Sardonyx: Scion and Trinity Continuum

the original prompt used an Athena who hid her real gender, but I thought it sounded wrong for the myths since Hephestus "almost" raped her & he's as bad as Hera at holding grudges. Dionysus can't be arsed to be King of The Gods; too much responsibility.

I chose Athena and Dionysus because I think those are the two who are most capable of stepping into Zeus's sandals, though I think that neither one of them would be better than their father in the short run.

In brief, Athena has the power as well as the prestige, as shown by how she crushed Ares and Aphrodite in personal combat as well as how she competed with a senior member of the pantheon for the right to patronize Athens on even footing. Furthermore, she oversees war, wisdom, and justice, which are the sort of things that are appropriate for a pantheon head. Finally, while the prophecy specifies that it would be a secondborn son of Metis who would overthrow Zeus, Scion is exactly the right sort of setting for playing around with such statements, though making Athena a man strikes me as the wrong way to go about doing it.

Regardless, Dionysus is my second choice because Dionysus is a capable, charismatic figure in spite of his often ridiculous depictions in modern media, who seems to be weirdly convincing in a way that he really shouldn't be. Furthermore, if Dionysus is indeed the second incarnation of Zagreus, then an argument could be made that he would have the backing of Hades and Persephone, which would be critical because there is no way that anyone is going to be able to overthrow Zeus without a lot of coalition-building.

In contrast to these two, Ares is out because he's neither liked nor respected, Hephaestus is out because he's respected for his skill but the idea of him as a leader would probably cause the rest of the Olympians to break out into open laughter, Hermes is out because while there are tricksters in charge of other pantheons, he doesn't seem to have the sheer raw power to back up his shenanigans, and Artemis is out because she's literally a child. Out of these, Apollo is probably the best choice, but he has two problems in that, one, he's not really powerful in the same way as a pantheon head, and two, I feel that he's not satisfying as a narrative choice.
 
I chose Athena and Dionysus because I think those are the two who are most capable of stepping into Zeus's sandals, though I think that neither one of them would be better than their father in the short run.

In brief, Athena has the power as well as the prestige, as shown by how she crushed Ares and Aphrodite in personal combat as well as how she competed with a senior member of the pantheon for the right to patronize Athens on even footing. Furthermore, she oversees war, wisdom, and justice, which are the sort of things that are appropriate for a pantheon head. Finally, while the prophecy specifies that it would be a secondborn son of Metis who would overthrow Zeus, Scion is exactly the right sort of setting for playing around with such statements, though making Athena a man strikes me as the wrong way to go about doing it.

Regardless, Dionysus is my second choice because Dionysus is a capable, charismatic figure in spite of his often ridiculous depictions in modern media, who seems to be weirdly convincing in a way that he really shouldn't be. Furthermore, if Dionysus is indeed the second incarnation of Zagreus, then an argument could be made that he would have the backing of Hades and Persephone, which would be critical because there is no way that anyone is going to be able to overthrow Zeus without a lot of coalition-building.

In contrast to these two, Ares is out because he's neither liked nor respected, Hephaestus is out because he's respected for his skill but the idea of him as a leader would probably cause the rest of the Olympians to break out into open laughter, Hermes is out because while there are tricksters in charge of other pantheons, he doesn't seem to have the sheer raw power to back up his shenanigans, and Artemis is out because she's literally a child. Out of these, Apollo is probably the best choice, but he has two problems in that, one, he's not really powerful in the same way as a pantheon head, and two, I feel that he's not satisfying as a narrative choice.

That's the point; the new head has to be both surprising and controversial to the other olympians, everybody would expect Athena, Dionysus would charm 90% of the others, I need someone completely out of left field.
 
That's the point; the new head has to be both surprising and controversial to the other olympians, everybody would expect Athena, Dionysus would charm 90% of the others, I need someone completely out of left field.

Fair enough.

Out of curiosity, if you want someone really out of left field, have you considered someone other than the big names? For example, Metis has a son named Poros, who is described as a personification of expedience.
 
Athena is p. cool. What's she like in the Scion-verse?
ATHENA
AKA: APHAEA, MINERVA, MENRVA

Description: Honey-haired and well-rounded— voluptuous, some would say—Athena is the best at everything, perpetually wise except when her ambitions reduce her to foolish actions.
As Goddess of wisdom, Athena has the power to mediate disputes, to resolve them by force or to create new techniques that render the argument irrelevant.
She has no patience for those who rely on aggression alone to solve their problems.
Athena tends to be proud, however, and she can be misled into risky contests by challenging the depth and breadth of her skills.
She does not lose gracefully.
In modern times, Athena has been a devoted middle school teacher, a waspish librarian, a first-rate artist and a popular motivational speaker.
Those who see her often use terms such terms as "old soul," "many-layered" and "quick-witted."
Her sharp-tongued intelligence scares off many potential partners, but though chaste, she has proven a devoted patron to many a Scion who's impressed her with their cleverness and quick wits, regardless of those Scions parentage.
Her adopted Scions are similarly well endowed with graces of art and artistry.
Skilled at languages and fine crafts, they tend to become famous artists and performers—unless their mother pulls them away to other tasks and projects, such as saving the World.

Associated Powers: Epic Intelligence, Epic Wits, Animal (Owl), Arete, Health, Justice, War

Associated Abilities: Academics, Command, Craft, Melee, Investigation, Science

Rivals: Ares, Hephaestus; Bastet, Huitzilopochtli, Kalfu, Legba, Thor, Tsuki-yomi
Fair enough.
Out of curiosity, if you want someone really out of left field, have you considered someone other than the big names? For example, Metis has a son named Poros, who is described as a personification of expedience.
Also, I remember something about it being possible( although hella unlikely)that Zeus was his father?
 
Fair enough.

Out of curiosity, if you want someone really out of left field, have you considered someone other than the big names? For example, Metis has a son named Poros, who is described as a personification of expedience.
...mate, this is my first game; as such, I'd rather stick with the pre-defined gods from Vanilla-Scion.
 
Honestly there at lot of cool things one could do with Dionysus so long as you focus less on the "Lol he's a drunkard and a fatass" that modern depictions of him tends to lazily go for, and focus more on him as the Personification of the wild part of man, the freedom of mind and beliefs given by the Wine and how it empowers others, and the chaotic Breaking down of the Social order.

Those are really potent themes.

For example, have him pretend to be a useless drunkard, only it turns out he was building an army and coalition of Gods to take the throne himself in the background all along.

He's an Child of Zeus and someone who clawed and earned his way into Divinity like Herakles did. He gets to stand on equal footing in the Pantheon alongside many elder and seemingly more powerful gods. No useless Drunk would be able to achieve all of that.
 
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Honestly there at lot of cool things one could do with Dionysus so long as you focus less on the "Lol he's a drunkard and a fatass" that modern depictions of him tends to lazily go for, and focus more on him as the Personification of the wild part of man, the freedom of mind and beliefs given by the Wine and how it empowers others, and the chaotic Breaking down of the Social order.

Those are really potent themes.

For example, have him pretend to be a useless drunkard, only it turns out he was building an army and coalition of Gods to take the throne himself in the background all along.

He's an Child of Zeus and someone who clawed and earned his way into Divinity like Herakles did. He gets to stand on equal footing in the Pantheon alongside many elder and seemingly more powerful gods. No useless Drunk would be able to achieve all of that.
so an anarchist/activist type?
 
so an anarchist/activist type?
Very much so.

In Myths concerning Dionysus, especially if he's around cities, there's a tendency for some Kings to piss him off and he in turn converts the population of the city in question, mostly the women, turn into Maenads and call for his armies of Satyrs and they tear the men and the establishment apart with their bare hands.
 
Ok, now that Dionysus is set as the usurper, who should I be?
 
*Shrug*

Whoever you want.

Also I forgot to mention, Poseidon will probably start some shit because he's tried to overthrow Zeus before. So he'd probably try to take over after the Usurper does their thing.
 
that's less than useful...

The way I see it, I have four options if I want my parent to be Dionysus' opposite;
  1. Athena: Wisdom VS Insanity.
  2. Apollo: Planned Artistry VS Blind Creativity.
  3. Hermes: Work VS Leisure
  4. Hephestus: Urbanisation VS Wilderness.
 
that's less than useful...

The way I see it, I have four options if I want my parent to be Dionysus' opposite;
  1. Athena: Wisdom VS Insanity.
  2. Apollo: Planned Artistry VS Blind Creativity.
  3. Hermes: Work VS Leisure
  4. Hephestus: Urbanisation VS Wilderness.
If you want maximum "No, I am your father"-ness you could have a Scion of Dionysos who was adopted by one of those (Athena has a tendency to do that).
 
that's less than useful...

The way I see it, I have four options if I want my parent to be Dionysus' opposite;
  1. Athena: Wisdom VS Insanity.
  2. Apollo: Planned Artistry VS Blind Creativity.
  3. Hermes: Work VS Leisure
  4. Hephestus: Urbanisation VS Wilderness.
You could also be a Scion of Zeus for Might Vs Social, and Maximum Sibling Rivalry.

I mean if the Gigantomachy taught Zeus anything it's that his manwhoring ways is clearly the solution to all his problems!
 
You could also be a Scion of Zeus for Might Vs Social, and Maximum Sibling Rivalry.

I mean if the Gigantomachy taught Zeus anything it's that his manwhoring ways is clearly the solution to all his problems!

To be fair, channelling their children's competitive impulses toward one another is a time-honored management method for monarchs who can't keep it in their pants.

Therefore, it can be argued that Zeus having more children makes him safer on his throne because there are more potential targets for them to focus on besides him.
 
hm...Wisdom, Art, Tricks or Crafts...

D4? D4 it is.

Apollo it is then...now I need to think of a backstory.
Xanah threw 1 4-faced dice. Reason: Patron Total: 1
1 1
 
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True enough, though by this time, it's possible that Zeus is over-confident that he can continue dodging fate like he's did with Metis and Thetis.
Then Dionysus gives him the boot. :V

question; do gods only give birthrights connected to their own purviews?
 
right, ok, so I'm not limited to health, prophecy and/or sun until I get other gods to give me new toys then.
 
Right, update on my Apollo Scion; I've given them mortal attributes, abilities, nature, calling & virtues, but I'm stuck on a name & Birthrights. I know I want Animal (Snake) Fire & Sky for my purviews & I've decided they'll be a girl.
 
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