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View Full Version : What about scion?



Felvion
2015-02-19, 09:18 AM
I know threads like this come up every now and then and i've read most of them though they are a bit old tbh.
So here is my Scion:Hero thing. I promised a friend to run a Scion campaign but the fact is the game is pretty new to me. I've only played 2 sessions in the past and i'm hardly familiar with even the character creation rules. Note here that the players are new to the game too.
My rpg experience is mostly dnd both as a player and as a dm. I'm also a fast learner and probably won't have much problem getting myself into the new system but since i heard the Scion is a game with lots of balance issues i'd like to have some reviews from more experienced players so that i don't screw things up.
In fact any playing experience related to Hero or even Demigod (i'm not sure it would go further) is welcome.

Ps: For the moment i only have access to the Scion:Hero book but a guy in the group claimed he has them all packed somewhere and probably i will have access to them too.

Kiero
2015-02-19, 09:20 AM
It suffers from all the issues of scaling poorly-designed Storyteller has. Really, you'd be better off substituting another system (is there an nWoD conversion around?) or playing a different game with the fluff you like ported across.

Gritmonger
2015-02-19, 09:51 AM
I'd second this. You can get the flavor of the system without having to have first-edition Shadowrun levels of dice bowls. If people want to play deities, you can go for a system that is built to handle miracles and superpowers and epic levels of confrontation and reality breaking. I don't think Scion is that system.

Felvion
2015-02-19, 10:23 AM
Unfortunately another system is out of the question. I'm doing a friend a favor so i most probably have to run under the specific rules.

golentan
2015-02-19, 10:31 AM
The main trouble is that a trivial challenge for one character is an overwhelming one for another. A combat specialist will treat like speedbumps a dozen of the monsters just one of which took under 2 seconds to gib all of the party members focused on noncombatant pursuits.

Possibly fair comeuppance for the social character being able to mindwarp everyone else (including antagonists with whom he shares a means of communication) into going along with his quests regardless of what anyone else thinks because nobody can oppose his legendary manipulation.

It's one of the single most unbalanced games I've encountered from a major studio/publisher.

Gritmonger
2015-02-19, 10:32 AM
Unfortunately another system is out of the question. I'm doing a friend a favor so i most probably have to run under the specific rules.
Then gird your loins and get out the dice bowls.

What I ended up doing was running it in my hometown, taking myths and pairing them with visible archetypes in my city, while having antagonists with granted powers, not full scikns themselves. The granted powers were based on time effects, as these were secind tier minions of chronos, in a way styled after Fomorians in that an obvious physical trait informed their ability somewhat.

So, for instance, a local tower became a gateway to the archetype of towers somewhere between a Tower of Babel and every other attempt to build to Olympus. A local old fort had a link to an armory of Ares. And so on.

JeenLeen
2015-02-19, 11:02 AM
I've heard (and would agree from reading the books), that the game is manageable at Hero, gets unwieldy during Demigod, and is fairly impossible to run at God.

Have all PCs stay at the same Legend, and keep foes similar. I've heard that Legend + 1 is a tough boss, and Legend + 2 is nigh unbeatable.
If you can, I would recommend trying to keep Epic Dexterity about the same. It might not matter at low Legend, but as they gain in power (and if you get into Demigod), it might be necessary as it gives auto-successes to accuracy and dodge. Dexterity is usually the 'god stat' in White Wolf Storyteller systems.

Lastly, I'd recommend having everyone play for fun and rule of cool, understanding 'do not try to break the system'. I'm in an Exalted game on that basis, and I'm a powergamer in general, but I'm enjoying it and there's a freedom in not making the most optimized choices for flavor purposes. If a player chooses something too broken, forbid it, or if it's relatively weak to the rest of the party, warn them about it but allow it.