Character creation discussion

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Via Experimenta
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Now for the opinions and comments...

Current lineup of the covenant's magi: 3 Bonisagi, 1 Criamon, 1 Jerbiton

Note that we also have one dedicated brewer for the covenant (covenfolk), one grog who has brewing as a hobby, and the Jerbiton magus came with another covenfolk who is a high-quality low-quantity vintner. And there is a companion who is a magical cooper. So if all of these are fully exploited, you may find the niche crowded.

I would have a tendency to rule out another Bonisagus, particularly if he comes from Egypt. Ex Misc is always a possibility, though that means creating a lineage. I'm not personally fond of Merinita, but if it floats your boat I'd be fine with it. Verditius definitively has potential. Verditius certainly, for the alchimical side and all the apparatus for brewing. Have you thought about an unlikely Flambeau magus? He might be more into the distillation than straight brewing, although temperature control would certainly fit nicely into his magical capabilities.

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""Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."--attributed mistakenly to Ben Franklin. Maybe we can attribute it your character. :smiley:

Edit: and such a character will help Praxiteles develop into a most corpulent magus...

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Actually, that's where I got the idea in the first place. The vintner and the cooper mean that the covenant already has an investment in the creation and distribution of alcohol: that's where Via Experimenta gets its money, right? So some of the related infrastructure is already in place.

The mundane brewer doesn't really occupy the same niche, because most covenfolk wouldn't want to drink beer that might have odd magical effects from time to time. Neither does the grog. (Matter of fact, if the grog's decent at brewing he might possibly make a good Forge Companion. :smiley:)

I considered Flambeau, but not real hard. The House is far, far more combative than this character. At least so far.

snrrk
The rough-draft set of stats I'm fiddling with has "Obese" as a flaw. :smiley:

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On consideration, Verditius doesn't work terribly well from a game perspective. The character's Craft skill is likely to be Craft: Brewing, which is only suitable for making Charged Items. And there is still the "two mystery cults" issue.

I'm thinking Ex Miscellanea.
Priesthood of Tenenet, who have resisted the cult of Tenenet being conflated with that of Isis -- or perhaps they are a subsect of the priesthood of Isis. Control Fertility, Deficient Perdo, Minor Magical Focus: Beer.

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Rough draft on stats. The character has 6 Virtue points available to spend (which is why it's a very rough draft). Suggestions are very welcome.

Craft: Brewer is how to brew beer. Beer Lore is knowledge of the mystical effects and transformational qualities of beer, and will serve as Mystery Cult Lore.

Kheperu, priestess of Tjenenet.
Characteristics: Int +3, Per +1, Pre +5, Com +1, Str -1, Sta +2, Dex 0, Qik -2
Size: 0
Age: 35 (35), Height: 5'8'', Weight: 185 lbs, Gender: Female
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence: 1 (3)
Virtues: The Gift, Hermetic Magus, Minor Magical Focus (Beer & Ale), Improved Characteristics (×2), Great Presence × 2, Control Fertility,
Flaws: Deficient Technique (Perdo)*, Rubenesque (aka Obese), Generous (Major), Seeker, Pagan, Deleterious Circumstances (When sober), Harmless Magic

Abilities: Arabic 5, Artes Liberales 2, Beer Lore 4, Brawl 2, Brewer 4 , Carouse 3, Control Fertility 4, Etiquette 2, Finesse 2, Folk Ken 2, Latin 4, Magic Lore 2, Magic Theory 4, Order of Hermes Lore 2, Parma Magica 2, Penetration 1, Philosophiae 2, Scribe 2
Arts: Cr 7, In 5, Mu 5, Pe 0, Re 5, An 0, Aq 6, Au 0, Co 5, He 6, Ig 5, Im 0, Me 0, Te 5, Vi 4

Spells Known:
Taste of the Spices and Herbs (MuIm 5) +7
Wizard's Sidestep (ReIm 10) +7
Wizard's Communion (MuVi 20) +11
Subtle Taste of Poison and Purity (InAq 5) +13
Lifting the Dangling Puppet (ReCo 15) +12
The Succubus's Trick (MuCo 5) +12
Disguise of the New Visage (MuCo 15) +12
Pilum of Fire (CrIg 20) +14
The Crystal Dart (Mu(Re)Te 10) +12
The Unseen Porter (ReTe 10) +12
Physician's Eye (InCo 5) +12

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Not sure how Pilum of Fire and The Crystal Dart fit into his overall concept...
Don't get me wrong, combat spells aren't bad. But, two seems excessive, since most of the stories will be problems of your own design...

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Actually, the spells are the roughest section of the rough draft. I essentially just wanted to get to 120 levels, and didn't have time to come up with spells of my own, not out of any of the books. The spell list will be changed.

Things she (the character concept mutated into female) will likely want to do:

  • Original research, on infusing wheat or rye or hops with magic while they are growing in order to brew beer with magical properties.
  • Self-initiating Hermetic Alchemy and Philosophic Alchemy, possibly as a route to the above (lots of potential for stories involving initiation scripts)
  • Possibly self-initiating the Lesser Elixir thing, although I'm not sure about that.

The reason I am not sure about that is that I'm not sure how to handle the Longevity Ritual issue. On one hand, Tjenenet is the goddess of childbirth, so for a priestess of Tjenenet to render herself unable to have children doesn't seem right. On the other hand, I can see it as a sort of sacrifice -- "I shall not have children so I can better assist others in having theirs" sort of thing.

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Or plan C...have lots of kids until 35, fulfilling the obligation of childbirth, evolving into the obligation of motherhood.

And now the spells make sense, I guess. :smiley: I tend to reverse my design process a bit. Think about the spell(s) I want to have and then make the totals work. It's one thing about MetaCreator that I do not like, because it nags me whenever I pick a spell beyond art scores of 0, etc...

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I'd rather stay away from that one for OOC reasons.

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Regarding a Companion character. Should I make one associated with Morticia, one of the other magi, or with the covenant or surrounding area?

And does anyone have any ideas as to what we need for one?

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Interesting concept, though the religious elements might cause problems in the Holy Roman Empire. Which might also be fun...

You're starting the character quite old at 35 -- this means she needs to have a longevity ritual done in the first year she's there or risk an aging roll. Not necessarily a problem, but just to make sure you're aware of that.

If you want to approach pregnant women to help them, you may want to consider Gentle Gift, otherwise they'll be mistrustful of her. Also, considering that she is from Egypt, you might want to consider the Outsider flaw instead of Pagan. Because in Germany, most mundanes will see you and probably think "Saracen". And remember that Pagan is a major flaw, so it will have to come into play quite often. Combining a normal Gift with an outgoing Pagan or Outsider, and you will soon be driven out. Or you will spend your time at the covenant, which is quickly boring.

Other virtues to be considered might be Enduring Magic, Life Boost, Personal Vis Source (from a specific teaching of your Cult), Special Circumstances (casting on women), Unaging, Venus' Blessing and Well-Traveled.

Even though your comlement of flaws is currently complete, some to consider would be Offensive to Animals (if you take Gentle Gift), Restriction (magic does not work on men), Short-Ranged Magic, Hedge Wizard, Susceptible to Divine Power.

Combining Deficient Perdo and Harmless Magic is a bit questionable. The first means that the second will almost never be a factor, as your maga is unlikely to ever learn Perdo spells. It might be better to pick a different minor virtue in place of Harmless Magic.

Parma at 2? Is this not the character just out of Gauntlet?

I'm not sure the total number of xp works, either. Adding the Arts and the Abilities gives me 585 xp spent (ignoring Arabic 5 because it is her native language and the first 5 xp in Control Fertility). That would mean that she is 40 years old instead of 35. (45 xp to year 5 plus 240 xp for 15 years of apprenticeship leaves 300 xp, which is 20 years.)

A bit scattered. The character would benefit from a tighter focus into fewer Arts out of Gauntlet. I'd get rid of the scores in Muto, Ignem, Terram and Vim to reallocate those xp to Aquam, Corpus and Herbam.

Again, I'd focus on fewer Art combinations for a tigher focus. But since you've already mentioned these were simply placeholders...

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Usually, I'd say that your companion should be anything but associated to your magus. But since you will be telling your own stories, that may not matter as much in this saga.

On the other hand, it becomes too easy to create a companion that is simply an adjunct to your maga, so I would advise caution.

A companion that can play with the other magi may be interesting if you want to get involved in the other magi's threads.

Or you can do without a companion at all. I created one, but I'm not sure how much action he will see. Any time I spend writing for him will be less time I have to write for my magus, so I'm a bit torn...

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Gentle Gift is high on the consideration list. Unaging, Venus' Blessing and Well-Traveled are also ones I've considered as quite likely. Outsider would certainly fit, but it's a Social flaw, and I thought those were forbidden for magi. Overall, her focus is on brewing much more than helping women, although the second is still a large part of her makeup.

Noted.

No, the character is 6-7 years post Gauntlet. I thought that's where this Saga starts people for some reason. If I was mistaken, that's fine.

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I think we went gauntlet to 10 years PG

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What do you think of a wolf-boy? A young man, probably in his teens, who is Feral (probably raised by wolves or something), who is found and "rescued" by the magi or others of the covenant?

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Let me also take this time to voice my opinion that Hermetic Alchemy is a horrible virtue. I don't take the Forms and Materials bonuses listed to be exhaustive and am certainly open to discussing additional bonuses that should seem to exist but don't. Modern interpretations of materials probably wouldn't fly...

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You mean Vulgar Alchemy?

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Errg. (checks). Yup you're right then let me asky why is extracting form Vis important to the character?

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Extracting Form vis is completely unimportant to the character. The ONLY reason Hermetic Alchemy is there is to provide a stepping stone to Philosophical Alchemy (which can then be used for original research into extracting ambient magic from the air into growing plants, or into brewing beer), and a stepping stone to Lesser Elixir. Both Philosophical Alchemy and Lesser Elixir require Hermetic Alchemy, and Lesser Elixir as written requires Vulgar Alchemy too.

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If you are self initiating skip it, then. I consider the two complementary, but I don't think Hermetic Alchemy is required, despite the statement in TMRE that says Philosophic Alchemy builds on Hermetic Alchemy.