Looking for feedback on strategy for custom user file

[Seeker1728]

I’m working on a user file to create a SW version of Scion 2E. If you’re unfamiliar with Scion, it’s basically modern myth themed “supers” where a character is (usually) the child or chosen of a diety from one of earth’s mythologies. Initially I was going to just slap the Superpowers Companion onto the base SW but there were too many things missing with that approach, requiring I dig into the editor.

I’m trying to figure out a strategy in constructing the user file to handle all the components that a Hero typically has as assets. The following are the components from Scion used to construct a character with a brief description of what each represents and I was hoping I could get some feedback on my strategy for laying out the data collections and relationships.

Calling
There are 11 of these arch-types that serve to present a role, for example Guardian, Trickster, etc. Each grants access to a restricted list of appropriate powers. A Hero inherits one of his parents Callings, and then can choose 2 additional ones to represent his own nature.

Knacks
These supernatural talents stem from a Scion's Calling, basically letting them have cool/unique abilities that are thematically tied to what the Calling's purpose serves.

Knacks come in tiers, Mortal, Heroic, Demi-God and (starting at level 16+) God as a rough correlation to SW’s Advancement Ranks. Some of these Knacks fit neatly into the Edge category, but others are more appropriate for Powers. I.E. a Trickster could pick up the Edge Thief without having to meet the normal pre-reqs or he could pick Darksight, and as he progresses in rank he can acquire more choices from this list. Mortal tier Knacks seem served best by Edges and/or certain low-level powers/spells. Heroic Knacks are noticeably more potent and tend to be represented by Superpowers better than edges

Purviews
Thematic genuinely supernatural powers that mythological entities have. A Hero inherits one of his parents Purviews, then gets to choose 2 more to represent their natural affinity from a list that all gods/mythological entities draw from. As Scions advance in rank, they can either develop these further, or pick up new Purviews to be more versatile.

Mana
I know SW uses the term “power points” but this is IMO highly confusing since it uses the same term to refer to fuel for powers or the ability to choose powers. So, I’m going to use the term “mana” when I mean fuel, and not "Power Points".
Scion has a trait called Legend that serves several purposes, most of which can be summed up as SW’s Advancement system. However, it also acts as an energy reservoir that a Hero can use in one of two ways, he can “Imbue” or he can “Spend”.
• Imbue is when the hero commits a point to fuel a knack or power, but when he “turns it off” the point returns to him ready to be reused for something else.
• Spend is much like it sounds and represents a more significant effort on the part of the Hero. Spending this energy diminishes the Hero’s reserves until they do something specific to replenish it, merely resting doesn’t return the energy. They must do things like make sacrifices, offerings, pilgrimages, services, etc that ae thematically representative of their parent and/or pantheon.
As a result, I’m wanting to use Mana to represent in SW the same sort of energy allocation that exists in Scion.


So a Hero construction runs basically like this:

• Decide what Pantheon one wants to belong to.
• Decide which Diety from that pantheon is yo Daddy/Mama/Patron
• Decide on 3 Callings, 1 of which must be inherited from the Diety.
• Decide on what Knacks your Calling grants.
• Decide on what Purviews the Hero gets. He gets a pantheon specific Purview for free, plus 1 he inherits from his divine parent, and then can choose 2 more to represent his natural talents/inclinations.
• Allot points in Stats and Skills.


There are quite a bit more options a player can pursue, but the above is a typical/basic character building process. One can be a magical creation, critter, chosen champion, bound demon, etc. But I figured I’d want to start with the various pantheons, and once I get that running smoothly, I can add more options building upon that foundation later.

From looking at the tutorials and reading a bunch of threads as well as the HLwiki, I’m thinking I should make use of Race, Factions, Groups and of course, Edges/Powers from the SPC and perhaps the Fantasy Companion, for the building blocks.


I’m going to put this into the form of a example so that it’s easier to convey/follow my strategy on this. Lets say I want to create Mera, she’s the daughter of Loki who has her father’s talent for trickery, but also a natural born fighter with a keen sense of justice.


Asgardian gives her access to a pantheon specific power of using rune magic (something else I’ll have to figure out), a +1 on Toughness, and 1d4 in Fighting and Survival for free, and a list of Norse gods to choose from as her parent from within the Faction menu.

For her Callings she chooses Trickster (inheriting her father’s talent for cleverness), adding Judge and Warrior as her other two choices.

Knacks, she gets one Mortal level Knack from each Calling, plus 1 more of her choice.

Purviews, she chooses to inherit Loki’s talent for Deception, and then choose two more he has nothing to do with.

Then she chooses Hinderances, Edges, Stats, and skills and is ready to build her myth in the modern era.


So I’m thinking the way to construct the userfile is to:
1) Make Race stand in for Pantheon. This allows one to bootstrap innate benefits/hinderances and grants access to a restricted Faction.
2) Faction = The god one is the child of. This lets me restrict what the Callings and Purviews a Scion may claim.
3) Group = Callings, one can choose 3 initially, but at each tier of advancement, one can choose an additional Calling. The Callings Group has all Callings that a character choose from, but one must be the same as one’s parent. Choosing a Calling allows one to access a restricted list of Edges/Powers that represent Knacks.
4) Purviews = custom list of powers, so if one choose Deception as a Purview, fireball ain’t on the list of available choices.
5) Knacks = custom list of Edges and Powers that fit the theme of a calling, these will largely be custom but if there’s one that’s already present in the rules, I’ll save myself the effort and use it’s ID.

Does that seem like a good strategy going forward?
Are there any elements of the editor I should make a point to use or avoid like say, gizmos or domain?

Thank you for taking the time to read and share your input.