Sponsored Magic - Greek Pantheon

[exploding_brain]

So I have a character who's has Greek gods for his patrons, granting him access to sponsored magic (and an Item of Power as well, but that's another post).  I have some ideas about how this flavor of sponsored magic would work, but I think I could use a few more.

How should the sponsored magic of the Greek Pantheon work, generally?  How much should it vary it based on the character's primary patron deity or deities?



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Specifically, if your primary patrons are Athena and Hermes, what should your magic look like?



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More specifically, if Athena wants you to promote the idea of the classic Greek hero, and you're a great big comic book geek, while Hermes wants you to be a kick-ass-messenger-of-the-gods, and you work as a bike messenger in New York City.  And they already gave you magic wings for you helmet and bike shoes?

[fabulator]

Well I think your doing pretty well already; your definitely going to have to limit yourself to one or two gods and Athena and Hermes are good choices.

Hermes - evocation elements would be air and spirit and it sounds like you've got some focus/enchanted items already. might wanna think out about a caduceus rod as well although that brings in Hermes' healing domains which you may not want to incorporate. For thaumaturgy probably a focus on divination and veils, maybe able to do divinations at evocation speed. 

Athena - elements would be earth fire and spirit; look for some kind of shield as a focus item. something similar to Harry's shield bracelet maybe or maybe a pendant. Thaumaturgy would be focused on wards, probably at evocation speeds, and maybe summoning/binding.

Hope that helps

[ahunting]

Well for Athena its kinda easy for the first part, being good at fighting, next is major power of Athena is wisdom and foresight. So make'em good at fighting. Give'em a spear with a little true aim, Inhuman speed, Inhuman strength and some catch satisfying powers based upon deep contingency planning. Then send him/her an owl to send them on crazy missions and/or codes of honor to follow and your in business.  

[JustinS]

Athena is all about cunning and wisdom. Do impressive things with using tags, or magical maneuvers to set up a good tag later.

[GruffAndTumble]

I actually came up with an Olympian Sponsored magic, but it is technically for use by said Gods--I was considering playing a now-retired Ares, with the "patron" being the divine mantle he abandoned.

The details:
Channeling Uses
Curses and Fating—Maneuver spells to place Aspects that encourage a specific outcome, like “Doomed to die in fire,” “Unlucky in love” or “Thou Shalt Get Cut Off in Traffic All the Time.” Also usable for Blocks via curses of inaccuracy and fates of invulnerability.
Glory—Maneuver spells that place aspects on the spellcaster enhancing his appearance (mostly in the perception of others), like “As radiant and terrible as the dawn,” “Figure like a Greek God”
Disguise—Veils that rely on changing the appearance of the spellcaster

Ritual Uses
Curses and Fating—The Evocation use, but stronger
Transformation—Humans into Animals only
Divination—Prophecy only

Banned Uses
Direct Magical Attacks—The Olympians don’t do the blasts of fire and force gig. After all, even Zeus’ thunderbolts were relics forged by the Cyclopes, not actual bolts of lightning.
Summoning and Binding—Even if Greek sources depict the summoning and binding of Ghosts, no God but Hades has any use for the dead
Conjuration—The Olympians prefer real things and true materials to wonders wrought of ectoplasm
Wards—There have been noted cases of Olympians losing their treasures or having their homes invaded. Vigilance, not magical security, is the only solution for such a being.

[exploding_brain]

Oooh, there are some good ideas here, thanks.  I think I'll point our new GM at this thread, in case he wants to bring other Greek Pantheon sponsored NPCs into the game.

I feel like my current version of Athenian/Hermesian sponsored magic is kind of an anti-climax at this point.

First, they want him to be a good messenger and herald of their ideas, so we start off with an item of power, based on Hermes's wings, that grants inhuman speed and a little protection.

Second, he still has to get places quick, so Sponsored Magic allows him to perform rituals to open passages to the Nevernever, and even do so with evocation's methods and speed.  He can also do a little bit of communication related ritual magic, mostly divination and reverse divination for sending messages.

Third, most of his evocations center around the ideal of the hero.  I'm sure Athena would prefer more references from traditional Greek myths, but she's read The Hero With 1000 Faces, so she's ok with the fact that most of her champion's evocations involve stealing the shticks of Marvel Comics Superheroes.  Magic is all about belief, and he believes in Wolverine, The Hulk, and Nightcrawler, in addition to the Greek Gods.  Also Jedi.

So far my guideline is that most of his evocation magic should look like Spirit Evocations, or tricks with gates to the Nevernever.  Spirit is pure force, so I've got a good bit of leeway with that, but I'd like to refine the list of possibilities and restrictions a bit.  I'd also like to get a better handle on what does and doesn't belong on the list of reasonable rituals.

Removing summoning and binding sounds right, transformations that make someone faster or more persuasive should probably be in.  Wards yes, but maybe with some restrictions?  Just brainstorming here.  Thanks for the suggestions so far, hope I get to hear a few more.