sorry - you're right.
looks like its quite easy by RAW to avoid mundane damage - much too easy for my taste...
Well, that is only a propblem if you want magi to be very vulnerable to mundane damage. 
IMS magi bother when facing creatures with Might and power like a fae prince or a dragon (and dying against those can be EPIC. Happened once, actually), not about being murdered by a streeet urchin. If you want stories about dangerous street urchins you need to change the aproach,. tha tis true.
Or make the wards grant a +3 per magnitude instead of +5, and their power is severely checked.
Cheers,
Xavi
This is my mage at the end of his apprenticeship. Since we already have a magus from Fengheld, i propose he is from Durenmar. Or would you prefer another covenant? In that case i would take a yet-unnamed covenant somewhere in germany.
After completing his gauntlet he will visit the Cave of twisting shadow in the great alps, possibly deciding on the path of seeming and acquiring the first initiation on that path. Definitely gaining some Cult Lore.
Please tell me what you think.
Name: Rabanus ex Criamon Birth Name: Hanno
House: Criamon Age: 24(24) Size: 0 Confidence: 1/3
Decrepitude: Warping: Gender: Male Nationality:German Height: 5'4 Weight: 122
Hair: Brown Eyes: 2 Handedness: Right Religion: none Title: Journeyman
Parens: Sekleatus ex Criamon
Characteristics:
Int +3
Per +2
Pre -1
Com +2
Str -2
Sta +1
Dex -1
Qik -1
Virtues
The Gift, Journeyman
The Enigma
Linden Gild Trained +1
Free Study +1
Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic +3
Study Bonus +1
Puissant Enigmatic Wisdom +1
Enduring Constitution +1
Educated +1
Good Teacher +1
Flaws
Twilight Prone -3
Visions -1
Study Requirement -3
Careless Sorcerer -1
Continence -1
Weird Magic -1
Combat:
Dodge: Init: -1, Attack --, Defense +1, Damage --
Soak: +1
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20)
Abilities:
High German 5 (explaining),
Artes Liberales 2 (astronomy),
Latin 4 (hermetic usage),
Enigmatic Wisdon 3+2 (warping),
Magic Lore 2 (magical places),
Parma Magica 1 (Mentem),
Magic Theory 4 (inventing spells),
Finesse 1 (targeting),
Philosophiae 2 (Natural philosophy),
Code of Hermes 1 (mundane relations),
Awareness 2 (searching),
Brawl 1 (dodge),
Concentration 2 (spell concentration),
Intrigue 1 (alliances),
Etiquette 1 (faeries),
Order of Hermes Lore 2 (politics),
Durenmar Lore 2 (the great library),
Survival 1 (forests),
Teaching 1 (single student),
Charm 1 (being smart),
Folk Ken 1 (magi),
Swim 1 (long distances),
Athletics 1 (Climbing),
Penetration 1 (Intellego)
Arts:
Cr 2
In 10
Mu 3
Pe 2
Re 10
An 1
Aq 1
Au 1
Co 0
He 1
Ig 1
Im 10
Me 1
Te 1
Vi 1
Equipment:
Encumbrance: 0 (0)
Vis: 2 pawns of Mentem vis
Spells Known:
Summoning the distant image InIm 25
Eyes of the eagle InIm25
Image from the wizard torn Re(In)Im 30
The captive voice ReIm 25
Gather the essence of the beast ReVi15
@zlorfik: beautiful character - crazy twilighty Criamon - he's a twilightning rod! His good teaching will be invaluable in building up a covenant - and his intellego magics fill a hole - someone must be able to see potential dangers. Green lights for Improved characteristics (for your perception) instead of common sense!
I like your language specialiciation but I'm still curious: Does he speak pelzisch?
As for the covenant - pick one: Your choice will influence the saga (in some minor way). If you pick a no-name covenant, please write 2-3 sentences about it (season? urban/rural? region? Houses? Strengths?). Or pick some of the others (except Dankmar or Ordo S - a male Criamon would be hard to explain)
idea 1: There may be a wholly different approach to wards - it's the one I know from my RL group.
The players develop wards and decide which level they find appropriate themselves and the SG promises to respect those wards in everyday situations but makes them fail if it is good for the story (The SG who presented me with this option usually made the wards fail slowly, describing their failure for a round or two - so they usually bought time even if they failed).
That requires a lot of trust - which is difficult for pbp-games.
idea 2: Otherwise, we could allow the RAW wards, but make them unspecific - so they ward against everything from that form (making eating or wearing metal items difficult with wards up) - and they'd last full duration (no early endings). And I'd recommend a low level MuCo(Ig) or CrCo(Ig) spell "Feet of the Eskimo" to protect naked feet.
idea 3: We set wards (personal, sun) against mundane stuff at a straight lvl 15 for one object per minute (for all forms), with +5 for each object per minute; we make wards against supernatural creatures that have to penetrate the creature's might to be effective. They must be touch, ring, circle. They do not ward against the creature's powers of course. I hope I get this across the way I mean it, so I'll try:
Circular Ward Against Demon (ReVi10) cast with a Casting total of 18 would ward against demons with a level up to 8 (18-10); when cast with a total of 22, it would ward against demons up to level 10.
This is how we proceed. If you can live with one of the ideas above, do not suggest modifications, but say that you are ready to vote on this (Do not vote yet). If you want one of the concepts changed because you can accept none of the concepts, change one of it to make it acceptable. When all three players have stated their readiness to vote, we can vote (You can vote for one or for two concepts or abstain. Votes cannot be cumulated). I'll decide if there's a draw.
JeanMichelle,
I like the second idea personaly. Do RAW wards also need to penetrate, like your example in idea 3?
Character concept (feel free to comment): I’ve created a character that uses arts that the other characters don’t (so I took no Intellego, Rego, Imagonem, Mentem or Terram). I’ve tried to give her skills useful for founding a new covenant by producing something that can be traded and skills for helping the others (longevity potion maker, healer, book writer). I’ve tried to create a character whose strengths and weaknesses are “logical”.
My first idea was “longevity potion specialist”. Then I wondered which house might have such a line of magi and ended up with Mercere, because of all the Redcaps that need potions. Then I wondered which strengths and weaknesses could be typical for such a person: Strong Creo, corpus and lab skills; weak Perdo, some lab accident concerning age.
I assume the 60xp post apprenticeship went into Parma, Creo and Corpus.
I still have to write a little text to illustrate the character.
Hildegard of Mercere
Hildegard’s mother was a Maga ex Mercere from the Greater Alps Tribunal specialised in longevity potions. She paid a family of potion makers from Schaffhausen to foster the child, and since her offer was generous, the family tried not to show their dislike for the weird little girl (other children were not as nice though, so her childhood was far from idyllic). Hildegard’s mother did this because she didn’t want to be burdened with a little child and because she wanted the girl to grow up in a “natural” environment. On Hildegard’s seventh birthday, her mother came to collect her – starting to teach her about becoming a master of longevity potions and profounfly influencing her magics.
About three years into the apprenticeship, shortly after Hildegard’s tenth birthday, a lab accident destroyed the lab, sent her mother into a Twilight episode from which she hasn’t returned yet. At first, the girl, who was given to Xavier of Durenmar to finish her training, didn’t seem to have suffered any injuries from the accident. But slowly, it became clear that the lab accident had stopped her aging process (virtue: unaging, flaw: dwarf), trapping her in the body of a 10-year-old child.
Puberty was hard for Hildegard, as no boy even looked at her and adults, even magi, very often treated (and still treat) her as if she still was the child she seems to be.
She tries to make herself noticed by communicating: She likes writing, because people who don’t know her physically respect her for her texts. Surprisingly, she is a good teacher, too, probably because she hasn’t forgotten what it’s like to be a child.
Now, at te age of 24, Hildegard pretends to use her looks as a disguise, even playing with it, but deep in her heart, she wants to be a normal grown-up maga.
Hildegard Ex Mercere
Age: 24, 2 years past Gauntlet
Hildegard looks like a little blue-eyed girl with two blond braids (think “Hansel and Gretel”), innocent and naïve. When she uses her growing spell, she still looks like Gretel – only taller.
Virtues: *Puissant Creo, Affinity Creo, Affinity Corpus, Cautious with Magic Theory, gild trained (oak gild), Good Teacher (*1), Inventive genius, Minor Focus (aging), Puissant Corpus, Puissant Magic Theory, Unaging
(*1) adults she teaches (age 14+) must make an intelligence roll of 6+ to gain the +5 bonus on being taught directly; the bonus to writing is unaffected by her physical appearance.
Flaws: Deficient Perdo (Major), dwarf (Major), ability block: Martial, driven (make magi live forever), judged unfairly, Mentor
Warping Score: 0
Warping Points: 1 (she does not get further warping points from unaging: the change was momentary – not permanent)
(Stats in brackets are without the dwarf flaw)
Intelligence +2 (quick learner)
Perception+0
Strength -3 (-2; little girl)
Sta+1 (+2; knows that daily exercising increases life expectancy)
Com+3 (Had to learn to make herself heard despite her size)
Pr-2 (Go play with your dolls, kiddie!)
Dex+0
Quk+1 (Quick little girl)
Skills:
Swiss German (other German dialects) 5
Animal Handling (healing) 1
Area Lore Lake Constance (geography) 1
Artes Liberales (Ritual magic) 1
Athletics (walking) 1
Awareness (Alertness) 1
Bargaining (Potions) 2
Brawl (dodge) 2
Charm (being an innocent little girl) 1
Chirurgy (Stabilization) 2
Code of Hermes (House Mercere) 1
Concentration (lab work) 1
Durenmar Lore (Library) 2
Finesse (craftsmanship) 1
Folk Ken (patients) 1
Guile (innocence) 1
Intrigue (gossip) 2
Latin (hermetic usage) 4
Magic Lore (Aging) 1
Magic Theory (Creo) 3+2
Medicine (Phycician) 2
Profession: Scirbe (copy carefully) 1
Parma Magica (Mentem) 3
Penetration (Corpus) 1
Ride (long distances) 1
Arts: Creo 15+3, Mu 5, Aquam 5, Corpus 15+3
Spells
Purification of the festering wounds CrCo20; +37
Command of Prenatural Growth and Shrinking* MuCo20, Mastery 1 (harnessed casting); +25
like Prenatural Growth and Shrinking, but Range Voice
Cheating the Reaper CrCo30; +51
Mighty torrent of water CrAq20, Mastery: 1 (fast casting); +25
Wizard’s Leap ReCo 15;+19
Dress the girl MuHe15; +6
*You create a full set of clothes made mainly of linen. A finesse roll determines how good and well made they look. This is a common spell for Bjornaer magi travelling in their heartbeast shape. Hildegard sometimes uses it when she changes size (she can’t create leather boots for different sizes yet, so she has to take her shoes of first!). A low finesse roll means that the size is correct but the cut and colouring of the clothes make them look like clothes for children.
(Base 2,+1 Touch, +2 Sun, ,+1 size, +1 Treated product)
All but gozer's magus are from the Rhine. That means we get three shield grogs: One for Honorus, one for Rabanus and one for Hildegard.
I'd like you to create three grogs (with fighting skills, but they don't have to be ster(e)otypical killing machines) - individualised supporting characters; they 'll be played by all of us. I do kill grogs - so I'll create a reserve grog when the first grog bites the forest floor.
zlorfink: Please create a grog for Honorus
jebrick: Please create a grog for Rabanus
gozer: please create a grog for Hildegard
That's for supernatural creatures only. And if I understand HoH: S correctly, they do.
Grog for Rabanus
Albirich
Characteristics: Int 0, Per +2, Pre +1, Com +1, Str +1, Sta +1, Dex +1, Qik ‑1
Size: 0
Age: 30 (30), Height: 5'7'', Weight: 160 lbs, Gender: Male
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Virtues:
Custos (Martial Abilities)
Intuition
Flaws:
Optimistic
Motion Sickness
Combat:
Dodge: Init: ‑2, Attack ‑‑, Defense +0, Damage ‑‑
Fist: Init: ‑2, Attack +2, Defense +0, Damage +1
Kick: Init: ‑3, Attack +2, Defense ‑1, Damage +4
Short Sword and Heater: Init:-1,Attack+7, Defense+7, Damage+6
Short Sword: Init:-1, Attack+7, Defense+4, Damage+6
Short Bow: Init: -3, Attack+7, Defense+2, Damage+7
Load: 5 (Bow 2+Sword 1 + Shield 2) Burden: 2 Encumbrance: 1
Soak: +1
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, ‑1, ‑3, ‑5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: ‑1 (1‑5), ‑3 (6‑10), ‑5 (11‑15), Incapacitated (16‑20)
Abilities:
Single Weapon 3 (Sword, Short)
Bows 2 (Bow, Short),
Area Lore 3 (Rhine valley)
Athletics 2,
Awareness 2,
Bargain 3,
Brawl 1,
Carouse 3 (games of chance),
Charm 2 (first impressions),
Disguise 1,
Folk Ken 3 (peasants),
Guile 2 (fast talk),
Intrigue 2 (gossip),
Survival 2,
Swim 1 (underwater maneuvering)
Baking 2 [Category: Provisions],
Blacksmith 2 [Category: Consumables],
Carpentry 2 [Category: Buildings],
Glassworking 2 [Category: Laboratories],
Hideworking 2 [Category: Consumables],
Leathercraft 2 [Category: Consumables],
Stonemason 2 [Category: Buildings],
Metalsmith 1 [Category: Laboratories],
Milling 1 [Category: Provisions],
Pottery 2 [Category: Consumables],
Whittling 1,
Woodworking 2 [Category: Consumables],
Equipment:
Encumbrance: 0 (0)
Background: Albirich had always been a wanderer. Always moving from town to village doing odd jobs. When he got tired he moved on. He is not sure how he had started working for the Magi but it was good food and interesting company. He was just starting to feel the wander lust again when He was asked to escort a young Magi to Germany. What a lucky break. Things could not be better.
Albirich is a Jack-of-all-trades he has some small ability in many craft but is not good in any of them. His keen intuition has given him a rosy outlook on life.
@jebrick: Thanks for Albirich. It seems a bit unusual to have two single weapon abilities - but then again, why not?
I'll add combat stats for armed combat (I've always wanted to see if I can edit someone else's posts).
I dont know if its even possible to have the same skill twice, just with different specializations.
But its definitely not worth the points. Better raise Single weapon to 4 and spend the other 10xps on something else.
Regarding wards: I got no opinion on the matter yet, so im ready to vote.
-
it's up to you - do you change one of the single weapons skills?
-
about warding: are you ready to vote on the three proposals?
Ok, so Rabanus is from Durenmar. Originally he was born in a small village in southern germany under the name of Hanno, the smiths son, but nothing much interesting happened during that time.
After passing his gauntlet, Rabanus travels to the Cave of the twisting shadows, the domus magna of house Criamon. There he gets educated by the former masters of his house and during the first year, get 15 xps in Enigmatic Wisdon and 15 xp in House Criamon Lore, getting a score of 2 in House CriamonLore (Path Initiation). He also feels confirmed in following the path of his parens, the path of seeming.
During the second year, he gets initated into the path of seeming. He is lead deep into the physical caves, outside the regio, where no light has ever shone, with nothing but water and blandest gruel to feed. There he immerses himself in nearly interminable, deep meditation. He couldnt tell how much time has passed, what time of day or even what season of the year it was when his spritual guide came to him. His footsteps sounded like thunder in Rabanus ears. With the help of his guide and under his teachings he learned to sharpen his senses and see through the cover of things to its inner fabric. When he emerged from the caves, his eyes ailing from the sunlight although it was a rainy afternoon, he had completed the first avenue of the path of seeming and reached the Station of Diferentation of Seeming. He gains the Clear Thinker, Keen Vision and Improved Characteristic (Perception) virtue. He also notices that new stigmata have formed on his body, more specifically the back of his nose, stigmata that are now longer hideable by the cover of his tunic. Among his brethren of House Criamon this is more of a distinction, but on his travels this could cause a few problems. Rabanus gets the flaw Disfigurement.
For the rest of the year he again gets the teaching of the Caves ghosts and acquires 5 xp in Enigmatic Wisdom (new score 4), 10 xp in Parma Magica (new score 2), 3 xp in Perdo (new score 3) and 2 xp in Mentem (new score 2).
The Primus then sends Rabanus back to Durenmar to explore the world with his newfound understanding and find a place for himself in it.
I can just remove the skill for heater shield if you want. I see no rule as to why I could not do it. It gives him more flexibility. If he had short sword and heater as a specialty he would have to use a swort sword with a heater to get the bonuses. This way he can use a short sword without a heater.
I would vote for #2 I just do not understand #3.
I was looking at doing a ReIg10 Ward vs Cold to protect Honorus' body/feet.
After thinking about it I realized I was wrong on the weapon skill. I might be thinking 3rd ed rules. I will change it for area lore Rhine valley.
wards: two of you want #2 - so that's what you get.
The foot warmer spell is rather cosmetic anyway - do as you please.
We still need two more grogs. Once we've got them, and the other characters finished, we can start playing
Feel free to post finished chars to the other thread.
I'll also open 2 new threads (Chapter one, and chapter one ooc (out of character)). We start December 23rd 1220, at 5pm, at Durenmar (beginning of year 1221 and the winter season in my calendar). Use your first post to state what took you to Durenmar (please note that Durenmar is only a starting point, so if you're there for study, you may get interrupted pretty soon).
A quick question be fore i finish up the character. I was looking at Hermetic Architecture as a mystery for Honorus but was not sure if it fell under the mystery cult that was said could be added in the final 2 years of development. Can I spend a season or more learning this or should it become a virtue during gauntlet?
Yes, you can learn it. Costs are Pythagorean Cult Lore (specialty you choose) 1 for 5xp and 10xp for the virtue (a sacrifice of time basically). If you ever achieve Cult Lore three, i'll think about further initiations.
Oh: If you wonder - what the Pythagoreans are - I just invented them I'll PM you some ideas about the cult, but I am certainly willing to integrate any ideas you may have about them.