Atheus should also be pretty much finished (maybe I'll change a few of his contacts names).
Everything I've seen so far looks great folks, is there anything anyone needs from me right now?
That said, I know things are slow for a bit, as @Vortigern said, he's got a lot of change happening in real life right now (boo, he should be entirely dedicated to this game to the exclusion of all else), so don't feel any particular rush. Slow but steady is the name of the game for the next month or two.
Does that mean you've looked over all my creation stuff? No one replied after I posted all the steps, so I didn't want to move things over to the finished character thread.
Then I'll also get stuff posted for the warrior companion for your mage. I've been keeping an eye on the changes you've made. With your mage more into the faerie court and my companion akin to a faerie knight, they're looking to mesh even better than originally, and originally they seemed like they'd mesh well.
Apologies, it slipped my mind, but yeah, everything looks good to me mate! Very excited to see her in play, because as I said, Criamon. Plus it's just a cool concept in general.
I completely agree! Should make for some very interesting times that's for sure!
Should I put the finished version in the old character thread and just have you change the name of the thread? That's probably easiest because I can retain the formatting across the posts.
I've been giving some more thought to Cathal macGulli, the last descendant of a norse sorcerer and practioner of Valgaldrar. Is there a place for me to start throwing the ideas at the party to see what will stick?
I'm thinking of a high Com, high Leadership guy who goes into battle leading his corpses as if they were a trained group (assuming that the group of zombies could fight as such), perhaps while Berserk. Also looking at Inspirational (after all, a proper viking hero is a sorcerer, a warrior and a poet).
Plagued by the ghost of Gulli the Black, a norse sorcerer, who wants to go to the afterlife but needs Cathal's help in order to achieve that.
Fixed, so go ahead!
And done as well!
For the second companion, I've got something solidifying with the crafter idea I'd had in mind before. I'll probably pick up a little of what I gave up when switching magi, but I won't be so tree-focused. I think I'll avoid Failed Apprentice, but I am debating that; either way the crafter will probably have a huge goal of joining the Order despite not having the Gift. If a Failed Apprentice, that would be as a Verditius to fit being a crafter. I've got to get a final image in my head, as I keep vacillating between a dwarf with SFB(Dwarf) and a normal-sized man with FB(Dwarf). He might be interested in joining Vorsutus, as that would give a connection to ex Miscellanea, though Vorsutus has 2 companions already. The only option without 2 companions is Leah since I've already got mine with Ronan and the only other mage is Aislinn, who is mine.
Speaking of companions and Aislinn, she could definitely use someone who can fight defensively in any sort of way. She wouldn't want someone who kills regularly, but she is extremely open to other traditions of magic and the like.
Hey folks, sorry for the radio silence on my end, but it's getting towards the end of summer, which means that it's an extremely hectic time to be a teacher. So between that and getting a new job, which means I have to do the usual onboarding nonsense, clean out and setup a new classroom, to say nothing of a whole new set of lesson plans to develop, life has been extremely hectic.
For @Vortigern he's been settling into the new job, but between the job and the move, life is currently kicking his arse. Big time. Not sure about when life will return to normal on his end. Or whatever his new normal ends up looking like at any rate.
Just trying to keep everyone in the loop, and as always, we appreciate your understanding and grace in this matter.
And @callen I like the general crafter idea! As for a companion for you, I think we just need to poke @Pendry when she's done with Leah and see what she comes up with?
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You said it would be "slow but steady." No worries.
As a teacher myself, I'm aware of the new year and what a new school entails. I just start my new year up; 4 days of classes down now.
OK, glad the crafter is fitting. I'll go ahead and work more on that.
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Conán was born at (need to choose a covenant). His Blatant Gift was present at birth, and his features immediately made his dwarven heritage obvious. It wasn't easy raising a Blatantly Gifted baby, but his parents knew their child would become a magus. As Conán grew, as little as it was, he learned the same. He was taken as a Verditius apprentice, and with his talents some people started saying Conán might grow to even rival Verditius himself. That was until the explosion in the laboratory that nearly killed both him and his parens, additionally sending his parens into Twilight and severely damaging Conán's Gift. But a little of his Gift remained. With his Gift so weakened, he ceased to be able to do Hermetic magic, and with it the depth of its stain diminished somewhat. He also retained some of his abilities at magical crafting. When his parens returned from Twilight, it was confirmed that Conán's apprenticeship was over. So Conán continued on as a Forge Companion for a while. But deep down Conán knew he still had power, enough to rival a great many Hermetic magi. Over time his pride-fueled desire grew into a flame; he would not be deprived by his parens mistake. He just needed a new place where he could hone his craft, no longer just a servant to a Verditius. And from there he could prove himself worthy of membership in the Order through House ex Miscellanea. Fortune gave him the opportunity when a newly gauntleted mage from his covenant was heading out to found a new covenant named Inchmore.
Initial thoughts on V/F:
Affinity with Craft: Jeweler [1]
Affinity with Finesse [1]
Failed Apprentice [1]
Figurine Magic [1]
Lesser Craft Magic [1]
Mythic Jeweler (Terram) [1]
Puissant Craft: Jeweler [1]
Strong Faerie Blood: Dwarf [3]
Ambitious [-3]
Covenant Upbringing [-1]
Dwarf [-3]
Magical Air [-3]
Proud [-1]
Hi everyone! I'm really excited to be part of a saga set in Hibernia with you all!
For my magus, I'm considering an Ex Misc. from a druid-derived tradition that features the féth fíada - the druid mist from Irish legends that renders those under it invisible and sometimes turns them into animals. In line with this theme, I've been thinking about a magical focus in obfuscation / concealment, trying to categorize the various art combos that can achieve these effects to see if it's a major magical focus or minor. I have two potential approaches so far, but am definitely open to suggestions.
Approach 1: Build a major supernatural ability that creates fog and scales from something like Air's Ghostly Form to larger areas and to incorporating effects like Fog of Confusion and shape shifting. The minor Hermetic Virtue would be minor magical focus in a subset of the various ways to conceal things - using PeIm spells, for example.
Approach 2: Use the option to go without a major supernatural ability and instead take a thematic, major supernatural virtue (tbd). Then pay for a major magical focus in all ways to conceal/obfuscate - PeIm, CrAu (e.g., Air's Ghostly Form), PeIg (extinguish light), PeVi (e.g., Mask the Odor of Magic), ReTe (e.g., Trackless Step), and maybe ReMe & ReIm (e.g., The Shrouded Glen, Wizard's Sidestep). The minor Hermetic Virtue would be Affinity with one of the common Arts that participate in the magical focus.
Any recommendations?
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Welcome, we're quite glad to have ya!
I honestly think going to second route is easier? Just because we don't have to create a new supernatural ability from scratch.
Not that I'm opposed to the first mind you. Just thinking ease is all.
One option is to use mist as a casting sigil. That doesn't do much mechanically, but it could make all your spells take effect apparently by having people subject to the mist.
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Such a Supernatural Ability also seems somewhat more broad in the scope of its possible magical effects than a Supernatural Ability tends to be. I'm not certain one Supernatural Ability can encompass so much as what are largely single direct effects scaling upward in power.
This also begs the question a bit as to the nature of the "feth fiada" and what kind of mystical power it even is in the context of Mythic Europe. I'm pressed for time just now, but I'm curious where you read about it and if you and/or anyone else can provide further information and context about this in a "Real World" myth & legendry sense.
My (as yet uninformed) first impulse is to place the "feth fiada" into the category of "powerful acts/whims of faerie" that are so very common in Hibernia. Perhaps we could write that up as some kind of phenomenon that is common/possible in the setting. This would make it a grade of effect akin to the "Mists of Ravenloft" if you will that is part of the underlying magical make-up of the setting rather than something individual wizards are doing however.
Specifically regarding your Magus however ...
A Magical Focus is much easier to make work within the rules, though then turning around making that work beneficially for you in spell designs is also not the same thing.
Very briefly I can think of four basic foci that appear to be able to cover what you are interested in.
- Major Magical Focus: Obfuscation
I would see this relatively as you described above. Effects either grossly well suited or designed specifically to conceal or destroy information across all Forms. This is flexible and I think would work rather well for what it does.
- Minor Magical Focus: (sub-set) Obfuscation
A suitably described sub-set of the major could be carved down enough to qualify for a Minor. I think there are lots of options for such sub-sets.
- Major Magical Focus: Unnatural Mist
This would encompass making magical mist/fog effects that could do literally anything based on the design of the spells/effects involved. This is flexible and potentially powerful but based on the nature of foci and Requisites when designing effects doesn't always work as well as we might intuit that it would.
When you design something with a Requisite and apply the Focus to the Art combination that is affected by the Requisite you do not double both Arts, only the primary one. Example: Cr(Re)X An effect designed with the primary Technique of Creo with a Rego Requisite. If a focus applied to that combination it would would double Creo and not Rego when calculating the final total.
I bring this up purely to be certain you have a realistic view of what such a focus can and can't accomplish.
- Minor Magical Focus: (sub-set) Unnatural Mist
Again, a suitably described sub-set of the major could be carved down enough to qualify for a Minor.
Very thematic and apt.
Ya, sometimes all it takes is something like that, and if you want to have the casting sigil be even more significant you add Side Effect Minor Virtue.
I don't want you to stall out here. Do you have any further ideas or questions about this concept you would like to discuss? Tell us more about the Magus you have in mind, how you see them as a practitioner and as a person, and what you see them doing in play.
What kind of magic do you see them actively doing?
Why are they interested in Inchmore, and the Continental/Reformist vs. Hibernian conflict?
Thanks everyone for all the feedback. Not stalled out yet, just reading and thinking.
I did some digging into examples of the feth fiada in Irish myths. Although it's also called ceó druídecta, or druid's fog, there aren't actually many instances of druids creating them - in fact only one that seems solid. Ailna, an Irish heroine/druidess first turned herself into a deer and then led Fionn Mac Cumhail and his musically-gifted companion Daire on a chase into a druid's fog, so they became lost and fell asleep. She did this to trap them so that she and her brother, the giant Dryantore, could take revenge for Fionn's killing of Ailna's husband and Dryantore's sons. Instances of the Tuatha De Danann creating feth fiada are more common (Manannan mac Lir being the one to teach them how). And then there is a church legend that, depending on the version, describes how druids wanting to ambush St. Patrick caused a druid's fog, or describes how St. Patrick's blessing of his companions as they set out on a journey created a mist of concealment, so that after he also disguised himself and a companion as deer and fawn, they were able to avoid their enemies.
There's something that I find really atmospheric 
about the magical effects described in these stories. And while I think Hermetic magic could mimic them with high level, multi-requisite spells, I'm fine if they are reserved for more powerful beings and just part of the setting. I'll go with the Major Magical Focus: Obfuscation and also incorporate callen's great suggestions (side effect of briefly hiding the caster in mist, if the virtue budget allows it).
With the above magical focus, my magus will likely focus on the Arts of Pe, Re, and Im. Probably some Vi. Maybe Me too. Concealment spells could be useful for espionage or infiltration, and also for defense of the covenant and keeping activities at Inchmore discrete. As for motivations, I was thinking to make the Continental vs. Hibernian conflict personal for him. Maybe his pater or sibling (or both) were killed during the siege of Praesis, and he's lobbied for membership at Inchmore to be at what he anticipates will be the next covenant that the English will come after, so that he can avenge those he lost. He also could be driven to resist the invasion of English magi in general. To these ends, considering that Pe/Re Im spells aren't super effective at causing damage directly, I'm also thinking about a means by which he may have pursued training in mundane martial abilities. Maybe he sought out a faerie to instruct him, as Fionn and Cu Chulainn did, in exchange for an oath or favors (offset Warrior virtue with an appropriate faerie price flaw).
I've been thinking about fitting in all the details, and I think I've found a small issue. Does it really make any sense for a Mercere to be fighting against the continentals? House Mercere usually tries to stay neutral toward such things. I was thinking I could see a Mercere being invited to the covenant as a sort of human shield. But that's probably boring. I like a lot of the Cult of Heroes / lost Mercurian stuff I was planning.
So I've thought about reskinning the character as a Flambeau. The head of the Cult of Mercury is a Flambeau, and there are surely more Gifted Flambeau in the Cult of Mercury than there are Gifted Mercere just due to sheer numbers. So I could maintain all of that. I would lose Puissant Creo in exchange for a Flambeau Virtue, which really isn't that big a deal. I would drop Mutantum Magic, since I personally really like confining that to House Mercere, and that could be used to restore Creo.
I could switch Dependents to Hermetic Patron (Cult of Heroes), which would recreate the close tie that might be lost without being a Mercere and manage some of the same things vis-a-vis children and Redcaps. I would need to pick up more points in Flaws going from a Major to a Minor, but that wouldn't be hard.