Scion Second Edition from Onyx Path Publishing is a modern urban fantasy game where all myths are true. Scion reaches into the history and mythologies of our world to bring gods, titans, monsters, and the fantastic into a fictional world like our own. In the World of Scion, deities from dozens of pantheons across the globe flourish and have impact on daily life. The gods of various religions are widely worshiped, and this is considered normal. Polytheism is a fact of life and many folks pay homage to a variety of gods depending on their needs and what temples are nearby.
The presence of the gods alters the world, and acting on the world alters the gods. To be able to exert their will in the World, many gods create Scions. Scions are children of the gods who carry the ability to ascend to godhood themselves. Through incredible deeds and amassing Legend, Scions go from Origin-tier folk who are unaware of their devine heritage all the way to apotheosis and beyond. Each phase of this journey offers the opportunity for countless stories as you build your character’s Legend!
In Scion, you have the freedom to choose from several playable options. Many Scion chronicles focus on the descendants of gods: the Scions for which the game is named. This option is covered in the four main books: Scion: Origin, Scion: Hero, Scion: Demigod, and Scion: God. However, you can also play a mythological creature. Perhaps you want to play an amazon warrior who acts as a bodyguard for another character who is a Scion of Athena. You can easily do so by choosing a Supernatural Path that reflects that kind of mythological being rather than one that ties you to a god! This concept is further explored in the various expansions for Scion.
Once and Future permits characters who carry the mantles and powers of Arthurian legend. Scion: Dragon allows the players to assume the roles of draconic heirs. Masks of the Mythos lets players tie their origins to the Cthulhu Mythos. With that variety of gameplay available there are options for everyone to enjoy!
Scion is presented with tools to allow the group to adjust the supernatural elements of the game to their tastes. If you’d like a Scion game in which the gods are distant manipulators whose presence is rarely directly felt, you can do so. You can just as easily have Hermes show up in your character’s livingroom on a Tuesday to drop off your mail. The Storypath System that Scion runs on allows the flexibility to run either play style.
Perhaps most importantly, beyond the various options and mythical elements you can bring to your story, is the simple fact that Scion is fun. Being able to explore, interrogate, and experience stories and heroes of legend through the lens of a roleplaying game is a blast. If you enjoy tales ranging from Percy Jackson to Journey to the West, Scion has something to offer you.
As mentioned above, Scion runs on the Storypath System. Storypath relies on a d10 dice pool system that is easy to learn and fun to play. The system focuses on dice pools generated by a character’s Skill plus Attribute rating. Roll a number of d10s equal to the appropriate Skill + Attribute looking for results of 8, 9, and 10. 10s can be re-rolled to generate extra successes. Each roll has a Difficulty rating which represents the number of successes required for the attempted task to be successfully completed. If the number of successes equal the Difficulty the roll succeeds. Circumstances and equipment helpful to a character’s action can add enhancement to a roll which provides additional successes if a success is rolled on the die. Negative circumstances generate complications, which can add an element of challenge or cost to a character’s successful action if unresolved. While knacks, permutations, and subsystems expand on these basics, the core engine of Storypath is fairly simple. We often have Scion games on Startplaying, which offer a great opportunity to pick up the system!
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Travis Legge is a writer, developer, and streamer working with Onyx Path Publishing, Aegis Studios, and more.