OK, here's Viola's character sheet, as she was at the beginning of 1208. She's a character from a saga that started in mid-1204 and ran about three and a half game years (actually more than that, but it fell apart mid-way through the 1208 stories, and so I didn't bother to incorporate any of the events for that year into this sheet).
She started in 4th Edition, with the Faerie-raised Merinita Virtue, which allowed a spont roll divided by two without fatigue. When we converted the saga to 5th Edition, we gave her the equivalent of Diedne Druidic Magic, which basically amounts to a focus in sponts (that is, the lower of Te and Fo is doubled), but Mark didn't like that, and suggested giving her the 5th Edition equivalent of Faerie-raised Merinita, and then adding an Innate Spontaneous Magic mystery that he'd created. This comes with an accompanying Flaw, but the two don't balance (as would normally be required for a mystery obtained at character creation); on the other hand, she doesn't get the any bonus from the Ordeal involved on subsequent initiations.
Bleh, this is a little ugly, since the tabbing doesn't carry through into the HTML, but you get the idea.
Name: Viola of Merinita
Player: Scott Orr
Gender: Female
Age: 24 (appears 18), Year of Birth: 1184, Current Year: 1208
Covenant: Haunted Springs
Saga: Purification through Fire
Character Type: Maga
Size: -1
Confidence: 1 (3)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping: 0
Description: Pale skin, bright violet eyes, very thin but not short, an eerie beauty. Her hair changes with the seasons, deepening from the palest blonde at the beginning of spring to a rich, pure gold at harvest time, then shading through a strawberry blonde to bright red and finally auburn, which fades quickly to white as the leaves fall.
Background: Daughter of a human and a faerie lord, raised after the age of three in her father's court. Her affinity with violets derives from the flowers that grow in her father's land and in the regio connecting it with the mundane world. Her pater, in Stonehenge Tribunal, is Salignus.
In 1204, Viola passed her gauntlet, and, seeking to be independent from her pater, wandered down a random faerie trod, turning up on the southern slope of the Crimean mountains. She soon met another newly gauntled maga, Auriane of Flambeau, and they were joined by other young magi fleeing from a pair of senior magi in Constantinople whom they’d witnessed in a very blatant attempt to interfere with the mundane attack on the city during the 4th Crusade. The covenant joined Thebes Tribunal and, with no other covenants for miles around, had plenty of vis. In addition, a couple of its began to research the magic cult of a nearby group of monks, who were capable of creating magic regions within Divine auras.
Soon after the covenant was founded, Viola came into possession of a pair of animate faerie wine casks that produce faerie-aspected wine each autumn (they were actually a gift to her musician companion, Matthias). The Art of the vis depends on what she’s thinking about at the time: it can be two pawns of Muto, four pawns of Imaginem, or six pawns of Herbam. Drinking the wine produces mild hallucinations.
In 1207, in order to prevent possible violence and/or a serious Hermetic legal incident, Viola adopted as an apprentice a wandering priest, Theodolphus, who visited the covenant—and who, before taking up the cloth, had been apprenticed for three years to a diabolist, and then “lost†by the proper authorities when the diabolist was killed. From 1208 to 1219 she spends one season a year completing his training…badly—her ability to teach is laughable, but the Code says one season a year. She lets him spend a lot of time in the library, and the fact that his Arts had already been opened means that she’s able to train him despite lacking training herself in many Arts.
Notes: Viola’s starting Virtues and Flaws include a mystery whose Virtue doesn’t balance its Flaw. This is the result of her conversion from the 4th edition, specifically an attempt to restore an enhanced sponting ability that isn’t supported by the 5th edition rules.
CHARACTERISTICS
Intelligence: +4 (Precocious)
Perception: +2 (Curious)
Communication: -2 (Incomprehensible)
Presence: +3 (Eerily beautiful)
Strength: -3 (Insubstantial)
Stamina: +2 (Resilient)
Dexterity: 0
Quickness: +1 (Agile)
VIRTUES AND FLAWS
Free Virtues
The Gift
Hermetic Maga
Faerie Magic
Major Hermetic Virtue
Faerie-raised Merinita
Strong Faerie Blood
Sidhe Beauty (+1 Presence, Eerie Beauty)
Natural Longevity (aging rolls start at 50 at -3)
Faerie Eyes (see in dark, Second Sight, strange eye color)
Faerie Lore
Faerie-raised Magic (includes Spell Improvisation)
Faerie Upbringing
Loose Magic
Weak Parens
Minor Virtues
Book Learner (+2 to book Study Totals)
Free Expression (+3 to rolls for new works of art)
Great Intelligence (+1 to Intelligence)
Inventive Genius (+3/+6 to Lab Totals for new creations)
Puissant Muto (+3 to Muto)
Student of Faerie (+2 to Faerie Lore)
Study Bonus (+2 to Art book and vis Study Totals)
Major Flaws
Favors (to faeries in father's family)
Study Requirement
Minor Flaws
Clumsy
Driven (saving nature from the advance of man)
Small Frame (-1 to Size, 4-point wound increments)
Weird Magic (+1 special botch die)
Mysteries
Arcadian
Innate Spontaneous Magic
Innate Spontaneous Magic (divide by two without fatigue)
Strange Magic (additional Weird Magic botch die)
ABILITIES
Ability Specialty Score XP
Area Lore (Crimea) faerie sites 1 5
Area Lore (Haunted Springs) faerie regio 2 20
Area Lore (High City) royal palace 1 5
Awareness alertness 1 5
Brawl dodging 1 5
Concentration spells 4 50
Craft (Illumination) nature subjects 1 5
Dance faerie dances 1 5
Etiquette faeries 1 10
Intrigue plotting 1 10
Leadership intimidation 2 15
English Mercian 5 75
Gothic Crimean 4 50
Order of Hermes Lore House Merinita 1 5
Artes Liberales logic 4 50
Latin Hermetic usage 4 50
Philosophiae moral philosophy 3 30
Faerie Lore faerie lords 3+2 40
Finesse precision 3 30
Magic Lore regiones 1 10
Magic Theory enchanting items 4 55
Parma Magica Mentem 2 20
Penetration Rego 1 5
Second Sight regiones 2 20
PERSONALITY TRAITS
Altruistic +2
Honorable +3
Independent +3
Machiavellian +1
Trusting +1
Vengeful +3
REPUTATIONS
COMBAT
Weapon Init. Atk. Dfn. Dam. Str. Load
Dodge 1 n/a 3 n/a n/a 0
Fist 1 1 2 -3 n/a 0
Kick 0 1 1 0 n/a 0
Armor: None
Soak: 2
Fatigue Levels: Fresh /Weary (-1) /Tired (-3 )/Dazed (-5) /Unconscious
EQUIPMENT
Total Load: 0 Burden: 0
Encumbrance: 0
MAGIC ARTS
Technique Score XP
Creo 1 1
Intellego 6 21
Muto 7+3 28
Perdo 1 1
Rego 5 15
Form Score XP
Animal 4 12
Aquam 1 1
Auram 1 1
Corpus 1 1
Herbam 7 32
Ignem 0 0
Imaginem 9 49
Mentem 5 15
Terram 1 1
Vim 4 10
TOTALS
Magic Resistance (Parma Magica): 10 + Form & other bonuses + stress die
Aiming Roll: 5 + die
Concentration Roll: 9 + die
Fast-cast Speed: 4 + stress die
Basic Lab Total: 8 + Technique + Form + Aura
Maximum Vis per Season: 10 (for enchanting items; 8 otherwise)
WIZARD'S SIGIL
All spells include a manisfestation of violets--the flowers, the scent, or the color.
GRIMOIRE
InAn20 The Counsel of Animals (CT +12)
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind
Allows speech with the target animal
(Base 10, +1 Touch, +1 Conc)
InHe25 Converse with Plants and Trees (CT +13)
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind
Allows speech with the target plant
(Base 15, +1 Touch, +1 Conc)
CrMe15 The Wise Fool (CT +8)
R: Eye, D: Sun, T: Ind
Plants an absurd thought in the target’s mind. In fifth edition, I would say that the more absurd the notion, the easier it is to convince them they are wrong. However, they continue believing this foolishness until someone or something challenges it. I would also say it doesn’t require faerie magic.
(Base 4, +1 Eye, +1 Sun)
MuTe(Aq)20 Eye of the Wizard’s Swamp (CT +13)
R: Sight, D: Sun, T: Ind
Turns the ground in an area of 1,000 square paces swampy to one pace deep.
(Base 2, +4 Sight, +2 Sun, requisite necessary for effect)
InVi20 Piercing the Faerie Veil
R: Per, D: Conc, T: Vision
Potency +1 (violet sapphire)
Allows sight between levels of a regio.
(Base 3, +1 Conc, +4 Vision)
INNATE SPONTANEOUS MAGIC
Major Hermetic Virtue
To qualify for this Virtue you must have an extremely strong faerie nature. Examples include Faerie Blood, substantial Warping from a Faerie source, being bound by a Faerie Familiar, or the Inner Mystery of Becoming. All script variations for this mystery have one or more of these as a prerequisite. This and other new Arcadian Mysteries are available to Faerie magi outside of this group as well.
This Mystery taps into the power inherit in your Faerie nature, allowing you to handle magic with greater fluidity. All of your Spontaneous spells are Faerie Magic by default. You may spend Fatigue and divide by two as normal. However, if you do not spend Fatigue, you may still divide by two (but you don’t roll a die either, except to check for a botch if the situation is stressed).
WEIRD MAGIC
Minor Hermetic Flaw
This Flaw already exists. I just wanted to clarify my view on it. Normally you only roll the Weird Magic die alongside Botch Dice. This die never itself indicates a Botch or Twilight. It is just that if that die comes up a “0â€, then strange and bizarre side effects occur. Weird Magic differs from Side Effect as a Flaw because Weird Magic is more unpredictable, has varying effects, and affects the target or spell more directly. For example, you shape change into a wolf with a Muto Corpus spell, and a 0 on the Weird Magic die results in you turning into a wolf with rabbit ears. Next time this happens, it might turn you into a wolf with feathers.
STRANGE MAGIC (ALTERNATE VERSION)
Minor Hermetic Flaw
You may only take this Flaw if you already possess Weird Magic, because this modifies that Flaw. Normally you only have to check for Weird Magic when you Botch a magic roll. However, with the Strange Magic Flaw, you also have to check whenever you spend Fatigue in your magic. Thus you have to check when you cast Rituals, with most Spontaneous Magic, and anytime your Casting Total is low in a Formulaic spell. This also applies to the Life Boost and Life Linked Spontaneous Magic Virtues. Any effort you put into a spell will cause this to happen; such as spending a point of Confidence, having to make a Finesse or Concentration roll with the spell as you cast it, and etceteras.
