Acutus Ilfetwis of Bjornaer (development)

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Light of Andorra
1

Here is my shark Bjornaer immediately post-gauntlet. I'll be doing one five year cycle next.

Acutus Ilfwetis of Bjornaer
Characteristics: Int +3, Per 0, Pre +2, Com -1, Str +3, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qui +1
Size: 0
Age: 23
Height: 6’0
Weight: 210#
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0
Confidence: 2(5)

Virtues:
The Gift (free)
Hermetic Magus (free)
Heartbeast [Shark] (Bjornaer)
Clan Ilfetu (minor) [HoH:MC pg 37]
Deft Form [An] (minor)
Essential Virtue [Intimidating] (minor) [RoP:M pg 43]
Improved Characteristics [x4] (minor)
Independent Study (minor) [HoH:MC pg 86]
Minor Magical Focus [Self-Transformation] (minor)
Self-Confident (minor)

Flaws:
Ambitious (major)
Short-Ranged Magic (major)
Mentor (minor)
Missing Eye (minor)
Motion Sickness (minor)
Overconfident (minor)

Personality Traits:
Bold +3
Imposing +3
Introspective +1
Shark +1

Reputation:

Combat:
Knife: Initiative +1, Attack +6, Defense +5, Damage +5
Soak: +4
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: –1 (1-5), –3 (6-10), –5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)

Abilities:
Area Lore: Rhine Tribunal (History) 2
Area Lore: Mediterranean Sea (Legends) 1
Artes Liberales (Ritual Magic) 2
Athletics (Running) 3
Awareness (Alertness) 1
Brawl (Knives) 3
Concentration (Spell Concentration) 1
Dead Language: Gothic (Rituals) 3
Dead Language: Latin (Hermetic Usage) 4
Finesse (Precision) 1
Folk Ken (Peasants) 1
Heartbeast (initiation) 2
House Bjornaer Lore (Clan Mysteries) 4
Hunt (Tracking) 2
Leadership (Intimidation) 2
Living Language: German (Slang) 5
Magic Lore (Creatures) 3
Magic Theory (Muto) 3
Order of Hermes Lore (History) 1
Parma Magica (Muto) 1
Penetration (Muto) 1
Philosophiae (Metaphysics) 2
Survival (Forest) 1

Arts:
Creo 6
Intellego 2
Muto 6
Perdo 0
Rego 2

Animal 6
Aquam 0
Aurum 0
Corpus 6
Herbam 0
Ignem 0
Imaginem 0
Mentem 0
Terram 0
Vim 0

Spells:

Animal
Creo Animal
True Rest of the Injured Brute, CrAn 20 (ArM5 pg 117)

Muto Animal
Beast of Outlandish Size, MuAn 15 (ArM5 pg 118)
Doublet of Impenetrable Silk, MuAn 15 (ArM5 pg 118)
Form of the Phlegmatic Heartbeast, MuAn 20 (HoH:MC pg 36)

Rego Animal
Circle of Beast Warding, ReAn 5 (ArM5 pg 120)

Aquam
Rego Aquam
Cloak of the Duck’s Feathers, ReAq 5 (ArM5 pg 124)

Corpus
Creo Corpus
Purification of the Festering Wounds, CrCo 20 (ArM5 pg 129)

Intellego Corpus

Muto Corpus
Gift of the Bear’s Fortitude, MuCo 25 (ArM5 pg 131)

Rego Corpus
Rise of the Feathery Body, ReCo 10 (ArM5 pg 134)
Endurance of the Berserkers, ReCo 15 (ArM5 pg 134)

2

Okay, I need some help. I'm trying to stat up a "typical" great white shark so that I can then figure out the heartbeast stats. Here's what I've come up with so far, but I would definitely like some input from the group.

Great White Shark
Characteristics: Cun -1, Per +3, Pre +2, Com -6, Str +7, Sta +4, Dex 0, Qik 0
Size: +3
Virtues and Flaws:
Qualities: Aggressive, Ambush Predator, Aquatic, Large Teeth, Pursuit Predator, Thick Scales, Tough Hide
Personality Traits:
Reputations: None
Combat:
Large Teeth: Init +0, Attack +10, Defense +7, Damage +10
Soak: +7
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0/0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-8), -3 (9-16), -5 (17-24), Incapacitated (25-32), Dead (33+)
Abilities:
Awareness 2 (food)
Brawl 5 (bite)
Hunt 4 (prey)
Stealth 4 (stalking prey)
Survival 3 (ocean)
Swim 5 (ocean)

I didn't worry about figuring out how many Improved characteristics are necessary right now; I just want to get the stats right first. For the attributes, I basically copied the attributes for "Giant Shark" from the Revised Medieval Bestiary (I think its 3rd edition). Since they don't have Pre in there I just put a +2 since sharks are pretty intimidating. For everything else, I basically just built him using the rules in HoH:MC. Honestly, it feels a little weak to me, but I don't really have a great feel for that sort of thing yet.

3

Seems weak to me as well; sharks are freakishly efficient killers. Maybe once you throw in some Improved Characteristics it'll look better? Sharks don't have scales, so I'd drop "Thick Scales" (you can always take Tough as a virtue).

Whatever you settle on for the base creature, I would like to use for building Pelagios.

4

Well, there's already some Improved Characteristics built in, I just didn't do the math to figure out exactly how many. So, do you have any recommendations of how to make it more efficient? I think the Dex and Qui should probably be at least +1 each. And sharks do have scales, they're called placoid scales.

5

I'd say, go for a Dexterity of +3 or +4 and a Quickness of +3. The Quickness will be expensive, but it shouldn't be too bad, since at Size +3 you get 9 points for each instance of Improved Characteristics.

Personally I'd also give it less strength-- if you buy it down to -2, then after size adjustment it would be +4. They're efficient killers, I don't really see them being brutes.

A shark should also have "Keen Sense of Smell" (which bumps your Perception).

I did not know they had scales-- I always thought shark skin was like eels or catfish.

6

And here I am, disagreing with Ryu on Qik and Str :laughing:
I think you're maybe confusing swimming speed and combat speed. For such a large beast, Qik 0 or negative is pretty normal, and a high strength is quite mandatory. Do you really see a giant shark of size +3 as having negative strength?

PoB, your stats mostly seem fine to me, save, as ryu said, for the scales: hese are intented for scarab-like squales, not fish scales, so Tough hide is quite enough IMO. You might want to raise its dex a little, lower Per, maybe give it a keen sense of smell, but that's not nescessary.

Yesterday, I've also taken the time to check HoH:MC: It has stats for Large Fish (exemple: salmon). You could take these and use size modifiers... BUT!! I've also looked at LoH p105, which has stats for a Large Shark of size +2. IMO, you should just copy-paste them, with +2 str and -1 Qik. I'm sorry, I haven't noted these, just the reference, but IIRC, they were somewhat close to what you did there.

7

Thanks! I had no idea there were shark stats in LoH. I've taken those and basically added a Size level. Here is what it looks like now:

Great White Shark
Characteristics: Cun -3, Per -2, Pre -5, Com -6, Str +6, Sta +4, Dex +1, Qik -4
Size: +3
Virtues and Flaws: Ferocity (attacking prey), Improved Characteristics, Greedy (major), Wrathful (major)
Qualities: Aggressive, Aquatic, Large Teeth, Pursuit Predator, Slippery, Tough Hide
Personality Traits: Greedy +3, Wrathful +3, Phlegmatic +2
Reputations: None
Combat:
Large Teeth: Init -4, Attack +11, Defense +8, Damage +9
Soak: +6
Fatigue Levels: OK, OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-8), -3 (9-16), -5 (17-24), Incapacitated (25-32), Dead (33+)
Abilities:
Awareness 2 (food)
Brawl 5 (teeth)
Hunt 4 (prey)
Survival 3 (Mediterranean Sea)
Swim 5 (Mediterranean Sea)

8

Okay, here he is...just need to muster him out, otherwise this is the finished product (I hope...)...note, the Str was raised by one due to his Inner Heartbeast mystery.

Acutus Ilfwetis of Bjornaer
Characteristics: Int +3, Per 0, Pre +2, Com -1, Str +4, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qui +1
Size: 0
Age: 23
Height: 6’0
Weight: 210#
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0
Confidence: 2(5)

Virtues:
The Gift (free)
Hermetic Magus (free)
Heartbeast [Shark] (Bjornaer)
Inner Heartbeast [Epitome] (Mystery Initiation)
Clan Ilfetu (minor) [HoH:MC pg 37]
Deft Form [An] (minor)
Essential Virtue [Intimidating] (minor) [RoP:M pg 43]
Improved Characteristics [x4] (minor)
Independent Study (minor) [HoH:MC pg 86]
Minor Magical Focus [Self-Transformation] (minor)
Self-Confident (minor)

Flaws:
Hunger for Animal Magic (Mystery Initiation)
Ambitious (major)
Short-Ranged Magic (major)
Mentor (minor)
Missing Eye (minor)
Motion Sickness (minor)
Wrathful (minor)

Personality Traits:
Bold +3
Imposing +3
Introspective +1
Shark +1

Reputation:

Combat:
Knife: Initiative +1, Attack +6, Defense +5, Damage +6
Soak: +4
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: –1 (1-5), –3 (6-10), –5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)

Abilities:
Area Lore: Rhine Tribunal (History) 2
Area Lore: Mediterranean Sea (Legends) 2
Artes Liberales (Ritual Magic) 2
Athletics (Running) 3
Awareness (Alertness) 1
Brawl (Knives) 4
Concentration (Spell Concentration) 1
Dead Language: Gothic (Rituals) 3
Dead Language: Latin (Hermetic Usage) 4
Finesse (Precision) 1
Folk Ken (Peasants) 1
Heartbeast (initiation) 3
House Bjornaer Lore (Clan Mysteries) 5
Hunt (Tracking) 3
Leadership (Intimidation) 2
Living Language: German (Slang) 5
Living Language: Occitan (Catalan) 3
Magic Lore (Creatures) 3
Magic Theory (Muto) 3 (32)
Order of Hermes Lore (History) 1
Parma Magica (Muto) 3
Penetration (Muto) 1
Philosophiae (Metaphysics) 3
Survival (Forest) 1

Arts:
Creo 6
Intellego 2 (5)
Muto 8
Perdo 0
Rego 2

Animal 6
Aquam 0
Aurum 0
Corpus 6
Herbam 0
Ignem 1 (2)
Imaginem 1 (2)
Mentem 0
Terram 0
Vim 0

Spells:

Animal
Creo Animal
True Rest of the Injured Brute, CrAn 20 (ArM5 pg 117)

Intellego Animal
Image of the Beast, InAn 5 (ArM5 pg 117)
Shiver of the Lycanthrope, InAn 10 (ArM5 pg 118)

Muto Animal
Beast of Outlandish Size, MuAn 15 (ArM5 pg 118)
Doublet of Impenetrable Silk, MuAn 15 (ArM5 pg 118)
Form of the Phlegmatic Heartbeast, MuAn 20 (HoH:MC pg 36)

Rego Animal
Circle of Beast Warding, ReAn 5 (ArM5 pg 120)

Aquam
Rego Aquam
Cloak of the Duck’s Feathers, ReAq 5 (ArM5 pg 124)

Corpus
Creo Corpus
Purification of the Festering Wounds, CrCo 20 (ArM5 pg 129)

Intellego Corpus

Muto Corpus
Gift of the Bear’s Fortitude, MuCo 25 (ArM5 pg 131)

Rego Corpus
Rise of the Feathery Body, ReCo 10 (ArM5 pg 134)
Endurance of the Berserkers, ReCo 15 (ArM5 pg 134)

Ignem
Creo Ignem
Lamp Without Flame, CeIg 10 (ArM5 pg 140)

Imaginem
Muto Imaginem
Taste of the Spices and Herbs, MuIm 5(ArM5 pg 145)
Aura of Enobled Presence, MuIm 10 (ArM5 pg 145)

Heartbeast - Great White Shark
Characteristics: Int +3, Per -2, Pre -3, Com -6, Str +6, Sta +4, Dex +1, Qik -3
Size: +3
Virtues and Flaws: Ferocity (attacking prey), Improved Characteristics, Greedy (major), Wrathful (major)
Qualities: Aggressive, Aquatic, Large Teeth, Pursuit Predator, Slippery, Tough Hide
Personality Traits: Greedy +3, Wrathful +3, Phlegmatic +2
Reputations: None
Combat:
Large Teeth: Init -4, Attack +11, Defense +8, Damage +9
Soak: +6
Fatigue Levels: OK, OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-8), -3 (9-16), -5 (17-24), Incapacitated (25-32), Dead (33+)
Abilities:
Awareness 2 (food)
Brawl 5 (teeth)
Hunt 4 (prey)
Survival 3 (Mediterranean Sea)
Swim 5 (Mediterranean Sea)

Inner Heartbeast - Great White Shark of Virtue
Characteristics: Int +3, Per -2, Pre -3, Com -6, Str +9, Sta +4, Dex +1, Qik -3
Size: +3
Virtues and Flaws: Ferocity (attacking prey), Improved Characteristics, Greedy (major), Wrathful (major)
Qualities: Aggressive, Aquatic, Large Teeth, Pursuit Predator, Slippery, Tough Hide
Personality Traits: Greedy +3, Wrathful +3, Phlegmatic +2
Reputations: None
Combat:
Large Teeth: Init -4, Attack +11, Defense +8, Damage +12
Soak: +6
Fatigue Levels: OK, OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-8), -3 (9-16), -5 (17-24), Incapacitated (25-32), Dead (33+)
Abilities:
Awareness 2 (food)
Brawl 5 (teeth)
Hunt 4 (prey)
Survival 3 (Mediterranean Sea)
Swim 5 (Mediterranean Sea)

First Cycle Advancement – 5 years (20 seasons)
1 point of warping
21 pawns vis salary
15 season adventure/study/practice (180 xp with Independent Study)
1 season initiation Mystery of the Inner Heartbeast (spend 10 xp and gain flaw Hunger for Animal Magic)
1 season lab: learn Intellego Animal spells (2 exposure xp – Intellego)
1 season lab: learn Muto Imaginem spells (2 exposure xp – Imaginem)
1 season lab: learn Creo Ignem spell (2 exposure xp – Ignem)
1 season wasted

9

Don't forget that any Animal spells that Acutus wants to cast on himself in Heartbeast form need a +1 Magnitude for his Size.

10

Oops, that will require some reworking.

11

Don't have time to look at him closely, but à priori, I love him :smiley:

Are you sure you want to take "Hunger for Animal Magic", though? It soaks up vis faster than you can say "hermetic magus".

12

Thanks! He’s definitely not “optimized” but I like him.

Yeah, I know it’s a painful flaw, but it fits with the background idea I have for his Inner Heartbeast Mystery Initiation.

The basic idea is this: After he finds his Great Beast Ancestor and coerces him into talking to him, his ancestor gives him a quest to perform before initiating him (this is a normal part of the initiation script). His quest was to hunt down, kill and then consume a magical sea creature. The consumption of the beast essentially addicted him to animal vis. One of the requirements of the initiation script is the gaining of a major Hermetic or Supernatural flaw.

My thought is that he now spends much of his time as a hunter of magical beasts like many mythic heroes of old, both in the ocean as his heartbeast and on land in his human form. So he goes out on a hunt, kills the beast and then stores it, eating 1 pawn of its vis a season until it runs out and he goes out on another hunt.

Beyond that, his main goal in life is self-perfection in the Platonic form sense. He has essentially reached that point with his inner heartbeast, now he just continues to refine that, but he wants to invent a mystery that does essentially the same for his human form (ie. Turn him into a magical human).

13

Just a note-- if Acutus' hunger is for Aquam vis (which a sea creature could easily have) he'd have a very good reason to want to join Dragonera.

14

I thought about that, but I'd really rather it be Animal. I don't want the entire focus of the character be related to the sea. One of the things I want to emphasize with him, is that he sees himself as two beings; a human and a shark. To emphasize either one over the other is not acceptable. So I like the ability for him to hunt both sea creatures and magical beasts on the land.

I think him being a shark Bjornaer who was already in the Mediterranean should be enough justification for him to join Dragonera. I think from his viewpoint, the status as a journeyman at a Chapterhouse is perfect. It means he has very little responsibility and can pursue his own interests.

15

Aaargh!
This is just great. Period

Hum... I wouldn't see it like this.
To draw the parallel with the Heartbeast, I'd see him try instead to "refine" his human form. That is, invent a mystery that allows him to initiate Improved characteritics, tough, strong-willed, great characteristics... perfect his human form through initiations, not unlike the Cult of Heroes does. Especially as, unless you munchkin with the rules, the inherent staticness of magical creatures makes refinement quite difficult, if not impossible.

16

Heh, thanks again.

So that’s how I saw first as well. But as I read more, it seems that the prevailing theory amongst Hermetic magi is that the Magic Realm is the realm of the Platonic forms, and that magical creatures are “more perfect” versions of non-magical creatures.

It is actually explicitly mentioned in the Mystery of the Epitome that this is why “beasts of virtue” are magical creatures. So it seems to me that anyone with the goal of attaining “self-perfection” in the Platonic sense would have to seek the goal of transformation into a magical creature.

Now the “staticness” of magical creatures does present a problem that I wanted to discuss with the group. The first thing I’ve noticed is that all of the Inner Heartbeast mysteries “create” an inner heartbeast that is a magical creature, yet there is no discussion anywhere as to what the Magical Might of that creature is. In addition, there are additional mysteries that allow for refinement of the Inner Heartbeast. So what does that mean exactly? Was it an oversight, or are inner heartbeasts assumed to have a magical might of 0? Or do the additional mysteries essentially allow them to “break” the “staticness”. Also, does this mean that if he spends all, or the majority, of a season as his inner heartbeast that he gains no xp? The rules don’t state that anywhere.

Whatever the answer is, my goal would be for his “inner human” to essentially use the same mechanics. So that might mean that he can switch between his human form and “inner human form” like switching between his heartbeast and inner heartbeast, which could be interesting, or something different.

Now it could be that his “new” initiations may start with him “refining” his human form without magical transformation but eventually lead to a magical transformation.

17

Bjornaer heartbeasts (even epitomic ones) tend to not be bound by the normal magic/mundane/hermetic trinary(?) when it comes to resistance, might, etc.

I don't think it ever explicitly says what should be considered a Heartbeast's might. I would tend to say that in all cases except for harvesting vis from a Bjornaer heartbeast's body, you just go with the normal Penetration and Resistance rules. That is, if it casts spell or uses a Supernatural ability, figure Penetration or Resistance as normal.

What vis is contained in a heartbeast's body is, I think, 100% saga-dependent. I want to say the most common rule of thumb is “number of pawns equal to the highest Art score”, but I'm not sure if I'm delusional on that score or not.

18

Who is it?
Plumber
I didn't call a plumber.
Candygram.
Oh, okay then!
aieeeeeee!!!
Land Shark!

19

Heartbeasts have no magic might.
There are normal, although quite fine, mundane animals.

Inner heartbeasts are the same: They have no might, and are not "magical" per se.
Only when a Bjornaer is overcome by Final Twilight does he "become" his inner hearbest and gain a Might Score, becoming a NPC magical creature. IIRC, it's equal to 5*Heartbeast. I don't remember when it's said, though, and am not even sure it's in HoH: MC. Thereafter, they follow the normal rules for magical creatures. I don't think it was intended (it came waaay before RoP: M), but it manages very nicely to avoid the munckinism that comes with Might 0+RoP: M while still making heartbeasts awesome and fun.

Given that context, the idea of becoming a magical human makes little sense to me, at least as something occurring before you're perfected. Also, in a way, it runs against that final beast thingie, as becoming a magical human, making you (among other benefits) immune to twilight, would make you avoid your final fate as a Great Beast. I can totally see a character wanting to avoid that, just not every one, and he'd probably be despised by other bjornaers.
Hum... Now that I think about it, what about research that apply to your human form refinements made to your inner heartbeast?

20

I completely agree.

This, however, is not correct. HoH:MC explicitly states that Inner Heartbeasts are magical creatures. In fact, in the Epitome section, it states that the Inner Heartbeast is a "beast of virtue" which it also explicitly states is a magical creature.