This will serve as a reminder of what we've discussed as well as any finished elements of the Covenant. I'll post material here soon, but am a little busy today.
OK, I've made a decision, and that decision is to basically reveal just about all of the hooks and boons coming to you. Some will be obvious and some will have more or less explanation about them. There will still be mysteries, like I might list a variable boon or hook, but not list the actual variable. This will also include point expenditures and such.
I also intend to post such important stuff as Library and Vis and items, where I can. Some of that is actually meant to be developed by the group.
Basically at this point I feel it's better to get the Covenant designed than keep it hidden for story potential. Let me get together my notes and I'll start posting the Covenant, and this can also lead to some fine tuning.
OK the hardcopy notes that I kept for the Covenant have gone missing (that's why I haven't posted anything). But that's minor, I can put it together based on what's been eluded to in previous posts and my own memories. I'll have some stuff up shortly.
OK Here we go, this is the official list of Boons and Hooks. As I said, some of the actual details of them might be left out, but there will be no more wondering.
Boons Total 13 (Major and Minor)
Aura Minor x2 (Magic Aura +5)
Healthy Feature (Standing Stones of Men At Tol) Minor +1 Aging Rolls
Major Fortification (Magic Fortress)
Hidden Resources (Minor, undiscovered, a PC or PCs can design this Boon)
Secondary Income (Minor, Silver, Allowance from the Tribunal)
Strong Community (Minor, Covenfolk. This is not the Loyal Boon, the covenfolk are loyal to the clan McArdry more than the Covenant, but they are hard to infiltrate or tempt)
Dedicated Covenant (Major)
Hidden Ways (Minor)
Hooks Total 13 (Major and Minor, most of these will be left without an explanation)
Monster (Major)
Castle (Major, represents the closeness to the castle and city of Launceston)
Outbuildings (Minor, represents the houses and structures above ground where most of the Clan will likely live)
Indebted (Minor, SIlver)
Dark Secret (Minor, residents/covenfolk)
Refugee (Minor, Dermot McArdry)
Ceremonies (Major, External Relations, hosting a yearly Hermetic Fair)
I am not inflexible on these necessarily, but this is what I had pictured at the end of the day. The 400 points are the remaining enigma. Ladyphoenix had a decent method to spend a large chunk of points. I'll post it here:
So there you have it. If that's what you'd like to spend the points on we just need to determine the vis you get and the books.
If you 'd like to make some suggestions on the boons and hooks feel free, I am willing to listen and possibly change some of them.
Would the debt hook be that big of a deal if the covenant gets 40 pawns of vis a year? Granted, that is not silver, but it shouldn't be too difficult to trade.
Well, it's a debt of silver and a Minor Hook, that's 25% of your total income. Your total income is actually from two sources (and both are normal ie they have no penalties attached to them). One is a stipend/tithe from the Tribunal (about 100 pounds a year). Another hasn't been decided but it can be figured out easily enough. Between those two you owe a total of 50 pounds of silver per year above and beyond any expenditures, and with the labs you intend to create you'll have high expenditures. Then of course is the task of holding the fair (labor, silver, etc).
Having said that, trading vis for silver is possible, but to most magi it would seem like pulling teeth to trade away magical might for simple lucre. Plus if the debt is to a mundane debtor most have no real use for vis.
This Hook is a minor issue, just like the description. It should cause some problems but not necessarily be a major problem. That was why I said in the beginning it's hard to justify a Dedicated Covenant and poverty. A bad year though could be really bad.
I'm fine with getting lots of vis then. Instead of needing to look for more vis, we will need to look for books and specialists.
Does anyone have thoughts about a Technique/Form ratio for the vis income?