Fiona ex Miscellanea

Went in and rejiggered Fiona's planner a couple of weeks ago when I realized that, with her training Sheelagh and having fewer seasons dedicated to Princeps duty, I had to resolve some conflicts.

Got all the conflicts squared away, and found that Fiona actually had time to work on her laboratory (part of her rather full "to do" list"). She spent the season increasing Refinement from 0 to +1. She added an Antechamber in Autumn of 1224, which adds +1 to Aesthetics and (choice) +1 to Experimentation.

I had thought about removing the Undecorated Flaw, but decided to keep it because it's fitting with her Secretive flaw.

Her Int + Magic Theory roll is Int 1 + Magic Theory 6 + (die roll of 1 and Exploder Die of 3) 6 = 13. Good enough to add Highly Organized.

Just wanted to get it in writing somewhere.

Hmm, is Antechamber a lab Virtue? I'm not finding it. :confused:

It's a type of Lab Feature, page 120.

bah, I went to look there, saw "Altar", and halted.
I is smrat.

This is as much for my reference as anything else (although I should probably put this on the wiki, too), but here's a list of what I'm calling "Fiona's Harem": people that Fiona turns to for satisfaction when she feels the need. They should be reasonably attractive and (if male) fairly well-equipped. Not mandatory, but they help.

  • Korvin of Mercere: a magus, and thus a peer of Fiona's, and one she doesn't have to worry about extending Parma over. Skilled, caring, and comfortable (even if she does have to be a little more aggressive with him than she's used to :wink: ) As often as not, her go-to booty call.
  • Sobran the vintner. Common interests (alcohol), and able to keep up with her between the sheets.
  • André the guard. One of the grogs who joined Fiona and Alips in the summer of 1225.
  • Edward le Grand. Large, strong, capable of swinging the hammer for hours on end. Doesn't speak much French...but then again, he doesn't have to :wink:.
  • Melisent is one of the seamstresses who works for Rashid the weaver.

As always, comments welcome. Especially if one of those doesn't work, or you have any changes or other ideas for who she might hook up with.

You could consider Gaston Lainnier as well. And perhaps Edward le Grand.

I thought about Gaston, but Fiona wasn't that impressed with his "hit-it-and-quit-it" when she first tried her disguise. If he's willing to go for a nigh-nine-foot tall good-looking redhead who would extend her Parma over him for the duration, and if he doesn't disappoint, we can add him to the...roster, I guess?

Edward I can replace Bernard with.

So. Doing some paperwork, finalize Fiona's plans for the next year or so (after Tribunal), and I think I've come up with a suitable low-level MuCo for her.

Bestow the Liver of Iron (MuCo 10)
[tab][/tab]R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual
This spell makes the target temporarily immune to the effects of alcohol. Note that this immunity only lasts as long as the spell does; once the spell expires, the alcohol's effects will hit her like an avalanche. This spell includes a +1 Size Modifier, to affect anyone up to Size +4.
(Base 2, "Change someone to give them a minor ability, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +1 Size Modifier)

Oh, and as a total aside: with all of her ahem extra-curriculars the last couple of years, does Fiona have a "Reputation" as far as her character sheet's concerned? Or even otherwise?

Approachable +6?

hehe. Works for me.

So, I'm thinking that once Fiona finds out that Gaston's married, she's going to be oO. But when she finds out who he's married to, she's going to be "Hmmm," and then start flirting with and working on Eloise. (I just think it would be funny if they were both cheating on each other with her...and with her Secretive nature, it should be quite discrete.)

Interesting :smiley:
I had Eloise pictured as someone who likes playing all the randy guys off against one another. I don't know whether she actually goes through with any cheating ... and certainly a giant female suitor(ess) might throw off her game....

I doubt Fiona would be all "Oh, come on, baby, you know you want to try it," considering it's not exactly in vogue in period. But she would be flirting, maybe just planting the seed, with the implicit "I'm available if you want to try." And she would find the irony delicious.

I have a couple of questions regarding an idea or two I have for a future lab project for Fiona.

  • The main rulebook (p. 98, first column) says that "you always have an Arcane Connection to your talisman". Does that mean that she will always be able to cast a spell with Range: Arcane Connection on her talisman, regardless of where in the world it is?

  • There doesn't seem to be a ReHe guideline that allows you to teleport wood. However, ReCo has a guideline to ward against humans which is the same level as warding against mundane plant products (Level 15). The level for ReCo to "transport the target instantly to a place to which you have an Arcane Connection" is Level 35. Would it be reasonable (or better, correct) to assume that it would be the same base level to do the same with wood or other plant product? Or would it be lower?

  • If the base level is 35, that gives me a spell allowing Fiona to instantly teleport her talisman to her, with a Base 35, R: Arcane Connection +4, D: Momentary, T: Individual, for a final spell level of 55 (yikes!). That means that it must, by definition, be a Ritual spell (since formulaic spells may not have a level greater than 50, ref: main rulebook p. 114, third column, third bullet point under "Ritual Spells.") Correct? (That would mean that Fiona is incapable of casting the spell.)

This is the exact problem I saw, and I believe I asked about it here too.

1st: Yes.

2nd: I've seen consistency with inert items getting ported at the same level as Corpus throughout the different material on Ars 5, so I would assume that the Talisman would be ported at the base for transporting a human.

3rd: This was the same obstacle I came to also. It's a darned high level spell to transport something to you, rather than you to it. An option would be to make an item that can teleport it to you, because then while the effect is 55+, it is only a Ritual because of its level, so it can be reproduced in an item.

The only other thing I could see would be some kind of discovery, a new affect like the Verditius Enchanted Casting Tools, which allows you to summon and dismiss the tools.

Yep.

Ugh. That seems really high to me, but there's a spell in Covenants that teleports a book, and it uses the ReCo guidelines, so I guess you're stuck with that being the base level.

That is also correct.
As a work-around you can build the effect into the Talisman itself instead. An InMe at R:Arc to listen for a particular set of keywords (say, any two-word command where the first word is 'Talisman'), and a ReHe with a linked trigger to teleport the staff to you. Invested device effects can have effects that are above L50, as long as the level is the only reason the corresponding spell would be a ritual. (This also has the advantage that you can set the effect to expire in 7 or 70 years, figuring your Arts would be better by then, and get a huge boost to your Lab Total.)

There was a discussion a few months back about different ways to do this.

https://forum.atlas-games.com/t/talisman-come-to-me/7388/1

Nice. I hadn't considered the CrIm or ReVi triggering routes. And it would only be a level 35 effect, because you don't add the +4 for Arcane Connection range -- look at "Leap of Homecoming".
EDIT: MoH guidelines apparently say level 25, but I don't have MoH.

So, she would actually have to [strike]invent two spells[/strike] invent a spell and invest an effect in the Talisman, rather than invent an uncastable spell.

The effect would be a Level 35 Rego Herbam (base 35, R: Personal, D: Momentary, T: Individual), to teleport the talisman to her hands. Although, apparently, Magi of Hermes has a Rego Terram guideline to "transport a target instantly to a place to which you have an Arcane Connection" which is Level 25. Which I prefer to level 35, personally. Although I kind of like the idea of having it only being usable by her (to keep someone from grabbing her talisman and sending it to Mount Doom), making it a 38.

The spell would be, say, a Creo Imaginem, base 1, R: Arcane Connection (+4), D: Momentary, T: Individual, for a final spell level of 5. Although it also occurs to me that it could be Rego Imaginem, base 15, R: Personal, D: Momentary, T: Individual, for a Spell Level of 15.

Installing the effect in her Talisman looks like it will take two seasons: Lab Total of Int 1 + Magic Theory 6 + Rego 10 + Herbam 10 + Inventive Genius 3 + Paul 4 + Sheelagh's Int 2 + Sheelagh's MT 3 + Sheelagh's Inventive Genius 3 + Rego Aura 10 + Lab General Quality 2 + Lab Specialty (Enchanting Items) 1 + Lab Specialty (Rego) 1 + Lab Specialty (Herbam) 1 +5 Talisman goodness = 62. She could have it usable 24 times a day (+5), or 6 (+3) if we go the only unable by her route, and not have it take any longer. Or, she could Experiment (gaining another +1 Lab Bonus), and have it done in one season, with it being usable once a day, barring a really crappy roll on the Extraordinary Results table. (And, frankly, if her Talisman is getting swiped more often than that, she deserves to not have one anymore. :laughing: )

Her Lab Total for the Imaginem effect is Int 1 + Magic Theory 6 + Creo 6 + Imaginem 5 + Inventive Genius 3 + Paul 4 + Sheelagh's Int 2 + Sheelagh's MT 3 + Sheelagh's Inventive Genius 3 + Aura 5 + Lab General Quality 2 = 40, vs. a CrIm target of 5. Or, if it's Rego, her LT would be 50, vs. a ReIm target of 15. Either one would probably entail her coming up with another low-level Imaginem spell to invent.

Numbers are all based on her and Sheelagh's current scores, and this is at least a year and a half off anyway.

But does this sound about right?

You forgot a shape/material bonus. Wood gives "+4 to affect dead wood", which would apply.