Just Ordered Companion & Ragnarok !!

Just for some additional data points, of the six Scions I've got in my group, half of them didn't take their PSPs.  The Egyption scion is a thief and didn't think his would serve his operating procedure; the Norse one has no followers; and I'm not sure why the Irish one skipped Enech.  The Greek one is perfectly happy with her extra dice of various abilities, and the Japanese one got plenty of use out of talking to objects even before the third dot.  The Chinese scion has the first dot of Taiyi, but I think regrets it (the situations where boosting someone's Legend would be useful just haven't come up that often, and when they did she usually didn't have enough warning to do it).

Baron Samedi:

Interesting. I never even considered allowing it for general animals. They have had relics that let them combine their Cheval Boons with uses of Ride Animal (ie, they initiate Ride Animal and they can use powers like Met Tet, Mind Riding, or Team) but even that was only with their signature animal. Does it say they can somewhere in the text? I had the impression it only worked on humans and Scions of Demigod-.

the text always uses the word "mortal", so it's open to interpretation. I'm not saying it's specifically written you can, but it isn't written anywhere that you can't. We've always gotten the impression that it means anything that's not: 1-a titanspawn, 2- a lesser immortal 3-A god or a titan. So in our opinion, animals are free game since even if they are not humans, they are still mortal in our understanding of the term.

Baron Samedi:

Anyway, I am gonna stick to saying its not athematic, because while you can draw parallels to V:tM, for someone who has not played it, or perhaps has not played it for an extended period, it really is not what comes to mind.

As I have mentioned earlier, the description of what it does is what turns us off. As I have said in my above statement, we are off opinion that an appropriate war boon to grant bezerker fury on an ally or follower and War 9-10 to summon armies much better depicts the warrior horde aspect the jotenblut every will, especially since at high levels it transforms people into giants...

Paragon:

Just for some additional data points, of the six Scions I've got in my group, half of them didn't take their PSPs.  The Egyption scion is a thief and didn't think his would serve his operating procedure; the Norse one has no followers; and I'm not sure why the Irish one skipped Enech.  The Greek one is perfectly happy with her extra dice of various abilities, and the Japanese one got plenty of use out of talking to objects even before the third dot.  The Chinese scion has the first dot of Taiyi, but I think regrets it (the situations where boosting someone's Legend would be useful just haven't come up that often, and when they did she usually didn't have enough warning to do it).

S-Pesedjet would not really get much milage until late Demigod, no. was the S-Tuatha a social character? Because after 3-6 are very social oriented powers. Level 1 and 2 seem really good for anyone though.

Taiyi 1 and 2 are interesting, because they both get more useful starting at Legend 5, when far more powers with legend as a limitation appear, and far more powers you can use on people appear, though the latter more keep growing through demigod. Be sure your Celestial Bureaucrat thinks about using Tiayi when people use Ward, Tidal Interference, or Warrior Ideal.

High Quabalist:

the text always uses the word "mortal", so it's open to interpretation. I'm not saying it's specifically written you can, but it isn't written anywhere that you can't. We've always gotten the impression that it means anything that's not: 1-a titanspawn, 2- a lesser immortal 3-A god or a titan. So in our opinion, animals are free game since even if they are not humans, they are still mortal in our understanding of the term.

Right. I think this may warrant a new thread. I am curious as to how people use this on a wider scale.

Baron Samedi:

Paragon:

Just for some additional data points, of the six Scions I've got in my group, half of them didn't take their PSPs.  The Egyption scion is a thief and didn't think his would serve his operating procedure; the Norse one has no followers; and I'm not sure why the Irish one skipped Enech.  The Greek one is perfectly happy with her extra dice of various abilities, and the Japanese one got plenty of use out of talking to objects even before the third dot.  The Chinese scion has the first dot of Taiyi, but I think regrets it (the situations where boosting someone's Legend would be useful just haven't come up that often, and when they did she usually didn't have enough warning to do it).

S-Pesedjet would not really get much milage until late Demigod, no. was the S-Tuatha a social character? Because after 3-6 are very social oriented powers. Level 1 and 2 seem really good for anyone though.

No, he's sort of a mixed physical character/healer/mystic.

Taiyi 1 and 2 are interesting, because they both get more useful starting at Legend 5, when far more powers with legend as a limitation appear, and far more powers you can use on people appear, though the latter more keep growing through demigod. Be sure your Celestial Bureaucrat thinks about using Tiayi when people use Ward, Tidal Interference, or Warrior Ideal.

I don't think anyone's got any of the three;  the two Moon types are non-melee types, so they hopped right over Tidal Interference, no one's got Guardian as I recall, and the only one with War only has the one-dot Boon (he's the Norse social scion).

Paragon:

No, he's sort of a mixed physical character/healer/mystic.

Right. If your not a social character Enech is of limited use after level 2.

Paragon:

I don't think anyone's got any of the three;  the two Moon types are non-melee types, so they hopped right over Tidal Interference, no one's got Guardian as I recall, and the only one with War only has the one-dot Boon (he's the Norse social scion).

Right, so not as much he can boost right now. That power will be more useful later.

Well I do like the Offical Jotenblunt purview. Yeah its a ghouling either animals or humans deal, but it to me it fits the aesir well. With them being surrounded by Hyper-human berserkers loyal to them. At higher levels you can create Giants loyal to you. You create several dozen of them and they can help you in battle very well.

Aret is still the most usefull purview imo.

The problem with Jotunblut is that throughout most of its range its just underwhelming in its effects, because it mildly boosts followers who are, themselves, underwhelming.  Even when you get the giants this is true; after all, we're talking, what, the ninth dot?  By that time normal giants aren't even speed bumps, probably even to not-heavily-combat-oriented scions.

They arrived around 7pm Friday night. I've been reading them, skimming once in awhile over what i've already read. I'm not finished with either. Havent read the WWII section in depth or the Adventures in Ragnarok yet at all.

I love Ragnarok so far i must say. Brillient Work so far.
I'm liking Companion. I'm not thrilled with it, but its good.

Companion :
Celtic Gods ... I love Dagda. He looks and acts 100% like one of my players, i kid you not. The biker picture of Dagda looks so much like my player I cannot help but to think this is the god for him. I talked to him a few minutes ago and told him about Dagda, read the Dagda section to him, he laughed out load and said "Hey that sounds like me, whats his powers ?". I told him the purviews, he loved them, he even loved the Animal (pig) purview. I then read to him the special purview, he loved it. I just may have a Celtic Pantheon member in my upcoming game. Also sounded like he liked the nature of the Celtic Pantheon as a whole too. I sure did.
Chinese Gods ... I like them. Not too sure about there special purview yet. Monkey King is still my favorite by far. Ok he is actually the only one i liked as an individual. But the CB is about working as a group, not as an individual, which is cool. I liked the "Case Worker" Parentage note about them.
Hindu Gods ... Hmmm. Not sure yet. I like Kali so far, others seem alittle boring. Shiva is not bad. The sample Kali Scion is pretty cool. Her "Father" is a female goddess, which was cool. Which is a neat way to get a female goddess as a parent with a cool twist. Not too keen on there purview yet. I have have to reread a few more times for it click with me.
Manifestations of Icor ... Ok, this should have been After the new Pantheons, but before the WWII section.
Secrets of the World ... Again this should have been after the new Pantheons, but before the WWII section.
Ratings : 4-1/2 out of 5 overall so far. This may be lowered depending on the WWII section.

RAGNAROK :
Ok so far i'm enjoying the Hel out it. (pun). Keven Sorbo as Freyr brillient. Almost as cool as the Heracles looking like a certain Hercules actor from the 1960s. I still say Ares should look like the Hercules Legendary Journeys Ares as a tribute to the deceased actor who played Ares. Anyways. New purviews.
Frost ... Cool (pun). I like it alot.
Illusion ... Pretty good. Alittle too good.

ABERRANT_SCION:

Celtic Gods ... I love Dagda. He looks and acts 100% like one of my players, i kid you not. The biker picture of Dagda looks so much like my player I cannot help but to think this is the god for him. I talked to him a few minutes ago and told him about Dagda, read the Dagda section to him, he laughed out load and said "Hey that sounds like me, whats his powers ?". I told him the purviews, he loved them, he even loved the Animal (pig) purview. I then read to him the special purview, he loved it. I just may have a Celtic Pantheon member in my upcoming game. Also sounded like he liked the nature of the Celtic Pantheon as a whole too. I sure did.

The Dagda is badass. And amusing. We had a game where the PCs ran into a reformed Kelpie pwca who was sent to redeem herself and given a seemingly useless magic pig from the Dagda. Anyway, it turned out he could repel a certain type of monster which meant one player could carry him and be "safe" from them. But the real trick was in the final battle he turned into the Dagda's "War Pig" with a harness and lance and such, and potent epics. It was great.

The Irish Pantheon are cool, and I am...partial to Manannan mac Lir.

ABERRANT_SCION:

Chinese Gods ... I like them. Not too sure about there special purview yet. Monkey King is still my favorite by far. Ok he is actually the only one i liked as an individual. But the CB is about working as a group, not as an individual, which is cool. I liked the "Case Worker" Parentage note about them.

Tiayi is not great at Hero, but at Demigod is insanely useful. In fact, some powers which are mediocre at Hero suddenly get better at Demigod.  If you miss using insane pretentious titles from Exalted, the CB is for you.  We have a CB PC in my Petro game whose full title looks like this:

Wei Charles (Charles Wei Americanized), Chairman of Board of Foreign Affairs, Harmonious Shen Division, Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, Department of Supernal Regulation, Ministry of Exorcisms, Semi-Limited License, 2nd Class.

ABERRANT_SCION:

Hindu Gods ... Hmmm. Not sure yet. I like Kali so far, others seem alittle boring. Shiva is not bad. The sample Kali Scion is pretty cool. Her "Father" is a female goddess, which was cool. Which is a neat way to get a female goddess as a parent with a cool twist. Not too keen on there purview yet. I have have to reread a few more times for it click with me.

Some people find the Hindu stuff fascinating, others dull as dirt. You may find yourself using it more as a spice, less as a dish.  I had actually done the "father" thing with an NPC Scion of Tlzatzoteotl.  Samsara is circumstantially potent, like Enech, but not as overall strong I don't think...though of 3 Devas I have had played, they were in one shots and none reached Demigodhood (yet)

ABERRANT_SCION:

Secrets of the World ... Again this should have been after the new Pantheons, but before the WWII section.
Ratings : 4-1/2 out of 5 overall so far. This may be lowered depending on the WWII section.

Remember, the order was somewhat determined by the stage by stage web releases. The decision to make every other release a Pantheon was deliberate for pacing.  The Companion is really just the print version of those web releases.

ABERRANT_SCION:

RAGNAROK :
Ok so far i'm enjoying the Hel out it. (pun). Keven Sorbo as Freyr brillient. Almost as cool as the Heracles looking like a certain Hercules actor from the 1960s. I still say Ares should look like the Hercules Legendary Journeys Ares as a tribute to the deceased actor who played Ares. Anyways. New purviews.
Frost ... Cool (pun). I like it alot.
Illusion ... Pretty good. Alittle too good.

I think/hope you will enjoy it a lot.  I think Ragnarok is hands down the best written book for Scion overall.

Illusion has not proven an issue thus far. It is very manageable at Hero, to be sure. We only have 2 PCs with it at Demigod level so far. Dreamcrafts "pay per viewer" has kept it well in line.

Ok, I'm a Fan of the Celtic Pantheon now dang it.
On my Father's side of our family I'm Irish/Scottish/German. Thats to say Norsemen who sailed to Scottland between 600-900 AD, who later moved to Ireland (1400s). So I have a special Soft-spot for the Norse and Celtic gods.
On my Mother's side of the family, its all Native American, as my mom is 100% Native American. So again i have a soft-spot for the Native american gods, which should have been encluded instead of the WWII crap.

Yeah I just finsidhed going over most of the WWII material. OMGoodness it is just bad.
National symbols as gods = bad idea. At least the older gods had religion behind them. John Henry should have been a Scion of the Greeks due to the excellience he inspired and performed. Becoming a god in a new pantheon would be cool, if all we like him. Scions from other pantheons, with stated origins as to which pantheon they came from. New Scions embracing the American Dream is a good idea. At least Coyote did this. Overall just badly written. As for the Axis pantheons. Well I can see it. None of those pantheons are dogooders. I can see them getting behind the movement. Only one problem though. Those people were christains at that point in time. Would have been better to have Angels fighting for the Axis if anybody.

ABERRANT_SCION:

Those people were christains at that point in time. Would have been better to have Angels fighting for the Axis if anybody.

So were most americans, and most brits and most french. Not to mention the fact that that the jewish people getting exterminated were worshipers of the same god. The Reich did use aesir and germanic symbols however.

I just don't see the abrahamic pantheon, if it exists in scion, taking the side of germany over all the others that are mostly composed of their worshipers or allowing a huge chunk of their worshipers getting exterminated in such a vile way .

ABERRANT_SCION:

Yeah I just finsidhed going over most of the WWII material. OMGoodness it is just bad.
National symbols as gods = bad idea. At least the older gods had religion behind them. John Henry should have been a Scion of the Greeks due to the excellience he inspired and performed. Becoming a god in a new pantheon would be cool, if all we like him. Scions from other pantheons, with stated origins as to which pantheon they came from. New Scions embracing the American Dream is a good idea. At least Coyote did this. Overall just badly written. As for the Axis pantheons. Well I can see it. None of those pantheons are dogooders. I can see them getting behind the movement. Only one problem though. Those people were christains at that point in time. Would have been better to have Angels fighting for the Axis if anybody.

well, I dont see Christians=Atens angels being a good idea, Plus as HQ says, most of the euro powers were.

Really, best thing is to take a stiff drink, grit your teeth, and ignore the new Pantheons. Quirinius and Marishiten are still quite usable, as are the militatry hardware, mass combat rules, and new Psychopomp power. Maybe Industry as an APP. Toss the rest, you can still get some use.

The rest of the book is pretty good. Not Ragnarok good, but pretty good.

Well I would have seen it with Different factions of the Angels taking different sides.

Maybe Gabriel would have sided with the Axis. Maybe Michael would have sided with the Allies and Yankee. Maybe it was the other way around, who knows. Point is this could have been a good way to show a single new Pantheon interfighting in some fashion. Just another "Holy War" in the name of One God, kinda like the Crusades but in modern times. Would have been cool to see which angels sided with which religion, cause, and worshippers. I'm assuming any of the agressive angels would have sided with the Axis, which the defender types would side with the Allies.
Would be funny to see how the other Pantheons would view another war based on the same religion yet again.

Ares - Look at the new weapons being used Father.
Zues - Ohh what's this. Another Angel War ?
Hera - Yes dear, another war by the mortals over who worships their god in the right way.
Zues - How stupid. Now if the arguement was more sound like our wars used to be...
Ares - Farther !? Our wars were petty too, but your right, at least we Warred over Which of us was worthy of Worshipping.
Hermes - Yeah, that Battle of Troy was a Hoot. Zues or Apollo , which is more powerful. Well duh, Zues.
Apollo - Hey (slaps Hermes in the back of the head) ! My worshippers had there reasons I'm sure (blushing).
Zues - (giving Apollo a cold stare)
Heracules - Yeah Yeah yeah, old story. But this is like saying Zues is better than Jupiter. Hellooo, Same Person. Stop Fighting already.
Vulcan - (walks in all sweaty) Hey guys. I've been working like a dog building new weapons for mortals. (looks at the battles). Umm guess you knew uh ?
Zues - WTF is wrong with you Heph ? Its not our fight ! They dont worship us anymore.
Vulcan - Hey I'm not the only only, Ares has been training soldiers, that Aesir prick Thor is actually fighting just to fight. One day he fight for the Nazi next day the Russians. Like he is training himself for something bigger.
Zues - Bigger ?!? Could it be there time this soon ? Hmmm. Ares I want you to stay out of this fight, no training them either, you hear me, Boy !
Ares - Ahh dad, the Japanese pantheon is fully involved in the Pacific battle with the "Yankees". I wanta do something.
(The group views an Angel entering a battle)
Ares - Umm nevermind.
Zues - See. We don't want to fight them again while our strength is weak ? Stay out of it, all of you. You too Heph !
Zues - Maybe if they weaken themselves enough, we can entire this war, and finally Capture HIM and his Angel Legions for imprisionment like the others.
Ares - Good plan father. Once HE is captured we may be able to start gaining worshippers again.
Hera - About time dear.

Umm....why would they have that conversation, thats now how faith or power works in scion.