The big challenge for a wandering magus is learning spells (and to a lesser extent enchanting items). You need a lab for those and it is hard to travel with one. Though you could always say that he rented a lab at a covenant whenever he needed one, although that would become more difficult as the malady became more prevalent.
Restriction could be that he needs to be walking to cast spells. It is an easy Concentration roll (Ease factor 3), but there are still uncommon situations when he wouldn't be able to do it. It also means that any item you enchant would only work if its user is walking.
The big question is why he would join a covenant now and "settle down", when his tradition and curse is to wander from one place to another?
Not unless anythng prevents my mage from simply walking in a circle
The idea is that the constraint will be moot most of the time, but that there are many situations where this will result in more than merely five minutes of daily walk :
-While exploring a remote place, the land may not allow to move so fast (e.g. walking through a field), or may cause great exertion/danger (in a forest or a mountain), or not at all (e.g. boating in a swamp)
-If the magus is sick, he may have to wait it out rather than magically heal himself.
-If he is restrained, for instance because he has been kidnapped, or another magus sent, he may be without magic until he solves his problems.
Compared to the restrictions suggested in the core book (e.g : not casting spells at birds, or having to have a beard), this seems in line, and happens much more frequently. It also gives the storyguide more ways to surprise me than restrictions which may seem stronger, such as not casting spells in forests.
I thought about making the restriction longer, and it strikes me that this would be more of an annoyance to the magus without really opening more story potential. If an enemy magus learns about this flaw and decides to attack Atlas at dawn, five minutes or an hour will probably not make much of a difference. If Atlas is in a situation where he can't easily walk, a thousand steps will be enough of a hassle. On the other hand, having a much longer duration would make the flaw a daily hindrance without much of a story about it. It would also make the flaw impossible to hide, which is also a problem in itself.
Wouldn't that be a necessary condition instead ? I understand that Necessary condition is a major flaw too, but I would rather have a restriction.
He would probably often be away. But in a time where wandering magi are suspicious and may be vectors of disease, it's good to have allies.
One observation I'll make is that this restriction is one that can be taken care of first thing in the morning, and then it's no restriction for the rest of the day. In many ways it's just like a slightly extended raising of Parma. If you need to have a beard, someone could shave your beard at any time. Likewise, if you need to touch the ground you could be deprived of that condition at any time. But with your condition, once you walk those steps, you're good for the day. Does that really seem enough of a restriction to warrant a major flaw?
On the other hand, if the condition is that you must not have a beard (as exemplified in the rules), you pretty much only have to shave every morning in order to avoid the bad effects. Certainly, a beard may be magically grown on the magus' chin, but the process of learning his secret, and then attacking him with the magic necessary to grow that beard doesn't seem much more likely than being attacked by highwaymen at dawn, or being sick and unable to walk.
Importing a statement from another topic to comment...
In my case, I took it for my character because the HR on build points and the limit it imposes on how much can be converted into vis were very restrictive for a Verditius. It would have imposed too much of a limit on what items he'd have been able to enchant himself (as opposed to purchased using BP) before the saga starts. Between a longevity ritual, a familiar, a talisman and various enchanted items, he's spent over 80 pawns so far in 21 years. Without a vis source, that would have been impossible. But a good Verditius needs items!
I went with 3 pawns per year for a Form source during post-Gauntlet character development, just to be on the safe side.
Sorry, walking 5000 steps is not an uncommon condition satisfactory to be a restriction, IMO. With a name like Atlas, feet touching the earth seems much more appropriate. In this instance touching the earth can be satisfied by being on top of dirt or rock. Even going so far as to carry that dirt or rock onto a ship to maintain that touch...
And the no beard example, IMO, is a really poor example, IMO, too. What constitutes a beard? Is stubble enough? Does that mean that shaving is sufficient? What if he has a Fu-Machnu mustache that bleeds into the beard space?
The limits on vis are purely from the build point pool. Perhaps we can discuss a modification of the build point restrictions and vis, but the idea was to make the first LR a bit weaker, needing to come back for a second, more potent one, if desired. I'll also point out that lab activity can be undertaken to distill vis from the aura (assume aura 3) and, as Vim is always in demand, can be traded on a one for one basis for any project.
If I said elsewhere that a certain number of pawns of personal vis source can be used in advancement prior to the saga commencing, I don't recall that. More recently, I did say that the personal vis source was going to start at the commencement of the saga. Did I contradict myself?
I have Bartholomeus developping the following effect as a lesser enchantment along the way. I submitted to the board at large to refine it, but I'd like a ruling on it for this saga. If I need to add magnitudes to it, I can simply make it into a charged item.
This would bypass Magic Resistance since it is aimed. Of course, a magus with the appropriate spells can avoid falling into the pit or escape from burial once the fog transforms back. It is still quite useful against many enemies.
Do I need to add magnitudes for "fancy effect" or for the Herbam requisite?
Actually, you stated that vis sources only started at the beginning of the saga. This was said in the context of vis sources purchased with build points, so it appeared as though personal vis sources were not included in that statement.
Why penalize the Personal Vis Source virtue that way? After all, an Affinity will provide its bonus during all of the years of character development.
For a Verditius, the limit on vis is almost crippling. Extracting vis is a very poor way of obtaining it for a Verditius, who is already spending a lot of seasons enchanting items (and thus not gaining xp).
I recognize it's one in the book. Doesn't mean it's still a good example, though. The same book is completely contradictory about vis used in spell casting, hence the need for house rules to clarify.
I suppose I can see your implication regarding the context. I was thinking all vis sources would commence at the start of the saga. Otherwise it becomes yet another thing for me to track.
How many years are you advancing? How do you intend to use the proposed 3 pawns per year of vis to meet your needs, in addition to the amounts you can convert from BPs to cover your needs for enchanting? As of now I see 14 years of advancement, netting 42 pawns of vis. It looks like you have used, as of year 14, 8+6+2=16 pawns of vis for items. 8 pawns of vis for a familiar and 36 pawns of vis for the longevity ritual. Umm, you're not even using the vis for your stated purpose...
I'm almost done with the next 7 years (though I've put it on hold now), during which I use 25 more pawns to enchant items. So far, I've priorized the usage of the vis from his Personal Vis Source rather than converting from BP.
Sure, I used some of the vis from his personal source for him to purchase a better longevity ritual right off the bat. Seemed like the most efficient way to spend vis. Those seasons were also planned (March 3rd and March 6th) before you mentioned anything about vis sources (March 7th), even if it had been clear that this included personal sources.
It's not surprising that the first years use less vis. Any magus spends far more time studying than creating in those first years. Things accelerate after that. I figured I'd keep most of the BP for later, as it was easier to convert those as needed instead of letting Personal Vis Source accumulate.
The point of limiting the available vis was to make players make difficult choices about the allocation of vis during development. Adding a personal vis source was an end run around that. I realize I didn't speak up when it was asked what a personal vis source provided. I was still recovering.
Some? No, you used nearly all of the vis to buy a longevity ritual, 36 pawns out of 42 pawns. Yes, you have left-over vis, but that's not really relevant.
Those seasons were planned without a clear consensus to the troupe on how much vis a personal vis source was going to grant during development. I think it's pretty obvious that I wanted to make vis scarce during development.
So fine, I'm now in the position of ruling on Personal vis sources.
Personal vis sources (virtue) used during development grant 3 pawns per year, but are done at the commencement of play, having been exhausted, or are impracticable to relocate with the magus, based on their nature.
Since Bartholomeus was into his 11th year post-Gauntlet when he purchased a longevity ritual, he could have used 25 pawns from BP to pay for most of the longevity ritual. I used vis from his Personal Vis Source only because it was simpler to track.
(shrug) Seems like you want to punish me for making an assumption that personal vis source could be used during character development and for arguing that it seemed reasonable. (shrug again) I understand that you weren't available to answer questions because you were sick. I think I was using a fairly conservative assumption about the amount of vis the personal source was producing. Doesn't matter. I'm moving forward! 8)
How can a Verditius enchant anything under the current rules governing the availability of vis during character development? At the moment with my (partially posted) plans of advancement for the first 21 years, I was spending 35 pawns to enchant items and 8 to bind a familiar. I was trying to do it realistically by spreading this along the years as needs arose. Since your ruling means that the first 10 years of vis-convertible BP (25 pawns) will go to the longevity ritual, there isn't any way for a Verditius to enchant much of anything. I could simply go unrealistic and purchase those enchantments with BPs, but I would have rather have him craft them himself. In the end, I would have a more powerful character with less realistic advancement.
Suggestion: If the goal was to limit the strength of the longvity rituals, there were far better ways to do this. Simply stating that the availability of LR specialists were thus that only more senior magi have access to them (a matter of prestige) would do the job just as well. Just state that you can only purchase a magnitude of LR less or equal to your Hermetic age (and must still pay the vis), but that you can still craft your own if you want (based on your lab total at the time). That would solve the problem of young magi purchasing super-high LR right off the bat, without crippling a concept that requires raw vis for other purposes.
In light of this, can I revisit my character build again? I have Personal Vis Source. I stopped at age 48, because I wanted to have a child, so before I needed a Longevity ritual. Alas, when I constructed the character I had in mind (foolishly) that the plague was starting and there was disquieting information, not that the Order was collapsing - I really need a revision.
My proposed changes are:
add about 7 years of development:
Gain a strong longevity ritual (paid with extra vis I got)
Change my Enemies story flaw to Dependent - my child is about four years old. (The first season after Birth is lost)
This is also up to you, if this is available at all: Purchase a stat gain. There's really no reason that other people couldn't have developed Perception of the Heroes (CrMe 60, from HoH:TL p. 103 ), or a level 50 version that can get people to a +3. I'd like to increase my Perception stat. I figured that paying twice the vis cost of the ritual, the caster would be OK with performing it for a stranger. I'm not exactly sure how the vis budget works out, I'm just asking if this is possible.
Nothing is set in stone with respect to characters until the saga starts, and even then, I'm more than amenable to change things that make no sense. And my ruling on Personal Vis Source stands. If you use it during advancement, it's 3 pawns, and it's expired at saga start. If you want it at saga start, you don't use it during advancement.
So, the fee to do the ritual is 24 pawns, and you still have to supply 12 pawns of vis for the ritual itself, for a total of 36 pawns of vis per casting, which is inline with the costs of a verditius making an item. Granted, it's not seasons of effort like a Verditius, but it is extremely risky. Consider that in this saga, rituals are always risky, and this ritual has 13 botch dice. It's nearly trivial to drop 3 botch dice for a familiar. Likewise another 1 for mastery, which makes it 9 botch dice. Getting below 6 botch dice is going to be the challenge. True, more mastery and Cautious Sorcerer and a better familiar Golden Cord can further reduce these, but let me point out that such a person is rare, exceedingly specialized, and is capable of charging whatever price he wants, basically recouping all of his investment in strengthening his familiar bond, studying the mastery ability to the exclusion of other things and perhaps acquiring or already having Cautious Sorcerer.
As you say, there's really no reason someone couldn't have invented the spell. Indeed individuals are more than welcome to invent the spell themselves and cast it upon themselves, taking on all the risk personally. Doing so, they even knock 5 levels off the level of the spell, reducing risk of botching just a bit...
