Scion - Saga Of An Age Undreamed Of

[HairyHeretic]

Shoot me any questions you have. I have to go run some errands, but I'll be back later. I could log onto mumble later if it would be handier going through things that way?

[Flower]

Yes please. It is much easier on mumble. Message me when you're back homes. <3

[HairyHeretic]

Will do. It'll probably be a couple of hours from now.

[King Serperior]

Character WIP (Nearly Complete)

Character Model:  Allen Tsai

Character Name:  Alex Rhodes
Player Name:  King Serperior
Age:  23
Calling:  The Calm Hero in the Eye of the Storm
Nature:  Rogue:  Rogues are a law unto themselves, existing by their own rules and taking what they need to survive. Some are con men, lotharios or simple, petty thieves, or they may be as murderous and cold-blooded as gangsters. Others are simply ordinary people who aren't afraid to bend or break a rule in order to enjoy life a bit more. Some people are born Rogues, raised with an appreciation for the finer things in life and few scruples to hinder them. Others become Rogues just trying to stay alive. Laws are well and good, but when you're out of money and there's nothing to eat, what else can you do?

Rogues at their best are hero-thieves, such as Robin Hood or Ali Baba. They steal or commit crimes to counter even greater injustices, sharing their bounty with those less fortunate. At their worst, Rogues are rapacious predators who believe that if something can't be properly protected, their victim deserves to have it stolen.

Pantheon:  Celestial Bureaucracy (China)
God/Goddess Parent:  Sun Wukong
Multilingual ([Intelligence - 2] + [Academics - 1] = 3 languages):  English, Chinese (Mandarin), & Japanese

Physical Characteristics:

Height:  5'3"
Weight:  125lbs
Hair:  Black, straight, shoulder-length
Eyes:  Chocolate brown

Base Stats:
- Willpower:  7
- Legend:  3
- Legend Points:  9

- Dodge DV:
- Parry DV:
- Join Battle:
- Soak:


Attributes:

Physical (Primary - 8/8 points used):
- Strength:  **** (4/5)
- Dexterity:  **** (4/5)
- Stamina:  *** (3/5)

Social (Secondary - 6/6 points used):
- Charisma:  **** (4/5)
- Manipulation:  ** (2/5)
- Appearance:  *** (3/5)

Mental (Tertiary - 4/4 points used):
- Perception:  *** (3/5)
- Intelligence:  ** (2/5)
- Wits:  ** (2/5)

Abilities (Underlined abilities are favored) - 30/30 points used:

- Academics: * (1/5)
- Animal Ken:  ** (2/5)
- Athletics:  **** (4/5) -2 BP to increase to 4
- Awareness *** (3/5)
- Brawl:  ***** (5/5) -3 BP to increase to 5
- Command: * (1/5)
- Fortitude:  **** (5/5) -2 BP to increase to 5
- Integrity: * (1/5)
- Marksmanship: * (1/5)
- Medicine: * (1/5)
- Melee:  ***** (5/5) -2 BP to increase to 5
- Occult: * (1/5)
- Stealth: *** (3/5)
- Survival:  **** (4/5)
- Thrown: ** (2/5)

Advantages:

Birthrights (5/5 points used):

Sun Wukong's Gū Bàng (Magic Staff) - 5 Point Relic:  A wooden staff given by Sun Wukong, it is obviously not Sun Wukong's original weapon considering the weapon was made of iron and weighed nearly 8 tons!  Despite that, this staff is indestructible, can change size in seconds between a stick that can fit into a pocket to that of a pole vaulter's pole, and can shift between a staff and a Guan Dao, known as a Chinese Halberd.  The staff has been imbued with special properties that allow it to hit spirits as well as physical beings equally.  The staff also allows the wielder to add their Legend to any single Dex + Melee roll.  While in staff form, it uses Bashing damage;  While in Guan Dao form, it uses Lethal damage.

Sun Wukong's Magical Headband - 2 Point Relic:  Luckily, this headband is not the one that Sun Wukong actually wears since it restrains his powers and constricts around his head under a special chant.  Rather, this headband is much more useful to a Scion for it grants the wearer access to the Chaos Purview.  The headband has the words 'Chaos, Madness, Sight' written on it in Chinese symbols.  It also grants the wearer the ability of

Night Eyes

Dice Pool: None

Cost: None

Darkness no longer inflicts visibility penalties on the character. She can see in pitch-blackness almost as well as she can see in bright sunlight, losing only the ability to perceive colors. (Objects she sees in darkness are black-on-black yet perfectly distinguishable in a way that is conveniently impossible to describe to someone who does not have this Boon.) The Scion cannot see through physical impediments, however.

.

Hermes' Shoes of Flight - 2 Point Relic:  Gifted to Alex by Hermes for helping a couple of his offspring out of a dangerous situation, they grant the wearer the ability of

Wind's Freedom

Dice Pool: None

Cost: 1 Legend + 1 Willpower per scene

The Scion laughs in the face of gravity. For the rest of the scene, the distances the Scion can move or dash per action remain normal, but they now apply to the Z-axis as well as the X- and Y-axes. All the normal rules for movement remain in place, except that the character can now move freely through all three dimensions (i.e., she can fly). She can even hold still in midair if she wants to. The only thing a character cannot do in midair that she could do on the ground is jump, as there is nothing to jump off of. If the character drops the Birthright that makes this Boon possible or allows it to be destroyed, the effect ends immediately.

.  The shoes look like regular running shoes with a pair of wings painted on the sides.

Epic Attributes (10/10 points used):

Strength - Shockwave

Description:  The Scion is so strong that he can direct his incredible power through the ground or floor to affect enemies at range. Doing so takes two separate forms. First, the character can stomp or strike the ground with his fists or a weapon, which sends a shock wave outward from him along the ground across an area with a radius equal to his Epic Strength in yards. Striking the ground thus to send out the shock wave requires a Strength roll, which receives the benefit of his Epic Strength. Potential victims — friend and foe alike — compare their Dodge DV to the results of this roll. If their DV overcomes the Scion’s successes, they manage to jump and let the shock wave pass beneath them. If their DV isn’t high enough, they immediately suffer knockdown as well as an amount of bashing damage equal to however many of the Scion’s successes their DV couldn’t cancel out. (If his allies know the Scion is about to use this Knack — if his using it is part of a coordinated assault, for instance — they can jump out of the way preemptively without having to rely on their DVs.) This attack inflicts no damage on the floor or the ground the Scion strikes. All the energy is expended into the shock wave. The second form this power takes is more selective and deliberate. As with the first form, the Scion strikes the ground and sends a shock wave along the surface out to a distance equal to his Epic Strength in yards. This time, though, his player makes a standard Dexterity-based attack roll and targets a single opponent. If that opponent’s Dodge DV isn’t high enough to get him out of the way of the attack, the Scion’s player then makes a Strength roll, modified by his Epic Strength but not modified by his extra successes on the attack roll. The damage this attack inflicts is bashing, but it has one other effect that renders the victim almost helpless for a moment afterward. Any successes on the Strength roll that exceed the victim’s soak not only inflict damage but also hurl the victim straight up in the air (one yard per unsoaked success). The victim’s rise and fall takes six ticks, during which his DVs are considered to be halved. He can make ranged attacks at a -5 penalty, but he can’t move or jump or do much of anything until he lands again. In fact, if the Scion’s attack sends him high enough in the air, the victim might take damage from crashing back down from so great a height. Using either form of this Knack requires the expenditure of one Legend point.

Dexterity - Untouchable Opponent

Description:  The Scion might as well be a ghost for all her enemies can lay a hand or a weapon on him. The Scion doubles the benefit that her Epic Dexterity dots add to his Dodge DV. He also ignores an amount of DV penalties due to unstable terrain equal to his Epic Dexterity dots. Only the normal Epic Dexterity bonus applies to the character’s Parry DV, though, and this Knack’s bonus to Dodge DV doesn’t apply if the character is merely hiding behind cover or tucked in behind a scutum (shield) like a lowly turtle. Only if the character is physically dodging the attacks that are coming his way does this Knack help him out. Activating this Knack costs one point of Legend. Its effects last for one scene.

Dexterity - Escape Artist

Description:  The Scion can somehow slip out of the tightest bonds, the most cunning snares and even his opponents’ very fingers. Whether he’s tied up and left to stew in his own juices or he’s wrapped in a clinch with a snarling berserker, he rarely remains bound for long. When someone attacks his character with a successful clinch, the Scion’s player not only adds his Epic Dexterity automatic successes to his contested (Dexterity + Brawl) to escape, but he also adds an additional automatic success for every dot of Epic Dexterity his character has. Should the Scion victim’s player succeed on this resistance roll, the Scion slips free of his opponent’s grasping limbs and well out of his reach. Also, should a character be physically restrained—tied up, handcuffed, strapped down, whatever—he can slip her bonds with a divine grace that is nothing short of baffling. The player need only spend a point of Legend, and his character’s handcuffs come undone, his straitjacket’s buckles come loose, or his ropes slough off like a snake’s dried-out skin. The Scion can’t escape thus in view of witnesses, however, unless said witnesses are members of his own heroic Band or are Fatebound to his. Remote witnesses watching via camera transmission don’t hinder the effect, but even close scrutiny of such footage doesn’t reveal how the Scion escaped his bonds. He just did.

Stamina - Solipsistic Well–Being

Description:  The philosophy of solipsism holds that only the self exists. Accordingly, if a solipsist isn’t aware of something, that something doesn’t exist. With this Knack, a Scion applies this odd philosophy to damage that surprises him. For a single attack that the Scion doesn’t see, hear or otherwise perceive coming, the Scion can spend a point of Legend and a point of Willpower to completely ignore it as if it never happened (thereby suffering no damage from it). Of course the attack does actually happen—any ammunition used is spent, onlookers might be covered with the Scion’s blood, the would-be assassin might be standing right there holding a dripping knife—but such concerns are immaterial to the Scion victim. The Scion can use this Knack only once per scene.

Stamina - Body Armor

Description:  The Scion’s body is so tough that, even unarmed, he can parry close-combat attacks that would inflict lethal damage. If a berserker hopped up on Jotunblut or a thrall full of eitr tries to split the Scion’s skull with a fire ax, the Scion can take the blow on his forearm and knock it aside without serious injury. (That assumes the character’s Parry DV is sufficient to cancel out the attack roll’s successes, of course.) While that benefit remains in effect all the time, the Scion can also engage a temporary one that offers even more protection. With the expenditure of a Legend point, a measure of the Scion’s ichor wells up from within and coats the Scion’s body. This coating hardens into a gleaming, metallic armor that’s no thicker than a hair’s breadth. This armor has a bashing and lethal soak equal to the character’s Legend, and it inflicts a mobility penalty of only -1. The ichor coating is thin enough to fi t comfortably beneath one’s clothing, so it adds its protective value to that of any other armor the character might already be wearing. Natural armor from this Knack lasts for only one scene and disintegrates at the scene’s end.

Charisma - Boys Will Be Boys

Description:  This Knack, alternatively known as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, is a character’s trusty Get Out of Jail Free card. When the character gets into trouble with some angry witness or authority figure—be it the police, a mortal parent, one’s long-suffering spouse, etc.—he need only shrug haplessly, grin foolishly or do likewise. (His player also spends a point of Legend.) At that, the offended party decides that whatever the character did wasn’t really that bad. The character gets a slap on the wrist, a stern warning or no punishment at all, depending on when he chooses to use it. This Knack doesn’t work on anyone with a higher Legend rating, though. Also, if the character wants to use it against someone with an equal Legend rating, his player must roll (Charisma + Presence + Legend) against a roll of the potential victim’s (Willpower + Integrity + Legend).

Charisma - Blame James (-10 Experience Points)

Prerequisite Knack: Boys Will Be Boys (Scion: God, p. 68) Some Scions are just too likable to take the heat. When the Scion invokes Boys Will Be Boys in order to calm the anger of an authority figure after a disaster, the player can choose to spend two additional Legend points and invoke Blame James as well. Then, the Scion just glances at someone else, makes a brief comment about “Well, it wasn’t my idea…” or somehow gives the impression that the narrowly-averted trouble was the result of someone else’s malfeasance. So impressive is the Scion’s demeanor that the disciplinary authority figure becomes convinced that the named individual had something to do with the event, and is in some way culpable. This Knack only functions if the use of Boys Will Be Boys also functioned; if that attempt fails, then this Knack also fails, although the Legend points are still spent.

Intelligence - Fight With Your Head

Description:  A Scion with this Knack possesses a truly superhuman sense of strategy. He anticipates an enemy’s evasions, counter-strategies and gambits with ease. He can reason around a berserker’s shock and awe or calculate a dodging foe’s final location to slip past that foe’s defenses. He can find just the right angle to slip from an opponent’s grasp, and he can see through feints and other ploys with ease. The Scion activates this Knack by selecting an opponent and spending one point of Legend. For the rest of the scene, he counteracts the automatic successes, bonus dice and similar benefits conferred by other Knacks and Boons. The total number of such bonuses counteracted cannot exceed the Scion’s automatic success from Epic Intelligence. This Knack can negate bonuses from Knacks and Boons, as well as automatic successes and bonuses from Epic Attributes themselves. It does not affect stunt bonuses or extra dice from invoking Virtues. If an opponent receives more bonuses than a Scion can counteract, the user of this Knack picks what he will negate. This Knack might seem an odd one to include in a book about the Norse and their Gods. In truth, despite their famed fury and aggression, Norse warriors valued a cunning fighter at least as much as a frenzied powerhouse.

Perception - Spatial Attunement (-10 Experience Points)

The Scion is so aware of his surroundings that his other senses (primarily those of hearing and smell) compensate for his eyes in identifying nearby objects outside his line of sight. The Scion could recognize the person sneaking up on him by that person’s telltale scent and mark exactly how far away that person is by the sound of his passing. With one quick glance around the room, the Scion could mark in his mind exactly where every wall and piece of furniture is within. Having done so, he could then navigate the room with his eyes closed, even slipping through a milling crowd of people without bumping into anyone or anything. To a certain extent, the character can perceive what’s going on around him in a 360-degree arc. Also, he suffers no penalties for fighting blind as long as he can hear or smell his opponents.

Perception - Telescopic Senses (-10 Experience Points)

A Scion’s Epic Perception allows him to hear, see and smell things from much farther away than mortal senses do. With this Knack, the Scion can not only perceive these sensations, but perceive them as if they were happening right in front of him. If he’s within the range at which the sound of someone’s voice can travel, he can not only hear that voice, but follow its conversation as clearly as if he were participating. If a sniper is crouched high up on a ridge line within his line of sight, the Scion can not only see him but also recognize him and count the notches on his rifle stock. If he’s wandering in the woods and the wind brings him the distant scent of someone’s camp fire, he can not only smell it but tell what kind of wood they’re burning, what brand of marshmallows they’re roasting and how long it’s been since they’ve had a good bath.

Wits - Monkey in the Middle (-10 Experience Points)

When multiple attackers gang up on a single opponent, their combined efforts can disconcert and intimidate even the best trained martial artist. A character with this Knack, however, keeps his cool despite how high the odds might be stacked against him. As a result, he suffers no coordinated attack penalty or onslaught penalty in combat when multiple attackers try to rush him all at once.

Wits - Don’t Read The Manual (-10 Experience Points)

The Scion sizes up a single item and then puts together an intuitive judgment of how to use it. No matter how complex the item, the Scion can grasp at least the rudiments of its functions. After spending a single point of Legend, the Scion can use the item for the rest of the scene as if the character had one dot in the appropriate Ability. The Scion could, for instance, glance at the controls of a stealth bomber, then intuitively figure out how to get it off the ground (or land it) as if she had one dot in the Control (Jet Aircraft) Ability. Similarly, a noncombatant could pick up a weapon and fight with it as if she had one dot of the Melee Ability. This Knack has no effect if the Scion already possesses the requisite skill.

Purviews & Boons (10/10 points used):

Chaos Purview - Eye Of The Storm

Dice Pool: None

Cost: 1 Legend per scene

Description:  When the Scion finds herself caught up in a chaotic situation unrelated to her -- whether she is dodging a tornado's debris or emerging from a bar to find a berserk mob rushing toward her to clash with a line of riot cops down the street -- she can activate this Boon and become an island of calm in the tumult. She is miraculously untouched in the confusion, and she remains so for as long as she does not actively involve herself. She still suffers normal environmental movement penalties, but environmental dangers such as falling rocks, stampeding beasts or thrashing rioters all fail to touch her.

Chaos Purview - Hornet's Nest

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Awareness

Cost: None

Description:  If the Boon's activation roll succeeds, the Storyteller should determine and reveal in general terms what action the Scion can take to either cause the most chaos in the scene or defuse the potential chaos inherent in the situation. The revelation should be something simple like "opening the parrot cage," "staying in the hallway," "winking at the Scion of Sif," or "calling the Scion of Ptah's cell phone." The Storyteller should explain only which action will lead to which outcome, not how.

Chaos Purview - Murphy's Law

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Awareness

Cost: 1 Willpower

Description:  Murphy's Law states that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. This Boon takes that saying and turns it into action, amplifying negative emotions between groups of people, inflicting a number of irritating but harmless annoyances such as bee stings, minor temporary malfunctions in machinery, cars splashing through puddles, miscommunications, and dropped coffee cups. Tempers soar and fights break out, and common sense is thrown to the wind unless the Boon's effects subside. This boon lasts for one scene.

Virtues (5/5 points used):

- Loyalty:  **** (4/5)
- Courage:  *** (3/5)
- Intellect:  * (1/5)
- Harmony:  * (1/5

Bonus Points (15/15 points used):

- 5 Points used to allow the Magic Staff to change sizes, can hit spirits, and add Legend Dice to Staff/Guan Dao hits.
- 1 Point used to cover the last point required for Wind's Freedom.
- 2 Points to increase Athletics to 4
- 3 Points to increase Brawl to 5
- 2 Point to increase Fortitude to 5
- 2 Points to increase Melee to 5

Experience Points (50/50 points used):

- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Charisma):  Blame James
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Perception):  Spatial Attunement
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Perception):  Telescopic Senses
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Wits):  Monkey in the Middle
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Wits):  Don’t Read The Manual

Finishing Touches:

Personality:

Background:

[HairyHeretic]

A multilingual character can speak a maximum number of languages equal to their (Intelligence +Academics).  With Int 2 and Academics 2, you would know 4 languages (max) to start with. Keep in mind there are a number of different versions of Chinese.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language

I'd suggest Mandarin, and if you wanted, another depending where your character was from.

[King Serperior]

Ah, okay, I must have misunderstood the language details then.  I was going for him knowing English and the most common of the Chinese languages (he was born in America, but had an uncle who spoke, I guess Mandarin (which I assume is the most common language?), but will have lived in China for about 5-6 years).

Thanks for the information!  I'll need to do some minor updates since only two languages are perfectly fine with me.   :-)

[HairyHeretic]

No worries. Looks like most of the characters are pretty close to finished now.

[King Serperior]

Okay, well, by my math and adjusted Ability points, I have worked out the details, thus resulting in a total language score:

Multilingual ([Intelligence - 2] + [Academics - 1] = 3 languages):  English, Chinese (Mandarin), & Japanese

Japanese was chosen because I couldn't really think of another language that makes sense for him to learn.

On that note, I have the finishing touches just about done using the Experience Points.  From my understanding, unfavored Epic Attributes cost 10 Exp, 10 of that I have already used.  Since I am fine with how my character's Attributes/Abilities, all that's left for my interest are seven unfavored Epic Attributes, of which I can only select four of:

Wits - Don’t Read The Manual

The Scion sizes up a single item and then puts together an intuitive judgment of how to use it. No matter how complex the item, the Scion can grasp at least the rudiments of its functions. After spending a single point of Legend, the Scion can use the item for the rest of the scene as if the character had one dot in the appropriate Ability. The Scion could, for instance, glance at the controls of a stealth bomber, then intuitively figure out how to get it off the ground (or land it) as if she had one dot in the Control (Jet Aircraft) Ability. Similarly, a noncombatant could pick up a weapon and fight with it as if she had one dot of the Melee Ability. This Knack has no effect if the Scion already possesses the requisite skill.

Wits - Instant Assessment

With a quick glance, and the expenditure of one Legend point, the Scion can size up a foe with whom he intends to join battle. This assessment comes across in terms of how the foe’s combat abilities compare to the Scion’s own. He gets a sense of whether the foe has more or fewer dots of Physical Attributes (Epic and otherwise) than he does. The same goes for their relative number of dots in Brawl, Marksmanship, Melee and Thrown, as well as their relative Join Battle dice pools and their soak totals. Also, if some power or special quality renders the foe especially vulnerable or completely invulnerable to something to which the Scion has ready access, the Scion gets a sense of that as well. What the Scion decides to do with this information is up to him. This information occurs reflexively to the Scion who uses the Knack, and he may assess as many foes automatically as he spends points of Legend.

Wits - Eternal Vigilance

imilar to the Environmental Awareness Knack (see p. 64), a Scion with this Knack is never taken by surprise by unexpected attacks. He joins battle as soon as the attack occurs, and he applies his full DV to his own defense. It doesn’t matter whether the attackers use supernatural means of concealment or not. They simply cannot catch him off guard. Unfortunately, this Knack doesn’t help the Scion’s comrades. The Scion reacts as the surprise occurs, but he does so practically subconsciously and not in time to warn anyone else. What’s more, this Knack works even if the Scion is asleep, though to a lesser extent. If the Scion is sleeping and someone tries to spring an unexpected attack, the player rolls the Scion’s full dice pool to notice the attack as he would if the character were awake (awake and didn’t have this Knack, that is). If the roll succeeds, the character wakes just in time to react to the attack, though still not in time to warn anyone else.

[Flower]

Oooh. I need to pick languages now. xD

edit: Wooot five languages!

[King Serperior]

Oooh. I need to pick languages now. xD

edit: Wooot five languages!

Oh?  What languages (other than English and Greek, considering your character's parent being Greek)?

On another note, I may be asking an obvious and rather dumb question, but would I be correct in assuming that the Epic Ability of Solipsistic Well–Being would be negated if I also took the Epic Ability, Eternal Vigilance?  If that is the case, like I think it is, then I just need to choose one of the last two choices I have left.

[Flower]

English, Arabic, Sanskrit, Hebrew, and Latin.

[King Serperior]

Oooh, now that is an interesting spread of languages!  A lot of the older ones at that.

EDIT:

My finally completed character (I think?)

Character Model:  Allen Tsai

Character Name:  Alex Rhodes
Player Name:  King Serperior
Age:  23
Calling:  The Calm Hero in the Eye of the Storm
Nature:  Rogue:  Rogues are a law unto themselves, existing by their own rules and taking what they need to survive. Some are con men, lotharios or simple, petty thieves, or they may be as murderous and cold-blooded as gangsters. Others are simply ordinary people who aren't afraid to bend or break a rule in order to enjoy life a bit more. Some people are born Rogues, raised with an appreciation for the finer things in life and few scruples to hinder them. Others become Rogues just trying to stay alive. Laws are well and good, but when you're out of money and there's nothing to eat, what else can you do?

Rogues at their best are hero-thieves, such as Robin Hood or Ali Baba. They steal or commit crimes to counter even greater injustices, sharing their bounty with those less fortunate. At their worst, Rogues are rapacious predators who believe that if something can't be properly protected, their victim deserves to have it stolen.

Pantheon:  Celestial Bureaucracy (China)
God/Goddess Parent:  Sun Wukong
Multilingual ([Intelligence - 2] + [Academics - 1] = 3 languages):  English, Chinese (Mandarin), & Japanese

Physical Characteristics:

Height:  5'3"
Weight:  125lbs
Hair:  Black, straight, shoulder-length
Eyes:  Chocolate brown

Base Stats:
- Willpower:  7
- Legend:  3
- Legend Points:  9

- Dodge DV:
- Parry DV:
- Join Battle:
- Soak:


Attributes:

Physical (Primary - 8/8 points used):
- Strength:  **** (4/5)
- Dexterity:  **** (4/5)
- Stamina:  *** (3/5)

Social (Secondary - 6/6 points used):
- Charisma:  **** (4/5)
- Manipulation:  ** (2/5)
- Appearance:  *** (3/5)

Mental (Tertiary - 4/4 points used):
- Perception:  *** (3/5)
- Intelligence:  ** (2/5)
- Wits:  ** (2/5)

Abilities (Underlined abilities are favored) - 30/30 points used:

- Academics: * (1/5)
- Animal Ken:  ** (2/5)
- Athletics:  **** (4/5) -2 BP to increase to 4
- Awareness *** (3/5)
- Brawl:  ***** (5/5) -3 BP to increase to 5
- Command: * (1/5)
- Fortitude:  **** (5/5) -2 BP to increase to 5
- Integrity: * (1/5)
- Marksmanship: * (1/5)
- Medicine: * (1/5)
- Melee:  ***** (5/5) -2 BP to increase to 5
- Occult: * (1/5)
- Stealth: *** (3/5)
- Survival:  **** (4/5)
- Thrown: ** (2/5)

Advantages:

Birthrights (5/5 points used):

Sun Wukong's Gū Bàng (Magic Staff) - 5 Point Relic:  A wooden staff given by Sun Wukong, it is obviously not Sun Wukong's original weapon considering the weapon was made of iron and weighed nearly 8 tons!  Despite that, this staff is indestructible, can change size in seconds between a stick that can fit into a pocket to that of a pole vaulter's pole, and can shift between a staff and a Guan Dao, known as a Chinese Halberd.  The staff has been imbued with special properties that allow it to hit spirits as well as physical beings equally.  The staff also allows the wielder to add their Legend to any single Dex + Melee roll.  While in staff form, it uses Bashing damage;  While in Guan Dao form, it uses Lethal damage.

Sun Wukong's Magical Headband - 2 Point Relic:  Luckily, this headband is not the one that Sun Wukong actually wears since it restrains his powers and constricts around his head under a special chant.  Rather, this headband is much more useful to a Scion for it grants the wearer access to the Chaos Purview.  The headband has the words 'Chaos, Madness, Sight' written on it in Chinese symbols.  It also grants the wearer the ability of

Night Eyes

Dice Pool: None

Cost: None

Darkness no longer inflicts visibility penalties on the character. She can see in pitch-blackness almost as well as she can see in bright sunlight, losing only the ability to perceive colors. (Objects she sees in darkness are black-on-black yet perfectly distinguishable in a way that is conveniently impossible to describe to someone who does not have this Boon.) The Scion cannot see through physical impediments, however.

.

Hermes' Shoes of Flight - 2 Point Relic:  Gifted to Alex by Hermes for helping a couple of his offspring out of a dangerous situation, they grant the wearer the ability of

Wind's Freedom

Dice Pool: None

Cost: 1 Legend + 1 Willpower per scene

The Scion laughs in the face of gravity. For the rest of the scene, the distances the Scion can move or dash per action remain normal, but they now apply to the Z-axis as well as the X- and Y-axes. All the normal rules for movement remain in place, except that the character can now move freely through all three dimensions (i.e., she can fly). She can even hold still in midair if she wants to. The only thing a character cannot do in midair that she could do on the ground is jump, as there is nothing to jump off of. If the character drops the Birthright that makes this Boon possible or allows it to be destroyed, the effect ends immediately.

.  The shoes look like regular running shoes with a pair of wings painted on the sides.

Epic Attributes (10/10 points used):

Strength - Shockwave

Description:  The Scion is so strong that he can direct his incredible power through the ground or floor to affect enemies at range. Doing so takes two separate forms. First, the character can stomp or strike the ground with his fists or a weapon, which sends a shock wave outward from him along the ground across an area with a radius equal to his Epic Strength in yards. Striking the ground thus to send out the shock wave requires a Strength roll, which receives the benefit of his Epic Strength. Potential victims — friend and foe alike — compare their Dodge DV to the results of this roll. If their DV overcomes the Scion’s successes, they manage to jump and let the shock wave pass beneath them. If their DV isn’t high enough, they immediately suffer knockdown as well as an amount of bashing damage equal to however many of the Scion’s successes their DV couldn’t cancel out. (If his allies know the Scion is about to use this Knack — if his using it is part of a coordinated assault, for instance — they can jump out of the way preemptively without having to rely on their DVs.) This attack inflicts no damage on the floor or the ground the Scion strikes. All the energy is expended into the shock wave. The second form this power takes is more selective and deliberate. As with the first form, the Scion strikes the ground and sends a shock wave along the surface out to a distance equal to his Epic Strength in yards. This time, though, his player makes a standard Dexterity-based attack roll and targets a single opponent. If that opponent’s Dodge DV isn’t high enough to get him out of the way of the attack, the Scion’s player then makes a Strength roll, modified by his Epic Strength but not modified by his extra successes on the attack roll. The damage this attack inflicts is bashing, but it has one other effect that renders the victim almost helpless for a moment afterward. Any successes on the Strength roll that exceed the victim’s soak not only inflict damage but also hurl the victim straight up in the air (one yard per unsoaked success). The victim’s rise and fall takes six ticks, during which his DVs are considered to be halved. He can make ranged attacks at a -5 penalty, but he can’t move or jump or do much of anything until he lands again. In fact, if the Scion’s attack sends him high enough in the air, the victim might take damage from crashing back down from so great a height. Using either form of this Knack requires the expenditure of one Legend point.

Dexterity - Untouchable Opponent

Description:  The Scion might as well be a ghost for all her enemies can lay a hand or a weapon on him. The Scion doubles the benefit that her Epic Dexterity dots add to his Dodge DV. He also ignores an amount of DV penalties due to unstable terrain equal to his Epic Dexterity dots. Only the normal Epic Dexterity bonus applies to the character’s Parry DV, though, and this Knack’s bonus to Dodge DV doesn’t apply if the character is merely hiding behind cover or tucked in behind a scutum (shield) like a lowly turtle. Only if the character is physically dodging the attacks that are coming his way does this Knack help him out. Activating this Knack costs one point of Legend. Its effects last for one scene.

Dexterity - Escape Artist

Description:  The Scion can somehow slip out of the tightest bonds, the most cunning snares and even his opponents’ very fingers. Whether he’s tied up and left to stew in his own juices or he’s wrapped in a clinch with a snarling berserker, he rarely remains bound for long. When someone attacks his character with a successful clinch, the Scion’s player not only adds his Epic Dexterity automatic successes to his contested (Dexterity + Brawl) to escape, but he also adds an additional automatic success for every dot of Epic Dexterity his character has. Should the Scion victim’s player succeed on this resistance roll, the Scion slips free of his opponent’s grasping limbs and well out of his reach. Also, should a character be physically restrained—tied up, handcuffed, strapped down, whatever—he can slip her bonds with a divine grace that is nothing short of baffling. The player need only spend a point of Legend, and his character’s handcuffs come undone, his straitjacket’s buckles come loose, or his ropes slough off like a snake’s dried-out skin. The Scion can’t escape thus in view of witnesses, however, unless said witnesses are members of his own heroic Band or are Fatebound to his. Remote witnesses watching via camera transmission don’t hinder the effect, but even close scrutiny of such footage doesn’t reveal how the Scion escaped his bonds. He just did.

Stamina - Solipsistic Well–Being

Description:  The philosophy of solipsism holds that only the self exists. Accordingly, if a solipsist isn’t aware of something, that something doesn’t exist. With this Knack, a Scion applies this odd philosophy to damage that surprises him. For a single attack that the Scion doesn’t see, hear or otherwise perceive coming, the Scion can spend a point of Legend and a point of Willpower to completely ignore it as if it never happened (thereby suffering no damage from it). Of course the attack does actually happen—any ammunition used is spent, onlookers might be covered with the Scion’s blood, the would-be assassin might be standing right there holding a dripping knife—but such concerns are immaterial to the Scion victim. The Scion can use this Knack only once per scene.

Stamina - Body Armor

Description:  The Scion’s body is so tough that, even unarmed, he can parry close-combat attacks that would inflict lethal damage. If a berserker hopped up on Jotunblut or a thrall full of eitr tries to split the Scion’s skull with a fire ax, the Scion can take the blow on his forearm and knock it aside without serious injury. (That assumes the character’s Parry DV is sufficient to cancel out the attack roll’s successes, of course.) While that benefit remains in effect all the time, the Scion can also engage a temporary one that offers even more protection. With the expenditure of a Legend point, a measure of the Scion’s ichor wells up from within and coats the Scion’s body. This coating hardens into a gleaming, metallic armor that’s no thicker than a hair’s breadth. This armor has a bashing and lethal soak equal to the character’s Legend, and it inflicts a mobility penalty of only -1. The ichor coating is thin enough to fi t comfortably beneath one’s clothing, so it adds its protective value to that of any other armor the character might already be wearing. Natural armor from this Knack lasts for only one scene and disintegrates at the scene’s end.

Charisma - Boys Will Be Boys

Description:  This Knack, alternatively known as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, is a character’s trusty Get Out of Jail Free card. When the character gets into trouble with some angry witness or authority figure—be it the police, a mortal parent, one’s long-suffering spouse, etc.—he need only shrug haplessly, grin foolishly or do likewise. (His player also spends a point of Legend.) At that, the offended party decides that whatever the character did wasn’t really that bad. The character gets a slap on the wrist, a stern warning or no punishment at all, depending on when he chooses to use it. This Knack doesn’t work on anyone with a higher Legend rating, though. Also, if the character wants to use it against someone with an equal Legend rating, his player must roll (Charisma + Presence + Legend) against a roll of the potential victim’s (Willpower + Integrity + Legend).

Charisma - Blame James (-10 Experience Points)

Prerequisite Knack: Boys Will Be Boys (Scion: God, p. 68) Some Scions are just too likable to take the heat. When the Scion invokes Boys Will Be Boys in order to calm the anger of an authority figure after a disaster, the player can choose to spend two additional Legend points and invoke Blame James as well. Then, the Scion just glances at someone else, makes a brief comment about “Well, it wasn’t my idea…” or somehow gives the impression that the narrowly-averted trouble was the result of someone else’s malfeasance. So impressive is the Scion’s demeanor that the disciplinary authority figure becomes convinced that the named individual had something to do with the event, and is in some way culpable. This Knack only functions if the use of Boys Will Be Boys also functioned; if that attempt fails, then this Knack also fails, although the Legend points are still spent.

Intelligence - Fight With Your Head

Description:  A Scion with this Knack possesses a truly superhuman sense of strategy. He anticipates an enemy’s evasions, counter-strategies and gambits with ease. He can reason around a berserker’s shock and awe or calculate a dodging foe’s final location to slip past that foe’s defenses. He can find just the right angle to slip from an opponent’s grasp, and he can see through feints and other ploys with ease. The Scion activates this Knack by selecting an opponent and spending one point of Legend. For the rest of the scene, he counteracts the automatic successes, bonus dice and similar benefits conferred by other Knacks and Boons. The total number of such bonuses counteracted cannot exceed the Scion’s automatic success from Epic Intelligence. This Knack can negate bonuses from Knacks and Boons, as well as automatic successes and bonuses from Epic Attributes themselves. It does not affect stunt bonuses or extra dice from invoking Virtues. If an opponent receives more bonuses than a Scion can counteract, the user of this Knack picks what he will negate. This Knack might seem an odd one to include in a book about the Norse and their Gods. In truth, despite their famed fury and aggression, Norse warriors valued a cunning fighter at least as much as a frenzied powerhouse.

Perception - Spatial Attunement (-10 Experience Points)

The Scion is so aware of his surroundings that his other senses (primarily those of hearing and smell) compensate for his eyes in identifying nearby objects outside his line of sight. The Scion could recognize the person sneaking up on him by that person’s telltale scent and mark exactly how far away that person is by the sound of his passing. With one quick glance around the room, the Scion could mark in his mind exactly where every wall and piece of furniture is within. Having done so, he could then navigate the room with his eyes closed, even slipping through a milling crowd of people without bumping into anyone or anything. To a certain extent, the character can perceive what’s going on around him in a 360-degree arc. Also, he suffers no penalties for fighting blind as long as he can hear or smell his opponents.

Perception - Telescopic Senses (-10 Experience Points)

A Scion’s Epic Perception allows him to hear, see and smell things from much farther away than mortal senses do. With this Knack, the Scion can not only perceive these sensations, but perceive them as if they were happening right in front of him. If he’s within the range at which the sound of someone’s voice can travel, he can not only hear that voice, but follow its conversation as clearly as if he were participating. If a sniper is crouched high up on a ridge line within his line of sight, the Scion can not only see him but also recognize him and count the notches on his rifle stock. If he’s wandering in the woods and the wind brings him the distant scent of someone’s camp fire, he can not only smell it but tell what kind of wood they’re burning, what brand of marshmallows they’re roasting and how long it’s been since they’ve had a good bath.

Wits - Monkey in the Middle (-10 Experience Points)

When multiple attackers gang up on a single opponent, their combined efforts can disconcert and intimidate even the best trained martial artist. A character with this Knack, however, keeps his cool despite how high the odds might be stacked against him. As a result, he suffers no coordinated attack penalty or onslaught penalty in combat when multiple attackers try to rush him all at once.

Wits - Don’t Read The Manual (-10 Experience Points)

The Scion sizes up a single item and then puts together an intuitive judgment of how to use it. No matter how complex the item, the Scion can grasp at least the rudiments of its functions. After spending a single point of Legend, the Scion can use the item for the rest of the scene as if the character had one dot in the appropriate Ability. The Scion could, for instance, glance at the controls of a stealth bomber, then intuitively figure out how to get it off the ground (or land it) as if she had one dot in the Control (Jet Aircraft) Ability. Similarly, a noncombatant could pick up a weapon and fight with it as if she had one dot of the Melee Ability. This Knack has no effect if the Scion already possesses the requisite skill.

Purviews & Boons (10/10 points used):

Chaos Purview - Eye Of The Storm

Dice Pool: None

Cost: 1 Legend per scene

Description:  When the Scion finds herself caught up in a chaotic situation unrelated to her -- whether she is dodging a tornado's debris or emerging from a bar to find a berserk mob rushing toward her to clash with a line of riot cops down the street -- she can activate this Boon and become an island of calm in the tumult. She is miraculously untouched in the confusion, and she remains so for as long as she does not actively involve herself. She still suffers normal environmental movement penalties, but environmental dangers such as falling rocks, stampeding beasts or thrashing rioters all fail to touch her.

Chaos Purview - Hornet's Nest

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Awareness

Cost: None

Description:  If the Boon's activation roll succeeds, the Storyteller should determine and reveal in general terms what action the Scion can take to either cause the most chaos in the scene or defuse the potential chaos inherent in the situation. The revelation should be something simple like "opening the parrot cage," "staying in the hallway," "winking at the Scion of Sif," or "calling the Scion of Ptah's cell phone." The Storyteller should explain only which action will lead to which outcome, not how.

Chaos Purview - Murphy's Law

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Awareness

Cost: 1 Willpower

Description:  Murphy's Law states that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. This Boon takes that saying and turns it into action, amplifying negative emotions between groups of people, inflicting a number of irritating but harmless annoyances such as bee stings, minor temporary malfunctions in machinery, cars splashing through puddles, miscommunications, and dropped coffee cups. Tempers soar and fights break out, and common sense is thrown to the wind unless the Boon's effects subside. This boon lasts for one scene.

Virtues (5/5 points used):

- Loyalty:  **** (4/5)
- Courage:  *** (3/5)
- Intellect:  * (1/5)
- Harmony:  * (1/5

Bonus Points (15/15 points used):

- 5 Points used to allow the Magic Staff to change sizes, can hit spirits, and add Legend Dice to Staff/Guan Dao hits.
- 1 Point used to cover the last point required for Wind's Freedom.
- 2 Points to increase Athletics to 4
- 3 Points to increase Brawl to 5
- 2 Point to increase Fortitude to 5
- 2 Points to increase Melee to 5

Experience Points (50/50 points used):

- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Charisma):  Blame James
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Perception):  Spatial Attunement
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Perception):  Telescopic Senses
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Wits):  Monkey in the Middle
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Wits):  Don’t Read The Manual

Finishing Touches:

Personality:  Alex has lived a rather chaotic life considering that he lost his mother before he could remember her, thus leaving him to be raised by his uncle.  Despite his uncle's best efforts, Alex quickly became his neighborhood's biggest troublemaker.  While running wild on the streets, he learned that sometimes rules needed to be bent, even broken.  However, after he returned to China with his Uncle, he also learned the importance of loyalty and courage above all.  Despite the attempts to calm his rather combative nature, Alex has never been able to turn down a good fight.  His time on American Chinatown streets also gave him a rebellious outlook, but also gifted him the skills to get out of trouble with ease and shift blame on someone else.  Though he can and will tell the truth, he has found that lies can help in getting out of trouble if done correctly.  Overall, Alex is a good-natured guy with a good heart, but he's no saint.

Background:  Though Alex's mother was born in China, she moved to America to further her career as a nurse.  It was during these few years that she met someone and, a few months later, Alex was born.  Unfortunately, there was a hospital fire when he was just a year old and she was one of the casualties.  Luckily for him, her best friend had traveled to America just a few months before the fire where she declared him to be his godfather.  Of course, he was a bit older than she was, but after her death, he took young Alex in.

Under the watchful eye of Uncle Zhen Shen, Alex was raised as best his uncle could do, training him in basic martial arts when he came of age and teaching him a few languages that are common.  Still, it was much trouble for his uncle since Alex, while he loved training in the various forms of martial arts, he also got into trouble more often than not.  He joined a small group of troublemakers that ranged from ages 10-13 and often provided distractions while the others did their mischief.  It was on the streets that Alex learned that he was quite good at getting out of trouble Scott free.  So, for the next six years, until the age of 16, Alex worked his way up through the group to become the second in command.

Unfortunately, his uncle had had enough of Alex's antics by that time and decided to close down his martial arts gym and take Alex back home to China and teach him discipline.  To say that the sudden move was taken in stride was an understatement, but it was needless to say that the period of time it took to get used to his uncle's home was a few months.  Eventually, the more peaceful mountain town's clean air and simpler life got to him.  It was at that point that Alex's uncle found his chance to teach him the true way to martial arts and try to get him to stop being trouble.

While his uncle's latter goal didn't even work the slightest, the solitude and daily training by his uncle allowed Alex to become a much better martial artist.  For the next five years, trained from the early morning and late night quickly hardened his skills, sharpened his reflexes, and toughened his body.  Other skills he learned were more mundane when compared to the arts, but were useful nonetheless.  So, he learned some basic academics, marksmanship (with the bow for the most part), and medicine.  A few of his lessons were, oddly enough, occult in nature, learning of spirits and gods from history and religion.  Soon after his 23rd birthday, his uncle let him know that Alex was now as capable as could be taught and suggested that he perhaps learn further on his own.

Alex left soon after that to think about what that meant.  While out and about, he visited a small bar to relax and try to figure out what he should do next.  Unfortunately, that night happened to be the night that his entire world changed.  It was that night that some 'pretty boy' was having a few two many drinks.  Alex didn't know who he was, other than the fact that he wasn't Chinese and was making a rather large scene.  With a sigh, he stood up and tried to lead the guy out when he swung at him!  The conflict lasted less than a minute as Alex dodged with ease and knocked the guy to the ground with a snap, the guy's wrist breaking beneath his weight.  The guy slowly stood and wobbled out muttering something about watching his back.  Shaking his head, Alex returned to his uncle's home and slept for the night.

It was that morning when Alex was roughly woken up by his uncle and told that someone was here to meet him.  The surprise and sternness in his uncle's voice had him almost leap from bed and follow him where a rather handsome Chinese fellow with a huge grin on his face met him.  The first surprise that morning was his uncle introducing the man as both of their fathers.  If he wasn't already stunned, he was even moreso stunned when he found the man was actually Sun Wukong!  As the morning, afternoon, and evening went by, Alex leaned that the reason Sun Wukong had appeared just now was because he had broken the wrist of a child of Hermes last night and Hermes wasn't pleased at all.  Luckily, Sun Wukong managed to smooth things over, but now that Alex was brought to his attention, he was obliged to meet him.

As it was, the smoothing out between the Greek God, Hermes, and Sun Wukong was that Alex help the other two children of his do their task since he had just taken the third member of the group out for a while.  Luckily for him, Sun Wukong wasn't going to send Alex off without some gifts, thus giving Alex a magical staff and a headband that gifted him with a number of abilities.  It wasn't much, but it was enough for Alex, who had trained with staffs to the point of mastery.  The fact that the staff could change into a Guan Dao was only a bonus!  Before his newly found father left, he was also told the location of the three children of Hermes.

Upon finding the Hermes siblings, including the one with a broken wrist, he was informed that he was going to take the place of their main melee focused fighter while they work their way to someone who has been using spirits to cause trouble and murder.  The task at hand was difficult, but they somehow managed to defeat the wayward scion of Hermes who had taken the dark path.  It wasn't a pretty thing to do, but it had to be done.  The fact that Alex actually saved one of the Hermes kids from death, risking his own life in the process, was honorable and noble enough that, at the end, Hermes himself tossed a pair of shoes his way as a gift of thanks, much to the guy with the broken arm's distaste.

As a last note, Hermes gave a little advice that he had heard over his sources.  It was apparently in Alex's destiny to join another group of Scions.  He would know who and where they were located.  After that cryptic note, Hermes left and his children parted ways with Alex, leaving him to figure out what the meaning of that was....

Alright, it has taken a bit of mental blood, sweat, and tears, but I have finally managed to complete my character!  If anyone has thoughts, opinions, and/or criticisms, let me know!  I hope he'll fit well with the other characters!   ;D

[HopeFox]

Oh, on the subject of languages, is modern Irish Gaelic close enough to what creatures like the Aes Sidhe speak that I can get along fine with them? Or do I need something like Primitive Irish or Old Irish as a separate language?

[Flower]

Oooh, now that is an interesting spread of languages!  A lot of the older ones at that.

EDIT:

My finally completed character (I think?)

Character Model:  Allen Tsai

Character Name:  Alex Rhodes
Player Name:  King Serperior
Age:  23
Calling:  The Calm Hero in the Eye of the Storm
Nature:  Rogue:  Rogues are a law unto themselves, existing by their own rules and taking what they need to survive. Some are con men, lotharios or simple, petty thieves, or they may be as murderous and cold-blooded as gangsters. Others are simply ordinary people who aren't afraid to bend or break a rule in order to enjoy life a bit more. Some people are born Rogues, raised with an appreciation for the finer things in life and few scruples to hinder them. Others become Rogues just trying to stay alive. Laws are well and good, but when you're out of money and there's nothing to eat, what else can you do?

Rogues at their best are hero-thieves, such as Robin Hood or Ali Baba. They steal or commit crimes to counter even greater injustices, sharing their bounty with those less fortunate. At their worst, Rogues are rapacious predators who believe that if something can't be properly protected, their victim deserves to have it stolen.

Pantheon:  Celestial Bureaucracy (China)
God/Goddess Parent:  Sun Wukong
Multilingual ([Intelligence - 2] + [Academics - 1] = 3 languages):  English, Chinese (Mandarin), & Japanese

Physical Characteristics:

Height:  5'3"
Weight:  125lbs
Hair:  Black, straight, shoulder-length
Eyes:  Chocolate brown

Base Stats:
- Willpower:  7
- Legend:  3
- Legend Points:  9

- Dodge DV:
- Parry DV:
- Join Battle:
- Soak:


Attributes:

Physical (Primary - 8/8 points used):
- Strength:  **** (4/5)
- Dexterity:  **** (4/5)
- Stamina:  *** (3/5)

Social (Secondary - 6/6 points used):
- Charisma:  **** (4/5)
- Manipulation:  ** (2/5)
- Appearance:  *** (3/5)

Mental (Tertiary - 4/4 points used):
- Perception:  *** (3/5)
- Intelligence:  ** (2/5)
- Wits:  ** (2/5)

Abilities (Underlined abilities are favored) - 30/30 points used:

- Academics: * (1/5)
- Animal Ken:  ** (2/5)
- Athletics:  **** (4/5) -2 BP to increase to 4
- Awareness *** (3/5)
- Brawl:  ***** (5/5) -3 BP to increase to 5
- Command: * (1/5)
- Fortitude:  **** (5/5) -2 BP to increase to 5
- Integrity: * (1/5)
- Marksmanship: * (1/5)
- Medicine: * (1/5)
- Melee:  ***** (5/5) -2 BP to increase to 5
- Occult: * (1/5)
- Stealth: *** (3/5)
- Survival:  **** (4/5)
- Thrown: ** (2/5)

Advantages:

Birthrights (5/5 points used):

Sun Wukong's Gū Bàng (Magic Staff) - 5 Point Relic:  A wooden staff given by Sun Wukong, it is obviously not Sun Wukong's original weapon considering the weapon was made of iron and weighed nearly 8 tons!  Despite that, this staff is indestructible, can change size in seconds between a stick that can fit into a pocket to that of a pole vaulter's pole, and can shift between a staff and a Guan Dao, known as a Chinese Halberd.  The staff has been imbued with special properties that allow it to hit spirits as well as physical beings equally.  The staff also allows the wielder to add their Legend to any single Dex + Melee roll.  While in staff form, it uses Bashing damage;  While in Guan Dao form, it uses Lethal damage.

Sun Wukong's Magical Headband - 2 Point Relic:  Luckily, this headband is not the one that Sun Wukong actually wears since it restrains his powers and constricts around his head under a special chant.  Rather, this headband is much more useful to a Scion for it grants the wearer access to the Chaos Purview.  The headband has the words 'Chaos, Madness, Sight' written on it in Chinese symbols.  It also grants the wearer the ability of

Night Eyes

Dice Pool: None

Cost: None

Darkness no longer inflicts visibility penalties on the character. She can see in pitch-blackness almost as well as she can see in bright sunlight, losing only the ability to perceive colors. (Objects she sees in darkness are black-on-black yet perfectly distinguishable in a way that is conveniently impossible to describe to someone who does not have this Boon.) The Scion cannot see through physical impediments, however.

.

Hermes' Shoes of Flight - 2 Point Relic:  Gifted to Alex by Hermes for helping a couple of his offspring out of a dangerous situation, they grant the wearer the ability of

Wind's Freedom

Dice Pool: None

Cost: 1 Legend + 1 Willpower per scene

The Scion laughs in the face of gravity. For the rest of the scene, the distances the Scion can move or dash per action remain normal, but they now apply to the Z-axis as well as the X- and Y-axes. All the normal rules for movement remain in place, except that the character can now move freely through all three dimensions (i.e., she can fly). She can even hold still in midair if she wants to. The only thing a character cannot do in midair that she could do on the ground is jump, as there is nothing to jump off of. If the character drops the Birthright that makes this Boon possible or allows it to be destroyed, the effect ends immediately.

.  The shoes look like regular running shoes with a pair of wings painted on the sides.

Epic Attributes (10/10 points used):

Strength - Shockwave

Description:  The Scion is so strong that he can direct his incredible power through the ground or floor to affect enemies at range. Doing so takes two separate forms. First, the character can stomp or strike the ground with his fists or a weapon, which sends a shock wave outward from him along the ground across an area with a radius equal to his Epic Strength in yards. Striking the ground thus to send out the shock wave requires a Strength roll, which receives the benefit of his Epic Strength. Potential victims — friend and foe alike — compare their Dodge DV to the results of this roll. If their DV overcomes the Scion’s successes, they manage to jump and let the shock wave pass beneath them. If their DV isn’t high enough, they immediately suffer knockdown as well as an amount of bashing damage equal to however many of the Scion’s successes their DV couldn’t cancel out. (If his allies know the Scion is about to use this Knack — if his using it is part of a coordinated assault, for instance — they can jump out of the way preemptively without having to rely on their DVs.) This attack inflicts no damage on the floor or the ground the Scion strikes. All the energy is expended into the shock wave. The second form this power takes is more selective and deliberate. As with the first form, the Scion strikes the ground and sends a shock wave along the surface out to a distance equal to his Epic Strength in yards. This time, though, his player makes a standard Dexterity-based attack roll and targets a single opponent. If that opponent’s Dodge DV isn’t high enough to get him out of the way of the attack, the Scion’s player then makes a Strength roll, modified by his Epic Strength but not modified by his extra successes on the attack roll. The damage this attack inflicts is bashing, but it has one other effect that renders the victim almost helpless for a moment afterward. Any successes on the Strength roll that exceed the victim’s soak not only inflict damage but also hurl the victim straight up in the air (one yard per unsoaked success). The victim’s rise and fall takes six ticks, during which his DVs are considered to be halved. He can make ranged attacks at a -5 penalty, but he can’t move or jump or do much of anything until he lands again. In fact, if the Scion’s attack sends him high enough in the air, the victim might take damage from crashing back down from so great a height. Using either form of this Knack requires the expenditure of one Legend point.

Dexterity - Untouchable Opponent

Description:  The Scion might as well be a ghost for all her enemies can lay a hand or a weapon on him. The Scion doubles the benefit that her Epic Dexterity dots add to his Dodge DV. He also ignores an amount of DV penalties due to unstable terrain equal to his Epic Dexterity dots. Only the normal Epic Dexterity bonus applies to the character’s Parry DV, though, and this Knack’s bonus to Dodge DV doesn’t apply if the character is merely hiding behind cover or tucked in behind a scutum (shield) like a lowly turtle. Only if the character is physically dodging the attacks that are coming his way does this Knack help him out. Activating this Knack costs one point of Legend. Its effects last for one scene.

Dexterity - Escape Artist

Description:  The Scion can somehow slip out of the tightest bonds, the most cunning snares and even his opponents’ very fingers. Whether he’s tied up and left to stew in his own juices or he’s wrapped in a clinch with a snarling berserker, he rarely remains bound for long. When someone attacks his character with a successful clinch, the Scion’s player not only adds his Epic Dexterity automatic successes to his contested (Dexterity + Brawl) to escape, but he also adds an additional automatic success for every dot of Epic Dexterity his character has. Should the Scion victim’s player succeed on this resistance roll, the Scion slips free of his opponent’s grasping limbs and well out of his reach. Also, should a character be physically restrained—tied up, handcuffed, strapped down, whatever—he can slip her bonds with a divine grace that is nothing short of baffling. The player need only spend a point of Legend, and his character’s handcuffs come undone, his straitjacket’s buckles come loose, or his ropes slough off like a snake’s dried-out skin. The Scion can’t escape thus in view of witnesses, however, unless said witnesses are members of his own heroic Band or are Fatebound to his. Remote witnesses watching via camera transmission don’t hinder the effect, but even close scrutiny of such footage doesn’t reveal how the Scion escaped his bonds. He just did.

Stamina - Solipsistic Well–Being

Description:  The philosophy of solipsism holds that only the self exists. Accordingly, if a solipsist isn’t aware of something, that something doesn’t exist. With this Knack, a Scion applies this odd philosophy to damage that surprises him. For a single attack that the Scion doesn’t see, hear or otherwise perceive coming, the Scion can spend a point of Legend and a point of Willpower to completely ignore it as if it never happened (thereby suffering no damage from it). Of course the attack does actually happen—any ammunition used is spent, onlookers might be covered with the Scion’s blood, the would-be assassin might be standing right there holding a dripping knife—but such concerns are immaterial to the Scion victim. The Scion can use this Knack only once per scene.

Stamina - Body Armor

Description:  The Scion’s body is so tough that, even unarmed, he can parry close-combat attacks that would inflict lethal damage. If a berserker hopped up on Jotunblut or a thrall full of eitr tries to split the Scion’s skull with a fire ax, the Scion can take the blow on his forearm and knock it aside without serious injury. (That assumes the character’s Parry DV is sufficient to cancel out the attack roll’s successes, of course.) While that benefit remains in effect all the time, the Scion can also engage a temporary one that offers even more protection. With the expenditure of a Legend point, a measure of the Scion’s ichor wells up from within and coats the Scion’s body. This coating hardens into a gleaming, metallic armor that’s no thicker than a hair’s breadth. This armor has a bashing and lethal soak equal to the character’s Legend, and it inflicts a mobility penalty of only -1. The ichor coating is thin enough to fi t comfortably beneath one’s clothing, so it adds its protective value to that of any other armor the character might already be wearing. Natural armor from this Knack lasts for only one scene and disintegrates at the scene’s end.

Charisma - Boys Will Be Boys

Description:  This Knack, alternatively known as Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, is a character’s trusty Get Out of Jail Free card. When the character gets into trouble with some angry witness or authority figure—be it the police, a mortal parent, one’s long-suffering spouse, etc.—he need only shrug haplessly, grin foolishly or do likewise. (His player also spends a point of Legend.) At that, the offended party decides that whatever the character did wasn’t really that bad. The character gets a slap on the wrist, a stern warning or no punishment at all, depending on when he chooses to use it. This Knack doesn’t work on anyone with a higher Legend rating, though. Also, if the character wants to use it against someone with an equal Legend rating, his player must roll (Charisma + Presence + Legend) against a roll of the potential victim’s (Willpower + Integrity + Legend).

Charisma - Blame James (-10 Experience Points)

Prerequisite Knack: Boys Will Be Boys (Scion: God, p. 68) Some Scions are just too likable to take the heat. When the Scion invokes Boys Will Be Boys in order to calm the anger of an authority figure after a disaster, the player can choose to spend two additional Legend points and invoke Blame James as well. Then, the Scion just glances at someone else, makes a brief comment about “Well, it wasn’t my idea…” or somehow gives the impression that the narrowly-averted trouble was the result of someone else’s malfeasance. So impressive is the Scion’s demeanor that the disciplinary authority figure becomes convinced that the named individual had something to do with the event, and is in some way culpable. This Knack only functions if the use of Boys Will Be Boys also functioned; if that attempt fails, then this Knack also fails, although the Legend points are still spent.

Intelligence - Fight With Your Head

Description:  A Scion with this Knack possesses a truly superhuman sense of strategy. He anticipates an enemy’s evasions, counter-strategies and gambits with ease. He can reason around a berserker’s shock and awe or calculate a dodging foe’s final location to slip past that foe’s defenses. He can find just the right angle to slip from an opponent’s grasp, and he can see through feints and other ploys with ease. The Scion activates this Knack by selecting an opponent and spending one point of Legend. For the rest of the scene, he counteracts the automatic successes, bonus dice and similar benefits conferred by other Knacks and Boons. The total number of such bonuses counteracted cannot exceed the Scion’s automatic success from Epic Intelligence. This Knack can negate bonuses from Knacks and Boons, as well as automatic successes and bonuses from Epic Attributes themselves. It does not affect stunt bonuses or extra dice from invoking Virtues. If an opponent receives more bonuses than a Scion can counteract, the user of this Knack picks what he will negate. This Knack might seem an odd one to include in a book about the Norse and their Gods. In truth, despite their famed fury and aggression, Norse warriors valued a cunning fighter at least as much as a frenzied powerhouse.

Perception - Spatial Attunement (-10 Experience Points)

The Scion is so aware of his surroundings that his other senses (primarily those of hearing and smell) compensate for his eyes in identifying nearby objects outside his line of sight. The Scion could recognize the person sneaking up on him by that person’s telltale scent and mark exactly how far away that person is by the sound of his passing. With one quick glance around the room, the Scion could mark in his mind exactly where every wall and piece of furniture is within. Having done so, he could then navigate the room with his eyes closed, even slipping through a milling crowd of people without bumping into anyone or anything. To a certain extent, the character can perceive what’s going on around him in a 360-degree arc. Also, he suffers no penalties for fighting blind as long as he can hear or smell his opponents.

Perception - Telescopic Senses (-10 Experience Points)

A Scion’s Epic Perception allows him to hear, see and smell things from much farther away than mortal senses do. With this Knack, the Scion can not only perceive these sensations, but perceive them as if they were happening right in front of him. If he’s within the range at which the sound of someone’s voice can travel, he can not only hear that voice, but follow its conversation as clearly as if he were participating. If a sniper is crouched high up on a ridge line within his line of sight, the Scion can not only see him but also recognize him and count the notches on his rifle stock. If he’s wandering in the woods and the wind brings him the distant scent of someone’s camp fire, he can not only smell it but tell what kind of wood they’re burning, what brand of marshmallows they’re roasting and how long it’s been since they’ve had a good bath.

Wits - Monkey in the Middle (-10 Experience Points)

When multiple attackers gang up on a single opponent, their combined efforts can disconcert and intimidate even the best trained martial artist. A character with this Knack, however, keeps his cool despite how high the odds might be stacked against him. As a result, he suffers no coordinated attack penalty or onslaught penalty in combat when multiple attackers try to rush him all at once.

Wits - Don’t Read The Manual (-10 Experience Points)

The Scion sizes up a single item and then puts together an intuitive judgment of how to use it. No matter how complex the item, the Scion can grasp at least the rudiments of its functions. After spending a single point of Legend, the Scion can use the item for the rest of the scene as if the character had one dot in the appropriate Ability. The Scion could, for instance, glance at the controls of a stealth bomber, then intuitively figure out how to get it off the ground (or land it) as if she had one dot in the Control (Jet Aircraft) Ability. Similarly, a noncombatant could pick up a weapon and fight with it as if she had one dot of the Melee Ability. This Knack has no effect if the Scion already possesses the requisite skill.

Purviews & Boons (10/10 points used):

Chaos Purview - Eye Of The Storm

Dice Pool: None

Cost: 1 Legend per scene

Description:  When the Scion finds herself caught up in a chaotic situation unrelated to her -- whether she is dodging a tornado's debris or emerging from a bar to find a berserk mob rushing toward her to clash with a line of riot cops down the street -- she can activate this Boon and become an island of calm in the tumult. She is miraculously untouched in the confusion, and she remains so for as long as she does not actively involve herself. She still suffers normal environmental movement penalties, but environmental dangers such as falling rocks, stampeding beasts or thrashing rioters all fail to touch her.

Chaos Purview - Hornet's Nest

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Awareness

Cost: None

Description:  If the Boon's activation roll succeeds, the Storyteller should determine and reveal in general terms what action the Scion can take to either cause the most chaos in the scene or defuse the potential chaos inherent in the situation. The revelation should be something simple like "opening the parrot cage," "staying in the hallway," "winking at the Scion of Sif," or "calling the Scion of Ptah's cell phone." The Storyteller should explain only which action will lead to which outcome, not how.

Chaos Purview - Murphy's Law

Dice Pool: Intelligence + Awareness

Cost: 1 Willpower

Description:  Murphy's Law states that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. This Boon takes that saying and turns it into action, amplifying negative emotions between groups of people, inflicting a number of irritating but harmless annoyances such as bee stings, minor temporary malfunctions in machinery, cars splashing through puddles, miscommunications, and dropped coffee cups. Tempers soar and fights break out, and common sense is thrown to the wind unless the Boon's effects subside. This boon lasts for one scene.

Virtues (5/5 points used):

- Loyalty:  **** (4/5)
- Courage:  *** (3/5)
- Intellect:  * (1/5)
- Harmony:  * (1/5

Bonus Points (15/15 points used):

- 5 Points used to allow the Magic Staff to change sizes, can hit spirits, and add Legend Dice to Staff/Guan Dao hits.
- 1 Point used to cover the last point required for Wind's Freedom.
- 2 Points to increase Athletics to 4
- 3 Points to increase Brawl to 5
- 2 Point to increase Fortitude to 5
- 2 Points to increase Melee to 5

Experience Points (50/50 points used):

- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Charisma):  Blame James
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Perception):  Spatial Attunement
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Perception):  Telescopic Senses
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Wits):  Monkey in the Middle
- 10 Experience Points spent on the Epic Attribute (Wits):  Don’t Read The Manual

Finishing Touches:

Personality:  Alex has lived a rather chaotic life considering that he lost his mother before he could remember her, thus leaving him to be raised by his uncle.  Despite his uncle's best efforts, Alex quickly became his neighborhood's biggest troublemaker.  While running wild on the streets, he learned that sometimes rules needed to be bent, even broken.  However, after he returned to China with his Uncle, he also learned the importance of loyalty and courage above all.  Despite the attempts to calm his rather combative nature, Alex has never been able to turn down a good fight.  His time on American Chinatown streets also gave him a rebellious outlook, but also gifted him the skills to get out of trouble with ease and shift blame on someone else.  Though he can and will tell the truth, he has found that lies can help in getting out of trouble if done correctly.  Overall, Alex is a good-natured guy with a good heart, but he's no saint.

Background:  Though Alex's mother was born in China, she moved to America to further her career as a nurse.  It was during these few years that she met someone and, a few months later, Alex was born.  Unfortunately, there was a hospital fire when he was just a year old and she was one of the casualties.  Luckily for him, her best friend had traveled to America just a few months before the fire where she declared him to be his godfather.  Of course, he was a bit older than she was, but after her death, he took young Alex in.

Under the watchful eye of Uncle Zhen Shen, Alex was raised as best his uncle could do, training him in basic martial arts when he came of age and teaching him a few languages that are common.  Still, it was much trouble for his uncle since Alex, while he loved training in the various forms of martial arts, he also got into trouble more often than not.  He joined a small group of troublemakers that ranged from ages 10-13 and often provided distractions while the others did their mischief.  It was on the streets that Alex learned that he was quite good at getting out of trouble Scott free.  So, for the next six years, until the age of 16, Alex worked his way up through the group to become the second in command.

Unfortunately, his uncle had had enough of Alex's antics by that time and decided to close down his martial arts gym and take Alex back home to China and teach him discipline.  To say that the sudden move was taken in stride was an understatement, but it was needless to say that the period of time it took to get used to his uncle's home was a few months.  Eventually, the more peaceful mountain town's clean air and simpler life got to him.  It was at that point that Alex's uncle found his chance to teach him the true way to martial arts and try to get him to stop being trouble.

While his uncle's latter goal didn't even work the slightest, the solitude and daily training by his uncle allowed Alex to become a much better martial artist.  For the next five years, trained from the early morning and late night quickly hardened his skills, sharpened his reflexes, and toughened his body.  Other skills he learned were more mundane when compared to the arts, but were useful nonetheless.  So, he learned some basic academics, marksmanship (with the bow for the most part), and medicine.  A few of his lessons were, oddly enough, occult in nature, learning of spirits and gods from history and religion.  Soon after his 23rd birthday, his uncle let him know that Alex was now as capable as could be taught and suggested that he perhaps learn further on his own.

Alex left soon after that to think about what that meant.  While out and about, he visited a small bar to relax and try to figure out what he should do next.  Unfortunately, that night happened to be the night that his entire world changed.  It was that night that some 'pretty boy' was having a few two many drinks.  Alex didn't know who he was, other than the fact that he wasn't Chinese and was making a rather large scene.  With a sigh, he stood up and tried to lead the guy out when he swung at him!  The conflict lasted less than a minute as Alex dodged with ease and knocked the guy to the ground with a snap, the guy's wrist breaking beneath his weight.  The guy slowly stood and wobbled out muttering something about watching his back.  Shaking his head, Alex returned to his uncle's home and slept for the night.

It was that morning when Alex was roughly woken up by his uncle and told that someone was here to meet him.  The surprise and sternness in his uncle's voice had him almost leap from bed and follow him where a rather handsome Chinese fellow with a huge grin on his face met him.  The first surprise that morning was his uncle introducing the man as both of their fathers.  If he wasn't already stunned, he was even moreso stunned when he found the man was actually Sun Wukong!  As the morning, afternoon, and evening went by, Alex leaned that the reason Sun Wukong had appeared just now was because he had broken the wrist of a child of Hermes last night and Hermes wasn't pleased at all.  Luckily, Sun Wukong managed to smooth things over, but now that Alex was brought to his attention, he was obliged to meet him.

As it was, the smoothing out between the Greek God, Hermes, and Sun Wukong was that Alex help the other two children of his do their task since he had just taken the third member of the group out for a while.  Luckily for him, Sun Wukong wasn't going to send Alex off without some gifts, thus giving Alex a magical staff and a headband that gifted him with a number of abilities.  It wasn't much, but it was enough for Alex, who had trained with staffs to the point of mastery.  The fact that the staff could change into a Guan Dao was only a bonus!  Before his newly found father left, he was also told the location of the three children of Hermes.

Upon finding the Hermes siblings, including the one with a broken wrist, he was informed that he was going to take the place of their main melee focused fighter while they work their way to someone who has been using spirits to cause trouble and murder.  The task at hand was difficult, but they somehow managed to defeat the wayward scion of Hermes who had taken the dark path.  It wasn't a pretty thing to do, but it had to be done.  The fact that Alex actually saved one of the Hermes kids from death, risking his own life in the process, was honorable and noble enough that, at the end, Hermes himself tossed a pair of shoes his way as a gift of thanks, much to the guy with the broken arm's distaste.

As a last note, Hermes gave a little advice that he had heard over his sources.  It was apparently in Alex's destiny to join another group of Scions.  He would know who and where they were located.  After that cryptic note, Hermes left and his children parted ways with Alex, leaving him to figure out what the meaning of that was....

Alright, it has taken a bit of mental blood, sweat, and tears, but I have finally managed to complete my character!  If anyone has thoughts, opinions, and/or criticisms, let me know!  I hope he'll fit well with the other characters!   ;D

Congrats! Hopefully I'll finish mine today too.

[HairyHeretic]

On another note, I may be asking an obvious and rather dumb question, but would I be correct in assuming that the Epic Ability of Solipsistic Well–Being would be negated if I also took the Epic Ability, Eternal Vigilance?  If that is the case, like I think it is, then I just need to choose one of the last two choices I have left.

Correct

Oh, on the subject of languages, is modern Irish Gaelic close enough to what creatures like the Aes Sidhe speak that I can get along fine with them? Or do I need something like Primitive Irish or Old Irish as a separate language?

If we wanted to be factual, any language from hundreds of years ago likely bears little resemblence to the modern version, given how languages change over time.

However, *waves hand* magic. You'll be able to understand them, and them you.

[AndyZ]

Methinks thou art quite able to discern, yet thou mayest find thy dialect seems quite peculiar.

[King Serperior]

Correct.

Alright, that's about what I figured.  Went ahead with Monkey in the Middle and Don’t Read The Manual for Wits.  At the very least, Alex could try to fly a plane or land one if worst came to worst!

That said, I think I am done creating my character.  Do we need to PM the completed result?  Or post them here for a final verdict?

[HairyHeretic]

Probably easiest for me if you PM me the final draft. That way I won't miss it in the thread.

[King Serperior]

I have a totally random question:  How many dots in the Ability of Larceny would I need to be fairly skilled at breaking-and-entering, pickpocketing, concealment, and general theft, but also not have a record/rap sheet/jail time (my logic for no record/rap sheet/jail time comes from the fact that Alex is really good at weaseling out of blame and blaming others, so its mainly slaps on the wrist)?

[HairyHeretic]

If I remember correctly, 2 would be considered an average ability, 3 professional, and 5 world class.

I'd say you would probably want about 3-4.

[King Serperior]

Alright, I think I'll need to move a few dots around because I had recently realized that in order for Alex to be how he is, he does need skill at pickpocketing, picking locks, and the like, but extremely good at getting out of trouble to the point of not having a rap sheet.

I'll send an updated PM with my character in a couple of minutes, Hairy.  This should be the last change I have.

[HairyHeretic]

Looks like we have most of the characters pretty near done, so feel free to post them in the game character thread here

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=223461.0

and then the OOC thread is here if you want to start chatting

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=222279.0