groups of 3 is more about keeping things manageable for me than how seasons are used.
Are you including the gathering of 12 years in your plans? This is one season every 12 years, but it would be critical for an Ileftu to attend. Additionally there are going to be some expectations of you providing guidance, teaching, and initiation to younger members of your clan given your extraordinary development as a mystagogue...
these initiations are fine, but you need to look at your time usage since you cannot exclusively improve your heartbeast while ignoring your house.
I forgot about it - but 1178 was when he was gauntleted, 1202 hasn't happened yet - I will add that to 1190.
How much time should I account for being expected to teach?
If a period of general advancement includes the Gathering, do I need to take a season out for that? Similarly with teaching, can that be included as part of general advancement time or needs to be separated out?
General advancement seems to assume 3 seasons per year of study with 1 of "other" that is mandatory unless you are very focused on lab activities...given the behavior of the math. If you spend at least 1 year in 3 following the typical study schedule then you don't need to account specifically for your activities during the off season- similarly with the Gathering if you are studying that year do not worry about it but if not then that season you cannot initiate or do lab activities.
If you are constantly initiating then take one season out every three years for clan obligations.
Got it. My advancement is caught up, I'm not doing initiations constantly, there are plenty of general advancement periods that can work clan obligations. I will be interspersing years of heartbeast improvement with years of advancement - well over half will be normal advancement.
For 1190, summer is in the middle of a 3-season general advancement period (which by the math I think still includes the "other" season) - but just FYI, when I checked in the book for the gathering, it says 1227/1239/1251, so if we go backwards I think it's actually 1203/1191/1179. (and still fine with general advancement in those years.)
yes, it was 1179 and 1191, will be 1203, then 1215, then 1227
also keep in mind at this point you are 15 years out of gauntlet and have not improved any arts or developed any new spells.
Well, I will be focusing on Arts in this last section of time.
Are those three approved?
The next will be +1 Size EF 27; +1 Stam: EF 18; +1 Stam: EF 21
the last three and these three are all approved.
Next three are +1 Stam EF 24, +1 Str EF 18, +1 Str EF 21
I'm going to limit the growth of house bjorner lore at this point to a maximum level of 10+2- sources for learning this ability will be drying up given how intensely you have been studying it, it is rarely written about and you would have to find a teacher with a higher ability to raise it further with any kind of ease.
In that case I need to modify what I submitted before, EF 24 for stats and 27 for size won't be doable.
disregarding the previous 6, the next three will be
+1 Stam: EF 18; +1 Stam: EF 21; +1 Str EF 18
Is the cap specific to skills that don't have summa available and therefore need a teacher?
Are there books for Parma Magica? I thought that might be part of the reasoning behind the coded books.
It has more to do with the lack of prevalence of tractatus, since summae are assumed to top out at 8 even where available.
Oh right, I meant to say tractatus.
I need a slight recap because things changed with the skill cap.
You approved: +1 Size: EF 18; +1 Size: EF 21; +1 Size: EF 24
The others you approved don't work mechanically anymore, so now I'm asking for the next three to be:
+1 Stam: EF 18; +1 Stam: EF 21; +1 Str EF 18
those are fine
How do you feel about Dex and Qik?
And since I will end up getting further in the Arts than I had planned; for adding powers, they need to be dragon-themed as well, right? How broadly do you interpret that theme? (Not sure if that will come up in chargen or not until after the game starts.)
I think at this point the real question is what kind of dragon this is shaping up to be- the origin (crocodile and eagle) suggest an Egyptian dragon, but the infusion of bear and would lend it more of a Nordic nature... in any case it's fundamental seems to be heavily related to sea serpents as well as European dragons... obviously a breath weapon of some sort (probably fire or steam, but other possibilities exist) would fit. Despite its origins water breathing would not fit since that does not connect to any of the heart beasts it came from, though other water based powers or storm creation would fit.
I've been picturing fairly classic European dragon. It hadn't occurred to me that there were Egyptian dragons, but looking them up, they all seem snake-based and some are sea-serpent-like.
So you are ok with a hybrid theme between northern germanic style dragon and something sea-serpent-like?
that should work
Next three will be: +1 Str EF 21; +1 Dex EF 18; +1 Dex EF 21
and when are you going to be improving arts or inventing spells- this is at this point an 18 year obsessive quest to gain a dragon heartbeast and doing nothing that does not advance that goal beyond minimum requirements for your house...