Basically, i'm pretty new to the game ( and the community in general, so sorry if i post this somewhere wrong or if im asking something too simple).
I am planning to start a saga with some friends of mine ( none of which have played ars magica before) and one of them wanted to play a faerie instead of a magus, and since i have read some of the books ( including the faerie realms book) I wanted to let him play a faerie instead of a magus.
The problem here is that i have no idea what he would do instead of laboratory work ( while other people are doing laboratory work),so my question is, is there something faerie characters can do instead of laboratory work that is at least a bit similar? Thanks in advance!
(1) Get your player's Faerie the Virtues Highly Cognizant and Pretentious (RoP:F p.52 and p.64).
(2) Have that Faerie make it(?)self useful and provide momentous personal experiences (RoP:F p.63) to other PCs and NPCs at the covenant, thereby harvesting vitality, increasing Pretenses and changing their glamour.
Thus the Faerie can develop and become the single most entertaining and/or obnoxious member of the covenant.
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Yes that is helpful, thanks. But do you think the player would be without much to do while others do Laboratory work? Should I just assign labwork as if it were homework to my friends and let him not do it, or is there something I could ask him to do while other people think about the spells they want to create and stuff like that? I guess my question is more about how can i entertain the player and less about how the Character can grow, Thanks for the advice anyway.
Wouldn't that depend on his role in the covenant? From Autocrat over Châtelaine and Master of the Hunt to Toll Collector from under the bridge everything is possible for Faeries - but not for every Faerie.
Hmmm yes that actually seems good, maybe finding something the character he wants to play would have to do between seasons ( and if he has nothing to do ill just think about something to bestow upon his character). Thanks!
keep in mind that faeries gain experience from their role in other people's activities, not their own activities. A faerie librarian will gain experience from the magi reading books, for example, or an autocrat can gain experience by sending grogs out on adventures...
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Many characters can be involved in "seasonal activities", even though very few if any reach the same complexity of the lab activities of hermetic magi. Some of these character roles are particularly well-suited to faeries, both because of their inclinations of "entangling" humans into stories, and because of their specific mechanics. I'll try to list a few.
First of all, there are a lot of alternative mystical (magical, divine, faerie, infernal) traditions with their own "lab activities", from Folk Witches to Sahirs, from Mobeds to Gruagach, and I could just go on and on. This is too complex a tapestry to even start considering in a single post.
Second, artists. Ars and Academe has a section on artists, and their pursuit of artistic creations (and patrons). Many patrons are also artists themselves and/or muses to artists. This is a perfect role for a faerie. Individual artists can be grogs, and although the artistic pursuits of each tend to be simpler than those of a magus, managing a whole "flock" of them is just as complex and rewarding. Faeries are drawn to the vitality of such roles, and their supernatural powers can aid artists -- and artists can aid faeries by "reshaping" them as needed.
Third, Academics & Philosophers. Again, Ars and Academe has some really interesting sections of what you can do in terms of a) experimental philosophy (which is a bit like hermetic labwork, but non-magical) and b) teaching, debating and spreading philosophical ideas. Again, a faerie at the centre of such a school would have a great time, and the fact that it can have a few abilities at ... supernatural scores at character creation (or re-creation once a faerie changes its role) can really allow one to excel at the role.
Fourth, Craftsmen. City and Guild has interesting "quasi-labwork" activities for experienced craftsmen ... and again faeries can excel at those and/or at leading/teaching to others.
Fifth, Clergy. It would be unusual, but not at all "wrong"; to have a Faerie who attempts to manipulate church doctrine and/or climb the Church ranks through the mechanics in The Church, as well as the Intrigue rules in HoH:TL and HOH:S. Lots of "seasonal" activities there.
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As a note, arts and acadame does not have rules and suggests that payers should not be allowed to be muses. I disagree but the absence of rules is annoying- and whether this requires a virtue or quality, plus whether this varies by realm (only magic and faerie would be relevant to player characters)
That's a bit weird if that's in there. There's a literal virtue under House Jerbiton for playing a Muse.
Which hasn't much to do with A&A p.129 box Muses.
The house Jerbiton virtue is for mundane characters who inspire others, not for entities with might acting as supernatural muses.
I got ninja'd
Fair, I just went to read it actually, I haven't really gotten a reason to use the legendary artists in my game thus far.
I was indeed slightly ambivalent with my use of the word "muse", meaning "someone or something that inspires an artist". But note that my post is basically correct not only interpreting muse in a generic sense, but also a) as someone with the Muse Virtue from HoH:S and b) a Muse as a supernatural entity tied to an artist as per A&A:
Let me add that both RoP:M and RoP:F do have rules to approximately replicate what NPC muses do according to A&A (in a nutshell "invest" Might to grant the artist a virtue or a power), even if the mechanics are slightly different from those of A&A.