I think I don't have enough buy in from the players to do the story. It hung out there for a while and no one commented.
Yes.
Yes, they likely will. What happens to them after the school is up to the player to contrive, I'm not going to continue to run stories for apprentices.
It could be his goal to become a teacher, but that's not going to happen for a while. Upon graduation, he may have all of his Arts at 5, but he likely won't be considered prepared to teach. He needs a few years of post-gauntlet seasoning to try and come back. If you want a long term player, consider making a teacher character, after you get your feet wet in the saga and get to know everyone else.
Making an Apprentice, as everyone else has done, gives you a chance to get to know everyone. Three other players have played together before. Heaven's Thunder Hammer, Renimar and Mr. Shades are the newer players to me, but they've been making their characters for a while and have had a chance to get to know the others.
Apprentice will start at the school in the fall of 1270.
Age all of the apprentices through 1269, spending all of the XP. Advance to the age to fall 1270 for the apprentice characters, but do not take any experience points for that aging.
1270 Fall -1271 Spring apprentices are taught Latin 5 (75 xp), Artes Liberales 1 (5 xp), Philosophiae 1 (5xp) and Concentration 1 (5xp) for a total of 90 xp. The professor has a SQ of 33 when teaching, and he's teaching you all day, for 9 months. It's kind of brutal, but he drills this stuff into you. That leaves 3 xp per season which can be spent on any of the following abilities, including the ones listed above. For those with Apt Student, you have to divide the XP, so that no more than one ability receives 3 xp from Apt Student, so there will be a minimum of two abilities that benefit from Apt Student.
Church Lore
Classical Greek
Folk Ken
Infernal Lore
Order of Hermes Lore
Teaching
Awareness
Etiquette
Gardening
So, for example, someone with Apt Student could make the following allocations for their three seasons:
Autumn 1270: 3 xp in Classical Greek (+2 xp in Etiquette, +3 xp in Classical Greek) Winter 1270: 3 xp in Classical Greek (+2 xp in Awareness, +3 xp in Etiquette) Spring 1271: 3 xp in Classical Greek (+2 xp in Awareness, +3 xp in Classical Greek)
Also, when should we consider our character builds as starting? I was figuring they marked us as we walked in the door of the school, but I may be mistaken.
Apprentices started at the school in the Fall of 1270, a year before the teachers began teaching them about the Arts and all of the other stuff about being a member of the Order of Hermes, in that year, hereafter dubbed the Latin year, they learn their letters and figures, and that's about it.
The builds, I suppose start in 1270, but not much happens as far as play begins, and in 1271, Fall specifically, things kick off.
Okay. So the only extra things I've added to Imric are what we were taught, the extra xp stuff, and 3 xp in German for the three seasons. Nothing for any time before that.
There was a post in the (I think it was House Rules thread?) saying that you got 1 xp/season in the local language, up to level 4. Has that rule not been adopted? It's no biggie if it hasn't.
I wanted the players to discuss possible HRs, and I didn't want to let my opinion about the HR to nip any of the proposals in the bud. I have a fairly conservative take on the rules as written, and when I come down with an opinion it can be strong, but if someone proposed something, I wanted to let the players sort out whether they wanted something in particular. So in that proposal thread, things were up for discussion (stuff regarding the teaching being the exception, because, well, duh).
It would all depend on how much the students are dealing with the locals. Being in Transylvania, at a Tremere sponsored oppidum, all the grogs will speak Latin. The Tremere have this thing about that so all oppidum business will be done in Latin ( if they have anything to say about it). Now how much exposure would one get to the local language based on that would be up to discussion.
Those apprentices without Supernatural Virtues open their Arts individually, as they learn them.
I thought I had it in the house rules, that if you cast a spell without one of the Arts being opened, you have a -3 penalty to trying to get the casting score. I can't find where I've done that, but I remember writing it, so it might be in my notes so I need to add it or make it clearer if I have put it somewhere.
Ah, I see. They get it done organically over the course of time. We have to get it done all at once to make sure we don't lose our supernatural abilities.
And teachers should advance to when? Fall of 1270? (I only have Fiona advanced through Winter 1269. Should I advance her two seasons to get her to Fall?