Magus concepts (cunningrat1)

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Canaries Are Dying
1

So I'm tossing around some concepts in my head, and unfortunately not coming up with much. The only thing I've come up with that has some possibilities is a Jerbiton poet-mage. ("Necessary Condition: must recite a snippet of poetry" or something of the sort.) There are two issues with this, however.

First of all, I-the-player am not very good at creating poetry, so I'm going to need to rely on stuff I know... and most of the poems I know are, well, rather out of period. I'd like to know if the troupe is OK with the occasional anachronism. (Given some of the things I've seen -- names of Talia's ships, the Hairy Otter familiar, muggles -- I'd assume the answer is 'yes' but I still thought I'd check.)

Secondly, I'm not sure what a somewhat-classic Jerbiton would be doing in Insula Canaria in the first place. It's pretty much the middle of nowhere. Are there any existing plotlines that this guy could be tied into? Suggestions?

2

I certainly don't have a problem with anachronisms like this.
So, maybe the Jerbiton is related to our local laird? Nepotism and familial attachments are important for many Jerbiton.

3

Anachronisms can be awesome (as long as they're not jarring). I picked the term "muggles" not just because I'm a Potter fan, but because it's a good word that describes the un-Gifted...and since Rowlingis Scottish, it kinda fits the setting (since, from Fiona's time in Bibracte, it seems they have a different word for them there. "Mortal," I think, they're called elsewhere. Which makes me think of Bewitched, for some reason.

So, yeah, go with some low-key anachronism.

(I really want, maybe as an npc, a chirurgeon who was born in 1102, but has no aging, no adding to Apparent Age, and some really wicked CrCo healing effects in him, making him effectively immortal.)

4

Just as an FYI, I prefer to work on one character at a time, so this guy is kind of on the back burner until Gardaitis (for Light of Andorra) is done.

I do have a question, however. I know this guy has Necessary Condition (must recite poetry) and Slow Caster. He MAY also have Performance Magic.
What I would like for him to have is a Virtue that lets him build up power with long recitations. Something like Special Circumstances, but I'd like it to stack. The longer the poem, the more power he can build up. I think Slow Caster would keep it from being too munchkinish.

Peregrine, would you allow something like that?
If so, how would we represent it?

5

Building up power over time...breaks things.

Performance Magic allows you a magus to cast spells (and maintain them) while doing some mundane activity. Reciting poetry is a good match for Performance Magic. Having a spell build power over time, though, is not at all Hermetic... But, consider making it Ceremonial, and you can therefore incorporate Artes Liberales and Philosophiae. If your Special Circumstance is Reciting poetry, another +3, and if you add Method Caster, where the method is reciting the poetry above, another +3. Specialize Artes Liberales and Philosophiae in ceremonial magic, it's another +2 above and beyond the score you actually have. All that you must do is spend a few xp to master the bread and butter spells for ceremonial casting, and put a few xp into Artes and Liberales and Philosophiae. If you have Flawless Magic instead of Gentle Gift this becomes slam-dunk easy, and costs a lot fewer XP.

But take the numbers above and starting with the base Magus package of 90 xp which provides AL 1, add 10 xp for AL 2, 15 XP for Philo 2, and 5 XP 5 spells to master for ceremonial casting, and for 50 XP, you're adding: AL 2 +1 (specialty) + Philo 2 +1 (specialty) + Special Circumstance 3 + Method Caster 3 + Mastery score 1= +13. That's pretty awesome and I think gets to the idea that your power builds over time...

6

Hmmm. I hadn't considered Ceremonial Magic, but you're right, it fits very well. Thanks!

7

Works for me, too, near as I can tell.

8

Slight change to concept -- someone who started out as Jerbiton but was "stolen" by a Bonisagus. Still a poet. Very devoted to her former House. Wants to benefit Jerbiton with her life's work, so is pursuing original research into either fertility, longevity, or the way the two interact.
Thoughts?

9

Also,Serf's Parma... Are Ganconers or Leanan-Sidhe covered in RoP: Faerie?

10

Glanconers are in the "Faeries Who Eat Their Spouses" section (p. 74-75), as are Glanconer Variants (Kelpies, p. 75). Sidhe Blood is on p. 109, and the Sidhe are covered on pp. 82-85.

11

Hrm. How does this look?

Leanan Sidhe Blood:
Benefits: +1 to Presence or Communication, not to exceed +3.
Legacy: +1 to Presence or Communication, may go as high as +4.
Sympathies: Poetry, Inspiration, Fidelity (negative).
Other Virtues and Flaws: as Sidhe or Nymph. "Muse" from HoH:S is almost de rigueur.
Appearance: as Sidhe.

Note: this is not something I am 100% positive I want. Faerie Blood may be adding another theme to the character, which might pull her in too many directions at once.
It would, however, explain why she's in Scotland...

12

Man, you made me look stuff up! :laughing: (Seriously, I'm not that familiar with the Realms of Power books that I have, and I had to track down the Faerie Blood stuff to see what all it meant. Basically, it look like you get more than the base core rule-book stuff for having Faerie Blood for the same price, near as I can tell.)

But, yeah, this looks okay to me.

13

Leandra of Jerbiton, just out of apprenticeship.

Characteristics: Int +3, Per 0, Pre +3, Com +3, Str -2, Sta 0, Dex +1, Qik -2

Size: 0

Age: 30 (30), Height: 5'4'', Weight: 130 lbs, Gender: Female

Decrepitude: 0

Warping Score: 0 (0)

Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Hermetic Magus, Educated (50/50), Performance Magic (Profession: Poet), Muse (Free Expression: grant to other or double effect for possessor), Strong Leanan Sidhe Blood [Physical Quirk: Silver hair], Minor Magical Focus (fertility), Inspirational (Bonus: +3 to targets' Personality Traits), Second Sight*, Puissant Magic Theory, Inventive Genius (Invent Lab Totals: +3), Improved Characteristics, Slow Caster, Necessary Condition (Must recite poetry), Prohibition (Entering a romance will kill the other person), Stockade Parma Magica, Infamous Master, Driven (Prove herself to House Jerbiton through magical accomplishment)

Reputations: Just A Pretty Face (Among magi) 3

Combat:

Dodge: Init: -2, Attack --, Defense -2, Damage --

Fist: Init: -2, Attack +1, Defense -2, Damage -2

Kick: Init: -3, Attack +1, Defense -3, Damage +1

Soak: 0

Fatigue levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious

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

Abilities: Second Sight 1, Scots Gaelic 5, Latin 4, Artes Liberales 2, Philosophiae 1, Faerie Lore 1, Finesse 2, Magic Theory 4+2, Parma Magica 1, Penetration 1, Area Lore: Highland Scotland 2, Awareness 1, Charm 2, Concentration 1, Folk Ken 2, Poet 4, Medicine 3

Arts: Cr 7, In 7, Mu 7, Pe 7, Re 7, An 6, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 7, He 5, Ig 0, Im 3, Me 2, Te 1, Vi 1

Equipment:

Encumbrance: 0 (0)

Spells Known:

The Chirurgeon's Healing Touch (CrCo 20) +17
Gentle Touch of the Purified Body (CrCo 20) +17
Wizard's Communion (MuVi 10) +8
Panic of the Trembling Heart (CrMe 15) +9
Panic of the Elephant's Mouse (ReAn 15) +13
Piercing Shaft of Wood (Mu(Re)He 10) +12
Disguise of the Transformed Image (MuIm 15) +10
Invisibility of the Standing Wizard (PeIm 15) +10

14

Mmm. Kind of. Re-read how Sympathies work. I'm not 100% sure how you get the Sympathy scores assigned, but let's say all of them are at +3.
Poetry: I get +3 on any action involving Poetry. Very nice.
Inspiration: +3 on any action involving Inspiration. Very nice as well.
Fidelity (negative): 3 extra botch dice on EVERY SINGLE ACTION I take.

Welcome to Faerie. Now bend over. :stuck_out_tongue:

15

After running Leandra through my metacreator, iIt looks like you have 15 points too many for 30.

She has a Minor Magical Focus in Fertility, but none of her spells get the bonus? Also, would I be right in thinking that her focus not only increases fertility, but cancels/suppresses it too?

And the big question (for troupe discussion): On her Prohibition...how are we defining "romance"? One-night stand? Multiple dates? Going steady? Want to spend the rest of my life with you?

16

That's not what Muse allows.

How do you envision the Prohibition working? What defines relationship? And the effects of the curse are worse for the other party than for your character...
If Leandra rejected House Bonisagus and joined House Jerbiton, wouldn't it be more of a Tormenting master relationship, rather than Infamous?

17

Right. It would, for example, give Godiva a temporary Free Expression Virtue for as long as Leandra was with her, which adds +3 to all attempts to create a work of art; if Godiva already has Free Expression, it would double the virtue's effect to +6.

18

The 'Increasing Sympathy Traits' section of RoP:F (p. 102) starts by saying Sympathy Traits are typically gained from Virtues/Flaws (i.e. Faerie Sympathy or Antipathy), as a result of Warping, or by spending xp on them like Abilities. Normally your max Sympathy is your level of Faerie Warping, but Strong Faerie Blood adds 3 to that max. Based on this, I would say you can spend your advancement xp on positive Sympathies up to level 3, with no requirement to take negative Sympathies.

Other than this, maybe a house rule giving a character positive and negative Sympathies equal to any Faerie Warping score he/she has? Or maybe it actually works this way and I'm not seeing it in RoP:F.

'Inspiration' seems a little broad for a Sympathy. Could you specify that it only applies to artistic inspiration?

That's not how I read it. The negative trait only comes into play when applicable. It also gives you a penalty to the roll equal to your negative trait in addition to the extra botch dice.

19

I know what Muse allows: the text is a direct c/p from Metacreator.

Well, see, that's the thing. It's either a Prohibition or a Delusion... and I would like to leave it to the SG/troupe which it is. I don't want to know. :slight_smile:
In this context, I'd define "romantic relationship" as "falling in love and acting on it". It was appropriate because of the whole Leanan Sidhe thing, but I might need to think about it. Maybe take it as a 0-point Flaw and take another Flaw... I dunno.

I had Infamous Master in there because of the backstory I came up with and didn't have time to post.
She's always been Jerbiton. Her master was known to have a roving eye for younger women... she was 14 when she was apprenticed... she's very pretty... doesn't have the Gentle Gift... you do the math. Most Jerbiton would look at this and assume she was apprenticed as, essentially, a f*cktoy, and would never amount to much as a maga. The first part is correct. The second part is not. Hence the Driven.

20

The penalty to the roll only comes into play when appropriate, true. However, the extra botch dice apply to every action.

(emphasis mine)