Character development

Here you post your characters for review and approval.

Ouch! Must get to work, too many cool things to do, must choose, nooo!!! :laughing:

Here is what I have so far, Roberto Rodruigez of Flambeau. He may or may not need fine tuning. I keep wanting to change things. Feel free to check my math too. I use the standard format, with the exceptions that I divide Virtues and Flaws into separate lines and assign them values in old school notation.

I see him as sort of a swashbuckler-adventurer type. eager to prove himself and his worth to the group. He wants to live down the Infamous Master thing, which explains why he is happy to leave his tribunal of origin, and his having a Mentor explains how he was given direction to join this covenant and participate in it's revitalization.

PS How do I install an avatar? I have a cool image to use.

Roberto Rodruigez of Flambeau
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +0, Com +0, Pre +1, Str +2, Sta +1, Dex +1, Quik +1
Size: 0
Age: 30 (30)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping: 0 (0)
Confidence: 2 (5)
Virtues: +0 Gifted Hermetic Magus, +F Puissant Ignem, +1 Puissant Creo, +1 Life Boost, +1 Improved Characteristics, +1 Mastered Spells, +1 Self Confident, +1 Skilled Parens, +1 Warrior, +3 Flawless Magic
Flaws: -1 Infamous Master, -1 Reckless, -1 Mentor, -1 Unimaginative Learner, -3 Overconfident, -3 Weak Magic Resistance (when not in possession of a symbol of his Catholic faith, such as a rosary or a crucifix (he carries one of each))
Personality Traits: Reckless +3, Brave +3, Self Assured +3, Introspective +1
Reputations: Infamous Master 3 (Hermetic)
Combat:
Dodge: In +1, Atk n/a, Def +5, Dmg n/a
Grapple: In +1, Atk +5, Def +5, Dmg +2
Fistfight: In +1, Atk +6, Def +6, Dmg +2
Dagger: In +1, Atk +7, Def +5, Dmg +5
Longsword: In +3, Atk +11, Def +8, Dmg +8
Soak: +1 (+3 in studded leather hauberk)
Fatigue:[/b] OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, ko
Wound Penalties: -1 Lt (1-5), -3 Med (6-10), -5 Hvy (11-15), Incap (16-20), Dead (21+)
Abilities: Artes Liberales 1 (literacy), Athletics 2 (fitness), Awareness 1 (alert), Brawl 4 (fistfight), Castellano* 5 (banter), Charm 1 (wit), Code of Hermes 1 (procedure), Concentration 2 (spells), Finesse 2 (precision), Folk Ken 2 (warriors), Guile 1 (smarminess), Iberian Area Lore 2 (reconquista), Langue D’Oc 3 (tough talk), Latin 4 (Hermetic), Leadership 2 (in combat), Magic Lore 1 (mythic beasts), Magic Theory 4 (spells), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (Flambeau), Parma Magica 1 (Ignem), Penetration 2 (Creo), Philosophiae 1 (ceremonial casting), Profession-Soldier 2 (almogaver), Ride 1 (in battle), Single Weapon 5 (longsword), Stealth 1 (ambush), Strategy 1 (tactics), Teaching 1 (martial training)
Arts: Cr 5+3, In 3, Mu 0, Pe 0, Re 5, An 0, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 3, He 3, Ig 8+3, Im 0, Me 0, Te 3, Vi 0
Twilight Scars & Effects: none
Magic Sigil: style and Grace
Symbolic Sigil: a wide seven pointed star
Equipment: hauberk of metal reinforced leather, longsword, dagger, knife, rosary, crucifix, leather boots & gloves, cloak, gold ring with a small ruby, other clothing
Encumbrance: 0 (2)
Spells Known:
CrCo20 Purification of the Festering Wound (CT +13; Mastery 1: Ceremonial Casting)
ReCo15 Wizard’s Leap (CT +10; Mastery 1: Fast Cast)
InHe15 Shriek of the Wooden Shafts (CT +8; Mastery 1: Stalwart Casting)
CrIg15 Test of the Flames (CT +21; Mastery 1: Resistance)
CrIg20 Pilium of Fire (CT +24; Mastery 4: Penetration, Fast Cast, Multicast, Quick Cast)
ReIg25 Ward against Heat & Flames (CT +18; Mastery 1: Stalwart Casting)
PeVi5 Demon’s Eternal Oblivion (CT +2; Mastery 1: Penetration)
New Spells:
CrIg20 Sword of the Avenger (CT +24; Mastery 4: Imperturbable Casting, Penetration, Fast Cast, Still Cast)
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind, Requisites: Rego
As Blade of Virulent Flame, except for the Duration of Concentration, and a Rego requisite that keeps the sword safe from the heat.
InTe15 Howl of the Steel Weapons (CT +8; Mastery 1: Stalwart Casting)
R: Per, D: Sun, T: Hearing
As Shriek of the Wooden Shafts; except that it is applied to steel and stone weapons such as swords, axes, sling stones, and the like.
Background: Born on the borderlands of New Castile, Roberto was the son of a prosperous peon. His father was a retired almogaver, raising Roberto to be strong and fierce to follow after his own example. However, he was orphaned at age 10 when his home fuero was raided by Almohades from a nearby Tafia. No one wanted to take him in because his emerging Gift disturbed them, so he fell in with gangs of thugs that accepted him because of his courage and sheer tenacity. He was eventually recruited by a band of mercenaries as a lackey and shield bearer, and though he still suffered social difficulties, his personality and knowledge of warrior culture helped him overcome this and gain acceptance. Roberto had seen his first battle by age 14 and had already learned how to kill a man with a sword. His Parens discovered him and made him an apprentice at age 15, but instead of employing him as a lab assistant, Roberto served his master as a shield grog on many exploits and expeditions. He was trained rigorously in the field, taught how to use his magic to his best tactical advantage, and more importantly, to master each and every spell he knew. His parens pursued a relentless grudge against the Almohades, which Roberto enthusiastically participated in. Roberto earned his Gauntlet on the field of battle, attested to by the magus who became his mentor. This mentor is a fellow Flambeau magus and was an amicus of his parens, more subtle and restrained in his methods, and steers him towards a more enlightened mindset. Indeed, Roberto had satiated his vengeance in his apprenticeship and does not hunger for war. Rather, he seeks adventure. However, because of the infamy of his pater, other magi look at him with scorn, expecting him to be nothing more than a blood-thirsty hot head. The fact that he is overconfident and reckless does not help to assuage this reputation, but his confidence and skill help him accomplish some pretty daring deeds. His mentor tries to use this to steer Roberto towards activities that will reverse the negative reputation that is the legacy of Roberto’s parens.

David ben Ezra Ex Tremere, Aged 25, just out of Apprenticeship

Appearance: David is somewhat short and stocky, with dark hair and a beard that is surprisingly thick and long for his age. He always wears a rounded black cap, though he frequently keeps his hood up over that. He has the long payot (sidelocks) of a Jew, which he keeps wrapped and tucked behind his ears so they are scarcely visible. His robes are the dark blue of a newly gauntlented Tremere, and he wears them proudly and keeps them spotlessly clean. Hanging from his neck is a wolf's tooth necklace.

Story: David, the son of an extremely pious Jew, hails from the section of the valley of the Rhine known as Ashkenaz, one of the few areas in Europe where Jews are more populous than Christians. Although his years of apprenticeship in the strictly regimented House Tremere have left him with a religious fervor far short of his father's, he still does his best to hold to the old faith. He came into his apprenticeship as a hot-tempered youth, but years with a relatively young, strict primus have taught him the importance of keeping his anger masked under a veneer of civilty. Often impeccably courteous, if sometimes cold, he is able to hold his own in any social circle - and if not, that's what certamen is for.

Covenant of Origin: Koblenz, Rhine Tribunal

Sigil: David's spells are accompanied by the sound of distant, sad wailing.

Warping: 0

Characteristics: Int:3 Per:1 Pre:-1 Com:2 Str: 0 Sta:1 Dex:-2 Qik:0

Virtues:

The Gift, Hermetic Magus (free) Minor Magical Focus (Certamen) (free House Virtue)
Flexible Formulaic Magic
Enduring Magic
Luck
Strong-willed
Skin-changer (wolf)
Affinity with Corpus

Flaws:
Outsider (Jew)
Favor (major, to parens)
Pious
Succeptible to Divine Power

Personality traits: Irritable +2, Inscrutable +2, Distant +1

General Abilities (specialization) xp / score

Native Language: Taytsh (the origin of modern Yiddish, spoken by the Ashkenazi Jews of the Rhine valley) 75/5
Living Language: Hebrew 30/3
Living Language: German 30/3
Latin 50/4
Magic Theory 50/4
Artes Liberales 5/1
Parma Magica 5/1
Awareness 15/2
Athletics 5/1
Guile 5/1
Survival 5/1
Etiquette 30/3

Magical Arts

Cr 8, Pe 7, Re 9, Co 10

Spells

The Chirugeon's Healing Touch (CrCo Ritual 20)
Charm Against Putrefaction (CrCo 10)
Legs of the Immobile Corpse (as The Walking Corpse but D reduced from Year to Moon) (ReCo 30)
The Leap of Homecoming (ReCo 35)

Hi Muttonbone!
I've been reading over David ben Ezra of Tremere, and I have some helpful thoughts

You are four points over on experience, no biggie. But you shorted yourself 25 levels of spells!
I suggest: ReCo25 Paralyzation (Base 5, +2 Voce, +2 Sun)

You also are unable to do Leap of Homecoming yet, your ReCo only comes out to 30, so go with seven league stride.

I like the whole loner-wolf concept, it goes with the Tremere theme and the persecuted mundane background.

You are at +/-8 I think maybe another minor personality personality flaw could add some dimension, something to enhance the motif or some quirk to define you as different. Dutybound? Nocturnal? Wrathful? ?? You can then take something to boost your starting xp's, like Strong Parens or Educated

I see you got the Corpus specialization going. Healer or Necromancer? Or both? :smiling_imp:

I like what you got going here, I can dig it :wink:

Go to "profile", and then, at the end of the page, paste the URL of your avatar.

Oh, marko, IIRC, for MT, specialty is either learning spells or inventing spells.
Otherwise, seems like a redoutable character! I'm struggking to find something different, especially as one of my flambeau alternatives would have been redondant with muttonbone's character :laughing: (As you say, he seems going towards a redoutable healer/necromancer)

Mine will be Bjornear Eagle heartbeast mage, I am still looking at some details. Probably a Creo specialist with skills in animal , auram, corpus, ignem
Taking a Tremere in Normandy is asking for trouble from all those tytalus magi

LOL, okay, what's the url of my image? I will experiment a bit.

Hmmm, holdover from old days. I just checked ye old rule book, which nowadays divides it up into Inventing Spells, Inventing Enchantments, or any one Art. I think technically all spells are invented nowadays. I'd pick Inventing Spells either way.

Redoubtable!

Yes he is. Redoubtable!
As far as a fellow Flambeau, a little overlap is okay. Though on the surface I appear to be an Ignem specialist, but he is actually a little diversified in "warrior magic". He depends on Mastery and Life Boost for Penetration. You can make a Magic Focus guy, Create Fire, Physical Augmentation, Weather, Damage, etc. How about the Auram Flambeau magus, a-la Pietro of Flambeau from Sanctuary of Ice. A former Tytalus magus, his Gauntlet to gain entry consisted of a challenge against seven champions, whom he defeated with lightning bolts.

It would be cool if you play the Frankish Flambeau and I the Spanish. We can have little side squabbles no one else understands.
me "Flambeau was Spanish and he died in battle"
you "Uncouth savage, he was French and he retired in a monestary"
Combined with that, they see us fighting all the time not realizing we are training. When the chips are down, we can surprise them all by demonstrating we are blood brothers in arms!

Or maybe not. It would be cool to have someone to train with.
Here are some ideas maybe. I am sorta Mercurian in my magic, what with the heavy spell mastery focus. You could go more for the Mithraic angle. Be a Perdo specialist from the line of Apromor. Keep some of your own Corpus ideas, PeCo is a powerful combination, and keep it up with some PeMe, PeIg, and PeVi.

Andrew: Bjornaer Eagle sounds cool! Creo is one of the best specializations to have. I have an eye that direction myself. Combined with Auram, you could be the Lightning Eagle!

Do you guys think the Tytali will give us trouble? I don't want to change the concepts we got going now, what with the two Flambeau, the Brornaer and Tremere. Max's sg character is Ex-Misc I think, so maybe we should recruit a sixth member to play a Tytalus magus.

This all looks cool :smiley:

LOL, I experimented, and the flaming sword pic takes up half the page! I need to resize it somehow. I'm serious, it comes out very wide and would be disruptive all throught the forum. I thought Avatars were displayed in a standard sized frame or something.

I am probably going to end up with More Ignem and some unnusual spells depending on the details of the background I have two ideas

Sorry for the delay. I did not realize i needed to join the usergroup to post.

I am finishing a Ex Mish elementalist but I can see if I can switch him to a Tytalis.

:blush: Did it twice :blush:
Thanks for the correction :smiley:

Ok. Send it to me, I can resize and host it.

And I think I'm going to do something like a Mentem specialist, and maybe a metamorph.

Metemorphology is a potent field :slight_smile:

Before I get too far along on the character, i did want to make sure I was doing experience right ( for years after apprenticeship).

After apprenticeship I have techniques that look like this.

Aq 10 / 4
Au 10 / 4
Co 1 / 1
Ig 10 /4
Te 10 / 4
Vi 2 / 1

One year out of apprenticeship I get 30xp to spend. Because of Elemental magic I can spend 18xp in Aq and get the same effect for Au,IG and Te.

Aq 28 / 7
Au 28 / 7
Co 1 / 1
Ig 28 / 7
Te 28 / 7
Vi 3 / 2

Is this right at character creation or do you prefer that I buy them separately.

As a side note: I working on this during my lunch time ( no books at work) and I forgot the bonus that Skilled Parens virtue gives.

Sefs Parma, but I think your calculations are off. It appears you added 18 to the score rather than 18 xp's. Not sure how Elementalism works, will look it up later. Skilled Parens gives you +60 xp's and +30 spells

Perhaps I wrote it wrong. This is kind of the reason for checking.

No books here makes it tough. My skills were not adding up correctly so I have to break it down and go from the start to make sure i have it right.

so buying an art to 4 in character creation is 1+2+3+4 or 10 points. Then with XP I go 5+6+7 = 18 points for a score of 7.

Elementalist allows you to spend a XP one of the elements ( Te for example) and you get the other 3 increased by the same amount. So 18 points spend in Te will also give me 18 points in Aq, Au and Ig.

Ah, I see. You were actually keeping track of xp totals. All Good.
Are you sure that's what Elementalism does? I will check when I get home, but that seems kinda wow! Then again, in other editions it was always kinda powerful so :slight_smile:

What are we all planning to do with our magic? My character would be quite pleased to form a covenant of warrior wizards, lol! In another thread, Xavi was mentioning how the pattern goes attack & defense magic, then branching out into esoteric interests (except me, I plan to keep going with the theme :slight_smile: )
So, so far, our roster appears to be...
Flambeau Ignem/combat magus
Flambeau metemorph with mentalism
Ex-Misc or Tytalus Elementalist
Bjornaer Fire Eagle
and a Tremere Necromancer/Healer known as the Hebrew Hammer!
Plus Max's mysterious Ex-Misc SG character.

As far as Companions go...
The traditional form is to make your own companion, but I was thinking what if we were each other's companion? Just a thought. I want to create my own two grogs though, elite custos that are used to egalitarian treatment and like to talk back.

I tend to prefer companion characters associated with another mage or no mage as companions associated with your mage are a pain as you always need to play both at the same time. Not that that is as much of a problem in pbp

I put a self limiter on it by making him a poor teacher for elemental Techniques. Reasoning is that he sees the elements so differently from other magi that his work is incomprehensible.

Like I said I am working on it. If the SG thinks it is not acceptable I will think of a new concept. I read up on House Tytalus when I get home. Just got the book yesterday.

I thought the Bjornaer was going to be a Thunderbird :smiley:

Just assign me a mage and I'll do a companion.