I propose to advance Shuba 10 years post gauntlet. I'm in the process of editing the file for posting as I write. He is desirous of acquiring a dagger of human bone to craft as a talisman for its destructive power against man and things in the form of man. He wants to "discourage" humanity's encroachment on wilderness areas, and to further the advances in assisting mundanes to express their heartbeasts (as has been done at 1k Caves).
Oh, Gregorius is just gonna love all that paganness.
In any case, I don't see any obvious red flags, but Salutor is much better at catching those than I am.
Scott
I will try to have a proper look tomorrow. Which specific pagan religion / deity does he follow?
Thanks gentlemen.
I hope you are happy with me pulling ideas from The Dragon and the Bear. I don't have a dog in the fight about the Bonisagus at One Thousand Caves (1kC) and her attemps to bring back Hermes. Dangerous stuff, messing with gods. Sticking with ancestor spirits. Finding ancestor spirits/sites and making more folk express their heartbeasts is what floats Shuba's boat.
There's something nebulous in the books for Bjornaer Magi. I'll re-read that, but if memory serves (which is not always the case) it's about veneration of ancestor spirits. I just looked through 1k Caves in DrBr, then all the others too, there's no appropriate parens for Shuba. Shall I write something tasty?
Currently have two sets of armor, as I couldn't decide whether I really wanted to wander about in the heavy leather, which is more threatening than the fur IMO, even though it is only a 1 soak upgrade. I have selected superior quality versions of each.
What resources may I bring? Books, lab texts for useful spell affecting targets over size +1, vis, covenfolk, scripts for initiations in Inner Heartbeast (even the one for opening the heartbeasts of mundanes and non-Bjornaer?)? I'd really like a teacher for both Gothic (Shuba is Gothic for bear.) and Bjornaer Lore. Probably the same person, maybe on loan from Crintera? IIRC, Bjornaer Lore is verbal only, not written at all. I think I'll need a sight version of Crystal Dart, and some tractatus on Mastery of both the standard version as well as for sight range. Very funny at sight range . . .
Could I bring shield grogs from 1kC, with their Heartbeasts already opened? Might be entertaining . . .
I want to, eventually, enchant some armor so that it transforms with me when I change, retaining the soak bonus. I want him to be a close combat monster. At size +3 in bear form, which is not beyond the realms of possibility for even a normal very large male brown bear, let alone one from a Giant Blooded human.
Just had a silly thought: a Bjornaer hunter of the undead, with the whiff of necromancy about him. Inspired by the dagger with a human bone handle.
Just saying.
Have a look at the custom spell Fray created in this approach - Unearthly Magnification of the Beasts (in Fray's character sheet) its a size boost up to size 11, and Fray uses it with a hermetic spell to make himself into a lion or wolf for combat when needed. ooc: Not as elegant as a Bjornaer's transformation.
I like the idea that your magus is specialising on heartbeast changes, and mine changing into many creatures, and hybrids. I'm sure we will have some good opportunities for some in-character friction.
I'm really enjoying Scott's write up of the covenant.
Size +11!!! Eeeek! a lot . . . Even most dragons would have trouble hurting him. I'm going to need a Brawling instructor/trainer so that I can improve in heartbeast form. I might even use my mMF to boost my stats a little, but that's a long term thought.
One thing I'm uncertain about is my descriptor for his -3 Com: Uncouth. I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how Hermetic magic could improve this. Maybe it just smooths out the pathways in his brain that currently override his speech patterns?
Unearthly Magnification of the Beasts
Muto Animal 30. R: Personal, D: Diameter, T: Individual
This spell allows for temporary growth or shrinking of the Magus’ animal form up to Size 11 or down to size -12. The spell may target any creature of up to size +4, but may only change the creatures size by up to 10 size ranks in either direction.
ie. A size a +4, may become up to size +11 or down to -6. A size -3 creature may become size -12 or up to size +7.
(Base 4 for changing creatures size in an unnatural way +/1, +1 to allow for shrinking and growing in the same effect, +1 D:Diameter, +1 mag to affect creatures of up to size +4, +3 to change up to size 11, or down to -12)
This one? The idea will never catch on. (Where are the sar-chasm marks when you need them.) Very entertaining! Shuba will need to learn this, and then invent his own version to avoid warping, and then a MuCo(An) for when he wants to be in human form.
I've just re-read the character creation thread. I'm currently full of lurgi, so much less capable than usual. I propose to use detailed creation as described for advancing from 1220 to 1231. I'll proceed along the lines I've already followed.
I'm going to drop Gentle Gift for Improved Characteristics x 2 and Toughness x 1. I decided that I couldn't live with such lousy Com.
Can we learn spells from Lab texts up to the TeFo+MT+Int+Aura5? Also, tractatus for spell mastery?
Dragon and the Bear is fourth edition, so whilst it's fine to use it as inspiration it's not strictly canonical, especially where it clashes with content in fifth edition. I think the general geography of the covenant is fine, and the idea of the covenant having a big mad project, but I'd row back on the idea of there being loads of mundanes with heartbeasts around - in 5e heartbeasts for mundanes are a theoretical possibility, but a) this is only known by Clan Illfetu and b) it's noted that "no sane Mystagogue would mystically adopt a mundane into the Bjornaer family via initiation" (pg 27 of HoH:MC). So news that a less-than-sane mystagogue is pursuing it could work as a story seed (and indeed, there are a couple of places where exactly this is suggested), but I don't think "there are lots of mundanes with heartbeasts" works as a background feature.
5e Volkyvy are dealt with on pg 136 of Realms of Power: Faerie. They can still create Faerie auras, but note that most Bjornaer consider that to be a bad thing:
HoH:MC pg 11:
Central to the philosophy of House Bjornaer is that the wellspring of all magic is those areas that remain in their pristine state, untouched by the hand of man. Magi of the House believe that only in untouched wildernesses can the ancestral spirits be found, for the attention of mankind
corrupts the pure spirits with heathenry, and they become fae. Likewise, they believe that pagan religions — even those that revere nature — are tainted by the Faerie realm, and thus anathema to the ancestors. This explains much of House Bjornaer’s antipathy towards the goals of House Merinita; the Bjornaer followers believe that faeries have usurped their ancestors.
But rereading, the maga trying to pull this off is Bonisagus rather than Bjornaer, so go for it.
Other thoughts:
- Feel free to keep them for flavour, but you don't actually need characteristic descriptions in 5e
- His minor magical focus is very similar to Fray's "Self-transformation", but if you're both happy with that that's fine
*Pagan Belief +3 and Pious -2 seem somewhat contradictory - he believes firmly in his pagan religion but is also rather casual about it? Or are you thinking specifically of Christian piety in the Pious -2? If some I'd rename it to something else, as it's quite possibly to be Pious about any religion. - What sort of stories are you interested in with his Pagan Flaw? Note that the covenant is some way away from the nearest church (I think it's in Tana, which is about 10 miles away as the crow flies, but rather longer if you don't try to walk across a marsh), and the local villages are muslim instead. There are however still active remnants of greek paganism in the local architecture and fae.
- I don't think he's got anything that lets him take academic abilities (i.e. Latin, Artes Liberales and Philosophaie) before apprenticeship
*I think he's only spent 225 xp rather than 240 xp in his apprentice ship (but the xp will probably need rejigging anyway to deal with the previous point unless you change his Virtues and Flaws to allow him to take academic abilities early). - I'm fine with him having starting spells large enough to affect his Hearbeast.
- It's worth noting that one downside of size enhancement spells is that they will make his bear resisted by Magic Resistance where the base Heartbeast isn't
- Feel free to write something about his parens if you want to, but I don't think you need to unless they're a significant feature of the character - I don't think Gregorius or Fray's parens have more than about a sentence.
- You're not going to get a mundane teacher for Bjornaer Lore, and Gothic is unlikely as well - 5e House Bjornaer is secretive, and isn't going to go around teaching mundanes
- House Mysteries outside the Inner Heartbeast are generally initiated by Clan Illfetu, so no scripts for a Clan Wilkis for those (and the Inner Heartbeast usually requires a House Bjornaer Lore of 5 to have the necessary info to pursue). Clan mysteries are initiated by elder magi of the same clan.
*A dagger of human bone is fine (from a rules perspective, anyway, and he doesn't sound like the opinion of civilised society is top of his concerns list) - You have have a shield grog or two, but no heartbeasts for them
- I'd say bring about 50 bp of personal stuff that can be of up to solid but not exceptional quality (and not more than about 5p of raw vis). This can include a Brawl teacher if you want one (probably doubling as a shield grog).
I haven't checked the 10 year rollforward or any of the combat statistics yet.
Um...what Salutor said. Salutor is so thorough, I don't even try anymore....
I might have something to say about Gothic, however. My first online saga, which was Viola's origin, was set in the Goth area in the mountains of Crimea; Viola actually has a level of 1 in that language. Alas, I retired her Gothic shield grogs when I started this saga, but she would still have contact with the old covenant. Having researched the Crimean Goths for that first saga, I'm not aware of any other areas that would be populated by Goths at this late stage of history, but then I did that research over 25 years ago, and I might have forgotten something.
Scott
I believe I mentioned that. 
I'll drop 1kC completely. I'll take Crintera as my home covenant.
Well aware of this. As a Bjornaer, deeply not interested in the fae as "gods."
That's what they were for to begin with. I've not played earlier versions, but I'd be staggered to discover that they were ever compulsory in game terms.
Please don't waste your time. I need a complete rethink and rewrite.
I'm certain, but might be wrong, but I thought at least Gothic 1 was necessary to learn any house mystery, including Heartbeast.
This was discussed many years ago. Ironboundtome and Scott seem to be OK with it. How self transformation could step on another's toes is beyond me, as it applies only to Shuba or Fray, as the case may be.
Definitely anti Divine. Not had any exposure to non-Christian Divine. May/may not find Muslim Divine quite as obnoxious. Will depend on the interactions. Preists are always preaching!
Please see HoH:MC p16 The sleeping years. Top of column 3.
An excellent point, well made. I'll drop the size increasing spell, or maybe learn to dispel it when necessary.
Perhaps Shuba should be from Crimea? Gothic as his native language?
Thanks for the feedback gentlemen. I'll digest it and get back to you.
I don't see that as inherently a problem: using the covenant as a home is fine, just as long as you don't bring in anything that conflicts with 5E canon. Heck, even in a 4E game, the stats in that book would be questionable: they reflect using the RAW to advance characters at a rate never intended by the designers.
This issue I think is not with fae as gods, but with fae per se: in 5E canon, faerie is a reflection of humanity, thus not Bjornaer's cup of tea.
Scott
I don't remember that tidbit. Double-check in Mysteries and if it's true, go with it.
It's an intriguing possibility, though if there's a Bjornaer version of Gothic, I suspect it's a very different dialect.
If you read Russian, AFAIK there's a lot more literature on the Goths (at least the Goths who lived in what became Russian/Soviet territories) in that language.
Scott
I've had a look and can't find it easily. Might be confused with Bjornaer Lore.
Good point about dialect.
Sadly, I have only a few words of Russian. Being limited to English for reading makes getting histories outside "mainstream" thinking is non-trivial. I read a good history, by Henri Troyat, of Ivan Grozny translated from French into English. Well worth it.
Currently contemplating a Jerbiton, but having some difficulty. I'll re-visit Shuba to see if I can re-purpose him.
Do svidaniya.
P.S. I'll try him as a hoplite. I had that idea for him at one time.
When Gifted children are found by a Bjornaer follower, they normally spend at least two years with the magus before apprenticeship begins. During this period the child is taught Latin and closely observed for his temperament and personality.
That's a decent reason to take the Educated Virtue (or similar), but it doesn't negate the need for it.
I've had a look and can't find it easily. Might be confused with Bjornaer Lore.
I think it's Bjornaer Lore.
It occurs to me that if you really wanted to go the "mundane heartbeasts" route, you could change him to be Clan Illfetu and become the "mad mystagogue" seeking to initiate mundanes into the House. That would require the extra virtue point for being Clan Ilfetu, and creating your own initiation script is quite difficult (so requires lots of xp on Bjornaer Lore and/or more virtues to boost it). You might also want to consider changing his story flaw to either Dark Secret or Black Sheep depending on how much the rest of the House already knows about what he's doing.
Good point. That really makes it a compulsory virtue for Bjornaer. The whole Theban tribunal has a similar ethos regarding apprentices.
Very likely so.
I've made a Hoplite version (Affinity & Puissant: Brawl & Parma), but need to adjust it for Latin training.
I like the Mad Mystagogue (MM) (TM) idea, with probably Black Sheep. He's not ashamed of helping mundanes express themselves fully.
Either of these versions could get him killed. I like both. Not annoying the Church is a better idea than doing so. The worst that can happen with MM is the house comes down hard. If Shuba annoys the church enough, it's the whole order trying to do me a mischief . . . Furry mundanes may annoy both. Then he'll need to annoy a powerful lord to get the trifecta.
All the clan chiefs must have at least Gothic 4 for the opening ritual of 12 years, so I'd expect there to be some teachers of Gothic lurking about. Ilfetu does not have a monopoly on Bjornaer Lore. Clan Midusulf has the greatest depth of understanding of Mystery of the Heartbeast.
Given that you're allowing 2 characters, how do you feel about both concepts, Hoplite (advanced 10 years or so) and Mad Mystagogue (newly gauntleted)? They would be largely unknown to each other, the Hoplite from Three Lakes and the Mystagogue from 1kC.
For the mystagogue I'm seriously considering a Heron Heartbeast, just to make things interesting, and the character feels female, so she may be a contender for leadership of her clan and/or being marched.