The more I look at Malta, the more I like it. Google "Dewjra". It's a small town on northwest Gozo with some fascinating geography. First, it has a tiny inland "sea" (lagoon really) connected to the ocean through the Azure Window, an arched passageway through the limestone cliff. Just south of it is Dwejra Bay, a nearly circular bay with a massive rock jutting from the sea that is home to a miracle cure fungus-plantoid (can you say vis?). Further up the island is the Temple Ggantija, a prehistoric temple that just screams ancient magic. The climate is mild and trade opportunities abound. Of course it does have the minor problem of near constant piracy and frequent conquest, but hey, if you want the French Riviera, you gotta pay French Riviera prices!
Please, Silveroak, may we please have Malta? We promise to treat it well.
All we need is for the longevity specialist and the scholar maga whose player totally hasn't always wanted to do Fertility Magic (and who totally hasn't been brushing up on her knowledge of female physicians in the middle ages) to open a hospital, and we'll be the Magi Hospitaller!
Works for me. We do need someone who can negotiate for us,a nd calm the patients. (I won't take Blantant gift, as that makes being a healer too hard.)
Side question: Is there any benefit in the use of healing magic from having any skill in the two mundane medical skills, or is it basically a waste?
Well, we can always extend our Parma Magica for those patients whom we need to treat, and for the rest, whichever lay physicians, cunning folk and herbalists we enlist as covenfolk should be able to take care of them. I'll just need to invest in a serious amount of veils to remove appearance from the equation; patients have a bad habit of reacting poorly to finding out that their doctor had red skin and horns.
I imagine we can use the mundane medical skills to give us knowledge of how to prevent illness in the first place, as well as how to cure things without necessarily using vis. Like, if some of the covenfolk are brought down by disease, it may well be in our interest to make sure that they get better without there necessarily being a compelling case for investing resources in magical rituals.
I don't think a magi needs Chirugy or Medicine, it certainly doesn't synergize with hermetic healing. I certainly see it as a valuable skill for mundane members of the covenant. Even if they are not a doctor, medicine is a highly valued academic skill and most educated men will have at least a passing familiarity with it.
I agree with EC - mundane healing could be the beginning of the process, only using rituals (and vis) in the most dire of circumstance. I envision a dual covenant with a hospital as the front for dealing with the mundane world, and, as with most hospitals, also being a center of learning. The inner covenant, however, could be known throughout the hermetic world as a place specializing in longevity, healing rituals, and hermetic education.
Personally I allow mundane and magical healing to stack- so if you have a chiurgeon with skill 5 and a +5 healing spell they get a sta+10 roll to heal...
and yes, I am fond of fertility magic myself... and Malta should be fine. Although from the 3rd edition tribunal book, it would be inside the Roman Tribunal...
I am thinking of a Tytalus. I like the idea of struggling to get a new covenant off the ground. I like the idea of building spy networks from the ground up. Developing sources of income, finding new VIS sources, new Grogs, library and specialists. And then protecting all that from a jealous world.
Are you willing to take Gentle Gift? If so, it sounds like you'd make a heck of a public face, assuming your Tytalan conflict equated with the challenge of founding and managing a covenant from nothing but dirt and scraps. If not, no worries, we can always use a self confident egotistical mage. Oh, wait, I might have been talking about my Verditius here....
I was planning on Gentle Gift. I am not a believer of the trouble maker Tytalus cliche. I like the Navy Seal approach others on the forum have put forth. Some one who is always striving to be the best. Yes insanely competitive but but willing to compete with himself, to continually find challenges and then try to beat his own result.
I saw a documentary recently about the selection of people for a police SWAT team. The trainer said the one thing he looks for, other than fitness, is an almost pathological need to be part of a team.
That's the mental approach I am going for. A team player. Yes he wants to be at the front of the team but hey, "Winners always want the ball."
I would also love to play in this game. I want to flip through my books before I make any commitments as to what my character will be like.
I do have one question about ancient magic. How many points to breakthrough texts cost?
I would also love to play in this game. I want to flip through my books before present a character though.
I do have one question. How many points do breakthrough books on ancient magic cost?
For the purpose of copying, a Lab Text detailing an insight has a level equal to the typical amount of Breakthrough points necessary for the relevant type of Breakthrough. A Lab Text costs one build point per five levels. Taken together, this would mean that a Lab Text for a Minor Breakthrough would cost 6 BP, one for a Major would cost 9, and one for a Hermetic would cost 12. That said, I would not consider it unlikely that our Storyteller would decide to increase the scarcity by at least a factor 2, making them twice as expensive, to represent the fact that these are rather harder to get than normal Lab Texts. There's also the question of what is meant by 'typical amount of Breakthrough points necessary', as one could argue that a Lab Text for Fertility Lore, for instance, which takes 15 BP to learn but most closely resembles a Minor Breakthrough, should take only 3 BP because 15/5 = 3, but at the same time, one could also argue that the 'typical' amount in this case would be 30, because it is a Minor Breakthrough, and that as such, it should take 6 BP. This would be disadvantageous in the case of Fertility Lore, but advantageous in the case of Fertility Ritual Magic, which would by that logic cost 6 rather than 7.
In short, there's no canon answer as far as I can tell (serf's parma), presumably because they're not normally designed to be obtained prior to game start, but somewhere in the vicinity of 15-ish BP would probably do you well in a lot of cases.
EDIT: I should add, of course, that this is solely another player's perspective, and that it is in no way authoritative.
Actually given the background I would leave them as is, however keep in mind that is the cost for the lab text to develop the insight, to develop the necessary effect following the insight will require a second lab text. So with fertility magic (for example) it takes 35 breakthrough points to achieve fertility magic, so the insight will be 35 levels, for 7 points, and then the effect must be decided as well and purchased- say the frozen womb, which is MuCo 35 which is another 7 points in texts, and this will grant you a total (when used together in the lab) of 7 breakthrough points, meaning you will require 28 points still to achieve. I am going to limit to one combination (insight and breakthrough) per mystery because the research of the caravan was not well organized, The exception to this is fertility Lore- because it is a low level break through that does not need to be initiated or integrated, and is not truly a part of hermetic magic without fertility magic, I will allow one tractus in fertility lore to be bought under the normal rules. Similarly you may have a single tractus each in Hamitic, Semitic, Scythian and Cainite- if nobody is interested in buying these texts at the beginning they will not be part of the points I spend on background text. Those will tend to be more by the book spells, arts, and related abilities (magic theory, finesse, etc.)
If it is going to be house-ruled like this, that is fine, but to my knowledge, this is not what the book says.
Per Ancient Magic p.8, reading the lab text documenting an insight gives you the full effects of the insight in question. This - having an insight, with no other qualifiers - allows you to invent one corresponding effect, often a spell or an item enchantment. The section on p.9 refers solely to the inability of other magi to reproduce said effect, stating that they cannot do so without the Lab Text, or, in other words, that they cannot simply see what the spell does and then reproduce it from that, in the way one might do from a handy combination of more mundane ranges, targets, durations and effects. It does not say that one could not invent the same effect if one had the insight available but had never seen the resulting effect, and for good reason: If this was to be the case, then the second person to view a cave painting would not be able to use it for anything, solely because some random country bumpkin three hundred years earlier had seen it and invented a spell based thereupon. According to the book, there is no difference between an Insight gained from a Lab Text and from an Original Source (something which I'm sure anyone attempting a Breakthrough in Historiography would frown at), and thus, anyone gaining the Insight should be able to, on their own, device the resulting effect.
Again, however, if all this was well known, and you're merely house-ruling it, then that's cool. I just wanted to make sure any house-rule would be intentionally so.
My character concept so far... Still working on the crunchy bits. I took the liberty of adding names, a little back history, etc. Feel free to add or change any this strikes your whim.
Tartessos of Verditius
The young boy who would eventually become Tartessos of Verditius was born in Ferrol, Leon, the son of a bell caster. His parents loved him despite there being something “not quite right with that boy”, but he still had difficult making friends. He spent most of his early childhood at his father’s workshop and the clay casting and sculpting methods of bell making left a deep mark upon his soul.
He met Franscisco de Nasi of Verditius at an early age when Nasi sought the hiring of forge companions among the copper workers of Ferrol. His family moved into Cuprus, a nearby covenant dedicated to the Confraternity of Roland, enchanting the finest swords on the Iberian Peninsula. Despite his master’s efforts, Tartessos never took to the heat of the forge, nor developed the physique necessary to swing the smithies hammer. Instead he used every opportunity to continue his love of stonemasonry and sculpting. Later in his apprenticeship, he opened the eyes of his smith brothers when he used Muto magic to produce a sword indistinguishable from the finest Toledo steel (exploding die produced an anomalous result). Shortly before his Guantlet, Cuprus fell on hard times and it became clear that he would need to find a new place in the world for himself as the covenant was unable to support additional magi. Despite this necessity, he remains close with Nasi and continues to correspond with him to this day.
His opportunity for a new life came quickly. Henrus Waltonus of Bonisagus was an archeologist who was running a dig in Leon seeking knowledge of the ancient Mercurian roads. He was sponsored by several large, prominent and more importantly, rich, covenants who in return published his research. Waltonus conducted more or less constant digs at sites of notable magic of antiquity, establishing communities for the duration of the investigation (usually a few years at a time) then moving on to the next site. Magi jokingly referred to the temporary communities as the Waltonan Covenant, a joke which grew more serious as the decades passed. Tartessos joined the Covenant as a research assistant, valued more for his expertise in magic Theory than his crafting ability, but he enjoyed eight good years in the employ of Waltonus on three different dig sites. During this period he invented several spells to make life on the move bearable, including Aging the Fine Wine, a simple spell intended to take a raw wine and turn it into something drinkable. Eventually he began to specialize in Rego Craft magic to spread his sybaritic lifestyle and epicurean tastes among his fellows.
This roving lifestyle came to an abrupt end when Waltonus fell ill during the excavation of the Hypogeum of Hal-Saflieni, a prehistoric necropolis. Waltonus was saved by a CrCo ritual at great expense of vis, but afterwards keenly felt the ravages of his two centuries age. Waltonus remained frail for the rest of the dig, and the following year suffered a relapse. Again he was saved by ritual healing magic, but the stresses on his body were too great and he remained bedridden for his remaining weeks. Shortly before spring, he passed away, and with his passing, the dig dissolved as individual members sought greener, or safer, pastures elsewhere.
When Waltonus ceased his research, the grant monies began to dry up. Over the last year finances have become increasingly tight as both patrons and researchers have abandoned the covenant. Finally, after the funeral, the remaining magi gathered and decided to formally dissolve the Waltonus Covenant and found a new Covenant on the island of Gozo using the remaining resources left from the dig. It was initially suggested that the Covenant focus on providing Hospital services, a much needed service at this pirate ridden intersection of the Christian and Moorish worlds.For review....
Aging the Fine Wine
ReAq 5
Base 1 (control a liquid in an extremely gentle way)
+1 magnitude for complexity
R: Touch (+1 magnitude)
D: Momentary
T: Group (+2 magnitudes)
The caster accelerates any natural aging process of a liquid, with control over the process determined by a Perception + Finesse Roll. As with all Rego Craft magic, the difficulty is at +3 compared to using a craft roll and normal amount of time. Generally the spell “ages” a liquid at approximately one year per casting, and is used primarily to age wines, dark beers, and spirits to improve quality. It uses any natural process, so can produce carbonation if cast on a liquid in a sealed container (both produces a bottle bomb!), or evaporate a liquid in an open container. If the results of an aging are not as desired, further agings may be made at a cumulative -3 to the Finesse roll (most drinks reach a point where further aging harms the drink).
I was looking at healing spells. Aside from the cures that use Vis, the other obvious healing use is to give a bonus on a recovery roll. The big problem is that for serious wounds you need to keep it in effect for a moon or a season. To do this using Sun duration means casting twice a day every day. Or a moon duration, or an ongoing enchanted artifact. So I was wondering what it would take to have a spell that provided a bonus and an acceleration to the time interval for recovery? Is that something that can be done as is? Or would it take some sort of breakthrough?
You could always use a circle spell, if you don't mind a little warping on your subjects. Chances are, it would never matter for anyone not a member of the covenant. For grogs who get injured, and thus healed frequently? Well, maybe they'll get something useful, like firebreathing!
Yes, I was giving a more abbreviated explanation- reading the insight allows you to develop the effect, using the lab text allows you to develop it faster, and the point I was making is that one insight and the associated effect is the most I will allow to be purchased per ancient mystery in terms of lab texts.
Ah, I'm sorry for misunderstanding.
I'll try to sketch up something concept-like soon-ish.