I've always run cutting hair, trimming a beard, etc, as a PeCo with a Finesse roll to make it look good. I believe that PeCo removing hair from an animal is basically making the animal hairless or destroying part of an animal's hair (grooming it, basically), likewise with Finesse to make it purdy.
Right, but again, in this case we're not just trying to make the sheep hairless - we actually want to retain the fleece. It's unclear whether PeAn would allow that - perhaps with a very high Finesse roll (we only want to destroy the tiny parts of each hair that attach the rest to the sheep...).
PeAn or PeCo would destroy all of the hair/fur/wool, not remove it from the person/animal/sheep. In this instance, of PeAn, the Raw is explicit, and while cunningrat quoted it, he was a bit parsimonious.
The idea is that it damages the beast, or makes it worse somehow. Now, it can be argued that you, as a covenant want to do the same thing, just separate the hair from the hide of the sheep. And to me, that's Rego. It is certainly something that falls within the crafting area, shearing a sheep is hard. I've not done it, but I've witnessed it in person, and the people who can do it quickly and also capably have a lot of experience under their belts. PeAn destroys all the wool and leaves the sheep effectively sheared, without the benefit of the raw wool. If you want the wool, then ReAn is what's needed to separate the wool from the sheep. It's counter-intuitive, but if you keep it within the framework of Perdo makes it worse/destroys, then it does make some sense.
My general feeling is the Perdo destroys, as in makes worse, for the most part, there can be exceptions. If you're using finesse to fine tune the end look of a spell, it really should go to Rego.
I'm prepared to have everyone naysay me. This is more of my general feeling, and I'm certainly not beholden to the idea.
I'm actually thinking that shearing the sheep would be Rego, also...possibly with a T: Part? I'm having a hard time convincing myself that it's Perdo. I can almost justify a Perdo requisite since you're breaking the hair/wool off, but that feels like I'm trying to force it to be perdo somehow.
So, yeah...I'm for Rego.
I am also somewhat conservative, but it is true that Roberto is not worried about making people who disagree with him feel uncomfortable or akward. That's what they get for not having correct thoughts :mrgreen:
As for tournaments, though it did not come across in his dialogue, it isn't the conestants he thinks are stupid. It is the artificial rules of the contest that bother Roberto.
Also, knightly Orders, as we think of them, do not come about until the 14th century. The first was the Order of Saint George I believe. In the 13th century, there exists only Militant Orders of warrior monks, no mundane secular orders yet exist. And it is a streatch to think of the Milites as an Order. It is a societas within a larger House within the Hermetic Order.
Not sure if it would help but you could make magic shears. A dull knife with the ReAn on it as touch. Perhaps encase most of the blade in wood leaving an edge exposed. Use it to shear the sheep. It would cut/destroy just the hair. It would not be instant but it would make the shearer's job easier.
I just do not see anything that would do the job in either the Animal or Corpus guidelines for Rego. Unless, as Cunningrat has stated, you want to pull out the hair.
I still think it'd be Perdo, but just realized that there's a way to make it Rego. Rego can affect bodily processes too, so we can do a ReAn to make a sheep instantaneously shed all its hair. 
EDIT: "Any change that a mundane craftsman can make can also be made by Rego magic." Main book, p.78. Yeah, that's pretty clear.
The Wormwood Curse, ReAn 5, Touch/Mom/Ind
Casting this spell on a sheep instantaneously shears it of all its hair.
(Base 3 -- 'treat and process items made of animal products', 2 magnitudes for Finesse.)
The spell name is another multi-lingual pun, which I'm heartily sorry for. "Wormwood" in Russian is "Chernobyl".
It could be an interesting take on nature. Sheep, because of domestication, have stopped shedding their wool. Recently, it has been bred back into some breeds. So if an animal does not shed it's hair, could Rego magic make it do so?
I want an orange tabby tomcat for Roberto's familar 
Like John Wayne in True Grit.
PuhLeeeese?????
:mrgreen:
I get a nut in my head and I become fixated and obsessed 
Jon Wayne's Character in True Grit, Rooster Cogburn, had an orange tabby cat named General Sterling Price. I did as much research as possible on it and orange tabby cats in general (9 out of 10 are males, and they are known to be exceptionally assertive and friendly)
Here is the prototype of what I came up with. I figure this cat has been hanging around in the background for years, soaking up magic energy or whatever, and even followed Roberto from Novus Mane to Mons Electi.
So I shoehorned it a little. It can be revised. Let me know what you guys think and if I can go ahead with this wacky plan of mine. Or we can make it a story. Either way, it would rearrange Roberto's projected mage planning and his seasonal activities would rearrange.
Don Rodrigo Diaz (aka "El Gato Cidito"): Orange Tabby Tomcat
Magic Might: 13
Season: Summer (360xp)
Characteristics: Int +1, Per +1, Com +0, Pre -2, Str -5, Sta +0, Dex +3, Quick +4
Size: -2
Confidence: 3 (7)
Virtues & Flaws: +1 Arcane Lore, +1 Large, +1 Perfect Balance, +1 Puissant Awareness, +1 Puissant Brawl, +1 Self Confident, +1 Sharp Ears, +1 Tough, +1 Unaffected by the Gift; -3 Overconfident, -1 Carefree, -1 Magical Friend, -1 Missing Eye, -1 Nocturnal, -1 Obese, -1 Reckless
Natural Qualities: Ambush Predator, Crafty, Good Jumper, Skilled Climber, Thick Fur
Magical Qualities & Inferiorities: +5 Personal Powers (x5), +4 Improved Powers (x4), +1 Gift of Speech, +1 Gift of Tongues, +1 Improved Confidence, +1 Improved Soak, +1 Lesser Power; -1 Susceptible to Depravation
Personality Traits: Cocky +5, Curious +4, Cat* +3, Reckless +3, Timid +1
Reputations: Onery 2 (local)
Combat
Claws: Init +3, Atk +13. Def +15, Dmg -3 (+0)
Teeth: Init +4, Atk +13, Def +12, Dmg -4
Soak: +7
Fatigue: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, KO
Wounds: -1 Lt (1-3), -3 Med (4-6), -5 Hvy (7-9), Incap (10-12), Dead (13+)
Abilities: Athletics 3 (jumping), Awareness 4+2 (night), Brawl 5+2 (claws), Carouse 2 (stay sober), Concentration 3 (in a fight), Charm 2 (wit), Finesse 2 (accuracy), Folk Ken 2 (covenfolk), Hunt 4 (birds), Leadership 2 (intimidation), Magic Lore 1 (beasts), Magic Theory 2 (assistant), Penetration 3 (Ignem), Stealth 4 (stalk)
Powers:
Pass the Unyeilding Portal
1 point, Init +3, Herbam
R: Touch, D: Diam, T: Ind
MuHe5 (base 3, +1 Touch, +1 Diam, +1 closes behind him)
Lesser Power, 25 levels (10 levels power, -2 cost, +2 Init,
Claws like Razor Steel
0 points, Init +4, Animal/Terram
The cat's claws become like razor steel, increasing the damage potential by +3
MuAn15 (base 5, +1 Conc, +1 Part)
Personal Power, 15 levels
Improved Power, 2pnts (-2 cost, +2 Init)
Cat like a Shadow
0 points, Init +3, Imaginem
R: Per, D: Conc, T: Ind
Cidito can become invisible and maintain it by concentrating.
PeIm10 (base 4, +1 Conc, +1 changing image)
Personal Power, 10 levels
Improved Power, 1pnt (-1 cost)
Radient Heat of the Fiery Tomcat
0 points, Init +4, Ignem
Cidito can, if he chooses, radiate intense heat. He may smolder and smoke, not quite bursting into flames, but hot enough to redden metal and inflict +5 damage to those in physical contact. This does not harm him at all, but it does keep him warm in the cold 
CrIg10 (base 5, +1 Conc)
Personal Power, 10 levels
Improved Power, 2pnts (-1 cost, +1 Init)
Fire Resistance
0 points, Init +1, Ignem
R: Per, D: Constant, T: Ind
Provides a bonus of +15 soak versus damage from heat & flames. Cidito can curl up and sleep in a campfire without worry.
ReIg25 (base 4, +2 increased soak, +2 Sun, +1 Constant)
Personal Power, 25 levels
Improved Power, 3pnts (-3 cost)
Nightvision
0 points, Init +1, Imaginem
R: Per, D: Constant, T: Vision
Cidito can see clearly in the dark; even if in absolute pitch black darkness in a closed room underground where everything is colored black.
InIm30 (base 3, +2 Sun, +1 Constant, +4 Vision)
Personal Power, 30 levels
Improved Power, 3pnts (-3 cost)
Transportation of the Transient Tabby
0 points, Init -3, Animal
El Gato Cidito can instantly tansport himself to any location that he can see or has an Arcane Connection to.
ReAn35 (Base 35)
Personal Power (35 levels)
Improved power, 7pnts (-7 cost)
I like it.
Maybe the Aeslin mice are trying to escape from the cat. There we go.
A few comments on the familiar's character build, mostly on the powers.
I note that the odds that we call your magus Rodrigo have just gone up by a factor of 10.
Claws like Razor Steel
I don't think D: Conc is a good idea here, because that will certainly fail in battle a lot of the time. What about D: Diam?
Radient Heat of the Fiery Tomcat
Cidito can, if he chooses, radiate intense heat. He may smolder and smoke, not quite bursting into flames, but hot enough to redden metal and inflict +5 damage to those in physical contact. This does not harm him at all, but it does keep him warm in the cold
Fire Resistance
Provides a bonus of +15 soak versus damage from heat & flames. Cidito can curl up and sleep in a campfire without worry.
Well ... mechanically, these are all stress dice. So even with +15 soak against a +5 campfire (or his own +5 Radiant Heat), there's a chance of taking damage, about 1.5% of the time. If he truly wanted to be immune to his own Radiant Heat, there would need to be a Rego requisite/additional magnitude.
Nightvision
I too can see clearly in absolute pitch black darkness in a closed room underground where everything is colored black ... I get a very accurate picture of my surroundings! 8)
It is a rough draft. Thought of several changes as I slept. Don't plan on him being a combat sidekick, just enough to take down really big mice and be more than a match for a dog. A veteran of many tomcat scrapes (hence the missing eye).
More replies to comments
Rodrigo Diaz was the name of El Cid. Rooster Cogburn names his cat after General Sterling Price, so I felt a similar approach would be to name my cat after El Cids (or "El Gato Cidito", the Lordling Cat, or maybe "gorditio Cidito" as in little-fat-lord.
The claws thing would be better served with the Improved Damage Quality. I was getting a little silly
The fire resistance may be better served by a straight up immunity to heat and flames.
The eminantion of heat should be toned down. He can heat up a room at a pleasent temprature maybe. If camping in the snow and he snuggles next to you, you both stay healthy and warm.
The teleportation thing is supposed to be reminiscent of Pixel from Heilien's "The Cat who Walked through Walls".
I can't spell properly
I myself personally have never owned an orange tabby. I have had many-many cats though. I currently have four; black with a white belly, an all black cat, and two that are white underneeth and grey tabby on top. The first one is a girl, mother of them all (different litters, now they are all fixed though). The rest are boys. I read about orange tabbys supposedly being friendlier and bolder than average. I also read (and think it is true) that this is coincidental, because 90% of orange tabbys are male. And male cats are friendlier and more outgoing in general. Females love the humans they are familiar with but are otherwise skittish. But it is true that most cats seen in film and TV are orange tabby cats.
And True Grit is one of the all time greatest westerns ever. If John Wayne had an orange cat, then it is an obvious choice for Roberto to have one too
In that case it should be a Limited Power: only when unobserved.
You ever read a short story by Jack C. Haldeman called "True Grits"?
Excellent idea! I probably will get around to revising it Monday, and will incorporate that idea. And a few other mods I was thinking of.
And another thought I had. The cat is intelligent, and supposedly has had the power to speak all along (I need to retcon a language in there of somesort). Anyway, I imagine Roberto may have nicknamed it "Cidito" or "Don Diego" and/or simply called it "Gordo Gato" (Gato Gordo? Help me Xavi!).
But if it is intelligent and could already talk, wouldn't it have had a name already? One he chose for himself, because his parents were stupid cats that couldn't talk.
The way I am contemplating "shoe-horning" this in (if allowed) is that the cat has been following Roberto around for years. Not closely, but has been around. It never teleports when observed. It just simply shows up in the area. Why? Um... it was friends with Roberto's old horse? Carlos fed it? Roberto leaves milk out for cats? Fate? Destiny? Ideas?
It never really caught Roberto's attention until now. It hides, is sometimes invisible (?), and sleeps in the fire where no one is looking. When he moved from Spain to Novus Mane, Roberto just thought it was a different orange cat that looked like the one that used to live with a whole mess of cats back at Campostella (Santiago's old stomping grounds). Has to be a different cat. Whatever. Have some milk. See? Cidito is easy to please, unlike Iolar. Never could figure that woman out...
It did not ride with him on the wagon. It had scent marked him and simply walked around one corner and around that corner he arrived at Mons Electi.
Roberto is getting old and cannot drink milk like he used to. So he continues the habbit of leaving his leftover milk from breakfast out for local stray cats.
And there is that orange tabby cat. Looks so similar to the other two. Strange. Then he quips with ammusment...
Are you that same cat? Heh-heh-heh...
Yep...
er, I mean... Meow
Okay, sorta campy and lame. I just got home from work (at 8am) and need to get to sleep. Big night tonight at the club. I mean big. Sold out to the maximum and beyond.
So, I invite anyone and everyone to help out with ideas and story-lines. In fact, I would love it if someone volunteered to play the character of my familiar. The cat doesn't have to be Hispanic. He can be Flemish or French maybe?
I dunno. G'night all
Never heard of it. I will look it up
allpoetry.com/poem/8453755-The_N ... T_S__Eliot
when i was in college I had a friend with this cat I remember it making a rottweiler back off. Fat and Orange with a pushed in face.
If you can fit it in, A power to grow to size 0 fits well. Rather than puffing up to look larger he actually gets larger.
Do you have RoP:Magic? All the Jerbiton cats and their powers is there.
while I like True Grit I must think again if it even makes it to my top 10 western films you must see.
It's part of a Zelazny anthology, "Warriors of Blood and Dream". Pretty good anthology in general. My favorite character ever was heavily based on another story in there -- Walter Jon Williams' "Broadway Johnny".
I'm at a bit of a loss here. But I think this goes way back to some of the first story arcs, Alexei had a Certamen with a Tremere who might now be the Tremere in charge in Normandy (forget the name of that position). I'll check some of the older posts and see if that's the one we're talking about.