Herman of Bonisagus

UseName: Herman of Bonisagus
Age: 25 as of 1220

Int: +2 Per: +2 Com: +2 Pre: +1 Dex: 0 Qui: -3 Sta: +2 Str: 0

Personality: Curious (+3)

Confidence Score: 1; Points: 3

Warping: 0

Silver: 3 lbs

Vis Stocks: 2 Animal, 1 Corpus, 1 Terram, 1 Vim

Free virtues: The Gift, Hermetic Magus

Virtues:
Affinity for Intellego
Puissant Intellego
Affinity for Magic Theory
Puissant Magic Theory (free from house)
Personal Vis Source (+2 / year, variable)
Skilled Parens
Good Teacher
Book Learner
Free Study
Second Sight
Minor magical focus on understanding faerie

Flaws:
Deficient Technique: Perdo (Major, Hermetic)
difficult spontaneous magic (minor, hermetic)
ability Block - Martial (minor, General)
faerie Friend (minor, story)
covenant Upbringing (minor, personality)
minor compulsive curiousity (minor, personality)
small frame (minor, general)
susceptible to divine aura (minor, hermetic)

Arts:
Aquam: 4 (10 xp)
Auram: 2 (3 xp)
Corpus: 5 [2 xp]
Creo: 4 [4xp]
Herbam: 5 (15 xp)
Intellego: 12 + 3 (inital 52 xp + 50%) [7xp]
Rego: 5 (15 xp)
Terram: 5 (15 xp)
Vim: 5 (15 xp)

Spells:
Clear Sight of ther Naiad 5 (InAq R: Per, D: Mom, T: Vision)
Touch of the Pearls 5 (InAq R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind)
Break the Oncoming Wave 10 (ReAq R: Per, D: Conc, T: Ind)
Ward Against Rain 10 (ReAu R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind)
Intuition of the Forest 10 (InHe R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Group)
Shriek of the Impending Shafts 15 (InHe R: Per, D: Sun, T:
Hearing)
Repel the Wooden Shafts 10 (ReHe R: Voice, D: Mom, T: Ind)
Eyes of the Treacherous Terrain 15 (InTe R: Per, D: Conc, T:
Vision)
Weilding the Invisible Sling 10 (ReTe R: Voice, D: Mom, T: Ind)
The Invisible Eye Revealed 25 (InVi R: Per, D: Conc, T: Touch)
Piercing the Faerie Veil 20 (InVi R: Per, D: Conc, T: Vision)
Gathering the Esence of the Beast 15 (ReVi R: Touch, D: Mom, T:
Ind)

I would expect to cast the Scales of the Magical Weight and Sense the
Nature of Vis as Spontaneous spells (using fatigue due to my flaws)
I would also expect to be able to use Spontaneous to detect the
presence of an Aura (separate tests for each kind), and to measure it.

Abilities:
High German(prose): 5 (free)
Area Lore, around Fengheld (geography): 2 (15 xp)
Awareness (alterness): 2 (15 xp)
Survival (Forest): 2 (15 xp)

Teaching (Magic Theory): 2 (15 xp)
Profession, Scribe (copying): 1 (5 xp)
Etiquette (magi): 1 (5 xp)
Order of Hermes Lore (history): 1 (5 xp)
House Bonisagus Lore (history): 1 (5 xp)
Leadership (in laboratory): 2 (15 xp)
Code of Hermes (apprentices): 1 (5 xp)
Parma Magica (vim): 1 (5 xp)
Concentration (spell concentration): 1 (5 xp)
Artes Liberal (ceremonial): 1 (5 xp)
Philosophae (ceremonial): 1 (5xp)
Second Sight (faerie): 3 (25 xp, level 1 was free)
Faerie Lore (faerie mounds): 3 (30 xp)
Latin (hermetic usage): 4 (50 xp)
Magic Theory (Intellego): 6 + 2 (inital 105 xp = 70xp + 50%)[3xp]

Possessions:
Personal Vis Source - Plant, produces twice per year, variable vis
Hard to get, easy to transport lab supplies (worth 3 pounds of silver)
Magic Theory Tractatus (Q10)

Backstory:
Herman (born Henry) was born to a covenfolk couple who worked in
Fengheld as house servants. Even as a young boy he was curious about
everything, and frequently got into the magus quasi-public spaces.

Covenfolk are so used to the effects of the gift that it took
until he was nearly 10 years old before it was realized he had the
gift.  He was taken as an apprentice by Joseph of Bonisagus, in
part because he had already learned to read and write Latin.

During his apprenticeship his curiousity caused many minor
incidents.  His interest in things related to Faerie seems to have
interested a minor flying faerie named Aerianos, who has taken to
visitng Herman regularly.  Herman and he get along well, but they
seem to get into more trouble together than individually.
Investigating warding spells magus have put on their sanctum is
not generally taken well, even if none were damaged or entered.

Joseph had, for some time, been working on arranging to move to
Irencilla to further his own researches.  The move became possible
just over 4 years ago, so they moved.  The move seems to have
worked well for Joseph, but was not particularly good for Herman.

At the same time, while interested in faerie, Herman is not
particularly respectful (much less reverential) of faerie, and
does not seem to share the Merinita ideals.  Between the bad
philosophical fit, and the (few here) magi that he upset during his
apprenticeship, Joseph encouraged Herman to look for another place
to grow.  And given the problems, moving back to Fengheld was not
a good choice.

Aerianos:
Aerianos is a faerie whose story is build from tales of the boy who talked to the wind. These are stories of winds that help boys, but often also cause problems either due to misunderstanding or flightiness.

Aerianos has played the story several times. He took up with herman before he started his apprenticeship. The apprenticeship itself was interesting, and Herman's slightly better luck in communicating with Aerianos kept him interested.

Aerianos tends to be interested in things the wind can see, so out of doors. And he tends to be interested in things that react to him (leaves swirling, etc.) He has once or twice shown up indoors, in contexts which suggest that he finds magic, and the way magic reacts to things, interesting. These were the incidents were Aerianos encouraged Herman to investigate sanctum wards. He has sometimes shown up when Herman needed help, with lifting things, lifting himself, that sort of thing. These often result in getting what was wanted, but with side-effects. He seems to be whimsical, but not to the degree of enjoying making trouble. Rather he seems sad or confused when his help results in trouble. He seems to share Herman's curiosity, which presumably contributes to his staying around.

How cognizant Aerianos was or is shall be determined by the storyguide and the progress of events.

Advancement
1210 Spring 2xp (+50%) exposure in magic theory, 1 pawn personal Vim vis
1210 Summer 5xp (+50%) story in intellego, found 2 pawns Animal vis, 1 pawn Terram vis
1210 Autumn 11xp (+3 book learner) Creo Summa, 1 pawn personal Corpus vis
1210 Winter 14xp (+3 book learner) Corpus Summa

The correct spelling of the Arts is Terram, Vim and Intellego.

Just for your information, your magus seems 'over-specialized", as the core book define it. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it means you will be pretty much helpless outside of information-gathering.

Also note that your magus does not have a score in Parma Magica.

But for the most part the character's stats are fine so far.

Arg, forgot the parma. I'll have to free up points for one level of that. I'll swap Finesse for Parma.
And replace mountain with the forest specialization.
I realize he is over-specialized. I actually started with an even more specialized design, and realized that was too much. If you feel it is a problem, I will reduce it.

I have added skill specializations. (except Scribe. What are appropriate specialties for scribe?) I will add adjectives for his stats, although I have more trouble with that.

Possible specializations for Profession: Scribe include copying, a specific aspect of the job (legibility, elegant script, preservation of manuscripts) or scribing on a specific subject (an Art or Ability, a professional domain like legal documents).

As for over-specialization in an Art, it's up to you. But be warned that your character will often feel like he cannot contribute anything useful. Outside of Intellego, he won't be able to cast even spells that he knows when he finds himself in a foreign aura (like the Divine aura of a town). And if he faces an enemy with magic resistance, he won't be able to penetrate with offensive spells, nor will his defense sponts be strong enough to be of any use. In short, you risk having him be a one-trick pony -- good at investigating but nothing else.

I'll let the others weight in on the subject. Ask them how many sponts they have to do outside of their specialties.

If it will make it easier for you to tell stories that work for all of us, I can reduce the Intellego to 12 + 3 (52 xp spent), and put 15 xp in Imagem, 10 xp in Herbam, and 3 xp in Aquam. I am hoping to bring a Creo Summa with me.

I am starting to look at spells. Given that wards need to penetrate, taking a circle ward against something magical (as distinct from a ward against normal animals, which does not need penetration) at level 20, when I will be getting a negative (or, if I am lucky small positive) penetration is not a good idea. I should instead take it at 10 or 15 (probably 15, figuring I will get some penetration now, and it will still be useful when I get a bit better?)

That's the thing about a very high Magic Theory score -- it lets you learn high-level spells, but doesn't help at all getting them cast with any kind of Penetration.

And if you take any kind of ward, you score in Intellego doesn't help at all, which is one more reason why those 28 xp can be useful elsewhere. I suggest a secondary concentration instead of scattering those points too much. Imaginem is already another magus' specialization, so it will be easy to improve that score if the magi decide to teach each other (or write books). They are losing their Herbam specialist, so that might work. Aquam is always good for an island-based covenant.

So it seems to me it is either (in terms of xp allocation) 15 Herbam, 10 Aquam, and 3 Auram, or +6 Vim, 21 Herbam, and 1 somewhere (Aquam I guess). Does either seem to fit better?

See what spells you'd like him to have and decide from there...

Arts adjusted, spells added. I replaced Penetration with Concentration when I saw how many of my spells had a concentration duration, and realized that he will want to re-create ward spells, all of which take concentration rolls as you draw the circle. He will need to learn Finesse and Penetration some time.

Reviewing, I realized a minor question. Does the speciality of Magi in Teaching cover apprentices, or will I need to change the speciality at a level increase to get the bonus with an apprentice?

I like your background story and I think your distribution of XP looks balanced.
You only have ranks in two Techniques which I find a little odd but on the other hand all of your known spells uses Intellego and Rego so if that's how he is specialized then it's just fine.

I don't see how Japik wouldn't approve of him, actually I think he would get along very well with both Herman and his faerie friend.

I see them as seperate. BTW, an apprentice teaching to a full magus is something unlikely to happen, so I don't see that specialization happening for a just-Gauntleted magus. On the other hand, you could have been tapped to help teach another magus' apprentice, so that it certainly possible.

Another possibility for a teaching specialization is to select a specific subject (say Intellego or Magic Theory).

In your spells, you mention that he would probably use spontaneous magic to cast Scales of the Magical Weight and Sense the Nature of Vis as Spontaneous, both low-level InVi spells, and taking Fatigue when you do. It might be eventually worth learning those as formulaic spells, because casting with Fatigue is always stress, so you'll have a chance of botching every time. Not so bad in a magic aura, but if you need to cast them in a foreign aura, the number of botch dice climbs quickly. This is an often-forgotten problem of spontaneous magic. Normally, a specialist would be able to cast those without Fatigue (and thus without risk), but since Herman has the Difficult Spontaneous Magic flaw, he will never be able to do that.

Yes, he should learn several of those InVi spells as formula. Given one season of lab work, he can probably learn 3 of them.
I have replaced the Teaching Specialty with Magic Theory .

For starting gear, his primary interest is books. Secondary would be the hard-to-find items needed for a lab, and silver to buy the rest.

What kinds of books? (Tractatus vs Summa)

Covering what subjects? (Arts vs Abilities)

The more of them, the lower their Quality will be.

General preference for Summa. Preference for Arts. (I would have said a preference for techniques, but it looks like we can teach each other those.) A reasonable quality book on Vim (L9 or better), and an L6 in some other form. Lower level (L3?) summa on Finesse and Penetration would make sense. And I'll accept whatever else you think is appropriate.

The covenant already has a L11Q9 summa on Vim, so I don't think you'd appreciate me giving you a second summa for that Art.

Considering Herman's interests, I think I'll give him the following resources out of Gauntlet:

• The more difficult to obtain (but easier to transport) lab equipment, worth about 3 pounds of silver
• 3 Pounds of silver (so enough to complete the lab, plus a little more)
• A tractatus (Q10) -- you can choose which Art or Ability

If you would like to advance him a few years (1 to 5) in order to acquire more resources, we can do that. Or you join the new covenant right away. Up to you.

For the tractatus, I'll take Magic Theory.

As for advancement, I think the answer is whichever you and the rest of the covenant feels would make the better story. (If some advancement would help, I can happily use the 30 xp / year, minus time for lab work, but would need to know whether he had access to a lab, presumably base, and what the aura was. I would also be happy to do more detailed advancement, but I think that would become a distraction from the stories.)

It would be nothing so simple as 30 xp/season.

Basically, what I've done before was ask the player to describe what the character was trying to achieve and how. It is kind of narrative-based, with interactions with covenants and magi. So, you would tell me where Herman heads to when he leaves Irencillia. Note that most covenants will accept visiting magi, but that they expect seasons of service (or raw vis) to pay for whatever access you'd like to their library or labs.

Here's what I had set as a baseline for Xavi's character when we advanced him (edited to fix some errors and remove stuff not relevant to your magus):

Note that, if you choose to go hunting for vis, you have to be careful not to poach a source already claimed by a covenant. And it is not without risk of injury for yourself or your shield grog.

Which bring me to a different topic. Each young magus starts with a shield grog and a personal servant. Both may have been assigned to you during your apprenticeship (that's the standard procedure) so as to get used to your Gift. It may be worth it to design them before considering advancing your magus, as their skills may determine what you can survive.

Looks good to me. No further comments.

Sounds like I should design the shield grog and the personal servant.

To make sure I understand the visiting rules, it sounds like, if I wanted to visit a covenant with a L5Q12 Corpus summa, I could agree to a seasons service, and if they were a little cooperative, after the service, study the summae for a season, use a lab for a season to extract 3 vis (5 + 5 + 2 + 8 + aura is > 20, so 3 pawns of vim vis) to pay them, and then get one season to use the lab to develop some spells within one TeFo.

let me see what I can manage for the shield grogs. It seems quite in character for Herman to go off hunting for vis.

I was looking at other things, and noticed that the existing magi have low german. Which would Irencilla have spoken, high or low?