Talking of Ways of the (Land) on the favourite Virtues and Flaws thread, have a Bjornar defender of the wild.
Characteristics: Int +1, Per +0, Pre +0 Com +0, Str -2, Sta +0, Dex +3, Qik +2
Size: -1
Age: 25
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift; Hermetic Magus; Flexible Formulaic Magic, Ways of the Forest; Affinity with Herbam, Deft Herbam, Heartbeast (squirrel)*, Perfect Balance, Puissant Herbam; Enemies, Weak Magic Resistance: More than 50 paces from a tree; Compulsion (Hoarding), Fear (Fire), Incompatible Arts (CrIg and PeHe), Small Frame
Personality Traits: Hoarder +3, Afraid of fire +3, Excitable +2, Squirrel +1
Reputations: None
Combat:
Dodging: Init +2, Atk n/a, Dfn +5, Dam n/a
Soak: +0
Fatigue Penalties: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-4), -3 (5-8), -5 (9-12), Incapacitated (13-16)
Abilities: [Area] Lore 2 (trees), Artes Liberales 1 (ceremonial magic), Athletics 4 (climbing), Awareness 1 (food), Brawl 2 (dodging), Charm 1 (magi), Code of Hermes 1 (protecting the wilderness), Concentration 1 (spells), Finesse 2 (Herbam), Folk Ken 1 (magi), Guile 1 (magi), Heartbeast 1 (changing to squirrel), Latin 4 (Hermetic terms), Magic Theory 3 (Herbam), Native Language 5 (speaking very fast), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (Bjornaer), Parma Magica 1 (Herbam), Penetration 2 (Herbam), Stealth 1 (forests), Survival 1 (forests)
Arts: Cr 5, In 0, Mu 0, Pe 0, Re 7, An 0, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 0, He 12+3, Ig 0, Im 5, Me 0, Te 0, Vi 0
Twilight scars: None
Equipment: Wizardly robes
Encumbrance: 0 (0)
Spells known:
Trap of the Entwining Vines (CrHe 15) +20
Wall of Living Wood (CrHe 25) +21 Mastery 1 (fast casting)
Intuition of the Forest (InHe 10) +15
Shriek of the Impending Shafts (InHe 15) +15
Strike of the Angered Branch (ReHe 15) +22
Freeing the Striding Tree (ReHe 30) +22
Wizard’s Sidestep (ReIm 10) +12
Stats in Heartbeast Form
Characteristics: Int +1, Per +0, Pre -3 Com -5, Str -12, Sta +1, Dex +3, Qik +5
Size: -7
Age: 25
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence Score: 1 (3)
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift; Hermetic Magus; Flexible Formulaic Magic, Ways of the Forest; Affinity with Herbam, Deft Herbam, Heartbeast (squirrel)*, Lightning Reflexes, Perfect Balance, Puissant Herbam; Enemies, Weak Magic Resistance: More than 50 paces from a tree; Compulsion (Hoarding), Fear (Fire), Incompatible Arts (CrIg and PeHe)
Reputations: None
Combat:
Dodging: Init +5, Atk n/a, Dfn +10, Dam n/a
Soak: +1
Fatigue Penalties: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1), -3 (2), -5 (3), Incapacitated (4)
Abilities: [Area] Lore 2 (trees), Artes Liberales 1 (ceremonial magic), Athletics 3 (climbing), Awareness 4 (food), Brawl 4 (dodging), Code of Hermes 1 (protecting the wilderness), Finesse 2 (Herbam), Heartbeast 1 (changing to squirrel), Latin 4 (Hermetic terms), Magic Theory 3 (Herbam), Native Language 5 (speaking very fast), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (Bjornaer), Parma Magica 1 (Herbam), Penetration 2 (Herbam), Stealth 4 (hiding), Survival 3 (foraging)
Other: +3 to climb rolls
Character Notes
This character protects an ancient forest, full of venerable trees and magic auras. The key threats to it are expanding local town which needs wood for its building and industries and the establishment of a faerie court - faeries love to live on the outskirts of human society, but the faerie auras they bring could easily overwhelm the magics of the woods.
As a squirrel, the character’s magics are centred around the forest, and they are significantly weaker away from the trees. Squirrels are relatively fragile, so in combat they need to focus on not getting hit - staying out of reach whilst using their Deft Herbam to attack their enemies without them even knowing why the tree is hitting them.
Customisation Notes
The character has used up all of their points of Virtues and Flaws. Flexible Formulaic Magic could be swapped for a Major Magical Focus in trees if you want to lean even harder into the forest theme, but note that this will remove their ability to cast their Voice Range spells at Sight range, making them less subtle. Alternatively you could swap in a Minor Magical Focus for a particular type of tree (probably an oak tree).