Covenant design discussion

A submission to the library, especially in regards to the update on how the Aegis works:

Aegis of the Hearth: A community commitment to Arcane Defense By: Favilus Quintus, filia of Notatus, House Bonisagus

This is a collection of works that seeks to use her Parens' invention of the Aegis into a tool and means of building a Covenant and more importantly a community.

It includes a casting tablet of Aegis of the Hearth at 30th level
A casting tablet for Wizard's Communion at 30th level
A Tracti on Hermetic Lore 5
A Tracti on Spell mastery for Aegis of the Hearth at 5 (the book specializes in Penetration)

I don't have access my books, so I don't know the full value of these books. Also, the first two are tablets, if we'd want to get an actual labtext they'd need to be bought separately. The Wizard's Communion might not be workable as a tablet, I'm not sure.

If these are tractatus then you need a Quality score (5 is pretty lousy), not a level score. If these are summae at level 5 you need to also include a quality level. The cost is equal to quality.
Summae on abilities are expensive. Quality +3*ability level. So a q10 level 5 summa is 25 bps. Summae on arts are quality + level in build points.

The casting tablets for the two spells are...12 bps each. The same in Lab texts are 6 bps each. Also casting an Aegis and WC from a casting tablet is scary.

Sorry, meant Quality not Level. They're mainly intended to be a primer, but I'm all for getting value out of the points. I figured there'd be additional risk involved for the tablet casting, especially for the WC. That one would probably be a labtext while the Aegis would be the tablet maybe. But the idea was that not everyone had to learn 2 6th magnitude spells (i have to read again how WC exactly works).

Ok, Q5 basically is essentially incomprehensible or at least very vain. :smiley:
WC +1 botch die for every magus involved (and unless someone else knows WC at 30th level the tablet by itself is useless)
Aegis will need 6 pawns of vis for 6 botch die
If someone in a group leading a WC (casting the actual spell) botches the leader also automatically botches. So, at least two people need to cast WC 30 for Aegis 30. That means that there are 9 botch dice to roll if someone rolls a 0 on a WC, and two people of the three involved end up botching...
Spells on casting tablets don't have penetration, unless so designed, so...Aegis isn't a good candidate for a casting tablet, either.

Lots of risk, little reward.

Re-reading WC, it behooves us to know the spell and not cast it from a tablet. So, if I'm reading it right though, the participants need to know a spell of WC but it can be of lower level than the Aegis.

So if we have one person know the Aegis at 30 and is going to cast it, and we have the everyone know the WC at 15 (the total levels of WC must add up to at least double the desired spell), then when everyone cast their WC, we add up their spell casting totals and use their combined totals for the casting of the Aegis. That should allow us to cast the 30th level Aegis and get a high enough casting total to get the high Penetration we're looking for.

Still plenty of risk, but the WC seems to have been desigend for casting with an Aegis like spell.

The Quality of the Tracti can definitely be improved at low cost as well.

Or did I misread the WC?

OK, got my book with me now.

So let's redesign this group of books. The first book is a Labtext on Aegis of the Hearth 30, with attached notes on Spell Mastery as a Tracti Quality 10.

Also with the book is a labtext on Wizard's Communion level 15, with attached notes on Hermetic Lore as a Tracti Quality 13 (for non-magical subject).

That covers all of the things I was looking for with this, and takes into account the reality of the risk and difficulty of a Tablet.

So one magus learns the Aegis and the WC and a minimum of three others learn the WC, up to 6 though can participate in a WC for this Aegis. The combined WC levels equal 60 (the minimum level need to do this succesfully). The Aegis is then divided by 4 so it becomes a level 7 spell, and the main caster then casts the Aegis with extra botch dice. At a level 7 spell, we can reasonably expect a high casting total from the main person. Mastery would be key here, spending a few more points on raising the Quality of the Tracti on Mastery to 15 would get a score of 2 Mastery and reduce the botch dice by 2 and add a little more to the casting.

How does this sound? The one thing I might have missed (by my estimation) is that it takes 4 people to know the WC AND 1 more person who knows the Aegis and the WC, for a total of 5 Magi. If so, that's not a major issue, we'd just add an extra magus into the equation.

Yes, so long as 4 people are involved, that will get the spell level down to 7.5, (I round to even, as in divisible by two, numbers, so numbers might go up or might go down when fractions are in play) so really 8 in this instance. There are some issues with casting scores being able to juice it to a 38 total. You might have a 30th level Aegis but with lesser penetration.
There's nothing wrong with that. It'll still affect magic worked within the Aegis by non-participaants/guests as a 30th level Aegis. That critter with 30 might is coming through, though. Note, not everyone needs to know WC at the same level, just so long as all the participants combined can get to 60+.

No, I think you got it right.

It appears that two characters as designed can actually learn the spell (to start) according to the RAW Te+Fo+Int+MT+3 >=30(presumed aura of apprenticeship/learning). So if thre's a lab text, and the aura is actually stronger (5), then those two characters could learn it from the lab text in a season.

Keep things in mind. This is a summer covenant, living is relatively easy. Difficulty will come based on actions you take or flaws you've selected. You can anticipate having a reasonable amount of time to establish basic defenses without something coming at you. Keep in mind that I have a desire to tell a bit of a different kind of story. Essentially Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter will be told more or less concurrently, you may be able to draw certain assumptions from this method...
Also, I may not know what I'm doing and we abandon it after the first year. Although, I have some ideas for the first two years, and so I have some hope!

Our timing on that was just about perfect! :laughing:

I like the idea of having sets of books that have common origins. So here's another library contribution:

In Flux-Veritas Summa Level 12 Quality 19 Written by the apprentice of Mutante of Mercere, this is often considered to be an essential book on the Technique of Muto. As it was written by a Mercere it was widely circulated throughout the Order as the Order spread. A tradition of sorts arose with the spread of the text, there are several Commentaries (Covenants pg 90) written about this text that have also spread with it, some achieving a similar amount of gravitas and fame. When one seeks to get the Summa In Flux-Veritas, one inavriably seeks out some of the many well maintained Commentaries that were published along with it. 31 Build points.

Commentary: Hastus of Bjoernaer Qaulity 12. One of the first and most complimentary of the Commentaries. Hastus was so impressed with the text that he entered into service for the Mercere, often helping their Redcaps through the most dangerous parts of the Black Forest of Germany. (11 Build points, Commentaries get +1 Quality for free)

Commentary: Desiderus of Flambeau Quality 12. This wizard is probably more famous as being one of the early causalties in the Schism War, dying in an ill conceived plan to attack a Diedne mystical site. What makes this somewhat unique is that his plan seems to be hastily scrawled on the last page of the text. (11 Build points, Commentaries get +1 Quality for free)

Commentary: Obesarus of House Verditius Quality 12. A scathing rebuttal of the virtues of Muto and Mutante's premises. Obesarus's contention is that Muto is unable to help him 'change' his extraordinary obesity (linked some say to both his Gift and his rather gluttonous behavior) and proclaims that Muto should mostly be done away with as a Technique altogether, that Rego, Creo and Perdo more effectively do the job of Muto. (11 Build points, Commentaries get +1 Quality for free)

This would be rather expensive maybe, but has decent potential for story elements I feel. What do you think? We could change the Arts on this if Muto is not what people are looking for.

Yeah, you can have interpersonal conflict over who gets access to the summa. Negotiation, trading, intimidation etc.

So, just to keep things rolling, a few more thoughts on the overall feel of the covenant.

Apollodorus has told us that he's commissioned some Terram specialists to build us something, but we haven't decided what, yet. maybe we should think about what the various characters would want built, and try to get a general feel of things from there?

So far we have Five members of the covenant. Correct me if I'm describing them unfairly:

Apollodorus ex Jerbiton, in effect Princeps Emeritus of the covenant. We don't know too much about his personality just yet - except that he says he's rich and too busy, and therefore wants some other magi to come and share the wealth/burden of running the covenant.

Alexei Von Kroitsau of House Flambeau: a German member of the Milites. Jovial and deadly.

Fiona ex Miscellanea: herbalist, other-transformation specialist, and potion-maker extraordinaire, hailing from Loch Leglean. A member of the Daughters of Circe.

Onesiphorus Ex Verditius, an object-crafter specialising in the most wonderful magical furniture (if I remember rightly).

Iosephus ex Criamon, a Welsh mystic specialising in self-transformation (If he gets approved by SG :smiley: )

So the question is: what would each of these five people want built? I'll just hazard some guesses in order to draw people out and have them correct me:

My sense of Apollodorus is that he'd want something sensible, efficient, and not too far from mundane building styles. Does that seem right?

Alexei is concerned with all things military, and his order pursues chivalric ideals. Assumption: from a practical standpoint, he'd want something defensible. From an aesthetic standpoint, he'd want something noble and imposing looking, with battlements. Yes/no?

Fiona might want extensive grounds and gardens for growing herbs and potion ingredients? Yes/no?

As the furniture-crafter-in-chief, Onesiphorus is no doubt the most useful person ever when it comes to interior decoration. As far as exteriors, go, I don't know - any thoughts? He'd need a workshop, surely; perhaps room for a carpentry workshop in a separate building, so as to allow easy delivery of timber and so forth?

Iosephus' major hermetic flaw means that he needs access to suitable sympathetic environments in order to study Arts> Since he mostly studies the Elements and transformation, he needs something that can be open to the sky, is built into the natural rock, or similar.

Does this spark any thoughts with anyone? Responses?

( Or we could just build this: fantasyartdesign.com/3dgallery/a ... ream04.htm (Scroll down)) :smiley:

insert Homeresque drool here

Sure just need a regio. A regio was more or less implied in his initial letter. Every magus knows a castle appearing overnight on top of a large mountain is going to cause no end of trouble. Just need a hook to balance it out.

Yes. The manor house could work well. He actually has quite a fondness for mundanes, so an unusual or grim and imposing covenant isn't what he'd like. A defensible manor with perhaps some kind of building feature (gatehouse, tower, keep) as well a field that could serve for drilling and mustering. Alexei has ambitions of hosting a Flambeau gathering as well...so there's that to consider.

I just got a mental image of the men-at-arms drilling in the field...and Fiona barreling out, shouting at them to keep off a'her wee mullein! :laughing:

Okay - I wasn't quite serious about that picture, but if the other folks like it, then why don't we just build that, in a regio on the site?

Maybe the regio could be accessed through a ruined archway, which is a remnant of Bibracte. We would need to specify certain conditions under which passing through the archway (or whatever we choose) leads you to the Regio, and other conditions under which it just leaves you on the other side of the mundane archway.

If poeple want to do this - and it's just a thought, not committed to it - might I suggest something like the following:

(All page refs to Covenants)

Site
Minor Boon: Regio (Covenants p8)
Minor Boon: Vivid Environment (Covenants p9)
2x Minor Boon: Aura (to bring aura up to 5)
Minor Boon: Difficult access (Built into the side of the cliff)
Minor Hook: Poorly Defensible (Overlooked by the top of the cliff)

Fortifications
Free Choice: Manor (It's a bit like a manor for defence purposes, anyway)
Minor boon: Edifices (Together, the three very beautiful and impressive halls in the picture counting as a single edifice) (p14)
Minor Hook: Outbuildings (Presumably most of the grogs live in much less impressive buildings further down the cliff) (p15)

Resources
Minor Boon: Secondary Income (Sheep and wine) (p16) (If we decide that these are both sufficiently profitable at this early stage)

Residents
Free Choice: Peasants (p18)
Major/Minor hook: Superiors (p18/19) (Will Apollodorus be engaged enough to qualify us for any level of this?)

External Relations
Minor Hook: Centralised Kingdom or Church Territories (p22)
Minor Hook: Rival (To quote Jonathan: "The winemaking is a fledgling industry and faces severe competition from the Cistercians.") (p22)

Surroundings
Minor Hook: Festival (The annual hilltop festival; the tents are also a vis source) (p24)
Minor Hook: Roman Ruins (the ruins of Roman Bibracte) (p25)
Minor Hook: Legendary Site (Bibracte, the Celtic Capital) (p25)
(I'm not sure which of the above should apply - or both)

That leaves us with another boon or two to take, depending on how we play it.

Anyway, just a thought. Sorry Jonathan if you didn't want us to go into this - I'm not sure whether you wanted our input on boons and hooks or not. Feel free to ignore.

No, this is example on the kinds of things I want there to be a consensus on. I don't want to be the one to bring it up, because I don't want it to be perceived that this is entirely my story. The hooks represent stories that the troupe agrees to be part of, at some level, over and above their character's story hooks. It creates a framework, along with character's story flaws, to write the story I've got in mind.

Since I'm plugging away on the covenant, I thought I'd post a first version of my share of the build points.

EDIT: I'm updating this as we go along, just to keep things tidy

Items
The Tapestry of the Watch
This large tapestry hangs in the Great Hall (or whatever we have). It appears to be a beautifully woven image of the hilltop on which the ruins of Bribracte stand - the hill from which one enters the regio. If you look at it long enough, however, you'll notice that it changes: clouds move across the sky; the trees in the tapestry sway in the wind. If you watch for long enough, the sun will sinks down to the horizon and then set, and the moon and stars will appear. If you watch all night, you'll see the dawn in the tapestry, too.

In fact the tapestry constantly shows an image of what's happening outside the main entrance to the regio. If anyone is approaching the entrance, their image will appear in the tapestry. It's beautiful, yes, but it's also an advance warning system, to let the magi know of any visitors, welcome or otherwise, before they arrive.

Built as the following:
For sensing the image elsewhere:
Int Im 19 (Base 1, +4 arc, +2 sun, +1pt for 2 uses/day, +3pts for trigger: sunrise/sunset)
For displaying it in the tapestry:
Cr Im 16 (Base 1, +2 sun, +10pts for unlimited uses per day, +3pts for trigger: linked to other spell)
Total levels: 35
Total cost: 14bp

Vis Sources
I thought I'd describe the vis sources as a kind of journey from the main halls of the covenant up towards Iosephus' sanctum. Think of it as a tour of the grounds!

Behind the covenant's beautiful halls, there is a cliff. There is a narrow, rocky path - almost just a ledge - that winds up the side of the cliff. If you climb that path, you'll wind upwards and upwards until you eventually come to a wider ledge, where there grows a shady grove of mulberry trees. The trees are full of silkworms, weaving.

The discarded silkworm cocoons can be collected and made into silk. The silk can then be re-woven into patterns of magical significance. The re-woven silk patterns are worth 5pts of Muto vis.
(25bp)

Stay on the ledge near the mulberry trees. If you carefully shift aside the branches of the trees - taking care not to damage any of the cocoons being spun - you'll discover the entrance to a cave. The cave is narrow at first, but as you follow it deeper into the cliff it widens out into a broad cavern.

This cavern is highly magical. Its ceiling drips with water, forming long stalactites, stalagmites, and pillars. These rock formations grow and change with extraordinary speed - extraordinary in geological terms, that is. Every year there are new formations, and the cavern looks different and must be navigated differently.

Periodically, parts of stalactites will break off and fall to the floor, shattering into strange shapes. Certain of these rock shards contain vis: you can tell which ones they are by the shape. If collected, ground up into a fine powder, and mixed with lime (the mineral, not the citrus fruit!), they are worth 5pts of Vim vis per year.
(25bp)

Gradually, throughout the year, a thin layer of water pools at the lowest point in the cavern floor. On the Winter solstice, you can set up a series of mirrors to bring moonlight into the cavern, and shine it into the pool. Water collected at that time contains 2pts of Aquam vis.
(10bp)

There is an entrance to a further tunnel on the far side of the cavern. This tunnel takes you up into the rock, and then outside again onto the face of the cliff, much higher up. There's another narrow path there, winding its way up the cliff-face. This path is very exposed to the wind, and gets very blustery. If you're up there during a very bad storm, and manage to catch a something blowing by - perhaps a leaf or twig - then the leaf or twig can be torn apart to release a pawn of Auram vis. This is worth about 2 pts of Auram vis per year (or rather, let's say exactly 2pts every year, for bookkeeping purposes).
(10bp)

If you wind further up the narrow path, hugging the side of the cliff, you'll eventually get to to Iosephus' sanctum, which is in a cave high up near the top of the cliff.

Iosephus' Sanctum

Iosephus' Sanctum is reached via the very steep and narrow path that runs up the side of the cliff. Once you near the top of the cliff, the path seems to end abruptly with a steep, long drop. In fact, if you turn to the wall of the cliff at the end of the path, and cast some sort of magic to remove the rock, you'll find that there's a doorway leading into the cliff.

Inside, there's a very beautiful magical cavern. Like the cavern below - the one you've already come through if you walked all the way up - it has stalactites and stalagmites coming from the roof and floor in a strange profusion. They shift and change over the seasons, so the cavern never looks quite the same from year to year. What's different about this cavern, though, is that its walls, floor, and ceiling are all striated by seams of glittering silver rock. These bands of rock glitter and shimmer in the light - assuming you brought a light. When a magus enters the cave, they glow - enough to provide plenty of light for reading. With time, a magus can learn to calm that magical part of himself that the bands of rock are glowing in response to, so as to allow darkness for sleeping.

Under normal circumstances, "Circle of Beast Warding" and "Ward Against the Curious Scullion" (Covenants p104) have been cast across the various entrances to the sanctum.

Iosephus' Lab

Iosephus' lab is in a neighbouring cavern, very much like the one described. This cavern, however, opens out onto a wide rock ledge. Half of the lab is somewhat sheltered by the overhanging roof of the cave, and half is on the rock ledge, entirely exposed to the elements.

Size: +1 (Occupied -1)
Refinement: 0
General Quality: 0
Upkeep: +2
Safety: +2
Warping: +1
Health: +1
Aesthetics: +4

Specialisations: +1 Aq, +3 Au, +2 Te, +4 Mu, +1 Items, +1 Vis Extraction

Major Virtues:
Natural Environment: The lab has been constructed half-in, half-out of a cave at the top of the cliff behind the covenant. (+2 Aesthetics, +1 Aq, +1 Au, +1 Te)
Major Flaws:
Outdoors: Half of the lab extends out onto the wide rock ledge that hangs out from the cliff. This leaves it very exposed to the elements. (-1 General quality, +2 Upkeep, -1 Safety, -1 Health, -3 Aesthetics)
Free Virtues:
Superior Equipment (+1 General Quality, +1 Safety, +1 Vis Extraction) )
Superior Tools (+1 Safety, +1 Items)
Superior Construction (+1 Safety, +1 Aesthetics)
Mountaintop (-1 Safety, +1 Upkeep, +2 Aesthetics, +2 Au)
Idyllic Surroundings (+2 Health, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Te)
Free Flaws:
Deformed: the constant shifting of the lab walls often creates strange, inconvenient deformations in the shape of the lab (-1 Aesthetics, +1 Mu)
Disguised: the entrance to the lab is usually blocked by the raw stone of the wall. It has to be transformed into something else magically in order for Iosephus to enter (-1 Aesthetics)
Minor Virtues:
Spacious: The ledge is wide, and the cave is deep (+2 Safety, +1 Aesthetics) (Free due to size +1 not filled)
Magical Lighting: The cave walls are streaked with seams of silvery rock that shimmer in the darkness when a magus approaches, providing good light whenever necessary. (+1 Aesthetics, +1 Texts, +1 Im) (no space cost)
Lesser Feature : The shimmering, constantly changing stalactites and stalagmites count as a lesser feature (+1 Aesthetics, +1 Mu)
Minor Flaws:
Missing Equipment: as yet, the lab has no equipment for teaching or for binding a familiar. (-1 Upkeep)
Chaotic: The cave walls, floor, and ceiling grow, shrink, shift, and change over time. (-2 Safety, +1 Warping, +1 Experimentation, +2 Mu)

Lab Cost: Paying for 1 major virtue and 2 minor virtues (40bp)

Library

Summae

A Testament to the Power of the Heavens
(Auram Level 16 Quality 15) (31 bp)

The Stag, The Hound, and The Prince of the Seven Crowns
(Rego Level 16 Quality 15) (31 bp)

A Primer on Origination
(Creo Level 6, Quality 21) (27bp)

Alberich's Colloquy on Appearances
(Imaginem Level 6, Quality 21) (27bp)

Lab Texts
Lab texts for 50 levels of spells (to come) (10bp)

Total: 250 bp

75 Personal Build Points:

Summa: The Form of Man
(Corpus Level 16 Quality 15) (31 bp)

Lab texts for 220 levels of spells (44bp)

Questions about the 75 personal Bps. That is included in the 250 we're each spending right? It's not 250 and an additional 75 right?