Darkwing Character Discussion

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Canaries Are Dying
1

Hey, I actually once managed to charm someone by saying they were fairly witty and kind of pretty. It is unlikely to work but possible, much like most of my Ars character concepts.

I'm currently thinking of:
a Bjornaer with an aquatic form who swims up lochs and major rivers, and is looking to be a mystagogue of Bjornaer abilities;
a Trianoman Bonisagus who's thoroughly offensive to rival magi;
a Merinita who aims to learn wilderness mysteries and hunt for vis in the moorlands of scotland.

What do you reckon would work best?

2

I don't follow the concept. Meaning a Trianoman who goes out hunting rival/non Hermetic magi?
The Bjornaer and Merinita both have possible mentors at the covenant, based on my understanding of Ion and Drystan, respectively. Although, Ion may be less capable of a mentor if she's as she was in Bibracte...

3

This could come in handy, for a couple of reasons. One, IC's vis source is Nessie's eggs, and a Bjornaer who can go diving for them (especially if he's resistant to the cold and knows a variant of Clear Sight of the Naiad) would make it easier to harvest. And I forgot the other – s'what I get for getting up to do other stuff. Plus, if Ion does decide to risk taking an apprentice, between her Choleric temperament and your (probably) Phlegmatic, the apprentice has about a 50% chance of staying in the covenant after the Ritual of Twelve Years.

I'm guessing a Bonisagus who gets all up in the grill of whoever he sees as a rival.

A Vis hunter is also definitely a good idea.

4

The Trianoman concept is quite straightforward, and taken from one interpretation of the founding of the order - Trianoma went around trying to persuade other people that the order of Hermes was brilliant, and that parma magica was really good. She also offered "Join or die" to some people, and assisted Tremere in the pre-emptive strike on the Thessalian witches. Under such a reading, Trianoma comes out as someone who showed off their skill at parma and annoyed the crap out of magi who wouldn't join and then laughed when their magic failed. She'd assassinate people whose magic might actually prove threatening. She's the mean girl trying to get everyone to join hers and Bonisagus club or you'll look like a loser.

The bonisagus I had in mind has taken to heart this interpretation of Trianoma's actions, and wants to run around screaming "Join or die!" and launching pre-emptive strikes against magi (preferably with a Tremere in tow, but other hermetic magi will do). Puissant Parma is obviously a must, and probably some Vim based countermagics.

5

You know what might be an interesting alternative? Playing an Ex Miscellaneous of the Pralix lineage. They have specialties with non Hermetic magi. Same character concept, but taking a House that's heavily involve in that kind of thing. Societates book page: 126

This was actually a concept I was toying with before coming up with my Verditius.

6

Yeah, The pralix lineage might work better than bonisagus. You would be part of house that takes the hedgies: Join and join my HOUSE or die. Intrigue doesn't sound like the forte.

I have a flambeau in my off-line face to face who took mythic blood (shark). She has gills that she can breath water or air. She took lesser immunity: pressure of the depths so she can avoid the pressure side effects (1 fatigue per 20-30 feet depth - stamina) described in Magi of Hermes. She dives for lost/sunken ships off byzantine coast.

A second member of the covenant is Selkie (skin changer into a seal). It can make for good concepts (of course my shark maga is dating selkie skin changer)

7

I have a pretty strong opinion on Trianomae. They aren't the join or die type. They're the join or die later by my brothers and sisters of the Order type. They'll hold their own in a battle, if necessary, but they'll pass your name off to a Flambeau, Tytalus, Tremere or some other martial magus they know. Their primary job in 1220 is to keep tabs on the Bonisagi magi and their research. They're the glue that holds the House together, whether the Bonisagi like to admit that or not. They handle the communications that the House doesn't want to entrust to Redcaps, and they have enough understanding of political and legal systems of the Order to opine. I'd guess this is where the Quaesitores from House Bonisagus really come from. Of course, that's IMO, FWIW.

The Pralician magus sounds like a good fit.

8

Yup, I, too, don't see the trianomae as fighters, more diplomats (even if they can threaten)... Although you could still be the black sheep.

Ars, this is quite similar to the concept I'm settling on... :frowning:

Although, since I'm also going the necromancer way, we can probably be quite different, with similarities :smiley:

But since it looks as if you're doing something else, the point is moot :wink:

9

Pralicians can be incredibly powerful:
Puissant comprehende magic
lvl 4 comprehend magic
Per 5
and you'll never have to bother with intellego again.

10

I would need to bother with Intellego, because without a huge InVi score I'll never be able to open the Hermetic Arts to people with freaky supernatural abilities, which is part of the joy of increasing House Ex Miscellanea's numbers.

11

I've been going through the merinita wilderness mysteries (although apparently a few Bjornaer have them..hmm...could combine Bjornaer and Merinita concepts together...) but the sample initiation given is for the vestals, which doesn't really fit my ideas. Perhaps I should leave off initiation until after the saga starts.

12

We do have a relatively old Merinita and Bjornaer (and a not quite so old Ex Misc weather witch) in the covenant, I'm sure they've both picked up a Mystery or two over the years.

13

To Gauntlet:

Young Ifan was a curious child, prone to staring at things that weren't there...only to him, they were. His father, who owned a shop in Bangor, hoped that the boy's keen eye for the goods being offered might help him run the shop one day, even if he was a strange child. One day, a man and a woman entered the shop. The man stayed silent, but his robes and big jewellery marked him out as wealthy. The old woman with him promptly set about
buying supplies for a long journey they were making. Ifan asked the woman where the old man had bought jewellery that glowed like that. She looked at him strangely, like so many had, but the old man was interested. He introduced himself as the Sorcerer Jenkins, and asked Ifan which of his items glowed the strongest. Ifan pointed at the man's talisman straight away. At this point, Jenkins entered negotiations himself, asking how much to pay the family so that he could hire the boy as an apprentice.
Ifan ended up being trained in the Hermetic Arts, and spent some time in Cad Gaddu. Towards the end of his apprenticeship, his Parens (the mighty Pendragon) took him on a trip to the Scottish highlands in an attempt to bring some Hedge Wizards into the Order of Hermes. Things were going well, when Ifan did his best to arrange a love match between a Gruagachan's son and a hedge witches' daughter. This met with both families' disapproval, but one of them turned violently against Ifan and swore they'd kill him if he came near their lands again.
After his apprenticeship, he took a name from a book he liked by Petronius. He diversified his arts slightly, took a hedgehog as familiar and took up the usual pursuit (for a follower of Pralix) to find hedge magi and study their magic. He was at a loss where to go when his covenant received a letter offering the chance to move to the highlands. Yes, there were plenty of Hedge Magi there, surely the enmity couldn't last this long?

Name: Trimalchio Filius Howell, follower of pralix (Ex Miscellanea)
Characteristics: Int +2 Per +5 Pre +0 Com +1
Str -1 Sta +1 Dex +0 Qik +0

Size: 0

Age: 34

Decrepitude: 0 (0)

Warping Score: 0 (2)

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues:
The Gift(Free)
Hermetic Magus(Free)
Comprehend Magic - ex misc
Minor magical focus(exotic magic) - ex misc
Flawless Magic (Major)
Independent Study (Minor, from HoH:Mysteries)
Affinity for Perdo (Minor)
Improved Characteristics(Minor)
Great Perception x 2 (Minor x 2)
Second Sight(Minor)
Inventive Genius(Minor)

Flaws
Weak Magic Resistance (against non-hermetic magi who I haven't studied using Comprehend Magic) - ex misc
Ambitious(Minor)
Magic Addiction(Major)
Meddler (Major)
Enemies (Major)

Personality Traits: Brave +1, Trusting +1, Meddling +6

Combat:
Dodge: Init 0, Attack N/A, Defense 3, Damage N/A
Punch: Init 0, Attack 2, Defense 2, Damage -1
Kick: Init -1, Attack 2, Defense 1, Damage 2

Soak: +1

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

Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20)

Abilities:
Welsh 5 (poetry)
Comprehend Magic 1 (magical beings)
Artes Liberales 1 (Astronomy)
Athletics 1 (jumping)
Awareness 2 (magic)
Bargain 2 (haggle)
Brawl 2 (Dodge)
Code of Hermes 1 (being an upright citizen)
Concentration 1 (Resisting Addiction)
Folk Ken 2 (farmers)
Guile 2 (elaborate lies)
Intrigue 1 (rumour mongering)
Magic Theory 3 (Perdo)
Latin 4 (Hermetic language)
Order of Hermes 1 Lore (Ex Miscellanea)
Parma Magica 1 ((Mentem)
Penetration 1 (ignem)
Second Sight 2 (invisible things)

Equipment: Plain brown robes (and a magnificent Houppeland packed away for emergencies), large jewellery.

Encumbrance: 0

Sigil: smell of damp wool

Twilight Scars: None

Arts:
Cr 0 In 0 Mu 0 Pe 12 Re 0
An 0 Aq 0 Au 0 Co 0 He 0
Ig 9 Im 1 Me 0 Te 0 Vi 9

Familiar: will be a hedgehog after apprenticeship (taken from list of Perdo animals in realms of power:magic, as Britain only has one species of venomous snake, and I think a basilisk or salamander would be aiming too high)

Spells Known:
Wizard's Icy Grip (PeIg 30),spell mastery multicasting CT 23
Veil of Invisibility (PeIm 20), spell mastery fastcasting CT 15
The Heathen Witch Reborn (PeVi25), spell mastery unravelling CT 23 (spell and spell mastery both from Lineage of Pralix section in Societates)
Quiet the Cursing Tongue (PeVi30), spell mastery and CT as above
Demons Eternal Oblivion (PeVi15), spell mastery multicasting, CT 23

14

Deliberately keeping Int and Concentration low to make sure Magic Addiction remains a serious problem. Independent Study taken because after I exhaust my Ex Misc Traditions tiny stock of books, I'll need to improve Comprehend Magic by practice or adventure, and that'll probably be the way my second sight improves as well.

Enemies can be either Hedge Witches or Gruagachan depending on which will cause better stories and get in the way of me studying exotic magic.

15

A wicked SG would make you roll magic addiction all the time because of your flawless magic (makes all dice stress die) and the RAW for Magic Addiction is "whenever you use a stress die in spell casting[1]."

I noticed something about your spell selection at gauntlet, is that they are combat oriented spells and rather high level. Wizard's Icy Grip will mean you have to beat an ease factor of 15 to control your addiction, with an effective base for your roll of Int 2 + Conc 1 + Spec 1=4, you're effectively making that a spell he knows but can't cast reliably or safely in dangerous situations[2]. I've toyed with a similar combination of Flawless Magic and Magic Addiction in a character for Bibracte, Marcus of Tytalus. He's almost a munchkin character, but as SG for that game I can get away with it a bit. :smiley: He's there for heavy duty firepower.

[1] Which brings up some horrible recent memories of the Rituals and stress die debate in the Ars Magica Forum. This would be an example where RAW is plainly wrong and the term should be when you cast in a stressful situation.
[2] Round 1 cast Wizard's Icy Grip (WIG) and roll an average roll of 5, drop to winded. Round 2 you have to cast another spell of the same level or a Spontaneous spell, expending fatigue, let's say another casting of WIG is called for and you're now dropped to Weary, and have a -1 to all actions. On average, you're still short of the concentration to control your magic (15-3>4+5.5), so you cast again. Round 3, you cast WIG again, drop another fatigue level and you're at -3, Tired. Your Magic addiction roll now looks like so: (15-6>4+5.5-1) Guess what, you fail it again, going on the averages. Round 4, you have to cast again the control is (15-9<4+5.5-3). You finally get it under control, but you also have a decent chance of being at -5 dazed to any and all future actions for some time, or need a couple hour break to recover. I don't think that anyone would begrudge you of increasing int or Concentration a bit to mitigate a very powerful flaw that actually scales based on the magic employed.

16

Minor Magical Focus: exotic magic? I'm having a hard time seeing how this would work, seeing as how Minor Magical Focus doubles the lowest art in a spell. Maybe exotic magic as a field of study he excels in, but that doesn't really seem to apply to the Virtue chosen.

He was apprenticed to Jenkins...who changed his name to Howell, or sold him to Howell, or...?

His parens is "the mighty Pendragon"? Please elaborate.

Yep. Pretty much whenever you cast a spell, you're going to have to roll for Magic Addiction.

17

The minor magical focus of exotic magic- going from Societates p.126 "This focus applies whenever the magus uses Hermetic magic to investigate, change, control or destroy non-Hermetic magic. It only applies to magic, not the innate supernatural powers of creatures with Might, and only applies to powers derived from the magic realm."

Therefore, whenever I cast a (technique)+Vim spell against a non-hermetic magic, I double the lowest. So my PeVi spells will get boosted at the start, later on if I get on friendly terms with a non-hermetic mage I can use it on InVi to investigate, or MuVi to alter.

My Parens is slightly modelled on Howl, from Howl's Moving Castle - to the people of the north, he's the Horrible Howl, to the people of a fishing village he's Sorcerer Jenkins, in the Capital he's the Wizard Pendragon who attends the King. So my parens goes by different pseudonyms in different areas, much like some Jerbiton and Tytali do.

Hmmm...perhaps I should drop Magic Addiction and go with Twilight Prone instead - as I've only got flawless magic and am not intending to have a huge golden cord with my familiar, it's not too bad (unlike if I had flawless magic, cautious sorcerer and everything in golden cord which WOULD be munchkinny).

18

Ah...so the Focus doesn't apply to a spell all the time, like, say, a focus with "Transformation of Others" would, it's more of a conditional thing. Got it.

19

Name: Trimalchio Filius Howell, follower of pralix (Ex Miscellanea)
Characteristics: Int +2 Per +5 Pre +0 Com +1
Str -1 Sta +1 Dex +0 Qik +0

Size: 0

Age: 34

Decrepitude: 0 (0)

Warping Score: 0 (2)

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues:
The Gift(Free)
Hermetic Magus(Free)
Comprehend Magic - ex misc
Minor magical focus(exotic magic) - ex misc
Flawless Magic (Major)
Independent Study (Minor, from HoH:Mysteries)
Affinity for Perdo (Minor)
Improved Characteristics(Minor)
Great Perception x 2 (Minor x 2)
Second Sight(Minor)
Inventive Genius(Minor)

Flaws
Weak Magic Resistance (against non-hermetic magi who I haven't studied using Comprehend Magic) - ex misc
Ambitious(Minor)
[b]Twilight Prone/b (replacing Magic Addiction)
Meddler (Major)
Enemies (Major)

Personality Traits: Brave +1, Trusting +1, Meddling +6

Combat:
Dodge: Init 0, Attack N/A, Defense 3, Damage N/A
Punch: Init 0, Attack 2, Defense 2, Damage -1
Kick: Init -1, Attack 2, Defense 1, Damage 2

Soak: +1

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

Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20)

Abilities:
Welsh 5 (poetry)
Comprehend Magic 1 (magical beings)
Artes Liberales 1 (Astronomy)
Athletics 1 (jumping)
Awareness 2 (magic)
Bargain 2 (haggle)
Brawl 2 (Dodge)
Code of Hermes 1 (being an upright citizen)
Concentration 1 (Resisting Addiction)
Folk Ken 2 (farmers)
Guile 2 (elaborate lies)
Intrigue 1 (rumour mongering)
Magic Theory 3 (Perdo)
Latin 4 (Hermetic language)
Order of Hermes 1 Lore (Ex Miscellanea)
Parma Magica 1 ((Mentem)
Penetration 1 (ignem)
Second Sight 2 (invisible things)

Equipment: Plain brown robes (and a magnificent Houppeland packed away for emergencies), large jewellery.

Encumbrance: 0

Sigil: smell of damp wool

Twilight Scars: None

Arts:
Cr 0 In 0 Mu 0 Pe 11 Re 0
An 0 Aq 0 Au 0 Co 0 He 0
Ig 9 Im 1 Me 0 Te 0 Vi 9
(NB 44xp in Pe with affinity to bring to 66 makes Pe 11, not 12...I made a mistake on the maths first time round)
Familiar: will be a hedgehog after apprenticeship (taken from list of Perdo animals in realms of power:magic, as Britain only has one species of venomous snake, and I think a basilisk or salamander would be aiming too high)

Spells Known:
Wizard's Icy Grip (PeIg 30),spell mastery multicasting CT 22
Veil of Invisibility (PeIm 20), spell mastery fastcasting CT 14
The Heathen Witch Reborn (PeVi25), spell mastery unravelling CT 22 (spell and spell mastery both from Lineage of Pralix section in Societates)
Quiet the Cursing Tongue (PeVi30), spell mastery and CT as above
Demons Eternal Oblivion (PeVi15), spell mastery multicasting, CT 22

Revised to change major hermetic flaw and to correct perdo and casting totals. I'll do the aging past gauntlet in the morning, then assign build points.

20

Glad to see a Pralican magus, I really liked this tradition.