Purviews

All Scions gain intrinsic access to one of their divine parent’s Purviews, chosen at character creation, as well as the Signature Purview of their pantheon. In order to gain access to other Purviews, they must either channel it through a suitable Relic or the blessings of a Guide. If you lose access to the Relic or falls out of favor with a Guide, you cannot use any powers of the Purview they provide, including their innate powers.

LEGEND COSTS

The Scions use the power of their Legend to work their divinity. Sometimes, the text of a Boon or marvel will instruct you to imbue it with a certain number of Legend points. Legend imbued in a Boon or marvel is committed to that effect for the specified duration, and you cannot use it for other purposes during that time. However, when you reclaim imbued Legend from a Boon or other effect, it is immediately added back to your pool of Legend points. Reclaiming Legend is instantaneous and can be done at any time.

More rarely, Boons may require you to spend points of Legend. These are spent from your pool until you recover them naturally.

MARVELS

A Scion who masters a Purview may wield divine authority over it, performing acts of divine power that shape, summon, or influence their Purview through her Motifs. These marvels are flexible and free-form powers compared to Boons and Knacks. If you want to perform an act of divine power, and nothing else on your character sheet allows it, marvels exist to let you do it. The nature of your marvels and what you can do with them is determined by the two elements that go into performing them. One is the Purview used to perform the marvel, whose power, substance, or symbolism you’re drawing on or manipulating to shape the World to your will. The other element is a motif, a magical paradigm or set of metaphors through which you explain how you control your Purview to achieve the desired effect. Most of the time, you’ll use the Motif associated with the pantheon you belong to. Relics also have their own motifs, which you can call upon when you perform marvels of the Purviews associated with that Relic. Finally, it’s also possible to gain motifs from miscellaneous sources, such as a sacred animal chosen through the Beasts Purview.

In system terms, you can use a marvel only once per scene as a Simple action. Tell your Storyguide the Purview and motif you’re using to create it, and choose the effect you wish to create from below. Marvels can’t be included in mixed actions.

BLESSINGS

You empower yourself or another character. Imbue 1 Legend to either grant Enhancement 2 on a single action of a specific type, or ignore up to 3 points of Complication spread out across one or more actions. These benefits are lost if not used by the end of the scene. The imbued Legend returns once the bonus has been fully used or the scene ends.

Detective Sergeant Sugio, Scion of Amaterasu, asks the kami of some broken glass at a crime scene what they reflected to gain an Enhancement on his roll to find a clue as a Sun marvel

COMPLICATION

You turn your Purview against a character or use it to create obstacles. Imbue 1 Legend to impose a +3 Complication on the next action of a particular type that a character takes this scene. The consequences of not buying off the Complication are determined on the Storyguide based on how you describe the marvel affecting the world. The imbued Legend once the Complication has applied or the scene ends.

James, Scion of the Morrígan, mocks a hired security guard’s life choices to impose a Complication on their next attack roll with a Chaos marvel.

IMPOSE CONDITION

Spend 1 Legend to inflict a Condition on a character. You can choose a Condition listed in this book or use them as a template to create a new Condition that reflects the Purview, motif, and description of the marvel. A generic your-life-sucks Condition increases the difficulty of all actions a character takes by +1, and must be resolved by taking a challenging or risky action that’s thematically tied to the nature of the marvel.

Anil, Scion of Indra, chants a spell incantation to deafen a foe with a thunderclap as a Sky marvel. His player works with the Storyguide to make a Deaf Condition based on the system for the Blind Condition.

RESOLVE CONDITION

Spend 1 Legend to resolve a Condition that is related to or opposed to the nature or symbolism of your Purview. This can break curses and other magically inflicted Conditions.

Gabriel, Scion of Xochipilli, crushes a fistful of roses as a sacrifice to free one of his bandmate’s from a siren’s call with a Passion marvel.

ATTACKING

You wield the forces of your Purview to strike down an enemy. Spend 1 Legend and you can make either melee attacks or ranged attacks for the rest of the scene as simple actions, with up to 3 points of weapon tags to reflect the specific nature of the marvel. Melee attacks are rolled with Close Combat + Might, while ranged attacks are rolled with Occult + Cunning. The Storyguide may let you roll an alternative pool if it fits your marvel.

Nanyamka, Scion of Shàngó, drinks an herbal potion to breathe out gouts of flames with a Fire marvel. Her player and the Storyguide decide that Stamina + Athletics makes the most sense for the attack roll to breathe fire, and assigns it the Aggravated and Long Range tags.

EQUIPMENT

You can magically create or summon an item that is symbolically tied to your Purview, or simply declare that you find it or have had it all along. Imbue 1 Legend to obtain a mundane but useful item, like a handgun, cellphone, or police officer’s uniform. You keep the item for as long as you imbue the Legend — once you reclaim it, the item either literally vanishes or “fades” between scenes. If you want an item that would normally be significantly difficult or expensive to obtain — a car, a rocket launcher, a steamroller — spend 1 Legend instead, and the item fades at the end of the current scene or the next one, depending on what timing the Storyguide feels is most appropriate.

Nikasios, Scion of Athena, offers up a prayer to Uncle Ares asking to borrow some firepower as an Order marvel, and receives a police-issue riot taser.

OFFSCREEN ACTION

Imbue 1 Legend to “cut” from the current scene to a nearby mortal or animal, and describe how they take some action that has an impact once you cut back to the scene you and your bandmates are currently in. If that action has long-term effects that last beyond the current scene or if you want to literally summon a mundane character into existence ex nihilo, spend 1 Legend instead.

Edony, Scion of Heimdall, manipulates destiny by weaving colorful strands of yarn as an Artistry marvel. Her player cuts away from the scene to a nearby apartment, and describes an art major drunkenly shouting at his ex’s window, distracting everyone from her band’s attempts at stealth.

UPHEAVAL

Spend 1 Legend to make a dramatic change to the terrain or circumstances of a scene — set a building on fire, call down a rainstorm, or spread some love. Depending on what you’re doing, this can add a significantly advantageous feature to the Field the scene is set in, create difficult terrain or a hazard, create an obstacle that imposes a +3 Complication on everyone caught in it, or other dramatic, large-scale effects.

Haven, Scion of Muzzu-Kumik-Quae, beckons the manitou with dance and song to create a seismic tremor with an Earth marvel, creating difficult terrain around his enemies as the ground shakes and shatters and opening up a fissure between them and his allies.

EMULATE BOONS

• If it requires spending Legend points, you must spend an additional point.
• If it requires imbuing Legend, you must instead spend Legend (indefinite-duration boons have their duration reduced to one scene).
• Free Boons cost 1 spent Legend.

Oufei, Scion of Chang’e, uses a Moon marvel to emulate the Water Boon Changing Tides as she moves through tai chi postures to direct her inner energies.

ESOTERICA

Anything else you might want to do. Work it out with the Storyguide. If your marvel does cool stuff but doesn’t provide a real mechanical bonus or narrative impact, it’s free. Beyond that, work with the Storyguide to determine how much Legend an effect should require you to spend or imbue, using the other marvel effects as a comparison.

Zahra, Scion of Anubis, invokes the ritual names of the dead to manifest their Akh in spectral forms as a Death marvel, convincing a crowd of mortals that she is truly a child of the Gods. The Storyguide decides that the crowd is suitably awed that Zahra doesn’t need to make a roll, and so doesn’t make her spend any Legend.

THINGS GET WEIRD

Each Purview provides a description of the elements and forces it governs, which in turn inform the conceptual scope of that Purview’s marvels. However, over the course of your game, you may expand on what a Purview is to your character personally, ascribing new meanings to them. As new themes and meanings emerge in play, mention them to the Storyguide and let them know if you want to base marvels off them later on. Get creative with your Purviews, and make them your own.