Character Creation Discussions (OOC)

Re: Rego Craft Magic

What is the impact of increasing the Size of an Individual Target? Does this amplify the amount of worked material, with the size, applying an even amount of "work" to all the material covered by the increase in Size? Or is the same total amount of work distributed over the entire Size?

What about a Group Target?

A ReTe spell to move earth from here to there, if had a +1 size, would move 10 times more earth from here to there. The mass of earth will be moved neither slower nor closer because there is more earth now.

In other words, the guideline does what the guideline does, regardless of size. This should be valid for any kind of spell, Rego Craft or not.

Same is valid for group, but the specifics may differ depending on the exact effect of the spell.

I would tend to agree, I just didn't want to assume before I start designing things for Dolabrius and then have them not work as expected.

iirc +1 size its a x2, not a x10 (that would be a Group difference, not size)

But anyways, with Rego Craft i would say that with size you increase the max volume of the finished product, while with Group you can make more finished products at the same time (then you can mix both to increase either the number of products or the size of them).
Anything else (speed, difficulty, etc) would be the same regardless of those values.

+1 mag for size increases volume by 10. Check the last item on the Targets and Sizes box in corebook, p.113.

However, it's common to simplify it by saying that the first magnitude doubles every dimension, the second multiplies by 2.5, and the third by 2 again (just to make the math easier).

So, a spell to create a cube of stone with 1 pace at side (base stone individual) creates a cube with 2x2x2 paces (8 cubic paces) with +1 mag (or, being pedantic, 2.15 paces). At +2 mag it would be a 5x5x5 cube, and at +3 mag a 10x10x10 cube (size increases by 3, volume increase of 1000).

Do not confuse size with Size. A regular human has Size 0. A large human will have Size +1. A horse could have Size +3.

The Size +1 human has roughly double the mass of a Size +0 human. For Sizes, every 3 points are a 10x increase (and the 2 - 2.5 - 2 rule of thumb I mentioned earlier applies, but for mass, instead of dimensions).


Examples trying to put all together:

The MuAn spell Beast of Outlandish Size changes the Size of an animal by +1. It has no extra mags for size, so it can affect at most a Size +1 creature (base Animal individual). The weigh of the animal would double. Its dimensions, however, would increase only by 1.25 (roughly) in every direction (because that's the cubic root of 2, the increase in volume).

A MuCo spell to turn a person into a giant with a +1 size magnitude can change the person into someone with 10 times as much mass/volume. This equals a +3 Size increase. And the height of the person would roughly double.

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Random aside, but what do folks think would be a fair Teaching + Com would be for a top shelf dedicated language tutor? A professional grammarian as it were. As I said, Belisarius is going to be spend at least two, likely three seasons in Durenmar or Cologne learning German, so I wanted to get a gut feeling for that from the troupe.

How would your character recognize a top shelf dedicated tutor? Number of xp gained is a game information, not something the characters can recognize and evaluate.

I'm tempted to say that the SQ of the tutor should be determined randomly. Or just use a reasonable number that a regular tutor would reasonably achieve. Com 2 + Teaching 5 seems reasonable to me. Com 5 + Teaching 8 + Good Teacher virtue does not.

When in Thebes I had Regulus learning from Nicodemus, a mundane teacher past his 50's with Com +2 and Teaching +9. Note that this character was a teacher at Polyaigos, a covenant with the sole mission of teaching young apprentices.

You could go for a +3 (or even a +5 Com) and Good Teacher, but what are the odds such a person is available and teaches the particular language you want to learn? And if this person exists, I recon the cost of hiring would be prohibitive.


For some context, both A&A and City & Guild assume you can become a master at your university/guild with a score around 5+ in the relevant ability, so this seems very fitting for a "standard" teacher with a life outside the academy.

Ty! Surely i was remembering the x2 rule :stuck_out_tongue:
It always confuses me that both sizes are not directly equivalent ^^!

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I was rewriting Argos (Regulus's servant) as a companion instead of a grog, thinking mainly on Vorsutus. But with Vorsutus leaving, does he still adds something to the covenant?

As a grog his concept is that of a thief. He would develop as a roguish character, stealing ACs when (if) we need and spying on people.
As a companion this remains essentially true, but with added supernatural virtues that make him a bit more efficient on finding items and recognizing their value. His story flaw ties into faerie, which could be explored in conjunction with Alba (in special) and occasionally Celeste.

How does it look like?

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The important question is -- do you want to play him as a companion? Is so, what kind of stories would you like him to be involved in?

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To me sounds good and I'm ok with whatever you choose Rafael :slight_smile:

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Well, I sure think it would be interesting to play him... But it takes very little to amuse me. XD

He is suitable to get into certain kinds of stories with faeries. He's the boy who steals the goose of golden eggs and the magical harp... Which makes Alba (assuming he would be mainly her companion) the witch who sells the magic beans? XD

Besides faerie, he should be ok for stories where one needs a thief or a spy. Entering the church and stealing Father Luc's favorite spoon. Watching over Agnes von Werner while Clusius meets her husband (if someone wants to try and run something about the Telsberg). Or just sieving out the items we buy from Basel to make sure they are all standard quality and end up discovering that one of them is tainted by magic, prompting a story to discover what it is and were it came from (so, feel free to use him as a hook for stories). Or maybe they are shoddy items and we need to schedule a trip to the market, for a more mundane thing?

I'm not hoping for a lot of screentime with him. Instead, I see him as someone who would be nice to have around if ever needed. Otherwise, the trouble he causes (or solves) can stay in the background.

Since Alba has decided to cede the control of the conversation to Celeste, i will wait to Itzhak before i post in-game.

Meanwhile, i would like to recover a previous topic about our characters (by "our", i mean Celeste and Alba): Their lack of vis.

Since Alba lived 4'5 years since her Gauntlet, she should have 13 pawns of vis (3 x 4'5). Currently she has 4 pawns, so she lacks 9 pawns.
Celeste should have even more vis, since it's been 7 years since her Gauntlet and she has 3 pawns (she should have 21, so she lacks 18 pawns). I will let Itzhak decide the exact amount and nature of Celeste's rewards before she and Alba met, but here i make a proposal to improve our vis quantity since both magas walk together:

  • Summer 1202 (Celeste & Alba) > +3 pawns of vis for each maga, found during their travels through the Bohemia wilderness
  • Spring 1203 (Alba) > +2 pawns of Herbam faerie tainted vis found by Alba at the nymphs campment after she found the cats in Irencillia forest and when she rescued the grogs of Irencillia
  • Autumn 1203 (Celeste & Alba) > +3 pawns of vis for Celeste and +2 pawns of vis for Alba when they fought and destroyed the ghosts in Irencillia (proposed forms, Mentem and Vim)
  • Autumn 1204 (Celeste & Alba) > +2 extra pawns of vis for both magas when they found the faerie oak (in Alba's case, the Ovum Anguinum of Virtue would be removed as reward)

That would mean +8 pawns for Celeste and +9 pawns for Alba. Celeste would still need 10 more to add in several spots into her past.

That would be ok with everybody? Do you have any ideas to alternative rewards?

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So, to further the discussion on companions: do we have any strong ideas?

As I mentioned on the Table Talk topic, I'm thinking of dialing back on Argos (me, everchanging...). I have a couple of concepts I'd like to explore, but they depend a bit on what would complement the magi.

As for that, what do the magi need?


Speaking for Regulus, he is starting his carreer geared towards investigation. This could be complemented by a mundane with good social skills (to investigate through mundane means).
A Redcap (or another mundane character with enough leverage within the Order) with Intrigue would serve us well if we want to pair them for hermetic politics.
If we want to focus on dangerous investigative stories, Regulus is definetly going to need protection, so perhaps a martial companion.
Regulus is also going to be a little bit explorative from time to time (eg., I have a strong intention to develop an InIm T:Structure spell to look inside the roman ship) so people willing to join him in these kinds of stories would also be welcome!

To some degree the right companion for him depends on what the SGs are going to run.

His end goal is to build up enough Hermetic Prestige so that he can push his agenda forward and stand against his Tormenting Master (who can leverage his reputation and contacts to cause problems to Regulus).

As for my companion:

I'm thinking of dialing back on Argos because I'm still not convinced he would be a good match for any of the current magi, except very occasionally. Thus, it might be better if he stays as a grog.

I have a few thoughts about a mundane member of the Telsberg who left the family to join a nunnery. Or about a minor member of the family with a martial bent, a knightish character. In both cases, either someone without a side in the family disputes or someone with a weak influence (meaning that a member of the covenant being constantly seen with this person would not be interpreted as siding with faction (can we even call it factions?) X or Y).

Do any of these seem fit for Alba, Celeste or Clusius?

I need to think about what companion could work with Alba.... anybody that can help her to avoid problems due to her own ignorance I suppose :open_mouth: A priest, maybe? xD Or maybe a bodyguard with an angel-like patience ^^!

PS: poor Argos :frowning: He got nerfed

After some thinking I have a question: "It is really necessary that each companion goes in pair with a magus?"

I mean, taking Julius as example. I see him as a steward/chamberlain who helps us all equally. He is not meant to be paired up with nobody in special and works as a wildcard in any story.

Correct. Companions need not be paired with a magus. What is preferable is if they don't pair well with your own magus. That reduces the likelyhood that you would play both in a story.

Julius may have been created using the companion rules, but he is more of a covenant feature. He is not going to be involved in stories outside of the covenant, because he never leaves the covenant. He is also my mean of passing down information.

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With Alba's intended lab I'm sure we will manage to involve him in a story around the covenant. :sweat_smile: