Atlantis and your game

ABERRANT_SCION:

From what I hear about the WWII section, I would have prefered them introducing a North Native-American Patheon based on a few of the stable Native American Gods. Raven, Coyote, Strong Eagle, Eaglebear, Tatonka (buffalo), Turtle, etc...or just used the WWII section for a War of the Gods section.

Agreed, particularly since a Native American pantheon could quite easily be used in a standard-setting game too.

ABERRANT_SCION:

Then again I have not read it YET. Soon ohh soon.

It's Friday right? Have you tried going to ups or whatever and clicking refresh every 30 seconds? Its what I do.





I lie. 25 seconds.

I have three things in the mail for me, but none of them have tracking.  So I have to check my front stoop every 15 seconds instead.

BlaineTog:

8) Somehow, we're supposed to believe that Odin -- Odin! -- had no idea the holocaust was going on.  More than that, no Aesir god knew it was going to happen or managed to notice it once it started.  Obviously they were trying to avoid giving the Aesir the distinction of intentionally causing/tacitly allowing the genocide of 12 million+, but I find it extremely hard to believe that beings capable of Omniscience didn't notice what sources say even the German civilians were aware of on some level.

Or the gods of the underworld for that matter, 12+ million people popping dead from the extermination camps would not have gone unnoticed. The only logical way any of this could have happened close to how it's described is either:

-The gods know it is happening and either don't care
-or are willing to go to these lengths to serve their goals

In either case that would make the Axis pantheons a lot more malevolent then has been previously presented.

The WW2 section was the worse part of the book in my opinion.

I've always been of the opinion that the Gods of Scion are far from Omniscient, otherwise they would of known the Titans were going to break free and would of had an army of Scions waiting at Tartarus to put them back in their place.

Admittedly, the "Allied" Pantheons don't fit whole cloth into the established scion setting, but I don't think they were MEANT to. If you think about it, the Dodekathon, Aesir, Pesdjet et al.. theyre just Nationalist Pantheons that have gotten some international press. Three Thousand years ago, stories of Zeus and Odin and the rest would of been as well known as the Tall Tales of the American West. That is, mostly just some quirky tales told locally, but hardly world wide phenomena.

And the Yankees were meant to reflect the rapid ascent of America itself from backwater colony to World Power. And yes, America did not invent industry, but no one can argue that during the late 30's and 40's, the Industrial base of the country exploded in a way not seen anywhere else in the world before or since.

In the end, the Pantheons presented in that section of the Companion are meant to be a different take on what a Pantheon is and could be. Is it for everyone? No.. personally, I would of been bored with a Babylonian Pantheon, the different information was very much welcomed.

MisterShifter:

Admittedly, the "Allied" Pantheons don't fit whole cloth into the established scion setting, but I don't think they were MEANT to. If you think about it, the Dodekathon, Aesir, Pesdjet et al.. theyre just Nationalist Pantheons that have gotten some international press. Three Thousand years ago, stories of Zeus and Odin and the rest would of been as well known as the Tall Tales of the American West. That is, mostly just some quirky tales told locally, but hardly world wide phenomena.

Well, in one case you have worshiped gods, in another political propaganda. Uncle Sam? Rosie the Riveter? Columbia? Rodinia Mat? John Bull? Marianne? All just propaganda symbols, mostly 20th century ones, some from no more then about 5-8 years of use, total. Betsy Ross sewed a flag, for goodness sakes, which she did not actually do. They are a pretty long line from Odin or Zeus. Many of them were advertisements for crying out loud. Even Paul Bunyen. Its just most were selling war, not products. They were also flashes in the pan compared to Zeus or Odin, and were never, really, a major part of national religion or consciousness, any more then the Kool Aid Man is now.  They were not even really longstanding national symbols either. There are a few expections, like Robin Hood, but by and large it does not work, especially when you consider these would have to be Legend 12 gods with mastery of a number of purviews...very powerful. Not just a new upstart pantheon, a very mighty pantheon. And for Rosie the Riveter or John Bull, thats just too much of a stretch.

MisterShifter:

And the Yankees were meant to reflect the rapid ascent of America itself from backwater colony to World Power. And yes, America did not invent industry, but no one can argue that during the late 30's and 40's, the Industrial base of the country exploded in a way not seen anywhere else in the world before or since.

I...think you can, actually. It stepped up and was certainly used in propoganda, and was impressive, but not like before or since...no, thats not really true.

MisterShifter:

In the end, the Pantheons presented in that section of the Companion are meant to be a different take on what a Pantheon is and could be. Is it for everyone? No.. personally, I would of been bored with a Babylonian Pantheon, the different information was very much welcomed.

The thing is, in a limited run game, I'd prefer what little space we had dedicated to Pantheons as the game defined them.

If the Uncle Sam types became gods, just imagine belief like Superman, Captain Marvel (shazam), Batman, Spiderman, Wolverine, Hulk, Iron Man would be like as GODS.

BlaineTog:

Exactly.  If we assume that they did know, it makes the Aesir (and possibly the Dodekatheon and Amatsukami) far too, well, evil for my tastes.

Hachiman did know about Japanese atrocities in China, which would make him pretty much too scummy for even Set to hang out with as far as I am concerned. He apparently covered them up so Amaterasu would not know about them, which makes him even more nasty.

With the limited space of only 5 books, I think that no matter what was put into the companion, there would be some players who feel the space could of been used for something else..

I agree with the general consensus that the Pantheons part of the World at War section were mostly useless. As for the Atlantis bits, I found it well done, but I ignore the Pantheon and have made Scire an APP.

MisterShifter:

With the limited space of only 5 books, I think that no matter what was put into the companion, there would be some players who feel the space could of been used for something else..

No doubt.  But just because there will always be dissent doesn't mean it's impossible to misuse the space.

BlaineTog:

No doubt.  But just because there will always be dissent doesn't mean it's impossible to misuse the space.

True. There is also the matter of scale. I'd have preferred to see more statblocks and mythological examination in Ragnarok and less adventure, but the placement makes sense. Also, I don't have much use for a good chunk of the GM section in companion but it does not feel wasted.  The section on those pantheons feels useless to me.

Atlantis sunk in this thread even faster than in legends ;)

BlaineTog:

Has anyone had and Atlantis Scions in their games as PCs?  How did that turn out/is that going?

Just as a NPC in the game I run.  Atlantis only has recently returned  (by recently I mean sometime in the 70s).  Mostly cause I liked the concept of them, ran with it and modernized them slightly.  I also am working on a new godrealm for them.