Great, Then i'll make a draft as soon as possible, maybe this week-end.
Interested, still contemplating a character concept...
does this use the published tribunal setting or do you freeform it?
I am using Lion of the North, but I'm tweaking some things to make it more 5th-ed compatible.
So far, we have:
- ironboundtome
- Bitter
- Emelric
- jebrick
- Wits
- callen
- Quite Possibly a Cat (which I still think is an awesome screen name, btw)
- Jonathan.Link
- silveroak
And that's after only 24 hours. If I didn't know better, I'd think my games were popular! 
But I think that's enough to request a game forum. Allons-y!
Cool! Yay!
So everyone else can see where I'm headed:
Arts: Mu/Re+Au/Vi or Mu/Re+Ig/Vi. The Ignem had gone with a more violent view (Flambeau thoughts at first), but I'm really leaning toward Auram. Vim is definitely a strength.
House: Though I had started thinking Flambeau, I'm really thinking more Mercere or maybe Tremere. All of them have their cadres of mortals they value in somewhat similar ways, though who those mortals are varies. I like the House=Family kind of idea, and at the moment Mercere appeals more than Tremere. But depending on where others area headed, I could vary this easily enough.
Companion: I'm leaning heavily toward a skinchanger whose animal side is not totally hidden in human form, good at perception. I was thinking Failed Apprentice from the Lineage of Pralix with Comprehend Magic or from Bjornaer and working with Inner Heartbeast Mysteries. But I definitely don't want a covenant full of Failed Apprentices, so I'm leaving things pretty open and flexible in my mind.
Here is one character from PB's Canaries campaign. https://forum.atlas-games.com/t/donnchadh-dubh-development/7615/1 A "Beast Master" who uses the Elemental magic from Hedge Magic to summon animals. He is a highlander with all that it entails.
The other is similar but with more traditional Hermetic magic. A Merinita who's magic focuses on crows and ravens. He will be a Northumbrian ( and I can not remember if that is still Scottish at this period) which would make him a lowlander.
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Alluring to Mundane Animals (Bonus: +3 to Communication and Presence with Mundane Animals), Independent Study, Flexible Formulaic Magic, Minor Magical Focus (Crows and Ravens), Affinity with Muto, Affinity with Animal, Inoffensive to Animals, Animal Ken, Hermetic Magus, Faerie Magic*, Faerie Upbringing, Pagan, Secretive, Incomprehensible, Weird Magic (Botches on Stressed Casting: Extra botch die), Restriction (not affect any holy man)
I can get a feel of what others are proposing and decide.
So folk know, as a draft: I'm very open to suggestions for what to tweak, include, or if there are links to be found with other characters.
Corbin ex Merinita, A locally born and raised Illusionist
- Im focus, then techniques. Other arts just enough to get some basic utility spells (I've stated to gauntlet thus far).
- family is a notable clan, with whom he is well out of favour.
- A lover of stories, songs, rhymes, and legends. A carefree soul. Who needs the huddle and thrash of the the central tribunals when the best lore is here in the north!
V&Fs: Affinity with Music, Deft Form (Imaginem), Faerie Magic*, Gentle Gift, The Gift, Hermetic Magus, Inventive Genius, Personal Vis Source (Imaginem), Second Sight*, Strong Nymph Blood, Black Sheep (a Rake from notable clan), Carefree, Hedge Wizard (barely a wizard), Study Requirement, Weakness (Legends and Stories), Weird Magic.
With 9 players, we can't really avoid overlap on arts, as long as concepts are clearly different we're good IMHO.
Here's my ideas, I'm open to suggesting of course.
Mechanically I'll probably adapt the concept I had there but with a different House. I'm considering a Criamon with the path of seeming, I might drop ignem in the process, but complete darkness is a fine way to deal with opponent in a "apt" way to use criamon terms. He's probably not the most esoteric Criamon, but he tries to live aptly which already is a challenge in the tribunal.
It will probably not be a native but his drive will be to make the tribunal more democratic and based on mutual assistance but he's also interested in the numerous mystical places of the tribunal as a way to advance in the understanding of the enigma (i don't have the tribunal book but from what I remember the structure was very loose and prone to violence and intimidation in the resolve of conflict, including raiding resources and such). He's probably attracted to this covenant in particular because he feels the site is worth of interest and should not be abandoned because of a mere accident.
So that's a gentle gifted magus focusing on In, Pe, Vi , Ig and probably a bit of mentem and imaginem.
Spells will maybe focus on detecting magic (sight of active magic), getting information (Summoning the distant image, Whispering Winds, Vision of Heat's Light...), darkness (well without light..), probably a cold damaging spell for self defense.
edit : I might also go for a Bjornaer magus or a Merenita with Nature Lore
Very true.
As for companions, I had had another thought as well, one which certainly avoids the whole Failed Apprentice thing: An Ungifted Learned Magician. He has returned to the isles after years of study in Bologna. He is aware of the Order and wishes to prove his strength and be accepted into it. Even if he cannot get into House Ex Miscellanea due to his lack of the Gift, he knows he can prove himself to be truly valuable.
My concept was a Verditius who isn't a real fan of her house and is all the way in the backwaters to get away from them. Peace and quite. It'll get more fleshed out.
Given that you have 9 players already is this game now closed for more players?
At this point I'm thinking a Tytalus mage...
Given that you already have 9 players should I assume that you're not looking for any more?
There are currently no NPC Mercere magi in Loch Leglean, and the Tribunal's Mercere House (url=http://lochness.wikidot.com/taigh-gogar]Taigh Gogar[/url] is located just outside Edinburgh.
Yeah, Failed Apprentices are supposedly rather rare...but then again, PCs do tend to wreck the curve.
So, are you porting over Donnchadh Dubb for your magus?
I like it so far.
That's not necessarily a bad thing. Some overlap can make for good potential cooperation...or conflict.
Both (all three?) of these options sound good.
I'm considering a Flambeau who had his Gift opened later than most. He'd be just under 35 and fresh out of gauntlet at the start of play. For the purpose of figuring out what he did for the first ~20 years of his life, what starting year will the saga have?
The timeline on the site goes up to/through 1220.
I am proposing that option. I did not know if you were making a clean break with Canaries or not. I am also a big fan of the SG being comfortable with the mage that is proposed. Donnchadh is different from the standard Hermetic mage and uses the Hedge Magic rules for some of his power. If you do not feel like dealing with that I had another character in the wings that is much more straight forward ( for a mage).
Yes, the saga starts in 1220.
Yay, the recruitment thread is up! I was keeping an eye on the thread in the general Ars Magica forum - didn't realise this had appeared over here. Definitely still interested. Character concept/s, lets see...
I want to make a Bonisagus! I'm leaning toward one with faerie blood, and a great interest in researching their heritage. I have two ideas on that front right now:
One with undine (ceasg?) blood, and an aquam focus - I would probably end up with an underwater lab and such other things (might need to discuss how the undine faerie legacy works).
The other is more faerie-god blooded. One of the magically inclined Celtic deities. More of a vim bent, I think - and possibly also an alchemist if that's alright.
If we need healing, I would be open to changing paths some. If someone has that in mind, no problem at all. I just figure this is a good opportunity for some meta-game stuff to help avoid overlap (as mentioned before) and also cover our bases. I'm definitely planning on Re and Vi being strengths, but when I come down to it I have 4 points of Virtues and some points in Arts that are pretty flexible. In character design I'm trying to remain as vanilla as possible with my magic; I've got some creative things I'd like to try within vanilla Hermetic magic, using metamagic stuff. Essentially, I have a style for the character that could go with a lot of things. Meanwhile I just want to have a specific avenue to take and to have an interesting set of relationships with the Hermetic world set up. That really leaves me a lot of flexibility for a magical focus, for a house, etc. I was looking at Mercere because I think the house is quite interesting, and that's why Tremere was another choice. But even within those there are a lot of options. I have fun thoughts with an emphasis on any of transforming air, transforming fire, healing and longevity (two variants), or corpses.