Character sheets

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Ad fons (at the spring)
21

[size=150]Ursus[/size]

Charachteristics: Int 0, Per +2, Pre –1, Com –3, Str +1, Sta +1, Dex +3, Qik +2
Size: -1
Age: 30 (30)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Virtues and Flaws: Covenfolk, Ways of the Forest, Strong Faerie Blood (goblin), Warrior, Tough, Sharp Ears, Wilderness Sense, Low Self-Esteem, Lycantrope (bear) Upbringing, Small Frame, Fear (large people), Nocturnal
Personality Traits: Brave +1, Loyal +2, Sociable –3, Opportunistic +2
Reputation: None
Combat:
Short Bow: Init –1, Attack +12, Defense +8, Damage +7
Dagger: Init: +1, Attack +10, Defense +7, Damage +4
Soak: +5 (fur armor, Tough, Stamina)
Wound penalties: -1 (1-4), -3 (5-8), -5 (9-12), Incapacitated (13-16)
Abilities: Animal Handling 1 (horses), Athletics 4 (jumping), Awareness 4 (alertness), Bows 6 (short bow), Brawl 4 (dagger), Faery Lore 2 (goblins), Great Weapon 2 (staff), Hunt 4 (tracking), Low German 3 (nature), Pomarania Lore 1 (geography), Second Sight 3 (faeries), Stealth 4 (natural areas), Survival 3 (forest), Swim 2 (fast streams), Wilderness Sense 4 (resources)
Equipment: Shortbow, arrows, fur armor, survival kit, dagger

Ursus is a short, bold man with a small beard and very dark eyes. He usually wears his fur armor and raggy clothes. He does not care about personal hygiene much. He wears a bow and his basic survival tools all the time. If possible, he hunts and walks in the forest at night, because his advantage in sight and hearing. He will probably build a small wooden house at the forest edge in stead of living at the covenant, because he does not feel well among so manyu people.
Ursus has been expelled from his village very soon. Because of his faerie heritige the people from his village dumped him into the forest. He survived by his instinct and natural talents. Besides hunting and gathering he got food by robbing people. He sneaked upon them and shoked them until they passed out. Then he took their usefull stuff and left. After some big guys kicked his ass he learned not to attack large people, and even to fear them. When he attacked (and killed) an older lady (perhaps she was a faerie herself), she cursed him. At first he did not know it, but after some time he missed memories from dark evenings, he missed the new moon.
After several years living in the forest, Ursus was attacked by a bear. He would have died if he was not found by a stranger. The stranger brought the dying man to the Rottweill covenant, where he was tended. He thanked the covenant by helping at the covenant by bringing some food for them, as he still not speak a decent language. As he found a new vis-source with his second sight they kept him there and he became a cherishes, be it weird asset to their covenant. They discovered his curse and named him Ursus, to his bear shape. When Yannick left to a place where lycantropes and healing springs are more common, he joined to find a cure.

22

i love the combination of small frame and bear shape :smiley:

23

Oops, forgot the +1 on stealth for goblin blood, so that totals 5.

24

i love goblin blood :wink:

25

Hi all!
Alberich and Yannick are pretty alone in the "travel to Kolberg" thread, unfortunatly. If anybody likes to join as Yannick's shield-grog Weiland, feel free. Actually, you can take turns jumping in and out of Weiland. He's moody anyway...

[size=150]Weiland[/size]

Vitues and Flaws: Covenfolk, Improved Characteristics, Tough, Warrior
Weakness (Talking back to magi), Visions (I have a bad feeling about this), Reckless

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

Personality:
Reckless+3, Loyal(Yannick)+2, Moody+2

Skills:
as standard soldier. Drop great weapon in exchange for Visions.

26

Characteristics: Int +1, Per -1, Pre +1, Com 0, Str +4, Sta +1, Dex +1, Qik +1

Size: 0
Age: 46
Decrepitude: 0
Warping:
Confidence:

Virtues and Flaws:
Flaws
Offensive to Animals
Curse of Venus
Pagan
Overconfident(minor)
Poor Student
Missing Ear
Virtues
Aptitude Swordsmith
Aptitude Great Weapon
Warrior
Educated
Unaging
Improved characteristics
Great strength
Touched by Magic

Abilities:

Lore Skills
Area Lore Bavaria (Nobility) 2
Area Lore Sicily (Court) 2
Area Lore Holy Land (Campaigns) 2
Area Lore Rhine valley (legendry sites) 2
Languages
Latin 3
German 5 (Bavarian)
Arabic 3
Italian 3 (Sicilian)
Arcane/Academic Abilities
Artes Liberale 3
Magic Lore (Items) 2
Philosophia 2
Siege Weapons (Trebuchet) 2
Architecture (Fortifications) 2

Martial Abilities
Great Weapon 6 (Two Handed sword)
Brawl 2
Craft skills
Swordsmith 7
Chirurgy 2

General Abilities
Athletics 2 (running)
Awareness 2 (alertness)
Charm 2
Ride 3
Ettiquette 2
Folk Ken 2
Stealth 1
Survival 2 (forests)
Hunt 2
Bargain 2
Guile 2

Personality Traits:

Reputations:

Combat:

Appearance:
Tall, well muscled Blond, shoulder length hair and short beard, dresses in the clothing of a successful mercenary or minor noble

Background:
Born in Saxony in 1175 to a knightly family with moderate landholdings, the family was on the wrong side of one of the internal power struggles within the Holy Roman Empire resulting in it's lands and property being seized by the local Count after they backed Philip of Swabia as King of the Germans and their Count did not. His family believed that their origins were ancient and magical and as a result venerated the old gods of the German people while maintaining a façade as Christians.
As a result Siegfried left Germany traveling to the Holy Land to assist in the Crusade there arriving in the build up to the failed 4th Crusade during the year 1201 there he worked as a mercenary knight serving several nobleman before impressing a nobleman with significant land holdings in Sicily while in the Holy land he gained expertise in the development of siege engines besides continuing his activities as a Swordsmith. He returned with his patron to Sicily in 1205 following the failure of the 4th Crusade to materialize in the holy land
At the court in Sicily his knowledge of siege engines lead to an interest in Mathematics which lead to a scholarly study which in turn lead to a wider study of Philosophy and History. From this he developed an interest in his family history which combined with the apparently supernatural abilities lead to him beginning to trace his family to the nobility of the ancient Bergundian tribes and he believed the great hero Siegfried.
Following problems at the Sicilian court linked to the fall from favor of his patron at the court he decided to move back to Germany to follow up his research into his legendry family and hopefully restore some of their former glory. Arriving back in Germany in late 1218 following the death of Otto IV he man who had defeated Philip of Swabia. He traveled to the East of Germany hoping to find excitement and his fortune on the wild Eastern frontier

27

Preview on the barber i proposed as a companion to Mariella.
I'm a little stuck with all those choices on skills, though.
Please comment!

I was thinking along these lines:

Virtues & Flaws:
Craftsman, Gossip, Puissant Chirurgy, Self-Confident, Social Contacts (petty officials), Well-Travelled
Indiscreet, Driven (Win Mariellas Love) [color=green]Mariella: do NOT cooperate, Overconfident

Com+2, Int, Per, Pre and Dex +1

Profession (Barber, specialised in unpractial hairdressing) 50xp -> 4
Chirurgy (beautiful scars) 50 xp -> 4

native speaker: polish
additional language : german
[color=blue]
Do I need to pick one more language to be able to talk to the magi??

loads of social skills.
[color=blue]BTW: Is Dancing included in any of the usual skills (athletics? Carouse)?

I thought he was travelling with a cart, doing some sort of performance to attract people, then cut hair, pull teeth and so on...
He is, of course, the very best barber ever :wink: sort of a living cliché.

Would that be OK with the troupe? Any changes needed? Suggestions?
Thanks!

28

Seems like fun :smiley:

Ardath only speaks Latin and slavic :frowning:

As per dancing, AFAK, not.
But yet, it seems too little and useless to have its own skill. Ahtletics could do it rather well, IMO

29

Mariella speaks Italian and Latin

30

May I present with very great pleasure...
Krispin ex Miscellanea
Male, Size 0
Age: 26 (5 years out of apprenticeship)

Krispin has a slight frame, a reasonably well-kept brown beard, and kind gray eyes. He wears a simple brown or gray robe with no outer markings, a well-made belt with pouches for herbs and tools, and carries a large walking staff. The son of a Flemish peasant, he was frequently prone to strange, often symbolic visions. His parens took him first out of compassion for his situation but then trained Krispin as a healer and root-cutter when his distaste for violence became apparent. As Krispin's power matured the visions diminished gradually, though they still manifest from time to time. His Gentle Gift and desire to heal (using herbal remedies and mundane skill, primarily) made him popular among the covenfolk during his later apprenticeship as his skills grew.

Wizard's Sigil: The scent of herbs, which varies as appropriate to the spell. Lavender often figures prominently.

Personality Traits: Compassionate +3, Friendly +2, Pacifistic +2, Fastidious +1
Reputations: Hedge Wizard 3

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

Virtues and Flaws
Virtues
Hermetic Magus, The Gift (free)
Mythic Herbalism, Root-Cutter (Free House virtues)

Minor Magical Focus (Healing), Gentle Gift, Affinity with Mythic Herbalism, Enduring Magic, Skilled Parens, Flexible Formulaic Magic, Affinity with Corpus, Deft Corpus.

Flaws
Deficient Perdo (free House flaw)
Restriction (in a place where there are no plants or plant materials), Compassionate
Soft-Hearted, Ability Block (Martial skills), Hedge Wizard, Visions

Abilities
General Abilities (specialization) XP / score
Awareness (alertness) 10 / 2
Animal Handling (horses) 5 / 1
Charm (first impressions) 5 / 1
Chirurgy (setting bones) 30 / 3
Concentration (reading) 15 / 2
Folk Ken (magi) 15 / 3
Low German - Flemish (storytelling) 75 / 5
Profession (Apothecary) (finding ingredients) 30 / 3
Profession (Scribe) (copywork) 5 / 1
Survival (winter) 15 / 2
Order of Hermes Lore (personalities) 5 / 1

Academic Abilities (specialization) XP / score
Artes Liberales (ritual magic) 5 / 1
Latin (Hermetic usage) 50 / 4
Medicine (physician) 5 / 1

Arcane Abilities (specialization) XP / score
Finesse (Herbam) 5 / 1
Magic Lore (traditions) 5 / 1
Magic Theory (Corpus) 30 / 3
Parma Magica (Corpus) 15 / 2
Penetration (Creo) 5 / 1

Supernatural Abilities (specialization) XP / score
Mythic Herbalism (healing wounds) (5 + (68 x 1.5)= 107) / 6

Magical Arts XP / score
Cr 55 / 10
In 45 / 9
Mu 21 / 6
Re 15 / 5

An 15 / 5
Co (30x1.5) / 9
He 28 / 7
Me 21 / 6

Spellbook TeFoLevel (Casting Score, not including Aura)
Whispering Winds InAu15 (+11)
The Chirurgeon’s Healing Touch (as ArM5 p.129, but heals Medium Wounds) CrCo25 (+32)
Restoration of the Defiled Body CrCo25 (+32)
Gentle Touch of the Purified Body (as ArM5 p.129, but heals Medium Wounds caused by disease or poison) CrCo25 (+32)
Probe the Secrets of the Flesh (as Revealed Flaws of the Mortal Flesh, but gives any and all useful information about a body) InCo15 (+20)
The Inexorable Search InCo20 (+20)
Trap of Entwining Vines CrHe15 (+17)
Intuition of the Forest InHe10 (+16)
Call to Slumber ReMe10 (+13)
Supple Iron and Rigid Rope MuTe5 (+6)
Wizard's Leap ReCo15 (as HoH:S p.36) (+16 - more like +12 if casting requisites are used)

Equipment
Simple gray robe, boots, walking staff, belt with pouches for herbs and the like.
Saddlebags full of stored herbs and basic posessions. His old mare, Halfrid by name, and a mean old mule he spends more time fighting/cajoling than getting useful work out of.

31

Notes/Questions/Comments:
A healer (as requested :smiley:); hopefully the pacifism will balance you the more violent types and make for interesting stories. I’m relatively new to 5th Edition, so let me know if you see typos, grievous errors, and other ilk of that sort.

I assume I’ll work out the details of his arrival with Max – given the choice I think he’d just ride in, either on his own with his shield grog (forthcoming) or perhaps accompanying caravan, group of pilgrims, or even a Redcap. He’s come because he views healing as his duty, and wants to help as many as he can, and thinks a Spring covenant way out in the boonies is the best way to do that. He could even be the healer requested by Justus to heal the girl’s hand, depending on how much time will pass between Chapters 2 and 3 (time for messages to travel, etc). As a child of Pralix, Justus probably knows a guy who knows a guy who knows Krispin’s parens, so that would make sense.

Mechanics questions:
I’ve never used Flexible Formulaic Magic or Enduring Magic before, but I have a few questions about their usage (just so I know what he can do). If it’s spelled out somewhere in the rules and I’ve missed it, feel free just to direct me to it:

  • Can FFM be used to change between equivalent ranges, durations, or targets? For example, can Diameter be changed to Concentration or vise versa, or Group to Room? The description doesn’t say anything about it one way or another, and I could see arguments for either. I assume it’s just SG choice. I have my own opinion, of course. (:twisted: )

  • I assume FFM and Enduring Magic would stack together – ie. If he used FFM to extend the duration, Enduring Magic multiplies the new duration?

Thanks guys, looking forward to gaming with you!

32

Looks good. The only possible problem is I see an animal handling skill but no ride skill

33

To me, Animal Handling represents more his village wise-person-esque ability to care for animals and treat their injuries. Since the description of Ride implied its use is mostly "under stress", and since Halfrid is old, tired, and docile enough that the difficulty of riding her is fairly low, I figured he'd use it untrained if he needed it. It's really more for a fun little character development tidbit than frequent game use - he'd probably only take her along for extended travel. Coo? :slight_smile:

34

No problem for me.
I tend to think that the gift is going to make a lot of riding stressful. Mariella has no riding skill as there is no none magical horse which would put up with her gift

35

Yeah, the Gift certainly seems to have that effect, especially in 5th Ed, which I think is always fun to deal with. Although, since Krispin is Gently Gifted, that issue seems more or less moot for him.

Oh, and for possible companions, it seems unlikely that Krispin would get along well with any sort of violent archetype - he'd spend most of his time trying to prevent their ever being needed. A companion who either dislikes or doesn't need violence would be appropriate - perhaps a minstrel, a stealthy rogue who'd rather run or talk his/her way out of a fight, or some sort of scholar or courtier?

36

I completely missed the gentle gift on the character sheet. It should indeed be less of a problem for you :blush:
He is shaping up nicely as the opposite of Mariella
Healing Focus- Damage Focus
GentleGift - Blatant gift
Pacifist- Milite of house Flambeau
Deficient Perdo- Puissant and Affinity Perdo

The only other thing have you considered Gild Trained instead of Skilled Parens the effects are similar and as you seem to be from the Rhine tribunal it may give you some useful ties in the tribunal

37

Indeed! I didn't (specifically) intend him that way, but so much the better that he is. Should make for interesting stories, if nothing else :smiley:.

Gild Trained is from Guardians of the Forest, I believe? I'm afraid I don't own that one (alas, lack of funds! Though since we seem to be in that locale, I may have to pick it up sooner than later…) but I've skimmed it a bit at my local hobby shop. If memory serves, Gild Trained implies/requires strong political leanings as well as training at Durenmar, neither of which seem likely given the non-political leanings of his lineage. His parens probably tried to keep out of politics as much as possible, perhaps by being itinerant and/or keeping a low profile; he may even have had his technical residence in a neighboring Tribunal. I'll probably stick with Skilled Parens since this gives the opportunity for a minor story arc if required without getting him too embroiled in politics - I suspect his pacifism will tend to be the major informer of his political views anyway.

Happy New Year!

38

Happy new year too! :smiley:

  1. I don't see why not.
  2. As far as I'm concerned, yes.

However, I see some problems here :frowning:

  • You have both The Gentle Gift and the Flexible Formulaic Magic virtue. Not only does this makes a total of 12 virtue points, but this also makes 2 Major Hermetic Virtues instead of one.

  • Your "Probe the Secrets of the Flesh" should be level 15, not level 20, unless you want it at Voice range, for exemple.

  • Your home langage is free, as is your first level of Mythic Herbalism. You don't have to pay for them. However, even without this and the lvl 15 "Probe" spell, I count a total of:
    342 (abilities) + 230 (Arts) + 155 (spells) = 727 XP, where you should have: 45 (early childhood) + 15 (your 6th year) + 360 (hermetic apprenticeship) + 90 (skilled parens) + 150 (5 years post-apprenticeship) = 660 XPs.
    You've got waaaaay too much XP for a 26-years old. An easy way out would be to give him 5 more years pré-apprenticeship.

Sorry to point this to you :blush: :frowning:

39

Skilled Parens only adds 60 to the hermetic apprenticeship xp and 30 to to the levels of starting spells. You lumped both into one and still gave 150 spell levels :wink:.

Need to drop the 90 to 60 or the 150 to 120 for a grand total of 630, not 660.

40

Thanks for checking my math everybody - he's (almost) my first 5th ed. character and I was fairly sure there'd be more than a few glitches. I see right off the bat that FFM is major - for some reason I read minor - D'oh! I'll start by striking that and coming up with a suitable minor virtue instead, and I'll go over my exp again and get back to you. Of course, this means I have to go over it all again :stuck_out_tongue:.