character design and development

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Praesidium Orae
1141

I get 45+50+270 for age 23 as follows:
0 5 Itallian trading
30 3 area lore:Italy
30 3 area lore:southern France
50 4 bargain fabrics
15 2 brawl dagger
15 2 charm nobles
15 2 etiquette greetings
15 2 folk ken authority figures
15 2 leadership workers
20 3 arabic trading
40 4 French trading
20 3 Romaic Greek trading
50 4 Merchant fabrics
15 2 survival trading routes
15 2 swim open water
15 2 guile value of goods
5 1 organization lore:Traders Italy

where the first column is the total point cost

1142

Silveroak, thanks for the detailed review - I neglected Intrigue (Prices) 3, which gets the last 30 points.

1143

prices really isn't a good focus for intrigue... maybe negotiation?
otherwise it's good

1144

Negotiation it is.

1145

Hi silveroak, I have added Khalil, Gloriana's son from the Fertility Rituals, to the wiki, for approval.

He turns 5 on Winter 1145, so would enter play in 1146.

She will not reveal he is Gifted at all, although her assistants in that Lab activity would know (Lady A, Sybilla, Mercurio, Mother Rabbit). He is Gently Gifted, so not necessarily easy to detect.

Currently, her plan is to claim him as her Apprentice and Open his Arts sometime in 1146 (she has to study 5 Seasons to get all her Arts to 5; she has no Teaching, so initially this will be a "let's both read Corpus books" Teaching season/year :laughing: ).

My idea was he would be Gauntleted and then kicked out into the world, maybe to return to the Covenant every 10 years for a few seasons to visit his family and share knowledge. As he has a ridiculous amount of Virtues, don't know if anyone wishes to take him on, he's certainly unbalanced, although hardly OP, still has not been assigned regular Virtues and Flaws (already has 2 Personality Flaws, though, and a minor Focus). I do not mind advancing him throughout his Apprenticeship, don't know after that!

He also has Flaws that make him beholden to Gloriana: Driven (to use talents to help family) and Lesser malediction (disobeying her wishes causes him enormous emotional distress), so that's probably not that appealing to a player of a Magus. She will start crafting Bloodline spells to keep tabs on her lineage, soon.

Couple of questions (or 3):
•Mythic Blood: Gloriana - self-aggrandizing but allowable, correct?
•mmFocus: Changing size (Muto applied to the other forms to either increase or decrease size) is appropriate for a mmF?
•Personal vis source: Gloriana will bleed (with care) the poor lad, his blood is infused with actual delicious wine (from Strong Faerie Blood: Faerie God Dyonisios) and produces X pawns of Vim vis/year. How many yearly pawns would such a Virtue produce in this Saga?
•Is Mythic Stamina (HoH:TL) "Tireless Will" an appropriate specialization that reduces Sta based spell casting botch dice by 1 (and increases Sta by 1 for that activity) in this Saga?

1146

under the character creation rules, any magus who creates a child through fertility rituals to be their own apprentice cannot create or control the character beyond the ritual (and training) of the character.
Is anyone else interested in taking this character or should I NPC them?

1147

I'm willing to take on Khalid, if no one else has a strong desire. Khalid does have some traits I'm not thrilled about, but should be interesting to play.

1148

You can play around with his allotted regular Virtues and Flaws, which are undefined at the moment, to be more to your liking.

Like I mentioned before, he does have 2 Personality Flaws already, and a minor Focus, so this does constrain your choices a bit. He is unlikely to learn any new Virtues from Gloriana during his apprenticeship, as the SQ will be too high.

Be aware that if you choose other Supernatural abilities for Khalil, she will not be able to Open his Arts w/o erasing/changing them. Gloriana's design idea for the kid is to become an incredible Mystagogue, experimenting with new scripts and with his own existing Virtues, and he would then share these with her and the other scions to come.

He will have access to Merinita Org Lore, and the Praesidium has also other Organization Lores in their Library (of note, the Principles). If he increases his Sympathy with Initiation, he can develop Scripts fairly early and perhaps more safely. Say Merinita Lore 5(spec) + 2 Puissant + 3 Intelligence + 3 Initiation Sympathy is already 13, probably stats he can obtain before Gauntlet.

He will also be included in Ritual stat-enhancing spells quickly, and she is not done with granting her son "all the gifts"! Gloriana is both motherly and manipulative, she of course has designed her son to Grant her Affinities (but this also makes him more attractive as a Mystagogue), to be an ally that will probably spawn a big family (Bloodlines spells to design!), and to milk him for vis.

The mmF is there because I always wanted something like that for a traveling Magus, who could shrink his possessions at will, and it also allows to design spells that shrink ships and such, and then enchant them in the Lab, or say a Large tree, transport it to the lab, and then enchant it using those juicy living tree Shape and material bonuses. For some very large structures he would also need a gigantic amount of MT, but that's to be expected, and in that, at least, Gloriana can Train him adequately. The blood of Dionysios makes him impulsive, you can choose other Personality traits that make sense to you.

His Major Hermetic Virtues are not overwhelming, but are useful, hope you enjoy developing him!

1149

Some questions regarding Osias and her familiar Stripes.

Osias Talisman has +5 Herbam from Cedar. This actually gives a +5 for Herbam requisites. How should we handle that?

Which book is TtA?

Can I get a column for Stripes in the planning sheet? Am I too late for planning 1144 for him?

Stripes has True Friend (Osias), doesn't that require that she has a True Friend (Stripes)?

1150

Hi eldarin,

TtA is Through the Aegis, I’m guessing this is a spell either Joia or Xenophanes (?) of the Jardín Covenant know.

As far as I know, Familiars do not get a column, I myself usually put in their Magus’s activities whether they are doing anything of note (reading a book or taking a class, for example, although the latter has to be coordinated obviously). Most of the time I would assume they are accompanying their Magus, aiding his activities, earning exposure or adventure xp at most, though Gloriana often directs her rabbit to read a particular book. Andros’s Simian Rex is too lazy/fun-loving, so he never or almost never earns any xp from anything other than exposure or adventure.

Of the Familiars, think Aurthor’s Ibis is the most hard-working, he’s already written a number of books, including summae! :astonished:

Think that the “True Friend” is part and parcel of the bond, yes, both for the Magus and the Familiar.

Re: Cedar, just looked at it, and you are correct.

1151

An oversight on my part. Yes, go ahead and add it.

Edited:

Crap, again I messed up. It's up to you; my goal was to design a talisman that would give Osias bonuses in her three main Forms.

1152
  1. I do not own through the Aegis, so please spell out the spell and its design
  2. I have no objection to anyone adding their familiar to the chart, you should be able to do so yourselves... let me know if anyone has trouble doing so.
1153

If the original research is going to be at least similar to the current plans I see no problem with a bonus for requisites. There is apparently anyway no material giving a bonus to Herbam in general.

1154

The Well Tended Vine: (CrHe 5) This spell affects a single plant up to 10 paces in each direction, causing it to grow well, healthy and strong; any fruit are large and succulent. It does not create the plant, nor make it magical, just promotes healthy growth. (Base 1, +1 Touch +3 Moon)

The Healthy Vine (CrHe 5) Protects plants (of same size as above) to be free of disease (Base 1, +1 Touch +3 Moon)

1155

no problem, this is pretty straightforward.
As for there being no material with an herbem bonus, there is likewise no material for a mentem bonus, but it is possible to do research to find new correspondences for material bonuses...

1156

Updated on her wiki page

1157

Is that on its own original research or would lab work towards "bonus for An/Co/He requisites" qualify for the life magic research?

1158

no, the lab work will need to be either towards discovering new shape and material bonuses or towards life magic, not both. If you have vulgar alchemy the rules for that can be used but it is important to note that establishing a new shape or material bonus requires repeated expirimental verification. Alternately discovering a shape or material for a particular type of bonus would be a minor breakthrough.

1159

silveroak, Gloriana managed a Discovery and Stabilization, but, uh, many things happened:
•For Aroldo's LR, 28th magnitude, she had to roll in the Modified effect chart, got 11+, effect changed completely, except for TeFo, sucks for Harry! Still CrCo, so beneficial? What happens to him?
•Stabilization was a roller coaster with possible botch, but finally no bad results, so Stabilization, but:
she gained 23 Warping points, failed to resist, went into Twilight for a season, failed to comprehend, ultimately gained a total of 27 Warping points. What's the bad result and scar?

Also, she now has 29 Breakthrough points from Pazzino's LR created by Evandrus and 28 from her own research, 57 for LRs that don't render a person infertile. Is there a Major Breakthrough somewhere in there?
Edit: come to think of it, that’s nearly a Hermetic Breakthrough! (60 points, usually)

1160

For 1144:

Andros has adventure in Spring. Done!
•In Fall, Andros was going to rebind Simian Rex, but Lady A had a very long adventure, and without her aid it's not worth it, so he will invest the bond with a power: Moon Duration Ironhide MuCo 45 (Base 25 + 1 Touch +3 Moon +0 Ind) + 5 use 24 times/day. Quirks to come. Warping shenanigans: _: 1D10 = [8] = 8, none; costs 5 vis, will use 5 Mu
•In Winter, Andros remakes his LR: CrCo = 35 + 12 MT Creo + 3 Int + 5 Lab + 7 Aura + 12 SR + 12 Neleos + 2 Lab Routine + 5 pawns = 91, Level 19 LR, spend 22 pawns: 18 Co, 4 Creo; Warping shenanigans: _: 1D10 = [2] = 2, none!
•Aging roll: _: 1D10 = [9] = 9 + 9 Age - 2 magi Standards- 2 healthy locale - 1 good food -1 good wine -3 familiar bond- 19 LR - 1 Regimen - 1 Palatial Lab = -12 nothing happens
BTW, Simian Rex finally Grants Andros Ways of the Forest 30 years later after they first bind; this is sort of a celebration the new Bond power.

Gloriana has no adventures, will advance.
•Spring Lab refinement gain Spotless Virtue? _: 1D10 = [3] = 3 nope!
•Summer Vis extraction Warping shenanigans: _: 1D10 = [6] = 6 , none!
Fall Experiment: Aroldo potter's LR Remove Haunted mirror, Aroldo Potter's LR, let's go for 3 Risk: simple die , _: 1D10 = [4] = 4 , so +7 up to date, now for Experimentation: _: 1D10 = [8] = 8, yay, 11 Modified effect, but also allows for Discovery!! Modified effect chart = _: 1D10 = [8] = 8 +3 Risk modifier Changed completely except for TeFo, hehehe, poor Aroldo Lab Total +7 simple die + CrCo 68 + Int 5 + MT 18 Creo + 7 Aura + 10 Lab + 13 Mother Rabbit = 138, 28th Magnitude, Aroldo was 58, so she has to spend 12 Vim pawns
•Winter stabilization? _: 1D10 = [10] = 10 again with the botches, 3 Risk + 7 Aura - 5 Gold cord - 5 Lab Safety , so 1 dice: _: 1D10 = [8] = 8 , no Botch, stabilized! Now, this is a 28th magnitude effect, - simple die = _: 1D10 = [5] = 5, so 23 Warping points gained, woohoo! Roll to avoid Twilight = Sta 5 + Conc 4 + Vim bonus 3 + _: 1D10 = [5] = 5 vs Warping score 5 + 23 Warping points + 7 aura + stress die _: 1D10 = [8] = 8 = fails to avoid going into Twilight;
Twilight Comprehension Int 5 + dice _: 1D10 = [5] = 5 vs Warping score of 6 + dice _: 1D10 = [9] = 9, fail, bah!!! She's in Twilight for an entire season, gains a bad scar +... spends 12 pawns

Sybilla has an adventure in Fall, will advance to Summer. Done! She creates in Winter a
Cloak of Disappearance: Invisible to all senses (Base 10 +1 Moving +2 Sun Duration + 10 Unlimited uses/day), she had plenty of points over, is it possible to create more than 1 item per Season, silveroak? Think she will start creating clothing that can change colors, that might be a huge hit.

Sandor has the War. Must resolve. Done!

Danaë has Tribunal, will advance for Spring. Done!
Aging roll _: 1D10 = [5] = 5 +6 Age - 2Magi standards - 2 Healthy feature -1 Good Food - 1 Good wine -1 Magic blood - 1 Regimen= 3 nothing happens (Unaging)

Lady A has an adventure in Fall. Done! Will advance.
Aging roll: _: 1D10 = [3] = 3 + 7 Age - 2 Wealthy- 2 healthy locale - 1 good food -1 good wine - 14 LR- 1 Monstrous Blood - 1 Regimen = -12 no change
Her husband's aging 78: _: 1D10 = [7] = 7 + Age 8 - 2 Wealthy - 2 Healthy location - 1 Food - 1 Wine - 1 regimen= 8 apparent aging