True enough. Connecting this to the customized-spells-at-chargen discussion we had earlier:
Would you be okay with instilling an effect in a talisman that is exactly a core rulebook spell, except with Range reduced from Touch to Personal to take advantage of the talisman?
Would you be okay with a simple level-5 MuIm spell instilled in a cloak that made the cloak look like other outfits? (I might have some leftover Lab Total.)
Yeah, enchantments are fine.
Almost everyone takes a look at them and if I miss something they'll catch it just, list it out, guidelines and all.
I also vote for Vis Allergy as something that feels balanced in a manner that is reminiscent of Magic Addiction. I fact, I might suggest that concentration rolls (a la Magic Addiction) be added to the rules set for Vis Allergy.
So, I'm currently in that state of sick where everything I talk about ends up getting related back to being sick. With the tonsilitius, I can brush my teeth, despite the nausea and pain, so long as I concentrate very hard on the task at hand. I think that likewise, a combination of Vim prowess plus concentration skill would be the way to grit your teeth and bear through the Vis Allergy.
Tangent: Viscaria has Imbued with Spirit of Terram, effectively making her (Fatigue Levels) worth of vis. Now, either Eskil reacts to V the same way Eskil reacts to any other half a rook of Terram Vis, or maybe the reaction is unusual in a way that suggests a possible end-run around the vis issue (essentially, by using Magic Animal Might instead of vis, which I think there are Mysteries for).
Thanks for the ideas about Vis Allergy. I'm looking only for a Minor Flaw though, so I think I'll end up going a different direction (nerfing the Deleterious Circumstances situations to only when holding a rook or more of vis).
Interesting tangent about Viscaria. It's true that my inclination is to treat her like a creature of Magic Might for these purposes: sensable using Magic Sensitivity, and ... hmm, dunno about the vis. If Viscaria were killed, would there be vis left in the corpse? (only hypothetically mind you :mrgreen: )
The tonsillitis sucks, amul - hope your improvement is quick.
I have now updated Tranquillina's background and her starting character build. These are in final form, modulo any last comments that people have (might as well let me know now! - I welcome your suggestions for improvements or corrections).
While fleshing out her back story, an alluring idea came to me about a Hermetic name that her pater could have given her; that's why I'm now referring to her as Tranquillina instead of Eskil (her birth name); sorry for any confusion 
The rest of this post should make it easier to verify that the starting character has been built correctly.
XP and spell levels to spend
Years 1-5: 75 (Native Language) + 45 = 120
Years 6-12: 7 years @ 15 = 105
Years 13-27: 240 xp + 120 spell levels = 360
Years 28-57: 28 years[sup]1[/sup] @ 30 = 840
Magic Sensitivity[sup]2[/sup]: 5
Total XP and spell levels to spend: 1430
[sup]1[/sup] Two years were spent in lab work.
[sup]2[/sup] The Virtue grants level 1 in the corresponding Ability.
XP and spell levels spent
Magic Theory[sup]3[/sup]: 70
Spell Mastery[sup]4[/sup]: 15
Other Abilities: 410
Corpus[sup]3[/sup]: 234
Other Arts: 336
Spell Levels: 365
Total XP and spell levels spent: 1430
[sup]3[/sup] These xp have been counted separately due to Tranquillina's Affinities.
[sup]4[/sup] Flawless Magic gives Mastery level 1 for all spells and doubles xp put into further Mastery. Three of Tranquillina's spells have been raised to Mastery level 2, costing her 5 xp each.
Tranquillina's talisman is a long cloak of dark grey wolfskin, its predominant decoration being a fibula (a Roman-style fastening brooch). The fibula is a square piece of human bone (from a scapula, actually, not a leg), with the two-key House Bonisagus insignia inlaid upon it in gold. The two circles in the keys' handles are set with amber and yellow topaz stones, while the third circle formed by the crossing of the keys is set with an opal. A nearby fold of wolfskin is available to cover the fibula if discretion is necessary.
Attunements: The cloak gives Tranquillina bonuses on spells that alter or suppress her image (+5), Corpus spells (+3), spells affecting eyes (+6), spells related to peace (+4), spells that transform her (+4), and spells related to travel (+4). Only the highest bonus applies to any one spell.
Capacity: There are 12 pawns' worth of effects already in the cloak; it currently does not have room for any more, although its capacity could easily be increased.
Instilled effects
Aura of Ennobled Presence (MuIm level 10, one use per day = level 10)
Doublet of Impenetrable Silk (MuAn 15, +4 for constant effect = level 19)
Gift of the Bear's Fortitude (MuCo 25, +5 for twenty-four uses per day = level 30)
Invisible Sling of Vilano (ReTe 10, +6 for fifty uses per day = level 16)
Outfit for Any Occasion (MuIm, changes the appearance and feel of the cloak - Base 2, Per, +2 Sun, Ind; +5 for twenty-four uses per day = level 10)
Shape of the Woodland Prowler (MuCo(An) 25, -5 for Personal instead of Touch, +2 for three uses per day = level 22)
Tranquillina's statistics when in wolf form
Characteristics: Int +3, Sta 0, Str -2, Dex +1, Qik +1, Com +3, Prs 0, Per +2
Size: -1
Additional Virtues and Flaws: Long-Winded (+3 on non-spell Fatigue rolls), Sharp Ears (+3 to hearing rolls); Compulsion (killing), Infamous
Qualities relevant to play: Keen Sense of Smell (+3 to smell rolls, +2 to Hunt rolls)
Additional Personality Traits: Brave +3, Cowardly +3
Combat
Soak: +1
Teeth: Initiative -1, Attack +2, Defense +0, Damage +0
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, 0, -1, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-4), -3 (5-8), -5 (9-12), Incapacitated (13-16)
Abilities
Athletics 5 (distance running)
Artes Liberales 1 (logic)
Awareness 3 (smell)
Brawl 5 (teeth)
Civil and Canon Law 1 (international law)
Code of Hermes 2 (apprentices)
Finesse 1 (Terram)
Gaelic 5 (expansive vocabulary)
Hunt 4 (track by smell)
Latin 4 (Hermetic usage)
Magic Theory 6+2 (Corpus)
Magic Sensitivity 3 (magical creatures)
Order of Hermes Lore 1 (Hermetic lineages)
Parma Magica 3 (Ignem)
Penetration 2 (Perdo)
Survival 5 (winter)
This post describes the two years of lab work from Tranquillina's past and contains the relevant Lab Total calculations (mostly for her talisman).
Age 37: Tranquillina spends all four seasons in the lab. I'm assuming that by this year, Tranquillina had already achieved her current scores of Magic Theory 6, Cr 6, Mu 8, and An 8, and also that she had arranged for the physical cloak and fibula to be crafted for her. It's not realistic for her Corpus score to have already been at its current score of 26; I used a score of 18, which is what she would have after investing half of the XP necessary to reach 26.
1203.1: Opens the wolfskin cloak for enchantment as a compound item, using the largest number of pawns of vis required for any single component. The cloak itself is a large leather item (4x2); all the parts of the fibula are tiny, and the semi-precious gems (1x12) have the most base points (bone is 1x3, gold is 1x10). Magic Theory score of 6 permits all these components. No Lab Total required (thankfully! but vomit all over the place this season).
1203.2: Attunes the cloak as her talisman. No Lab Total required. Attunes her talisman to provide a +3 bonus to Corpus spells (from amber).
1203.3: Instills Doublet of Impenetrable Silk into her talisman. Lab Total: Mu 8 + An 8 + Int 3 + Magic Theory 8 + aura 3 + talisman bonus 5 + material bonus ("strength" from topaz) 4 - Vis Allergy 1 = 38. Attunes her talisman to provide a +4 bonus to spells that transform her (from cloak).
1203.4: Makes a Longevity Ritual for herself. Lab Total: Cr 6 + Co 18 + Int 3 + Magic Theory 8 + aura 3 - Vis Allergy 3 = 35. Lots of dry heaving around the vis.
Age 55: Tranquillina spends all four seasons in the lab.
1221.1: Instills Aura of Ennobled Presence and Imaginary Wardrobe into her talisman. Lab Total: Mu 8 + Im 8 + Int 3 + Magic Theory 8 + aura 3 + talisman bonus 5 + existing Mu effect 1 + shape/material bonuses ("alter wearer's image" from cloak, "images" from opal; capped by Magic Theory score) 6 - Vis Allergy 1 = 41. Attunes her talisman to provide a +5 bonus to spells that alter or suppress the wearer's image (from cloak).
1221.2: Instills Gift of the Bear's Fortitude into her talisman. Lab Total: Mu 8 + Co 26 + Int 3 + Magic Theory (specialized in Corpus) 9 + aura 3 + talisman bonus 5 + existing Mu effects 3 + shape/material bonuses ("transform self" from jewelry/clothing, "strength" from topaz; capped by Magic Theory score) 7 - Vis Allergy 1 = 63. Attunes her talisman to provide a +6 bonus to spells affecting eyes (from opal).
1221.3: Instills Invisible Sling of Vilano into her talisman. Lab Total: Re 8 + Te 5 + Int 3 + Magic Theory 8 + aura 3 + talisman bonus 5 + material bonus ("controlling movement" from amber) 3 - Vis Allergy 1 = 34. Attunes her talisman to provide a +4 bonus to spells related to peace (from gold).
1221.4: Instills Shape of the Woodland Prowler into her talisman. Lab Total: Mu 8 + An 8 + Int 3 + Magic Theory 8 + aura 3 + talisman bonus 5 + existing Mu effects 4 + material bonus ("turn into wolf" from animal hide; capped by Magic Theory score) 6 - Vis Allergy 1 = 44. Attunes her talisman to provide a +4 bonus to spells related to travel (from opal).
More for my own convenience than anything else, I'm also recording here the various shape and material bonuses corresponding to the components of the cloak.
Amber: Corpus +3, controlling movement +3
Animal hide: turn into wolf +7
Cloak: flight +3, transform wearer +4, alter/suppress wearer's image +5
Gold: control people +2, health +2, prevent aging +3, induce greed +4, nobility +4, peace +4, bonus to affect wealth +4
Human bone: destroy human mind +3, destroy human body +4
Jewelry/clothing: move self +2, protect self +2, transform self +4
Opal: images +2, imagination +2, invisibility +2, memory +4, travel +4, eyes +6
Topaz: courage +4, leadership +4, pride +4, strength +4, controlling wild beasts +5
Hey Fixer, it looks like I was wrong about this. I did a really close reading of the CrCo guidelines and spells; apparently, spells that actually heal wounds can't cure diseases or vice versa, but spells that give you a bonus to your Recovery rolls apply to both wounds and diseases. Weird....
Do you have Heirs to Merlin, or do you need me to fill in some back story about Maximianus?
I would again question the vis allergy as is on the sheet. Deleterious Circumstances is uncommon situation. I'm not sure touching a rook of vis would ever come up in a game. Does that make it rare? Is it easily avoidable? Yes. Why is it a flaw then? How can you work in the lab is you fear your tools? sure you vomit all over the place but it did not seem to be a flaw. There was no bad effect from it other than cosmetic effects. You still work with vis. If you had a fear of heights and your lab was a overhanging balcony with glass floors, do you think you could craft an item for a year? Even go there? How do you concentrate on something when you fear it.
If JL says it is fine than I'll drop it. It just seems like it should be a crippling fear for a Magus and a easily avoidable flaw.
How much vis does Korvin carry on him? Alexei?
I don't have a good answer to this issue, and my throwing out a rook was a point for discussion, not a "this ruling is my final" type thing. I think halving CTs and LTs when using or working with a rook of vis might be an issue. The one issue that will come up annually is the Aegis, if she participates in the ritual and it gets to 10th magnitude, she's going to be ill all day long. Her ability to Commune, should she desire will also be hampered. And when I say participates, I mean she's involved, but not casting, and is able to enjoy the benefits of the Aegis without a token.
I guess one could argue that there is a Lab total for Preparing for Enchantment: MTx2. This would limit the opening of the device to MT if it is 10 pawns or more to open. Meaning Tranquilla would have to construct a device that only needed 9 pawns to open to skirt under her allergy limit. When opening additional capacity in her talisman, she could only invest 9 pawns at a time, or when her MT is greater than or equal to 22, she could invest more.
Cool concepts need to be balanced for maintainability, and I think this flaw is bordering on the high maintenance side of things.
Korvin carries a rook but it would have no Deleterious effect on Tranquillina because she is not carrying it. Once sensed, should should be afraid of Korvin and not want to be in the same room as him. If that sounds logical, then how does she work in a lab even if there is not a rook of vis present.
I'm just putting on a SG hat when I bring this up. I just think the combination of the flaws make it impossible or nearly so to do work with enchantments. Part of this is because the Fear flaw is vague. I have vertigo with heights so it could be considered a fear/phobia. I can not even imagine trying to work at height. I would be seriously non functional. I try to extrapolate that into a YEAR or even 3 months of work when I think of this. How would a magus work if they did not want to be in their lab when they are working on an enchantment because it made them uncomfortable?
It is why I like Peregrine's Vis Allergy. It is not crippling and give logical downside when having to work with something that bothers you. Like Painful magic that it was based on.
How did I miss Fear (of Vis)? I blame some other things going on in RL. Yeah, it's hard to see how a magus who is afraid of vis is going to carry vis, and then even work with it. How does she overcome that fear? How did she acquire the fear?
Ah. I would have thought like you.
May I suggest keeping the lvl 15 version and trading the lvl 20 for a Sun duration Wizard's Communion (useful for the Aegis)?
Yes.
I thought about this, trying to find a workable solution within the rules, but I have a hard time finding one.
Best solution I have: Treat it as a negative faerie sympathy (from RoP: F). This exists as a minor flaw.
You can also try it as a Baneful Circumstance.
Lots of input here - thank you all. I'll discuss Fear of vis in this post, Deleterious Circumstances in the next.
This is probably an oversimplification on my part, but much of the feedback in the past several posts seems to be interpreting the Fear as a Major Personality Flaw - a defining aspect that is strong enough to induce risky behavior. My intention was more in keeping with the idea of Minor Personality Flaws (emphasis added):
My idea was that Tranquillina would, for example, prefer not to store vis in her lab or sanctum; when she had to work with it in the lab, she would organize her schedule so that all the vis-touching happened in a concentrated interval, with plenty of time for a hot bath afterwards; that she would always ask someone else to carry vis for her before agreeing to do it herself; etc. In other words, jebrick's remark that it would need to be a flaw with "no bad effect from it other than cosmetic effects" is pretty much in line with how I envision Minor Personality Flaws. (Compare, for example, to Carefree, Optimistic, Pessimistic, Temperate....)
That being said, if it seems too unrealistic for a maga to have enough fear of vis to be worth a Flaw, I can relegate that aspect of her personality to roleplaying only. There are several Personality Flaws that I could elevate into a more explicit part of her persona: Humble, Oversensitive to disrespect, or Pessimistic spring to mind as possibilities (or Driven or Obsessed, if I wanted to emphasize her goals more, or even Infamous if I wanted to emphasize her twice-dysfunctional apprenticeship). What do you think?
I'm finding it harder to pin down the discussion so far about the proposed Deleterious Circumstances. For a Flaw with an explicit mechanical disadvantage such as this, obviously the balance of how rare/commom the circumstances are is of crucial importance. Strangely, some of the feedback seems to be that the proposed rook-of-vis circumstances is so rare as to be "easily avoided", while other feedback is that it's too crippling! Just as strangely, I find myself in sympathy with both critiques.
I think that when we usually consider Deleterious Circumstances, we think of a situation that hampers spell-casting (while in a forest, for example) but not typically lab activities. The rook-of-vis proposal does this sort of backwards: situations where this would hamper actual spell-casting are in fact easily avoidable, but there are several lab activities that are essentially ruled out in practice. Still, there are lots more lab activities still in play than covered by the Deleterious Circumstances, so it wouldn't shut off the lab entirely by any means....
Anyway, I like this Flaw's concept for Tranquillina a lot, but it's still hard for me to judge how reasonable it is as a mechanical disadvantage. I can say that I don't see the laboratory disadvantages as being crippling, but would merely give her character some definition (how annoying that she won't join our Wizard's Communion, how strange that she doesn't open space in her talisman efficiently, how surprising that she got another Corpus specialist to make her second-gen Longevity Ritual). But if the lack of spell-casting penalties in practice makes it seem like a bad implementation of a Flaw, I don't want to press the issue.
Possibilities in its place:
I'll have to look at these at home this evening - only have those in hard copy. I also thought of Flawed Parma Magica (Vim) ... but does that even come up, needing Parma against Vim spells?
Speaking of serf's Parma - Jonathan, I think I have Heirs of Merlin, I recently acquired a bunch of 4th ed. books - but I'll have to make sure; I'll come begging to you for info if it turns out that I don't.
This is problematic as the reasons she would need to use vis in excess of 9 pawns are mostly related to the lab, perhaps related to her talisman or other enchantments. Ultimately this is something that can't be RP'ed through and isn't eligible for benefiting from a Confidence Point. So this Flaw bears the hallmarks of a flaw that has no downside and can be avoided by almost normal character behavior. And I doubt any of us here would be satisfied if Tranquilla had to use a Confidence Point to do lab work with 10+ pawns of vis. And then jebrick has a good point, how often is Tranquilla going to carry vis? Stories here haven't ventured into collect vis variety... Vis collection is more or less automatic as this is a story of hermetic adulthood, and what you do with the vis and the choices you make with how resources are spent are much more interesting to me than how do we nurture and procure our scarce resources which is common to spring/winter covenants.
Those you describe again are Personality flaws and RP'ed or should be RP'ed and primarily color PC interactions or possibly NPC interactions. Take Fiona's Secretive for example, she's reticent until you ask her a question. Alexei's Dutybound also makes it easy to compel him in multiple ways to a Miles story. I don't see being able to play up a fear of vis all that easy, and it could be that you are an unknown quantity, I have nothing to base your RP on, so since I see it as being difficult and others see it as being difficult, I think it makes sense to pick another flaw that is easier for us to see but conveys the same sense of vis avoidance, if possible.
These are up to you, but I see these as easier to play than Fear of Vis...
How many lab activities necessitate the use of a rook of vis? You're talking about a situation which requires investing 100+ levels of an effect. Unless we completely nerf her ability to prepare devices for enchantment, this is, again a flaw which can be simply be overcome by the character never carrying more than 9 pawns of vis.
I think that it makes a bad flaw in practice, because it is so easy for the player to avoid it. And quite simply, the only other thing I see as being a penalty is her 2nd generation Longevity ritual. And there's a character at the covenant who can easily take care of that issue. Extending it further is just nerfing her ability to prepare for enchantment, and really that's not entirely reasonable, either.
Having Flawed Parma Vim makes it incredibly easy to knock down your Parma. That's not really a good thing. IT also makes it easy to toss a spell at you that might trigger a twilight episode.
As i pointed out much earlier in the thread, making a LR would not be a problem. she and Korvin could work something out and she would just have to be available for the season. But CASTING the LR once it is made is up to her and not Korvin. If Korvin cranks out a 100 point LR that takes into account her waster of Vis flaw she will have to cast the ritual, by herself, with 3 rooks of vis.
I have Heirs of Merlin just in case you do not.
I haven't run the numbers for Tranquilla, yet, but I believe I made an egregious error. I indicated that advancement was per RAW, which was 30 xp per year, and I then compounded that error by discussing strategies for bypassing the penalties of lab advancement. That is entirely incorrect. Post gauntlet advancement is 40 xp per year (10 per season). So, assuming you spent two years on lab work, you should be spending 1200-80=1,120 xp on advancement where you probably spent 840.
Go ahead and fix her up, and I'll plug her into MetaCreator when ready.