What is the Apprentice age on the Information window? I'll bet it is 7. I'm not experiencing any odd behavior with the new version of MetaCreator.
I, personally, detest Metecreator, and never-ever use it. I just use an RTF doc and a calculator.
Some notes (on this and other things)...
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The Black Plague is over a hundred years in the future still.
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Hex can be aligned with Magic or Faerie as well, I have no issue
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Chirgeons Healing Tough" improves one wound by one level in this saga (the first printing of ArM5 wasn't fully thought out)
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A magus with magic might makes me uncomfortable also. A Magus Level character with a full blown might score, somehow, puts me more at ease. I dunno. Is it necessary for the concept? Would Magic Blood and some initiations/adventures-for-virtues fit? I dunno. Sell me on the concept.
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for the carpet, I will find a reason to add a miscellaneous magnitude. It is used to hunt pirates; float among clouds, be invisible (using that spell), swoop down and blast deck and sail with six PoF's, his crew sails in and scoops up the salvage.
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For CharGen, also remember I am giving you your (Native Area) Lore at a score of 2 for free (equivalent to 15xp).
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There are some conventions that I use that I recommend to make things easier. Everyone has their own conventions and own style for character sheets. I tried to encourage uniformity, but no one listened
[tab][/tab] - List your Native Language and Native Area Lore as your very first two Abilities, the rest in alphabetical order.. You don't have to write the words "Native" or "Area". For example, you would just write "French 5, Normandy Lore 2, etcetera"
[tab][/tab] - Which brings me to a bug I noticed: Which French? Langue D'Oc (Southern) or Orleanis (Northern/Parisian)? AND you need to pick Specializations for each of your Abilities. Indicate that after the ability score (e.g. "Brawl 1 (knife)").
[tab][/tab] - You do not have to list the full amount of xp put into each Ability. Though most everyone likes doing that. I just like to indicate the whole score and any dangling xp (e.g. Magic Theory 4 (2xp)" or "Magic Theory 4.2")
[tab][/tab] - All-in-all, a pretty good character though
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...more to come...
Scarecrow: Nice! Xavi gave good advices, I have nothing much to add.
I love the combination of Short-Ranged Magic and Special Circumstances. The hyppocratic oath, too.
What I'd maybe do is drop improved characteristics and either give him a Personnal Creo Vis Source, or more probably Imbued by Corpus, but that is hardly necessary, since healing will most probably come out of covenants coffers. Also, you might be able to later learn a homemade mastery that allows you to use less vis (see the Spell Mastery thread)
Well, you are wrong, but less than me 
I checked yesterday: Hex is often a False Power aligned with Magic or Faerie: It uses the appropriate column, but appears as infernal when subjected to Divine or Infernal investigations. There are also "infernal only" versions, but these are presumably less frequent, and a minority of "pure" magical or faerie ones, although those are quite rare.
So, say, False Power?
Hex is listed as Supernatural, not Unholy or Tainted. It can in theory be Infernal, Faerie, or Magic. Or False, Tainted, or whatever. I don't want to go down the dark road and open the devil's can of worms. If Hex is used, it will be a straight regular (and rare) Magic version. No Tainted or False landmines. Having said that, would it be easier to just go with Cursing? Though I admit I do like the mechanics of Hex much better, and it is a classic ability from the core rulebook from every previous edition.
I fixed the bug. Ignore the ghost posts.
Anyway, let us stop posting character ideas here. Post them in separate threads for each magus. If you have other character ideas (companion/grogs/etc), post them in the thread with the magus they are associated with.
Then as for this thread, let us discuss what exactly it is we want to do and how we want to do it. The way I see it, there are three things we are trying to do...
- set up a chapterhouse (duh)
- play up the three-rank membership system of our covenant by focusing on Journeymen
- have a place for side adventures (read-sea adventures)
As to how we go about doing it, I envision three ways (I always try to think in three's)
- Handwave it (blong here's a chapterhouse! Merry Christmas!)
- Make a story of it (which needs a McGuffin...)
- Start from scratch, meaning actually having characters go there and in-play do what it takes to build a chapterhouse (which also needs a McGuffin as to why we want to do this).
And now I have three ideas for McGuffins
- there is some trouble going on that we wind up having to investigate (some Flambeau is setting fire to ships, or some hedge wizard &/or hermetic pirates are in the area, or there is a troublesome dragon there and we are selected as the most qualified to deal with it)
- we are doing a favor for someone by setting up a chapterhouse (such as a powerful magus like Erat Caecus or Pietro of Flambeau, or a powerful mundane like the Bishop or Count of Urgel or King James himself)
- Just about anything can be used as a McGuffin motivating us to go there and set up shop (Sigmundo invites us along to visit his Uncle Tooth at Sa Dragonera, Tooth decides to go with Sigmundo to Africa to visit Diablo Rojo, and he asks you if you will serve as housekeepers).
I'm down with handwaving it, though making it a story would give everyone a chance to introduce their characters at once.
How about a request/suggestion from our friends in Barcelona? The islands have just recently been recovered from the Moslems by the king of Aragon, making their magical resources available to the Order. The islands also offer new ports, which could impact Barcelona's trade if not addressed in some fashion. My understanding is that the Barcelona covenant has plenty of mundane wealth but (relatively) few vis sources. They can't support a chapterhouse from a magical perspective. They also may not want to, since they already have an unusual level of authority in the city and overtly expanding their influence would draw even more negative attention from their opponents in the Order. What they can do is use their mundane influence (i.e. money) to ensure King James sets aside land for the Order, probably in some out-of-the-way place far from civilization. Dragonera, for example. And finally, Barcelona seems to be amenable to Marko's long-term dream of resurrecting the Val-Negra tribunal , which is an idea that would be aided by an Andorran chapterhouse that might one day 'graduate' to a solo covenant. If Barcelona tried the same thing, the chapterhouse/covenant would (presumably) be considered part of the Iberian tribunal by default.
Now, is this whole idea a shameless effort to get my Barcelonan (Barcelonian? help me out, Xavi) merchant involved in a chapterhouse full of aquatic magi looking to hunt pirates? No. I am mildly ashamed. 
I have no problem with Hex being full blown infernal. Virgin sacrifice et al (needed, to get a high casting total). Having it and using it on a regular basis are 2 different things. Nobody said the character was Mr. Nice in any case 
In any case I will go for plain Cursing, even if you cannot use it to curse the crops and livestock of people, cause all the members of a bloodline to die before their second son is born, or to throw the Evil Eye on someone. 
My totals wouldn't be that high anyway.
My main concern with the character is that its development it is starting to look like a lab rat and a jack of all trades. 
he is good preparing potions, healing and poisoning, as well as getting some undercover ops. (broom delta force attack and assassination), but he basically is a scholar with abilities around level 3 (6 for herbalism, his key feature). Given that I want him to be active in the saga, and be somewhat useful and not a dead weight, a lab rat design does not fit very well. Also, the adventures described seem to imply underwater stuff and navigation, and he is not very prepared for this environment. So I might end up changing him. Back to the drawing board it seems.
Roberto doesn't even have an Aquam score
And don't design what you can do around accomplishments in the lab. Design accomplishments in the lab around what you want to do
Changing character concept. Companion level character. Marko might like the concept or hate it with a passion, and I need the troupe's pseudo permission for this.
Basically I want Flambeau to have joined the Order, but part of his tradition will not. He is one of the later. The fact that some membes of flambeau's tradition did not join was fairly clear: they did not want to miss the opportunity to hunt down muslims because of a freakin' code of conduct. SO they kept at it. After Flambeau's demise they took an oath never to rest until the culprits were cast in hell. They have since then expanded this solemn vow to all the Sahirs on the universe. They are not a match for sa Hermetic magus, but can still wield considerable power. There are not many of them around, but they are around. From time to time rumors of fire wielding magicians in Christian armies arise due to their presence. They have a low enough profile not to be "forcefuly invited" by the quaesitores to join the order or die. The tacit support of Castra Solis also helps here.
Now the mecnaics: use Hyperborean hymns (been there, done that, it works: Psyrinpheu + Azai). The magic will be suitably renamed to fit the bill, but it will be straightforward Hyperborean rules. I am also adding half taltos virtue to have him able to physically fight spirits (djnn), even if I can skip that last bit and have him have plain second sight instead. High area lores, languages and a militaristic bend on a well funded individual. Artes Liberales as well to use Inceptions to find foes and information, something that his patrons also find useful.
I think that he fits better with the story than the previous character concept. If the troupe is OK with this use of mechanics I will go forward with the character creation.
Cheers,
Xavi
Not sure. I do like the concept, and I do not mind his backstory being what he knows and has been taught about history.I just don't like it as being the actual history. I do like leaving a little free space for others to contribute creativity, such as Ryu's revelations about Elaine (which, until we obtain further evidence, is just legend for now).
But keep in mind, you have always known that I am a Flambeau fanatic .
To make it easy, I will lay out the established facts (version of the truth I prefer), and you can see where you can wiggle your idea in.
- It all starts with the Cult of Mercury.
- A Visigoth wizard named Delendar takes Reculed Aneus Secneca as his apprentice.
- The two become a fearsome duo wreaking havoc against Moorish invaders.
- Delendar dies in battle, and afterward Reculed crosses over into France and takes (or is given) the name Flambeau.
- Flambeau is approached and recruited by Trianoma, who impresses him with the breakthrough of Parma Magica.
- Historic Fact: GotF, page 140. "767-773; Flambeau departs Durenmar with a number of his apprentices to found the covenant of Val-Negra in the Pyrenees."
7). Flambeau dies in 788, during a pitched battle and last stand against his enemies. He had seven of his followers with him (the 7 Flambeau Champions). All except one fall in battle before him, Delenos is the last survivor and is given the last secrets and instructions of his master moments before Flambeau exploded (on purpose or in Twilight?).
8). Delendos and the only other surviving filius of Flambeau, namely Apromor, depart on a mysterious mission for over a year (why?), and keep events secret. When the return, they act as if Flambeau was still alive and off on a secret mission, so as to not distract anyone from the then current war against Davnavelous. Elaine is presented to the Order as the last apprentice of Flambeau, Apromor becomes primus, and Delendos wanders away forgotten, re-emerging during the Schism War.
As you can see, details fill in as we get to the end of the story. But there is a lot of wiggle room towards the beginning. And there is always the caveat "...or at least that is what they say...". So, this Flambeau related hedge tradition could have splintered off in several ways, such as from any of the other six Flambeau Champions. Maybe not all of his "apprentices" were truly filiae, as in he didn't open their Gift or anything. Some of them could have been other wizards he recruited as followers right around the Founding.
So you may have this tangential relation. I do not like the idea of remnants of "Flambeau's old tradition". The only thing directly above Flambeau is Delendos, beyond that it is the old Cult of Mercury in general. If you want to say "Flambeau's 4th apprentice was originally from the Byzantine cultofwhatever tradition before joining Flambeau and his followers", then that works for me.
I can see point 8 being the origin of this tradition. Delendos decided to keep the war against the Sahir active, even if bound by the Code himself when some of them joined house ExMiscellanea, and the Quaesitores taking a dim view of him declaring WW just for revenge. The remaining members of Flambeau's tradition are correct and deluded at the same time: they are true that they belong to the tradition of Flambeau (since their magic has its origin in Delendos; a simplified and limited version of the Hermetic Arts that can still pass under the Quaesitor radar) but they do not predate the Order as they think, but are a later invention. In any case it is a hedge tradition that is driven by a secret war against the Sahirs. They are not all-conquering tanks like the Hermetics are, so they need to plan their actions carefully, and so do the Sahirs.
The more I think about it, the more I like this crazy idea :mrgreen:
Allow me to meditate upon this...
Nope, these are great ideas!
Seems the forum is having problems again...
I agree that these are great ideas! Barcelona sponsorship. They sure want to get their resources back in vis and vis sources, then. I can see that easily. 8)
About the Barcelonean/Barcelonian thing, no idea, but Wiktionary lists it as Barcelonian, in case you are interested
Withdrawing my offer to run the chapterhouse. It's all yours, Marko.
Not a problem.
This is my idea. With the invasions of the Reconquista, the Baelric Islands have opened up for Hermetic potential. There were some magi &/or hedge wizards there, but they were on the wrong side and got chased out.
And Barcelona was right on top of it.
In mundane concerns, having the islands serve as a way station will greatly increase the international commerce Barcelona does. Money, money, money. Having some sort of Hermetic presence there might help insure that the islands stay in the hands of Aragon-Catalonia.
Then there is Sa Dragonera. Location of a powerful vis source but pretty uninhabitable. Barcelona has put in a claim, but this is contested since it is outside of their range of travel and is difficult to harvest. A Chapterhouse would suit them perfectly, but they do not have the manpower (or magus-power, so to say). Their membership is stretched thin with their individual personal concerns, and their snotty attitude has made it impossible to attract new members other that more self-absorbed Jerbiton magi who have better things to do.
So they come to Andorra, because for some reason we always have magi wandering in and out of the place. Most never make it past Journeyman, and some never made the cut (or request) to join. But there has been a lot of magi through here (mainly because that is the nature of PbP games). They are asking us to start up a chapterhouse, maybe divert some of our traffic flow and high energy into it. They will completely fund the project and it is legally our property, not a joint thing. They just want a 50% stake on the vis claim, and are willing to pay us for harvesting their share for them (a 60/40 split in our favor). Call it a hundred pawns to make math simple.
It will be a manor on Mallorca on a cliff overlooking the sea facing Sa Dragonera (in visible distance).
Ther land is being pacified and resettled, and there are petty revolts and small time pirates still to contend with.
And rumors of a Flambeau magus on a flying carpet that has attacked two ships with fire.
Is the plan to funnel all covenant trade through Palma? If not, we should try to have some kind of dock closer to the covenant for private transactions.
Is the chapterhouse going to have its own boons and hooks or are we just sticking with Andorra's and adding 60 more pawns per year?
The Chapterhouse can have some of it's own Boons & Hooks. All Resources shall come from Andorra. That 60 pawns gets added to the main covenant stores. You each get your Wages, and the council (which you are still a part of) will get to vote on what else they will budget you. Mundane expenses are subsidized by Barcelona, but at maximum-minimums. Anything extra, such as high lab upkeep and specialist salaries, will have to be paid for by Andorra.
Multiple casting is far too powerful. If an ability like Quick Casting which allows one to cast a spell at an initiative point sooner must be taken multiple times I see no reason why multiple casting shouldn't be taken multiple times. You want to cast five copies of Pilum of Fire? Master it with multiple casting 4 times. I played a character that could cast 6 Balls of Abysmal Flame, and had only selected multiple casting once. It seemed almost cheap.
Over in Héviz, multiple casting creates 1 copy, and must be taken multiple times for one copy. It nerfs my character to some degree; since she had to buy multiple casting several times over for her primary defensive spell.
I'm still trying to figure out what I'd play here. I'd been thinking about an Bjornaer with an Orca heartbeast, but with Prince of Boredom playing a Bjornaer with a Great White Shark hearbeast, I didn't think it would be a good fit for two apex predator heartbeasts to be around each other... And my Bjornaer might accidentally eat his character when he's a Great White.