I am looking at making a making a failed apprentice ghost character that is bound to the magical or faerie regio of the covenant.
I’m trying to wrap my head around ghost creation, power levels and might score.
Any advice or ideas is appreciated
Welcome to the forums!
First, do you have access to the core rulebook only? Or do you have access to the supplements?
If you have access to Realms of Power: Magic, there is a chapter that talks about spirits and ghosts. Beware, the book is complex, and not entirely necessary. The Broken Covenant of Calebais also has a neat section on ghosts that might prove useful.
If you have access to the corebook only, I'd suggest the following:
- For Might, consider what type of threat you want this creature to pose to magi. A might 50 creature will only be affected by spells cast by the strongest archmagi. A Might 20 creature might pose some challenge to starting magi. Depending on what you want of this ghost your best move might be to take the Ghostly Warder from the corebook and tweak things to suit your story and intent.
- About powers, this is entirely dependant on the kind of trouble you want this apprentice to cause, but it should be somewhat related to the creature and it's origin. For example, the apprentice of a flambeau might be capable of casting Pilum of Fire as a power. The apprentice of a Guernicus might have Frosty Breath of Spoken Lie with cost zero (so a mundane can never lie to this ghost). I'd suggest, however, that every ghost have a version of Kinesis (see the Ghostly Warder in the corebook), maybe spending a different amount of points (stronger ghosts spend less points).
- Otherwise, create the ghost as you would create any other character, taking in consideration the stories it will generate. An apprentice to an abusive Tytalus which had "tormenting master" story flaw when alive could be thethered to undeath due to unfinished business with his master, for example.
- It's relatively easy to destroy a ghost using PeVi spells. A ghost that can be simply destroyed won't generate stories. So, think about why it's hard to destroy this one, or why it would be a bad move. Maybe it works as a guide to the regio and is just annoying, but not harmful, so it's best to let it be? Maybe it never appears to magi, only to covenfolk? This will depend on how you want it to be used in the stories.
If you post a bit more about how do you want to use this ghost and what resources do you have available I can give you a better answer, but I hope this is somewhat useful. =]
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I have access to most books.
I mainly had issues with how to figure out the power level(experience points) for the ghost companion. I’m also not understanding how it gains experience(I know it’s limited).
I was originally going to make a faerie ghost because the magical aura has a faerie regio in it.
Why wouldn’t someone destroy or harm the ghost? This is the hard part, the older magi have an infinity for it? He is to useful as an assistant and warden?
I’d think that his unfinished business is to complete his gauntlet and open his arts? He always has a question able experiment going which is how he failed his apprenticeship and eventually became a spirit.
I’d like the powers to include the ability to gain human form, beyond that I’m not sure. There is one that allows you to grant pusance to an ability and one that can increase a magic aura.
I’d probably take anchored to the tower of magi, and bound to the magic regio.
Has anyone ever made a ghost that is both magic and fearie?
RaW nothing can have Might affiliated to two realms or Might affiliated to one realm and powers linked to another. A being can switch realms. This includes The Gift being that that is magic-aligned. As always, YSMV.
If a PC, there is a table in RoP:M on p34 where on the top it is what character-type they are (grog/comp/magi) vs. the relative power level of the game and this shows an array of recommended might scores. If an NPC this table can be used to give guidelines to relative power level they should have. They should probably be a Spring Character with maybe a couple “Improved Abilities” Qualities.
Virtue or quality they will want if you want their goals to be attainable: The Gift. In which case they should be a magus-level character.
All magic spirits have Magical Air which I don’t believe they receive points for, I forget if this would mean a gifted ghost is necessarily Blatantly Gifted.
Towards the start of Spirit section of RoP:M has some powers specifically useful to spirits and the “become a solid human” one is Donning the Corporeal Veil
Yeah, I think the concept is that he is doomed to repeat the mistakes that stole his gift and the determination to reverse its loss. So he is a great help to magus in the laboratory and an asset for various library or teaching activities but he occasionally blows himself up?
After an errata I view as unfortunate that is no longer possible with the Failed Apprentice virtue. Again, YSMV.
Where do I find the errata? I’m not sure it willl be an issue but I’ll have to see
Thanks, I think the limitations on assistants in labs and a reasonable limit on the quality of my help could make it acceptable. But that’s for linking it.
On the other hand as a spirit there are certain mysteries which would allow him to be a familiar...
a key question here is whether he is magic or faerie- if faerie then part of his story is that he does fail, he would be incapable of regaining his Gift (though somehow a faerie homunculus can grant the Gift, as can faerie rites associated with Odin- the rules seem inconsistent on this point), but failure would also be part of his story, while a purely magic spirit would be genuinely trying to pass on and would leave vis behind if they were able to succeed.
Granting the Gift and having the gift are very different things. G*d is the ultimate granter of the gift normally if you agree with that sort of cosmology being literally true as the game seems to intend.
Yes- the fearie spirit it would be his story is one of hubris and failure but he’s useful to magi.
As a magic spirit he never gets it right and does not pass on.
I have to admit, that I am worried he will just be captured and controlled instead of in molested and just be a part of the story. But, you could say that of almost any player’s companion? It’s just that this one is seen as potentially a familiar or bound spirit.
He can only be bound as a Familiar if he agrees to it. Nothing says he has to agree.
If he's Faerie, and no player is Merinita, then none can bind him.
If he's Magic, they still need to join the right Mystery Cult, get initiated to the right Virtue, and then convince him to become a Familiar.
Is it? I mean, imagine a stray dog in your neighborhood. It's not hurting anyone. Sometimes it barks at night, but otherwise it's bothering no one. Why would anyone go out of their way to drive it away? At most a kind soul could try to give it a home (and even then, maybe the dog will flee).
The ghost is just there, bothering no one, so it doesn't make sense to destroy it. It will provide vis only if his unfinished business is dealt with, and even then, it's probably just a small amount. Is it worth the time of the magi?
A few might try to bind it as a familiar or request its assistance, but the ghost will agree or deny as he sees fit.
Another few can use ReVi or ReMe spells to compel the ghost to do something, but is this a problem? Anymore then using ReMe on the local noble?
If I'm understanding correctly this ghost would be a player's companion? TBH, depending on the situation I'd pick the easy way out: design the ghost just as I would design a regular companion, make it progress using the standard rules (it can be taught, learn through adventure, etc) but it has a few compulsory virtues and flaws. For example, Death Prophecy seems ok for a character that can't realy die unless a particular conundrum about his existence is solved. Magic Might 10 has roughly the same effect of having a relic. Prohibition could work if it's a faerie ghost and there is some kind of rule it can't break (eg. can't enter a building uninvited). It should have a major personality trait related to his unfinished business.
A few tweaks wold be required, but it should work, mostly.
You can go the hard way and use the rules from RoP: M to build the ghost.
Regarding advancement: subtract his Might from any advancement totals. It's just that.You can offset this penalty with Vis, but I always think this would easily become an endless sink (can't really tell, never used these rules). It would be easier to make a weak ghost (I don't see a reason for the ghost of a failed apprentice to have might higher than 5 or 10 anyway).
I do not know why I tried to make it more complex than this lol. Such a levelheaded approach.
The ghost is just an interesting vehicle to have a lab assistant/scholar companion that has a couple minor abilities to help around and to defend the covenant. No reason to reinvent the wheel
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Yes, but it's relative. Consider, for example, that Magic Characters often advance by gaining virtues. A minor virtue giving 50 xp or a new power is only worth 10 xp. So you can use those rules and not necessarily make it that much an xp sink because you don't need the character to advance every season to keep up.
Not worried about an exp sink, but a vis sink. For creatures with mighty might (sorry for the lousy pun) it may be too costly for regular advancement.
But it's true that a virtue is usually worth more than 10xp and you don't need to advance the character every season. Thanks for pointing it out, I hadn't thought of that.
I don't think I'd allow one to buy the xp giving virtues, though. Matter of personal choice.
There is a quality that gives 50xp, Improved Abilities, and it is meant to be taken for advancement and not merely to spruce up your initial character. But getting it requires xp earned either in the normal way, which usually requires vis to offset the penalty, or eat a large chunk (equal to your current might score) of vis at once and roll kinda like studying from vis for magi. See the section of the Magic Characters chapter about Transformation.
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Yeah, that's it. While educated seems off, considering it's a typical quality, it seems fair game.
I mean it kind of depends on the creature. I would totally give The Wise Old Owl of the Forest the Arcane Lore virtue via the Minor Virtue quality and might give it the Educated virtue as well if it had a backstory of hanging with a learned hermit or something because I'd need to open up Arcane and, maybe, Academic Abilities. In play that's less necessary since those abilities aren't locked behind virtue paywalls. But choosing those in play aren't strange either since when you go for Transformation you may approach and learn from another creature who already has the quality you are seeking so a Young Owl of the Forest might approach the Wise Owl of the Forest and ask to be taught its "wisdom," in other words how to manifest the Minor Virtue (Arcane Lore) quality.
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