As another way to cast it, you could focus he High Concept less on either the Runemagic OR the Freyja connection, and instead make it about the Theft itself. Theft from the Gods/Giants/Titans is a pretty old-school trope, from figures like Prometheus to Loki and Odin. You could make the Concept something about being a God-thief, with the Trouble about the fact that you got caught and are stuck paying penance."Forgive me, Freya, for I have sinned"
Silly question for the group... in theory changing Templates is possible... Changeling to Mortal is just one example.Premise is the PC (originally a Rune Mage) gained the powers not from Freya but from the mead itself. I ruled this was a one-time upgrade and no further upgrades were possible--only Refinement and/or The Sight would be allowed. We agreed that to accept more powers would be de facto full-blown service to the goddess.
Why does this character have to stay a "Rune Mage"? Couldn't the Template have shifted to something like Emissary of Power with Freya being the source of the character's current powers? The character could keep using Runes, but they would be the item of Power an Emissary is supposed to have (especially if there's an actual deal that's been struck) rather than a sword or amulet or whatever. With that, you can certainly justify a complete overhaul of the character from High Concept and Trouble all the way down -- with the possible caveat (I'd do this to my people) that if/when their "service" is finished they revert back to the Template they had before... including (if necessary/desirable) a regression back to the original skill/power levels on that older sheet. In effect the character only keeps all that progress if they stay in Freya's service. Otherwise they resume their lives very literally from the moment they left off (quaffing the drink). That would put the player/character in a position to consider carefully how much they want to maintain the new abilities vs. how much they want out from under the unexpected servitude.
Like a deal with the Fae that gets you some nifties ... once the debt is paid, you're free. But how long to do milk it and how much do you risk doing that?
Premise is the PC (originally a Rune Mage) gained the powers not from Freya but from the mead itself. I ruled this was a one-time upgrade and no further upgrades were possible--only Refinement and/or The Sight would be allowed. We agreed that to accept more powers would be de facto full-blown service to the goddess.It might be fun to put them on a slippery slope with that. You could give them the Item of Power, and bait them into a series of "one time" Sponsored Magic assistance. Over-reliance and a build-up of debt would constitute full-blown Emmisary and the template re-write, which could be a nice Noble Sacrifice in the right circumstance, but until then they could attempt to maintain a more Contract Employee relationship with Freya.
Emissary of Power was kinda ruled out since the PC's a Rune Mage (full-blown Valkyrie might justify it). We also agreed that to accept more powers would justify the Emissary power. That said, it may be that in order to acquire additional powers and/or spare her brother, the PC may have to accept EoP and total rewrite of High Concept (maybe Trouble as well?).
Going back to the God-Thief idea for a sec, just because it entertains my inner anarchist, perhaps Freya decides to use this "outsider" as an opperative with plausible deniability, and sends them off to steal other artifacts from gods and Giants and Dragons and whatnot?The Powers That Be are pretty much going along with it because the PC is the ideal 'cut-out" man: She's got some Rune-magic plus some serious mojo so she can take care of herself, yet her "official reputation" as a thief is enough to give her "plausible deniability' among the paranormal community--such as it is-- without having to be an official EoP.
A Big question for either of those or the possible/eventual Emmisary is: What is Freya's Agenda? What is she after, why is she bothering with this arrangement, and why does she consider the PC's service of enough Value for the hassle? Is she the valuable one, or is the Brother for some reason?
How does this plotline fit into the rest of the table/story? Is it going to tie into the central plotline, or will it just be that PC's individual motivation in a more background way?