Here there be grogs

As promised, here is our autocrat/steward! :smiley:

Raoudha Al'Jinmi, Autocrat
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +1, Pre +2, Com +1, Str -1, Sta 0, Dex 0, Qik 0
Size: 0
Age: 39 (39), Height: 169 cm, Weight: 60 kg, Gender: Female
Hair: Dark. Eyes: Brown
Religion: Muslim
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Virtues and Flaws: Gentlewoman, Educated (50/50), Intuition / Compassionate
Personality Traits: Brave +2, Cheerful +2, Just +1, Loyal +1
Combat:
Dodge: Init: +0, Attack --, Defense +0, Damage --
Fist: Init: +0, Attack +0, Defense +0, Damage -1
Kick: Init: -1, Attack +0, Defense -1, Damage +2
Soak: 0
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20)
Abilities: Arabic 5 (poetry), Area Lore: Hiberia 3, Area Lore: Cijara Area 5, Artes Liberales 1 (arithmetic), Athletics 1 (grace), Bargain 4 (household purchases), Charm 2 (courtly love), Civil and Canon Law 3 (Hiberian Laws), Covenant Lore: Phoenix 4 (politics), Etiquette 2 (nobility), Folk Ken 2 (nobles), Guile 1 (Non-interference with the mundanes), Intrigue 3 (alliances), Islamic Law 2 (Propriety Laws), Latin 4 (academic usage), Leadership 4 (inspiration), Occitan 4 (Catalan), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (personalities), Ride 1 (with grace), Steward 6 (Manor)
Equipment: Fine clothing
Encumbrance: 0 (0)

The Al'Jimni family is a minor noble family, to whom the Cijara castle once belonged. When her father was killed by crusaders, her mother, to survive, made a bargain with Tyrion Lannister. As a result, the magi gained the land and an administrator, and the Al'Jimni family gained a haven against both the reconquista and the occasionnal noble who'd have liked to prey on a lonely widow.
As a result, Raoudha received the education that the hazards of war would have denied her otherwise, her mother grooming her to become the future autocrat of the covenant. She soon became a valuable asset, as her uncanny intuition allowed her to make the right choice when none seemed evident, thus helping out her mother a great deal.
At 39 of age, she is barely starting to age, but is still a beautiful, and was courted by many men. Sadly, her husband died at Las Navas de Tolosa, leaving her alone.
Despite her Islamic background, she is (mostly) accepted by the various factions, in no small part due to her cheerful composure and the kindness she shows everyone, be it christian, jew or muslim: Whatever the person, Raoudha doesn't make any difference, and helps everyone to the best of her ability. Maybe more than her competence, this is what make her the right steward for Phoenix.

She's a Grog, I take it? (as opposed to Companion?)

And is there a difference between "Steward" and "Autocrat" (even one who's only occasionally an autocrat)? And I'm confused as to what you mean by "occasional autocrat".

Also: nice touch putting her picture on a lozenge. Kinda makes up for the "Per chervron vert and vert, a snowflake azure" that made the herald in me go twitchtwitch :laughing:

Yes, a grog. It's enough. In fact, a lot of character concepts can be stripped down to grog level, which is a nice thing IMO.

Ah, I knew there was a difference but was unable to (quickly) find it. Can you give me a page référence so that I may make corrections? I thought steward = manages the covenant on behalf of someone while autocrat = rules the covenant on his own, but wasn't sure at all.

Tbh, I've never seen the word "autocrat" used outside of the SCA to refer to anyone who wasn't an absolute monarch or a dictator. Whereas a steward manages someone's property or finances (or some part) for them...this is what I think the better term to be for someone who manages the covenant for the magi.

Then again, that might just be my opinion :laughing:

Fine, since she's got Prof: Steward :smiley:

Thanks!

I didn't want to make any more characters just yet, I really didn't. But this one just got me in a rear naked choke and wouldn't let go until I tapped. So, here she is.

[size=150]Maria[/size]
Age: 39
Height: 5'9” (176 cm)
Weight: 169 lbs (77 kg)
Hair: Black, with streaks of grey
Eyes: Brown
Handedness: Ambidextrous*

Characteristics**: Int 0, Per +1(1), Pre 0, Com 0, Str +1(1), Sta +2(1), Dex +1, Qui +1

Virtues: Covenfolk i[/i], Enduring Constitution, Tough, Warrior
Flaws: Missing eye, Pessimistic, Social Handicap (sees the work of the Infernal in everything)

Abilities: Area Lore - Burgos 1 (military people), Area Lore - Riversedge 3 (strategic points), Athletics 2 i[/i], Awareness 3 (sentry duty, Bows 3 i[/i], Brawl 4 i[/i], English 4 i[/i], Folk Ken 3 i[/i], Leadership 6 i[/i], Profession – Sergeant 3 (leading attacks), Ride 2 i[/i], Single Weapon 7 i[/i], Spanish 5 (native)i[/i], Teaching 5 (single weapon).

Personality Traits: Brave +2, Pessimistic +2
Equipment: Full leather scale armor (Soak: +10), Peasant clothes, Knife, Arrows, Bow (Short), Shield (Heater), Sword (Short)

Encumbrance: 3
Burden: 4

[table][tr][td][u]Weapon/Attack[/u][/td]
[td][u]Init[/u][/td]
[td][u]Atk[/u][/td]
[td][u]Dfn[/u][/td]
[td][u]Dmg[/u][/td]
[td][u]Load[/u][/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Dodge[/td]
[td]+0[/td]
[td]--[/td]
[td]+5[/td]
[td]--[/td]
[td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Fist[/td]
[td]+0[/td]
[td]+4[/td]
[td]+5[/td]
[td]+1[/td]
[td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Kick[/td]
[td]-1[/td]
[td]+4[/td]
[td]+4[/td]
[td]+4[/td]
[td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Knife[/td]
[td]+0[/td]
[td]+6[/td]
[td]+6[/td]
[td]+3[/td]
[td]0[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Short sword[/td]
[td]+0[/td]
[td]+11[/td]
[td]+10[/td]
[td]+6[/td]
[td]1[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Short bow[/td]
[td]-2[/td]
[td]+5[/td]
[td]+5[/td]
[td]+7[/td]
[td]2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shield, heater[/td]
[td]0[/td]
[td]0[/td]
[td]+3[/td]
[td][/td]
[td]2[/td][/tr][/table]

Description: Maria is a rather tall, stout (she prefers the term “brawny”) Spanish woman with black hair streaked with grey and dark brown eyes. She is almost always seen fully armed and armoured, but can on occasion be caught wearing light frilly clothing that reminds her of the home she had left behind when she went to England as a girl.

Personality: Maria was one of the casualties of Riversedge's first Infernal Incident in 1191, when she was a raw woman-at-arms of 17. The incident left its mark on her, both physically and emotionally. One of the imps clawed her eye out before it was destroyed. And she's been more dour ever since. While she's not really paranoid, she has been very quick to see the hand of the Devil himself in practically everything around her. Sunny day? The Devil is making us feel lackadaisical, so that we don't truly be prepared for his next attack upon our bodies and souls. Rainy day? The Devil's doing, so that we can grumble against the blessings of the Lord God. Et cetera. Some say that it was a miracle indeed that she ever married and had children; Maria would say that it was an infernal scheme to make her less vigilant, but since she's a lowly sinner she didn't mind as much as she should. Her husband died a year or two ago, and both of her children are married now, so she's found herself growing homesick for the land where she was born. When Cygna announced that she would be soon moving to Iberia, Maria told her that, as neither Cygna, Terrance, nor Celestria spoke Spanish, that she would need someone to travel with her who did. Maria has not yet told Cygna that she plans on staying in Castile...and after seeing the derelict guard duty that the locals were pulling at the docks, she's decided that they need someone like her to whip them into shape.

  • I actually cast lots to determine a character's handedness, a d20 and a d6. If the d20 is higher, the character's right-handed; if the d6 is higher, left. On a tie, the character is ambidextrous. For Maria, both dice came up 4, and I was rather surprised to find nothing in the rules about handedness (since several games I've had actually make ambidexterity an Advantage).

** The number in parentheses after the Characteristic value is the Aging Points that Characteristic has so far (Maria's made four Aging Rolls, and three have come up “One aging point in any Characteristic”).

I just noticed that Raoudha is a grog, but you've set up her background as a native of Cijara. I assumed she was a newcomer, arriving with Hiems. I've designed the setting assuming there was no functional leadership for Cijara beyond the vineyard manager.

Given Ravenscroft's interest in enforcing Gift reactions, I've been planning a fair number of grog-stories about the settling in process, which were centered around this assumption.

So, it seems like the options are:

  1. Keep her as written, and scrap the various stories/plots about re-establishing the Strong Community boon.
  2. Make her much younger (and less competent as a steward), and have her "naturally emerge" as the new steward (scraping some intended plots but keeping others)
  3. Keep her stats, but have her arrive with Hiems, so I can keep the setting and plots as I've written them out so far.

This becomes a choice about the number and type of concurrent threads for each season/chapter. With option 1, there will only be storylines about managing the residents when magi choose to pursue those plot threads. With option 2, the 1st season will include an extra (concurrent) thread about settling in to the town and appointing Raoudha as steward, and afterward magi, companions or grogs may choose to start threads/plots about settling in to town. With option 3, every season will include a thread about life in the covenant.

To be clear, not every player would be expected to contribute to these grog-threads, as they are meant to serve the wide range of posting-frequency preferences we have in this group.

I vote for this. Easier for you.
And it's easy to alter her background so that she was away and was recalled when her mother died. She can very well be known to the people here, but have been away, say, the last 5-10 years. The worst years, when the divide grew.

Anyway, nohing changes people's reaction to the gift (and with such an affluence of magi, prevailing loyalty sure will take a drop!!!), nor does any steward changes the conflicted nature of the covenfolk :smiley:
So you don't need to worry very much IMHO :wink:

Here are Augustus and Brigitte. Yes, Brigitte is being groomed to be a turb/leader, eventually. Please keep in mind when RPing them they are 15 and 13, respectively. Old enough by the Medieval paradigm, but most people should be looking down on them as "those meddlesome kids". Both were found and adopted by Molly in an abandoned orphanage on the verge of freezing to death in York, England. Brigitte is obviously Spanish, and speaks Catalan that she learned from her parents, but doesn't remember her parents at all.

Augustus, Shield Grog in Training

Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Str +2, Sta +1, Pre -2, Com +1, Dex +2, Qik +1
Size: 0
Age: 15
Decrepitude: 0 [0]
Warping Score: 0 [0]
Personality Traits: Brave +1, Lazy +1, Loyal +2, Reckless +3, Subtle -2

Virtues: Covenfolk[0], Apt Student[1], Warrior[1]
Flaws: Ability Block: Academic[+1], Reckless[+1]

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: Light 1-5(-1); Medium 6-10(-3); Heavy 11-15(-5); Incap 16-20, Death 21+

Abilities: Athletics 1[Running], Awareness 2[Alertness], Bows 3[Short Bows], Brawl 2[Gauntlet], Charm 1[Being Witty], Chirurgy 1[Binding Wounds], Etiquette 1[Magi], Folk Ken 1[Peasants], Great Weapon 2[Warhammer], Guile 1[Elaborate Lies], Hunt 3[Tracking], Language: English 5[Insults], Language: French 3[Martial Terms], Single Weapon 3[Axe], Stealth 3[Wilderness], Survival 2[Wilderness], Thrown Weapon 1[Javelin]

Equipment: Axe, Javelin(s), Warhammer, Shortbow and Quiver, Round Shield, Partial Leather Scale, Firebuilding Kit, Bedroll
Encumbrance: 12 (If carrying EVERYTHING - he usually brings either the Warhammer OR Axe and Shield combo, not both)

Brigitte, Shield Grog Leader in Training

Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Str +1, Sta +1, Pre +1, Com +1, Dex +1, Qik 0
Size: 0
Age: 13
Decrepitude: 0 [0]
Warping Score: 0 [0]
Personality Traits: Brave +3, Cheerful +3, Loyal +2, Organized +2,

Virtues: Custos(Academic)[1], Arcane Lore[1], Warrior[1]
Flaws: Carefree[+1}, Motion Sickness[+1], Offensive to Animals[+1]

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: Light 1-5(-1); Medium 6-10(-3); Heavy 11-15(-5); Incap 16-20, Death 21+

Abilities: Artes Liberales 1[Literacy], Athletics 1[Climbing], Awareness 2[Searching], Bows 3[Short bow], Brawl 1[Dagger], Charm 2[Flirting], Code of Hermes 1[Mundane Relations], Etiquette 1[Magi], Folk Ken 1[Magi], Great Weapon 2[Pole Axe], Hunt 2[Covering Tracks], Language, Native: Catalan 5[Expressive Terms], Language: English 2[Insults], Language: French 3[Martial Terms], Language: Latin 3[Martial Terms], Leadership 2[Inspiration], Lore: Dominion 1[Creatures], Lore: Faerie 2[Traps], Lore: Infernal 1[Undead], Lore: Magic 2[Creatures], Lore: Order of Hermes 1[Mundane Interactions], Magic Theory 1[Lab Assistance], Stealth 1[Hide]

Equipment: Daggers x3, Pole Axe, Short Bow, Partial Leather Scale, Firebuilding Kit, Bedroll, Bag of Cold Iron Nails, Cross, Pouch of Sea Salt,
Encumbrance: 7

I will not be able to post them onto the wiki until tomorrow.

Gerard will absolutely LOVE them.
Show them the life, train them, be a big brother figure... :smiley:

Augustus needs a Brave rating. Maybe even just give him Brave +0 ?

Can anyone with Magic Theory assist in a lab? Cuz, if so, we need to start a cult, er I mean, school.

That's my understanding. And smarter than the average bear, that always helps. That's one of the cornerstones of Claudia's character concept, and I'm pretty sure that's the way it was decided to go.

Of course, if the magus isn't Gentle Gifted, they're going to have to extend their Parma over the lab assistant to keep them from..oh, I don't know, sabotaging the work because the magus will use it to take over the world or something.

Huh - I read too much into Reckless. Adding a Brave +1. :slight_smile:

Oh, if you intended to substitute Reckless for Brave, go ahead.

That's an excellent question, and I'm really not sure the gift ain't required, with Failed apprentice being an exception. But I can't tell (serf's parma)
Otherwise, there'd be little incentive for magi to assist each other. Just for a bunch of mundane helpers.

If no one has the books, I'd suggest asking on the boards.

Core rulebook, p. 103 (left column, ¶ 2) says, "Anyone who has The Gift and a score of at least one in Magic Theory may help you to perform any activity that uses your Magic Theory."

So, yes, it seems that you do need The Gift to be a lab assistant, and that the Failed Apprentice Virtue is a specific exception.

I ran out of Arcane Lores to choose from, guys. Somebody suggest me something to replace Magic Theory with. :slight_smile: :stuck_out_tongue:

For which character?

And, well, Magic Lore! We could have an expert in magical beasties.

Well, since Brigitte is the one who has "Magic Theory 1[Lab Assistance]", I'm assuming that it would be here.

Also, taking another look, it seems that Brigitte can't technically take Magic Theory anyway. When she took Custos, she took the ability to take Academic Abilities at creation; Magic Theory is an Arcane Ability, as are Dominion Lore, Code of Hermes, Faerie Lore, Infernal Lore, and Magic Lore; the only Academic Abilities it seems she has are Artes Liberales and Latin (which she can take by taking the Custos Virtue regardless). At least according to her Wiki character sheet (and the sheets on the Wiki, I'd be inclined to treat as "official" anyway). She can learn Magic Theory in-game if she wants, as far as I know.

Would you want to take her subcategory as Arcane instead of Academic for her Custos Virtue instead, and move the five points elsewhere, or leave it at Academic and redistribute those points? Or is there another option I'm not seeing?

And then train him as a Magic Animal Tamer!