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The Scion Companion is the latest and possibly last supplement for the popular Scion roleplaying game published by White Wolf Studios. This book was previously available chapter-by-chapter in PDF format, but was recently collected in a traditional bound cover to match the other books.
Before I get into the content of this supplement, I'd like to complain just a bit. A few months back, White Wolf released Scion: Ragnarok which not only covered the end of the world (from the Norse point of view), but offered write-ups on lots of Norse gods (greatly expanding the Aesir pantheon included in the original Scion: Hero book), Norse-flavored abilities, Norse-centric enemies, etc etc. Now they're saying that Companion is the last book - so in short, none of the other pantheons will get this same sort of kingly treatment. Maybe I'm just bitter, because the Aesir have never been one of my favorite pantheons, but it seems a bit unbalanced to write a book that's all about one pantheon, and then not bring out any additional material for any of the others.
With that out of the way, let's discuss the Companion itself. It's a collection of various new pantheons, abilities, game info and other miscellaneous stuff that was left out of the other books. Say you liked the Atlantean pantheon in Scion: Demigod but were disappointed that they didn't have a pantheon-specific ability. The Companion takes care of that, and also offers Creatures and Relics and such that are designed with that pantheon in mind.
The Companion adds the Tuatha (Celtic gods), Celestial Bureaucracy (Chinese gods), and Devas (Hindu gods) to the game. Each of these pantheons comes complete with a unique purview, and various relics, creatures, guides, followers and monsters inspired by the myths surrounding them. My feelings on them in brief:
The Tuatha - At first I was annoyed, because I'd made this pantheon myself before I knew they were bringing out a book with more pantheons. Of course, it's not the first time I've wasted hours making something for a game. White Wolf presents a well-rounded version of the pantheon that is pretty close to what I came up with, and their unique purview - Enech - is more interesting than what I came up with. It involves geasa, which are a lot of fun.
Celestial Bureaucracy - I almost made this one, too, but was daunted by the fact that the Chinese often elevated mortals to "godhood" just for being awesome. Definitely glad to let White Wolf do the work here. A good variety of the most well-known Chinese gods are presented here. Their unique ability - Tai Yi - is pretty interesting, but we haven't made much use of it yet in our gaming group.
Devas - White Wolf was a bit crazy to take a widely-practiced religion and try to shoe-horn it into their game. The Hindu religion is really fascinating and I'm not sure that I entirely agree with how it was interpreted here. Nonetheless, at the GM's behest I made a Devas-descended character and have been testing their unique purview - Samsara - which appears very unbalanced. More playtesting will be required before it's decided if it will be allowed in the game as-is, modified, or outright forbidden.
And then there's the dumb section of the book. The waste of paper. The "World at War"chapter, which offers an alternative World War II setting, complete with Axis and Allies pantheons. While at first I was amused at playing a Scion of Johnny Appleseed, the more I looked at this chapter the more annoyed I became. It's ridiculous, over the top, and really specialized for a time period that our group is not interested in playing in. Not to mention that it brings out the worst in certain Nazi-obsessed gamers in my group. Yeah, you know who you are.
The Scion Companion also offers some alternative Boons (replacing some very weak or overly-specialized abilities with more useful or interesting ones), and lots of new Knacks for use with your epic attributes. This has been especially popular with our group, because the limited selection in the core books quickly make characters redundant. More choices allow for more customization and a more varied party.
Over all, the Companion is a valuable resource for Scion players and Storytellers, as it also includes rules for mass combat and other game mechanics that were left out. And if for some bizarre reason you've ever felt the need to play a daughter of Betsy Ross battling Nazi Scions of Freya, then I guess it's also the book for you.
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