@Emelric You know what to do!
Thank you!
Alright, first, a more detailed background than what's in the Character discussion thread:
Background
Donnchad was born into a prosperous branch of the Clancy clan in Thomond, a family whose wealth and status came from generations of service as learned men and Brehons to the Ó Briain lords. He enjoyed a privileged upbringing by the standards of medieval Ireland, receiving a thorough education in Latin, rhetoric, scripture, and the legal and intellectual traditions expected of a young man of his station. Several older brothers were already destined to continue the family tradition as Brehons, so his parents looked for a different path for their youngest promising son.
They sent Donnchad abroad to study canon law at Bologna, hoping that he would eventually enter the Church and use his education in service of both family and faith. At Bologna, however, Donnchad became increasingly fascinated by natural philosophy, and as he excelled in the study of that subject, came to be noticed by a secretive group of Learned Magicians who specialized in alchemy. He won admission into their ranks, and proved himself worthy of initiation to levels that gave access to supernatural alchemical abilities.
But the deeper Donnchad progressed into the Learned Magicians' world, the less satisfied he became with the life it promised. He had discovered the secrets he had once dreamed of learning, but he increasingly felt that he was being prepared to spend his life in study, experimentation, and theoretical debate. He did not want to spend decades pursuing elegant answers to questions that mattered only to other scholars. He wanted his knowledge to do something.
That conviction led him to the Hospitallers. Donnchad joined the Order as a Confrere, bringing with him his specialist skills as an alchemist. He saw the Order as an opportunity to put his learning to practical use. He developed improved materials, prepared useful alchemical substances, and sought ways to protect his fellow Hospitallers and make them more effective in the fight for the Holy Land. For a time, he believed he had finally found the purpose he had been seeking: not merely understanding the world, but using his knowledge to preserve the lives of those placed in his care.
That idealism was shattered in 1217, at the Battle of Mount Tabor. Donnchad had never imagined that war would be without horrible deeds, nor did he believe that people suffering was necessarily a sign that the crusader cause was unjust. What troubled him was seeing men who claimed to fight for Christ abandon restraint, mercy, and justice as soon as the situation gave them the opportunity. He saw captives treated without dignity, the old, the young, Christian and Muslim, all suffering for the sake of greed and malice. And he saw his fellow Hospitallers in a zealous frenzy, calling such acts God's will simply because they had been done beneath a holy banner. Donnchad had joined the Order believing that he was placing his learning in the service of a righteous cause. After Tabor, it seemed to him that it was not.
Donnchad returned to Ireland with the Hospitallers. He remained with the Order for roughly two more years, hoping perhaps that he could reconcile his vows with what he had witnessed and find a way to serve his original ideals within the organization. Instead, he gradually became aware of the Order's support of the Anglo-Norman conquest of his homeland. The breaking point came when his Hospitaller superiors took part in an action he regarded as heinous and utterly incompatible with the vows he had sworn. Whatever doubts he had been able to suppress finally became impossible to ignore. Donnchad could no longer convince himself that obedience to the Order was the same thing as serving God, protecting the innocent, or doing what was right. And so he left the Hospitallers.
For a man who had spent years searching for a way to make his gifts matter, it was a bitter and frightening choice. He had abandoned the learned life for the Hospitallers because he believed action was more important than theory; now he had abandoned the Hospitallers because action without conscience had proved just as hollow. Donnchad MacClancy was once again searching for a place where his knowledge, his faith, and his sense of duty could exist together.
Next, Virtues and Flaws so far:
The List
(+3) Mythic Alchemy
(+3) Succurro
(+1) Magicam
(+1) Fortunam
(+1) Priviledged Upbringing
(+1) Puissant Single Weapon
(0) Hospitaller Confrere / Wanderer
(-3) Laboratory Magician
(-1) No Text Casting
These are from the Mythic Alchemist tradition in HMRE
(-3) Major Personality Flaw
(-3) Story Flaw
Or go with Minor Personality Flaw + 2 more minor flaws instead of one of the previous two
Ability-wise, it will look something like this:
Abilities
| Abilities | Score | XP |
|---|---|---|
| Childhood XP | 45 | |
| Gaelic | 5 | 0 |
| Hibernia Lore | 2 | 15 |
| Athletics | 2 | 15 |
| Charm | 2 | 15 |
| Later Life XP - 9 yrs | 185 | |
| Single Weapon | 2 | 15 |
| Swim | 1 | 5 |
| Awareness | 2 | 15 |
| Bargain | 1 | 5 |
| Brawl | 2 | 15 |
| Charm | 2 | 15 |
| Etiquette | 2 | 15 |
| Folk Ken | 2 | 15 |
| Guile | 1 | 5 |
| Artes Liberales | 2 | 15 |
| Ride | 2 | 15 |
| Stealth | 2 | 15 |
| Survival | 2 | 15 |
| Latin | 2 | 20 |
| University XP - 9 yrs | 405 | |
| Latin | 4 | 30 |
| Artes Liberales | 4 | 35 |
| Philosophiae | 5 | 75 |
| Medicine | 4 | 50 |
| Mythic Alchemy | 5 | 70 |
| Succuro | 4 | 55 |
| Fortunam | 5 | 15 |
| Magicam | 5 | 15 |
| Penetration | 2 | 15 |
| Organization Lore: Learned Magicians | 2 | 15 |
| Magic Lore | 2 | 15 |
| Bologna Lore | 1 | 5 |
| Teaching | 1 | 5 |
| Profession: Scribe | 1 | 5 |
| Hospitaller XP - 6 yrs | 90 | |
| Single Weapon | 5 | 55 |
| Leadership | 1 | 5 |
| Organization Lore: Knights Hospitaller | 2 | 15 |
| Divine Lore | 1 | 5 |
| Infernal Lore | 1 | 5 |
| Holy Land Lore | 1 | 5 |
| Post Hospitaller XP - 1 yr | 15 | |
| Magic Lore | 3 | 15 |
So far so good?
Since this didn't get comments so far, I thought I'd jump in.
First, his background is very interesting!
Virtues
- Mythic Alchemy, Learned Magician Arts (Succurro, Magicam, Fortunam) and Single Weapon (since you got Puissant Single Weapon) all pull him into different directions. It might be worthwhile to consider narrowing down the character a bit.
- In particular, why Puissant Single Weapon?
- I don't think the Hospitalier Confrere social status virtue applies to him, since he left the hospitaliers. It is now simply part of his background.
- HM:RE pg. 80 A mathematicus must also possess a Social Status that defines his role in mundane society
- Raising this only for your consideration: the examples given following to that statement are Minor or Major social status virtues, so Wanderer might not be enough.
Abilities
Later life:
- You listed Charm, but you already had it from your Early Childhood, so that frees 15xp to you!
- You have A LOT of Abilities. That's not a problem, of course, but consider if it isn't too broad. Realistically you are not going to get a lot out of Swim, Awareness, Bargain, Brawl, Ride, Stealth and Survival. Nor from a lot of social stuff. You really don't need to get them all.
University:
- I think you mangled things here. You should get 30xp/year of studying under a learned magician instead of the usual 15/year.
- You have spent 15 xp towards Magicam and Fortunam, but it should be only 14 (you get the Ability at rank 1 after initiation)
- You haven't spent any xp towards learning charm formulas. While you can't cast them due to your flaws, they still give you a bonus for knowing a similar charm when creating charts and amulets, so you might consider learning a few.
- Since you can't cast verbal or text charms, I don't think Penetration does much for you (as it is useless for your amulets and charts). I'd spend this xp elsewhere.
Hospitaller
- I'd say the same as before, you are going for a lot of stuff here that realistically, you don't really need. Do they make sense, given his background? Yes. But are they fundamental for the character to do the things described in his background? Generally speaking, not.
Humm... Another aspect top consider. I think you might not have given much thought to the character as an alchemist.
Mythic Alchemy (the virtue) is really about doing the reagents from the Experimental Philosophy chapter in Art and Academe, and it does nothing without those rules. That means you are going to want as high a Philosophiae as you can get, a Mythic Alchemy score to match, but also that you are dependent on knowing formulas for reagents (which can be bought at 5xp per formula).
Currently, you know no formulas. This means that the Mythic Alchemy aspect of the character just isn't paying off.
Mythic Alchemists (the tradition) add Philosophiae instead of Artes Liberales to the lab total of powders (charms) and potions (amulets), so again, it's worthwhile to drop some XP of Artes Liberales and invest in Philosophiae instead.
You mentioned theriacs in the character development thread. That's going to be the same thing: theriacs require you to learn formulas, and to have a high Medicine score in order to be able to concoct them, but that's going to be quite a high a xp sink for someone already stretched between Philosophiae, Mythic Alchemy, and the Learned Magician Arts.