AEGIS Purviews and Boons

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When Gods sire children with mortals, they give those children the ability to stack up and knock down the building blocks of reality. Yet, whether these gifts—these “Boons” in modern Scions’ neo-archaic parlance—are truly blessings or vile curses on the World depends on how a Scion uses them.

Purviews

Groups of Boons that affect the same fundamental force or concept (such as fire or death or fertility) are said to be part of the same Purview. Purviews come in three overarching categories. The largest consists of all-purpose Purviews, which are associated with certain Gods but are available to any Scion. The next category includes pantheon-specific Purviews. Only Scions from the pantheon to which the Purviews belong may use these Boons. The smallest category covers special Purviews that don’t all have Boons per se but still grant divine power. Like the all-purpose Purviews, these Purviews are associated with certain Gods but are available to any Scion.[/font]

Multipurpose Purviews

Animal

1. Animal Communication

   The Scion can understand and make himself understood by an animal as he speaks his native language and the animal responds with its own postures, scents and/or vocalizations. This Boon doesn’t make animals smart, calm or loyal, but most are curious enough about having a person address them that they’ll hear a Scion out before defaulting to aggression, panic or indifference.

2. Animal Command

   The Scion names one task that the animal must perform. The task cannot seem suicidal or impossible to the animal, but the animal cannot balk at an order that doesn’t immediately seem so. “Hey rabbit, go rip that lion’s throat open” would seem impossible to the rabbit so commanded. “Run to that grass across this street” would be a fine order for that same rabbit, though, even if cars were zipping by. The order can describe a single immediate action (“Bite that guy!”) or one with a single condition (“Come find me when a blue car stops here”). If he lacks the previous Boon (Animal Communication), the Scion can deliver his command only through simplistic nonverbal signals.

3. Animal Aspect

   By meditating on a token representing his animal, the Scion takes on a metaphorical characteristic associated with it. A Scion might take on a snake’s sinuous grace, a peacock’s beauty, an elephant’s proverbial memory or any other justifiable characteristic.

[anch=BCHA][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Chaos[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Eye of the Storm[/i] (1) When the Scion finds herself caught up in a chaotic situation unrelated to her—whether she’s 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 doesn’t 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.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Hornet's Nest[/i] (2) If the Boon 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.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Paralyzing Confusion[/i] (3) This Boon turns a person’s rational thoughts into seething, chaotic noise. The victim freezes in place, suddenly unable to think, speak or act. He’s unaware of what goes on around him, and he has no memory of the moments before or after the use of this Boon. How long the effects last will be determined by the Storyteller, and it erases the victim’s memory from the moment the action was taken to the moment it wears off. If the victim has more points of willpower than the user has in the Chaos purview, the power doesn’t work.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BDAR][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Darkness[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Night Eyes[/i] (1) Darkness no longer inflicts visibility penalties on the character. He can see in pitch-blackness almost as well as he can see in bright sunlight, losing only the ability to perceive colors. (Objects he sees in darkness are black-on-black yet perfectly distinguishable in a way that’s conveniently impossible to describe to someone who doesn’t have this Boon.) The Scion cannot see through physical impediments.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Shadow Mask[/i] (2) The Scion pulls a shadow down from the brim of his hat or up from beneath his collar and wraps it around his head, rendering him completely unrecognizable to human eyes or electronic surveillance equipment (even equipment designed specifically to see in darkness). His voice becomes an unidentifiable whisper. The Scion can see through this mask, and other Scions using Night Eyes can recognize him through it. The shadow mask lasts for a maximum of 24 hours. The Scion can will it to disperse before that period elapses, but otherwise, it remains in place the whole time even if the Scion is unconscious. It doesn’t disperse even if someone shines a bright light in the Scion’s face.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Shadow Refuge[/i] (3) The Scion can hide within any shadow into which his body fits. He need only position himself within the three-dimensional area of the shadow. If he does so, mundane attempts to find him—even those aided by electronic equipment—fail. Supernatural attempts aided by Epic Perception or an Arete in Awareness (or both) proceed as normal, contesting the searcher’s (Perception + Awareness) against the Scion’s points in Darkness + Dexterity. The Scion can hide within the shadow as long as it remains large enough. He can move with it as it moves, within reason.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BDEA][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Death[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Death Senses[/i] (1) The Scion can see ghosts even when those ghosts don’t choose to manifest. To her, ghosts are livid, physical presences, sensible to feeling as to sight (as well as smell and hearing). She still can’t harm the fragile ectoplasmic shell of a ghost who hasn’t manifested, however. The sense of touch this Boon grants is illusory. If the Scion tries to exert enough pressure to cause damage or restrain the ghost, her hand passes through it. The Scion can also look at a dead body and know what killed it, if that cause isn’t already obvious. The answer she gets is somewhat generic (the reading would tell her a person had been poisoned, for instance, but not by what poison), but it’s conclusive despite the presence of falsified or misleading evidence. Generic causes of death include suffocation, drowning, poison, burns, internal trauma, bleeding, hunger, thirst, exposure, illness, heart attack and old age.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Euthanasia[/i] (2) When a living being is incapacitated with lethal or heavy damage due to wounds or a terminal illness, the Scion can end that being’s suffering. The Scion must touch the being. If the Scion wants to know whether the victim is truly willing to die, she can meditate for several minutes on the subject and if she has as many points in empathy as she does in the Death purview, she can determine it definitively. Animals usually answer in the affirmative and titanspawn usually do the opposite, but human beings and Scions are unpredictable. Regardless, the subject’s willingness is ultimately immaterial unless the subject is another Scion. The power doesn’t work on a Scion unless that Scion is actually willing to die. (Even then, however, Fate or the Scion’s divine parent might intervene to keep the Scion alive a little longer.)[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Unquiet Corpse[/i] (3) By touching a corpse or its grave with her hand or her Birthright, a Scion can raise that corpse as a mindless zombie (or its pantheon-appropriate equivalent) under her control. Only those limbs that are present and firmly affixed to the zombie’s torso (if only by leather straps and wood staples) function when the zombie rises. The zombie remains animated until either it is destroyed or the Scion who created it dies.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BEAR][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Earth[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Safely Interred[/i] (1) Whether the character is caught up in a landslide, buried in a shallow grave by the roadside or trapped in the rubble of a collapsing building, he need not fear the earth’s embrace as long as he has his Earth Birthright. No amount of collapsing rubble can break the Scion’s bones (or the Birthright itself), and he won’t suffocate no matter how much dirt piles onto him. If he lacks the strength to free himself, however, he does run the risk of either starving to death or dying of thirst if no one digs him out. Yet, it would not be the earth that kills him, but his own lack of fortitude.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Echo Sounding[/i] (2) By stomping or otherwise knocking on the earth, the Scion gets a sense of its general composition and density, as well as finding holes or caves beneath the surface. If he’s looking for something specific in the earth—such as gold, oil or a human body—this Boon reveals its distance from him and depth from the epicenter at the expense of the other information. The Boon works only at ground level or on the up-thrust surface of a mountainside, but it works through floors and pavement. It gives the Scion a semispherical reading with a radius equal to one half mile per point in the Earth purview.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Shaping[/i] (3) The Scion can sculpt stone, concrete, fired clay or metal with his bare hands. The substance becomes malleable like wet clay for as long as he touches it. The Scion can affect up to one cubic foot of material at a time. Once he breaks contact with the substance he is shaping, it loses all malleability and sets in its new form. Creating works of art require points in the Art trait.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BFER][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Fertility[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Green Thumb[/i] (1) The Scion need only touch a large plant (such as a tree or bush) or a one-square-yard patch of smaller plants (from a window box of daisies to a sheet of algae). That plant or patch can then survive for a whole year (or for its whole life if its natural span is shorter) without food or sunlight or water. The Scion’s ministrations keep the plant healthy through drought, nutrient deficiency, unnatural darkness or other environmental shortfall. The plant’s surroundings must be within its natural tolerances for the plant to survive, though. (This Boon can’t nurture seaweed on the desert floor, for instance.) Also, this Boon doesn’t protect against or cure any blight or damage from herbivorous noshing.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Cleanse[/i] (2) Every gardener and farmer has to deal with blight or vermin sometimes, but doing so is easy for a Scion with this Boon. Any blight or infestation ends immediately upon contact with the Scion. Blight clears up as if it had never occurred, and vermin suddenly find the affected plants unappealing. This Boon affects large plants (or square yards of a patch of smaller plants). This Boon doesn’t protect against future blights, and it stops only the current generation of vermin infestation.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Bless or Blight[/i] (3) With a blessing, the Scion protects a patch of land from all natural blights and vermin infestations for one year. Alternatively, she can curse the land with a blight that either kills the plants within it outright or makes them so attractive to vermin that the resulting infestation has the same effect.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BFIR][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Fire[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Fire Immunity[/i] (1) The Scion takes no damage from fire, he need never worry about suffering from smoke inhalation, and even the most intense heat is nothing more than a comforting warmth to him. This immunity remains in effect regardless of what substance is burning. It doesn’t, however, extend to his clothes or to any item except the Birthright through which he channels the Boon.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Bolster Fire[/i] (2) Normally, fire needs oxygen to breathe and fuel to consume. With this Boon, a Scion removes both necessities from a single flame for one scene. He could keep a single torch (or even a match) lit for hours as he explores a dark labyrinth. He could cause the tiny spark at the end of a fuse to burn in place without moving. This Boon is also good for keeping a source of flame from consuming the breathable air in an enclosed space. The Scion must be able to see the flame he intends to bolster, but once he uses the Boon, he can leave its presence without canceling the effect. The fire he bolsters with this Boon can be no larger than that of an average campfire (roughly a yard in diameter). If no source of flame is available, the Scion can create a fire the size of a candle flame from thin air. It burns at the end of his finger or from some point on the Birthright he uses to activate the Boon. The flame isn’t strong enough to cause damage in combat, but it can ignite a flammable substance easily enough.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Fire's Eye[/i] (3) The Scion can see out of any fire that A.) is already within his line of sight or B.) he affected with Bolster Fire. The Scion cannot hear what is happening around a distant fire, and his field of vision remains the same through the fire as it is through his eyes. He may physically move his head or turn his body in place to change his remote perspective, though. While he looks through the fire, the Scion can’t see from his own perspective. He may maintain his remote perspective for as long as he wishes.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BGUA][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Guardian[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Vigil Brand[/i] (1) The Scion touches a person, an object or the entrance to a location and lays a mystical brand there that marks that subject as being under her protection. Thereafter, whenever that subject is in physical danger (as determined by the Storyteller), the Scion receives a reflexive intuition to that effect. Should the scion concentrate on the subject of the brand, she gains a clearer understanding of the subject’s condition, location and current situation. The Scion can also use this Boon to check up on a subject at any time, but only one subject at a time. A Scion cannot brand herself with this Boon, but she can brand as many other subjects as she pleases. A subject can be branded by more than one Scion at the same time. Each brand is unique to the Scion who made it.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Aegis[/i] (2) By touching a mortal or an object, the Scion grants it a measure of divine physical protection for the next 24 hours.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Ward[/i] (3) By touching the entrance to a location, the Scion lays a ward on the area that bars entrance to a certain type of threat. Such a ward could bar ghosts, walking dead, a breed of titanspawn, human beings, lesser animals or Scions. The ward acts as a sphere with a circumference area equal to 500 square feet per point of Guardian purview the Scion has. The Scion can ward an area against as many different types of threats as she wants, but each threat requires its own ward. Wards are not indestructible and given the time and effort, they can be broken through.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BHEA][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Health[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Assess Health[/i] (1) The Scion can instantly, automatically assess the current medical condition of a single living patient in his presence. He can tell how extensive the damage is, as well as any physical addictions he suffers, any illnesses or diseases with which he is infected and any genetic defects that afflict him.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Blessing of Health/Curse of Frailty[/i] (2) The Boon can take away a patient’s reproductive capabilities or restore them, provided the patient already has all the necessary organs. This effect lasts for one year per point in the Health purview. Used on a pregnant patient, the Boon can make her unborn child come into the World strong and healthy or sickly and deformed. The Boon can cure or create any of the following conditions: a physical deformity, a life-threatening birth defect, a chemical dependency, an illness contracted from the mother, physical damage suffered in utero or a non-specified immune system effect. A Scion can also use this Boon on an infant within the first 24 hours after its birth.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Heal/Infect[/i] (3) The Scion can repair a patient’s injuries or inflict harm directly. On one hand, he can heal as damage or illness as he wishes. Alternatively, he can inflict as much harm as he wishes. The Scion can use this Boon on the same person only once per day. He can use it on as many different people in the same day as he wishes.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BJUS][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Justice[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Judgement[/i] (1) This Boon aids a Scion immensely in determining guilt, one of the foundations of meting out justice. When she confronts someone she suspects committed an injustice and accuses that person of having done so, she stands a chance of determining whether the subject is guilty or innocent. If the subject is guilty and their willpower is lower than the Scion's rating in Justice (and as long as no other boons or knacks are in use), the scion will determine the subjct's guilt definitively.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Guilt Apparitions[/i] (2) When a Scion knows that someone is guilty of an injustice but she lacks either the evidence to prove it or the leverage to make him admit it, she can rely on this Boon instead. To use it, she accuses the guilty party of the injustice (be it in person, in a letter, over the phone, via skywriting…). If the subject's willpower isn't high enough to withstand the effect of the boon, the accusation causes the victim to periodically hallucinate like Macbeth or his wife. These hallucinations occur randomly, torturing the guilty party with the knowledge that justice hasn’t been served and slowly wearing him down. The effect lasts for a number of days equal to the number of points the Scion has in Justice.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Shield of Righteousness[/i] (3) This Boon can protect an innocent victim from suffering someone else’s due punishment. The Scion cries out against the injustice—a simple “He didn’t do it!” will suffice. Doing so, she renders any attempt to inflict harm on the innocent victim completely impotent, sparing her the harm. Whether the victim is being stabbed by a jealous wife, shot by a firing squad, lynched by a mob, hurled off a cliff by a duped Scion vigilante or whatever, he suffers no damage from that action. For the Boon to work, the Scion must be present at the site of the unjust punishment, and the victim must actually be innocent.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BMOO][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Moon[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Smoking Mirror[/i] (1) By looking up at the moon the character sees reflected in it a bird’s-eye view of the surrounding terrain. This perspective allows a clear view of a radius in miles equal to the Scion’s score in the Moon Purview. The Scion may focus on any point in the reflection and see it clearly, but he can’t see through physical objects or change the angle from the top-down perspective. This Boon doesn’t function on new moon nights, but it can see down through thick clouds on any other night. If the moon is visible during the day, the Scion can use this Boon then as well.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Tidal Interference[/i] (2) The Scion exerts a pull on all enemies with whom he’s in close combat. The enemies become locked on the Scion using the boon, making them the focal point of their rage. This effect lasts for the rest of the combat scene.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Phase Cloak[/i] (3) The Scion turns himself away from his enemies much as the moon turns its face away from the earth. This Boon can be used to hide only a part of the Scion's body from view, and the less exposure the moon has, the more of the Scion is hidden. A full moon ensures that the Scion cannot be hidden at all.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BPSY][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Psychopomp[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Unerring Orientation[/i] (1) In a locale she knows well, such as her hometown or a national park she visits every autumn, the Scion knows how to get from any point within to any other point. In an unfamiliar locale, her sense of direction defaults to a standard compass rose. Should someone give her correct directions in an unfamiliar locale, she retains them thereafter. If she studies a map of an unfamiliar city for five minutes, that information remains imprinted on her mind until she leaves that city for longer than a week. The Boon can also reveal to a Scion how far away and in what direction the location she considers home lies. Alternatively, if the Scion finds herself in a strange place—if she’s been drugged and kidnapped, for instance—this Boon can tell her how far she is and in what direction she traveled from the last place she wasn’t lost.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Where Are You?[/i] (2) If someone makes remote contact with a Scion (by telephone, instant messenger, telepathy…), the Scion gets a sense of how far away he is and in what direction. She might not be able to direct the person to her location, but she can follow her nose right to the location whence the contact originated. The sensation remains even after the period of contact ends, but it doesn’t follow the person around if that person moves. It can only lead a Scion to where the communication ended.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Unbarred Entry[/i] (3) The Scion can pass through a solid surface as if either she or it were intangible. She can pass through only as much space as she could cross in a single step - through a wall or a locked door, for instance - and doing so is a simple action. All the Scion’s clothing and items make the transition with her, but she can’t pull anyone else along behind. If the solid surface is too thick for her to be able to pass through, it remains as solid to her as it does to everyone else. This Boon doesn’t literally make the Scion intangible, however, so she can’t use it in combat to avoid damage or to step through a ring of fire without being burned.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BSKY][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Sky[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Sky's Grace[/i] (1) The Scion takes no damage from falls of any height. Alternatively, the Scion can double the distance he can jump either straight up or horizontally. If the Scion has the Holy Bound Knack as well as this Boon, the base distance he can leap doubles, then doubles again. Also, Sky’s Grace can mitigate knockback the character suffers from successful attacks. If an attack knocks the character back, he may stop himself in a sudden gust of wind.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Wind's Freedom[/i] (2) The Scion laughs in the face of gravity. The distances the Scion can move 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., he can fly). He can even hold still in midair if he wants to. The only thing a character can’t do in midair that he could do on the ground is jump, as there’s 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.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Storm Augmentation[/i] (3) Jagged threads of lightning coil around the Scion’s fists or weapon, or swirling winds sweep around him as he moves. On any successful attack, he may make thunder crash or winds gust violently. This can cause the enemy to be knocked back or even clear off their feet.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BSUN][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Sun[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Penetrating Glare[/i] (1) As sunlight only dims when it passes through thick clouds, so too can a Scion’s vision cut through physical occlusions. When the Scion receives this Boon, she sees clearly through such physical impediments as smoke, fog, murky water (if the Scion is in said water) or even translucent barriers through which other people can see only silhouettes. The character can even see perfectly clearly in dim light (i.e., light no less intense than a single birthday candle). In total darkness, however, she’s just as blind as the next person.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Divine Radiance[/i] (2) This Boon allows a Scion to emit sunlight. She can either radiate a glow from her entire body, shining with the intensity of a 100-watt incandescent light bulb, or focus that light to a narrower beam. For instance, she could narrow the focus of the light to come from her palm or her eyes to act as a high-powered flashlight. The Scion can emit soft light thus for one scene. Alternatively, the character can concentrate her light into a single intense burst that gleams from some reflective surface on her person, be it from the steel edge of her weapon, the metal buttons on her jacket or the surgical-steel head of her tongue stud. The Scion could even focus the light down to a pinpoint intense enough to scorch an object or ignite a flammable accelerant. (The pinpoint is not intense enough to damage a victim in combat, though.)[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Heavenly Flare[/i] (3) Concentrating, the Scion builds up and releases a flash of sunlight that’s impossible for anyone within line of sight to miss. If any character within sight has a fortitude lower than the number of points the Scion has in their Sun purview, they are temporarily blinded, even if they are wearing special sunglasses or a helmet to filter out light. If the victim's fortitude is equal, they are simply distracted. If their fortitude is greater, they are able to ignore the flash of light unhindered.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BWAR][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]War[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Blessing of Bravery[/i] (1) Intoning a benediction over a person or group prepared to engage in battle, the Scion bolsters their courage and determination. Every character on the Scion’s side of the conflict who hears the benediction benefits from it. The Scion may amplify his voice electronically, but he must be present at the battle and give the blessing live.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Battle Cry[/i] (2) During a battle, be it a pitched field engagement or an alley fight between a Band of Scions and a gang of frost giants, the Scion can loose a horrible battle cry that unnerves his foes. Every fighter on the Scion’s enemies’ side who hears the unearthly shriek falters. The Scion may use electronic equipment to amplify this battle cry so every enemy present can hear it, but he must be present on the battlefield himself for it to work. He can let out this battle cry only once per combat scene.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Warrior Ideal[/i] (3) The Scion adopts some idealized warrior aspect, from howling berserker to unquestioning enlisted man to fearless officer to pitiless samurai. This attitude unnerves and intimidates any opponent who faces him in combat. This idealized aspect can be invoked only once during any given battle.[/font][/li] [/list]

[anch=BWAT][size=11pt][font=georgia][b][i]Water[/i][/b][/font][/size][/anch] [list][li][font=georgia][i]Water Breathing[/i] (1) The Scion need never fear drowning, and she is no longer affected by extremes of water temperature. She can breathe water as easily as air, and she is neither scalded by boiling water nor subject to debilitating frostbite from ice. Having boiling water poured on one’s flesh still hurts, mind you, and being bound in ice or cast adrift in frigid water can still numb and paralyze a Scion. Neither of those extremes can cause the Scion actual physical damage, though. If the Scion is breathing water, any toxins in that water affect her just as breathing in airborne toxins would on land.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Water Control[/i] (2) The Scion can exert limited physical control of any water that is touching her. She can remotely manipulate a hand-held object she can see in the water, although she can take no other physical actions at the same time. She can stiffen the water beneath her feet in order to walk on its surface. She can even have the water push her along from all sides. The Boon also allows such random tricks as having the Scion instantly dry off by flinging all water off her body or creating a water bridge so an aquatic creature can swim from one container to another. This Boon works only on liquid water. Her command is not such, however, that she can use water to restrain or inflict direct physical damage against an opponent with a liquid shape of her creation.[/font][/li] [li][font=georgia][i]Changing States[/i] (3) Defying the laws of thermodynamics, the Scion can instantly change the state of a body of water just by touching it. With this Boon, she can take liquid water, steam, ice or fog and change any one into any of the other three. Water under this effect is also subject to the Scion’s Water Control as long as the Scion maintains contact with some portion of it. The Scion can now inflict damage against a single opponent with blasts of steam or with ice projectiles. The character may also create a club, axe, knife or sword out of ice and use it as a normal weapon of that type. Water in an altered state doesn’t melt, freeze, boil or condense as it normally would in its current environment for the duration of the effect. As altered steam, it maintains a constant temperature of 220 degrees; as altered liquid water or altered fog, it stays at 70 degrees; as altered ice, it stays at 14 degrees. (That’s all Fahrenheit, by the way.) When the effect ends, the water instantly resumes its original state and temperature.[/font][/li] [/list]

Pantheon-Specific Purviews

Arete

associated with the Dodekatheon

Arete is a Greek word meaning “excellence,” a quality highly valued among the Greek Gods. In fact, showing off one’s surpassing skill or total command of a field of study is a recurring theme throughout many legends about them. Granted, most of those legends involve some pompous mortal claiming to be the best there is at what she does and an offended God’s reaction to that claim not being very pretty. Nonetheless, the Greek Gods and the society that venerated them held the concept of excellence in such high regard that it became a Purview specific to them.This Purview doesn’t bestow specific powers, exactly, as much as it magnifies one’s talents to divine proportions. When a Scion takes an Arete, he assigns to it one of his Abilities. (That Ability must be rated at three dots or higher first.) The Arete increases the Ability's rating by twice the number of ranks placed in to the Arete.

Cheval

associated with the Loa

1. Rada's Eyes

   The Scion can experience another person’s perceptions as if they were her own. These perceptions include input from all five senses, though not the character’s subjective reactions to that input. To use this Boon, the Scion must have a picture of her victim, some genetic token of the victim’s (such as a lock of hair or several drops of blood) or something the victim created (from a printed-out email to an ice sculpture). By meditating on the item and relaxing her own perceptions, the Scion experiences the victim’s perceptions clearly and distinctly. The victim is unaware of the Scion’s attention, but the Scion remains only semiaware of her own surroundings. If something obvious is happening around the Scion, they may be able to notice it. If something less obvious happens around the Scion, though, the Scion doesn’t notice while her perceptions are distracted. A Scion can experience the perceptions of a mortal human being without being noticed as long as she has at least one of the requisite items. To use this on a Scion, however, you need all three items.

2. Petro's Hands

   The Scion can now exert some control over a victim whose senses she’s observing. The Scion must be actively experiencing her victim’s perceptions with Rada’s Eyes. If the Voodoo Scion’s victim is a mortal or a Scion with fewer points in willpower than the scion has in the Cheval purview. Should she succeed, the Voodoo Scion can then perform one physical action through the victim’s body. She can do anything from simply forcing the victim to hold still and look intently at something the Scion wants to study to making the oblivious victim jump out of the way of a shinobi assassin’s leaping kick. A Scion can exert this control over a victim only once per scene, and no other purviews or knacks can supplement it.

3. Horse

   The Scion can now exert total control over her victim for a limited time. She must be using Rada’s Eyes to share the victim’s perceptions, and she must have more points in Cheval than the Victim does in Willpower. If the Scion succeeds in her possession attempt, she can “ride” around inside her victim’s body for one scene (or less if she chooses to end the effect early). She exerts all of her own mundane traits, except for Appearance, through the effectively empty husk, losing all sense of the situation around her own body. If the body she’s riding suffers damage as a result of her actions, she feels the pain, but it’s only a phantom psychosomatic pain. Her own body suffers no damage. Once the spirit horse body suffers enough damage to render it Incapacitated or to kill it, the Scion loses her connection with it and returns to her own body. If the Scion’s real body suffers damage as a result of something going on around it, the Scion remains unaware of it until her spirit returns home. If someone or some event destroys the Scion’s body while her spirit is away, her spirit simply winks out of existence. A victim of possession has only dreamlike, half-glimpsed memories of what his body did when he was possessed. If the actions the Scion took were especially traumatic to the victim, the victim might block them out altogether.

Heku

associated with the Pesedjet

1. Ren Harvest

   Whenever someone speaks of the Scion’s deeds, or whenever he sees news of his exploits in print somewhere, the Scion's reputation grows beyond simply that conversation or writing, increasing how well known he is. This knowledge can pertain only to certain circles, or it can be general knowledge found in tabloids and blogs. The story must pertain specifically to the Scion, and the context should be clear. Also, it must be uttered or written without the Scion’s direct knowledge. He might reasonably expect to see or hear it, but he cannot literally command someone to say or write it so as to reap the benefits. This Boon pertains only to evidence that his legend is spreading.

2. Sekem Blaze

   Sekem is the light, the power and the energy of the Scion’s soul. With this Boon, he channels that powerful light through his gaze to intimidate a foe. Such a foe can be an animal, a person, a Scion or even one of the titanspawn, and the Scion need only look it in the eyes. An animal who sees the Sekem Blaze in the Scion’s eyes immediately ceases any aggression toward the Scion and flees. A mortal or ghost so affected calms down and remains cowed for the rest of the scene. A Scion or titanspawn with fewer points of willpower than the Scion's rating in Heku is as affected as a mortal, but a Scion or titanspawn with an equal number of points may counteract the effect. Anyone with more points of Willpower remains unaffected. A Scion can attempt to affect only one victim per action with this Boon. If the Scion attacks a victim he has cowed with this power, the effect ends after the aggressive action.

3. Sekem Barrier

   The radiance of the character’s divine heritage illuminates his entire body, affecting all who look upon him. The effects of this are the same as the effects of Sekem Blaze (and the effectiveness is determined in the same matter using Willpower vs Heku points), but instead of impacting only a single victim, they impact all beings within the immediate vicinity.

Itztli

associated with the Atzlánti

1. Maguey Sting

   By piercing her flesh with a maguey thorn, an obsidian blade, a surgical scalpel or even just a rusty straight pin, the Scion sheds a portion of her blood. This blood serves as a token offering to her divine parent, who rewards her with a temporary boost of 2 points in any attribute or ability. This boost lasts for 24 hours.

2. Combat Sacrifice

   The Scion stands unflinching before her raging enemies, sacrificing her safety in the pursuit of her goals for the scene, allowing her to behave as if her willpower were maxed for one scene. This boost lasts only for the duration of the current scene and cannot be used more than once per day.

3. Obsidian Mutilation

   As with Maguey Sting, the Scion ritually sheds her blood and receives a concomitant reward in a single attribute or ability. Unlike Maguey Sting, though, this sacrifice doesn’t top out at 2 levels. Instead, the character sacrifices a much larger amount of blood and gets up to 4 temporary points in a given attribute or ability. The character may perform this ritual only once per week.

Jotunblut

associated with the Æsir

1. Bestial Endowment

   By sharing blood with it, the Scion grants a beast a single extra point in either Strength or Stamina. The beast becomes loyal to only the Scion, who can also train him as normal, but that loyalty must be renewed once every month.

2. Human Endowment

   By sharing blood with them, the Scion may imbue a human with two free Attribute points that can be spent into the human’s Strength and/or Stamina. The human remains loyal to the Scion for a single month but grows irritable around other people. A Scion cannot use this Boon on a beast.

3. Heroic Endowment

   By sharing blood with them, the Scion can now imbue a human with three free Attribute dots to be spent into the human’s Strength and/or Stamina. The person remains loyal to the Scion for three months (roughly one season) and remains equally irritable with other people. A Scion cannot use this Boon on a beast.

Tsukumo-Gami

associated with the Amatsukami

1. The Wakeful Spirit

   With a little persistence, a Scion can capture the attention of the spirit of an inanimate object and speak to it for a few minutes. When she does so, the object takes on anthropomorphic features—the grains in a wooden door, for instance, might flow into the shape of a face—and speaks in a way befitting the size and importance of the object. Unremarkable, unimportant objects have dim-witted, semi-conscious spirits, whereas unique objects to which people form emotional attachments are eloquent, knowledgeable and charming. In speaking to a spirit, a character can find out information the spirit has directly experienced. A car’s spirit can talk about where it’s been or who’s been in it. A lamp’s spirit can talk about the last time the master of the house used its light. A wishing well’s spirit can talk about how many people have wasted their pittances on false hopes. The older and more interesting the object is, the farther back and more clearly its spirit can remember key information. Spirits don’t differentiate easily between non-spirit beings, though, and they consider it rude to talk about the goings-on of other spirits if the spirits in question are doing their jobs properly. Also, most don’t pay too much attention to their surroundings unless something truly unusual happens.

2. The Watchful Spirit

   The Scion can not only coax information from a kami, but also set it to some passive task on her behalf. She can, for example, have the kami watch out for a specific person, observe any titanspawn who approach, or remember and repeat anything another Scion says to it. This period of duty lasts for a number of days equal to the number of points the Scion has in Tsukumo-Gami.

3. The Helpful Spirit

   With the proper shows of respect and decorum, a Scion can convince the kami within an object to enhance the mundane function of that object. Be it anything from a weapon to a baby grand piano, the item must be one that requires a skill to use successfully. If the character uses this Boon on one of her Birthright items, she can enhance only its mundane function.

Special Purviews

Magic

In a sense, every power a Scion’s Boons, Epic Attributes and Knacks grant her could be considered magic. Yet, one power seems magical even to them—namely the ability to direct and influence the mysterious force of Fate. All Scions (and even the Gods themselves) are subject to Fate, but only a select few are graced with the power to read and influence it.

A Scion gains one free new spell of the increased value for each new point of the Magic Purview he gets. Additional spells of equal or lesser value are purchased individually as Boons of the all-purpose Purviews are (for the same bonus point or experience point cost). Some sample spells are provided here, but in theory, the number of possible spells is limitless.

Scions with this Purview may design their own spells, but examples are given for each level of advancement. Inherent in each of these spells is the power to undo someone else’s application of the same spell. The target of a spell is automatically Fatebound to the spell’s caster.

[list][li][font=georgia][i]Ariadne's Thread[/i] (1) The caster declares a target (a person, place or thing) and can thenceforth unerringly track where that target has gone by following the perturbations he leaves in the threads of Fate. If the target is a place, the caster can always find his way back there, no matter how disoriented or lost he has become. This spell’s effect lasts for one day per point in the Magic purview.[/font][/li]

[li][font=georgia][i]Unlidded Eye[/i] (1) This spell allows its caster to see magic and supernatural powers that are normally invisible to mortal sight. It also faintly reveals the threads of Fate that entwine people, revealing strong or thick threads and allowing the caster to determine a Scion’s or other supernatural being’s scores in their attributes.[/font][/li]

[li][font=georgia][i]Bona Fortuna[/i] (2) The caster calls upon Fortune for a good luck streak. For every point in the Magic purview, the Scion gets a single good-luck moment. This can be used only once per day and must be re-cast every day.[/font][/li]

[li][font=georgia][i]Evil Eye[/i] (2) The caster curses a single target with a withering glance or insulting gesture. If the Scion's points in Magic are higher than the victim's fortitude, the victim suffers a loss of one point out of any two attributes of the caster's chosing, but no more than one point in any attribute. (IE the victim can lose a point in strength and a point in charisma, but cannot lose two points in either). The effect lasts for one scene unless ended prematurely by the caster.[/font][/li]

[li][font=georgia][i]Trading Fates[/i] (2) The caster grants another person a good luck streak, as he can do for himself with the Bona Fortuna spell. The cost for casting this spell, however, is that the caster must himself accept a streak of bad luck either at the same time or at some point in the future, that mirrors the measure of good luck he gave his target. IE if he gives good luck to a friend who wins $5,000 on a lotto card, he himself must lose $5,000 or something worth that much.[/font][/li]

[li][font=georgia][i]Deus Ex Machina[/i] (3) The caster calls for help—and Fate answers in its own way. The most improbable—even impossible—escapes can be delivered by this spell. If the caster hangs from a cliff by his fingernails, a sudden earthquake might cause a ledge to jut out beneath him, catching his fall. If he’s tied to a train track before a speeding train, the train might leap the track over him, continuing on its way as if he weren’t there. The caster cannot choose the manner of help he gets; he has thrown his lot in with Fate and gets whatever destiny brings. Basically, the Storyteller can get as dramatic and creative as he wishes, but he is under no onus to do so. He can choose a quite mundane rescue if he so desires (the Scion hanging from a cliff is pulled to safety by a boy scout). The caster is Fatebound to the person, place or means of his rescue.[/font][/li]

[li][font=georgia][i]Demand A Labor[/i] (3) The caster can demand that a person perform a task for him. This is called a labor, or sometimes a geas, and until the target of the spell completes the task, he is not whole. Until he is victorious, he cannot do anything that is not required to live. (IE he cannot sit and watch TV or read a book, but he can stop to have food or sleep).[/font][/li]

Mystery

The Purview of Mystery represents an understanding of the interconnection of bizarre, seemingly random events—an understanding mortal minds are unequipped to achieve. Gods and Scions with this Purview not only recognize this interconnection, but they can read significant clues from it. To use this Purview, the Scion clears her head and looks at the world around her without analysis or expectation. Based on what she sees, the character makes heretofore-denied intuitive leaps of logic as objects in the world around her spark off subconscious connections. The player may then ask her Storyteller pointed, specific questions about various events that have occurred in game—one question per point in Mystery. The Storyteller need not expound upon his answers (they can be quite terse and to the point, in fact), but he/she must answer them as honestly and directly as he/she can.

Using this Purview cannot reveal facts about things that will happen in the future, nor can a character use it to gain insight into events that don’t concern either her or the members of her heroic Band.

Prophecy

The Purview of Prophecy offers the Scion who masters it glimpses into the machinations of Fate itself. The warnings of future events that the Purview offers are invaluable, but the Scion who relies on them overmuch risks becoming an unknowing agent of Fate itself. The more points a character has in Prophecy, the more precise their glimpses of Fate become.