for the discussion of the creation and advancement of the aforementioned character
If you're ok with it, I'd like to step through some of the stages of character generation to make sure I'm working within the right framework. I don't think it needs to be a season by season step as with a magus, but I'll start with Virtues / Flaws, Characteristics, and basic concept. Then based on that approval, I'll share where I am with the abilities given those fundamentals.
Basic Concept: Heinrich is a seasoned soldier and warrior, serving both as a foot soldier in a knights retinue and in merchant caravan duties where he on more than one occasion was designated a sergeant to lead other foot soldiers and non-noble troops. He often styles himself Sergeant Henrich or Sergeant Henricus.
Virtues:
Shapeshifter
Unaging
Improved Characteristics
Warrior
Puissant Single Weapon
Well-Traveled
Wilderness Sense
Flaws:
Temperate
Overconfident
Dutybound
Favors
Faerie Friend
Characteristics:
|Intelligence|0|
|Perception|0|
|Presence|1|
|Communication|1|
|Strength|1|
|Stamina|2| (+1 from Improved Characteristics)
|Dexterity|2|
|Quickness|2|
More details on character concept: I'm placing Heinrich at age 48 with an apparent age of 23 or 24.
I'm also writing his shapeshifting and unaging Virtues as tied into a family line that has some connection to the Faerie Friend who I am currently thinking of as a Faerie who has interest in this family (not sure which kind but could be one connected to the lake near which the family lives). I don't see this faerie friend as a regular, every day Faerie friend but one that is more substantial that occasionally interacts or is interacted with.
From a Favors perspective, Heinrich has Favors owed to his mother's family line (the Ruch family).
I'm building his history that he had to depart his initial noble lord when he started into his mid to late 30s when it would become impossible to hide that he isn't aging normally. At that point, he joins a merchant guard company and starts living and working in northern Italy, traveling back into Lucerne and the region from time to time.
Entry into the Narrative: I'm not sure how you want to handle that. I know you said it would be a new entry and not an assumed history with the covenant or any of the magi. Could be that he is found injured on their return trip and Elia heals him? Could be that he's hired as a guard for the return trip? Totally open on that front.
Please offer any guidance or insight into any pitfalls from the above basic concept and virtues/flaws.
None of the virtues or flaws are an issue of themselves- assuming overconfident is major you have 7 out of 10 possible flaws and virtues, which is allowable, and your math is off on your characteristics- and possibly your understanding of improved characteristics.
OK.
Virtues and Flaws:
Is it necessary to balance them? or just to be 10 points or less in each?
My counts were like this:
Virtues:
Shapeshifter (3)
Unaging (1)
Improved Characteristics (1)
Warrior (1)
Puissant Single Weapon (1)
Well-Traveled (1)
Wilderness Sense (1)
Total: 9
Flaws:
Temperate (1)
Overconfident (3)
Dutybound (1)
Favors (3)
Faerie Friend (1)
Total: 9
For Characteristics:
I think I'm with you now. I was thinking 10 points +3 for Improved Characteristics, but it should be 7 + 3 for Improved.
If I've got that right, I think I would drop Presence and Communication back to 0.
Then Str 1 = +1 point
Sta 2 = +3 points
Dex 2 = +3 points
Quickness 2 = + 3 points
Total 10 point.
On track now?
Flaws may be greater than virtues, virtues may not be greater than flaws.
yes, this is on track
Before we close down on virtues and flaws, a question: I would like Heinrich to be OK around magi and not react poorly to the gift. Is that something I need to take a virtue to accomplish or does Heinrich's supernatural virtues already do that?
Also to validate that I'm thinking about the XP for advancement correctly, please check my understanding:
Childhood: 5 (living language) + 45 xp.
Warrior: 50 xp to military attributes like single weapon, great weapon, bows, brawl, etc.
Well-Traveled: 50 xp to living language, Area Lore, Bargain, Carouse, Charm, Etiquette, Folk Ken, or Guile.
Per year: 15 xp x 43 years = 645 xp
Total xp: 45 + 50 + 50 + 645 = 790 xp
Am I on track with those assumptions?
assuming your character is 48, yes.
It will also require 18 aging rolls.
Ok. On the aging rolls, I'm trying to make sure I understand the way those rolls work with Unaging. Here's how I understand it.
1. Make each roll.
The formula for Heinrich being: Stress die + 4 (or 5, age/10 rounded up). I was assuming a -0 on living conditions since he's mainly living the life of a soldier in a retinue. Not sure that would move him into a wealthy or healthy condition. If that does, then I will adjust the formula.
2. Assess the roll: (1d10+4 or 5)
5 -9: No change.
10 - 12: 1 point in any characteristic for tracking decrepitude advancement.
13: Gain next level of decrepitude and Crisis (roll on crisis table).
14/15: 1 aging point in Qik for tracking decrepitude advancement.
Decrepitude advances like an ability,
Am I understanding that right?
Yes, except that it is a stress die, so it does not have an upper boundary- if you were for example to roll a 1 and a ten you would also have the next level of decrepitude and crisis, as anything with a total over 21 will get this result. You don't actually gain aging points, just decrepitude points since you have unaging.
Ok. So in the Aging Total formula, the "(no botch)" means that you don't have to roll botch dice but you're still rolling stress. Hence rolling a 1, requires a doubling of the next roll... I'm with you. Thanks for the clarification!
I'll post up a character sheet next on the Wiki with the abilities laid out. I'll also do the aging rolls and including an aging table on the character sheet.
Before I go there, I'd like your thoughts on what possible change. As I've done some writing on the back story, I've thought about adjusting the virtues to map to a back story where Heinrich is one of the younger sons of a Wealthy family. I would drop Wilderness Sense and Well-Traveled, add Wealthy (which I think takes the total up to 10 points in Virtues). I would also add Close Family Ties as a Flaw.
My thinking here is that Heinrich is the once-in-a-generation manifester of the family "curse" of shapeshifting. He serves as a soldier as outlined above, but has stronger connection back to his family, especially to protect the rising generation.
Does the Wealthy virtue cause any particular issues for a companion to the covenant? I'm thinking that part of his motivation is to ally with a magus is to understand the "curse" but also to keep him out of the normal family activities now that his unaging is apparent.
Thoughts? If it adds an angle you don't want to mess with, I can stick with the original plan.
I realize that if I do go down this route, I'll need to recalculate the xp totals to 20 per year from 15.
I'm not committed to this change but would like your thoughts/guidance if you have an opinion either way.
The main thing I see is that close family ties doesn't describe someone who is trying to avoid family even if it is for their benefit. He may well have joined the covenant to understand his "curse", but if he has CFT he should be in regular contact with and routinely visiting his family.
I think I'll stick with the original plan. The change isn't really working well given the concept.
I'll try to get the character sheet up this evening.
I've got a first draft of the character sheet up with Abilities.
I also have the aging chart up. My luck holds out. Got him to Decrepitude 4. 
Good thing he is Unaging. C'est la vie!
shapeshifter and wilderness sense have their first level contributed by their virtues, and so you are saved 5 xp in each ability, leaving you 10 xp remaining.
I'll bump Swim up to 2.
approved, now you just need to figure out how he will be introduced to the covenant...
Thank you.
Seems like there could be a few possibilities in the current narrative.
I've added a description and a brief history to the Heinrich's character sheet.
You should probably find a way to put the faerie friend into the story. Also Heinrich will not be traveling with Bartomeus, so leaving him wandering northern Italy might make it hard to fir him into the narrative.