Scion: Requiem for the Fallen Cities, Session 3

 After speaking with Keegan, the troupe calls it a night and the next morning gets in touch with Francesca "Frankie" Gutierrez at her restaurant. She's adamant that Keegan is responsible for Ben's death, but the band had already spoken to him, and they didn't feel like Keegan was the one that did it. The also were told that Jessica was living with Ben and decided to follow up with her after they ended their meeting with Frankie.

The band didn't have any luck getting Jessica to return their calls, so they reached out to Elena to see if she could help and Connal decided to consult his raven, which only said "Battlestar Galactica". This led nowhere, but Elena called them back and let the band know that Jessica was in a nearby Starbucks. This led to many groans. They spoke to Jessica briefly in the cafe. She was clearly distraught and seemed genuine in her care for Ben, explaining that he took her in off the streets and was like a father figure to her. 

Jessica suggested they walk to a nearby park and talk further, where she revealed she had seen Ben get killed by a large metal mummy-looking thing. She had brought him a scroll that he said was for summoning something and when the thing appeared, she grabbed the scroll and Ben's journal and took off. Inspection of the scroll turned up no magic associated with the thing, and it was actually a ritual that would allow "separation of self". Jessica also revealed to the heroes that one of the reasons Ben took her in was that she was a Scion of the Titan, Aten, and he knew the others in his band wouldn't stand for one of their "enemies" living among them.

As she talks to them, an explosion of light occurs nearby and there stands the 12' tall creature she had described to them. At the same time, some of the sand creatures from before also coalesce and a single corpse-looking humanoid with terrible burns all over its body. Arne and Yrsa begin to pick off the smaller guys from range while Cahir and Connal engage in hand to hand with the large statue thing. Realizing that most of the baddies are moving toward Jessica, Alex gets her motivated to run for Cahir's men at their van. 

A knockdown drag-out fight occurs, and everyone (except Alex) takes some licks. Cahir's men begin to fire on the sand things when they get close behind Alex and Jessica, and they take Jessica into the van while Alex peels off toward Cahir's Relic car. Imbuing a point of Legend into it and coaxing its spirit to do what he needs, the car roars to life and Alex steers it right toward the construct, crashing onto it and doing enough to finish the thing off. 

Elena arrives on the scene ahead of the rest of LVPD and tells the Band that they need to get out of there and she'll smooth everything over with a cover story that she's gotten from witnesses. Everyone picks up what she's putting down and though Cahir has to leave his car, they all get out of there, which is where we left off for the night.

Cast of Characters
Alex Saito, Heroic Scion of Tsukiyomi - Taylor
Arne Berg, Heroic Scion of Skadi - David
Cahir MacMannus, Heroic Scion of The Morrigan - Chris
Connal MacMannus, Heroic Scion of The Morrigan - Jon
Yrsa Vinter Strand, Heroic Scion of Skadi - Sam

Notes
• This combat ran loooong. I'm not sure what's causing us so many problems when it comes to smooth combat in this system, but we've not hit our stride yet. Other rolling periods seem smoother, but Storypath seems clunky to us. It's really bugging me, because the group are WoD/Storyteller vets.
• I condensed the story once they hit on Jessica. I had a lot more prepared, but I didn't feel a need to drag it out further. They will have time to explore some other parts of it once they dig into Ben's journal some and talk with Jessica more.
• I was expecting the group to be at Legend 2 at the end of this session. I might need to step up the opportunities for them to accomplish deeds. Yet another growing pain with the new system.

Scion: Requiem for the Fallen Cities, Session 2

 If anyone is paying attention, you're correct that you've seen this campaign name before. A game slot came open and I have been wanting to run Scion 2nd Edition for a while, so I asked the gang if they wanted an entirely new chronicle or to pick up an older one. We decided to revive an older run with the updated rules and Taylor set to work converting his old character while David pretty much remade his with a little more depth and took some joke elements out. The rest of the lot made completely new characters because they weren't in the original run. You can read what happened in the previous chronicle here.

Photo by Mike Mezeul

Tom Begay, a scion of Yolkaiestsan, had continued his lightning storm to call other Scions to the area. His band wanted to bolster numbers because they believed with the increase in sightings of things both paranormal and mythical, that the titans were poised to make a move against the children of the gods. Alex was already staying in Las Cruces and had made contact with Tom on a tip from Steve Sherwin before that group disbanded.

Having all just recently gotten their visitations and hints that they needed to seek out lightning, the four other Scions converged on Las Cruces and started poking around the White Sands National Monument, not far from the city, to figure out what was going on. Tom recognized them for what they are and gave them the run down, though he didn't have as much information, having been somewhat distant from his band since he was working at White Sands. He told the band that he would get in touch with his own group and send word that he was sending them to Las Vegas to meet, so that the more experienced Scions could inform these newcomers about the "coming war."

They agree, exchange phone numbers and go off to their respective lodgings for the night. The next morning, however, they are attacked in the parking lot of a motel as they're preparing to take off by some grayish humanoids seemingly made of sand. The heroes sustained just a little damage before being able to disperse the sandy beings to a cheering crowd of onlookers who thought maybe they were a traveling show or tv or movie stars practicing in the lot. The PCs made their goodbyes to the assembled crowd and headed for Las Vegas.

Along the way, the band would periodically see people out of the corner of their eye on the side of the road, colored ash gray or in the sepia tones of sand but would disappear from sight when looked at directly. Then, another weird thing happened when they stopped about two hours outside of Vegas and noticed that the sky had two suns; one that hung at the midday position and one in the correct spot. Only the Scions seemed to notice this, as Cahir's goons couldn't even see the noon sun.

The group traveled on into Las Vegas, heading to a pin dropped on their phones with no seeming source. They arrive shortly after to a large estate in a nice neighborhood. The house is in the Mediterranean style, with columned porticos and large courtyards. They are met at the gate by two of Tom's band: Shelley, a local politician, and Elena, an LVPD detective. They tell the band they asked to meet here because one of their number, a Scion of Ra named Ben, has been killed, apparently on the eve of his apotheosis, and they are investigating. Since another pair of eyes wouldn't hurt, they ask the PCs to look around and then they can compare notes.

The inside of the house would be relatively spartan if it weren't for the dearth of Egyptian relics seemingly on every surface. Everything is neat and has its place, which makes the next scene all the more striking. The door to the study from the hall is open, but a key is in the lock, showing it was opened willfully, the French doors leading to the balcony are torn asunder. One is completely off its hinges on the floor and the other barely hangs from the frame. Blood is splattered all over the room, as well as a little pine resin here and there. There is shattered furniture strewn about the room and small flecks of healthy flesh near the balcony doors, though if it's from the victim or the assailant is anyone's guess.

Alex checked out the security system, but didn't tamper with it, while the rest of the group went outside into the courtyard and down to the entry gate following a trail that Arne had picked up. The trail eventually ran cold, almost as if whatever it was had just disappeared completely, so Yrsa Read the Runes to seek what their next course of action would be. They knew answer lay in three women and a man so they went back to Shelley and Elena to learn about some people they had mentioned earlier that they felt bad interrogating about Ben's death because they're all close.

The PC band gets contact info for the four and decide to contact a man named Keegan, a Scion of Lugh, since he's the only one not considered part of Ben's band and seemed like a rough character. They find him playing basketball at a park and pull him aside for questions while Connal takes his place on the court, needing to get some energy out. Keegan is forthcoming with his answers and freely admits that he and Ben had physically fought very recently, but that is just how they were. He pointed his own finger at a woman named Jackie, because she was jealous of the newest member of Ben's group.

We left off here. It was getting kind of late and was a great stopping place. Hopefully, this short interview will make the players think of some questions for the others next time.

Cast of Characters
Alex Saito, Heroic Scion of Tsukiyomi - Taylor
Arne Berg, Heroic Scion of Skadi - David
Cahir MacManus, Heroic Scion of The Morrigan - Chris G
Connal MacManus, Heroic Scion of The Morrigan - Jon G
Yrsa Vinter Strand, Heroic Scion of Skadi - Sam

Notes
•David and Samantha chose Skadi completely separately, so this was a pretty odd coincidence. Jon and Chris wanted to play brothers (because being real brothers isn't enough) and went with The Morrigan for aesthetics.
•Sam really carried the fight with the sand things. She was really the only player rolling consistently enough to damage the things repeatedly.
•Bonus points to anyone spotting either the overall theme I'm going for or know where I'm pulling some of the scenario from.

Scion: Requiem for the Fallen Cities, Sessions 1-4

This campaign got off to a shuddered stop and almost didn't continue after losing more than half its players. Things have leveled out somewhat now, and the story has kick-started into action with the small, eclectic Band. Now, with a few more weeks' inability to run it, I hope it's not dead in its tracks right as things are heating up.

The action so far:

White Sands, New Mexico. It's the beginning of Summer, and a lightning storm has been raging through the area for almost three weeks. There's no movement of cloud cover across the land, though the clouds seem to form and dissipate in natural ways. There's also no precipitation from the storm, just near-constant lightning strikes, though thankfully no living thing has been found to have been struck, nor has many structures.

Each of the Band, during their visitations (which we defaulted to short descriptions instead of scenes in and of themselves, as the players wanted), had been told to seek out lightning in one form or another. This led them all to the town of White Sands, not the famous Missile Testing Range, which sits far outside the city.

Here, they floundered. I suppose the prevalence of inexperienced players and the fact that some of my more experienced players chose to take up meek characters caused this. I know that the experienced guys were really taking a back seat to let the new guys shine, but without some guidance, there was quite a bit of just... mundane living taking place, by the children of the gods, no less! Some of them booked into the tours at the Missile Testing Range, Alex went and talked to a local tv meteorologist about the weather pattern on the pretense of being a New Mexico State student doing a paper, and Sid went to a diner and ate while Eddie went to the diner to try and get his attention...by sitting a few tables down and staring at him, though we had decided that they had formed a Band a few days earlier.

More aimless information-gathering caused many in the band to split, feeling betrayed by their parents, possibly, at the lack of guidance, though Jimmy had prior engagements and promised to return asap. The questioning finally led to the Band learning of two individuals of interesting character, both having a "foreign" look to them, a hulking man and a beautiful woman. Nothing more turned up about this pair, and while waiting for the tour of the Missile Range, Alex drowned himself in drink with Taylor keeping him company.

Then, Steve showed up. A hunter from the South, Steve's element is the outdoors, and he greatly expanded the scope of the Band's search for clues after joining, when he took to the desert and hilly scrubland surrounding the epicenter of the storm (the base). Skirting around the edges of the Missile Range's property, and using his unparalleled knowledge of and skill in the wild, Steve discovered that the lightning was striking randomly in what eventually made a pattern, though almost incomprehensible as it was symbol laid upon symbol. This prompted him to seek counsel at White Sands National Monument, where he was told he could find someone who might know something about native symbology.

While Steve was at the Monument the next day, Alex had sent a ronin kami along and was discussing further plans with Taylor, when Jimmy returned to town from his wrestling engagement. Steve, however, was learning much information, albeit somewhat cryptic, from an park employee named Tom, who seemingly had worked at the Monument for decades...far longer than most people live...and who revealed himself to be a Scion, as well, but did not share of whom, only hinted that his divine patron was dead. Tom did share that an unnamed God had called in some favors to have the storm manufactured as a beacon to Scions to quell what is felt to be a great threat, but that was all he knew and said he would share more once that mysterious God had told him. This was a small lead, but one the group began to discuss immediately, trying to decipher what they needed to do with what little information they had.

Then came time for the tour of the Missile Range, and the monument on it commemorating the first atomic detonation. Taylor had secured spots on the tour for everyone, but Alex remained behind, deciding to try to puzzle things out on his own from the bottom of a bottle. At the Range, Steve noticed some burnt sand around the obelisk itself, as well as some coyote tracks, which was amazingly odd, but stored the information away for when it could be applied in context to things they may know. The tour was informative, and offered a couple of clues, but nothing more. Things, however, were about to heat up.

While Steve, Taylor, and Jimmy (and his ever-present tiger, which couldn't accompany them on the tour, sadly) were on their way back to White Sands, Alex caught a bright flash of light and felt/heard a boom in the distance, turning to get a better look, he then heard another boom and saw flames leap into the air over some buildings a few blocks down. This spurred him into action, as he raced out the door, spoke nice to his motorcycle's kami, improving its performance to competition levels, and raced off to see what was taking place. When he arrived, police were setting up barriers and if the cars that Alex passed were any indication, more police and Homeland Security (the town is right next to an important military installation) were on the way.

Skidding to a halt close to the action, Alex spotted a beautiful woman whose skin looked to be the color smoldering ash, and who, in a display of power and intimidation flicked her wrist and made a police cruiser burst into flames. Epically cool and Charismatic, Alex explained that her heat might not be a match for what the authorities can bring to bear and told her to get on his bike. She did, and away they went, racing down side streets and dodging traffic to elude escape on the magically suped-up bike. Once what he felt was a safe distance, he pulled the bike into a warehouse and began talking to the woman, who said that she had grown frustrated at her and her partner's lack of progress finding what she called the "Path of Fire," and she had attempted her destructive path to perhaps draw out possible Titanspawn or their pawns in hopes of getting a lead. She then explained that her Bandmate had decided to pursue another venture and had left, and she feared he was going to the Missile Range because he felt the military personnel there were protecting the Path of Fire for the Titans.

Alarmed at this, Alex tried to call his Band, but some sort of interference emanating from the woman was preventing him from making the call. Once a good distance away, he finally contacted them, telling them about the other Scion's plan. This prompted Steve to turn around and begin heading back to the Range, while Jimmy and his tiger bailed from the vehicle and started trekking through the desert looking for the man, which they found in short order, having made his skin into solid rock and walking with purpose directly toward the Range. Jimmy spoke to him for a short time while they walked, but gained no further information than the man thought this foreign military was keeping them from the Path of Fire, and that it was imperative to open it to use for the war against the Titans.

Taylor and Steve were able to reach the Range and get entrance to discuss with them a possible threat to base security. At that point, each Scion had sand swirl around them and coalesce into the form of men, one for each Scion, which then engaged them in battle. The Titanspawn weren't very dangerous, and caused little harm before being dispatched back to dust, but it only further infuriated the stoneskinned giant of a Scion, and upon reaching the base, he leapt over the fence and attacked American soldiers, killing a few in short order. Taylor and Steve had just made it outside to see the foreign Scion smash the roof of a Humvee in a couple of blows from his giant mattock.

This is where we left off, with the majority of the Band staring in horrified bewilderment at the destruction wrought by another Scion on soldiers of their country while Alex is holed up in a warehouse with another strange Scion, discussing what they need to do next.

Cast of Characters
Alex Saito, Heroic Scion of Tsuki-Yomi - Taylor
Army Major General (Ret.) Taylor Chong, Heroic Scion of Athena - Richy
Jimmy "Lu Bu" Nguyen, Heroic Scion of Guan Yu - Josh C.
Steve Sherwin, Heroic Scion of Heimdall - David B.
Gambler O'Egret, Heroic Scion of Robin Hood (Retired) - George
Lucas Cain, Heroic Scion of Loki (Retired) - G2
Eddie Noxx, Heroic Scion of Loki (Retired) - Ernest
Sid McCullors, Heroic Scion of Thor (Retired) - Stephen

Where did he go(lem?)

A few weeks ago, when my group at the shop was creating their Scion characters, one players asked if he could have a golem. Since it is a birthright creature with a rating of three dots, I said yes, but that I would have to whip up some stats, because there are none officially published.

There was only a moment's hesitation before he told me "nevermind," and that he would choose something else. This wasn't my player's lack of faith in my ability, but his want to have something presented for him at that moment, that led him to change his mind. I find this to be a (minor) failing on the system's part, as it caused disappointment in a player, if only briefly.

Though we've started play, I do like to give a more complete experience for my games, and thus I present to you....

Golem (Creature ···, Relic ·)
 The original lore on this type of creature dates from the 17th century, in which three separate sources claimed that a contemporary (or close to it) Rabbi names Eliyahu had created a being of matter and form, and upon it scribed the word "emet" meaning "truth" or "reality." The text goes on to say that the golem served for a long time, performing hard work for the Rabbi until, fearing the growth (both physical and in power) of his creation, he struck the name "emet" from the golem, sending it to dust, but not before the golem struck him and scarred his face.

The most famous lore on the golem also comes from the 16th century and relates the narrative of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel and his creation of a golem as the protector of Jews when the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II ordered the ostracization and attacks on the Jewish ghettoes of Prague. The Rabbi constructed his golem from the muddy banks of the river and sent it to protect the gentiles, but something went wrong and it began to attack those it was meant to protect and its creator. Rudolph called a cessation of hostilities if the Rabbi would end the reign of violence of the golem, and he made his golem inert by simply erasing the first character of "emet" so that it spelled "met" or "dead."

The Golem, for the purposes of Scion, is not strictly a Jewish creation, (though Scions of Yahweh seem to have a connection to this process,) but more a granting from one's patron the ability to create life.

Each golem is formed by the Scion character whom it will serve, until such time as they free it from service by altering the runes set upon it. All golems are made from base natural materials such as clay, mud, ash, or any similar material, as close as one can get to the matter used by his or her pantheon to create the first humans.

When creating a golem, a word must be scribed into the creature that can have a context of creation. This, and a single breath given (and 5 Legend points spent) gives the golem life. After that, the only thing that can deanimate the golem is for its creator to either fully erase the animating word (thus destroying the golem outright,) or manipulating the word through selective erasure, making it another word that has a context of inactiveness.

Attributes: Strength 6, Dexterity 1, Stamina 6, Charisma 1, Manipulation 0, Appearance 0, Perception 2, Intelligence 1, Wits 1
Virtues: None. Golems are never required to make Virtue rolls of any kind.
Abilities: Athletics 2, Awareness 1, Brawl 4
Join Battle: 3
Attacks:
Clinch: Accuracy 5, Damage 7B, Parry DV -, Speed 6, P
Unarmed, Heavy: Accuracy 4, Damage 10B, Parry DV 2, Speed 5
Unarmed, Light: Accuracy 6, Damage 7B, Parry DV 3, Speed 4
Soak: 6B/6L     Hardness: Special
Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 3
Willpower: 3
Legend: 2     Legend Points: 4
Other Notes: Golems automatically fail all Social rolls other than Intimidation. When a golem initiates a Presence-based roll to intimidate someone, treat his relevant Social Attribute as 5. Also, golems suffer only bashing damage from firearms attacks and they ignore all wound penalties. They also soak Lethal damage with their full Stamina, and have Hardness equal to half their creator's Legend. Golems are immune to all mind-controlling effects and all effects that generate fear. Should one of these effects target a golem, it acts as if under the effects of Berserker Fury, the Courage Virture Extremity. This effect lasts until either the golem is either destroyed or rendered inert by any means.
Further, as the Scion with the Golem creature birthright gains points of Legend, so, too, does the golem become more powerful. Each additional dot of Legend gained by the Scion grants the golem one dot to both Strength and Stamina, one extra -0 Health Level, and one more dot in both Willpower and its own Legend, as well as a 10% increase in size (assume a golem is made originally 10% larger than an average human.)
A golem may only be controlled by his creator.

Notes on design: For those familiar with Scion, the Golem obviously uses the Zombie/Mummy as a template. As I was creating the unique abilities of the Golem, especially the growth/power expansion and the Hardness, I kept thinking that perhaps the abilities were too powerful, and then I reminded myself that I was designing for Scion. 
I found this much more difficult than designing a creature for D&D, even the more crunchy 3.x (or Pathfinder, for that matter,) even with years of experience with the Storyteller system simply due to the amount of power present in even the most toned-down Scion campaign. 
If anyone has any critiques, or perhaps finds a mistake in my math, please let me know! 

Scion: Titanic Ultimatum, Part 3

So, Tuesday I ran Scion, and though not much happened, action-wise, the roleplay was pretty top notch, and the characters and character interaction is fleshed out more.

After Henu-Akhet's casket was sent off with Lt. Connolly and his men on their lorry to the expedition warehouse in Cairo to prevent theft, the team kept on about their duties at the dig.

Jack and Ben were doing nothing, Samuel was aiding in removing smaller artifacts from the treasure chamber of the tomb, Sharifa and Saul were resting up from injuries sustained fighting the stone guardians of the tomb while still doing minor tasks. Carter and Jeremy, however, were trying to figure out an item Carter had stolen that he suspected was a relic - an eagle ushabti (mummified eagle) that telepathically screeched when first picked up. At seeing this, Jeremy began to think that the reason the band was at the site in the first place was probably the retrieval of a relic or something like it, and reckoned the real prize was in the casket that they had already sent off.

Discussing this with the others didn't get them far, however, as Saul's Duty virtue held him fast to his orders to stay sentinel at the site, and Sharifa was appalled at the thought of stealing an artifact, no matter if it was key to their being there/coming together. Those things belong in a museum, you know!

When Jeremy couldn't get any further aid, he and Carter headed out at dawn toward Cairo on horses that they had bought (and not cheaply) from some of the fellahin workers still at camp. This proved to not be the best idea, as the two riders were beset by bedouin brigands! Jeremy had been thrown from his steed and was brandishing a stick of dynamite as the raiders began to surround him, and Carter was still on his now-bolting horse when we left off.

Though I wished that there had been a little more initiative taken in the pacing of the game, I feel it was a solid session, with good roleplay throughout. Chris and Jeremy seemed to not do much during the session, but that's just how their characters involved themselves. I like that their are strong personalities cropping up amongst the characters. That does nothing but help the game out. I do wish John had been able to show up. I would have been interested in seeing what his character would have wanted to do.

In case anyone is wondering, I've handed out 11 xp so far.

Cast of Characters
Jack Monici (Hero Scion of D'Artagnan) Eccentric French-American philantropist, invited by the expedition as a V.I.P. when he decided to contribute funds to the effort. Played by Epic.
Carter Sykes (Hero Scion of Kali) English-Indian White-Collar Criminal. Was able to buy his way onto the expedition through various contacts. Hoping to make it rich off the burgeoning Black Market artifact trade. Played by Steve.
Sharifa Petrie (Hero Scion of Bastet) British-Egyptian grand-daughter of Flinders Petrie (father of modern archaeological practices). Working as an understudy under her father at the excavation. Played by Angela.
Saul Archer (Hero Scion of Robin Hood) British Army Captain relegated to security duty for the Oxford expedition. Somewhat resentful of the post. Having to make some tough calls. Played by Taylor.
Samuel Grey (Hero Scion of Badarus) Adopted child of an American archaeologist who is working as an understudy in the expedition. Plucky kid, driven by discovery of all types. Played by Chris S.
Ben Hogan (Hero Scion of the Dagda) Scottish pro-golfer doing the rounds, invited as a V.I.P. to the expedition. Smooth talker, debonair attitude. Staunch critic of the "Empire." Played by John C.
Jeremy Jarvis (Hero Scion of Br'er Rabbit) African-American "demolitions expert" (terrorist) who ducked into Egypt after a job to do a little up-and-up. Working as a "structural analyst" of sorts, for the expedition. Played by David B.

From One Desert to Another...

So, a couple of months ago, I spoke of how I was unsure of what was happening in my Dark Sun game. As a group, we discussed it, and ultimately that game was put on the backburner, since it didn't appeal to what the majority wanted in a game. I felt that if I continued the game in a way that I didn't really want to run it, that it would be sub-par, so we decided to go with the game that got the 2nd most number of votes when deciding what we could play: Scion.

At the outset, I gave the option of playing a Scion, an Aberrant, or a Scion who was also an Aberrant, using a character creation system that I mocked up. Everyone chose to play Scions, so I let the Aberrant thing slide (at least for now.)

I decided to set the game in Egypt a little before the second World War, in 1935. This for a couple of reasons: One, I had a motley group of (mostly) British civilans, a British/Egyptian, and 2 archaeologists. It just made sense. Secondly, I had some Pulp Egypt products by Griffon Publishing lying around, and I thought what I got from those products would really help get the group into the feel that I was trying to accomplish with the game. Third, I wanted to appeal to Angela. She was the most outspoken against learning a new system, and I wanted to give her character a solid hook to ease her character into the game. (Shameless? Perhaps, but I like giving my players what they want), and finally...I wanted to present a somewhat stable political and socio-economic climate to start the game before the serious stuff (like, oh...the war?) really heats up.

At this point in Egypt's history, Britain has declared them independant, but still were part of the Empire by being a protectorate. The rebellions have quelled for the most part, but the Egyptians haven't gotten rid of the British military presence (and to some extent) rule. There's tension (between the British and natives), there's treasure (via archaeology - Carter had really created a boom 13 years earlier), there's money to be had (selling artifacts, cotton industry, etc.), and there's adventure (Cairo is like a real-life Mos Eisley, the Nazi propaganda machines were reaching Africa).

I started the group off as being involved with an Oxford archaeological expedition under one Prof. Percy Mallory, who had uncovered the tomb of Henu-Akhet, a hero of the time of Ramses II. After Mallory is killed at the unsealing of the tomb, the PCs volunteer to go down and investigate, and there run into animated statues, guardians of the tomb (that combat took forever, but it was a good learning experience for us all.) After defeating the statues, and overcoming a few more obstacles, the group uncovered the burial chamber, and began prep to remove the artifacts.

During this time, there was some developing unrest among the fellahin workers present, who had originally been diplomatically addressed, but become more worried when artifacts were being brought up, saying that there would be curses and otherwise blaming the British for desecrating their ancestors' tombs. After the crowd of natives got more rowdy and there were rocks thrown, etc., Taylor's character gave the order to fire on the mob, bringing down close to a dozen of the workers.

When we left off last session, the outrage at the massacre both within the British in the camp and the natives was unresolved, and much tension was still in the air, and maybe growing. Steve's character had stolen some artifacts when not being observed, and the PCs had just sent off the sarcophagus of the hero in a lorry that had just arrived under orders from the quartermaster of Taylor's regiment. What happens next is anyone's guess, but things are going well.

The only thing I don't like about the game is that Andrew and Paul decided to not play. I like playing alongside both of them.

Cast of Characters
Jack Monici (Hero Scion of D'Artagnan) Eccentric French-American philantropist, invited by the expedition as a V.I.P. when he decided to contribute funds to the effort. Played by Epic.
Carter Sykes (Hero Scion of Kali) English-Indian White-Collar Criminal. Was able to buy his way onto the expedition through various contacts. Hoping to make it rich off the burgeoning Black Market artifact trade. Played by Steve.
Sharifa Petrie (Hero Scion of Bastet) British-Egyptian grand-daughter of Flinders Petrie (father of modern archaeological practices). Working as an understudy under her father at the excavation. Played by Angela.
Saul Archer (Hero Scion of Robin Hood) British Army Captain relegated to security duty for the Oxford expedition. Somewhat resentful of the post. Having to make some tough calls. Played by Taylor.
Samuel Grey (Hero Scion of Badarus) Adopted child of an American archaeologist who is working as an understudy in the expedition. Plucky kid, driven by discovery of all types. Played by Chris S.
Ben Hogan (Hero Scion of the Dagda) Scottish pro-golfer doing the rounds, invited as a V.I.P. to the expedition. Smooth talker, debonair attitude. Staunch critic of the "Empire." Played by John C.
Jeremy Jarvis (Hero Scion of Br'er Rabbit) African-American "demolitions expert" (terrorist) who ducked into Egypt after a job to do a little up-and-up. Working as a "structural analyst" of sorts, for the expedition. Played by David B.

When Captain America Throws His Mighty Shield...

"...all those who oppose his shield must yield! If he's led to a fight and a duel is due, then the red and the white and the blue will come through...when Captain America throws his mighty shield!" - Old Captain America cartoon theme.

Yeah, so...this post isn't really about Captain America, not directly. What it IS about are games like Godlike, Weird Wars, Adventure! (none of which I have experience with,) Mutants & Masterminds, Aberrant, and Scion...and any other game that has a good enough feel to be dropped into WWII.

I do like Captain America, and as an extension, I like the idea of pulpy superheroes punching Hitler and his goons in the face. That's always appealed to me. I like the idea of men and women with extraordinary abilities running in the muck with the ground pounders, battling for every inch and inspiring their fellow countrymen to great deeds as they help the war effort in any way they can. It appeals to the values of America, and the pride most Americans take in the leaps we took during the War and in the Post-War era.

I bring this up because I have thought of it before as a viable campaign option, and I just acquired the Scion Companion, which puts forth a fairly solid framework to hang a campaign on, as well as introducing the American, British, and Soviet pantheons and further fleshing out the "Axis" pantheons for the model.

While Scion is a game about godlings, the abilities and items they have put them on the same scale as low-powered superheroes and I see no reason why any other supernatural types can't be introduced into the game, as well. Picture you're the scion of Sam, Uncle Sam, that is...and you're charging up a hill beside your pal who suddenly goes into crinos form and tears up some Nazis. Insane to think of....pretty cool. The possibilities for social dynamics in the roleplay mixed up with some two-fisted action is sweet.

I'm all over the map again, but the concept is really going wild in my brainheadthing, too, and I thought I would share some of the enthusiasm. I've been thinking about it lately as what I want to do next, should Dark Sun not go how I would like, or if some other opportunity presents itself.
I dunno. Just some stuff!