Could be a reason to seek out the mystery of The Great Talisman...
Well, yeah, but... at that point i could also directly get the virtue directly xD
Yeah, The Great Talisman have more benefits with it, but even then, she doesnt know the existence of that mystery (iirc its not a widely known mystery and its not from the Merinita House).
And if she knows, how many years until that stone turns useful? 
The closer that comes to my mind would be cast first a ritual to make the stone smaller for a year (developing first the spell), then socketing it into the ring and enchant the talisman. And before the year ends, add the constant spell into the ring.
But im also not really sure if i wish to invest so much vis and time to do a talisman that, being honest, i think that its already obsolete with the Watching Wards rules... initially i wanted to use it as a way to sustain and fast cast wards against spells or mundane attacks, but you can reproduce that with Watching Wards for free, so... idk ^^!
Right now i just wanted to do it because it feels appropiate for Alba rather than because i think (as a player) that its useful.
Btw, i've applied already the changes in characteristics for Stella.
What enchantments were you thinking on enchanting into it?
What Pliny saw was only one instance of an Ovum Anguinum, so maybe there are smaller ones. But I'm honestly not sure on how much smaller. The smallest ref photos I can find online are still on the larger side (roughly 1 inch?).
I was going to suggest that, but it's indeed troublesome.
How would an Ovum Anguinum help with casting wards? I assumed you were after the Virtue by setting it into your Talisman? Also, would the virtue even be useful to Alba at all (her Sta is already +2, and her Com +3).
Thinking about it now, if the intent is to get the virtue (I hate to be the one always nitpicking on these things), can we get a "go ahead" first? Enriching something is a fairly straightforward process (make a roll to know if you have the knowledge, then spend a season (as long as Int + ML + Aura is 9+)), and needing to enchant it into a Talisman is no cost at all (because every magus eventually enchants a Talisman), so after you have the Thing it essentially amounts to "spend a season to gain a virtue". Receiving the Thing of Virtue as a reward from a low stakes pre-play story (in which you are also getting regular xp and vis) seems a bit... easy.
(Unless we are going to make the process of enrichment itself a bit more troublesome than just that by linking it to an adequate story, which should also be agreed upon beforehand).
The same thing is valid for Celeste's Opal of Virtue, by the way.
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Things like Halt the Piercing Shafts, Ward against "material", Wizard's Sidestep, maybe some healing one, etc. Spells that normally you would want to cast as fast as possible when in need (using a single word or with a intellego mentem constant spell).
I've grown in a place that was underwater millions of years ago and there was plenty of those. You will find imgs in internet of the "big ones" because those are the cool ones to show xD But i can asure you that some of those fossils where like the little finger nail in diameter. Even smaller.
Tough Virtue.
Dont worry, its ok 
Thats exactly why we post here the annual advancement 
So yep, np.
I wouldnt change anything in the system just for that. Just picking another thing as reward would be enough imho 
Ohh, there's Tough. Eluded me.
Why are you so concerned with Alba's safety? Are you thinking of pissing off a bunch of mundanes? =9
I wouldn't see the story as a change in the system. A few methods for enriching pretty much require a "quest". The ovum anguinum is a great example: go at midsummer to a place with a ball of snakes, collect a ball of froth that rises before it touches the ground, flee from the serpents until they can't pursue you anymore (explicetly by crossing a river). Instead of just saying "you spend a season and do this" the whole process could be played out.
It almost ressembles an initiation script, by the way. Special place and time (ball of snakes at midsummer) (+3), complete a quest (colect the froth and flee, keep the stone in the froth for at least 1 month) (+3), suffer a major flaw (if you lose the item the virtue doesn't work, this is like the major story flaw Greater Charm from RoP:F) (+9), spend one season for the whole process (+1). Idk, symbolic +2 (in Pliny the stone is generated by the snakes in the snakeball and must be collected, RoP:M changed this process into the enriching process)? This beats the EF 18 to get a minor virtue by initiation, and if this was an initiation, the quest would usually be played out. ^^
Albeit we can question how major the flaw really is (magi are usually not prone to losing their Talismans, so this doesn't seem like a proper flaw in this case).
I'm not quite saying that every enrichment should be modeled as an initiation to the same degree of rigor (well, maybe a bit). But the whole process shouldn't be "free".
Either way, I think this needs to be a bit more fleshed out. Either the story for obtaining of the stone, either it's enrichment.
I am fine with making the Enrichment as part of the game, after we've joined the Covenant, but generally speaking, I have shied away from having Celeste gain much Vis. She only gained like 4 pawns over 6 years, and one of them she supposedly paid to get the Opal Enriched.
But if you see it otherwise, I will not fight you over it. It would be nice to have, but it's not a must have, or something Celeste can't live without.
I think it makes sense to wait for actual play, just as for cult initiations, but it's just my view. That's why rather than saying "let's not" I asked for a clear go ahead. ^^
I will be completely honest here. I picked the Ovum of Virtue because i got jealous when i saw that Celeste got one as reward 
It also sounded cool and interesting so when i looked for one i picked that one because it worked with the thematic of her Talisman 
Thats it, thats the story xD
Oh! If thats what you meant, it sound good to me But the elephant in the room its the size of that thing xD Hahahaha
Some are stupidly easy, but others yes, are like a good quest
So... what we do at the end with those Things of Virtue? People want to play the Enrichment part?
I also accept ideas about alternative rewards since that 5cm diameter Ovum doesn't really work with a ring xD
I would also like to determine now the appropiate Technique + Forma to bind Stella, to avoid surprises later
That cat has enough Herbam powers to say that would be correct to use that Forma?
What about the Technique? In general, cats can go with Intellego. But with the array of powers that Stella have maybe other options are good too.
Unless we go crazy retconning rewards and things for Celeste and Alba, this doesnt affect anything for the arrival to Tugurium and the first contact with their inhabitants, so i'd say (if Itzhak is ok with it) that we are ready to play the arrival to the covenant (and into saga) when the SG is ready to switch into the next season.
Meanwhile (since play by post takes time anyway) we could finish those details.
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I think playing out the enrichment could be fun, but personally I'd be more interested in knowing who Alba is, so I'd suggest to add the item as part of the reward from an adventure already tied with her objectives and just assume the enrichment happens when we reach that point. This way we can have an story about Alba being her, instead of gaining an item? But if you think her enriching the item tells a better story about who she is, I will not contend with that. =]
Regarding alternative rewards, you are already getting the adventure XP and 1 pawn for that season. As for the whole year, you are at 38xp + 1 p. vis + 1 spell. Since the guidelines are 45xp and 3 pawns it seems somewhat even to me? If you still think it's short, why not 1 more p. vis?
Re: familiar, I think TeFo to bind is pretty much whatever you want. Herbam seems very natural to me. Rego seems fit, given Stella's powers. Maybe she is royalty between the cats and Alba doesn't know that? 
The book is clear in that "Any magus should be able to find an animal that he can bind with his best Technique and Form" and personally I've always read that as "choose whatever you want, just make it have a minimum of sense".
It seems you will arrive just in time to meet Regulus before he departs for Durenmar. Just enough time for him to probe you both on how you view the training of apprentices. =]
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I also think that would be funnier Also, i dont really have anything to do with it right now, so it has sense to playing it later 
I see the math more like: i got 4 pawns in 4'5 years ^^!
True xD Thats good
In that case you must also consider the rest. You got 156xp, 85 spell levels, a couple of laboratory texts and 4 pawns in 4.5 years (and befriended a potential familiar). ^^
XP seems to be in line, considering the 85 spell levels (3 or 4 extra seasons of study/adventure instead of inventing spells would bring the xp to the 45 average). So, why not retcon the amount of vis?
Ok, so... let's try this. I will post the character sheet, so we can see what should be changed if its necessary to make it better for both.
But first, a very short summary about his past (im able to do summaries from time to time, really):
- His father sinned with a huldra while her wife was pregnant, so when his son was born he with huldra blood.
- They raise it, but as he ages, his faerie blood turns more and more obvious, so he must leave his village at being just a very young man.
- He lives for a long time at the sides of civilization, living a lot of time into the forests but going to villages when he need something that he cannot find into the wilderness.
- Things happens and he ends being cursed with lycanthropy (later he will discover that from then, he can also talk with some animals), so he ends wandering deep into the dark forests of Swabia and griefing about the unfairness that he has to pay for his father sins and strengthening his ideals of seeking justice (in general, not against his father).
- He knows boar that cannot live in a herd due to Magical Air, but the human doesn't care. So both make a bond and start to help each other.
- He lives on the border of dangerous places to help people or just scare them away so they don't get in problems... and... thats it.
... well, that was shorter in my mind xD But it's still a summary
So, he is a person that can hold his ground in violent situations, that search for justice and to help people (in a personal and general sense, he doesn't know actual law... nor care) and that feels like there is no place for him to stay.
Now, the character sheet (or sheets, there is also the boar):
Onfroi
Age: 33
Warping: 0
Confidence: 1(3)
Size: 0
Personality Traits
- Angry +2
- Brave +3
- Passionate +2
- Loyal +3
Characteristics
- Int: +1
- Per: +1
- Pre: 0
- Com: +1
- Str: +2
- Sta: +1
- Dex: +2
- Qik: +2
Virtues
Cautious with Great Weapon (1), Enchanting Music (1), Faerie Blood: Huldra (1), Improved Characteristics x2 (2), Puissant Enchanting Music (1), Puissant Great Weapon (1), Unaffected by The Gift (1), Voice of The Forest (1), Warrior (1)
Flaws
Disfigured: Cow tail & Hollow back (1), Incomprehensible (1), Lycanthrope: Bear (3), Magical Animal Companion (1), Obsessed: Justice (1), Outcast (1), Warped Senses: Sensitive to Heat (1), Wrathful (1)
Combat
- Dagger: Init: +2, Attack +8, Defense +6, Damage +5
- Long Spear: Init: +5, Attack +13, Defense +11, Damage +9
Soak: +1
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)
Abilities
- Animal Handling (Inspiring loyalty) 1
- Area Lore: Upper Lorraine (Natural areas) 2
- Area Lore: Swabian (Natural areas) 2
- Athletics (Sprinting) 2
- Awareness (Searching) 4
- Brawl (Dagger) 3
- Charm (Being daring) 2
- Chirurgy (First aid) 1
- Concentration (Stay still) 3
- Enchanting Music (Fear) 5+2
- Folk Ken (Deception) 2
- Great Weapon (Long spear) 5+2
- Hunt (Covering tracks) 2
- Intrigue (Gossip) 1
- Language: French (Lorrain) 5
- Leadership (Intimidate) 1
- Music (Sing) 5
- Stealth (Sneak) 4
- Survival (Forests) 3
Boar shape
Confidence: 1(3)
Size: 0
Personality Traits
- Angry +3
- Brave +4
Characteristics
- Cun: +1
- Per: +1
- Pre: -4
- Com: -4
- Str: +2
- Sta: +2
- Dex: +2
- Qik: +2
Virtues
Berserk (1), Enduring Constitution (1), Ferocity: When cornered (1), Tough (1), Unaffected by The Gift (1), Voice of The Forest (1)
Flaws
Greedy (1), Disfigured: Cow tail & Hollow back (1), Magical Animal Companion (1), Warped Senses: Sensitive to Heat (1), Wrathful (1)
Natural Qualities
Aggressive, Hardy, Herd Animal, Tireless, Tough Hide
Combat
- Tusks: Init +2, Attack +12, Defense +10, Damage +7
- Tusks (berserk): Init +2, Attack +14, Defense +8, Damage +7
Soak: +10
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0/0, -2/-2, -4/-4, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)
Abilities
- Athletics (Sprinting) 4
- Awareness (Foraging) 3
- Brawl (Tusks) 5
- Survival (Forests) 5
Guiscard, the Black Boar
Season: Summer
Age: 6
Might: 5 (Animal)
Confidence: 1(3)
Size: +1
Personality Traits
- Angry +3
- Brave +4
- Greedy +2
- Loyal (to Onfroi) +2
Characteristics
- Int: -3
- Per: 0
- Pre: -4
- Com: -5
- Str: +2
- Sta: +2
- Dex: 0
- Qik: +1
Virtues
Berserk (1), Enduring Constitution (1), Ferocity: When cornered (1), Large (1), Tough (1)
Flaws
Magical Friend (1), Magical Air (3), Wrathful (1)
Natural Qualities
Aggressive, Hardy, Herd Animal, Tireless, Tough Hide
Magical Qualities
Improved Attack: Tusks (1), Improved Damage: Tusks (1), Improved Initiative: Tusks (1), Improved Soak x2 (2), Minor Virtue: Unaffected by The Gift (1)
Magical Inferiorities
Susceptible to Deprivation (1)
Combat
- Tusks: Init +4, Attack +15, Defense +12, Damage +10
- Tusks (berserk): Init +4, Attack +17, Defense +10, Damage +10
Soak: +11
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0/0, -2/-2, -4/-4, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-6), -3 (7-12), -5 (13-18), Incapacitated (19-24), Dead (25+)
Abilities
- Animal Handling (Boars) 1
- Area Lore: Swabia (Woods) 2
- Athletics (Sprinting) 4
- Awareness (Foraging) 3
- Brawl (Tusks) 8
- Survival (Forests) 5
- Swimming (Swampy waters) 1
And to finish, and because knowing me i usually mess with the numbers part, i add the abilities leveling too, so we can be sure that everything is correct xD
------- First 5 years -------
- Area Lore: Upper Lorraine (Natural areas) 1
- Athletics (Sprinting) 1 (5exp)
- Awareness (Alertness) 2 (15exp)
- Language: French (Lorrain) 5 (free)
- Stealth (Sneak) 2 (15exp)
- Survival (Forests) 1 (5exp)
------- 28 years (420 exp) + 50 exp from Warrior -------
- Animal Handling (Inspiring loyalty) 1 (5exp)
- Area Lore: Upper Lorraine (Natural areas) 1 --> 2 (10exp)
- Area Lore: Swabia (Natural areas) 2 (15exp)
- Athletics (Sprinting) 1 --> 2 (10exp)
- Awareness (Alertness) 2 --> 4 (35exp)
- Brawl (Dagger) 3 (30exp)
- Charm (Being daring) 2 (15exp)
- Concentration (Stay still) 3 (30exp)
- Enchanting Music (Fear) 5+2 (70exp)
- Folk Ken (Deception) 2 (15exp)
- Great Weapon (Long spear) 5+2 (75exp)
- Hunt (Covering tracks) 2 (15exp)
- Intrigue (Gossip) 1 (5exp)
- Leadership (Intimidate) 1 (5exp)
- Music (Sing) 5 (75exp)
- Stealth (Sneak) 2 --> 4 (35exp)
- Survival (Forests) 1 --> 3 (25exp)
PS: I forget to comment a few more points and decisions about the character.
I took a bear as lycanthrope shape because the flaw demands to be a dangerous predator, so a boar, even if that would be thematically fine, it wouldn't accomplish the requirements.
Also, for the bear shape i've used the rules that appear in Mystery Cults. I've saved Voice of The Forest because it mentions that sobrenatural abilities remain, but i've removed Enchanting Music because a singing bear it just feels wrong xD Also, he has Cunning, so i doubt that a bear would think to use music at all in first place anyways.
About that, when those rules mention about removing General abilities in animal shape but saving the knowledges... i was unsure about the exact abilities to save. So, for now, i just removed them all.
About the boar, i've added Intelligence instead of Cunning because its mentioned into the Story Flaw. I chose to put a -3 in Int, because of his size. If somebody thinks that it should be lower, it can be changed.
Considering the level of detail, I moved the post in this topic. The general topic is for proposing concepts, not for detailed stats.
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Onfroi seems like a nice guy, except for occasionally becoming a bear. XD
I imagine his bear form is also disfigured?
I'll make a few comments on Guiscard first, because I think a few things about him impacted Onfroi's design.
- being a magical creature I feel like he should be designed as a grog, including being limited to 3 points of virtues and flaws. He has currently 5 points of virtues, balancing 5 points of flaws.
- He shouldn't keep his natural qualities either.
- He needs a social status virtue or flaw, even as an animal. The Magical Friend minor flaw from RoP:M seems adequate. He gets a few benefits from his association with Onfroi, but is still treated as an animal.
- Magical Air seems inadequate (Major) and unnecessary. Humans will already keep away from Guiscard. Adult male boars usually live alone, so he doesn't need a reason to stay away from the herd. But if you still want to lean on that, may I suggest Offensive to Animals instead? It's minor.
- The version of the Magical Animal Companion flaw on the corebook puts the companion's Might at 10-size, the one on RoP:M leaves it open to the SG. I see no problem with 5 before size, but I think a bit more wouldn't be a problem either?
Onfroi
- The reason he has Unnafected by the Gift is to pair him with Guiscard Magical Air? I think it could be dropped if that's the case, but it does make it easier for Onfroi to interact with the magi.
- I think Enchanting Music could be used instinctively (since he loses awareness while transformed), but only to induce fear? Seems reasonable to me. =]
- You retain understanding of languages and general lores, so that would be both Area Lores and French. How much these would actually be useful w/o self-awareness is debatable.
Onfroi and Guiscard seem like they would be welcome company when Regulus visits Crintera. Onfroi would receive pity from the Bjornaer due to his condition, but not the mistrust that other shapeshifters receive.
This risks making Magical Animals less capable than their mundane counterparts. Consider a Golden Eagle. It's got Per +3, Awareness 4, Keen Eyesight virtue (+3), Keen Eyesight quality (+3), for a total +13 to Awareness rolls based on sight. But a Magical Golden Eagle would only have a +10?
Now, the only thing I can agree to, is that Qualities that adjust the Characteristics, or grant Abilities, wouldn't grant those for free, and you'll need to buy those.
This should be exempting Virtues of the basic animal, in my opinion.
Granted, my views on this derive a lot from having created the Animals of Mythic Europe pdf, but that work has allowed me to see the impracticality of the system for generating Magical Animals in the RoP:M book.
As for being a wereboar, just make it a flesh-eating one. Porcine are omnivorous, so they aren't above eating the flesh of other animals (or humans, for that matter) when the opportunity arises. Boars are aggressive, dangerous and "predatory" enough IMHO.
Enchanting Music wouldn't be useable when transformed, as its an active ability and the character has "the intelligence of an animal while changed, react to all stimuli as an animal, and don’t retain any memory of actions taken in animal form, save occasionally in dreams." (ArM5 p.55) To me, that means that the animal doesn't use music, including Enchanting Music. In the same way, Voice of the Forest will be of limited use when transformed, as your animal form would still be perceived by other animals as a predator.
Note that the rules in HoH:MC are oriented towards statting out the animal shape of a Bjornaer. I would not apply them to statting out the animal shape of someone with the Lycanthrope flaw. So knowledges and other abilities of the human shape do not apply when in animal shape. Emotions will port over (You still recognize both friends and enemies when changed.) but little else.
This, however, contradicts all examples of magical creature design from RoP:M.
Indeed, the creation of mundane and of magical animals were never meant to be used together. In particular, mundane animals are created on an "stat as needed" basis, with more gut feeling and less hard rules, while magical animals mirror mundane ones, but as described in RoP:M end up needing their magical qualities to bridge some gaps.
plus a power granting better eyesight, or buying a mundane quality with a magical quality (if allowed). It's not a perfect system, sadly.
But I'm not really trying to nitpick. In the end, all is fine as long as the character is functional and the SG agrees. ^^
Pg. 23 applies to shapeshifters in general, including explicit mention to lycanthropy in one place, but yes, it seems to be generally geared towards heartbeast statistics.
Since the lycanthrope flaw says "You have the normal physical characteristics of the animal, except
that +3 is added to your Soak score (in animal form only)" it might be easier to just use the animal stats in the end.