Second draft of Gregorius. I've added in a small amount of Profession: Soldier and Weapon skills, decreased his Awareness slightly to compensate, swapped out Ring of Warding Against Spirits for a new spell, Ward Against Metal, and shifted some xp from Arts to Spell mastery. I've also made a reasonable amount up about Tremere apprenticeship and the acquisition of a hermetic virtue; let me know if people object/don't think it's plausible.
Gregorius filius Slyvanus doctrinae Tremendi
Gregorius, born Dorin, was born and raised in the Translyvanian Tribunal. Gently Gifted, he was over eleven by the time his power was recognised, and then there was a further delay until a magus who could preserve his already blossoming Second Sight and Premonitions was able to open his gift. This magus, Slyvanus filius Aristaeus, was an experienced trainer of apprentices, and a master of Intellego, Rego, Mentem and Vim. He took on Gregorius straight from the gauntlet of his previous student, and had had three previous to that. He was a kindly if stern pater, an excellent teacher. Recognising the value of Gregorius' Second Sight, and apparently supernatural sense of impending threats, he focussed his training towards service as a scout and sentry, including having him spend 3 months learning his first sun duration spell from a Nyktophylax, in the hope that he'd pick up the shifted durations.
Gregorius' apprenticeship was at the covenant of Apuseni, a Tremere House covenant specialising in the raising of apprentices. Over the period of Gregorius' training, 7 other apprentices were trained there, taught to be fiercely loyal to each other and the house. One of these was Carolus, 3 years further through his apprenticeship but a similar age. Carolus and Gregorius were staunch friends, and both spent a lot of their free time with the local pack of white wolves that served the covenant, assisting them with their packlands. Half-way through his apprenticeship, a litter was born to the alpha female of the pack, and both apprentices "adopted" a pup from the litter; Gregorius Alcimus and Carolus Ferox. The pups grew as the magi matured, but became rivals rather than friends as their mentors were. 2 years before Gregorius' guantlet, the previous leader of the pack (the familiar of one of the covenant magi, and the two wolves' father) died. Alcimus won leadership of the pack in a closely fought battle, and Ferox deferred to him. 2 1/2 years after his guantlet Carolus, specialised in Rego and Muto Animal, and intending to serve the house in investigating the potential of new magical animals as resources, bound Ferox as his familiar, and began to enchant the familiar bond. Alcimus' leadership of the pack did not last long thereafter, and he took it badly. Gregorius promised him that when he was a mage, he too would take his friend as a familiar, although warned him that it might take several years for him to be capable of forging a bond to such a magnificent creature.
Gregorius passed his guantlet early in the winter of 1219 in a certamen contest with his pater before the assembled magi and apprentices of the covenant, both fighting in the style of the Laquerius. Gregorius was never expected to win - his pater still held the sigils of all but his eldest apprentice - and he didn't, but he was considered to put up a credible show and passed the gauntlet. He then took up his new name, and prepared to travel to the newly founded covenant of Nova Castra, to put his training as a scout to use on the fringes of the Order.
Concept: a junior Tremere scout, idealistic and loyal to both his House and the Order as a whole.
Characteristics: Int +1, Per +3, Pre -1, Com 0, Str +1, Sta +1, Dex -1 Qik 0
Size: 0
Age: 27, 0 years post-gauntlet.
Decreptitude: 0
Warping Score: 0
Confidence: 1(3)
Virtues:
The Gift (F)
Social Status: Magus (F)
Minor Magical Focus: Certamen (F)
The Gentle Gift (MH 3)
Puissant Finesse (mH 1)
Affinity with Finesse (mH 1)
Second Sight (mS 1)
Premonitions (mS 1)
Enduring Constitution (mG 1)
Skilled Parens (mH 1)
Nyktophylax (mH 1, from HoH: TL. Magic of sun duration fails at noon and midnight)
Flaws:
Driven: Serve the Order (MP 3)
Waster of Vis (MH 3)
Weak Enchanter (mH 1)
Creative Block (mH 1)
Unimaginative Learner (mH)
Magical Animal Companion (mS 1)
Personality Traits: Idealistic +2, Curious +1, Dutiful +1
Brawl (dodge): Init 0, Attack N/A, Defense +2, Damage N/A
Brawl (fist): Init 0, Attack 0, Defense +1, Damage +1
Axe: Init: +2, Attack +5, Defense +2, Damage +9
Soak: +1 (unarmoured)
Soak: +5 (armoured)
Fatigue Levels: 0, 0, -2, -4, Unconscious
Wound Penalties (human shape): 0, -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+) (But total penalty is reduced by 1 point)
Abilities:
Native Language (of Translyvania) (Banter): 5 75
Guile (Not getting caught) 1 5
Folk Ken (Magi) 2 15
Awareness (searching) 2 15
Survival (Transylvania) 2 15
Stealth (Natural areas) 2 15
Athletics (running) 2 15
Swim (Rivers) 1 5
Hunt (tracking) 1 5
Brawl (Dodging) 1 5
Single Weapon (Axe) 1 5
Profession: Soldier (Tremere forces) 1 5
Second Sight (Regiones) 3 30
Premonitions (Allies) 3 30
Magic Lore (Creatures) 2 15
Order of Hermes Lore (Tremere) 1 5
Code of Hermes (Mundane relations) 1 5
Finesse (Aiming) 5+2 50->75 due to Affinity
Artes Liberales (Ceremonial Magic) 1 5
Latin (Hermetic Usage) 4 50
Magic Theory (Inventing Spells) 3 30
Parma Magic 1 (Corpus)
Mastery of Posing the Silent Question 1 (5)
Mastery of Ward Against Metal 1 (5)
Arts:
Cr: 0 In: 6 Mu: 0 Pe: 0 Re: 7
An: 1 Aq: 0 Au: 0 Co: 3 He: 0 Ig: 0 Im: 0 Me: 6 Te: 7 Vi: 5
Equipment:
Suit of metal re-inforced leather armour and axe; bag of small mundane stones hanging from his belt.
Wears a blue-black Tremere robe to formal occasions, or practical but good quality travelling clothes the rest of the time. His bag of stones is always with him, but he only wears the axe and armour when he's expecting trouble.
Encumbrance: 2 (armed and armoured) or 0.
Spells known:
Frosty Breath of the Spoken Lie (InMe 20) +13
Posing the Silent Question (InMe 20) +14. Mastered for Quiet Casting
Call to Slumber (ReMe 10) +14
Aura of Rightful Authority (ReMe 20) +14
Ward Against Metal (ReTe 20) +16 (Custom spell, based on Ward against Wood. Base 5, +2 metal, +1 diameter). Mastered for Fast Casting
Ominous Levitation of the Weighty Stone (ReTe 15) +15 (From pg 38 of HoH: Societates. Lifts a stone at voice range for concentration duration, then drops it with an aiming roll)
Sling of Vilano (modified to do +15 damage) (ReTe 20: Base 15, +1 Touch) +15 (From pg 38 of HoH: Societates. Throw a stone so that it bypasses Parma but requires an aiming roll. Requires stone to be at touch range.)
Bitter Taste of Betrayal (InVi 15) +11 (from HoH: True Lineages pg 75. Creates a bitter taste in your mouth if you come under any magical effect, but provides no further information. Sun duration.)
Comfort of the Weary Travellor (ReIg 10) +7
Appearance: Gregorius is a lean man, of medium height and slightly weathered in appearence. He has dark brown hair, and sharp, dark eyes with a watchful look.
New Spells:
Ward Against Metal
ReTe 20
Based on Ward Against Wood (pg 139). The caster is protected from non-enchanted wood, so that none of it can actually contact his body.
(base 5, +2 metal, +1 diameter duration).
Comfort of the Weary Travellor
ReIg 10
Keeps the magus' body at a comfortable temperature unless exposed to souces of heat/cold doing more than +5 damage.
(Base 4 - extrapolated control heat in a slightly unnatural fashion from control fire in a slightly unnatural fashion, +2 sun)