To be fair, if you want a character with supernatural senses perhaps having a character with the Major Flaw of blindness is a poor choice. So many of the supernatural sense virtues and spells are written with a visual description that you are likely to have to argue a lot of situations as they occur in play.
I'll argue that there is hardly a better choice than blindness for a character with supernatural senses. RoP:M explicitly (at least for spirits) supports that claim on page 100
The increase of discussion is why I try to settle it now. If I got it right, MTKnife does not fully follow the quoted reference from RoP:M. However, I felt like we were close to finding a good, agreeable middle ground...
Why don't we get some drafts of the new characters? They don't have to be complete just yet.
You guys are also welcome to jump is as grogs in the ongoing stories.
Scott
Hi MTKnife,
my most current draft (really unfinished) is on Google Docs. I currently have a doc for stats and a doc for character background.
That's really draft, numbers don't add up yet...
There is a clarification pending for how exactly Comprehend magic (or in general supernatural sense virtues) are limited by blindness.
I'd like to avoid discussing that too much during the saga. I feel like we are close to being on the same page but not there yet.
Will have a look for a grog to take over in the current adventures. Any recommendations?
I think that recognizing that there's a difference between sight and other senses is as codified as we can get at this point--I personally can't anticipate all the cases. However, if you'd like to draft some rules of thumb, we could add those to the house rules once we've decided on a final version.
Simon hasn't been played yet, I don't think, so that might be a good place to start--I think Viola would be taking him along on both of the current stories, along with Theodoric.
Scott
Honestly, I still don't get what the principle difference should be. E.g. what can be seen as color could be heard as a sound or smelled or tasted. RoP:M is even pretty explicit regarding second sight and naturally invisible spirits and that sensing them does not require eyesight.
I could see an increased ease factor (+1, +2 or +3) for rolls of second sight or comprehend magic or the like. Of course different senses have different ranges, but if that turns out to be a bonus or malus would be highly dependent on the situation, i.e. looking from the top of a mountain on a clear day will reveal more distant regios than sound could, on the other hand standing in the middle of a foggy valley you could hear regio boundaries that are impossible to see. But that is about it. Any other limitation sounds artificial to me. Do you have an example, where you think eyesight makes a difference?
As I said above, I would accept an increased ease factor - let's meet in the middle with +2 - for comprehend magic and similar virtues. Based on the idea that even for the well trained understanding other senses with precision is harder.
Ranges should be situation dependent.
WDYT?
One more - and maybe the most important - question, why do you dislike the idea of a mundanely blind, but supernaturally "seeing" (as in senses without penalties) magus?
I don't dislike that idea. However, from the standpoint of verisimilitude, sight and sound are different senses, and work in different ways; it would just seem wrong to apply the rules for one thoughtlessly to the other. From the standpoint of game balance, if a Flaw doesn't have its full impact, it shouldn't count as a Flaw (or a Major one should count as a Minor one).
Scott
Well, I don't think I am trying to cheat the major flaw. I initially planned for a "reading grog" to be able to study from books. I was surprised how easy it is to get around that with InIm... apparently that does not raise any cheating concerns with anyone. For second sight on the other hand, the rules give an example of that/how it works with other senses.
How are you handling teleportation spells? Do I need casting requisites for everything except my body or talisman, or do I only need the requisites if I'm carrying something big? I'm working on a Rego Terram magus to do the fortification, and as he has a bit of Rego I thought some ReCo effects to move about might be useful.
I've always assumed that you'd need requisites for anything carried.
Scott
I withdraw Caecus the blind.
Do you have another character concept in mind?
How's this coming along now?
No, currently not.
All ready. Just a couple of questions.
- Can he start with spell variants (in particular a spell that both detects type and amount of vis base 4 (detect type of vis), +1 Touch, +1 Concentration, +1 Amount as well and a Sun duration detect Vis at vision range (Base 1, +4 Vision, +2 Sun)
- Is Potent magic available as a "standard" virtue as it appears in Hedge Magics in the curious common magics section.
I've no objection to a few non-standard spells, although they probably shouldn't make up too high a proportion of your overall spell levels at gauntlet.The ones you've suggested seem reasonable - the first one technicazlly does do two different things, but they're fairly closely linked and there's precedent for Intellego spells to give more information with extra requisites.
I'll leave the second question to MTKnife, although I don't have any major objections. What do you want Potent Magic in (and do you plan a Focus as well)?
I would plan to take Mythic Blood of Prometheus giving a free minor magical focus which I would like to be in "in creating damaging fires" with a bought minor potent magic in the same ""in creating damaging fires". Given Prometheus' status as the giver of fire to mankind that it seems to resonate. also given his status as a titan this would give me reason to be giant blooded as well. It also nicely fits with a good reason why I had to leave Polyagis covenant at gauntlet as my giantism comes from a magic source rather than the faerie source of the Drakoi. My back story would be my parens apprenticed me assuming I was Dracoi blooded only to discover later I was not. The islands Drakoi patron on finding this out would have insisted I not become a member of the island community, hence the need to find a new home.
I think you could simplify down to "Creating Fire" unless you have a specific reason for the "damaging"? It's still clearly a subset of CrIg, and thus within the limits of a minor focus.
That is fine with me and very generous of yourself. Thank you. I'll start posting the character and swop out minor potent magic if it is not allowed as a starting virtue.
Character Wishbone of Flambau now posted. If Minor Potent Magic is not allowed I'll change it to Warrior and make him a little more capable in a melee.