Covenant Development

During Spring 1226, Viola undertakes an investigation of the hypocaust in Gregorius' lab.

First, let's consider the current lab stats:

Size: 4 (1)
Refinement: 0
Base Safety: -1
General Quality: +10
Upkeep: +4 (Ow.)
Safety: +4
Warping: 0
Health: -1
Aesthetics: 0
Specializations: +2 Vis Extraction, +1 Cr, +1 Te

Minor Virtue: Spacious (+2 Safety, +1 Aesthetics)

Free Virtues: Familiar (+8 General Quality, +3 Safety), Flawless Equipment (+2 General Quality, +2 Upkeep, +2 Vis Extraction), Flawless Tools (+1 Upkeep, +2 Items), Spotless (+1 Health, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Cr)

Free Flaws: Empty (-1 Aesthetics, -1 Health), Subterranean (+1 Upkeep, -1 Health, -1 Aesthetics, +1 Te)

The only traits that really matter for the present purposes are the General Quality and Safety, both of which are mostly a reflection of Viola's familiar.

Viola's base InVi total is: In 6 + Vi 5 +4 Int + MT 8 + Aura 5 = 28. Add General Quality, and her Lab Total is 38.

Roll #1: 38 + stress die 6 = 44
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InIg 8 (Base 1, +1M Touch, +2M Sun, +1 2 uses/day, +3 Environmental Trigger): senses the temperature of the interior of the hypocaust.

Roll #2: 38 + stress die 0 = 38
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CrIg 20 (Base 4, +1M Conc, +1M Part, +5L 24 uses/day, +5L item Concentration): heats the interior of the hypocaust (to the boiling point of water), which in turn heats the air inside it; triggered by throwing a lever that opens a vent, allowing cold to return from the rest of the covenant.

Roll #3: 38 + stress die 4 = 42
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ReIg 23 (Base 4 [control a fire in a slightly unnatural fashion], +1M Touch, +1M Diam, +10L Unlimited uses, +3L Linked Trigger): moves the heat inside the hypocaust through a series of pipes to the rest of the covenant; triggered by the InIg effect, when it detects sufficient heat within the hypocaust. Note that if the new covenant adds any buildings or caves that weren't part of the old covenant, this effect won't warm them, since it's "programmed" to send the heat only to specific locations.

Roll #4: 38 + stress die 4 = 42
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CrIg 30 (Base 10, +1M Touch, +1M to control the intensity of the heat, +10 Unlimited uses): instantly heats an object placed on the hypocaust to any temperature desired, up to the temperature required to melt lead; triggered by placing the target object on a track inscribed in the top of the hypocaust, with different positions corresponding to different temperatures; grants a +3 bonus to Ig specialization in the lab.

Roll #5: 38 + stress die 4 = 42
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No effect found.

Viola decides not to continue researching a second season.

Scott

I'm happy to shrink the labs if you want to - no strong feelings.

What would be your ideal size for Gregorius' lab? Also, pick a Minor Virtue that could be inherent.

Scott

I think the timing of the barrows exploration is wrong - it should be Winter 1228, not Summer 1226. I've been using stats for Gregorius in the thread based on him having that level of advancement. That would also make Fray's arrival and Tasia's departure occur later.

I think I paid for a size +1 lab in the initial build-points. The stats before it started shrinking were as follows (they're stored on Gregorius' character sheet):

Characteristics
Size: +4
Occupied size: +1
Refinement: 0
Safety: +2 -1 (for occupied size) = +1
General Quality: +2
Aesthetics: -2
Health: -2
Upkeep: 0?
Warping: 0
Terram: +1
Items: +2 -1
Vis Extraction: +2 -1

Virtues
Spacious, mStr. +2 Safety, +1 Aesthetics.
Flawless Equipment, FSu, from Portia's spell. Gregorius is not intending to maintain this rigorously; however, he is also not intending to use the laboratory very often, so hopefully breakages will be slow. +2 GQ, +0? upkeep, +2 vis extraction.
Flawless Tools, FSu as above. +2 Items, +0? Upkeep.
Familiar, mSu. Alcimus isn't actually a familiar yet, and spends minimal time in the lab, but he does need the space left for him. No bonus yet.
Magic Item, FSu, curtain of flame. +1 Aesthetics.
Magic item, FSu. The hypocaust. No impact yet, as Gregorius hasn't got it working.

Flaws
Subterranean, FStr. It's a cave. +1 Upkeep, -1 Health, -1 Aesthetics, +1 Terram.
Empty, FStr. It's a big cave. -1 Aesthetics, -1 Health.
Missing Sanctum Marker, FO. The lab isn't actually Gregorius' sanctum at all - that's his room in the main building. -1 Aesthetics.
Undecorated, mO. Gregorius, spending little time in the lab and in any case viewing it as a temporary set-up only, has not spent much time personalising it. -1 Aesthetics, -1 Upkeep, subtract 1 pt from any speciality with a score of 2 or more.

I'd prefer not to change it beyond what's necessary to deal with the change in size (so remove the Empty flaw, increasing Aesthetics and Health by 1 each). I could change the Spacious minor virtue to allow for the Hypocaust as a minor virtue, although that means ending up with a negative safety.

On a side note, I've noticed that your post for Viola's use of the lab seems to be slightly different - you seem to have lost the "Undecorated" flaw and the missing sanctum marker*, and are also assuming we're actually maintaining the Flawless Equipment/Tools (and therefore getting their upkeep), rather than assuming they're going to vanish after a few seasons lab use as I was doing. I also didn't have Spotless, but looking at the text of the Laboratory of Bonisagus (or Verditius, as Portia was calling it), I should have done.

*Gregorius will object to Viola turning his lab into her sanctum.

The barrow thread can be in Winter, 1228, sure.

As for the lab, I'll make it whatever Size you want, even if that's the original size. I checked the original build points (look in the "Covenant" thread), and we bought five Minor Virtues (10 build points each for a total of 50), but no extra Size (20 build points per Size point). However, we can count extra Size under Hidden Resources--I just don't want to spend points that aren't necessary, and, with Tasia gone, there's no call for both labs to be oversized.

So if you want +4, that's fine; if you'd rather have something smaller (and avoid the extra Upkeep from Empty), that's good, too. One thing I would recommend, though, is that Gregorius move into the Big Lab that was Tasia's, since it's got a Minor Virtue (Magic Item or Lesser Feature + Magic Item) that gives an Ignem bonus I don't see him making much use of. But if he just thinks the hypocaust is cool, and wants it anyway, I'll make the hypocaust lab the big one, and shrink the other one.

With Viola's use of the lab, yes, I missed a couple of things, but they weren't important for the rolls I was making. Yes, we've planned not to maintain the Flawless Equipment and Tools, but this was Spring 1226, and so the bonuses still applied. The sanctum issue is a little touchy, but I'm willing to skate over it, since it's water under the bridge. (Or to put it another way, it involves some [you'll forgive the term] arcane legal issues I'm not eager to explore.)

Speaking of finances...at some point soon, the magi need to work out what those two Secondary Income sources are :slight_smile:.

Scott

Actually, if you're not sure what Size lab Gregorius wants in the long term, it occurs to me that it would be relatively easy just to enlarge the cave later--the covenant does quarry limestone for income, after all.

Scott

The spell should also grant Spotless, which doesn't have to be maintained with Upkeep, and will last until there's an accident.

I assume he's staying in the lab while Gregorius works? If so, you can actually take the Free Flaw Inhabitants. At any rate, since there's no benefit yet, I'm inclined to make this one take no space until Alcimus actually is a Familiar (you can get the extra space needed later through Refinement, enlarging the chamber, or taking a Flaw)--after all, Assistant and Servant are both Free Virtues. If you want to look at it logically (which doesn't always work with the lab rules, since they're more about balance than about realism), you can say that [handwaving]actually incorporating the familiar into the lab work requires his sleeping space to be integrated into the lab itself, or whatnot, and that takes up more room.[/handwaving]

I forgot about that--it needs to be added to build points. Here are the stats:

CrIm 10 (Base 3, +1M Touch, +6 50 uses/day): creates the illusion (sight, sound, and smell) of a sheet of flame; triggered by someone or something passing through the door (there's no need for a InCo trigger or the like, since it triggers for anyone or anything going through).

It's probably safe to assume this is a lesser enchanted device.

You'll want to copy my list of item effects here.

OK, there's another reason I need to redraw the map: I left out living quarters next to the labs. My impression is that having living quarters right next to the lab, so that both are part of the sanctum, is the Hermetic norm. If Gregorius actually wants to live somewhere else, he can, but since he didn't construct the lab himself, I'm going to draw in the living quarters.

Scott

Gregorius has no desire to live in a cave if he doesn't have to - he's staying up in the main building, and only actually using his lab in seasons he's doing lab work (which so far is one in two years). His long term plan is to have a new lab on the surface, (preferably in the level 6 aura now he knows about it), but this will have to wait until he's finished his dash to get Alcimus bound, as he doesn't want to take the two seasons out to set up a lab (plus the builders haven't got to the stage of making them yet).

For the Familiar space question, Alcimus isn't in the lab unless he's actually involved in a project (which so far is never), but I was thinking he'd need the space left so that when he was in the lab I wouldn't suddenly have to start re-arranging the lab to get him to fit. It's worth noting that Gregorius doesn't plan to spend all that much time on his lab - at his stage in life, and given he's not remotely a lab monkey, it's largely more worthwhile spending time on his arts (although I have considered installing a Major Feature/Focus granting a bonus to Familiars).

We've got one lab set up on the surface, Patrick's. It would be just a matter of building a suitable building around it. It would even start out with the Flawless bonus, possibly, since there weren't five members around at the time when Portia performed her Rituals, and so Patrick probably got one of the better sets of furnishings. Of course, that lab is not available until Spring, 1228, and it's probably a bit vole-infested. Gregorius and Viola are going to have to spend some time settings up labs, at any rate, since we're expected to maintain five guest labs, and at the moment we have only three. So if you ultimately want a lab on the surface, I suggest setting it up ASAP, thus freeing up the cave lab for a guest lab.

At any rate, since Patrick won't be leaving until Spring, 1228, Gregorius does need to start out in one of the cave labs: pick the one with the hypocaust or the one without, and tell me what Size you want, and I'll adjust the map accordingly. If you're not going to stay in the lab permanently, I suggest picking no more than you can actually occupy. Knowing what Minor Virtue you want might also help me draw the map correctly.

Once Gregorius sets up/takes over a lab on the surface, it's OK to make it any size he wants (within reason--because of the heating and plumbing systems, we can't change the locations of buildings, which means no moving neighboring ones). I figure since we're building that structure after we get here, it doesn't count against initial build points.

OK, for that, don't worry about taking a Virtue or Flaw--Alcimus is just an occasional visitor. For the cave labs, I'm going to draw in living quarters, and, even if Gregorius doesn't want to live there, it would give Alcimus a place to sleep next to the lab.

Scott

My understanding is that setting up guest labs is currently limited by our rate of building them as well as setting them up. The initial building projects have focussed on making craftsmen buildings, so we haven't got any above ground labs yet, other than Patrick's, which is less of a lab and more of a hovel. (Or did he just go for the wards, in the end, and completely ignore that shack he Rego-ed?, in which case his lab is an admittedly fairly well warded public space?) So there won't be any proper labs on the surface for at least the first two years (and he's planning to use the cave lab to bind Alcimus, as he doesn't want to waste two seasons setting up a new lab).

I'm going to keep the Hypocaust lab - I don't want to change things previously decided without a strong reason to, and I thought Tasia wasn't disappearing for the first couple of years anyway (and even then, possibly not obviously permanently). Make it size +1, please. I recognise it originally ending up as size +4 was unintentional. I'll have a minor virtue of Spacious, on the understanding that this can be swapped out for Familiar the first season Alcimus is in the lab.

The issue with Alcimus is that he won't always be an occasional visitor - when I'm binding him, for example, I'll need the space for him. And I don't want to have to spend a season rearranging/refining the lab so I can get him in. So the space needs to be there from the beginning. Gregorius is already failing massively short on getting to a lab total of ReMe 40 within 3 years (plus a season or so) of the saga starting, and doesn't want to waste any time faffing around on things that don't directly benefit this. (Although this is partially offset by his Driven personality flaw also meaning he's determined to do his bit for the Order and his House). In short, he knows he knows that the longer he leaves the familiar bond, the more Alcimus will age and possibly even die, and is feeling decidedly stressed about it.

For reference, Gregorius' current lab total is Re 8 + Me 6 + Int 1 + MT 4 + Lab GQ bonus + Aura 5 - Creative Block* 3 (?) = 26 - 3 = 23. He's still got a long way to go, and knows it.

*It's not actually explicit in the Rules that Creative Block applies to binding familiars, but I assume it was probably the intent that it do so. I'm assuming that Weak Enchanter doesn't apply, as that's explicitly in relation to magic items, and there's precedent for virtues affecting magic item creation not affecting familiar enchantments (i.e. pretty much every Verditian mystery ever). Plus if it does apply, that effectively makes his goal impossible.

That's true, and we still have to figure out how long it will take to do all of that--I know you did some calculations, and I'll go back through them. However, setting up those guest labs needs to be a priority, that is, something done within the first few years.

The only thing I'm changing is the lab Sizes. :slight_smile: Since all the labs start with a Refinement of 0, Gregorius can move freely from one to another without a penalty. It's entirely possible to say that Gregorius started in the hypocaust lab, then moved next door once Tasia left. Since the original design of the lab (that is, before personalization by the magus himself) occurs outside the game, you can design any one lab to your liking: the hypocaust lab he starts out in, Tasia's lab he takes over, or another one you might pick, for that matter. None of this requires any retconning, except for the Sizes of the labs (that one on the second level is also too big--I forgot about that one). The advantage of taking Tasia's lab would be that you wouldn't need a Minor Flaw (or additional Size) to compensate for the hypocaust.

The thing I'm struggling with, giving that we're starting with a ruined covenant, is what counts against our Build Points and what doesn't. The build rules were clearly written with the idea that everything being purchased would already be in place at the start of the saga (which I personally find a bit odd, since of the three sagas I've played online, two involved setting up new covenants). With vis, for example, we've decided that the sources that had to be purchased were those that could be found easily in the first couple of years (which means, by the way, that the two remaining pawns per year should be found real soon now).

For the six labs that could be furnished immediately, this is simple enough: once Portia cast the ritual in the lab in question, it was just as if the lab had been set up from the start of the saga (that is, there no cost in time, money, or vis, other than vis that had already been allocated for the purpose). We've already paid for one Minor Virtue for each member lab, and so if it's plausible something could be incorporated during setup, that's also fine: Spacious, for example, explicitly works that way, and the running water in Viola's lab could easily be incorporated as a Feature if the lab is installed around it; I'm inclined to say the same about Familiar, since it doesn't really require construction (basically, Alcimus needs a blanket, maybe a couple of pillows, and a water dish). Our five original Minor Virtues for the member labs add up to 50 points, and even that was only approximate. Since we only had three members at the beginning, we can have Gregorius and Viola use 20 each, and Tasia 10. Since the figure was approximate, I'm OK with Gregorius taking both Size +1 (20 points) and a Minor Virtue (10 points), for a total of 30--especially since basically what he's doing is just getting rid of a Minor Flaw. If he wants to use the hypocaust as a Virtue as well, that's also OK, since it's already been paid for as an item.

As for the labs that will be set up later, I'm inclined to say that there's no need to pay for extra Size or inherent Virtues with original Build Points or the Build Points from Hidden Resources, since the magi are building or draining the labs in question, and spending two seasons per lab setting them up.

OK, that makes sense. If what you're concerned about, though, is getting the familiar bond enchanted quickly enough, space for the familiar isn't a factor: a lab already has space for an item that's being echanted, and in this case, the item is Alcimus. You only need space for him once you have to fit both Alcimus and an item into the laboratory. The upshot is, if you're going to pick a Minor Virtue to start out, and you're planning on moving labs after you enchant the bond, pick something that's going to help you enchant the bond.

Given that it's an original enchantment, I'd say it applies, yes--Viola has always used her Inventive Genius bonus for bond enchantments. Mind you, an Items specialization in a lab shouldn't apply to familiars, since familiars is explicitly given as a separate specialization, but Creative Block and Inventive Genius clearly apply to spells as well; what they don't apply to is other lab activities, such as creating spells or items from a text, or investigating items. Thus, for example, an items lab specialization would give bonuses to things that Inventive Genius wouldn't.

OK, so let's see what we can do to compensate. FIrst off, we can maintain the Flawless Equipment and Tools on at least one lab for a couple of years--that's a +2. Next, we put a Servant in the lab--that's a free Virtue, and with three member slots vacant, we have all sorts of extra personnel to go around; that gives a +1 in Me specialization. Putting a ghost in there (Haunted), which is not a stretch given the history of the space, would give a +2 to Me. Get one of the covenfolk to wander around in the lab (Person), and you've got another +1 to Me--and that one you can take more than once, if you're willing to suffer the Safety hit. A Sentient lab would be hilarious, and also gives a +1 to Me; normally you'd want to be really careful of Warping with a familiar enchantment, but in this case, it's just the bond, and you're going to retemper it later. If all of that still isn't enough, Viola might be persuaded to do some Teaching (with her talisman to give a +3 bonus, she can manage a Source Quality of 13) in exchange for having Gregorius set up the remaining labs.

Scott

Servant was something I was thinking about including, although I hadn't thought of stacking it with Person. A sentient lab is probably taking it a bit far, though. Ghost...the ghosts we know about don't seem to be present for most of the month, and I would have thought another ghost turning up would have to be a story event as run and determined by you (i.e. it's not really under my control).

Do you mean Viola teaching Gregorius, or is there something to do with the lab stats I'm missing? In the former case, I don't think there's actually much she can do to help - Gregorius' Rego and Mentem stats already equal or exceed hers, and whilst her Magic Theory is still higher, Gregorius only has another few xp to get to level 5 (which I was mostly planning to do via correspondence/possibly setting up labs), and I'm planning to take a "Familiars" specialisation to get an effective score of 6 (which he needs for the vis usage, due to his Waster of Vis flaw). It's inefficient to try to go higher than that, as it takes considerably fewer xp to advance his Arts.

As a result of how we set up the saga, you, the player, can make design decisions for the lab that wouldn't be in the character's control...though I'm not sure I'd go very far in designing a lab that's not intended to be permanent for Gregorius.

Yes, that's true. In the long run, the bonus to Refinement from Magic Theory is extremely valuable, but that's not going to help Gregorius right now.

So are you still going with the hypocaust lab? In that case, I'll un-big the Big Lab, and call it something else :slight_smile:. Did callen ever post stats for it?

Scott

I'm still going to go with the hypocaust lab. Looking at the stats

I've found the following on the Big Lab's stats:

The lab shouldn't have the basic flaw due to Portia's spell setting everything up, and obviously the familiar effect will vanish when Vrahos does. I also think it should be Flawless Equipment and have Flawless Tools, unless I'm missing something.

I also found this draft of Tasia's advancement - again, it doesn't seem to be finalised, and assumes Tasia's lab needs set-up time:

I think the key point to take from that is it should by now have a Greater Feature: Monolith in it. I'm away from my books right now, but from memory I think that gives a Vim bonus.

I'll clean it up. On my to-do list is creating a thread with a post for each of the vacant labs, including the guest labs. The way he had it statted, he didn't even need the extra Size, initially at least, since there's a Minor Flaw to balance the Minor Virtue Spacious--I suppose we can assume that the Awkward Shape addsd a few nooks and crannies that allow the lab to be spread out a bit more than normal.

The monolith is either Te or Vi, and I'm guessing Tasia picked Te. That Virtue poses a difficulty, since it requires that the lab be larger than Size 0. Three possible solutions:

Four possible solutions:

  1. We say that Tasia added corresponding Flaws.
  2. We say that the lab started out at Size 1, but with no Spacious Virtue, and add one more Minor Flaw, which makes room for the monolith, while upping the initial Build Points from 10 to 20.
  3. We do the same as #2, but say Tasia Refined the lab before leaving installing the monolith (she'd have to put in the monolith herself, as well, but there was no way she could have been spent two seasons setting up a guest lab), eliminating the need for the second Minor Flaw.
  4. We say that Tasia left the covenant before she could put the monolith in place--that would also let the next resident do whatever he or she wants with the lab.

Got a preference?

Wow, the thing about letting the familiar set up a lab makes me a little queasy, though I suppose it's limited by the fact that it doesn't work once the lab has a positive Refinement score.

Well, here's a weird paradox in the labs rules (I found it in the course of trying to figure out VIola's lab): Defective Heating and Defective Lighting reduce Upkeep, as does Lightless, presumably due to the use of less fuel, but Magical Heating and Magical Lighting--which presumably use no fuel at all--don't modify Upkeep. Sigh. Can we house-rule that? Aside from making my logical consistency circuits buzz happily, it would help with our expenses.

Scott

I've revised Viola's lab, paying better attention to both the original description and the rules (most notably, no stuff from separate rooms).

BTW, I'm moving all the labs discussion into this thread, from "OOC Discussion".

Scott

VIOLA’S LAB

(Virtues and Flaws described within the text are labeled in parentheses.)

When the party of magi tasked with establishing Nova Castra arrived at the site of ancient Tanais, Viola immediately noticed a faerie regio on the site of the ruined temple to Poseidon on the north side of the city’s central square. At the mundane level, nothing was left of the temple but an altar within the foundations of the portico, before the entrance; a mosaic-tile basin three feet below ground level of what was once the temple’s main room periodically collects rainwater, from which Rego vis can be distilled. However, those in the party with Second Sight perceived a massive pair of bronze doors (Grand Entrance), doubtless a fae reflection of the doors that had once stood at the temple’s entrance. These doors formed the gateway to the regio.

By making a sacrificial feast of a horse, an animal sacred to Poseidon, Viola lured a number of faeries dressed as Greeks, who claimed to be the god’s children. One of them led her through the bronze doors, now studded with three gems each, into the first level of the regio, where, down a short flight of stairs, the temple was still intact (Regio, but with no Size bonus until the upper level is incorporated into the lab). An open roof (Defective Heating, but with no effect on Upkeep) allowed rain to fall into an ankle-deep pool in the tiled basin, while the walls sported frescoes devoted to Poseidon, and, at the far end, a fountain in the form of a large statue of the god, from whose eyes flowed a waterfall. Disturbingly, the room also featured a half dozen “statues” of people who had been turned to stone. Viola would choose to establish her living quarters here.

Viola’s guide led her through the waterfall to pass down a staircase to an underground floor, lit only by natural light from the open roof up the stairs. Channels down the stairs and along the walls carried water from the fountain above (Greater Focus: Running Water), though a faerie curse had reduced the to a trickle (only a +2 specialization bonus until the curse can be lifted). The room featured stone columns interspersed with an even greater number of stone statues (Greater Feature), as well as a barred door and a large bas-relief of a seated couple, marred by the impression of what appeared to be a giant fist. Behind the door lay a kitchen filled with a large number of sororocidal and cannibalistic blind crones, the Handmaidens of Poseidon, who passed the time cooking one another and fighting over three orbs that served as eyes. These crones proved harmless, except to one another, so long as Viola resisted their importunings to enjoy a little home cooking.

The bas-relief proved to be a regio boundary. Leaving the company of the crones, Viola re-barred the door and followed the guide through the smashed portrait to enter the second regio level, a vast labyrinth formed of stalagmites under a dark, stormy, night sky. Deep in the labyrinth lay a large room full of dozens more “statues”, evidently the lair of the guide’s mother, a Gorgon who had once been the nymph Halia. The labyrinth also encompassed a stone-bricked courtyard centered around a stagnant pool from which rose a moss-covered altar (atop which lay chained yet another stone corpse—this one with an erect phallus); a single cloud in the otherwise clear sky above rained down upon the courtyard, yet not on the pool, and even the water that landed around the pool drained uphill, away from it. Viola reasoned that this pool might provide a source of Perdo vis, but she detected none there at that moment.

In the future, Viola will enchant the temple, granting Magical Heating to the lab, and also making her living quarters more comfortable. Once the curse is lifted, she’ll extend the lab into the upper level of the regio, and it might be possible to train the Handmaidens as a horde, or at least let them out, making them Inhabitants. Depending on how changing Halia’s story changes Halia and the regio, a Natural Environment might exist on the upper regio level, and Halia might become a Greater Guardian, or perhaps simply have her Lair within the lab.

Lab Stats:

Size: 0 (-1)
Refinement: 0
Base Safety: -1
General Quality: +7
Upkeep: +3
Safety: +3
Warping: +1
Health: 0
Aesthetics: +1
Specializations: +4 Items, +3 Teaching, +1 Cr, +3 Mu, +1 Me

Major Virtue: Greater Feature (Petrified Men) (+3 Mu)
Free Virtues: Familiar (+8 General Quality, +3 Safety), Flawless Equipment (+2 General Quality, +2 Upkeep, +2 Vis Extraction), Flawless Tools (+1 Upkeep, +2 Items), Grand Entrance (+2 Aesthetics), Magic Item (Viola’s quill talisman; +3 Teaching), Regio (+1 Warping), Servant (+1 Safety, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Me), Spotless (+1 Health, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Cr).
Free Flaw: Impregnable (–2 Aesthetics)
Minor Flaw: Defective Heating (-1 General Quality, -1 Health, -1 Aesthetics)
Major Flaw: Greater Focus (Running Water) (-2 General Quality, +2 Items)

Lab Enchantments
None

A few comments on the lab:

  • At what point in time do the lab stats apply? She'll need to spend some time installing the Greater Feature (unless you're claiming it in build points?)
  • The Greater Feature should also add +2 to the Aesthetics. Possibly. Admittedly in the case of this particular feature I can see an argument for waiving the bonus...
  • Did Viola get Portia to cast her the better laboratory in the end? I don't remember. In any case I doubt she'd have got her to cast it in the Faerie regio (she's got enough botch dice as it is).
  • If you do have the Flawless Tools/Equipment, are you actually planning to pay the upkeep to maintain them?
  • Do you have a particular statted servant in mind? (Also, I note that this does mean another person has routine access to Viola's regio - which may not be a problem, of course).
  • Impregnable is a minor supernatural flaw, not a free one.
  • A Greater Focus gives four points to be spent on appropriate specialisations, but has to be in relation to an existing Greater Feature - so you could make the Statue a Gregater Focus, but not the Water without first Featuring it. I was going to question the items specialisation, but looking at the book it does seem to be canonical.
  • What's the lab's personality trait from the warping?

Yes, that's her 20 points from the Build Points--everything here is meant to apply immedidately.

Oops missed that--thanks. Disturbing though the statues might be, Aesthetics is mostly about what would impress a Hermetic magus, not so much about what looks pretty. BTW, lifting the curse could conceivably revive these men, though since we're extending the story rather than changing it, that doesn't seem likely. If they were revived, it's not clear whether the men would be human or fae at this point, and if they were human, they would likely die if they left the regio...soooo, either way, Viola would have roommates.

Yes, after we gave her 5 pawns of vis (enough to restore her familiar, plus one extra). That was in one of the threads I read back on, I think "Haunted Covenant".

Aura...um...foo. No one else noticed that before, when we were making the original plans. :stuck_out_tongue: What did she have extra botch dice from? And any recall of what her Golden Cord was like? But yeah, 10 extra dice is a lot. That could be truly spectacular. (Did you know regio botch dice were doubled? I just found that rule. No wonder Hermetic magi are terrified of Faerie regiones.) OTOH, I really don't want to have to spend an extra two seasons setting up that lab...Viola is already spending one season to investigate the hypocaust, a second to investigate the Perdo vis source (which, now that I think about it, might just stick around, if the first part of Halia's story doesn't change), and a third to learn Aegis of the Hearth.

So why don't we try this: let's see if we can trade for a copy of The Ambulatory Laboratory (Covenants pg. 122). Viola can learn it easily, and cast it successfully, though she'll probably take Fatigue. A side benefit is that we could use it to relocate at least a few more labs, after suitable spaces are available; we could set up at least one of them in the central room of each cave level. In the end, we end up actually saving seasons of work, for both Viola and Gregorius.

If we go this route, I think that Viola will use one of the other labs for the time being, and wait to move her equipment until the regio is ready--that could mean instantly gaining one or more additional Virtues that weren't paid for with Build Points, but given that transforming the regio is going to require at least two seasons of work (including the trip and the creation of the new story), that doesn't seem like a problem.

I haven't gotten that far yet, but Magical Heating and Lighting would make them a lot more viable. Faerie Ingredients might also be a possibility. Given Viola's focus on items, keeping just the Flawless tools might also be an option.

I can stat one up. That probably won't happen until after I've finished the Faerie Friend I've needed to stat up for years....Yes, that does mean someone else has access.

That's in the official errata--you'll notice two consecutive sections are labeled "Minor Supernatural Flaws".

Hmm, I didn't read it that way, but it looks like that's how all the example labs in the book are done. That's a hellacious Items bonus. In that case, I'll have to incorporate the "statues" somehow later, or maybe just take them as a Lesser Feature (which would give 30 builds points, the same as for Gregorius' lab). I feel like I ought to have them affect the lab in some way, even initially. Or I guess that's not so much of a problem if she doesn't set up the lab until later (she could incorporate them as a Lesser Feature initially, since the Defective Heating opens up one Virtue point, and then consider making them a Greater Feature after Refinement.

Looking through the examples also brought the Free Virtue Site of Legend to my attention--Halia's level might qualify as that.

I haven't decided on one yet, and in any case it might only be temporary, until new Virtues and Flaws increase the Warping. Got any suggestions?

I'll post a new version below.

Scott

VIOLA’S LAB

(Virtues and Flaws described within the text are labeled in parentheses.)

When the party of magi tasked with establishing Nova Castra arrived at the site of ancient Tanais, Viola immediately noticed a faerie regio on the site of the ruined temple to Poseidon on the north side of the city’s central square. At the mundane level, nothing was left of the temple but an altar within the foundations of the portico, before the entrance; a mosaic-tile basin three feet below ground level of what was once the temple’s main room periodically collects rainwater, from which Rego vis can be distilled. However, those in the party with Second Sight perceived a massive pair of bronze doors (Grand Entrance), doubtless a fae reflection of the doors that had once stood at the temple’s entrance. These doors formed the gateway to the regio.

By making a sacrificial feast of a horse, an animal sacred to Poseidon, Viola lured a number of faeries dressed as Greeks, who claimed to be the god’s children. One of them led her through the bronze doors, now studded with three gems each, into the first level of the regio, where, down a short flight of stairs, the temple was still intact (Regio, but with no Size bonus until the upper level is incorporated into the lab). An open roof (Defective Heating, but with no effect on Upkeep) allowed rain to fall into an ankle-deep pool in a mosaic-tiled basin, while the walls sported frescoes devoted to Poseidon, and, at the far end, a fountain in the form of a large statue of the god, from whose eyes flowed a waterfall. Disturbingly, the room also featured a half dozen “statues” of people who had been turned to stone. Viola would choose to establish her living quarters here.

Viola’s guide led her through the waterfall to pass down a staircase to an underground floor, lit only by natural light from the open roof up the stairs. Channels down the stairs and along the walls carried water from the fountain above (Greater Feature and Greater Focus), though a faerie curse had reduced the flow to a trickle (only a +3 total specialization bonus until the curse can be lifted). The room featured stone columns interspersed with an even greater number of stone statues, as well as a barred door and a large bas-relief of a seated couple, marred by the impression of what appeared to be a giant fist. Behind the door lay a kitchen filled with a large number of sororocidal and cannibalistic blind crones, the Handmaidens of Poseidon, who passed the time cooking one another and fighting over three orbs that served as eyes. These crones proved harmless, except to one another, so long as Viola resisted their importunings to enjoy a little home cooking.

The bas-relief proved to be a regio boundary. Leaving the company of the crones, Viola re-barred the door and followed the guide through the smashed portrait to enter the second regio level, a vast labyrinth formed of stalagmites under a dark, stormy, night sky. Deep in the labyrinth lay a large room full of dozens more “statues”, evidently the lair of the guide’s mother, a Gorgon who had once been the nymph Halia. The labyrinth also encompassed a stone-bricked courtyard centered around a stagnant pool from which rose a moss-covered altar (atop which lay chained yet another stone corpse—this one with an erect phallus); a single cloud in the otherwise clear sky above rained down upon the courtyard, yet not on the pool, and even the water that landed around the pool drained uphill, away from it. Viola reasoned that this pool might provide a source of Perdo vis, but she detected none there at that moment.

In the future, Viola will enchant the temple, granting Magical Heating to the lab, and also making her living quarters more comfortable; she may also provide Magical Lighting. The petrified men could become a Feature. Once the curse is lifted, she’ll extend the lab into the upper level of the regio, and it might be possible to train the Handmaidens as a horde, or at least let them out, making them Inhabitants. Depending on how changing Halia’s story changes Halia and the regio, a Natural Environment might exist on the upper regio level, and Halia might become a Greater Guardian, or perhaps simply have her Lair within the lab. The upper level of the regio would presumably also qualify as a Site of Legend.

Lab Stats:

Size: 0 (-1)
Refinement: 0
Base Safety: -1
General Quality: +7
Upkeep: +3
Safety: +3
Warping: +1
Health: 0
Aesthetics: +3
Specializations: +4 Items, +3 Teaching, +1 Cr, +1 Me

Major Virtue: Greater Feature (Running Water) (+2 Aesthetics , +1 Items)
Free Virtues: Familiar (+8 General Quality, +3 Safety), Flawless Equipment (+2 General Quality, +2 Upkeep, +2 Vis Extraction), Flawless Tools (+1 Upkeep, +2 Items), Grand Entrance (+2 Aesthetics), Magic Item (Viola’s quill talisman; +3 Teaching), Regio (+1 Warping), Servant (+1 Safety, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Me), Spotless (+1 Health, +1 Aesthetics, +1 Cr).
Free Flaw: Impregnable (–2 Aesthetics)
Minor Flaw: Defective Heating (-1 General Quality, -1 Health, -1 Aesthetics)
Major Flaw: Greater Focus (Running Water) (-2 General Quality, +2 Items)

Lab Enchantments
None

One possible result I can think of for the warping score is items tending to turn to stone - not sure how to represent that as a personality trait, though (the canonical example is things in an invisible lab turning invisible, so it seems a semi-reasonable result, if you want to go that way).

Portia didn't have the ritual mastered, so she'd have had 1 basic + 9 extra from the pawns of vis used + 10 extra from the faerie regio - a gold cord I think of 3 = 17 botch dice. That's an absurd number of botch dice.

Bear in mind the Ambulatory Laboratory has had its level increased to 50 in the errata - can Viola still learn that? And if she can, can she then cast it? I suppose technically you could try sponting it, although it would kill her if she botched (and probably seriously hurt even if she doesn't, although I haven't checked the figures). Viola is overconfident, but only as a minor flaw.

I'm not sure about the Site of Legend, at least at the moment. Halia isn't well enough known - if it was Medusa, that would be different. Of course, depending on how widely spread the story becomes, there might be an opportunity here...

I think you're understating your items bonus - it should be +3 for the feature, and +4 for the Focus. not +1 and +2.

Edit: I've now done the maths on the Ambulatory Laboratory. I think the most efficient way to do it is to cast using Ceremonial Magic and Innate Spontaneous Magic (but not Potent Spontaneous Magic, as with art scores under 10 it's more efficient to use the extra fatigue level for LLSM). In that case, her casting total is:

(Re 7 + Te 5 + Sta 2 + Aura 5 + W&G 2 + AL 3 + Phil 2 + die)/2 = (26 + die)/2, so 13 + die/2. Against a target level of 50, that means spending all 5 fatigue levels for a bonus of +25, then taking damage of 12 - die/2. With Viola's Small Frame, that's a Heavy Wound on a die roll less than 6, which would only have a chance to improve once a season, halve your study total and make lab work impossible. Spending vis would reduce the wound (and 3 pawns would mean it would be at worst a medium wound, which still keeps the same penalties but improves on a monthly basis), but increase the chance of a botch.

Probably not worth it? At least without improving her Arts.

Possibly. Once the Halia situation is resolved, the new story might suggest something different.

I don't think the mastery rule on eliminating botch dice is meant to apply to rituals. Yes, I just looked at the discussion from a couple of years ago, but I'm not convinced. I have no idea what someone haasn't errata'ed it to clarify.

I didn't know about that erratum--it must have been added after the initial set that I've already got marked in the book. Even if she could, and even though the erratum doesn't note it, making it level 50 makes it a ritual--and no thanks, Viola has no desire to blow 10 pawns of vis and risk all those botch dice.

And yes, the sponting would be insane--it would never have occurred to me it would be even theoretically possible. :slight_smile:

It looks like Viola will have to just install the lab, which she probably won't do until she deal with Halia first--that way she can add multiple inherent Virtues without extra work.

On the subject of errata...apparently Minor and Major Flaws now give back Build Points, which will affect how we do the labs. That would bring the hypocaust lab down to 20 points, right? It migiht allow Viola to do a litlte more without going over 20 points.

Scott