Augustan Brotherhood as antagonists

Hi,

I'm quite confused with the Augustan Brotherhood as described in Rival Magic. Their divination and warding skills are quite more powerful than the hermetic Intellego and Rego techniques for sure, but they lack even the slightest skill in defence against Mentem. That means that any Jerbiton interested in them will easily be able to uncover all the Brotherhood secrets, putting don any plan they may have with the Order of Hermes.

Is there any way to play them as powerful antagonists to the order?

In my saga I had to provide them a new school protecting the thoughts just for this purpose.

Regards,
Imrryran

Personally, I always conceived of the Augustan Brotherhood as a loose confederation of magic users who happen to share a common goal (the restoration of the Roman Empire) rather than a monolithic conspiracy.

Thus, for example, while a magus might apprehend and read the mind of an individual virgilian wizard, he won't necessarily know any details about what his fellows are up to in their own courts. Similar to how the OoH works really except that the Augustan Brotherhood has a singular cohesive goal and no real rules of conduct.

Wouldn't it still know there are other such magi in other courts and understand they are not the usual kind of court fake-wizards?

The problem is everyone who's not a hermetic mage doesn't have parma magica. Therefore, even if they did have a defense against mentem, it would be on the order of magical resistance equal to the relevant supernatural ability. This means that if you can get a penetration score in low double figures you can trounce them easily. So, if your troupe includes a mentem specialist who routinely mentally invades every NPC he is suspicious of, they need stories that involve opponents with strong magical resistance or stories where they run the risk of accidentally scrying another magus and getting into trouble.

In general, all Ars opponents are likely to be vulnerable to one particular speciality that a hermetic magus could have - after all, a perdo vim specialist could slaughter demons with gay abandon, a creo herbam specialist could rain 100,000 javelins on an opposing army, a rego terram specialist can fling huge boulders at opponents with strong magical resistance....but enough about the problems with my troupe. In any saga, the stories have to be adjusted to the capabilities of the player characters.

In specific regard to the Augustan Brotherhood - if your players are likely to use intellego mentem straight off, make it clear from the start that they are heavily involved with local nobility and if anything suspicious happens to their court wizards they will respond, making magi wary about how to intervene without interfering with the mundanes. Alternatively, use multiple threats - there's an infernally-tainted advisor to the local duke, who also has an Augustan court wizard, and a family member with a Magical Air, and someone replaced by a faerie changeling - and make them wonder which ones are threats to them and which ones can be safely left alone.

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There is a nice SG fiat that screws the bestlaid mentem magics. The divine. (Real) miracle workers can easily step forward and piss your plan out of target easily if that makes for a better story.

As with most non-hermetics, the Augustans are better (read: more of a challenge) if they don't go around casting spectacular magics but instead working behind the screnes. You might be really pissed off at the local baron, who always seems to be at the most inconvenient place at the most inconvenient time for your interests, but you might be totally oblivious to the fact that this happens because he has an augustan advisor casting intellego effects right and left, and that is your real enemy. That count might also have quite bountiful harvests to pay for the army that is screwing you up, but until you find the statue to Ceres in the middle of his domanisn you might not know why he is getting so lucky with rain when the nearby regions suffer a drought. He might appear to have a pair of really tough bodyguards (with enclosed helmets) that you cannot ReMe to attack him, and that trounce your assassins right and left, but you might suspect that this is the influence of the power of the divine in the relics around their necks, not the fact that they are Animated wooden statues equipped in full armor and with high weapon skill and alertness skills.

When you unvil that kind of stuff you might open your eyes wide, and suddenly realize that your real opponent has been that frail-looking wizened old man in the wheelchair all along, but it might take some time to achieve that discovery.

If it goes to a duel at dawn-break, the aiugustan is screwed, but the ear of his noble(s) and the fact he can get political leverage by creating interesting effects for his masters is what makes them interesting.

Cheers,
Xavi

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The Virgillian wizard certainly could set up effects to be triggered when he is forcibly removed from an area or when spells are cast at him within an area. A clever NPC could get a few hints as to the PC's abilities (by throwing red herrings at them) and develop rites to counteract them.

Thank you very much for all these ideas. :smiley:

I'm going to try to have my player magi characters reveal the Parma Magica secret to the Brotherhood. :smiling_imp:

A Brotherhood member (an old Sicilian man engaged as an astronomer by Emperor Frederic II) will intrigue to send unknowing court servants to them, convinced they are searching for a mean to defend their lord (up to the Holy German Emperor if needed) against other magi. The players will be heavily tempted to extend their Parma Magica to the lord (or his servants for "testing purpose", or some animated imitation) as they have some trouble with local Archbishop (we are playing our saga in the Rhine Gorges) and some other nobles that the lord could easily resolve. In the end, if done with discretion, if the magus doing this is hidden, if it looks like the divine protection the lord is expected to have, how could it be found by quaesitores?

The Brotherhood member will carefully study how the magi do it again and again, and try to copy it. Once done, the Brotherhood will be a real treat to the Order, the players will be deep down in trouble, and intrigues of epic proportions will ensue. :mrgreen:

I'd love to hear how it goes. Many years ago when the Augustan Brotherhood made their first appearance it was at a Freeform I ran at a Grand Tribunal convention, and the Brotherhood had indeed learned Parma Magica - because they had entered in to a sinister conspiracy with the Primus of House Jerbiton (played by Matt Ryan) no less!

cj x

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The Parma Magica was revealed to the Brotherhood, increasing their strength substantially. However, while some high-ranked Apple Guild member was preparing negotiation between the Order and the Brotherhood, one of the PC was asked as a scapegoat for the murder of an Augustan during a stupid fight. She had to go into exile, far from the HRE.

I'm not sure I will use this arc much more though, as the players are not that interested in the Brotherhood.