Hagen Erwinson: "redcap" and Vitki

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

OK, here comes my wannabe Vitki infiltrator. I have made dozens of characters in my life, but 98% of them have been designed as NPCs, so I am somewhat lost for some number crunching and to detect if the character has any blatant weakness. Besides being a vitki infiltrating the Order of Hermes, that is :stuck_out_tongue:

The character so far has Order of Odin 1 lore, so he is NOT knowledgeable enough to know if ther eis an order or not. He is simply following the instructions of his vitki teacher, and going to learn things about "the other magicians". If there is an order of odin or not, is something I will discover once the minisaga begins :slight_smile:

I have not given any magic items to the character, since I don't know if Lauyra wants it to enjoy the full benefits of redcap-dom or he will have to fake the magic items with runic magic and legerdmain.

Finally I dropped Mythic Herbalism because it tied too many XP present and future and most effects can be replicated with Rune Magic. As it is, the character is weak enough. It needs to raise his arts QUICKLY in order to perform, but lacking much access to books and teachers, it might take a while for him to develop good Rune levels. To me, Mythic Herbalism is one of the coolest supernatural abilities to be introduced in ArM (all editions). However, this does not seem to be the most adequate character to have it. :slight_smile: I will have to search for other opportunties to use it. A plain companion with this ability and some other supernatural ability can be on par with other hedge magicians (and even weak magi) by skillful use of the MH potential :slight_smile: Maybe next time.... :wink:

I might try to write his adventures from the point of view of his Bonisagus, his raven companion :stuck_out_tongue:

As said, he is a Vitki treying to infiltrate the OoH pretending to be a redcap (well he actually is a redcap as well). He does not know much about the Order of Odin yet, because his master wants to keep him ignorant for a while (does the order of Odin even exist at all?) just in case he is captured. So far everything has gone well and he has entered the service of house Mercere in the Rhine tribunal. He doesn't know if the redcap that acted as his mentor was also a vitki or just a corrupt mercere that did receive some good money for pretending to have educated him.

Hagen Erwinson, “redcap”

Characteristics: Intelligence +3, Perception +1, Presence 0, Communication +1, Strength +1, Stamina +2, Dexterity +1, Quickness -2
Size: 0
Age: 23
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence Score: 1 (3)

Virtues:
“REDCAP” (free). [in fact, he is a Vitki]
GENTLE GIFT
Inventive Genius (+3 potions, items & spells. +6 if experiment)
Nameless Runes (no penalty to cast without Name)
Secret Runes x2 (no penalty to cast without Description)
Good characteristics
Well Travelled
Half Taltós

Flaws:
DARK SECRET (Vitki)
RESTRICTION (cannot cast if shaved)
Minor Magical deficiency (Cannot use Fehu (F) Rune)
Susceptibility to Infernal power (sta roll = aura or become ill; –1 to rolls)
Magical Animal Companion (Bonisagus, a raven of virtue. Might 13)
Weakness (stories of magi)

Personality Traits: Curious +2, Secretive +1, Loyal -1, Loyal to Vitki +3
Reputations:
Combat:
Not calculated yet (and quite irrelevant, since we use a hombrew system).
He is bad-ish at it (skill 3) UNTIL he uses runes, and then he becomes quite good (ability 7-8 )
Soak: +2, uo to +9 with armour
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties:

Abilities: Animal Handling (horses) 1, Area Lore: Scandinavia (places of power) 1, Area Lore: Rhine Tribunal (politics) 1, Artes Liberales (Logic) 1, Athletics (swim) 1, Awareness (alertness) 1, Brawl (dodge) 1, Charm (warriors) 1, Chirurgy (first aid) 1, Craft: Runes (disguise) 2, Folk Ken (peasants) 2, Guile (pretend ignorance) 1, Legend Lore (Items of virtue) 1, Order of Hermes Lore (Redcaps) 1, Rune Magic (Thurisaz) 4, Premonitions (dangers to self) 1, Ride (long distances) 1, Single Weapon (round shield) 3, Speak Latin (Church) 2, Speak Low German (Saxon) 5, Speak Old Norse (training) 3, Speak Slavonic (Polish) 2, Survival (forest) 1, Theology: Norse (Aesir) 1, Vitkir Lore (personalities) 1

Equipment: Leather armor, axe, round shield. Practical and discrete travel clothes, horse with camping gear
Encumbrance: -1 (3) Reduced to 0 through magic

Runes:
A 2, B 3, G 2, I 3,
J2, K 1, L 7, O 7, P 1
R 3, S 7, Th 2, U2, Y1

Rune Scripts :
All are method I
B15 +5 I, Hagen, bind this wound +9 recovery rolls (wounds)
G15 +4 I, Hagen, talk convincingly +3 to Influence rolls (Trust, new relationship, charm, negotiate)
I10 +5 I, Hagen, invoke the touch of Niffleheim Freeze water. Living beings lose 1 fat level
J5 +4 I, Hagen, bless the fields No natural illness (fields)
K15 +3 I, Hagen, cure this illness +9 recovery rolls (illness)
L10 +9 I, Hagen, summon the gift of Nerthus Summon 10x10x10m of water
R10 +5 I, Hagen endure the challenges +2 Stamina rolls (including runes!!!)
S10 +9 I, Hagen, see through the darkness See in the dark
S15 +9 I, Hagen, summon summer’s brightness i sunlight comes from the target or shines on the target[/i]
U15 +4 I, Hagen, invoke the strength of the Bull –3 Encumbrance

Development ideas include having himself trained in Latin so that he can read, and then milk the libraries of the Rhine covenants for mundane and arcane knowledge. He will develop a series of utility spells and then try to create some items of virtue and raise his runes before getting down to learn more specific spells; casting total remains a problem even if his lab total is quite high (10+aura (3 on average) + rune)

2

I love the idea of the Vitki infiltrator, naming your raven Bonisagus is also quite hilarious.

If you lack Xp you might want to take warrior instead of vision ?

3

Nifty. I note amusedly that he's a Rhine*Hagen.

If it's your intention that he, Hagen Erwinson, invokes the strength of the bull during the two seasons he travels as a Redcap each year, I might suggest you give him some Warping Points to start, one for each year he's been casting it.

Fun character idea. :slight_smile:

4

I had not thought about the Rhine*Hagen :laughing: Maybe I should be renaming the raven "Grimgroth" :stuck_out_tongue:

The warping is a good point. My idea is that he will be riding most of the time, though, so he will be using the Bull rune sparsely. Will give the idea some thought and discuss it with Laura when I present the character to her.

About the XP, the dude sucks big time, but I managed to get something semi-acceptable without stretching it too much. I had to take well travelled in the end, but hey, tough life :slight_smile: The first incantation of (Rhine)Hagen ended up being something like 45 years old! :laughing: The actual result is OK. Now it is time for Laura (the SG) to give him the finishing touches and we are ready to go. :slight_smile: Damn boyfriends that keep your SG out of home when you need one.... :stuck_out_tongue: lol

EDIT: Added the Gentle Gift virtue . Quite an important virtue for this character that I forgot to write down!!! :open_mouth: So far nobody(4 people questioned) has expressed an impression that he has some kind of structural flaw, even if Jordi and Ricard have expressed concern at the choice of spells.

Cheers,
Xavi

5

But how did he become a Redcap? Why don't the House Mercere realize he is an infiltrator?
Was he trained firsts as a Vitkir and subsequently as a Redcap? Then he'd be an adult even before apprenticeship

6

This is why I wanted to pass the gauntlet of Laura before finishing it :slight_smile:

He has been trained by a redcap... that is also a vitki infiltrator :smiling_imp: Nobody said he was the first one. :mrgreen: This was a pre-condition imposed by Laura (the SG for this minisaga), so ask her about it. :stuck_out_tongue: He would haved trained while performing as a redcap.

I changed it slightly so that he would have bought the entry as a redcap (with enough money and a corrupt-enough official, you can pass a lot of analysis and have you inscribed into registers later than you should without much problems) since I think it might fit better, but you never know.... I think she plans to have a whole bunch of vitkir inside the Order already, since she likes BIG WICKED STUFF (tm) and fireworks. I asked her about it, ans she said I did not have to pay for the redcap virtue.

Does this make any sense to you? :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Xavi

7

Well, talked with Laura. Hagen will be a Redcap and have been educated by a Vitki redcap.... aaaaaand the redcaps know that he is a vitki. It is just that they do not tell the other magi.

My first reaction when I heard that was :open_mouth: It seems that he is not the only infiltrator, but that house Mercere is quite full of vitkir. MOPre to come later as the saga unveils. The redcap organizer in the Rhine tribunal is a vitki as well, so ther eis not much problem getting new gentle gifted vitki into the house structure....

Xavi

8

Here comes the last version of Hagen. There are lacking the Redcap items, but he will be starting the saga without them: he will be getting them in the first adventure, once he is "gauntleted" as a redcap. I have no idea what they will be. I changed the spells somewhat. The most important change is the addition of an ice spell instead of one of the health spells (to be studied soon enough). An ice spell is a really handy one, usable to create passage on a body of water (freeze the pool) or break down a stone by putting water into its cracks. :slight_smile:

I also tinkered around with the virtues: he ended up with 3 deft runes... and then I saw that I can have all 24 be "deft runes" using nameless and secret rune virtues. He lost premonitions as well, since I prefer this to be a feature of Bonisagus.

Without further addo, here he comes:

Hagen Erwinson, “redcap”

Characteristics: Intelligence +3, Perception +1, Presence 0, Communication +1, Strength +1, Stamina +2, Dexterity +1, Quickness -2
Size: 0
Age: 23
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence Score: 1 (3)

Virtues:
“REDCAP” (free). [in fact, he is a Vitki]
GENTLE GIFT
Inventive Genius (+3 potions, items & spells. +6 if experiment)
Secret Runes x2 (no penalties to cast without description)
Nameless Runes (no penalties to cast without name)
Good characteristics
Well Travelled
Half Taltós

Flaws:
DARK SECRET (Vitki)
RESTRICTION (cannot cast if shaved)
Minor Magical deficiency (Cannot use Fehu (F) Rune)
Magical Animal Companion (Bonisagus, a raven of virtue. Might 9; stats as per RoP:M)
Weakness (stories about monsters)
Susceptibility to Infernal power (sta roll = aura or become ill; –1 to rolls)

Personality Traits: Curious +2, Secretive +1, Loyal -1, Loyal to Vitki +3
Reputations:
Combat (home-brew system):
Brawl (1): +0 attk, +2 Dam, +3 Soak (dodge, no armor)
Axe (3): +7 attk, +8 Dam, +5 soak (light armour)
Axe & Shield (4): +11 attk, +8 Dam, +8 Soak (light armor)
Axe & Shield (4): +11 attk, +8 Dam, +11 Soak (medium armor)

He is bad-ish at it (skill 4 with specialization) UNTIL he uses runes, and then he becomes quite good (+5 to totals)
Soak: +2, +4 with armour
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties:

Abilities: Animal Handling (horses) 1, Area Lore: Scandinavia (places of power) 1, Area Lore: Rhine Tribunal (politics) 2, Artes Liberales (Logic) 1, Athletics (swim) 1, Awareness (alertness) 1, Brawl (dodge) 1, Charm (warriors) 1, Chirurgy (first aid) 1, Craft: Runes (disguise) 2, Folk Ken (peasants) 2, Guile (pretend ignorance) 1, Legend Lore (Items of virtue) 1, Order of Hermes Lore (Rhine) 1, Order of Odin Lore (personalities) 1, Rune Magic (Thurisaz) 4, Ride (long distances) 1, Single Weapon (round shield) 3, Speak Latin (Church) 2, Speak Low German (Saxon) 5, Speak Old Norse (training) 3, Speak Slavonic (Polish) 2, Survival (forest) 1, Theology: Norse (Aesir) 1

Equipment: Leather armor, axe, round shield. Practical and discrete travel clothes, horse with camping gear
Encumbrance: -1 (3) Reduced to 0 through magic when necessary (not always active to prevent warping)

Runes:
A 2, B 4, G 3, I 3, J 2, K 3, L 5, O 10, R 1, S 5, Th 2, U 2

Rune Scripts :
All rune scripts are method I
I, Hagen Erwinson, bind this wound (B15/+6) +9 recovery rolls (wounds)
I, Hagen Erwinson, talk convincingly (G15/+5) +3 to Influence rolls (Trust, new relationship, charm, negotiate)
I, Hagen Erwinson, invoke de touch of Niffleheim (I5/+5) Freeze water. Living beings lose 1 fat level
I, Hagen Erwinson, bless the herd (J5/+4) No natural illness (animals)
I, Hagen Erwinson, summon the gift of Nerthus (L10/+7) Summon 10 cubic paces of water
I, Hagen Erwinson, sharpen my axe (O25/+12) +5 Init, +5 Attk & +5 Def
I, Hagen Erwinson, see through the darkness (S10/+7) See in the dark
I, Hagen Erwinson, summon summer’s brightness (S15/+7) Direct sunlight emitted from target
I, Hagen Erwinson, invoke the strength of the Bull (U15/+4) –3 Encumbrance

Hagen just finished his apprenticeship under Cuthbert, a Saxon that is a redcap and vitki. He has been trained as a vitki while travelling around with Cuthbert. This has been taxing, but manageable thanks to the help to other vitkir that took on the education fo Hagen during certain periods. He didn't trust them much, but they seemed to have quite amazing teaching skills. he has been told that some vitkir have infiltrated the Order of Hermes, where they tend to pose as unGifted redcaps to observe and listen without being too closely observed. Some of the Vitkir apparently are quite high in the structure of house Mercere, and they can manage to have this work (including aging potions), but it is always risky, so they should be extra careful. Only Gentle Gifted vitkir are inducted into House Mercere, and they remain there only while their cover is effective. If someone starts to suspect them, they leave the order mnever to be seen again.

Hagen is currently travelling to Fengheld to be formally adopted as a full redcap.

Xavi

9

Hi there!

Hagen is in his lab. He has found that he has problems casting spells. His lab total is impressive enough, but when he wants to cast BIG stuff (and that includes a lot of his "need to cast FAST because I am in a tight spot" runes) he tends to become tired. As such, he has decided to invest in some casting trinkets. Being a young vitki, he approaches the Council of Odin (read: the forum) to see if the Elders think his activities are good in acording to the RAW of Valhalla.

The first script he intends to do is a Raido R15 runescript that will give him +3 to his stamina rolls. That includes runecasting, so it should be useful. So far he sees no problem with this.

The second thing he intends to research is an Othila O20 rune script. That will give his carving knife a +4 to any rolls performed with it. That should include carving runes for a +4 to his casting score. His preliminary investigations only gave the following info "bonus equal to magnitude to rolls made by the item". The item must have some significance in it, but that is easy enough to get :slight_smile:

Are those rune scripts seen favourably by Council?

The third and final question he puts forward for the council is if he can cast his O25 (+5 to init, attack and defence) rune on his spear. It was designed with his axe on mind, but he does not know if it can apply to any of his favoured possessions or it is specific for his axe. The, if he loses his axe (breaking, for example) does his rune become useless?

Hagen bows and retires for the Council to deliberate.

Cheers,
Xavi

PS: I edited the first message with the final stats for the starting Hagen. He will be getting quite some more skills soon, since Laura wants him to develop a little bit before "shouting the hunt trumpet" (whatever that means.... but I fear the worse coming from her) :stuck_out_tongue: