Here is all we have until the forum comes up. Then everyone will create character threads...
I like the Potterverse quite a bit and I'm a fan of the films. Rickman's portrayal of Snape was endlessly entertaining. But I often asked myself, "Why was Snape always such a dick?" In point of fact, pretty much everyone in House Slytherin were dicks, pretty much all the time. The same question could be directed at Potter's muggle family, none of whom had a single redeeming quality. Frankly, moral subtlety is not Rowling's strong suit. But let's say we wanted to model Snape in Ars Magica; a fairly natural lateral move for him. Let's ask that question again:
Why is Ars Magica Snape such a dick all the time?
The Ars Magica answer is: Because if he's not a dick, his magic doesn't work.
This is the seed of my character, whom I have named Hekrates.
Mechanically, Hekrates is defined by Virtues and Flaws which make his magic stronger against targets who are affected by his negative Reputations (Special Circumstances) and which make him weaker against targets who are affected by his positive Reputations (Deleterious Circumstances and Weak Magic Resistance). From the perspective of Hekrates and others in Mythic Europe, his magic is stronger against people who hate him. Conversely, the more you like Hekrates, the more vulnerable he is to you. Taken to its logical extreme, were someone to fall in True Love with Hekrates, he would be absolutely unable to affect that individual with magic, and he would have no defense against their own magic. Avoiding this fate is one of his personal priorities. He lies awake at night thinking up ways to make people hate him. He does not do this out of any personal animosity. Indeed, despite decades of building up mental walls and fortifications against emotional attachment, he's terribly lonely, isolated, and desperate for companionship. But he says to himself that he cannot afford such things. Mythic Europe is a dangerous place, doubly so for a Hermetic magus, triply so for a member of House Tytalus. Each individual with kind feelings towards Hekrates is a vulnerability, a potential assassin. Hekrates is a complete dick, and he is this way out of self-preservation.
There are few covenants who would invite such a constant and colossal jerk to become a member, and the Hermetic school is no exception. It is therefore important to make Hekrates very useful, to create a counterbalancing force which keeps him from being kicked out on his ass. To this end, he is also constructed with Virtues which make him a very good teacher (Good Teacher, Affinity with Teaching, Puissant Teaching). This will also bribe players with student PCs to take his classes; the players will want to get big heaping piles of XP from him, but their characters will despise him and curse every hour they spend in his presence.
I have chosen to avoid Flaws which automatically generate negative Reputations for Hekrates, for a couple of reasons. First, they feel like cheating. It would be very easy to give Hekrates Infamous (negative Reputation of 4) or Curse of Slander (which generates a constantly increasing negative Reputation), thereby minimizing his Deleterious Circumstances and Weakness, and ensuring that his Special Circumstances would almost always apply. This just seems unfair. I would be taking Flaws which made my character stronger. Secondly, I can defend this from a design perspective by saying that Hekrates wants to be able to manage his Reputations personally. In other words, he would not want outside forces working to make him more hated because this places his safety in the hands of others. Instead, he prefers to generate his negative Reputations himself, seeing this as more reliable.
Hekrates forged his name out of Hekate, the Chthonic titan of black magic, and Socrates, self-appointed "gadfly", teacher to Plato, and a man so despised by the people of Athens that they made him drink poison.
His personal magical interests are directed at demon-hunting. He chose this pursuit for a reason: Demons cannot love. This means that his Hermetic magic will never be vulnerable to demons, and he can rely on his Special Circumstances in virtually all encounters with demons. (Conversely, Hekrates considers angels and other beings associated with the Divine to be grave dangers to him, since they -- to a very literal degree -- are Love. He has never tested his magic against a Saint or angel because he flees them at every opportunity.) Hekrates was taught for several years post-Gauntlet by one of the Venatores (see RoP:I) and has an Affinity with Vim. He knows multiple spells which bring him under suspicion from the Quaesitores; this is, of course, perfectly satisfying to Hekrates, because it makes the Quaesitores vulnerable to his magic.
In the long term, Hekrates's character arc is almost certainly structured around his intense longing for, but sworn resolution to avoid, a rewarding personal relationship. He is drawn to kind, compassionate, caring and sympathetic people like a moth to a flame. He yearns to be no longer alone, but he cannot bring himself to lower his defenses. Those whom he develops personal fondness for -- a favored pupil, a colleague in the Order who might be his friend, a romantic interest -- are really in for it, as he will be more abrasive and cruel even than normal, out of a masochistic need to ensure this person will not hurt him. This is likely to turn these potential friends and lovers against him, which would satisfy Hekrates rationally while leaving him devastated emotionally.
It is hard to imagine a future for Hekrates of Tytalus that has a happy ending.
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I love it!!
Having some kind of house system like Hogwarts is probably too difficult and muddles up the selection process with the Order's Houses. Unless there is a huge demand, probably not, because I like to give the players what they want.
I think Pegasauras had been opened but not enchanted? Even still, I'm thinking of not allowing books to be brought with an initial allocation of build points I grant characters.
I'll throw something up on Obsidian Portal, as we progress.
Sounds good. If the academy does develop anything like a House or Nation system, it should happen organically. Maybe based on the cliques that the students form.
I think so. I have "Hire Petronius to open item for enchantment" listed on my "To Do" list (along with "Petronius: Re(Mu)Te to animate: 3p + 3p ReTe" and "Petronius: ReTe to fly: 4p + 3p ReTe"), so that may have been things that she was going to have him do in the coming months, but I seem to recall that the opening was going to be done pretty much right away, and the other stuff as he (or anyone) had time. So...Fiona has this really awesome, huge black marble pegasus to put in the courtyard or somewhere until she can get it enchanted...or can enchant it herself.
I plan to be generous with build points, with the idea that they be spent on items. I know Lupine's trunk wasn't magical, that he did it with his wand (or was it, I haven't read the books), but this is something I can see a magus having, especially an itinerant magus. I want the instructors to have creature comforts. You can probably put a number of effects into the statue and pay for them with build points, or you can have the statue, and have it as a labor of love for her to complete. I'll probably charge some value of build points for the statue when I get into the nitty gritty details.
I missed this earlier. It's still in flux, but to start with, it's a very small cadre, and limited to a particular "grade level" for lack of a better word. I'll have a few NPC students in the mix at first, though. As the school succeeds, it's expected that it will grow both with the addition of other, more advanced students and with new students. Everyone wants to see how the first year of magical instruction works. Elizabeth proved the concept of her methods to House Bonisagus and House Tremere already so they know that multiple students can be taught, what remains to be seen is whether the Order can withstand the social changes that come with it. Can the Houses deal with the experiment, will the accept the apprentices as full magi of their selected Houses, being effectively masterless? Will the gauntlets for each student be a traditional gauntlet, or something else? Those are some of the really interesting (to me) questions that need to be answered and gives players an idea of some of the stories I'll tell.
My fall back will be a slightly modified Korvin. he is already set up pretty well to be a teacher. I was looking at a Mutant but if Fiona is going to teach I will not do that. I have a Tremere I might play around and I'm going to investigate a Flambeau and a Criamon to see if anything jumps out at me.
For Fiona and Korvin, I'm fine with bringing them in, but I do want to reset them to the same guidelines as the other instructors. I know the bulk of their development was 40 xp per year, so this shouldn't be a huge problem. The Bibracte covenant of Mons Electi doesn't exist here, though the characters can certainly exist. It's a parallel dimension.
Oh and remember, I don't have a level limit on instructors, except a minimum. So, if you kept the back story prior to Bibracte for the characters and aged them another 30ish years. If they are 60-70 years post gauntlet, consider that they probably have seriously considered training an apprentice prior to this point, so you should explain why you haven't. Fiona has some responsibilities to her lineage that might be difficult to fulfill at the school, and so having trained an apprentice will fix that. It's something to consider.
Any chance of Alexei Von Kroitsau?
If not, no biggee.
Sure. Just keep in mind he has to have the teaching at an adequate level, given the Com + Teaching + Virtue =7 guideline.
That is doable, plus he's rather personable and has the Gentle Gift (which isn't as much of an issue now I know). He could still act as Imperator but specialize in magi-grog tactics and perhaps run some of the intramural activities?
Everyone seems to be using characters from other sagas; I don't know any of those characters, so I apologize if Hekrates is stepping on anyone's toes.
This is the Virtue/Flaw set I am working with at the moment:
I'm very happy with the Flaws. The choice of Difficult Underlings for his Story Flaw seemed especially useful, as it represents the fact that Hekrates has chosen to alienate everyone around him, including people he depends on, which creates stories based around betrayal and disobedience. His personality flaws -- Secretive and Pessimism -- well reflect his confidence that anyone who has affection for him is bound to betray him at one point or another and his simultaneous need to conceal his unique magical weaknesses.
Hekrates has room for a Major Hermetic or Supernatural Virtue, but I would like to take something not already represented among the PC magi, purely in the interest of niche protection. I would also like to give him one more Minor Virtue based on the Enmity/Affection axis, a bonus which helps him when his enemies hate him, but I do not know of any good candidates and am soliciting opinions. In particular, a Virtue which boosted his Magic Resistance against targets which hate him would be especially appropriate, balancing out his Weak Magic Resistance: Affection.
Alexei, Korvin and Fiona were from Bibracte.
Alexei is a gently Gifted Flambeau of the school of Ramius.
Fionais a giant blooded Daughter of Circe, of ex Miscellanea.
Korvinis a Merceris Magus with mercurian magic.
Panacea of Mercere is/was his apprentice (it's up to jebrick if he took her as an apprentice, otherwise I'll give her to another Mercere magus) and is the daughter of Ra'am Bonisagi, sister to Elizabeth the headmistress of the school.
I have not settled on Korvin. he is my fallback if I can not settle on/ have time to make something else. I'm going to explore a Guernicus and a Tremere Signaler and see what comes out. Metacreator is my friend.
Jonathan, I had an idea for a Virtue that would boost Hekrates's Magic Resistance in specific situations. My thinking goes like this:
Puissant Parma gives a +2 to Parma. Could Hekrates have a version of this which only applies when the attacker hates him? This would be uncommon but not rare, and the bonus would be +3 instead of +2. If the attacker does not hate him, the Virtue gives no bonus at all.
I invite the troupe to comment on this. I don't have a problem with the proposed virtue, as a virtue it adds much less than Flawed Parma Magica subtracts, so from that perspective it seems to be reasonable.
But, that strikes me as something rather passive for someone who otherwise takes control of his environment. How about a Minor Magical Focus (counterspells). The focus applies across a very broad range, when cast (which effectively negates the fast casting penalty in a lot of circumstances, but not botch dice) as a direct counter to another spell, for example Mighty Torrent of Water against a Ball of Abysmal Flame. The focus would apply for lab (and casting) totals only to the Perdo Vim spells of Unraveling the Fabric of (Form) and maybe some others like Wind of Mundane Silence. With some judicious application of experience points to mastering select spells for Fast casting, maybe taking fast caster, too, he could block spells all day long.
I'm planning on doing what you did with fast casting, too, which will now give a purpose for mastering an offensive spell for fast casting.
I personal see the problem that it would need a In/Me effect integrated into the Parma Magica and this would need to penetrate any kind of other MR to get this info.
As nice as the values for this mechanic sounds the problem is how it would work within the Hermetic Theory.
I'd like to have an instructor Charles de Bonsiagus (ex Jerbiton). A Bonisagus magus who was opened as a Jerbiton before being claimed by a Bonisagus mage.
Don't see a problem with that. Elizabeth's father shared a similar circumstance.