Building a Pool: Skills and Arenas

In the Storypath system, a character’s aptitude for a given task is represented by a dice pool, determined by two elements: The Skills they can bring to bear and the Arena of the challenge.

SKILLS

Skills represent a character’s learned traits: abilities that have been developed over time through study or experience. If Attributes represent a character’s capabilities, Skills represent that character’s capacity to apply those capabilities in various situations.

Sometimes certain tasks will be impossible to perform without at least one dot in a Skill. No matter how steady a character’s hand, they cannot pilot an airplane without having at least some knowledge of the controls.

The following Skills represent the available areas of expertise to all mortals and supernatural creatures in The World of Scion. The casual knowledge offered by some Skills may change depending on the context of the character possessing them. A centaur sage versed in Medicine will have a different understanding of treatment than a mortal surgeon.

ACADEMICS

Academics represents the time a character spent studying the humanities. Characters with Academics generally have some knowledge of law and politics, allowing them to understand and even manipulate legal and political systems, as well as most bureaucracies.
Academics 1: A basic grasp of fields like literature, art, and law. The character can navigate a library and probably turn up some useful information after a day or two.
Academics 3: Well-versed in political and literary writings, can easily quote famous thinkers. Focused research will usually unearth relevant information within a few hours.
Academics 5: An almost encyclopedic knowledge on just about every subject. The character can rattle off relevant information for any situation, and with time in the archives can uncover secrets that have eluded researchers for years.
Academics + Intellect also represents the total number of languages a character can maintain fluency in without constant effort. This isn’t the number of languages they speak, only the number they can learn. They still need to study a language to pick it up.

ATHLETICS

Athletics represents the technique needed to properly leverage the power of the human body. Usually an Athletic character has spent some time in physical training, whether they be sports stars, fire fighters, or just fitness enthusiasts.
Athletics 1: An irregular exerciser with moderate fitness. The character can run a mile without getting winded, and can climb or swim in ideal conditions without trouble.
Athletics 3: A trainer with excellent physical fitness. The character regularly runs miles each day without injury and probably plays a star role in several sports.
Athletics 5: One of the world’s greatest athletes, qualified for a major sports team or the Olympic games. The character can expect to excel at just about any physical task.
Athletics + Might determines what characters can lift or break with an action. Breaking something in this way is likely a complex action as the character tears the object apart, but lifting is a simple action.
It’s worth noting that Scions and Legendary creatures with narrative Scale (see Scale, p. 65) regularly exceed the limits of this chart, which mostly applies to mere mortals. Use the sample feats as a rough benchmark and guideline for what your character can do rather than a strict proscription.

CULTURE

A character’s Culture Skill represents their exposure to different societies and cultural ideas. A character with this background has spent time appreciating art, language, and religion from around the world, and can easily identify faux pas and social hierarchies for groups ranging from foreign companies to insular internet forums.
Culture 1: A basic understanding of cultural expression around the world. The character is less likely to make a faux pas in groups he has read about or spent time in.
Culture 3: A comfortable grasp of the nuances of almost every mortal culture. The character can steer their friends away from gauche behavior even after only a short exposure to a group.
Culture 5: A cultural prodigy with perfect insight into the artwork and mores of worldwide cultures. The character can pass himself off as a native mere moments after entering a new society.

CLOSE COMBAT

A character’s skill in Close Combat can determine how well they are able to fight in close quarters with a foe. Usually this means a background involving combat training or experience, whether at a wushu guan or out on the mean streets. Close Combat applies when wielding melee weapons or bare fists, even when grappling and subduing an opponent.
Close Combat 1: Capable of handling themselves in a fight, holding their own with other amateur brawlers with minimal injury.
Close Combat 3: Very talented at using both fists and weaponry effectively. The character can easily take down multiple untrained opponents or skilled single combatants.
Close Combat 5: An efficient and terrifying force in combat. The character knows how to close distance and effortlessly dismantle the defenses of even battle-hardened warriors.

EMPATHY

Empathy allows characters to work out the motivations and emotions of those they interact with, and manipulate those feelings to their advantage. This Skill is just as useful for those who want to make friends as it is for those who want to profile serial killers.
Empathy 1: Sensitive to the emotional cues of others. The character can usually tell when someone is hiding something, if they are paying attention.
Empathy 3: The character can easily spot lies and read between the lines, and is talented at knowing just what to say and when.
Empathy 5: A human lie detector who can assemble a full psychological profile for an individual based on the merest of clues.

FIREARMS

The Firearms skill represents a character’s training and experience with modern projectile weapons like guns (bows and javelins fall under Athletics). It also represents their ability to repair and maintain such weapons.
Firearms 1: Can make simpler short range shots, and maintain most weapons.
Firearms 3: A trained marksman who can hit their target even in rain or low light. They are comfortable drawing quickly, and firing in close quarters. With the right equipment and circumstances they can make long-distance shots.
Firearms 5: An expert shooter with experience in both firefights and sniping. The character can repair broken guns with the appropriate parts and tools, and modify weapons to better suit their needs.

INTEGRITY

Integrity reflects a character’s emotional fortitude against outside influence or to resist Leadership or Persuasion. A character uses Integrity to resist emotional swaying and to hide her own emotions and intentions from others. Integrity can be represented by some training techniques in military, special operations, or performing arts, or it could be an innate Skill of certain characters.
Integrity 1: Simply stubborn, or the character is just not easily swayed.
Integrity 3: A dependable person, either with formal training in resisting influence or a keen and cunning mind capable of determining what the influencer’s true aim is.
Integrity 5: An expert with long experience and formal training in resisting mind-control or torture techniques, unable to be broken or swayed in a direction they don’t ultimately wish to go in.

LEADERSHIP

Leadership is a knowledge of the techniques needed to effectively lead and coordinate groups. Characters with this skill can look at the bigger picture in order to make sure every member of the team is contributing in the most effective way possible. These characters radiate a confidence that lets them take control of a situation.
Leadership 1: The character has spent some time managing others, and can get a group of individuals to work and think as a team with time and effort.
Leadership 3: The character has spent extensive time leading others, and people are inclined to set aside personal interest for the greater good under his command.
Leadership 5: The character can lead armies into battle with genius strategies, and expect total loyalty. He can be certain that his orders will always be understood, and carried out to the letter if possible.

MEDICINE

Skill in Medicine represents a character’s knowledge about the operation of the bodies of living things. Their experience allows them to diagnose and treat any living creatures, so long as they bear some resemblance to creatures she has encountered before.
Medicine 1: Basic first aid. The character can judge at a glance if a creature is in physical distress.
Medicine 3: The character can treat even serious injuries, and stabilize what might otherwise be a fatal wound. With the right facilities, they can diagnose diseases and administer ongoing care.
Medicine 5: A master surgeon and physician, able to save lives regularly with quick and accurate application of aid. The character can perform transplants and lifesaving excisions even in extremely challenging conditions.

OCCULT

The Occult Skill represents knowledge of the supernatural elements of The World and beyond, such as cryptozoology, the secret histories of various pantheons, or mystical rituals (functional and otherwise).
Occult 1: A passing interest in the mysteries of The World. The character can identify simple magical rituals and common paranormal phenomena.
Occult 3: The character can conduct more complex ceremonies and identify a wide range of magical creatures. They can identify many types of cults, and trace them back to their divine (or Titanic) patrons.
Occult 5: The character instantly recognizes all but the most obscure cults, rites, and spells. He easily converses with the souls of the dead, and can navigate the complex rules of Terra Incognitae.

PERSUASION

The Persuasion skill represents a character’s talent at bringing others around to their way of thinking. Whether seducing or debating, whether she needs to change the way someone sees the world or force them into a compromise, the Scion is using Persuasion.
Persuasion 1: The character can usually talk their way out of minor trouble, and convince others of their honesty if the truth’s on their side.
Persuasion 3: Silver-tongued. The character can draw sympathy from officers of the law, talk their way out of speeding tickets, and never fails to get a date on a Friday night.
Persuasion 5: Charisma just one step short of hypnosis. The character can convince even cynics to believe in them, and regularly receives preferential treatment. It’s hard to find someone they can’t win over.

PILOT

Characters use Pilot to control any method of transportation, such as a car, bus, boat, motorcycle, horse, plane, giant bird, or anything else he may have cause to ride on or in. It also measures his ability to acclimate to unfamiliar conveyances and make repairs on them.
Pilot 1: The character can control most vehicles under normal circumstances. They can even ride a mount without fear of falling off.
Pilot 3: A deeper understanding of the forces involved in operating a vehicle. The character can do some trick driving, operate under difficult conditions, and pilot a complex vehicle like an airplane or submarine.
Pilot 5: A stunt driver’s dream. The character can perform precision driving maneuvers and jumps, fly a plane through a storm, and navigate by sonar underwater.

SCIENCE

The Science Skill represents a character’s exposure to the philosophical underpinnings of the scientific method. Though they likely have some knowledge of modern scientific theories, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they have a PhD. They have just learned to look at the world in an orderly and quantifiable way. For this reason, it is entirely compatible with Occult.
Science 1: The character can understand physical evidence, and separate useful data from background noise.
Science 3: The character can extrapolate from available data, incorporating all evidence into a comprehensive theory. They can also make simple compounds with access to the right materials and tools.
Science 5: The character can create and test hypotheses almost instantly, running thought experiments to deduce the most likely explanation. They can create advanced chemical reactions with household products, and repair machines on basic physical principles.

SUBTERFUGE

Subterfuge represents the character’s ability to deceive others, hide, and create disguises. It also helps them commit criminal acts such as forgeries, sleight of hand, and lockpicking. This can represent training with an organization of criminals or even spies.
Subterfuge 1: Basic lies come easily to the character, and cheap locks do not present much of a challenge. They know enough to stay off the radar of local authorities.
Subterfuge 3: A master thief, extremely adept at criminal activities. They can spin complex lies and break into most safes. The constabulary is likely aware of and frustrated by their exploits.
Subterfuge 5: A legend in the underworld, the character can impersonate someone’s own mother and clean out a bank vault without anyone even knowing they were there.

SURVIVAL

The ability to understand and overcome the challenges of inhospitable environments is represented by the Survival skill. This often means finding food and shelter in the wild, crafting basic tools from things found in nature, navigating unknown territory, and taming local wildlife.
Survival 1: The character can get the lay of the land in an unfamiliar place and she can expect to comfortably survive for several days, finding her food and water with some effort and building a basic shelter.
Survival 3: An affinity for the outdoors. The character can last months in the wilderness, making a sturdy shelter and tools, and comfortably finding food in the right places.
Survival 5: An expert at tracking and foraging. Even the most extreme elements do not dissuade her, and she can easily survive in blistering heat or a fierce blizzard.

TECHNOLOGY

Technology represents the character’s comfort with the software and hardware that make up modern devices, whether they’re operating them, repairing them, or misusing them. Computers are the most obvious of these machines, and perhaps the most dangerous.
Technology 1: The character can expect most modern devices to do what they want. They can use computers, and resolve common errors.
Technology 3: An excellent grasp of programming languages and electrical engineering. When anyone needs something fixed, they turn to the character.
Technology 5: A master hacker, who’s broken into government databases or built her own complex servers. They seldom buy any devices, certain they could assemble something better on their own.

ARENAS

Every dramatic challenge in the game exists in one of three different Arenas, reflecting the abilities it requires and obstacles it involves. On every roll, the Storyguide determines the Arena of a challenge.

The Physical Arena requires muscle, bodily coordination, toughness, and so on. Fights and chases are the most common challenges in the Physical Arena.

The Mental Arena needs genius, quick wits, careful deduction, and so on. Research, investigations, and planning are the most common challenges in the Mental Arena.

The Social Arena looks for charm, empathy, a poker face and so on. Persuasion, seduction, and acquiring support are the most common challenges in the Social Arena.

A character’s talents in a given Arena are represented by a numerical value which usually ranges from 1 to 3. This value is used to create the dice pools for challenges in that Arena. For example, a skinny office worker might have Might 1, while a bulked-up power lifter might have Might 3.

These values are relative. A particularly weedy example of a jotunn would still have Might 1, but their massive Size would make up the difference when dealing with tiny mortals (see Scale).

APPROACHES

A character’s Approach defines the way they tackle challenges. Whenever a character faces a challenge requiring a roll, their player should describe their Approach after the Storyguide decides the Arena. (Alternatively, the player and Storyguide can simply agree on an Attribute, as below)

A character using Force confronts their problems head-on, sweeping obstacles aside with sheer direct power. Force is seldom subtle, but is also the most direct Approach.

Finesse is a softer Approach, one which uses speed and wits to avoid opposition. Though subtle and swift, Finesse can provoke worse problems down the line.

Resilience allows a character to outlast their opponents, using flexibility and guts to achieve their goals. Resilience is often slow or dangerous, but is also thorough.

The character’s player should choose a Favored Approach.

ATTRIBUTES

Each combination of Arena and Approach is referred to in shorthand as an Attribute. For easy reference, mark these on a character’s sheet using the rating for the appropriate Arena. Add two dots if it uses that character’s Favored Approach.

The Attributes of the Physical Arena are the brute strength and speed of Might (Force), the deftness of Dexterity (Finesse), and the vital toughness of Stamina (Resilience).

The Mental Arena’s Attributes are the genius of Intellect (Force), the quick-wittedness of Cunning (Finesse), and the discipline and attention to detail of Resolve (Resilience).

The Social Arena is divided between the charisma of Presence (Force), the subtle graces of Manipulation (Finesse), and gruff resistance of Composure (Resilience).

USING ATTRIBUTES AND APPROACHES

In a Physical underground boxing match, a fighter could dive in and hammer away with Might (Force), weave around for a perfect shot with Dexterity (Finesse), or drain his opponent with a Stamina (Resilience) rope-a-dope.

In a Mental chess match with lives on the line, a player might marshal memorized stratagems with Intellect (Force), or try to feint and gamble with Cunning (Finesse), or simply avoid foolish mistakes and pile on the pressure with Resolve (Resilience).

In a tense Social police interrogation, the suspect could try to lie his way out of things using Manipulation (Finesse), or simply keep his cool and deflect with Composure (Resilience). Meanwhile, his interrogator uses Presence (Force) to intimidate him.

DICE POOLS FOR MIXED ACTIONS

A challenge can involve lots of different actions, like a flurry of blows, but these are always aimed at a single goal, like knocking out an attacker. When a character needs to do two totally separate things at once, this is called a mixed action. For example, she may want to cut down a tengu warrior while composing a poem about her victory, or prepare for a grand Bacchanalia while researching the stock market.

When this happens, the player calculates the dice pool for each action and then rolls the smaller pool. She spends successes from this pool to meet both the Difficulty and Complications of each challenge, and can succeed at one while failing at another. If she has relevant Enhancements, she can only use her bonus successes to help accomplish whichever task they apply to.

ROLLING THE DICE

Once the player has assembled his dice pool, he rolls the dice. He wants each die to land at or above his target number. His target number depends on his character type, but by default it is 8. Each die that meets his target number is a success. A success is the basic currency of the Storypath system. Players use successes to complete challenges, overcome Complications, and do cool Stunts.

If a player rolls a 10, that die gives one success and is rolled again. This is called 10-again, and it continues until no dice show a 10. Some special benefits provide 9-again or 8-again, where those die results or higher are also rolled again.

Occasionally in the text you’ll see an abbreviation like “2s.” This translates to “2 successes.”

SKILL SPECIALTIES

The Skills listed here are intentionally broad categories, reflective of general character competence. However, once a character reaches three or more dots in a Skill they may choose a Specialty focus, writing it next to the Skill on their character sheet. A Warrior Scion may choose Close Combat (Greatswords), for example. A character receives +1 Enhancement on all rolls in other Skills that would involve that Specialty somehow, like identifying a greatsword. Failing a roll involving a Specialty grants 1 Momentum in addition to any Consolation.

ON ATTRIBUTES

Scion’s Storypath system is versatile by design. Players should feel free to think of a myriad of different ways to perform tasks. In keeping with that goal, all dice pools listed in this chapter are merely guidelines or suggestions for the most common or basic dice pool. Thinking of inventive scenarios where players can use alternate Attributes to perform tasks is encouraged. Some examples:

• Timing your sword strike for a gap in the enemy you’ve been observing with Cunning.
• Taking out a construction site with a few well-placed explosives using Intellect.
• Using Dexterity to nimbly pull the gears out of a clockwork owl while clutching on and riding it.

TIERS

Characters in Scion vary wildly in mythical potency, represented by their Tier. This has a number of applications, but primarily determines the target number they use when rolling. More powerful characters can casually influence the world.

1 (Mortal Tier). Characters without a trace of supernatural power. Legend 0. Target Number 8.
2 (Heroic Tier). Those with a growing Legend of their own, or who call on the power of a greater being. Legend 1-4. Target Number 8.
3 (Demigod Tier). Creatures of storied power, and heroes who truly exceed the bounds of mortality. Legend 5-8. Target Number 7.
4 (Divine Tier). Those beings who stir The World with their steps, foremost among them the Gods of each pantheon. Legend 9-12. Target Number 7.