Maybe what I am after is more like human perfection and health so it covers corpus and mentem effects in character enhancement and all aspects of longevity and healing but limited to humans rather than animals and plants as per standard minor magical focus in healing.
I don't think Inherited virtues actually count as Hermetic Virtues when it comes time to teach other hermetic virtues. IMO, since they can be changed at anytime it wouldn't make sense to count them. You'd need to check with Silveroak to be sure though. Silveroak?
I have not counted them until they are activated, but they must be activated by age 14.
A MMF in "Improvement of human Functioning" should work, but keep in mind that it will still only work for spells, not instruction or initiations.
I really like "Improvement of Human Function" but when you say only for spells I presume you would include item creation and longevity rituals as a normal focus?
yes
Thank you
Hi, I'd like to join as an apprentice Merinita. I was thinking of having a significant Herbam Focus (or if that is too boring go for a different element) and a Faerie Sympathy for forests or trees or something of that nature. I think that would allow me to have a huge penetration score against woodland faeries and other woodland creatures for making advantageous pacts and help with any other interactions.
Sir Swindle is my wikidot account.
Hi Sir_Swindle, welcome!
Currently, the Maga I run, Gloriana, is the only Merinita in the Covenant. Her parens, Evandrus, detonated spectacularly during Experimentation. He was a great teacher, Gloriana is not, at all. Maybe in 15 years she can squeeze this in, but currently she doesn't have the Teaching ability, nor does she have the 5 minimum in each Art. So I'd imagine you'd have to ask silveroak for what to do in this situation; previously, new players created a parens and an Apprentice, they then handed the parens to another player, that person would decide the course of the Apprentice's education, as well as develop the parens through the Long-Term Advancement period we find ourselves in.
(BTW, would love an Herbam specialist, the Praesidium even has an Herbam realia!)
I suppose the other option would be to not have the parens be the same house as the apprentice. It's not technically a requirement other than for the True Lineages (and those apprentices aren't legally locked into the house either). I can make a young half fae child with an interest in trees and whatever mentor snatches him up would shape his later life.
EDIT: Not to snub you or anything, but if there is a Gifted child out there and one magus isn't able to take them on then someone else will generally pick them up right?
Early on house is determined by your apprenticeship, which is to say you will be the house that your parens is. This can switch later, if you are adopted into another house and (in the case of Merinita) taught its mysteries, but it would generally be easier and more typical to be apprenticed into the house you will wind up being in. Either will be a long journey- waiting for the teacher (which gives you more time to perfect the apprentice character before introducing it) or going through apprenticeship and then re-initiation into the desired house.
The only other possibility is for an apprentice to be orphaned- if their parens dies, and then adopted by a parens in the new house already opened (so the need for a minimum of 5 in each art is sidestepped), but again I would want this to be organic- if you want to try and pick a parens "most likely to die" - or create a parens in a new house who is not likely to be arround long, in the hopes of doing this I will allow it. Note that house virtues either take 10 seasons of teaching (typically 10 years at 1 season per year) to occur organically or have specific initiations (such as Bjorner) that must be undergone.
I don't have the Apprentices book on my phone but I thought it was somewhat less automatic than that. Like you are Gauntleted and then you beg acceptance into a house and by tradition your parens house will always accept you, as will Jerbiton, Criamon, and Ex Misc. I know you can only be homeless for a year before you get marched.
I think there way a Bonisagus covenant that draws Gifted children to it while they dream. I seem to remember they open their arts, teach them some Latin and pass them along to other houses to finish their training.
I don't think arranging for a mentor to 'accidentally' be sent to final twilight, is something anyone wants. I'm not fishing for a second house virtue either.
Are you assuming that Faerie Magic is a learned virtue rather than a mystery initiation? I just assumed they all were a mystery initiation since you gain them by being initiated into a mystery cult. Bjornare and Verditus ones are written out, but i think that is mostly because they had to explain their inherent flaws in the book.
I was sort of assuming you were past the point of new mentors showing up, so I was trying to make the magi list on the wiki work. There are pretty close to a quarter million posts in this game so far, it is a lot to parse.
I could make a Merinita Mentor who is already pretty close to finishing her transformation in the Arcadian mysteries, or has already finished his transformation and I would be her son.
I assume 15 year in game will take a while, if it is going to go a lot quicker than I think it will I can just wait for Gloriana to gain some experience.
Given the rules in the Apprentices book for inherited virtues and taught virtues during apprenticeship is it possible to have two Major hermetic virtues, specifically an inherited hermetic virtue of Gentle Gift and a Major Magical Focus taught by the parens or even both as inherited virtues? I know the core rule book says you can only have one major hermetic virtue but is that a firm rule or just a guide in this campaign?
I am starting to form a picture of a dwarf, gentle gifted troop member taught to sing by his travelling players and after starting to manifest spontaneous healing of old scars etc of the audience while performing, getting sold off to the next passing redcap as a liability/embarrassment/cursed evil devil dwarf- rather than an ongoing income source.
For 1143
Gloriana has no adventures, will advance with her Lab projects. She will remove the Ghost Mirror for her Experiment in the Fall and Winter, so that there's not an added variable.
•Spring Lab Refinement Mercurio Int 3 + 8 MT + _: 1D10 = [2] = 2 = 13, Highly Organized! For Spotless Virtue, _: 1D10 = [10] = 10 , uh oh! _: 1D10 = [9] = 9 No botch! whew!
•Summer Refinement: Sybilla Refines , Spotless virtue _: 1D10 = [5] = 5, nope.
•Experiment! Zola Potter's LR, let's go for 3 Risk: simple die _: 1D10 = [10] = 10, auspicious start, now for the Experimentation, +3 dice rolled _: 1D10 = [10] = 10 
arghh, roll for botch + 3 additional botch dice + 7 Aura -5 Safety - 5 Familiar cord _: 1D10 = [4] = 4, no botch, whew!, so no unintended side effect, but no discovery 
. Lab Total +10 simple die + CrCo 64 + Int 5 + MT 18 Creo + 7 Aura + 10 Lab + 13 Mother Rabbit = 127, Zola is Golden, +13 LR, or is it +26, since she has faerie blood? Gloriana spent 12 Vim vis (Zola is fifty-something).
•Aegis roll _: 1D10 = [1] = 1, _: 1D10 = [8] = 8 = +16 + 53 = 69, that's +46 Penetration
•Aging roll: _: 1D10 = [9] = 9 +6 age - 2 Magi standards - 2 Healthy Feature - 1 Good food - 1 Good wine -1 Regimen - 4 Bronze cord = 4, apparent aging, bah!
Danaë has adventures in Spring, must resolve. Done!
Aging roll _: 1D10 = [7] = 7 +6 Age - 2Magi standards - 2 Healthy feature -1 Good Food - 1 Good wine -1 Magic blood - 1 Regimen= 5 nothing happens (Unaging)
Andros has an adventure in Summer, will advance for Spring.
•Lab Work: Learn from Lab Texts: The Wound that Weeps PeCo 15, Dust to Dust PeCo 15, Invocation of Weariness PeCo 20, Clenching Grasp of the Crushed Heart PeCo 40, Pe Co lab Total = 36 + MT 10 + 3 Int + Aura 7 + 13 Lab + SRex 12 + Neleos 12 = 93 , done! Warping Shenanigans: _: 1D10 = [2] = 2 , none!
•Fall: Lab Work: Talisman + MT 10 + 3 Int + 7 Aura + 4 similar spell known + 4 Lab (4 GQ) + 5 Talisman bonus + 4 Excellent item bonus + 12 Simian Rex aid + 11/12 Neleos aid = 88, done! - Cloak of Adamant MuAn 20 (Base MuAn 4 + 1 Extra magnitude for toughness + 2 Sun + 0 Personal) + 3 Environmental Trigger + 2 3 Uses/day = Final level 20, 2 pawns of vis; The Mercurial Garment MuAn 2 + 3 Moon + R:P , T:Ind + 1 extra reduction in size + 1 flexibility + 3 Triggered by Mental Command + 2 3 uses/day = MuAn 20, 2 more pawns, Warping Shenanigans: _: 1D10 = [6] = 6 , none, Attunement of Granite +3 to Terram
•Winter: Scheduled Teach Neleos Spells: Warping Shenanigans: _: 1D10 = [4] = 4, none
•Bind Wounds CrCo 5
•Assume the Stature of the Giants of Eld MuCo 10
•The Wound that Weeps PeCo 15
•Piercing the Magical Veil InVi 20
•Opening the Intangible Tunnel ReVi 15
•Circular Ward Against Faeries ReVi 20
•Aura of Rightful Authority ReMe 20
•Sense the Nature of Vis InVi 5
Aging roll: _: 1D10 = [6] = 6 + 9 Age - 2 magi Standards- 2 healthy locale - 1 good food -1 good wine -3 familiar bond- 6 LR - 1 Regimen - 1 Palatial Lab = -2 nothing happens
Sandor has adventures in Spring, must resolve. Done!
Sybilla has adventures in Spring, must resolve. Waiting on Aegis's adventure #13
Lady A has adventures in the Fall, will advance for Spring and Summer. Done!
Aging roll: _: 1D10 = [8] = 8 + 7 Age - 2 Wealthy- 2 healthy locale - 1 good food -1 good wine - 14 LR- 1 Monstrous Blood - 1 Regimen = -7 no change
Her husband's aging roll age 77: _: 1D10 = [5] = 5 + Age 8 - 2 Wealthy - 2 Healthy location - 1 Food - 1 Wine - 1 regimen= 6 apparent aging
You can only start with one major hermetic virtue. Initiation and teaching can increase this for anyone, apprentices as well as gauntleted magi. When you pass your gauntlet you are automatically part of the same house as your parens. If you wish to leave or change houses that can be arranged, but nobody can teach a house virtue they do not have.
Apprentices does indicate that Merinita house mystery does require an initiation, and that can technically be after you finish your gauntlet if you want to switch houses, but you can't be trained as Merinita by someone who is not Merinita.
Agreed, I suppose the fact that we are starting pre-gauntlet muddies the water. Normally I would just say "Yup, he is a Merinita, he was trained by house Flambeau since he was born near several primarily Flambeau covenants, he changed houses because his master is a douche!" slap on a story flaw and call it done.
Changing houses aside (although I like the idea of it now, Gurnicus trained Merinita double lawyer!). Should/may I create a mentor or would you prefer I try to stick to the existing magi?
I think a Guernicus would fit quite well- he probably moved to the covenant due to allegations they were too entangled in mundane affairs...
OK, so I should build a Gurnicus mentor? At some power level? and then someone else will take him over? Is that how this goes?
You can make a mentor of any house not currently represented, then someone else will play that mentor and you will make an apprentice pre-opening to play. The mentor will need to be someone who will, for one reason or another, not be adventuring in 1220 or afterwards, whether they retire to the lab, are to fragile for adventures (decrepitude or twilight issues) or of course dead or lost to final twilight.
Ok, Since I see no Gurnicus on the cast list at all I'll start on one. I keep going to the "People Of Praesidium Orae" page I was initially assuming the retired magi were the mentors but a quick cross section proves that false, correct? Could we give the mentors asterisks or something?
I think I will steal the stuff from blind magus threads up in the general ars magica discussion. He's blind and has more than his fair share of warping points because of using spells to see all the time. So he will probably be younger than most mentors but closer or about as close to Final Twilight.
I've pretty much finished my parens, Osias ex Bonisagus. She's a tiny woman pursing Animal, Corpus and Herbam, and believes that there is some sort of underlying connection between all the life forms, and hopes to gain a deeper understanding of how all the vitalities are related. (In game terms, she seeks to create a virtue like Elemental Magic, but covering An, Co and He)
She has just found a small boy, Antonio, who was practically given to her by his parents, who is pleased beyond measure that he could be a mighty magus like Osias.
I need to have edit permissions on the wiki; my username on wikidot is 'thompsja'