Khufu Al Alqazar

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: A Sudden Spring
1

Characteristics:

Int 0 Per 1
Pre 0 Com 1
Str 1 Sta 2
Dex 2 Quick 1

Virtues
ways of the land
clear thinker
warrior
unaffected byt the Gift
improved characteristics
intuition
Almogaten
well traveled

Flaws
enemies
greedy
missing ear
nocturnal
visions
uncertain faith

Abilities

Arabic Commerce 5 0
Animal Handling Camels 2 15
Area Lore: North Africa Ruins 3 30
Area Lore: Egypt Ruins 3 30
Athletics Running 2 15
Awareness Alertness 4 50
Bargain Hard Sell 3 35
Brawl Dodging 3 30
Carouse Gambling 2 15
Charm Guards 2 15
Etiquette Leaders 1 5
Folk Ken Customers 3 30
Guile Lying Abt Travels 1 5
Intrigue Gossip 1 5
Leadership Organizing Attack 3 30
Living Language (Tamazight Berber) Commerce 4 50
Profession: Seeker Locations 3 30
Ride Camels 4 50
Single Weapon Long sword 4 50
Stealth Open Desert 3 35
Survival Finding Water 4 50
Swim Freestyle 1 5
Thrown Weapon Sling 2 15
2

An active and ambitious member of the Al-Majalibeen, The Seekers' Guild, Khufu Al Alqazar carries on the tradition of his forefathers: the exploration and occasional recovery of ancient treasure and artifacts. Born and raised in and around Cairo, Khufu has grown up around the Guild, gaining skills and contacts to support his ambitions.

Khufu's father and grandfather became increasingly disillusioned with the prospects of finding great secrets and treasures in the core tombs of Egypt and guided Khufu's early training toward searching further west into the Maghreb. Khufu learned languages, desert survival skills, and combat skills.

Now at nearly 30 years old, Khufu seeks to make connections with the "right" people to further his goals as a Seeker.

I assume this is a character who will find a way in the future to associate with the covenant.

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3

Here's my first pass at Virtues, Flaws, and Characteristics. (@temprobe Your input would be most welcome in particular though I am open to anyone with great ideas and input.) The general idea here is an Egyptian Tomb Raider. Kind of a native non-scholar Indiana Jones type... Sort of. :slight_smile:

Virtues Level Type Points
Ways of the Land (Desert) Major General 3
Luck Minor General 1
Warrior Minor General 1
Unaffected by the Gift Minor General 1
Improved Characteristics Minor General 1
Intuition Minor General 1
Mercenary Captain Minor General 1
Well-Traveled Minor General 1
Total 10
Flaws
Enemies Major Story 3
Greedy Major Personality 3
Missing Ear Minor General 1
Nocturnal Minor Personality 1
Visions Minor Supernatural 1
Uncertain Faith Minor General 1
Total 10
Characteristics Final Score
Intelligence 0
Perception 1
Strength 1
Stamina 2
Presence 0
Communication 1
Dexterity 2
Quickness 1
4

Almogaten might fit better than mercenary captain, but that is a minor quibble.

5

That's a good call out @silveroak I am thinking he would have a crew of some kind but didn't see much in detail in the Nile book on how the Seekers operationalize what they do. Seemed appropriate for Khufu to have lead a group and mercenary captain seemed in the ballpark.

Where is Almogaten written up?

6

I recommend this handy tool: https://www.atlas-games.com/pdf_storage/ArM5VFIndex.pdf

Almogaten is in Grogs p. 74

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7

Update to Virtues:

Almogaten for Mercenary Captain
Clear Thinker for Luck (Luck seems redundant with Intuition)

8

Age: 35

Abilities:

Abilities Specialty Score XP Early Childhood 45 Life (30 Years) 450 Well traveled 50 Warrior 50
Total 45 450 50 50
General Abilities
Animal Handling Camels 2 15 15
Area Lore: North Africa Ruins 3 30 15 15
Area Lore: Egypt Ruins 3 30 5 25
Athletics Running 2 15 5 10
Awareness Alertness 4 50 5 45
Bargain Hard Sell 3 35 30 5
Brawl Dodging 3 30 30
Carouse Gambling 2 15 10 5
Charm Guards 2 15 5 10
Etiquette Leaders 1 5 5
Folk Ken Customers 3 30 15 15
Guile Lying Abt Travels 1 5 5
Intrigue Gossip 1 5 5
Leadership Organizing Attack 3 30 30
Living Language (Tamazight Berber) Commerce 4 50 15 35
Native Language: Arabic Commerce 5 0 0
Profession: Seeker Locations 3 30 30
Ride Camels 4 50 50
Single Weapon Long sword 4 50 15 35
Stealth Open Desert 3 35 5 30
Survival Finding Water 4 50 5 45
Swim Freestyle 1 5 5
Thrown Weapon Sling 2 15 15
9

Equipment:
Dagger, desert clothes, quilted armor, long sword, sling and stones
3 camels
Digging and Ruins exploration implements
Gear for camping and traveling in the desert

Band of Almogavars:
4 Arab men (3 cousins, 1 junior Seeker)
8 Berber men (from same tribe)

Size: 0
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence: 1 (3)

Personality Traits:
Greedy +6, Pragmatic +3, Curious +3

Reputations: TBD

Combat:
Dodge: Init +1, Attack n/a, Defense +6, Damage n/a
Fist: Init +1, Attack +4, Defense +5, Damage +1
Kick: Init 0, Attack +4, Defense +4, Damage +4
Bludgeon: Init +1, Attack +6, Defense +5, Damage +3
Sling: Init –2, Attack +5, Defense +5, Damage +5
Long sword: Init +3, Attack +9, Defense +6, Damage +7
Soak: +6

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Appearance:
Khufu wears the flowing clothes typical of a desert traveler. He typically has his sword and dagger with him. He looks like the average Egyptian arab of the time, sporting a well-kempt bear.

10

going over this- you have 10 points in attributes where 7 are allowed

11

Improved characteristics, no?

12

okay, missed that.
the character is good, but will still await introduction.

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13

No worries on timing. Wanted to have a companion ready to roll whenever it worked into the storyline.

By way of OOC background, the original impetus behind Khufu was influenced by @temprobe and Aetherius. Khufu could be something of an agent/companion for Aetherius' work.

But that isn't an exclusive intention. I can imagine a number of ways Khufu could play into the covenant.

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14

@silveroak It's come to my attention that Khufu is going to have a pretty difficult time talking to Aetherius and other magi in the covenant. I find that the language barriers can be interesting but only to a degree. I don't want that barrier to be the center point of the storytelling for Khufu. To address this fundamental issue, would you be willing to accept these proposed changes before Khufu enters the story?

Proposal:

Change these abilities:

Bargain from 3 to 2 (30 to 15 xp)
Area Lore: North Africa 3 to 2 (30 to 15 xp)
Age from 29 to 30 (gain 15 xp)
Carouse from 2 to 1 (15 to 5 xp)

These changes free up 55 xp. (15 + 15 + 15 + 10 = 55 xp)

Add:
Language (Latin) 4 55 xp

From a background justification, I think that these changes align reasonably well with both the Well-traveled virtue and the Unaffected by the Gift virtue. The back story here would be that Khufu has functioned among the Seekers as something of a liaison with Latin-speaking groups doing business in Cairo, including interaction with the Hermetic Order where the lack of issues with the Gift have served him well.

Thoughts?

15

In order to have an ability in Latin he would need an educated virtue, so no, this would not be possible. Keep in mind that one mage has an item that provides translation and there are grogs who can do translation, and he can always learn Latin after starting play.

1 Like
16

Ahh, understood.