Ty! Surely i was remembering the x2 rule 
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 
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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 
A priest, maybe? xD Or maybe a bodyguard with an angel-like patience ^^!
PS: poor Argos 
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. 
To add some rambling:
When I listed the kinds of companions who would work well with Regulus what I'm really saying is "if you make a companion who matches these, he and Regulus would have reasons to work together and be complementary".
For a concrete example, none of the 4 magi in the covenant are built as exceptional fighters. If you are interested in making a mercenary captain that guy could, in principle, complement any of the magi.
A mundane hunter/poacher/survivalist OTOH would (I think) be a bad fit for Alba, and while being a good support for Regulus on the martial side, the magus might eventually surpass him with Intellego spells. But he would be a good fit for Clusius if the magus ever needs the guy's assistance (for example, in the upcoming Telsberg hunt), and a good fit for Celeste as she goes around the Jura mountains seeking remains of dead people.
The same is valid the other way around. I mentioned interest in a member of the clergy. If Alba needs someone to guide her through the mundane world I could design this person with a bit more social skills (which would also make her useful to Clusius, since his gift is not Gentle). But if no one would see the character as a particularly useful addition (meaning she wouldn't appear in a lot of stories) I can always turn to another concept.
Of course, this also depends on the types of stories that everyone is going to run. ^^
Oh, don't worry. He will be involved in many threads happening inside of the covenant. I'm not sure I would qualify that as involvement in a story.
You will not complain that I do not give you enough story hooks xD
I suppose that any person able and willing to take advantage of Alba's gullible nature would make a problematic fit for her... even if she doesn't know that (at the start, at least) xD
...
Preparing the birthday party ^^!
To me sounds good, but we also need a reason for a clergy member to be with us regularly... maybe the Father Luc can be upgraded? ^^!
You mean the deathday party, don't you? 
Thats it! The perfecty non-evil deathday party xD
It's indeed an option, and one I thought about in the past. But there are reasons for a nun to leave the nunnery on occasion (I was thinking of having Lucelle Abbey be a nunnery).
By the way, with Alba's new project I think we will be needing new capable craftsman. Or maybe anyone is interested in Francesca or Hebert being companions? I must say I'm interested on that now. XD
That is one of the reason why I haven't statted them out. Leaves options open.
But if you take one of them as a companion, then he or she will need to have reasons to leave the covenant once in a while -- with or without the magi -- for something that may be dangerous.
Note that Francesca has a family. I was picturing her in her late forties, and she had a reason for staying at the covenant. But one of her adult children may be chafing to see the outside world instead of just working alongside their mother. That might be good material for a companion.
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I've also left quite a few of the inhabitants of the covenant undefined. So any number of people could already be there that would make interesting companions.