in her presence, and the
subway spontaneously breaks down. Fortunately, she’s
learned to control that ability over time. She doesn’t need
tools to sabotage machinery or electronics and gains a +1
Enhancement to her roll.
Mind Reader (••)
Some people say that your character is a mind reader.
The fact is that it’s much simpler than that; it’s all about
reading people and what they want. Your character
115
always knows what a person desires most in the given
moment, whether that’s a specific goal or something
more intangible.
Overprepared (•)
Your character is sometimes called paranoid with
how well he prepares himself for any given situation.
However, it’s not paranoia when your worries turn out to
be true—which is often the case when it comes to being a
Scion. You may always choose to act first on the first turn
of an action scene, moving the slowest player initiative
slot to the top of the order for that turn.
Quick-Witted (••)
Some people are good with long-term plans that span
weeks, months, or even years. Your character, however,
is great at thinking on their feet. When your character
encounters a situation and produces a plan in the mo-
ment to solve it, characters who follow the plan gain a
+1 Enhancement when rolling their action as part of that
plan. This must be approved by your Storyguide and is
limited to once per Scene.
The Predictable Choice (••)
Your character has noticed that people tend to follow
a set path. It’s debatable whether this is because they’re
imitating media or if media is imitating them, or if it’s just
Fate moving people across a board — whatever the case,
your character is able to predict the next course of action
a person is likely to take. Once per scene, your character
may inflict a +2 Complication on an opponent by calling
out the target’s next action. This Complication lasts until
the character next acts. While they have it, other char-
acters gain +1 Enhancement when taking advantage of
that foreknowledge. If the target’s next action is attacking
your character, gain +1 Defense.
Uncanny Navigation (•)
Your character has an uncanny knack for knowing
exactly where they she is at all times. Even when she’s
been blindfolded or disoriented, she can know general-
ly which direction she’s been taken. Maps are a breeze,
and she always knows which direction she’s facing. Your
character never suffers penalties for navigating or finding
her way. She also receives a +1 Enhancement whenever
navigating or charting a course.
Web of Fate (••)
Pre-requisite: Scion
While normal humans can gain information by
hacking systems, a Scion can gather far more from a
computer. By interpreting the flow of Fate as computer
code and network information, your character has the
uncanny ability to find almost anything online in record
time. Receive a +2 Enhancement whenever researching
a topic online with a computer, even topics that wouldn’t
normally be available to the public.
116 CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES
PHYSICAL EDGES
Unheard-of feats of strength, blinding speed, un-
earthly grace, and rock-steady endurance are all part of
being a Scion that focuses on their physicality. Being able
to lift a car or scramble up the side of a building are all
things that Scions are capable of doing — some, of course,
are better at it than others.
Ascension (•)
Your character has the ability to climb up almost
anything—including vertical surfaces. This supernatural
ability gives your character a +2 Enhancement to Athletics
whenever they attempt to climb any surface, from a rocky
mountain face to a building.
Balancing Act (•)
Your character has always had almost unnatural grace,
especially when it comes to their balance. Your character
never needs to roll for any action that requires a finely-tuned
sense of balance, whether that’s walking a tight rope be-
tween two buildings or climbing into the rigging of a ship,
unless someone is actively trying to topple her, in which case
she receives +1 Enhancement to the relevant roll.
Dauntless (••)
Your character refuses to be down and out—even
when they should. In fact, it’s pretty uncanny how many
times they can be hit before they finally go down. By
purchasing this Edge, your character gains one additional
Bruised Injury Condition box. This Edge may be pur-
chased twice.
Divine Shield (••)
Pre-requisite: Scion
A slip of a knife or even a magical sword to the gut is
no longer a dire circumstance for your character. Blades
and even bullets will bounce off of him. Your character
always has a Soft Armor Rating of 1, even when not wear-
ing armor. This stacks with other armor. When choosing
this Edge, a Scion must also choose an Achilles Heel of
some kind, deciding on a certain type of item that will
pierce their Divine Shield, or even an area on their body
that is vulnerable to harm. This must be approved by your
Storyguide.
Keen Senses (•)
Your character has honed one of their senses to be su-
pernaturally sensitive. Whether it’s their sense of touch,
hearing, eyesight, smell, or taste (or something else for
that matter), they’re capable of feats that others couldn’t
even attempt. They may be able to distinguish someone
approaching by their perfume or cologne, or they may be
able to feel minute vibrations before an earthquake hits,
depending on which sense you choose. For any action
your character takes that would be aided by their chosen
sense, receive +1 Enhancement.
Stalwart (•)
Pre-requisite: Scion
There are moments when a fight is too much, even
for the most storied hero. Even then, however, she finds
a way to overcome a challenge and stand up again. When
your character receives a hit during a fight, she may im-
bue a Legend point to ignore an Injury Condition.
Instant Reflexes (•)
Having fast reflexes can be useful for a lot of situa-
tions. However, there’s a difference between having fast
reflexes, and having near-instantaneous reflexes. Your
character has learned to respond almost via instinct to
near any situation. Gain +1 Enhancement when your
enhanced reflexes give you an edge, including Initiative
rolls.
Survivalist (••)
Your character has been through situations that most
other people wouldn’t have survived. They’ve learned
how to go into the toughest terrain, braving mythical
beasts and strange plants, and come out alive. Your char-
acter doesn’t suffer Complications for moving through
wilderness areas, and they can always sense when ani-
mals or other creatures are nearby.
Unearthly Speed (•)
Hermes would be both proud and jealous of how
fast your character can run. She gains +1 Enhancement
Edges
to Athletics rolls involving running or racing. This Edge
may be purchased up to three times.
Ungodly Strength (•)
Your character has trained for hours, building up her
physique and strength. She receives a +1 to her Might for
the purposes of lifting and carrying things, and she can
throw anything she can lift twice as far as she normally
could.
Venom Bound (••)
Pre-requisite: Scion
Your character has always had an iron stomach. But as
they embraced the otherworldly part of themselves, their
ability to swallow almost anything turned into something
legendary. In fact, their ability has transformed into not
just being able to swallow anything, but also being able
to resist the bites of venomous creatures that would kill a
normal person. Whenever your character would receive
a Condition from something involving venom or poison,
suffer a Complication instead.
Waterborne (•)
Pre-requisite: Scion
Your character has always had an affinity with water,
spending long hours swimming, diving, or sitting beside
it. Over time, he’s realized that this connection allows
him to swim faster, hold his breath longer, and even sense
things within the depths of the ocean. Your character
receives +1 Enhancement to any situation in which your
117
character is swimming, must hold their breath, or is try-
ing to sense something within water.
Weathered (•)
There are some people who know the wilderness
well, capable of surviving in it for weeks or even months.
Your character, however, has learned to take this to an-
other level. Due to his experience in the wilderness, he
will not suffer any Complications from weather-related
situations, such as prolonged exposure to rain, cold, heat,
etc.
SOCIAL EDGES
Scions with Social Edges are deeply invested in the
World around them, whether through material or social
ties. These Edges affect how Scions are perceived and can
muster the attention of mortals toward the Scion’s ends.
Anonymous (••)
Prerequisite: Appropriate Path
You live off the grid, making it incredibly difficult for
people to track down recognizable information. This in-
creases the Difficulty of all rolls to learn anything about you
by +2. This penalty applies to computer searches, interview-
ing, public records, or financial information. People rarely
remember who you are, and you have little trouble using
your resources in ways that cannot be traced directly to you.
Drawback: You cannot have both this Edge and the
Fame Edge for the same identity.
Fame (• to •••)
You are well known among a particular group of peo-
ple. You might be famous for a personal accomplishment,
a stroke of blind luck, or perhaps for being the friend or
lover of someone else famous.
One dot of Fame means you are well known within
a small subculture such as local cults, or a single city or
that you were once widely known, like a retired famous
athlete, decades after your career. Two dots of Fame mean
that you are either instantly recognizable to a large sub-
culture, a small country, or a similar following. Three dots
of Fame gives you the worldwide name recognition of pop
stars, movie stars, and other cultural icons.
When choosing the Edge, define what you are known
for. Each dot provides 1 Enhancement to any social ac-
tions among those who impressed by their celebrity.
Additionally, you may treat your Fame as its own Path and
invoke it once per session to access connections related
to your reputation. Contacts invoked this way gain tags
equal to your dots in Fame instead of two.
Scions who possess mundane fame gain the atten-
tion of Fate more easily, deepening their bonds with the
Fatebound in their presence. Whenever rolling to increase
the strength of a Fatebinding, add your dots in the Fame
edge to your Legend to help determine the dice pool.
118 CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES
Drawback: Characters with Fame cannot possess
the Anonymous Edge.
Hideout (•)
You have a hideout, such as a fortified apartment, a
remote-but-secure cabin, or a defended outpost stocked
with supplies. Your hideout has enough supplies to com-
fortably house you and your Band for weeks, as well as
serving as a useful location to store any equipment you
might have access to because of your Paths.
Enemies that seek to infiltrate or enter your hide-
out without your permission face Complication 2 on
rolls to enter the hideout; failure to buy it off results in
injury. Prepared defenses and home advantage grant you
and your allies Enhancement 2 to the Initiative roll and
Defense rolls.
With an appropriate Path such as Adventurer or Life
of Privilege, as well as Edges such as Fame or Wealth,
you may make use of multiple hideouts roughly similar
to the initial one by invoking your Path to gain access to
a similar site.
Local Hero (••)
You are a hero to a local community, whether that is
a working-class immigrant community or the local neigh-
borhood of rakshasa. Describe what you did to create this
bond and what kind of local community it was established
with. You treat the relevant community as a Path which
can be invoked like any of your other Paths. When dealing
with members of this community, you gain Enhancement
2 on rolls that rely on your strong relationship.
Drawback: Taking care of the communities that
rely on you is important. If you gain the Path Suspended
Condition with your local community, it does not resolve
at the end of the session, instead requiring you to fulfill a
specific obligation to remove it.
Striking Looks (••)
Your character’s appearance draws attention — either
in a positive or negative way. Others find them particu-
larly memorable, and they attract attention just standing
around. Your character receives 2 Enhancement to any
social action that benefits from his impressive mien.
Wealth (• or •••)
Your character is extraordinarily wealthy, whether
through divinely inspired stock trading or the lucrative
sale of a plutonian treasure haul. Decide what the source
of your character’s prosperity is. Whenever influencing
another character by exploiting their wealth or finan-
cial status, a character with the Wealth Edge treats the
target’s Attitude toward them as one point higher. This
benefit does not apply to those not interested in the char-
acter’s wealth. This stacks with the Innate Power of the
Prosperity Purview (Scion: Hero, p. 258).
 At one dot, your character always has money on hand
to make things happen, whether it’s paying for a dinner
at a five-star restaurant, purchasing a brand-new sports
car or winning an auction for a desirable painting. You
can just give away enough money to make regular people
blink twice, this money provides Enhancement 1 on a rel-
evant social action once per scene.
At three dots, your character’s wealth can change
the lives of thousands. You can hand away enough money
to change somebody’s life, giving +3 Enhancement on a
relevant social action once per scene. You can treat your
Wealth as its own Path and invoke it once per session to
accomplish extraordinary feats like chartering a massive
freighter, purchasing a building, or hiring mercenaries. If
you already have a relevant Path such as Life of Privilege
(Scion: Origin, p. 101), you may use this benefit to invoke
that Path twice in a single session.
Drawback: A lot of money draws a lot of attention.
Those investigating your character’s whereabouts or hab-
its gain +2 Enhancement if you possess this Edge. Against
characters that revile the wealthy, your character suffers
a +2 Complication on social actions; failure to buy off this
penalty results in their Attitude toward your character
worsening by one step as you commit a faux pas that
demonstrates how out of touch you are.
MYTHIC EDGES
The powers of Legend and Fate can be honed by a
Scion in possession of Mythic Edges. These Edges nearly
universally call upon the power of Legend or augment the
capabilities of those in possession of Legend. All Mythic
Edges require at least Legend 1 to purchase, though some
may be restricted to kinds of beings such as Scions.
Acquired Knack (•••)
Prerequisite: Hero-tier or higher
Through a significant Deed, you have aided a God.
Name this God and describe how you helped them. You
may select a single Heroic Knack from one of the select-
ed God’s Callings, regardless of whether you share the
Calling or not.
Divine Blessing (••)
Prerequisite: Pantheon-specific Path
You’ve been blessed by a God from your Pantheon
with a small but significant benison. Select a Purview
from the God’s list of Purviews to be blessed by. Once
per session, you may choose between either gaining
Enhancement 2 to a single roll in the scene thematically
related to the chosen Purview or having access to the
Innate Power of the chosen Purview for a scene.
Drawback: Your blessing depends on your God’s
favor. Should you ever suffer the Path Suspended or
Path Revoked Conditions, you lose access to your Divine
Blessing until you restore favor with your deity.
Edges
Font of Legend (•••)
You have discovered a place of great mystical signif-
icance, such as a fountain with supernatural properties,
a grove of sacred peaches or a circle of ritual stones. By
spending a scene engaging with or sampling the sacred
nature of this space, you can recoup your power. Once per
story, by spending a scene interacting with your Font of
Legend, you can regain a point of Legend.
Drawback: Such magical places draw attention.
Seekers of knowledge, rival Scions and Denizens of the
World often search for these sacred locations to take ad-
vantage of their properties and may seek to seize it from
you.
Helen’s Grace (••)
Prerequisite: Striking Looks, Beauty Purview
Kings and Queens would start wars for your favor.
Your beauty is so great or awe-inspiring that Fate moves
to realize your power. If Beauty is not already an Innate
Purview, you may treat it as one. Once per act, you may
discount a single use of the Beauty Purview, lowering the
spent Legend cost by 1. If this reduces the cost to zero,
Imbue 1 Legend instead. For Fatebindings and other ef-
fects, treat this Legend as if it were spent.
Lair (••)
Prerequisite: Hideout
Your hideout is more than just a place to lay low, it
has become suffused with the transformative power of
your Legend. A lair always possesses uncanny elements.
Examples include a fortified apartment-shrine, a squat-
ted-in temple (not necessarily dedicated to you), or a
lived-in cave system marked as your territory.
Your Lair possesses all the benefits of a Hideout.
The traps that bar entry to the Lair are supernatural in
nature, acidic waters, curses, impressive traps: Increase
the Complication to 3 and add the Aggravated tag to any
injuries suffered. You gain access to one of the following
Lair benefits, unlocking one additional benefit with each
repurchase:
• Once per scene, you may perform a Marvel in a
designated Purview by Imbuing Legend instead
of Spending it. The designated Purview and any
Marvels generated must be thematically tied to the
Lair.
• You may spend 1 Legend while passing through a
thematically related portal to reappear immediate-
ly within your Lair. Entering a utility access hole to
return to your lair in the sewers, for example.
• You gain access to an appropriate Knack as long as
you are within your Lair. This functions as other
Knacks granted by Birthrights. This option may be
repurchased multiple times.
119
 • Your Lair also functions as a Gate to a Midrealm
(or more rarely, an Underworld). Determine an
appropriate key required to pass through your Lair
and into the target destination.
• Your Lair possesses a supernatural quality, such as
a labyrinth that is larger on the inside than the out-
side, sacred geometry that enhances or encourages
particular actions, or curses and other supernatu-
ral hazards to frustrate your enemies. This either
provides Enhancement 2 once per scene to an ally
undertaking an appropriate action or imposes a
once per scene Complication 3 on all enemies.
Failure to buy off this Complication may result in
injuries, delays to reach the heart of the Lair, or
other appropriate difficulties. This option may be
repurchased multiple times.
• You are not the only resident in your Lair. You
gain a Creature Birthright with dots equal to your
Legend + 1 that resides in your Lair. It will not leave
willingly but will fight alongside you.
You may repurchase this Edge a number of times
equal to your Legend. A Lair may also serve as a Font of
Legend if you have both Edges.
Magnified Title (••••)
Prerequisite: Scion, Fame •••
Your fame aids your Legendary Title. If you Invoke
your Legendary Title in a way that involves your Fame
somehow, you increase Scale by two rather than one.
Drawback: Any use of this Edge draws significant
attention, particularly from those tied to your Fame. They
will judge the use of your power, for better or worse.
Occultation (•••)
Prerequisite: Anonymous
You have occluded your identity from the World
itself. The World forgets you, your name disappearing
from databases and all evidence of your identity fading
away whenever anyone tries to determine your identity.
Characters attempting to investigate your character suf-
fer a +3 Complication on rolls to uncover facts about you.
Failure to buy off the Complication causes the information
to become occluded: While they may discover a person was
present at the scene of the crime, identifying information
that could lead back to your character disappears.
This does not affect your Legend, and while you may
be famous (or infamous) for your Deeds, they are attributed
to an archetypal figure such as a masked vigilante, an anon-
ymous monster or another identity not tied to you directly.
Drawback: This effect cannot be turned off. Attempts
to assert your true identity to others must overcome the
same Complication, or risk your credit coming back blank,
or an inability to verify your identity. As your Legend
grows, the archetypal identity to which your Deeds are
120 CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES
attributed may become a lightning rod for Fate. Enemies
and Fatebound may not know the true identity of the per-
son they’re causing problems for, but those problems will
follow you home, affecting your life however indirectly.
Source of Power (•••)
Prerequisite: Scion
You have studied under a Sorcerer or another strange
being who draws Legend from the World in an unusual
fashion. Select a single Source for Legend from another
template such as a Sorcerer, Denizen or Prophet. You may
regain Legend in the same fashion, subject to the same
limitations. Note that drawing on power one isn’t entitled
to is a good way to draw the ire of powerful beings.
Supernal Miracles (•••••)
Prerequisite: Legend 4
At the height of a Hero’s power, you are capable
of great, world-shaking miracles within your favored
Purview. Select a single Purview you have access to, ei-
ther an Innate Purview or by Birthrights. You may imbue
Legend to perform marvels with that Purview, rather
than spending it. If the marvel already calls for imbuing
Legend, once per episode, you may do so freely.
If you achieve Legend 5, you lose this Edge and are
refunded for it.
Drawback: Your Marvels are more powerful, but
also more destructive. Whenever you use this Edge, add
+1 Complication to subsequent actions taken during
the scene, up to a maximum of +3. Failure to buy off
this Complication results in the destructive overflow of
power: One of the following effects occurs: The Field is
suffused with an aspect of the relevant Purview, disturb-
ing or surprising onlookers and drawing attention; An
environmental disaster or friendly fire injuries a single
major ally or a number of bystander in the Field; an
object or structure in the Field is damaged or destroyed
outright; Onlookers become angry with or fearful of your
power, lowering their Attitude toward you by one. This
Complication resets at the end of the scene.
THE LIFEPATH
SYSTEM
T he existing system of character generation using
Paths provides players with information about their
character’s history and background, but only in a general
sense. The lifepath system described in this section
provides far more detail about who a character is, and
more importantly, the life events that helped them become
who they are when play starts. In addition to offering
considerably more detail about a character’s background,
one advantage of a lifepath system is that it allows players
to create characters with drastically different ages in a
fashion that helps reflect their age and their greater or lesser
degree of experience. Players could create bands which
foreground the characters’ ages, like a band consisting
of one or more adults and their teenage children, a band
where all members of the band are high school students,
or even one where the characters are all residents of the
same retirement community. Also, because older characters
naturally possess more skills than younger ones, this system
includes optional rules to help make certain that younger
characters are not significantly outclassed by older ones
(see p. XX).
The system detailed here is an alternative system
of character generation. Step One: Concept remains
unchanged, required before starting the lifepath system.
This system replaces Step Two: Paths and Step Three:
Skills. The last six steps — Step Four: Attributes to Step
Nine: Finishing Touches are unchanged. Refer to Scion:
Origin or Scion: Hero for information about these
portions of character generation. Also, while characters
generated with this system are mechanically quite similar
to characters generated using standard character genera-
tion, there will be some differences between characters
created using the standard character generation system
and those created using the lifepath system. As a result,
Storyguides should have all players use the same charac-
ter generation system.
AGE RANGES
This system divides characters’ ages into four age
categories: adolescents (13–17), young adults (18–29),
mature adults (30–59), and elderly (60–80). Characters
The Lifepath System
can be in any of these four stages, but, in general, should
not fall outside this age range. Scion isn’t designed for
people to play children. As a result, characters should
be no younger than teenagers — a fourteen-year-old can
make a good, if quite young, character, but a nine-year-old
is simply too young and has too little experience of the
World to work well as a character. Similarly, while older
characters can be well worth playing, characters who are
in their 80s or older are typically too old and frail to be
workable characters for what is typically a relatively ac-
tion-oriented campaign. However, characters who have
some form of supernatural vigor, or even immortality
need not be restricted by age.
Every character has passed through at least one of
these four age categories, but it’s up to the player and the
Storyguide to determine what age the character is, and
how many other stages of life the character has passed
through. Also, it’s important to remember that each of
the four age categories are ranges of ages. Players are
free to make characters who are any age within the age
range they call info. For example, young adulthood covers
ages 18–29, so one character in this age range might be
19, while another might be 29, and these two characters
would be generated identically.
AGE & VISITATION
In Scion: Hero, the default assumption is that char-
acters have their Visitation shortly before play starts —
it’s typically their last major life event. The character’s
Visitation may have happened a few months earlier, or it
121

BUT WHAT ABOUT
DENIZENS?
The numbers given here apply for human
characters — Denizens, naturally, complicate
matters, frequently taking far longer than humans
to reach equivalent developmental markers or
plateauing at a certain stage. In such cases,
apply the appropriate age category and level of
relative experience to the character, regardless
of their numerical age.
could have happened a day or two before play starts, but
in either case, characters have not been Heroes for long
and are still learning the full extent of who they now are
and what they can do. This is also the default assumption
in the lifepath. However, near the end of this section (p.
XX), there is a discussion of how to incorporate Visitation
into the lifepath system, so that (for example) a character
might have their Visitation when they were 15, even if
they don’t start play until they are 30.
ADOLESCENCE
During their childhood and adolescence, characters
start becoming the people they will be as adults, but they
have yet to complete this journey. During their adoles-
cence, characters learn some of the basic skills they will
later hone into expertise, while also discovering how the
World works and what place they hope to occupy in it.
As with the standard character generation format, the
first step in this portion of the lifepath system is choosing
an Origin Path. Characters can come from a vast diversity
of backgrounds, including everything from an unexcep-
tional urban or suburban adolescence, to unusual, but
mundane experiences like growing up ultra-wealthy,
homeless, or as a refugee, to exotic options like being a
statue who was brought to life or someone who grew up
in a Terra Incognita.
Instead of simply obtaining all Skills associated with
that Path, each Path contains a series of life events that
players must decide if their character has experienced.
Each of these events provides different Skills to the char-
acter. In addition, there is a list of general events that
could have happened to any character, regardless of their
Origin Path. All of these events are quite general, and it’s
up to you to fill in the details, and also to decide how these
events affected your character.
Players are free to choose either events from their
Origin Path or events from the list of general childhood
and adolescent experiences at the end of this section. The
only limitation is that characters can gain no more than
six dots in Skills at this stage in their lives, and so you can
select a maximum of three life events for your character,
122 CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES
and players can select each life event only once. In addi-
tion to the three life events that characters gain at this
stage of life, all characters also gain the connections listed
next to each Origin Path (see Scion: Origin, pp. 100–103).
Your character should meet at least some of their con-
nections in the course of one or more of their chosen life
events. Also, every character must choose at least one life
experience from the three listed under their Origin Path.
ADVENTURER
Even from an early age you’ve led a dangerous and
daring life.
Life Events
• Behind the Wheel — To go on adventures you
need freedom, and in the modern World that re-
quires the ability to travel where you will. You’re
a skilled driver and may even know the basics of
piloting a glider or even a small plane, and you also
know how to perform basic maintenance on your
vehicle and other equipment. Gain one dot in Pilot
and one dot in Technology or two dots in Pilot.
• Rough and Tumble — At least one of your adven-
tures took a dangerous turn, and you had to fight
your way out. Gain one dot in Close Combat and
one dot in Firearms, or two dots in either Skill.
• Self-Reliant — You understand how to use your
body effectively and also how to perform basic
first aid on yourself and others. Gain one dot in
Athletics and one dot in Medicine or two dots in
either Skill.
CHOSEN
Even more than other scions, you have a destiny that
dates from the moment of your birth, if not before.
Life Events
• Combat Training — Having a destiny is danger-
ous. You may have had one or more attempts on
your life, or perhaps a parent or mentor simply
made certain that you were ready to face such
threats. Gain one dot in Close Combat and one dot
in Firearms, or two dots in either Skill.
• Mystical Tutelage — As befits your destiny, some-
one arranged for you to study the deep, mystical
truths of the World and the Terra Incognita, as
well as lessons on how to meet your destiny. Gain
one dot in Leadership and one dot in Occult, or two
dots in Occult.
• Threats and Rivals — Not all of those who know
of you and your destiny wish to see you fulfill it.
You may have had to face down threats, or perhaps
simply people attempting to find a way to bend you
to their will so you would become their puppet.
 Gain one dot in Integrity and one dot in Subterfuge
or two dots in either Skill.
CREATED
Unlike ordinary people you were not born and did not
grow from infancy, or if you did you didn’t do so as a hu-
man. Instead, some entity transformed you into a person.
Depending upon the exact circumstance of your creation,
you may have come into existence looking 15, and then
age normally – at least as long as you’re mortal. However,
in most cases like this you came into being looking like a
young adult, and while your creator gifted you with var-
ious skills, your experience of the World is quite limited,
often far more so than most human adolescents.
Life Events
If you select Created Fully Formed, do not select any
other life events. You must select either Created Fully
Formed or Created as one of your life events.
• Created Fully Formed — Your creator made you
in your adult form with all of your basic Skills, but
little knowledge of the World. Divide 6 dots be-
tween Athletics, Empathy, and Survival, placing no
more than three dots in any single skill, and at least
one dot in each Skill. If you choose this option, you
cannot select any other events in this age range.
• Created — Your creator made you and instilled
you with some basic Skills. Place one dot each in
any two of Athletics, Empathy, or Survival. If you
do not choose Created Fully Formed, you must
select this event.
• Living With a Human Family — Either your
creator placed you with a human family, or one
took you in. Gain one dot in Culture and one dot in
Empathy or two dots in either skill.
• Memories of Your Prior Existence — You retain
fragments of your existence as a tree, rock, or ani-
mal. Place one dot in both Athletics and Survival,
or two dots in either Skill. If you were previously
a tree, rock, or something else that was not mobile,
gain one dot in Integrity and one dot in Survival, or
two dots in either Skill.
LIFE OF PRIVILEGE
You grew up wealthy and may have been sufficiently
sheltered that you don’t know how much harder most
people’s lives are.
Life Events
• Leader of the Pack — The confidence you’ve
gained from being born at the top helps you learn
to take charge of any situation. Gain one dot in
Integrity and one dot in Leadership, or two dots in
either of these Skills.
The Lifepath System
• Political Maneuvering — You grew up in a
home and social environment filled with intrigue,
back-stabbing, and one-upmanship, as you and
your relatives and friends all battle for status. Gain
one dot in Persuasion and one dot in Subterfuge, or
two dots in either of these Skills.
• Top Notch Education — You may have had private
tutors, or simply have gone to an excellent school.
In either case, you learned a great deal. Gain one
dot in Academics and one dot in Culture, or two
dots in either of these Skills.
MILITARY BRAT
You’re not a soldier yet, but you grew up around
them, and possess a profound understanding of military
life.
Life Events
• Basic Training — Maybe you excelled at watching
and learning from the people around you, or maybe
your parents or other soldiers taught you some of
what they know, but you can maintain and repair
many devices and know the basics of handling fire-
arms. You gain one dot in Firearms and one dot in
Technology or two dots either skill.
• Experience of the World — Military families can
be sent all across the globe and you grew up not
merely moving from city to city, but from country
to country, absorbing different customs, as you
learned to adjust to a multitude of different envi-
ronments and met and interacted with multitudes
of people. Gain one dot in Culture and one dot in
Persuasion or two dots in Culture.
• In Command — You’ve grown up around the mili-
tary’s formal power structures and you understand
how they work and how to give and take orders,
and as part of these experiences you also became
physically fit. Gain one dot in Athletics and one dot
in Leadership or two dots in either of these Skills.
POTEMKIN WORLD
You grew up in a completely artificial environment,
as your parents or mentors prepared you for you place in
the World.
Life Events
• Exotic Travel — Ordinary children and teens went
on vacations to theme parks, or for the well-off,
distant nations. Your “vacations” were consider-
ably less mundane and involved visits to Strange
Places and Otherworlds. Gain one dot in Culture
and one dot in Survival or two dots in either Skill.
• Honorable Combat — You received specialized
combat training designed to hone your mind and
your body so that you could defend yourself, while
123
 also having the confidence to face fearsome, and
perhaps profoundly inhuman foes. Gain one dot in
Close Combat and one dot in Integrity or two dots
in either Skill.
• Lessons in the Supernatural — You’ve studied
myths, legends, and ancient sages about Gods,
Titans, and denizens, while also studying some
of the deep and ancient truths behind these tales.
Gain one dot in Academics and one dot in Occult or
two dots in either Skill.
CHILD OF THE STREETS
Your life was harder than most, and you learned bru-
tal truths about the World that most do not understand
until they are far older.
Life Events
• Gang Life — Maybe you were in a street gang, per-
haps some of your friends were, or maybe you had
to face down gang members who were determined
to force you to join their gang. You gain a dot in
Athletics and a dot in Close Combat, or two dots in
either of these Skills.
• Hack the Planet — Most teens want video games,
cellphones, TV, and music, but you had to make do
with fixing broken items you found in dumpsters
or low-end resale shops, or perhaps finding a way
to unencrypt stolen goods. You may also have got-
ten good at stealing personal electronics or even
stealing power for the vacant building you were
living in. Gain one dot in Subterfuge and one dot in
Technology or two dots in either Skill.
• Struggle to Survive — Occasionally, or perhaps
often, finding sufficient food or a roof overhead was
difficult for you and your family, and so you needed
to sneak into abandoned buildings and steal food to
survive. Gain one dot in Subterfuge and one dot in
Survival or two dots in either Skill.
SUBURBIA
You didn’t grow up rich, but your life was comfort-
able and mostly relatively easy.
Life Events
• Suburban Life — You were good at coloring with-
in the lines — you got good grades, were polite to
adults, learned to drive responsibly, and likely
got a used car for your birthday. Gain one dot in
Academics and one dot in Pilot or two dots in ei-
ther Skill.
• Multicultural Neighborhood — Even suburbia is
more diverse than it used to be, and you lived in
or near a multicultural neighborhood and learned
how a wide variety of people lived and gained a
deeper understanding of people. Gain one dot in
124 CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES
Culture and one dot in Empathy or two dots in
either Skill.
• Techie — Your family was well off enough to pro-
vide you with computers and other devices, and
you took classes at school or elsewhere to learn
more. You may even have built the computer you
use, and you also learned how these devices work.
Gain one dot in Science and one dot in Technology
or two dots in Technology.
SURVIVALIST
Maybe you grew up in a rural area, perhaps you were
exceptionally outdoorsy, or maybe your parents were in a
cult that lived in isolation. Regardless of the reason, you
spent a lot of time in wild areas.
Life Events
• Hunting — Few people grow up learning to hunt
anymore, but you did. Not only can you shoot a
deer, but you can track it and butcher it. You’re a
lot less squeamish than many people your age. Gain
one dot in Firearms and one dot in Survival or two
dots in either Skill.
• Responsibility — Due to circumstances or natural
inclination, you ended up in a position of respon-
sibility. Maybe people simply looked up to you, or
perhaps you were the one to step up when condi-
tions became more difficult than expected. Gain
one dot in Integrity and one dot in Leadership or
two dots in either Skill.
• Well Prepared — You know basic first aid, as well
as how to use your body effectively. Gain one dot
in Athletics and one dot in Medicine or two dots in
either Skill.
GENERAL CHILDHOOD & ADOLESCENT
EXPERIENCES
Regardless of their background, some experiences
are common to many adolescents. In addition to choosing
at least one experience from the list associated with your
characters particular Origin Path, you are also free to se-
lect any of the other general experiences.
• Bookish — Your love of learning was evidence
from an early age gain one dot in Academics and
one in Science, or two dots in either.
• Car Enthusiast — You love fixing up and driv-
ing cars and gain one dot in Pilot and one dot in
Technology.
• Cosmopolitan Experience — Perhaps you accom-
panied your parents as they traveled the World for
work or pleasure, or maybe you lived in a particu-
larly diverse city or a multi-cultural neighborhood.
Regardless of the reason, you know a great deal
about one or more other cultures, and may also be
 multi-lingual. Gain one dot in Culture and one dot
in Empathy, or two dots in Culture.
• Fascination with Medicine — Some children and
adolescents love cars or sports, but biology and
medicine fascinated you from an early age. You
loved dissecting animals in biology class and read
stories about heroic doctors and nurses. Gain one
dot in Medicine and one dot in Science.
• Fighter — You’ve gotten in a lot of fights, and
you gain one dot in Athletics and one dot in Close
Combat or two dots in Close Combat.
• Friends and Companions — You found others
to spend time with that you cared about and who
cared about you. You learned about friendship,
while also learning about others. Gain one dot in
Culture and one dot in Empathy or two dots in
either Skill.
• Geeky — You like building things and learning how
they work, gain one dot in Technology and one dot
in Science, or two dots in Technology.
• Jock — You enjoy sports and excel at them, gain
one dot in Athletics and one dot in Leadership or
two dots in Athletics.
• On Your Own — Maybe you spent a summer hitch-
hiking around your nation, maybe you ran away
from home and were homeless for a few months.
Regardless of the reason, you found yourself hav-
ing to make your own way in the World and learn-
ing a great deal about the people you met on your
journey. Gain one dot in Empathy and one dot in
Survival and or two dots in Survival.
• Supernatural Study — Either due to interest, or
to help explain unusual experiences you had or
witnessed, you have studied the supernatural. Gain
one dot in Academics and one dot in Occult, or two
dots in either of these skills.
• Terrorized — Maybe your peers bullied you,
perhaps a relative or family friend was abusive. In
either case, you learned hard lessons about surviv-
ing difficult circumstances that most people don’t
learn at this early age. You may have trouble trust-
ing people. Gain one dot in Integrity and one dot in
Subterfuge or two dots in either Skill.
• Uncanny Experiences — While you lived most
of your life in the more mundane portions of the
World, you’ve seen more than most people old-
er than you. Maybe you briefly stumbled into a
Strange Place or an Otherworld, or perhaps you
spied on a group of Denizens, or maybe even be-
friended them. Regardless of the reason, you have
experience with the supernatural and convincing
others to believe you. Gain one dot in Occult and
one dot in Persuasion, or two dots in Occult.
The Lifepath System
CREATING ADOLESCENT
CHARACTERS
If the player stops character generation when their
character is still an adolescent, the character only pos-
sesses two Paths – the Path corresponding to their origin,
and the Path corresponding to their Pantheon. As a result,
the character starts with fewer Skills than characters who
are adults. The character may have never been a normal
adult, and instead goes from being a teenager to being
someone with divine power who actively participates in
the Titanomachy. Such a character lacks anything like an
understanding of who they are or what their role in soci-
ety is, except that of being the Scion of a deity.
YOUNGER CHARACTERS IN PLAY
All across the World, characters who are in their
teens, or at least who are younger than 18 have fewer
rights and freedoms that adults. Even if you are the child
of Zeus or Huitzilopochtli, if you are 16, you are going to
have trouble buying a drink in a bar, and in some locations
you won’t be able to rent a car or a hotel room. Also, if
characters look too young, then people are far more likely
to wonder about their presence in places where adoles-
cents don’t normally belong, like office towers or deserted
warehouse districts. There are ways around these issues,
but which ones a particular character can use depends
upon the character. Many adolescents who are 16 or 17
can pass for 18 or even 21. With a good fake ID and a rea-
sonable ability to lie, they won’t get anything more than a
few jokes about looking really young, and the occasional
police officer or security guard asking to see their ID.
However, most people who are 13 or 14 look too
young for this to be believable. In these cases, either the
player must accept that their character will be treated
like a child and their freedom of action and movement
will be considerably less than an adult, or the player must
BALANCING
CHARACTERS OF
DIFFERENT AGES
IN PLAY
In any campaign with characters of different
ages and stages of life, adolescent characters
have notably fewer skills than older ones. To
balance this, and also to represent the fact that
younger characters have had less time to make
mistakes and thus may learn more from doing
so, when adolescent characters fail a skill roll,
they gain a minimum of 2 Momentum rather than
the 1 point other characters receive. In addition
to this extra Momentum, the character also gains
a +1 Enhancement to their next roll.
125
be willing to accept other solutions. The right Purview or
other supernatural ability can avoid most problems, since
few people talk down to someone who they saw throwing
bolts of lightning. Alternately, if another one of the other
characters is obviously an adult and is, or can convincing-
ly pretend to be, the younger character’s parent or guard-
ian, people may talk down to the adolescent character,
but they will be mostly free to move and act as they wish.
ADULTHOOD
The remainder of the lifepath system is somewhat
simpler, because the range of possibilities of people’s
lives typically narrows somewhat as they get older. Many
people choose or fall into a direction for their life in late
adolescence or early adulthood and continue along this
same path as they grow older. Others drift from one ca-
reer and set of circumstances to another, and after a while
even this drifting becomes the pattern of their life. As a
result, the same table of general life events applies for
everyone. Players can select each life event only once per
stage of adult life, but they can (if desired) select the same
life event once for every stage of adult life.
The three stages of adult life are:
• Young Adulthood: Your character is an adult with
all the freedoms and responsibilities this entails,
but they have had relatively little experience of
adult life.
• Mature Adulthood: Your character has been an
adult long enough to have substantial experience
of the World.
• Elderly: Your character is now growing old, and
they have both a unique perspective on life and a
different social position from younger adults.
For each stage of life, characters choose three more
life events from either their Role Path or from the list
of General Adult Life Events. Characters can choose
a different Role Path from one stage of life to another.
Someone could be enlisted in the military, a soldier with
the Combat Specialist Path for a number of years, and
then leave the military and go back to school and become
a physician or nurse. However, such changes are rare, and
often happen before someone turns 30.
Characters who change their Role Path when they
move from one age range to another have chosen to radi-
cally change the direction of their life. The player should
consider why the character did this and what events or
circumstances instigated this change. Did something hap-
pen in their previous career that upset them? Was there
some external event that made them realize that their life
needed to change, or were they fired or otherwise forced
to give up their previous career and Role Path.
126 CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES
ROLE PATHS
Characters may have the same Role Path for their
entire adult life, or they may change their Role Path.
However, almost no one has more than two Role Paths.
In addition to the three life events that characters gain
at each stage of adult life they experience, all characters
also gain the connections listed next to each Role Path
(see Scion: Origin, pp. 103–104). Your character should
meet at least some of their connections in the course of
one or more of their chosen life events. In addition, all
characters must choose at least one life event listed under
each Role Path they possess.
CHARISMATIC LEADER
You may have a formal position of leadership or per-
haps you’re simply the person all your colleagues natu-
rally look to when there’s conflict or other problems that
require someone to solve them, or at least smooth them
over.
Life Events
• In Charge — You’re the boss and people depend
on you to keep the organization or other group
you command working well. Gain one dot in
Leadership and one dot in Persuasion, or two dots
in Leadership.
• Smoothing Over Conflict — One difficulty with
being a leader is resolving conflicts among your
employees or other subordinates. Gain one dot in
Culture and one dot in Empathy, or two dots in
either skill.
• Subtle Maneuvering — Sometimes the key to
success is manipulating events to go the way you
want without seeming to give orders or be respon-
sible for the changes being made. Gain one dot in
Integrity and one dot in Subterfuge, or two dots in
either skill.
COMBAT SPECIALIST
You may be a soldier, a member of a SWAT team, or
perhaps a freedom fighter or a member of a violent gang.
However, you are all too experienced with violence and
situations where violence occurs.
Life Events
• Distant Death — Perhaps you were a fighter pilot
or part of a tank crew, or maybe you flew drones,
but your primary combat roll involved vehicles.
Gain one dot in Pilot and one dot in Technology, or
two dots in either skill.
• In Combat — You engaged in some form of com-
bat, which could be anything from fight fights to
fire fight. Gain one dot in Athletics and one dot in
either Close Combat or Firearms, or two dots in
any one of these skills.
 • Squad Leader — Not only were you in combat, but
you were in charge of a group of other combatants.
Gain one dot in Close Combat or Firearms and one dot
in Leadership, or two dots in any one of these skills.
DETECTIVE
Regardless of whether you’re a police detective, a pri-
vate detective, or an investigative reporter, you uncover
the secrets that others wish to keep hidden.
Life Events
• Coaxing a Source — You know how to convince
someone to talk about events they’d rather avoid
discussing. You may use trickery and deceit, or you
might simply be easy to talk to, but people talk to
you. Gain one dot in Empathy or Subterfuge and
one dot in Persuasion, or two dots in any one of
these skills.
• Navigating Complex Situations — Others at-
tempting to intimidate you just makes you more
determined to learn the truth. In addition, you are
adept at using all possible tools at your disposal
to do so. Gain one dot in Integrity and one dot in
Technology, or two dots in either of these skills.
• Threats and Danger — Sometimes being a detec-
tive of any sort isn’t safe, and you’ve had to talk or
fight your way out of dangerous situations. Gain
one dot in Close Combat or Firearms and one dot
in Persuasion, or two dots in any one of these skills.
MEDICAL PRACTITIONER
Regardless of whether you’re a physician, a nurse, or
an EMT, you practice medicine and are on the front lines
of life and death issues on a daily basis.
Life Events
• Interpersonal Complexities — Whether from
dealing with patients or other medical person-
nel, you have experience handling other people’s
emotions and difficult interpersonal situation.
Gain one dot in Empathy and one dot in Culture or
Leadership, or two dots in any one of these skills.
• Medical Mysteries — You have encountered one
or more complex and difficult to diagnose illnesses
and managed to figure them out. Gain one dot in
Medicine and one dot in Science, or two dots in
either skill.
• Technical Challenges — You have had experience
either working with complex pieces of medical
equipment or jury-rigging the equipment you
need from inadequate supplies. Gain one dot in
Medicine or Survival and one dot in Technology, or
two dots in any one of these skills.
The Lifepath System
PILOT
Whether you’re a New York City cab driver or a com-
mercial airline pilot, you know your way around vehicles.
Life Events
• Difficult Passengers — You’ve had experience
dealing with unreasonable, abusive, or panicked
passengers. Gain one dot in Empathy and one dot
in Integrity or Persuasion, or two dots in any one of
these skills.
• Emergency Conditions — You’ve dealt with vehi-
cles in difficult and perhaps even dire conditions.
Gain one dot in Pilot and one dot in Survival or
Technology, or two dots in any one of these skills.
• Vehicular Violence — Either from violence on-
board the vehicle, or external threats to it, you
have had to fight for the safety of your vehicle and
its passengers and crew and may also have had to
help keep injured passengers alive. Gain one dot in
Firearms and one dot in Close Combat or Medicine,
or two dots in any one of these skills.
SNEAK
Regardless of whether you are a criminal, a spy, a spe-
cial forces soldier, or a member of some other profession,
you excel at working from the shadows.
Life Events
• Life In the Shadows — You understand the crimi-
nal underworld, and you also have learned that not
everyone who belongs in it is fully human. Gain
one dot in Occult and one dot in Subterfuge, or two
dots in either of these skills.
• Second Story Work — You have learned how to
attain your goal even if you need to climb up the
side of a building or jump between rooftops. Gain
one dot in Athletics and one dot in Subterfuge, or
two dots in either of these skills.
• Undercover Work — You have learned to excel at
pretending to be someone or something other than
who you are. Gain one dot in Persuasion and one
dot in Subterfuge, or two dots either of these skills.
TECHNOLOGY EXPERT
You excel at fixing and modifying devices for your
own purposes or to meet the needs of others. Regardless
of whether you’re programing computers or fixing tractor
trailers, you can build, modify, or repair almost anything.
127
Life Events explored the World, gain one dot in Athletics and
one dot in Pilot, or two dots in either skill.
• Educational Travel — You studied or trained in a
• Continuing Education — Either as part of your
location far from where you live. Gain one dot in
job, a desire to change your career, or simply the
Culture and one dot in Science or Technology, or
desire to learn more, you went back to school in
two dots in any one of these skills.
some format. Gain one dot in Academics and one
• Remote Location — Sometimes you need to repair dot in Science, or two dots in either skill.
or replace devices in exceedingly remote locations
• Experience With Violence — You had to deal with
or locations that are challenging to access. Gain
violent people and situations. You may have fought,
one dot in Athletics or Survival and one dot in
or perhaps you found ways to de-escalate the situ-
Technology, or two dots in any one of these skills.
ation. Gain one dot in Close Combat or Empathy
• Social Engineering — Sometimes the solution to and one dot in Firearms or Persuasion, or two dots
technical problems is teaching people how to use in any one of these skills.
the system correctly. Gain one dot in Leadership
• Making Personal Connections — You’ve met and
and one dot in Persuasion, or two dots either of
become close to new people in your life. Perhaps
these skills.
you found a lover or a spouse, or maybe you be-
General Adult Life Events came part of a tightly-knit group of friends. Gain
one dot in Empathy and one dot in Integrity, or two
The following are experiences that any adult could
dots in Empathy.
have, regardless of their career, background, or Role Path.
• Practical Learning — As training for a career, or
• Brush with the Law — Whether falsely or accu-
simply as a hobby or part of volunteer work, you
rately, you were charged with a crime and may
studied a practical skill, like automobile repair,
even have spent time in jail or prison. You learned
computer programming, or emergency first aid.
harsh lessons, but you survived them. Gain one dot
Gain one dot in Pilot and one dot in Medicine or
in Integrity and one dot in either Persuasion or
Technology, or two dots in any one of these skills.
Subterfuge, or two dots in Integrity.
• Supernatural Study — Either due to interest, or
• Challenging Travel — You have traveled to dif-
to help explain unusual experiences you had or
ficult places on your own. Regardless of whether
witnessed, you have studied the supernatural. Gain
you drove the backroads of your own nation or

128 CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES

 PLAYING AND STORYGUIDING ELDERLY CHARACTERS
Like with playing teenage characters, exactly how old a character is, or at least looks, matters a great
deal. To most people, someone in their 60s is distinguished, or “middle aged”, but a character who looks to
be in their 70s is old. Agism is a real phenomenon in most of the developed world, and an obviously elderly
character searching for someone or something may have someone younger asking to assist them, and they
could easily have people asking them if they are lost, confused, or require medical help, even when there is
no evidence that any of this is true.
As with adolescents, people who are obviously elderly who act in atypical ways cause more concern
than a younger adult acting in the same fashion. Also, a substantial minority of people who offer to “help”
elderly people have difficulty taking no for an answer and may well become annoyed or angry if an elderly
character insists they do not require assistance. Naturally, none of this matters if the character is running as
fast as a sports car or tossing lightning bolts. No matter how old someone looks, or what the observer’s
thoughts on elderly people are, if someone is performing impressive supernatural feats, few people are
going to care if they look 20 or 80.

one dot in Academics and one dot in Occult, or two
dots in either of these skills.
• Surviving A Disaster — You were in a region
overrun with war or that faced a serious natural
disaster. You learned how to survive and how to
take charge in a crisis. Gain one dot in Athletics or
Leadership and one dot in Survival, or two dots in
any one of these skills.
• Teaching — You found yourself in charge of teach-
ing others, perhaps in a formal situation, perhaps
as part of a hobby. Gain one dot in Academics or
Science and one dot in Leadership, or two dots in
either of these skills.
• Technical Issues — You’ve had to solve issues
relating to either problematic technologies or
problems with how people were using these de-
vices. Gain one dot in Persuasion and one dot in
Technology, or two dots in either of these skills.
• Travel — For either work or pleasure, you have
traveled extensively and have encountered people
and cultures previously unfamiliar to you and have
learned more about others and also about yourself.
Gain one dot Culture and one dot in Integrity or
two dots in Culture.
• Uncanny Experiences — While you lived most of
your life in the more mundane portions of the World,
you’ve seen more than most people. Maybe you brief-
ly stumbled into a Strange Place or an Otherworld,
or perhaps you spied on a group of Denizens, or
maybe even befriended them. Regardless of the rea-
son, you have experience with the supernatural and
the World’s oddities. Gain one dot Culture and one
dot in Occult or two dots in Occult.
PLAYING OLDER CHARACTERS
Players can choose to play elderly characters (ages
60–80). These characters may retain the Role Path they
had as a mature adult or choose a new Role Path. While
few people change careers at 60, some people retire to
pursue a serious hobby, and others find a new way to ap-
proach their career as they grow older. As before, players
can select three experiences for the character, choosing
from either their current Role Path or the list of General
Adult Life Events below.
While they are notably more experienced than
younger characters, characters who are 60 or older must
take the Elderly Persistent Condition.
ELDERLY
Effects: The character increases the Difficulty of all
rolls involving Strength or Stamina by +1.
Momentum: Every time you fail a roll solely due to
this increase in Difficulty.
Resolution: Other than divine miracles, nothing
can reverse the ravages of old age. However, a charac-
ter increasing their Tier becomes increasingly more
divine than human. Characters who are Heroic Tier
begin to push back the debility of old age, eliminating
the increased Difficulty to either Strength or Stamina
rolls — the player can choose which penalty to eliminate.
Characters who are Demigod Tier or higher have passed
beyond the limitations of mortality, and no longer suffer
from this Persistent Condition.
VISITATION DURING
CHARACTER GENERATION
As an optional rule, characters can have their
Visitation well before they start play. As was mentioned
above, a character may have experienced their Visitation
when they were a teenager, but that the same character
may not start play until their late 20s. However, it is both
too difficult and complex, and also less interesting and fun
to work out all of the mighty adventures and complex so-
cial and political interactions with other scions and deities
that such a character has had over the course of a decade or

The Lifepath System 129

more. Instead, the default assumption for characters who
had their Visitation years before play starts is that the char-
acter either was not yet ready to delve into divine politics
and conflict, or that they did so in a hesitant and tentative
fashion. As a result, the character gains their Society/
Pantheon Path and any Purviews or supernatural Knacks
normally, but they gain no additional supernatural abilities
beyond those possessed by any character gains immediate
after their Visitation. With the Storyguide’s permission, the
player is free to create anecdotes about their character’s
previous interactions with other mythic beings, but their
character hasn’t yet played a significant role in the World.
Also, because the character avoided her mythic desti-
ny for years, the player needs to determine why their char-
acter suddenly decided to go from mostly ignoring their
divine power to eagerly using it and involving themselves
in the supernatural world. Depending upon the age of the
character, one obvious answer is if their Visitation occurred
when they were a teenager, the character did not yet feel
ready to take on responsibilities that would be daunting for
most adults, but once the character completed high school,
and perhaps college, they finally felt ready to embrace their
destiny. Alternately, perhaps the character was caring for a
sick or young relative and did not feel able to travel around
the World engaging in dangerous activities, when someone
depended so heavily on them, but now that this person no
longer requires their assistance, they are ready to delve
into the politics of apotheosis.
If you want your character to have had their Visitation
well before play starts, select your Society/Pantheon
Path. Use the rules for choosing this Path found in Scion:
Hero, except your character automatically gains two dots
in each Path Skill. After this, continue using the Lifepath
System normally. For example, if a character had their
Visitation in adolescence, but did not start play until
they were a young adult (18–29), then you generate their
Origin Path normally, add on the Society/Pantheon Path,
and then choose their Role Path.

DRACONIC LIFEPATH
If you want to play a Dragon character (see Scion: Dragon),
Dragon), always treat this as a pre-play Visitation,
with the exception that your Society/Flight Path replaces the Society/Pantheon Path.

130 CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES

MYTHIC SCION:
NARRATIVE
SYSTEM OPTIONS
S torypath is a narrative game engine — you roll dice and
build a collaborative story with your fellow players,
including the Storyguide. That collaborative story becomes
the basis for decisions, actions, and further dice rolls, which
further influence and impel the story onward. Over time, it
becomes a self-sustaining machine, with plot threads pulled
in, focused on, built upon, and brought to their conclusion
like an assembly line of fiction — the same way that a prestige
television series works, for example, with episodes serving
both as self-contained stories and as segments of a larger
story told over the course of a season.
In default Scion’s Storypath system, the narrative is
buttressed by mechanics that form the engine that drives
the story. Mythic Scion is a collection of options that
create a more narrative version of that engine, designed
to be leaner and more fluid than the standard Storypath
system while still retaining its overall feel. This allows
participants to play a little more “fast-and-loose” with
character and consequence. The core of Mythic Scion is
the Calling Dice System, which streamlines the game’s
core mechanic by allowing Callings to serve the role of
Skills. Other options further narrativize the game’s vari-
ous subsystems. These options all play well together, but
it isn’t necessary to use all of them — feel free to pick and
choose, retaining whatever aspects of the default Scion
experience you desire.
CALLING DICE
The Calling Dice rules remove Skills, allowing
Callings to take their place. Instead of a character being
highly skilled at Close Combat, for example, they would
exemplify their Calling as a Warrior. Callings do not re-
place Skills one-for-one, of course. As a more fluid system,
any Calling can be used for any roll. Callings represent not
ability but a personal style, a way one interacts with the
World. That style then informs the narrative outcome of
events. One could roll with Warrior to host a tea party,
but it would be a very confrontational tea party as a result.
The mechanical changes to Storypath for Calling Dice
are relatively straightforward, but the actual effect in terms
of character and story are profound. Characters can only
interact with the world through their Callings, and those
Callings determine the way in which they do so —  this
means a character’s Callings are going to define much more
about them than they normally would. Callings aren’t set
in stone, of course, any more than in default Scion; in fact,
shifting Callings is even easier with Calling Dice, as you’ll
see below. This allows a character’s relationship to the world
Mythic Scion: Narrative System Options
to develop over the course of play, and for the mechanical
underpinnings of that character to do so in tandem.
CORE SYSTEM
The follows rules serve as the basis for the Calling
Dice system, and also as a heuristic to make other Scion
rules compatible with it.
• Character Creation: When building your char-
acter, don’t assign Skill dots through Paths. Take
5 dots of Callings, even if you’re an Origin-tier
character.
• Dice Pool: When forming a dice pool, add Calling
+ Attribute.
• Neglected Callings: Each time a character rolls
a Calling, make a mark next to that Calling. If a
character rolls a particular Calling a number of
times greater than the Calling’s rating in succes-
sion, it provokes a Calling Crisis in one of her other
Callings (player’s choice); she may then shift a dot
from that Calling to another. If the Calling in ques-
tion has only a single dot, choose another Calling
the character doesn’t have to replace it. Making a
roll with any other Calling resets all marks, includ-
ing the one just made by rolling that Calling. For
example, if you’ve got two marks on Warrior and
roll Sage, erase those two marks on Warrior and
don’t add one to Sage. Additionally, erase all marks
if you suffer a Calling Crisis.
• Knack Persistence: Don’t worry about adjust-
ing Knacks following a Calling Crisis inflicted
by Neglected Callings until the end of the Act. If
you need to make a Knack Skill roll for a Knack
you no longer have the Calling for, use the best fit
(Storyguide’s call).
• Knack Skills: When a Knack tells you to make a
Knack Skill roll, roll with the Knack’s associated
Calling. If the Knack isn’t associated with any par-
ticular Calling, roll with the most applicable one.
CHANGES TO GAMEPLAY
The most important change made in the Calling Dice
rules is the reduction of a maximum dice pool at character
creation from ten dice to eight, not because it represents
a massive downgrade in a character’s capabilities but
because it slightly alters the probabilities assumed in the
core Scion system. A character with eight dice is rough-
ly half as likely to succeed on a Difficulty 5 test (already
a major obstacle) and is about as likely to succeed on a
Difficulty 4 test as a character with a 10-die pool would be
to succeed on a Difficulty 5 test. In short, the Storyguide
should adjust Difficulty numbers downward slightly, un-
til players hit Legend 3 or 4 and have the capacity to build
a 10-die pool by combining a Calling and an Attribute.
We recommend a blanket reduction by 1, to a minimum
of 1, slightly compressing the range of potential Difficulty
131
values but preventing situations where a task is all but
hopeless even for the children of the gods. This includes
the static Defense values of Antagonists. Because player
Defense is based on Attributes and rolled, adjustments to
Antagonist dice pools are unnecessary —  they’re rolling
to hit the same numbers.
Complications in particular become significant-
ly more powerful with the reduction in likely suc-
cesses, especially in tandem with higher-Difficulty
tests. Storyguides should be cautious about assigning
Complications, or about giving them particularly onerous
effects, in situations where it’s unlikely the players will be
unable to overcome them. We suggest reducing the 1–5
scale of Complication to a scale of Minor, Moderate, and
Severe, rated at 1, 2, and 3 respectively.
With a reduction in maximum standing dice pool size
at character creation, Momentum and Enhancement both
become even more critical resources in early play. Every
additional die added with Momentum adds slightly more
probability of success than in core Scion gameplay, mean-
ing players will likely spend Momentum much more fre-
quently than before. With a restricted range of Difficulty,
Enhancement now has a slightly greater weight, but it
also has a slightly higher chance of not being applied,
since the potential to roll zero successes with a maximum
dice pool is slightly larger — in other words, greater risk
for greater reward. Storyguides should keep these details
in mind when awarding Momentum or Enhancement.
CLASH OF MYTHS
Default Storypath rules may be used for combat using
Calling Dice as described above. This will result in fights
having a much more mechanic-oriented and detailed tex-
ture than the rest of gameplay. If this is desirable, great!
If you’d like to bring the narrative feel of Calling Dice to a
fight as well, though, we offer the following system.
Clash of Myths replaces the traditional Action-
Adventure combat system, doing away with stunts, range
bands, and other detail-oriented systems. It retains
Initiative in order to ensure a smooth and fair progression
of play.
ATTACKING
When you roll to attack during combat, describe
what you’re doing and decide which Calling of yours best
fits that action (the Storyguide may also weigh in, and
has the final decision if she disagrees!). Roll that Calling
+ an appropriate Attribute vs. the target’s Defense. If you
exceed the target’s Defense, you successfully hit them.
When you do, mark one of the target’s Injury Condition
or Armor boxes. Once all Injury Condition boxes are
marked, a character is Taken Out.
If you fail to meet the target’s Defense, you instead
narrate consequences. Decide what happens as a result
of your attack. This is known as a Consequence, usually
132 CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES
something temporary, like the flash of sparks from strik-
ing swords momentarily blinding one’s opponent. If you
roll a tie with the target’s Defense, you can narrate a
Serious Consequence, which lasts longer than a normal
Consequence, like the flash of sparks from striking swords
setting the opponent’s cloak aflame. A Consequence
needs to make sense for the kind of attack you’re making,
and it’s the Storyguide’s call if something makes sense or
not. If you botch, your target inflicts a Consequence on
you instead.
A Consequence can be used as an Enhancement by
another player on a subsequent roll, or it may serve as a
Complication to the target if they attempt an action that
would be affected by that Consequence (lighting a fire
while doused in kerosene, for example). Consequences
and Serious Consequences stack together to a maximum
of 5. If a Consequence affects a roll, it disappears. Serious
Consequences remain in effect until the fight ends or the
target suffering the Serious Consequence does something
(usually requiring his action for the round) to clear it.
In the aforementioned example, the swordsman with a
cloak aflame might cleave open a fire hydrant to douse his
cloak.
If you’re using Clash of Myths, don’t award
Momentum for failed attacks (since Consequences al-
ready grant an advantage on failure), but do award it for
failures on non-combat rolls and non-attack rolls in com-
bat. Since Momentum increases the odds of bypassing
an opponent’s Defense entirely, it’s a valuable resource
for players — the fact that they can’t accrue it in battle
should lead them to test other opportunities outside of
direct combat, further broadening the narrative scope of
individual encounters.
DEFENDING
Player characters have a minimum Defense of 1, as
normal, and may roll their highest Resistance Attribute
to reflexively increase that number against incoming at-
tacks. Do so the first time the character is attacked in a
turn; if she’s not attacked, no need to roll. Each success
adds 1 to the character’s Defense. That number persists,
until it resets on the character’s next turn. Antagonists
should use a static Defense number as normal.
A character may choose to actively Defend; in other
words, to forfeit their action for the round for the sake
of guarding against incoming attacks. Players must opt to
actively Defend before rolling their Resistance Attribute
roll to increase their Defense. If an actively Defending
character is successfully attacked (the attacker rolls more
dice than her Defense), she may elect to suffer a Serious
Consequence rather than mark an Injury Condition. If
the attacker doesn’t roll more dice than her Defense, she
doesn’t suffer a Consequence, not even on a tie.
STUNTS
Some Traits, such as Guide, are able to grant special
stunts. Since Clash of Myths doesn’t use stunts the same
way default Scion does, use the following rules instead.
If a stunt expands your capabilities, i.e., allows you to
do something you otherwise couldn’t, treat it like a motif
(see below) for the purposes of narrating consequences.
If a stunt says you can do something, you can do it.
If a stunt is designed to set up a later advantage or
inflict a debility of some kind, add +1 to any Consequence
you inflict though narrating consequences that corre-
sponds to the effect or situation the stunt describes.
WEAPON TAGS
Most weapon tags (Scion: Origin, p. 122) are narra-
tive in nature, such as Concealable. A few, however, have
important mechanical effects that work slightly different-
ly in Clash of Myths.
• Aggravated: When you successfully land a blow
(exceed your target’s Defense), narrate a Serious
Consequence in addition to marking one of their
Injury Condition or Armor boxes.
• Arcing: Downgrade a target’s Cover by 1 category,
to a minimum of none.
• Automatic: This weapon may make a spray attack,
targeting more than one enemy in close proximi-
ty. Make a single attack roll and compare it to all
relevant Defenses. Allies in the area of effect must
Defend against the attack as well.
• Brutal: This weapon inflicts particularly nasty or
messy wounds and may have a tendency toward
collateral damage.
• Piercing: This attack ignores Armor boxes, mark-
ing Injury Condition boxes directly.
• Shockwave: This attack may strike a number of
targets equal to the value of the Calling rolled for
the attack.
ARMOR TAGS
Like weapon tags, certain armor tags (Scion: Origin,
p. 125) work differently in Clash of Myths.
• Resistant: This armor protects against a certain
type of damage or environmental condition.
SCALE
When a rule or Trait in default Scion would allow
you to employ Scale for an action, you gain the following
effects for that action in Clash of Myths:
• Improved Consequences: Failing an attack roll al-
lows you to inflict Serious Consequences, and a tie
allows you to mark an Injury Condition or Armor
box as if you’d exceeded the target’s Defense. If you
Mythic Scion: Narrative System Options
exceed the Defense, mark two Injury Conditions or
Armor boxes.
MOTIFS
In addition to their usual effects vis a vis Purviews,
motifs extend a character’s narrative influence in Clash
of Myths. When narrating consequences, a player may
draw upon any of their motifs to narrate a Consequence
that otherwise wouldn’t make sense. Typically, this will
be a motif from a Relic, particularly a Relic weapon, but
players are encouraged to get creative and draw out the
mythic possibilities of any and all of their motifs.
SHIFTING DAMAGE AND CONSEQUENCES
Much like a knife fight, Scions shouldn’t expect to
walk away from a fight in Clash of Myths without taking
a hit or two themselves. Scions are a hardy folk, imbued
with divine ichor, and so can tolerate more abuse than the
average mortal, but even they have their limits. Clash of
Myths offers Scions an additional means of coping with
potential injury —  offloading the consequences of vio-
lence through their ties of Fate.
Mechanically, this system is straightforward; upon
being struck in combat, a Scion’s player must choose to
either mark an Injury Condition or shift the burden to
one of her character’s Fatebindings. If she chooses the
latter, she does not mark an Injury Condition, but instead
compels the Fatebound character, creating a situation that
works to the Scion’s detriment. If the Fatebound charac-
ter is present, this event might occur during the fight it-
self; if they’re not, trouble will rear its head later (though
soon! Fate doesn’t like to be kept waiting). The character
does not receive Legend for compelling this Fatebinding,
but it does count as compelling the Fatebinding for the
purposes of doing so this session.
In a narrative sense, shifting the burden of Fate in
this way often takes the form of lucky coincidences; a
Scion who is shot might be carrying a flask that stops the
bullet, or the gun might have misfired, or the bullet was
defective, and so on. If it makes sense for the compelled
Fatebinding, the Storyguide is encouraged to introduce
appropriately themed obstacles as a result of the Scion’s
action. A Scion who avoids a nasty burn might need to
escape a building on fire due to accidental arson in the
near future if she offloaded the burden onto her Jinx, for
example.
STORYGUIDING CLASH OF MYTHS
Clash of Myths changes the flow of combat signifi-
cantly —  every blow weakens the defense of a target.
Coordinated and sustained action will quickly outstrip
even the most ironclad of defenses, allowing characters
to land decisive blows. Therefore, combat is less about
tactical decision-making (what stunts should I purchase,
how much Momentum should I spend, etc.) and more
focused on the narrative consequences of actions. Even
if a Consequence only affects a single roll, the event that
133
caused it still happened, and becomes a part of the narra-
tive flow of events.
Storyguides should be aware of these differences
and adjust encounters with enemies accordingly. A flood
of Mooks, Foes, or similar Archetypes is considerably
more dangerous in Clash of Myths, since each will inflict
a Consequence every turn unless they manage to botch,
which is unlikely. They’ll still have only a single Health
box and low Defense, so players are likely to take them
down quickly, but Consequences add up and if there’s
tougher opponents on the field it can set players on the
back foot against them quickly.
CASUAL MIRACLES
Purviews are the rawest expression of a scion’s bur-
geoning divine power. The Casual Miracles rules modi-
fication allows those Purviews to further influence the
character’s nature and actions, becoming an iconic part
of who they are, making the following changes:
• Inherent Legend: All effects that would require
the expenditure of Legend instead imbue that
Legend until the end of the scene.
• Overcharge: Characters may “bank” Legend above
their normal maximum if gained through Sacrifice
or Fatebinding; however, each excess Legend
adds +1 Enhancement to all Fatebinding rolls and
adds 1 Tension to the Storyguide’s Tension Pool.
Overcharge Legend cannot be imbued, only spent,
as a special exception to Inherent Legend.
• Inherent Motif: When choosing a starting
Purview or gaining a Purview via a Guide, choose a
motif that describes how the character relates to or
exemplifies that Purview. If the Purview is gained
via a Relic, it uses the Relic’s motif instead.
• Universal Motifs: Motifs from Purviews (includ-
ing Relic motifs) may be used in Clash of Myths
combat (p. XX) like any other motif.
Games using the Casual Miracles rules will have a
“higher power” feel, not because the characters are actu-
ally hitting any harder but because they’ll have a greater
capacity to employ obvious displays of divine might. That
greater flexibility when it comes to using Purviews is
counterbalanced by the greater demands Fate will make
in the character’s life, as well as the greater difficulty the
player characters will face as a result of the additional
Tension afforded the Storyguide. This will create a World
where even the youngest of Scions are forces to be reck-
oned with, able to engage with their divine powers from
the beginning of their Heroic lives, and the Storyguide
shouldn’t hesitate to play up the larger-than-larger-than-
life feel of a World like this.
By the same measure, those young Scions will be
far more the playthings of Fate than would normally be
the case, and the Storyguide should lean in and make the
134 CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES
hand of Fate a far more active participant. For Heroes,
this occasions a greater frequency of Fatebindings, but
the mechanical aspect of Fate isn’t the only way to play up
destiny at work. Be free with omens and portents, espe-
cially when characters are Overcharged. For Demigods,
the strength Fate employs begins to become downright
dangerous. As the Scion binds not only individuals but
groups and even nations to their destiny, those reverber-
ations echo ever more loudly. The Enhancement afforded
to Fatebinding rolls will ensure that the World changes
in rapid fashion where overcharged Demigods walk, and
not always to the Demigod’s benefit.
STORYGUIDE CHARACTERS AND
ANTAGONISTS
Applying the Casual Miracles rule modification to
Storyguide Characters and Antagonists requires no addi-
tional changes, save that Tension used to fuel Storyguide
Character marvels is still spent rather than imbued. This
frees the Storyguide from having to track their Tension
expenditure to a deeper degree. Instead of treating that
Tension spend as a 1-for-1 event as usual, though, the
Storyguide chooses one of the Storyguide Character’s
Purviews, and for the duration of the scene the Storyguide
Character may employ marvels of that Purview as they
desire. Activating additional Purviews requires the fur-
ther expenditure of Tension.
UNFURLING LEGENDS
Purviews represent the most nakedly divine part of
a Scion’s incipient divinity, the powers of the World bent
to their will. Scions access these powers through motifs,
either associated with their pantheons, with Guides, or
with Relics. The Casual Miracles rules, above, allows
players to choose character-specific motifs for their
innate Purviews; the Unfurling Legends rules go a step
farther, allowing motifs themselves to become a core ele-
ment of gameplay.
Using Unfurling Legends rules, Purviews become a
permission, a key that opens a door to power. They grant
their innate ability as usual, but everything else that flows
from that Purview takes the form of marvels. Boons are
not used in these rules, though players should feel free
to use Boons as inspiration for their marvels. Instead,
the focus is placed upon motifs, which the characters
will accrue through the course of gameplay, and which
will greatly increase their power and flexibility. Each
motif, encapsulating a simple statement of a relationship
to power, becomes a lens through which that power is
reflected.
BASIC RULES
• No Boons, Only Power: At character creation,
instead of choosing Boons, create a personal motif
that resonates with the Scion’s Visitation and over-
all character.
 • No Encore: A Scion may employ a given motif
to create a marvel once a scene. For example, if a
Scion has three motifs, she may create up to three
marvels in a scene, once using each motif.
• I Am the Legend: Legend is not spent or imbued
to fuel marvels. Trivial uses of a Purview, instead of
not costing Legend, don’t require the Scion’s player
to expend one of her motifs.
GAINING NEW MOTIFS
New Motifs are gained through several methods:
high-level Fatebinding, Deeds, and severe injury. A Scion
may gain one motif per session per method, though gain-
ing more than one motif in a single session should be
highly unusual.
When a Fatebinding’s Strength rises to 5, the
Fatebound Scion chooses a new motif, reflecting either
the relationship or the circumstances surrounding it. For
example, if a Scion has a Canary who dies defending his
beloved Scion, his player might choose the motif My aegis
is passion. Thereafter, he might use that motif with any
Purview, so long as the marvel he means to create reso-
nates with that motif — in this case, the motif is mainly
defensive in nature, though clever use could see it spur
others to action on the Scion’s behalf as well.
Deeds may be used to gain motifs in two ways. The
first is through Failure and Adoption Deeds for Callings;
a pair of each, reflecting a successful change of Calling,
grants the Scion a motif reflecting the personal journey
Mythic Scion: Narrative System Options
and transformation they’ve experienced. The second
method applies to the entire Band: when completing a
Band-term Deed, the entire Band may choose a common
motif they all share, reflecting the ties of legend between
them. Unlike with Fatebinding, Calling changes, or in-
jury, this motif is optional; however, if the Band wishes
to form their own breakaway pantheon, such motifs are
an excellent starting point to define their new legend. A
Band wishing to do so, after defying one or more of their
divine parents with the aid of a collective cult, might
settle on the motif Greatness is reflected in the smallest
of acts, an as-above-so-below statement that allows the
Band to draw on the actions of others as a strength when
employing their Purviews. If the Band succeeds in apo-
theosis and the foundation of a new Pantheon — a Band-
term Deed in and of itself, if ever there was one — they
must define a Pantheon motif, one available to any of their
Scions in the future. Alternately, if they already possess a
motif they intend to serve in that role, they may elevate
that motif instead.
Finally, serious injuries or other significant and
lingering changes in the Scion’s life may be used as the
basis for a new motif. For an event to qualify, it must ei-
ther cause a Persistent (or even permanent!) Condition
or be the narrative equivalent. Tyr is known for having
lost a hand, for example, and Odin his eye. Suffering dire
consequences for violating a geas might also qualify, with
Storyguide approval. Such motifs are permanent, regard-
less of whether the character employs adaptive technol-
ogy to circumvent a disability or even employs magic to
135
cure it — the motif is tied to the experience of injury and
sacrifice, rather than the thing itself. Storyguides should
not allow players who are too clever for their characters’
own good to abuse this by repeatedly injuring and magi-
cally curing themselves.
For assistance in designing new motifs, we suggest
the use of the Legendary Title system (Scion: Hero, p.
191) for inspiration, choosing either a Calling the char-
acter possesses or one that best exemplifies the event or
Fatebinding that led to the creation of the new motif.
STORYGUIDING UNFURLING LEGENDS
Motifs are more than mechanical widgets that let
play Scions do wondrous things with their Purviews,
they’re also a tool for the Storyguide to relate the player’s
character to the World around them. The cloud of mo-
tifs a Scion will collect over the course of play become,
in a sense, her Mantle, the divinity surrounding her that
she will, one day, incarnate within through apotheosis.
Therefore, a Scion’s motifs inform the deity she’s becom-
ing — the choices a player makes when she chooses a new
motif is a brightly-lit neon sign pointing the Storyguide
toward the kind of Goddess she wants her character to
become.
Lean into that. Let motifs become themes, not con-
stant but recurring. Players will naturally favor certain
motifs, so pay attention to which get the most use. Play
along, but test the waters with themes associated with
motifs that might see less play as well. This not only helps
the Storyguide build a legend around the Scions without
narrowing the focus too much, but also gives players
a chance to use those motifs. In Demigod play, this is
especially helpful when constructing the circumstances
and tenor of the Scion’s apotheosis, even more so if the
entire Band is chasing apotheosis hoping to start their
own Pantheon.
TEMPTING FATE:
ADVANCEMENT OPTIONS
Deeds are the primary means of gaining Experience.
The more Short-Term and Long-Term Deeds a Scion
completes, the more powerful they will grow. Band
Deeds keep the Band at the same relative level, in terms
of Legend, and provide an overall arc for the story.
Deeds are also a setting element of Scion, an in-
World metaphysical event that actively builds a Scion’s
ties to Fate, slowly binding them to a divine mantle that
one day, should they choose to take that path, they will
incarnate into and become a God. A savvy Scion can use
the Deeds she accomplishes as a kind of leverage, to steer
136 CHAPTER FIVE: NEW RULES
Fate into giving her what she wants. The Tempting Fate
subsystem allows players to do much the same with the
Storyguide.
The core of Tempting Fate is simple — when you
achieve a Deed, you may make a wager with Fate (i.e., the
Storyguide). The player must make an assertion on behalf
of their character regarding an event that has yet to hap-
pen, for example, “If I met a centaur, I would surely drink
him under the table!” The outcome of the wager cannot be
something easy or simple; the preceding example is cer-
tainly neither, for centaurs are known for their fondness
for drink. The Experience normally awarded for the Deed
in question is held in abeyance, and the Storyguide will
then, in the near future, arrange for a chance for the Scion
to prove it.
Short-Term Deeds lead to short-term wagers, events
that require no more than a scene to test and can be wo-
ven into the fabric of the narrative, like a set-piece in a
movie. The aforementioned centaur drinking contest,
for example, could qualify, if the Scion just happened to
run into a centaur at a local dive bar while following up a
lead on a stolen Relic. There might even be a clue hidden
behind the drinking contest, for Fate works in strange
ways. If a Scion successfully satisfies the terms of such
a wager, she gains not only the wagered Experience, but
an extra Experience to boot. If unsuccessful, she gains
the Experience but also a negative Condition fitting the
circumstances of her ignominious failure.
Long-Term Deeds, by contrast, involve significant
effort and danger, and are the sorts of events that an en-
tire session could revolve around. It might be a side-story,
a lull between major events in the story arc, or it might
be intimately tied into the ongoing story. To continue
the example, a mere friendly drinking contest with a
centaur wouldn’t satisfy the terms of such a wager, but
a simple raising of the stakes changes that. Instead of a
friendly contest, imagine one conducted at spearpoint in
the aftermath of a ruined Thessalian wedding — and if the
Scion loses, it might lead to a new Centauromachy! That’s
a wager worthy of Fate’s attention for a Long-Term Deed.
Successfully fulfilling such a wager grants the wagered
Experience as well as either two additional Experience
or a temporary one-use Path associated with the event. A
Scion who fails such a wager gains her Experience back,
but also an appropriate persistent Condition — and she is
likely to be in serious trouble as well!
If possible, wagers should reflect their associated
Deeds, sharing themes or aesthetics, but it’s not required.
Failed wagers may also count as Failure Deeds for the
purposes of Callings if they meet the necessary criteria.