During DriveThruRPG’s recent New Year, New Game sale, I picked up the Scion Second Edition bundle for three reasons. First, because I wanted to try out Onyx Path Publishing’s RPG of gods among humanity, second, because I wanted to try out the Storypath System, and, third, I wanted to compare a standard PDF of a game with its phone version. Since the bundle offered both versions, I snapped it up and I’m using both as my RPG-View Copies to look at Scion Second Edition Book One: Origin (Phone Version) by Onyx Path Publishing.
Phone Version vs PDF
I’m reviewing the phone version of this book while comparing it to the PDF version. Before I get into that, what is a phone version?
“Phone PDFs are normal PDF files where the title has been reformatted by the publisher to work well on typical phone-size screens. … [T]he Phone PDF uses a page size similar to your phone’s screen size. Usually all of the same content is included in the regular PDF and the Phone PDF file versions of a title. In the Phone PDF, the layout and artwork may look familiar, but the Phone PDFs are designed differently.”
Ever read a game PDF on your phone? Normally, it’s not a great experience. To address that, there’s the phone version which overcomes the poor presentation of the book by reformatting and optimizing it for your phone. How optimized? For the Scion Second Edition Book One: Origin, that means spreading 215 PDF pages across 855 small PDF pages for your phone.
Does 855 pages sound scarier than any horror RPG ever conceived? It did to me. I worried about scrolling for a rule across miles of pages. However, these documents aren’t hard to navigate through because they are hyperlinked in every way. The first pages are quick links to what you need. Bold words are clickable to take you to a particular section. It’s a PDF so you can add custom bookmarks. There were times that those 855 pages were faster to jump through than flipping through a physical copy. I came away liking this format quite a bit.
Mixed in with the single column layout is all of the art. Since art is a great way to present the world over an RPG, retaining it in the phone version is essential. How pretty does it look on your phone? Like so many things that relate to your phone’s screen size, it boils down to your love of shrunken details. The great images from the book are small on that screen and detail is harder to make out. Like all PDFs, you can zoom in on the art, but it’s still a PDF so the result is pixelated. That said, the art is there so you get the feel of the world and have images to share with the table when that’s helpful.
Overall, how does the phone version compare with the PDF? The PDF is the book laid out the same as the print copy. It’s fine, but I’d prefer the print copy over the PDF if I’m gaming but that’s because I’m dead tree over digital. That understood, I want to play a game with only the phone version as an option. The product is that slick. I’d still take a print version any day, but this is growing on me because it’s easy to search through.
But, don’t take my word for it. Want to try a phone version of a RPG for free? How about the Pugmire RPG Phone Version for free? If so, read this link and follow the discount link you’ll find there and see for yourself. Once you’ve tried Pugmire, you can see all of the phone versions of RPGs on DriveThruRPG here.
Scion Second Edition
The gods of yore never went away. They’re here, but operate in a low-key fashion compared to corporations or celebrities. Most of your friends know a person that knows an individual that says they’ve seen them, but you know that’s mess because you have seen them and called them mom and dad. In Scion, you’re the whelp of a god (or something close). As the child of god, you’re in line to ascend to godhood if no supernatural force devours you first. As the kids say, “Go with the gods!”
The game is set in The World, very much our world but the old religions were not wiped out, the gods like to stretch their legs, and you have a variety of mythical creatures and monsters to compete with. The gods and the creatures of mythology are out there, but not widely known.
Scion Second Edition is an RPG done in a series of books that allows you pick and play the power level that’s comfortable for your table. You want mortals that are just realizing their powers? That’s covered in Scion Second Edition Book One: Origins. Want more power and to be closer to the gods and godhood but still far from a touchdown? That’s covered in Scion Second Edition Book Two: Hero. Demigod, God, and Dragon are other books, power levels, and options that are coming soon for the line. You have the opportunity to play at the level that your table will most enjoy.
Storypath System
There’s the Storyteller System (largely used in the World of Darkness RPGs), the Storytelling System (used in the Chronicles of Darkness RPGs), and, in this book, among others, the Storypath System. Here’s what’s universal about those systems: d10 dice pools formed of combining an Attribute and a Skill and other factors, rolling against a target number, and counting the number of successes to determine overall success.
What’s unique about the Storypath System is that rolling a success is just the beginning of your options. Extra successes can be spent to achieve effects, reduce complications, or help to deal with godly imbalances in combat.
Failed a roll (rolled a 1 and no successes)? In this system, that’s not a win, but you do get a reward: Momentum. This is a group resource that you spend to add dice to your pool, activate abilities, and more. Your failed rolls boost the party’s chances. Is it ideal? No, but it’s a bit of payback for not getting to do what you’d hoped to and I like that, even in failing, you contribute to the game in some capacity.
Should You Phone Book It?
That’s going to come down to your love of being on the phone. If it’s your right hand and you’re rarely parted from it, I believe so. However, if the phone is not your one, true friend, phone versions of RPGs may just be oddities as opposed to good products to own.
On the other hand, if we’re discussing Scion Second Edition Book One: Origins, that’s easily answered by considering this: Would your table enjoy blazing a trail across The World to become gods? Does an improved version of White Wolf’s Storyteller System with more options appeal to you? Then I’d recommend trying out Scion Second Edition Book One: Origin (Phone Version) or the regular version, Scion Second Edition Book One: Origin, both by Onyx Path Publishing.
NOTE: This article includes affiliate links to DriveThruRPG. As a DriveThruRPG Affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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