[tab][/tab][tab][/tab]Character Creation
-[tab][/tab]Each player will have one Magus/Maga and one Companion. These two must be unrelated. They must also be function-able ( a blatant gifted Bonisagus with presence and communication at -3 is not of any use outside a laboratory and no fun).
-[tab][/tab]State what your characters' religion is and how devout or not they are. Any religion is fine. Some flaws based solely on religion are not allowed (like unbaptized or pagan) while others that also deal with race are (like outcast, outsider for jews, muslims etc)
-[tab][/tab]No Infernalists, Holy men, miracle workers, Mythic companions or gifted casters of non-hermetic practices. Your Magus must be Hermetic, your companion may be an ungifted practitioner within reason. (Note there are some Hermetics who dabble or have skills from those domains, ask before you make one of those). No familiar companions. If you take Animal companion or Magical Animal companion or such and then make them your familiar, you will have to compensate for the flaw by taking another one.
-[tab][/tab]If you want a flaw but you have some problem with an aspect of it, you can make a greater/lesser malediction of it. Note the flaw and what you want changed. You must also note who/what gave you the malediction, including which realm it originated from. This will present further complications along the way. You should also consider vulnerability to that realm.
-[tab][/tab]Do not pile up flaws of the same kind (Like Vow(pacifism) and Ability block (Martial) and non-combatant)
-[tab][/tab]Major personality flaws will be enforced and cannot be overcome (to the point of dictating what the character would do). Minor personality flaws can be temporarily overcome with a confidence point.
-[tab][/tab]Find a reason for your characters why they joined an obscure covenant in the middle of nowhere, then make the character. Too many times we make an interesting character and try to shoe-horn him into a campaign...
Also, a good idea is not to finalize your characters until you have seen the pre-made Covenant. Some characters simply wont fit in.
-[tab][/tab]Work with me. I do not like saying no to players, but sometimes what the player envisions and how it turns out or how it fits in a campaign is different, and he gets disillusioned. Just work with me and be patient.
[tab][/tab][tab][/tab]Magi
-[tab][/tab]Magi should be made by following normal creation rules. You should focus on the main rulebook and the three House of Hermes books. When listing virtues/flaws add a book and page reference. Do the same for spells. The ST reserves approving or disallowing certain virtues/flaws, but all spells from those three books (and probably other books) are allowed for newly Gauntled magi. If you want a slightly modified spell from those, ask. Please do not take spells from outside those books or that you found on the net.
-[tab][/tab]Your Magi should be human. No weird hybrids, magical creatures, fae lords or embodiments of nature. This means that major supernatural virtues and flaws that make you non human or part human are out for magi(you can be a skinchanger but not a shapeshifter), Including Giant's blood etc. There are exceptions:
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab]Merinita have the whole gamut of fae virtues and flaws, major and minor. Please do not go overboard, I would prefer a human leaning Merinita to a magus trying to become fae who cannot function in society.
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab]Ex Miscellanea are allowed to take such virtues and flaws, as long as they are central to their character. The virtue must be taken as the free virtue if major (This means no shapeshifter pharmacopoeians, even if its canon).
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab]Mythic Blood will be restricted to this: Descendant of a notable human magus or sorcerer is available to all houses. Descendant of a fae or a supernatural being of power is restricted to Merinita and Ex Miscellanea respectively. Descendant of a beast of legend or Great beast is restricted to Bjornae.
-[tab][/tab]You can have one (1) minor mystery virtue at the beginning of the campaign. This includes the free virtue from the four mystery houses. No major mystery virtues or more than one minor. You must also buy at least Cult lore1. If you want something more substantial, discuss it with me, I am open to discussion on this.
-[tab][/tab]One of the major choices for your magi character will be whether or not she/he will be from outside the Theban Tribunal. Anastaj targets non-natives for his recruitment campaign, but Christoforos has also made some inquires inside the Tribunal itself. Depending on what you choose, follow one of the below:
[tab][/tab]-[tab][/tab] Non Theban Magi
[tab][/tab]You do not need to have read the Theban Tribunal book. Lucky you.
[tab][/tab]You start with a Native Language 5 in your native language and an Area lore 2 of your native city/village (cannot be more than a province in size). These are free. At the end of your apprenticeship add either living language 2 in Romaic Greek, Vlach or Slav, or Dead Language 1 Classical Greek. This is free too (Assume that Anastaj spends some time teaching you or that your Parens did).
[tab][/tab]During your apprenticeship your were taught Latin 4 as per normal creation rules. Your spells are in Latin.
[tab][/tab]You start as a metoikos, meaning you are a 'guest' of the Tribunal and do not have full political rights until you pass a citizenship decree six years from now at the next Tribunal. You are clueless of how things work. If you are of the house of Guernicus you are in for a (pleasant?) surprise...
-[tab][/tab]Theban Magi
[tab][/tab]You must have read the Theban Tribunal Book. You should start with order of Hermes lore 1 and Code of Hermes:(Theban Tribunal) 1, this is highly recommended.
[tab][/tab]You start with Native Language 5. This can be Romaic Greek. You can have a rank of 6 and be able to read Classical Greek this way (but not write books), allowing you to cast spells in Classical Greek. You will sound like a hick to other Theban Magi though...
[tab][/tab]Official spellcasting language for the Tribunal is Classical Greek. You will be taught Classical Greek 4 during apprenticeship, unless you already know sufficient Romaic Greek to read classical texts or you come from one of those Tremere covenants that are proponents of the Latin Language. Most Parens will teach their apprentices some Latin.
[tab][/tab]You start as a politis, a full citizen. You know how the Tribunal is governed and about the token system (again Code of Hermes:(Theban Tribunal) 1 is highly recommended)
[tab][/tab]You have heard disturbing rumors about this covenant. Your Parens likely warned you against your decision to join, and an arche or a servant of one has probably approached you with a cautionary tale or two. Visiting Redcaps will want to make sure you doing are allright.
A further note on Magi: Anastaj is a bit reluctant accepting non-combative magi, people who have Vow(pacifist), non-combatant or Ability block (martial), even though Criamon are known for precisely these tendencies. This is not a restriction, just a weird observation.
[tab][/tab][tab][/tab]Companions
-[tab][/tab] The Companion must not linked to your magus. However you can have a companion linked to another magus, provided you get permission from his player. This is mainly for logistics purposes, cause I do not want players having more than one character per quest/storyline (off storyline events, like meetings, are fine).
-[tab][/tab] Your companion can be a half-human or non-human, but ask first before you make one. He/she must be playable though, meaning not having whole villages come after him/her with pitchforks. You can have an ungifted practitioner, you can have a physician or university professor and you can have a non-mythic artist...ask before you do one. You cannot have a mythic companion or a familiar as a companion. Avoid infernal/holy characters please.
- [tab][/tab]There seem to be two trends when people make characters: Either a magus so specialized as to be socially/combat inept and his spokesperson companion with huge social/combat stats or a sensible, low key researcher and a larger than life, exotic companion. To me, a veteran swordmaster with two kids in tow and a dark secret trying to disappear into the back mountains of Pindos is fine; the unaging, shapeshifting and fabulously wealthy Dutchess of Moravia is not.
-[tab][/tab] Make the companion function-able and interesting, apart from magi. I want the companions for themselves, not as appendages to the main characters