I like it!
Humm... That makes sense.
PItMM @ Concentration would be lvl 35, which is quite challenging for Atheus right now (even the regular one is a stretch, considering the Dominion).
It also has the downside of requiring an EF 15 concentration roll to cast while talking, and then EF 12 every 2 minutes. I generally prefer Diameter instead of Concentration, exactly because of this kind of thing. Anything that requires less than 2min can be Diameter. Anything requiring more can usually be increased to Sun.
Ok, what about mastery? If I have Multiple Casting mastery for PItMM, Mastery 3 and have (Con+AoM)/2 equal 2, for example, what does this mean?
- I can cast the spell 3 times, potentially in 3 different suitable targets, and I can glean 2 bits of information from each
- I can cast the spell 3 times, but I'm limited to acquiring 2 bits of info, from any of the three targets
- I can cast it 3 times, but the penalty for targeting also applies here (to the number of bits of info). Eg. if I could get 7 pieces of info (very impressive Con and AoM scores) but cast the spell on 3 different people I could only obtain 4 per round (7-3)
- Mastery increases the amount of information I can acquire (such that with (Con+AoM)/2 equal 2 and Mastery 3 I could aim for 5 pieces of info per round)
Not all of these bullets are exclusive. In fact, I think the last one is an interesting option of mastery in itself.
The house rule limits the amount of "answers" you can process mentally in a given round/turn without some for of augmentation. The 2 means you could mentally process 2 full/deep answers in one round. Multiple Castings with Mastery 3 would produce 4 deep questions & answers in the same round and therefore overwhelm your mental capacity for the one round with information.
You could however solve this problem with other effects, as state in the House Rule.
You could use an effect to copy the information into a temporary memory locus for example. This is a Base 5 effect. So using this is an excellent way to give yourself temporary perfect recall to process things. You could also use something like Muto (to augment processing) or Rego (to control information flow into a locus, or to control mental focus) Mentem effects to directly boost your ability to process information and get modifications to your processing speed based on the effects you design. If you want to be able to rapidly do deep probes of multiple people without slowing down as it were, that requires investing in effects that augment capacity like this.
Then it's bullet 2 (which is what I actually expected, tbh).
I think I have enough information for now. Thanks for the additional discussion on this!
Ok, I'll do the following. I'll ditch the spell designed earlier (An Eye for the Perfection of Creation (InCo(Me) 20)) for now, and have Atheus start with Enhance the Memory Palace (CrMe 20), Mys. p.26. Posing the Silent Question.
The other one will be The Building Laid Bare (InIm 10), which is just Prying Eyes @ T:Structure.
I’ll request the text for Enhace the Memory Palace to the coaliton in place of Lay your Burdens on Me.
One additional thought: while the focus here is on Mentem spells, I think the same limitations could/should be applied to any Intellego spell dealing with large amounts of data. InAn spells mirroring InMe spells, such as Opening the Tome of the Animal's Mind, are the obvious ones, but others might also fall under this restriction (eg. a Touch and Momentary version of Sight of Active Magics)
EDIT: actually, one more question. How does Imperturbable Casting interfaces with this limitation (if at all)? Could I add my mastery score to the amount of distinct pieces of information I am capturing through the spell? Or perhaps add it to my Concentration score before halving?
EDIT 2: we lack texts for Art of Memory in the library.
Very quickly, you could edit in some modifications for durations etc into your lab text list if you would like to. They can be anything as completely custom as you want them to be.
Edited to correct my horrible typing on my phone. 8P
Thanks for the reminder! Do you see anything worth changing?
The Welcome Stranger could go from Diam to Sun/Moon, but I don't think this changes much. My idea here is just having something to break the ice and jumpstart the act of establishing contact. It won't make the person disregard the Gift, and I think a longer duration, even Moon, wouldn't make them act like acquaintances, so no reason to push for that?
Peering into the Mortal Mind... is a suitable candidate to be increased to Conc based on the recent conversation. And also to change from Eye to Touch, I think. I'll do that.
The other spells should be ok, but I will take another look at my starting spells. There are a few corpus ones that can probably go away.
In the spirit of tipping things out so that I don't keep overthinking them and start to take action.
My initial design of Atheus gave him Bind Wound, Purify the Open Cut (+3 to recovery rolls for month) and Revealed Flaws of Mortal Flesh, but I don't think my reasons (at the time) for that are making any sense right now. I'll change those spells (boy, I just can't stop changing things, can I? 
). His updated spell list is:
The Noble Visage (MuCo 5)
The Raiders Drop Their Weapons (ReCo 15)
The Welcome Stranger (CrMe 15)
Catching the Eye (CrMe 15)
Perception of Conflicting Motives (InMe 15)
Posing the SIlent Question (InMe 20)
Convincing the Raiders to Give up for Today (MuMe 10)
A Good Suggestion (ReMe 10)
The Building Laid Bare (InIm 15)
I'm dropping the +1 Part on The Noble Visage to reduce it's level to 5 (I had a reason I wanted it to be lvl 10, but it is not much relevant). The Building Laid Bare is Prying Eyes @ T:Strucure and allowing two senses (vision and hearing).
I'll update the list of spells requested to the Coalition ASAP.
I am also stuck on his second persona. I just realized I probably want her based in Dublin, not Athlone. But beyond that, I'm not sure on what I want to accomplish through her.
The obvious use for his personas is saying to his agents (or potential agents) something like "hey, you need help with X? I know a guy", and the guy is just him in disguise. But I have not detailed what X is for any of his contacts (I was expecting to do that during play), so I can't really flesh out a new identity right now.
The ability description states the following:
The character gains one identity for every point he has in the Persona Ability. Every time the Ability increases by one point, the character must design a new identity.
I was wondering if I can postpone the development of the new identity, and for how long, despite what the ability text says. Otherwise, I could:
- either reduce his Persona score by 1 (say, take 5 xp from it) and spend it in something else right now
- or develop his agents and potential agents a bit more right now, and then create a persona based on that
I'm also thinking about Atheus' reputation among the magi from Hibernia. I have two angles here.
- They think his real face is that of Mathias (his first persona). In this scenario, he'd have a reputation suitable for a Tytalus mundane meddler.
- They know his real face (Henry). In this scenario, they know he roamed Hibernia, but no one is sure of what (or even if) he did, because he operated using Mathias face 99% of the time. His reputation would be something on the lines of "Unknown", with some magi taking that as "mostly harmless" and others as "keep an eye on him".
I don't know which idea I like the most. XD
#1 was my first approach, and I like the idea of no one knowing his real face. But then, everyone knows he is meddling with mundanes.
#2 adds secrecy to his activities (as Mathias), but his face is known to the Order (as Henry). If he takes a lot of care, he can keep the two identities entirely separated from each other.
Thoughts?
Before submitting the list of spells I'll request to the Coalition I'd like some clarification regarding summoning of spirits of emotions.
I think it might be interesting, eventually, to summon eidolons (spirits of emotion) to do various things (eg. summon a Spirit of Self-Importance (RoP:M p. 106) and Coerce it to grant a confidence point to Atheus, or to a target of his choice).
However, Summoning the Spirit of Anger (HoH:S p.99) states:
Similar spells exist for summoning the spirits of other emotions.
Should I really need a different spell for each emotion? I don't see why, as long as the eidolon is in range. I'm wondering if I can't just have a Summoning the Eidolon spell, which would work for any spirit of emotion (but not for ghosts, or mentem spirits that are not spirits of emotions), or if there is any reason I'm missing for which it must be different spells.
Absolutely not, one spell is totally fine.
First a relevant citation from Mysteries.
Thus a spirit control effect based on Mentem can control any spirit with Intelligence or that associated with Mentem as a Form. You do not need multiple spells for these purposes, a single spirit compulsion spell designed using Mentem should be sufficient.
The summoning spell however is slightly less versatile in my opinion, only affecting spirits actually associated (composed of) Mentem, because it actually transports the spirit to you. Though I could see an argument for casting requisites based on the spirit perhaps?
Note that for emotion spirits you need the right sort of emotion to act as an Arcane Connection, and the stronger the emotion the stronger a potential spirit associated with it is going to be. You can either look for the right emotion in the wild, use Mentem to create it in a convenient location (ahem), or I think you also could use Concentration to put yourself in the correct mental state to become an Arcane Connection to the desired sort of spirit as long as you stay in the appropriate mental state (which done nonmagically would likely take a few minutes of meditation/psychic activity to achieve).
A collection of low level Mentem spells would likely be fairly trivial to design to put and keep yourself (or someone else) in the correct mental states to allow ready access to various spirit types.
Thoughts?
Thanks!
EDIT: I answered only to Nithyn.
EDIT 2: correcting typos.
So, my idea here is either to use Atheus own personality traits or those of selected people he comes across. And that’s only in a eventual basis… like, I'm preparing for if, not when?
And I will really be focusing only on Mentem spirits (probably), so the summoning spell not being versatile should be ok!
Given all of that, Atheus will request the lab texts for the following 10 spells:
Distilling the Mania (CrMe 30)
R:Eye, D:Moon, T:Group
This spell instills in the target group a simmering desire for one kind of item chosen by the caster. This gives the target a temporary Personality Trait “Desire for item” at +2, which influences the target’s behavior throughout the spell’s duration.
Judicious use of this spell can cause Manias (C&G p.114).
(Base 4, +1 Eye, +3 Moon, +2 Group)
Enhance the Memory Palace (CrMe 20)
Mys p.26
Protractedly Peering into the Mortal Mind (InMe 35)
Peering into the Mortal Mind @ D: Concentration
Opinions of the Masses (InMe 35)
MoH p.67
Ear of Truth (InMe 30)
HoH:TL p.73
Loss of But a Moment's Memory (PeMe 15)
Burning Issue of the Day (ReMe 30)
HoH:S p.98
The Minute of Reckoning (ReVi 35)
HP p.80
Unravel the Fabric of Mentem (PeVi 15)
Cancels the effect of any Mentem spell with level less or equal to 30 + stress die.
(Base Effect, +1 Eye)
Summoning the Eidolon Through the Tunnel (ReMe 25)
This spell summons an Eidolon to the magus' current location. It was designed to be cast through a Tunnel effect.
(Base 15, +1 Touch, +2 Sun)
He will also need a Compel spell to command the spirit, but he can invent one easily enough when needed given his lab totals.
I’ll provide updates about the rest soon.
Distilling the Mania: The personality trait I would rate at +3, and if you allocated another magnitude to it for intensity could be increased to +6. +3 is "normal" range, +6 is intensified to the be the equivalent mental force of a Major Personality Flaw.
I was limiting it to +2 to stay on the subtler side of things (a +6 would surely raise alarms methinks), but I didn't give it much mechanical consideration. If you think the intended effect is impossible with a +2, but possible with a +3, I'd go for that. Otherwise, I think I'd rather keep it subtle.
Just wanting to make sure it is clear what I think is possible. If you want to design it to be more subtle that is certainly a valid design choice.
After some reflection, I think it makes more sense for the character (and considering how his childhood is likely to have played out) to:
- Have his public (hermetic) face as that of Henry (his original face)
- Have his public (mundane) face as that of Mathias (his first persona)
This has the implication that his actions during his macgnimartha are unknown. People know he left Circulus Rubber, but not what he did afterwards.
Thus he has the following reputations:
- Unremarkable Tytalus wanderer 1 (Henry/Atheus, hermetic)
- Reliable but unsettling broker 2 (Mathias, mundane)
The above is assuming he can keep Persona at 2 but wait to develop his second persona (this way, when he identifies a need for it, he can immediately initiate his new plot without needing to set a season aside to acquire xp).
Unremarkable? I am certain you meant scheming and secretive. But then again you did say Tytalus so there is no need to repeat myself. 
Laboratory:
I'm thinking of a 30ft by 50ft lodge with a small cellar. Half of it is occupied by Atheus' lab and sanctum, the other half is servants' quarters. Atheus limits the number of servants to 4 and holds the right to veto the residents. His intention is to, one day, occupy the whole building (the servant's quarters half would become his and Marie-Jeanne's quarters when they marry, freeing extra space for his lab).
The cellar is large enough to account for a +1 size. Atheus intends to use it as ingredients and vis storage in the future (Extensive Stores minor virtue).
2 seasons of non-magical labor: Atheus would request that a large mirror is installed (Greater Feature and Greater Focus).
Finally, upon arriving the first thing he will be doing is selecting a servant (possibly among the criminals) with high Intelligence (preferably 4) to act as a lab servant. He will be screening this guy with Mentem magic for any redflags.
Thus his selection of virtues and flaws would be:
- Greater Feature (mirror) [+2 Aesthetics, +3 Mentem]
- Greater Focus (mirror) [-2 General Quality, +4 Mentem]
- Servant (free virtue) [+2 Safety, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Mentem]
Lab stats:
Size 1 (0), Refinement 0, General Quality -2, Upkeep 0, Safety +1, Warping 0, Health 0, Aesthetics +3
Me +8
Servants
- The 4 Int servant described above. I'll try to give life to someone interesting.
- I think I want a mundane apothecary tending to a small garden. Instead of having a business, he would source lab ingredients, granting a free virtue? Something like Precious Ingredients, but without the increased Upkeep? Or, instead of tying him to Atheus lab, just have him as an asset to the covenant as a whole, saving us a few pounds from the laboratory expenses?
Well, any magus worth their salt knows that when the words "unremarkable" and "Tytalus" go together, a scheme is being schemed. XD
I want to point out that Atheus is making plans for the future with complete thrust that things will move in the direction he wants them to. In his mind, it's a given that one day they will marry and she will move in. Why would it be different?
If this is actually what is going to happen, well... Let's see.
I like the ingredient garden idea. Especially if I end up going the Mythic Herbalist route with my companion, maybe he could oversee it, and source special ingredients.
No comments on the lab?
Here go the grogs. If the general outline seems ok I'll stat their abilities.
I'm not stating any shield grog, assuming Atheus will just enlist however is not on duty at the covenant if he needs protection.
Apothecary - Ruaidri
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +2, Pre +0, Com -1, Str 0, Sta +0, Dex +1, Qik +1
Virtues: Puissant Apothecary, Herbalism, Personal Power
Flaws: Branded Criminal, Reckless, Motion Sickness
An Irish herbalist/apothecary, branded as a criminal by the English for the crime of "practicing medicine without being a medicus" (his left hand was branded by hot irons, the only thing stopping him from getting a permanent injury (read: missing hand flaw) was his knowledge of curative herbs). But being branded, he can no longer (safely) work and had to flee, reaching the covenant. Gets nauseated on ships, and is a bit reckless, with little gauge for risk.
Personal Power: I'm thinking a constant version of Intuition of the Forest, but I wonder if this would warp the herbs he is tending to, and by how much? But then again, my first thought was to have this guy tending to a personal garden as a way of getting something equivalent to the free lab virtue Faerie Ingredients, so maybe the warping is just right, and this guy would merit the equivalent bonus? [+1 General Quality, - 1 Upkeep, +1 Warping; +1 Experimentation, 1 point on an appropriate Specialization (I imagine the adequate one is Herbam)]
Or, as proposed above, we can have him as an specialist working for the covenant, saving on lab expenses related to ingredients and pairing with Emelric's companion for specific needs, if Emelric indeed goes the Mythic Herbalist route?
Laboratory Assistant - Finnbar
Characteristics: Int +4, Per +2, Pre +0, Com +2, Str -2, Sta +0, Dex -1, Qik -1
Virtues: Great characteristic (Intelligence), Educated, Linguist
Flaws: Compulsive Lying, Warped Senses (eyesight sensitive to sunlight), Short of Breath
A former clerk, engaged in smuggling goods and avoiding tolls in the Shannon - that is, until he was discovered.
Linguist helps him master the languages used by merchants (mainly Anglo-Norman French, Gaelic and Latin, with some English also being useful), with Educated giving him extra xp for languages. Great intelligence is, now I realize, not entirely necessary for my initial purpose (still, I'm keeping it).
Compulsive liar, with photophobia and not great at exerting himself.
Atheus offered him two options: work in the docks of Inchmore, doing much of what he did before, but under greater scrutiny, or change carrers, becoming a laboratory assistant, occasionally helping in other matters and enjoying greater status than regular covenfolk. He chose the later.