Companions and Custos

Please post any Companions here and use the editing rules as described for the Magi.

OK here we should start discussing Companions and custos. Keep an eye on the magi's interactions, ideally you should come up with an idea for a Companion that is ideal for someone's magus and post the idea here for that magus's (and my) approval. If we have an odd number of magi then my magus will be the one without a companion.

Bear in mind these are not Mythic companions but standard ones with up to 10 virtues and flaws. If you want a Mythic companion that basically means you won't be playing a wizard.

Should the companion be linked to one mage or to the covenant that they could deal well with several mages?

I prefer the traditional method where they are primarily with one magus. That doesn't mean they couldn't act without their magus, but mostly keep them together.

I'd like to work with Falls - I was thinking I could play his jay companion (who I think is going to become a familiar).

Reason I asked is I was thinking of a Merchant's daughter trying to avoid unwanted marriage to act as covenant trader to the mundanes. She wouldn't be linked to anyone but rather be general to covenant with high bargain.

Because of the count of the players, there's no easy way to do this. As it stands, with me not having a companion that leaves an odd number of magi, so in theory a communal companion would work. Everyone else takes a companion for the other magi. However that means that another magus doesn't have a companion either.

How can we make this work?

Two communal companions? >.>

LadyP, If you wish, we could say the daughter knew my magi's Master. Maybe her father did business with him but was a little afraid of him. She flees to my Master hoping to gain some protection. Instead she finds my Master dead. That way she's associated with one of the Magi (mine) but only loosely. She could then seek protection of the Covenant, and she would be more of a general character.

As an alternative, we could assign companions to magi by lottery.

For dialogue and RP, absolutely! Basically, I'd love to have you play my animal companion, but I don't know how often he'll come up (this being a PbP) and I'd like leave to take him over for a bit if it speeds things up substantially.

On the other hand, Elysia is singularly unsuited to mundane interaction, even for a magus. She deals with authority rather poorly (as we've seen) and is quite weird, so she probably needs someone with a variety of skills who can benefit from her versatility and keep her reasonably in line.

Falls - since I don't have RoP:Magic, I don't know if this would be possible, but I'd think it'd be fun to have the bird speak one or more human languages Elysia doesn't; the bird can act as her translator and "people person".

Name: Rosaline Hendry Birth Name: Rosaline Age: 17 Size: 0
Decrepitude: 0 Gender: Female Nationality: Norman English Height: Weight: 107
Confidence: 1 (3) Hair: Black Eyes: Green Handedness: Right Religion: Christian

Characteristics:
Intelligence: Sharp +1
Perception: Eye for Details +1
Strength: slender -1
Stamina: Endurig +1
Presence: Beautiful +3
Communication: Eloquent +3
Dexterity: 0
Quickness: Pondering -1

Abilities:
French 5 (Norman),
English 3 (expansive vocabulary),
Awareness 2 (alertness),
Bargain 4+2 (Cloth and threads),
Baking 2 (Breads),
Clothiery 5 (Fancy Stitching),
Charm 2 (first impressions),
Etiquette 3 (nobility),
Folk Ken 3 (townsfolk),
Guile 3 (fast talk),
Intrigue 2 (rumormongering),
Leathercraft 1 (Judging Quality),
Music (Singing) 2

Virtues:
Merchant,
Clear Thinker (Minor, General),
Improved Characteristics (Minor, General ×2),
Privileged Upbringing (Minor, General),
Puissant Bargain (Minor, General)
Venus' Blessing (Minor, General),
Well Traveled (Minor General),
Ways of the Town (Major General)

Flaws:
Black Sheep (Major Story)
Compassionate (Major, Personality)
Poor Student (Minor General)
Fear (Thunderstorms, Minor Personality),
Lame (Minor, General),
Small Frame (Minor, General)

Personality Traits
Personality Traits:
Relentless +2
Compassionate +3
Independent +3
Discerning +1

Reputations: Disobediant & Defiant 2 (Her family and their allies)

Equipment: Burden 0
Knife

Other Possesions:
Elegant gown (with couple changes of clothes, merchant colors)
Sewing tools with various threads
Eating Utensils
Silver cross
Jeweled necklace

Soak: +1

Fatigue levels: OK, 0, 1, 3, 5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: 1 (1 4), 3 (5 8), 5 (9 12), Incapacitated (13 16)

Combat totals:
Dodge: Init: 2, Attack , Defense 4, Damage
Fist: Init: 2, Attack 1, Defense 2, Damage 1
Kick: Init: 3, Attack 1, Defense 3, Damage +2

Appearance:

A petite woman with raven tresses that dresses as one of the prosperous merchants, mostly in part to her own efforts. Green eyes look out from a face that at least had some distant relation to the Norman nobility.

Background
The hendry family is a family of cloth merchants with distance relations to Lord Rhys of Wales through his mother (third cousins.) She was raised in luxury and as part of family of successful merchants, traveled from city to city seeing various cities seeing all styles and qualities of clothes, watching bargaining and understanding how towns work. Unfortunately, being the daughter of a wealthy merchant with beauty, she was a prized pawn for sale as well. when her father wanted to seal a business deal with a compatriot to merge their two businesses, part of the deal was her marriage to the old lecher in his 40's. He had no heirs and was disgusting in appearance and nature. She quickly gatherer her belongings and fled.

She has ended up at the covenant because they are not dependant on her family's good will being on the almost other side of England from the Hendry base of operations and her bargaining skills are more than useful.

What's the verdict on Magical Companions, as outlined in the RoP: Magic book?

The typical thing with those companions is that they have a different rate of virtue to flaws. One flaw is usually wirth 2-3 virtue points. If that's the case then no, that's a Companion to play instead of a wizard.

But regular companions that have mystic virtues is fine, and some of the virtues and flaws available in the Realms books are certainly fair game.

Does that include taking a Lesser or Greater Power? My original idea was a well travelled gentleman with the Linguist virtue. But on second look, it turned out that was a mythic blood virtue. So I was wondering if something similar might be possible, like taking the power Thoughts Within Babble or something like that. My idea is still rather fluid at this point, since I am unsure what exactly I want.

There are ways that can be achieved. Perhaps a magic item that provides that benefit? In True Lineages they include the Virtue for owning a magic item. An Affinity for Languages could also make it feasible for you to have a character who naturally learsn languages. The XP cost at character creation and later would be lessened that way.

Name: Lord Dermot McArdy III Birth Name: Dermot Age: 21 Size: 0
Decrepitude: 0 Gender: Male Nationality: Scottish Highlander Height: 5’11” Weight: 195
Confidence: 2 (5) Hair: Black Eyes: Green Handedness: Right Religion: Christian

Characteristics:
Intelligence: Clear minded +1
Perception: Good eyes +1
Strength: Broad shoulders +3
Stamina: Tough +2
Presence: Manly +1
Communication: Deep voice +1
Dexterity: Athletic +1
Quickness: Catlike +1

Abilities:
English 3 (Courtly)
Awareness 1 (Good eyes)
Etiquette 3 (Courtly)
Scottish 5 (Commands)
Athletics 2 (Running)
Artes Liberales 2 (Arithmetic)
Latin 2 (Church)
Civil and Canon Law 1 (English)
Area Lore 3 (England, from Books)
Animal Handling 3 (Horses)
Ride 3 (Hunting)
Carouse 3 (Highlanders)
Hunt 3 (Deer)
Survival 3 (Hills)
Single Weapon 4 (Sword and Shield)
Great Weapon 3 (Staff)
Bows 3 (Beasts)
Brawl 3 (Punches)

Virtues:
Landed Noble (Social, Major)
Improved Characteristics (Minor, General ×3)
Educated (General, Minor)
Warrior (General, Minor)
Self-Confident (General, Minor)
Tough (General, Minor)

Flaws:
Enemies (Story, Major) Rival Highland Clans
Proud (Personality, Major)
Sheltered Upbringing (Personality, Minor)
Oversensitive: Insults as head of Clan McArdy (Personality, Minor)
Infamous: England, brutal father (General, Minor)
Dutybound: Clan McArdry (Personality, Minor)

Personality Traits
Proud +4
Brave +3
Hotheaded +2
Loyal +2

Reputations: Brutal Scottish Lord (England) 4

Equipment: Burden 3
Half-Chain suit
Longsword
Heater Shield
Staff
Knife

Other Possesions:
Land
Combat worthy horse
Small flock of sheep
Herd of cattle
Several handcarts with sundry equipment
Handcart with Standard weapons and armor

Soak: +5, +11 in armor

Fatigue levels: OK, 0, 1, 3, 5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: 1 (1-5), 3 (6-10), 5 (10-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead 21+

Combat totals:
Brawl, Punch: Init +1, Attack +5, Defense +4, Damage +3
Sword and Shield: Init +3, Attack +10, Defense +10 Damage +9
Staff: Init +3, Attack +8, Defense +8, Damage +5
Shortbow: Init 0, Attack +7, Defense (Brawl) +4, Damage +6

Appearance:

Aye, he's a fine handsome lad. Broad shouldered and a cleft chin like he'd been split with an axe. He holds his head high and proud, like a king of the Highlands, which he may yet become. He wears a fine shirt made of mail under his high quality kilt that the ladies of McArdy made for him, and his weapons gleam in the light.

Background:

Dermot was born while his father was away, fighting on behalf of the English so he could secure his land and title. Dermot II gained a reputation as a brutal enforcer in both England and Scotland, and was given parcels of land that he could take when he stopped to rest. Dermot III was raised sequestered from his clan, receiving education in the scholarly arts from monks in a monastery, and courtly and combat skills from an old English Knight. His clan and he knew little of each other, until word came back that his father had been killed while putting down a rebellion in England. His education and training were not as complete as he or his mother would like, but he had no choice and was thrust into the complex world of a landed noble, in charge of a large and unruly Clan. Worse yet, with his father dead, other Highland clans would soon be trying to carve what little he had in Scotland.

A stormcrow of a wizard named Agitatus came and suggested he might call due his father's debts and move to England and gain some time on his enemies. Not having much choice he took the bulk of the clan with him into England, following Agitatus who claimed he was a distant relative. He and his clan have been dragging handcarts through England, fighting off the occasional bandit, and blustering past sheriffs, but he knows they are soon to settle in.

Tessa McArdry

Characteristics: Int +1 (Sly), Per +1 (Wary), Pre +2 (Pretty eyes),
Com 0, Str 0, Sta +1 (Energetic), Dex +2 (Accurate blows), Qik +1 (Fleet footed)
Size: -1
Age: 25 (25), Height: 4'6'', Weight: 100 lbs, Gender: Female
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence: 2 (5)

Virtues and Flaws: Warrior (50/50)(1), Tough (Soak: +3)(1), Strong-Willed (Will Rolls: +3)(1), Self-Confident (Confidence: +1)(1),
Reserves of Strength (Strength: +3 once/day)(1), Puissant Brawl (1), Puissant Leadership (1), Improved Characteristics(1), Well-Traveled (50/50)(1)

Small Frame(-1), Curse of Venus(-3), Driven Major(Protect Clan)(-3), Ambitious Minor (-1), Poor Student (Learning: -3)(-1)

Combat:
Dodge: Init: -1, Attack --, Defense +8, Damage --
Mace: Init: +0, Attack +10, Defense +6, Damage +8
Knife, Throwing: Init: -2, Attack +7, Defense +5, Damage +2
Fist: Init: -1, Attack +9, Defense +8, Damage +0
Kick: Init: -2, Attack +9, Defense +7, Damage +3
Soak: +6
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-4), -3 (5-8), -5 (9-12), Incapacitated (13-16)

Abilities: Scotch Gaelic 5 (Yelling at Clan members), Single Weapon 4 (Mace), Thrown Weapon 4 (Throwing Knives), Brawl 5 (Haymakers),
Music 1 (Whistling), English 2 (Horse Talk), Irish 2 (Horse Talk), Latin 2 (Insulting Aggie), Folk Ken 2 (Clan members),
Clan McArdry Lore Lore 2 (Famous fights), Bargain 2 (Horse talk), Charm 2 (Old men), Survival 2 (Gathering food), Stealth 1 (Sneaking
up on someone), Weaver 3 (Clothing) [Category: Consumables], Housewife 3 (Mutton Stew), Leadership 3 (Inspiring fear),
Guile 1 (To authority), Athletics 2 (Endurance), Awareness 3 (Listening)

Equipment: Heavy Leather Armor (Soak: 6) (Soak: 6; Protection: 2); Peasant Clothes
Encumbrance: 3 (3)

Name: Cora McArdy Birth Name: Cora Age: 20 Size: 0
Decrepitude: 0 Gender: Female Nationality: Scottish Highlander Height: 5’4” Weight: 120 lbs.
Confidence: 1 (3) Hair: Black Eyes: Green Handedness: Right Religion: Christian

Characteristics:
Intelligence: +2
Perception: +1
Strength: 0
Stamina: +3
Presence: 0
Communication: 0
Dexterity: 0
Quickness: -2

Virtues:
Folk Witch (Social, Free)
Animal Healing (Supernatural, Minor)
Dowsing (Supernatural, Minor)
Flight (Supernatural, Minor)
Forest Regio Network (Supernatural, Minor)
Magical Blood: Animal Ken (Supernatural, Minor)
Master of Animal Creatures (Supernatural, Minor)
Natural Leader (General, Minor)
Pussiant Animal Handling (General, Minor)
Student of the Magic Realm (General, Minor)
Well Traveled (General, Minor)

Flaws:
Anchored to the Forest (General, Minor)
Incomprehensible (General, Minor)
Overconfident (Personality, Minor)
Oversensitive: Animal Abuse/Mishandling (Personality, Minor)
Primitive Tradition (Supernatural, Major)
Servant of the Forest (Story, Major)

Abilities:
Animal Handling: Training 3+2 (30)
Animal Ken: Felines 4 (50)
Area Lore (Northern Scotland): Geography 2 (15)
Area Lore (Southern England): Geography 1 (5)
Athletics: Aerial Manuvers 2 (15)
Awareness: Alertness 2 (15)
Bargain: Horses 1 (5)
Brawl: Fists 1 (5)
Concentration: Incantations 2 (15)
Folk Ken: Clansmen 1 (5)
Folk Witch Magic Theory: Familiars 3 (30)
Folk Witch Organization Lore: Covens 2 (15)
Language (English): Animals 3 (30)
Language (Latin): Hermetic 2 (15)
Language (Scottish): Storytelling 5
Magic Lore: Creatures 3+2 (30)
Penetration: Animal Healing 2 (15)
Ride: Horses 2 (15)
Survival: Forests 2 (15)

Folk Witch Abilities:
Animal Healing: Wounds 2 (15)
Dowsing: Vis 3 (30)
Flight: Takeoff 2 (15)

Personality Traits:

Reputations:

Equipment:

Other Possesions:

Soak: +3

Fatigue levels: OK, 0, 1, 3, 5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: 1 (1-5), 3 (6-10), 5 (10-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead 21+

Combat totals:

Appearance:

Background: