A place for discussing character ideas, working to create a fun mix of magi.
Please PM me with such things as "dark secrets" and other stuff that should stay between you and the SG.
Hello,
Right! I am thinking about creating a Bonisagus (Trianoma) maga, who:
Is interested in the Divine, the Dominion and gnostic Teachings. She has an aptitude for some of the magics performed by the Four Archangels Uriel, Raphael, Michael and Gabriel
She mainly pays for services etc. with Tractatii or Summae on Magic Theory, Dominion Lore or Intrigue.
She has a select group of Magi that she corresponds with. These are not necessarily the most powerful memebers of their house, but ones that show Promise.
Her magic is concentrated on Imaginem effects, mostly on gathering knowlege (The Mentem spells she knows, also mainly falls in this category- the others deal with inspiration/creativity and quelling destructive emotions). She seems interested in the applications of light and movement as well.
Filling out the role of "Knowledge about/interaction with the Church" - but very much a knowledge centered on Academics, not a love of the Church as it is. She is much more passionate about the "beautiful" things Christianity might produce, than doctrine and dogmatism. The thing seperating her from being a Jerbiton is her critique of the Church, her Gnostic knowledge, her willingness to work against the Church and destroy its Influence. She enjoys Christianity's more basic messages, such as love thy neighbour and respect thy fellow man, and dislikes the ever tighter control and influence on the Bible and Holy Texts that has been growing progressively worse over the years by the Church Fathers.
Sounds interesting. I don't have RoP: D so I'll need to pick it up of she is going to go the holy magus route. Otherwise, I like where this could go.
I have an idea for a Tytalus magus with Quadrophenia.
He will have the Persona Virtue, taking his ability to a score of at least 4. He has the Delusion Flaw, which ever persona he is in, he thinks that is his real self. He never gets confused to his identity as a magus and can keep track of all his cover identities. He thinks of the other Persona's as mere disguises he can adopt and change at will. But like I said, which ever body he takes he thinks that is the original, and he acts accordingly. He also has a Greater Malediction, each Persona as its own individual Major Personality Flaw, which only applies to that Persona. Each Persona may also have multiple cover identities. He has been doing this for many years, weaving a complicated web.
Here is what I have so far...
(names are Italian because I was imagining a Roman game, these can be changed)
Maurice of Tytalus: aka ?, aka ?,
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +0, Com +1, Pre +2, Str -1, Sta +1, Dex +0, Quik +2
Size: 0
Age: ?
Decrepitude: 0
Warping: 0 (0)
Confidence: 2 (5)
Virtues: +0 Gifted Hermetic Magus, +Ty Self Confident, +3 Gentle Gift, +1 Deft Imaginem, +1 Deft Mentem, +1 Improved Characteristics, +1 Persona, +1 Social Contacts (underworld), +1 Strong Will, +1 Temporal Influence
Flaws: -3 Major Malediction (each persona has a different Major Personality Flaw), -3 Dependants (Rosatti family), -1 Ambitious, -1 Delusion (believes whatever Persona he is currently in is his “real” self), -1 Minor Flaw (tbd), -1 Weak Parens,
Personas: Whatever Persona currently being adopted, Maurice believes that to be his true self and acts accordingly. Each Persona has its own personality, and thinks of the other Personas as mere disguises that can be adapted and shed at will. Maurice is still aware of Identity, a wizard of the Order of Hermes, and retains full memory. The memory is just skewed depending on which Persona is telling the story. Each Persona may have one or more cover identities as well. Maurice never confuses those, just Deluded as to which physical form is the original. (I refrained from using gender specific pronouns because gender identity is part of the confusion). Each Persona has a different Major Personality Flaw and a Minor Hermetic Flaw that applies only to that Persona.
Current Personas and Cover identities include…
Maurice: The original self, appears as his natural apparent age (as per longevity) ; Maurice D’Ambrosio (birth name) ; Maurice of Tytalus (identity as a magus) ; Ambrose the Elder (Maurice’s mundane cover identity as an old wanderer)
Donatella: A proud and powerful woman of style and elegance, appears a little younger than natural apparent age, this Persona has been exposed and most magi are aware that Maurice and Donatella are one and the same ; Donatella of Tytalus (Hermetic identity, most magi are aware Donatella is Maurice and are also aware of his delusion) ; Grace Giordano (mundane cover identity that few magi are aware of, wife of Salvatore Giordano the wealthy merchant, stepmother to his children Rosa and Maria ; Madam Zora (a mundane cover identity used by the Donatella Persona, posing as a wandering fortune teller) ; Sylvia Francesca (mundane identity she uses when cheating on her husband, posing as an affluent widow)
Anthony: A wiry tough guy with a forceful attitude, appears about thirty ; Tony Romo (mundane cover as boss of a small gang of thugs)
Marcia: A sly and cunning lass, appears to be around twenty, Marcia Moretti (mundane cover as a girl about town), Maria (mundane cover as an anonymous servant girl)
Persona Personality Flaws:
Maurice: -3 Overconfident,
Donatella: -3 Proud,
Anthony: -3 Wrathful,
Marcia: -3 Compassionate,
Personality Traits:
Maurice: Overconfident +3, Ambitious +2, Brave +2, Loyal +1,
Donatella: Haughty +3, Ambitious +2, Discriminating +2, Loyal -1
Anthony: Vengeful +3, Ambitious +2, Brave +2, Loyal -1
Marcia: Compassionate +3, Gentle +2, Ambitious +1, Brave +1
Social Status:
Maurice: Hermetic Magus (Maurice of Tytalus), Wanderer (Ambrose the Elder)
Donatella: Hermetic Maga (Donatella of Tytalus), Gentlewoman (Donna Giordano), Wise Woman (Madam Zora), Gentle Woman (Sylvia Francesca)
Anthony: Outlaw Leader (Tony Romo)
Marcia: Gentlewoman (Marcia Moretti), Peasant (Maria)
Reputations:
Maurice: aka Donatella 2 (Hermetic), Ambrose the Elder 3 (mundane)
Donatella: aka Maurice 2 (Hermetic), Grace Giordano the wealthy matron 3 (mundane), Madam Zora the Fortune Teller 1 (mundane), Widow Francesca 1 (mundane)
Anthony: Thug Boss 1 (mundane)
Marcia: none yet
we lack edit powers 
Marko,
I can't promise to be able to keep track of it all 
. But it looks like exactly the sort of thing that would be great in this game.
Are we only supposed to develop our magi post-Gauntlet or from the day they become apprentices breaking the 240/120xp limits?
Hi,
Maybe my "vermin maga" can fit in here!
She would have a major focus in "vermin" which covers medieval "worms" (spiders, insects, frogs, mice, rats, etc, per Art and Academe) and their products like honey, spiderwebs and silk. She'd have a minor immunity to vermin (they are rarely a problem), a Blatant Gift, a sigil that was way out of control, spontaneously creating vermin which perpetually surround her in clouds of gnats, mosquitoes, wasps and so on. She'd take a lot of advantage of being able to create real vermin without vis.
Regrettably, one cannot bond a beehive or insect swarm as a familiar. But that's ok; a spirit "vermin swarm" familiar does the trick quite nicely! Its presence would naturally add to the creepy crawlies. Its Presence power would also raise the local aura and it would be able to see and hear almost everything in the covenant, which is good for security but might require agreement in the covenant charter; this would also Warp the mundane inhabitants in verminous ways! Her covenant would not be a shining castle on a hill but a pest-ridden place that mundanes would steer clear of for miles around. (Covenfolk would not be harmed; she and her familiar can make sure of that.)
When it comes to intrigue, Jeff Goldblum's line from "The Fly" comes to mind. But she might be a more blunt and blatant power, a counterpoint to the more social magi. (You can either negotiate with the Tytalus and Trianoman or tell it to the swarm....) She'd probably also have a larger responsibility for "homeland security."
I might switch her gender--but my last two characters were male and I usually switch.
Or I can make something blander, like a longevity ritual expert. 
Anyway,
Ken
Post apprentice only. Assume your parens used you pretty much as a lab slave/vis mine and you get the basic wizard starting package of 240/120. Feel free to take Skilled Parens etc... Although the xp bump is tiny given the powerlevel of the magi, your skilled parens is likely a very powerful magus now.
Hi,
Comments about my last, please.
Anyway,
Ken
Dude, that's kinda gross. Also, kinda awesome. I'm only a little concerned with how much the "spirit familier" will set the tone of the whole covenant. I'm not familier with the ROP: M rules on those. Also, I'm not sure about creating vermin without vis? How is that accomplished in a permanent fashion? Other than that, the focus is cool, the theme is great and I'm down with the character concept. As long as living in a bug infested hive is cool with the others, I'm fine with it.
Rego Animal. Vermin are a natural byproduct of rotting animal flesh. You just use magic to speed up the process. Mythic Europe paradigm, spontaneous generation.
Hmmm. . . you have to have dead animal flesh to work that magic, and I'm not sure that I 100% agree that comes within Rego. I see the argument that it is a change that rotting meat can naturally make, which suggests Rego. But it is also the creation of a new living being which is usually Creo. And what about rotting vegetation spawning flies? ReHe(An)? It can't be Muto because it wouldn't be permanent.
Does Art & Acadme make this clearer?
In any event, I thought he meant generation ex nihiho which would require vis.
Hi,
It's Rego, according to Art and Academe, if you have the right material. For bees and maggots and flies, you need dead flesh (or a little bit of Perdo to have them spawn in someone's living flesh! Yeah!), for frogs it's water, for scorpions and mice it's earth, for spiders, thin air is enough! Some like wood, and so on.
I too would have thought Creo, in the same way that Creo can make a tree grow or bloom without vis, or a child mature without vis.
Though Creo ought to apply for creating flesh from which bees immediately emerge, with the bees being real, in the same way that Creo Auram can be used to create clouds from which real rain immediately falls; neither needs vis.
Anyway,
Ken
Hi,
grin Yeah. Even before I got hold of "Art and Academe" and RoP:M, I had wanted to make a vermin magus with a vast hive of bees as familiar, control over vermin and so on. That would also influence the covenant, but you have nailed it: Her presence definitely has a large and obvious local effect.
OTOH, powerful magi should have powerful effects. Hers are more obvious and close to home. I was contemplating a version of her for Marko's saga, but his covenant is too pretty, or for Veronica's (RoF), but even a younger version of her will be too powerful for the scale I infer from her covenant library. But a powerful, autumn covenant that she protects with and as her hive... maybe! As for bug infestation, I imagine that the vermin at her covenant are far better controlled than those at most covenants. 
Anyway,
Ken
I just got A&A (my game store didn't have RoP: M), but I got RoP: F and D as well
Based on that your totally right about the generation of worms. Still gross, but really neat.
I agree that magi of your level should have big, powerful effects. And you're probably right about the vermin problem! Twilight scars of hers, though, are probably not pretty.
Hi,
Not much about her is, except for the giant butterfly wings she sprouts when she wants to fly (MuCo(An)).
Anyway,
Ken
Hi,
Nice to have a local game store you like.
I've been buying my AM books through The War Store online, way below list. They do charge for shipping, so I buy a bunch of stuff all at once.
Anyway,
Ken
You're lucky. I live in Brazil and ArM books are rare as water in the desert here, so I have to ship from the US and it is not cheap...
Still, I'm mostly complete on 5th Edition, lacking only Tales from Mythic Europe and whatever adventures have been printed, for my eternal dislike of ready made adventures