Oldl House Rules

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Light of Andorra
8

[strike][u]Armaments[/u]
Quality Arms & Armor
[tab][/tab]There are four ranks of Armament Quality; Shoddy, Standard, Superior, and Excellent+.

  • Shoddy: Shoddy items break easily and are destroyed after a single failed stress test.
  • Standard: The basic default for all weapons. Most Standard Quality Weapons have a Standard Cost. Those listed as Expensive, such as the Long Sword, are now considered Costly. New Scale: Inexpensive, Standard, Costly, Expensive, & Very Expensive+.
  • Superior: Superior armor grants +1 to Protection, a Superior Shield grants +1 Defense, and a Superior Weapon grants +1 Attack. The Cost is increased one step on the scale.
  • Excellent+: Excellent Quality armaments offer a bonus of +1 to +3. For Weapons the bonus is applied to both Attack and Damage. Each +rank increases the Cost one step on the scale.

Toledo Steel
[tab][/tab]Toledo Steel is the result of master craftsmanship and the inclusion of a rare metal known as Vanadium. The Craftsmanship grants a +1 bonus to Attack, and is not uncommon for blades of quality in the region. Vanadium is expensive and is usually reserved for long swords, though occasionally for short swords, but only the wealthy can afford to make their daggers this way. The metal makes the weapon stronger and better able to hold an edge, granting a +1 bonus to Damage. Thus, the famous Toledo Longsword has a natural bonus of +1 to Attack and Damage. Enchanting such a weapon requires additional vis, treating the material as equivalent to silver rather than base metal. Such fine weapons often have other precious materials included in their ornamentation. The Cost is increased one step on the scale, from Costly to Expensive. Excellent Quality Toledo Steel swords can have a bonus ranging as high as +5.

Shields
[tab][/tab]The shape of your shield is a stylistic choice, be it round or square or kite or whatever. What matters is the size and mass; Small (Buckler), Medium (Round), Large (Heater), and Huge (Infantry). So for example, you can have a Large Round Shield and just use Heater Shield statistics.

Armour
[tab][/tab]Referencing both the Expanded Armor Rules from Lords of Men page 139-142, and the core RAW from ArM5 p. 176; both systems are compatible and result in multiple ways to outfit yourself. The simplest way is to use the core RAW and define your outfit by the predominant material and amount of protection (partial/full). Customization is easy. Configure your outfit as desired, choosing a specific Load you wear. For Standard Armaments, Protection equals Load. Expensive Armor has a 50% bonus to Protection, and Inexpensive Armor has Protection divided in half.
[tab][/tab]Using the rules in Lords of Men, one may notice that the ratio for Standard materials is mostly the same (1to1). For Expensive Materials Protection is twice Load and for Inexpensive Materials Load is 50% greater than Protection. For the most part. There is all the little pieces that come together for the final outfit. For example; A Full Suit of Cain Mail from core RAW, Protection 9 and Load 6. From [i]Lords of Men[/u]; a Full Suit of Mail (already includes several do-dads such as greaves) is Protection 7 and Load 3.5. Add in an Open Helmet (P1/L1) and a Gambeson (P1/L1.5), the total is now the familiar Protection 9 and Load 6.[/strike]

9

[u]Ability Virtues[/u]
Certain Virtues grant bonus xp during character creation. Examples include Warrior, Educated, Arcane Lore, Hermetic Experience, Skilled Parens, Well Traveled, etceteras. Treat these as more than just a bonus to your char-gen package. They are part of your characters essential history. They include contacts and ties to your past; an eclectic cabal, old army buddies, a university, etc. This is not to be treated as a 4tory Flaw or an extra Virtue. It is just a resource that gives as good as it gets. Complimentary Virtues N Flaws may be taken to accentuate your past experience.

10

[u]Archmagi[/u]
You may not create an Archmagus character. This will take many years of game time, but it is conceivable to have this as a future goal. Keep in mind that the Archmagi are an informal society that have their own customs aside from the Code of Hermes. An Archmagus does not have to accept your challenge, though it is possible that he may be ridiculed by his peers if he rejects worthy challengers.
No Archmagus will consider a challenge from someone who has not trained and gauntleted an apprentice. This is the minimum requirement, one needs to have achieves several other accomplishments before being considered worthy. Examples include...

  • Achieving an Acclaim or Prestige score of 4 or higher
  • Invent a new spell or enchantment of at least the 7th magnitude
  • Achieve some noteworthy magical or political accomplishment
11

Prime Directive
DON'T BE A MUNCHKIN!!!
I am allowing a lot of options and permitting you to play with power. The system is easily abused, so don't abuse it. Be sane, be reasonable, stick with a concept, and focus on story and character.
And, if you have a good character concept that requires some bending of these or other rules, talk to the troupe as a whole and perhaps we can flex things a bit.

12

The Seventh Magnitude
The Seventh Magnitude is the benchmark of a powerful magus, and Hermetic effects of such level cause a point of Warping. This raises it one magnitude from RAW, as this is intended to be a high powered saga.

13

Advancement for other types of Characters
Companions and Grogs may also take advantage of advanced development rules. These characters gain an average of 20xp per year (5xp per season). Keep in mind that this is also part of the abstract. Companions and Grogs do not recieve a vis salary and do not advance in multiple cycles. The events of their life prior to play count as one long cycle.
Grogs can develop one new Minor Virtue, which must be balanced by a Minor Flaw. This costs 15xp, and is restricted to Grogs that are at leats 35.
Companions may develop up to 3 points of new Virtues, which do not have to be balanced by Flaws, but doing so makes it less expensive. The base cost is 5xp, plus 15xp per virtue point, minus 5xp per point of Flaws. A Companion character may gain a single Supernatural or Heroic Virtue this way, but it is also required that they take one such Flaw as well if they do so.
Non Magi characters can earn magical Wages for exceptional service or special duties. They don't recieve actual vis, just the things vis can buy. Basically, they can spend XP directly on items (1xp=1bp). So, for example, a Grog can earn a level 30 Longevity Potion at age 35 by spending 50xp.
Companions can purchase most anything a magus can. Grogs are limited to Lesser Devices and Longevity Rituals of level 30.
Familiars can only gain xp when their magus is involved in the process, using normal season rules for Teaching or Training or Exposure xp when assisting in the Lab. They gain also gain xp from adventures alongside the magus or from Exposure from just hanging around the magus while they are doing whatever it is they do. So as an abstract average, Familiars recieve 5xp per season of Association.

14

Laboratories
[tab][/tab]Everyone gets to hit the ground running.
[tab][/tab]Each magus is granted of one of the covenant's several towers, containing the Standard Andorra Lab. This automatically includes the Free Virtues of Dedicated Building and Superior Construction (+1 Safety, +1 Upkeep, +2 Aethetics, +1 Rego). Easy modifications & additions include Defenses, Elevated, Grand Entrance, Guard, and Servant. The magus may optionally choose some interior space (that happens to be available), but this means certain features may not be available (such as Dedicated Building, plus Grand Entrance &/or Elevated may not be available as depending on the situation).
[tab][/tab]The option for Magical Heating &/or Magical Lighting is available to any who choose it (each chosen as either Excessive &/or Superior Heating/Lighting, but none increases Upkeep and choosing both some form of Magical Heat and some kind of Magical Light lowers the Lab's Upkeep by one point.
[tab][/tab]Further, every magus may choose from three more options: 1) to start off with the Standard Lab as described above, including the features and options already given, and/or any other Free Virtues &/or Flaws as appliclible (including Magic Items); 2) Modify and Refine the Standard Lab according to standard rules and options given below; 3) Create a Custom Lab by having spent points on Lab Virtues and Flaws, again using standard rules with options described below.
Standard Lab
[tab][/tab]I already told you what the Standard Lab is and what your options with it are.
Customized Lab
[tab][/tab]You may spend your first season to modify and customize a standard lab with a balanced number of Virtues & Flaws. This not the same as Refinment and that score is not changed.
Refined Lab
[tab][/tab]All the standard rules for Refinment apply, save that you are able to reduce the amount of time it takes to install Virtues &/or Remove Flaws by including or replacing them with New Flaws. Consider a Minor Virtue as being worth 1 point and a Major Virtue as 2. A Minor Flaw is -1 and a Major Flaw is -2. The total number of points is the number of seasons it takes to install of these Virtues with these Flaws, but the minimum is at least one season in addition to the season of Refinment. This also means that, without changing refinment, it takes a season to change and rearrange all of a Labs Virtues & Flaws as long as they achieve the exact same balance as they did previously.
[tab][/tab]This increased speed is part of the magical nature of the covenant's aura, and no one is even aware of it.
Purchased Lab
[tab][/tab]You may spend points from Mustering Out to purchse Virtues & Flaws for your lab, or to transfer a lab you created in play to the covenant. Again, this is just the magical nature of the Aura at work here, and you are not even aware it is happening.
[tab][/tab]The following rules replace what was written before, but according to my calculations having looked at all current labs, this formula makes everthing fit.

  • Nonstandard Lab: Pyramid Value of Size x 10 (eg. +1 costs 10, +2 costs 30, +3 costs 60)
  • Refined Lab: Refinment x 5 (up to a maximum of your Magic Theory minus 3)
  • Virtues: 5 points for Minor, 10 points for Major; may include Flaws, since Vitures - Flaws may not exceed Size + Refinment)
  • Extra Lab: 25 points (an additional Standard Lab, fully equipped)
  • Retained Lab: 25 points (if you designed, refined, &/or modified a lab during your character's pre-game development, you may transfer that lab in it's entirety to your new location).

E.G. Vocis spent 40 points on his Lab, including 15 points for a Refinment of 3 (the maximum he is able), 10 points for Size +1, 5 points for a Minor Virtue, and 10 points for a Major Virtue.
((Vocis had previously spent 10 points for a Minor Virtue and mistakenly paid 30 points for a Major instead of 20, then he further neglected to balance the Virtues with Flaws or Increased Size, which may be my fault for dismissing a valid question when I was distracted))

Upkeep
[tab][/tab]As for Upkeep, the Covenant bears the cost of the first 10£ of your expenses (Upkeep +3). Above that, the covenant splits the cost with you. However, you recieve an annual Salary of 6£ and 3 pawns of Vim, you recieve an annual Stipend of 6£ and 3 pawns of Vim if you serve a Covenant Office, and you can earn a Wage once a year of 6£ and 3 pawns of Vim for performing extra duties. Vis of another Form may be taken in lieu of Vim, this is just a term of accounting. A pawn of a Technique may be taken in place of 2 pawns of Vim. The covenant will buy & sell (or rather, exchange) vis for silver and visa versa at an even rate of 12£ per pawn of Vim. Exchanges such as this are not to exceed the value of a Rook of Vim in a given three-year span.

E.G. Vulcanus has a Lab Upkeep of +6, an annual expense of 21£ of silver, The covenant covers the first 10£ off the top, and pays half of the remianing 11£ to leave Vulcanus bearing the burden of 5.5£. He recievs a Stipend as Artifex of 6£, leaving him with one-half £. He also recieves a Salary as a Master, and often earns Wages for his extra duties.

15

[u]Armaments[/u]
Quality Arms & Armor
[tab][/tab]There are four ranks of Armament Quality; Shoddy, Standard, Superior, and Excellent+.

  • Shoddy: Shoddy items break easily and are destroyed after a single failed stress test.
  • Standard: The basic default for all weapons.
  • Superior: Superior armor grants +1 to Protection, a Superior Shield grants +1 Defense, and a Superior Weapon grants +1 Attack. The Cost is increased one step on the scale.
  • Excellent+: Excellent Quality armaments offer a bonus of +1 to +3. For Weapons the bonus is applied to both Attack and Damage.

[tab][/tab]Considering City and Guild, Superior Quality Armaments have a difficulty of 12, and Excellent Armaments have a difficulty of 12 for +1, plus three for each additional +1 to the bonus. Inexpensive Armaments may have a bonus as high as +1, Standard as high as +3, and Expensive as high as scores allow.
[tab][/tab]During Character Creation, you may purchase Quality Armaments with Vis (if you are a magus, with 1 pawn worth 4q.p.); or with XP (spent in lieu of q.p. for companions and grogs). Superior items cost 3q.p. Excellent items cost 3q.p. per point of bonus, twice that for weapons. Items of Quality, using said Verditius Mystery, are only available to those with the appropriate Hermetic contacts. Their cost is 4q.p. per point of the bonus granted. As a reminder, Item of Quality bonuses are added to rolls, and are not figured into scores or totals.

Toledo Steel
[tab][/tab]A basic example of an Excellent Quality Weapon, the Toledo Steel Long Sword is the result of master craftsmanship and the inclusion of a rare metal known as Vanadium. The Craftsmanship grants a +1 bonus to Attack, and is not uncommon for blades of quality in the region. Vanadium is expensive and is usually reserved for long swords, though occasionally for short swords, but only the wealthy can afford to make their daggers this way. The metal makes the weapon stronger and better able to hold an edge, granting a +1 bonus to Damage. Thus, the famous Toledo Longsword has a natural bonus of +1 to Attack and Damage. Enchanting such a weapon requires additional vis, adding the bonus to the base 5 for normal steel. Such fine weapons often have other precious materials included in their ornamentation.

Shields
[tab][/tab]The shape of your shield is a stylistic choice, be it round or square or kite or whatever. What matters is the size and mass; Small (Buckler), Medium (Round), Large (Heater), and Huge (Infantry). So for example, you can have a Large Round Shield and just use Heater Shield statistics.

Armour
[tab][/tab]There are two ways to calculate Armor, the simple system from RAW, and the advanced piecemeal system from Lords of Men. The two are compatible, if the piecemeal of the main armor & all accoutrements are factored together.
Simple System
[tab][/tab]Based on core RAW, Standard Armor has a Load equal to Protection. Expensive Armor has a Load equal to two-thirds Protection (or Protection one-&-a-half times Load). Inexpensive Armor Has a Load one and a half times greater than Protection (or Protection equals two-thirds Load). This represents the standard outfits listed on page 176 of ArM5.
Piecemeal System
[tab][/tab]Referencing both the Expanded Armor Rules from Lords of Men page 139-142, outfits are divided into four categories of Body Armor, to which are added accoutrements such as Surcoats and Greaves plus Helmet. Body Armor is categorized as Curias/Jerkin (half of Partial), Haubergon (equal to Partial), Hauberk (three-quarters full), and Full (which already includes greaves/jambes, but not the surcoat or helmet).
[tab][/tab]I shall not reprint the whole table, so go buy the book if you want customization via piecemeal. However, for reference, the composition of commonly encountered outfits are as follow.
Light Leather: Protection 1, Load 1 (Leather Clothes, Greaves, Iron Cap)
Partial Metal Reinforced Leather: Protection 2, Load 2 (Reinforced Jerkin, Iron Cap)
Studded Leather Hauberk: Protection 3, Load 3 (Reinforced Hauberk, Iron Cap)
Partial Leather Scale: Protection 3, Load 3 (Rigid Scale Cuirass, Greaves, Iron Cap)
Full Metal Scale: Protection 7, Load 7, Perception -1 (Metal Scale Full, Open Helmet)
Partial Chain Mail: Protection 6, Load 4, Perception -1 (Mail Haubergon, Greaves, Open Helmet)
Chain Mail Hauberk: Protection 6, Load 4 (Mail Hauberk, Gambeson, Iron Cap)
Full Chain Mail: Protection 9, Load 6, Perception -1 (Mail Full, Gambeson, Helmet)
Arma Draco: Protection 10, Load 7, Perception -1, +7 to Soak Rolls (+2 Superior Quality Metal Scale, Full, IoQ, OfE (P8/L6), Excellent Quality Helm (P2/L1/Pr-1))
Arma Vocis: Protection 8, Load 4, +7 to Soak Rolls (+2 Excellent Quality Mail Hauberk, IoQ, OfE (P7/L2.5), Gambeson (P1/L1.5)
Warrior's Aegis: Protection 12, Load 6, Perception -1, +7 to Soak Rolls (+2 Excellent Quality Mail Full, IoQ, OfC (P9/L3.5), Gambeson (P1/L1.5), Unique Quality Helmet (P2/L1/Pr-1))
Steel Skin of the Bear: Protection 9.5, Load 3.5, +7 to Soak Rolls, Lesser Enchantment to change to fit his changing size and shape (+2 Excellent Quality Mail Full, IoQ, LE (P9/L3.5), Coif (P0.5/L0)

Quality Armor
[strike][tab][/tab]In consideration of Enchantment, the pieces are all treated separately: Body, Sucoat, Greaves/Jambes, and Helmet. The same goes for enhancing pieces as Items of Quality. For Superior and Excellent Quality Armor, the bonus is attributed to the main Body Armor. The contributions of accoutrements are usually to small to be substantially affected. For example, Plate Jambes can be considered equivalent to Superior Quality Greaves. There is no difference in Protection & Load, both have a score of 1 in each. Yet Plate Jambes are Expensive and a few decades out of date for widespread use, and Boiled-Leather Greaves are Inexpensive and standard. A smith capable of Superior Quality can also plate Surcoats; A plate Cuirass (P3/L3), a Coat of Plates (P2/L2), Plate Jambes (P1/L1), or a Light Breast Plate (P1/L1). A smith capable of Excellent Quality of +2 or more can craft Plate-and-Mail Jambes* or a Bascinet style helmet, even though these are advanced technology out of period.
*[sub]In regards to a full suit, subtract the effects of normal Greaves/Jambes and add the effects of Plate & Mail Jambes.[/sub][/strike]

16

Question regarding Equipment:

Armaments
So far we have rules to increase attack + damage, defence or soak. Would it be possible to increase Initiative somehow?

Enriched items
An enriched item grants a minor virtue OR a major virtue + a minor flaw (or drawback). If an Enriched item grants an ability, it grants it at a score of 3 (cannot be improved).
These are not costed. I am counting them as 15GP for the grogs (were counted at 12GP by during the creation of Arnau). Would that be correct?

Thanks.
Xavi

17

As far as I can tell, it's never been mentionned anywhere.
CHHound made a good argument that, if you look at the LoM weapons table, more than anything, initiative seemed to be tied to a weapon's length and your ability to reach your ennemy, with only some small adjustment for a few weapons. The shorter weapons have the lowest inits, and only 2 of the longest weapons have a +3.

18

In theory, if agreed upon by the troop, weapon quality could add to initiative. Which could make sense for fencing weapons or maybe other certain classes.

19

These HR's are obsolete. The ones in current use are at the top. In Mustering Out, I have a link to the Hermetic Economics and Price Guide. I will pose it here too if you guys want.
I don't wanna mess much with weapon quality until I get a copy of C&G

I have decided that, as a rule of thumb, Items that provide bonuses and do not have cost covered elsewhere, have a q.p. value equal to three-times the pyramid value of the bonus provided.

[quote]
Figure on q.p. equal to three times the pyramid value of a bonus given or a score provided; or use the price of an equivalent Hermetic Item.* Rare : Twice the normal value; Items that are still Hermetic (or semi-Hermetic) but require a special Virtue or Mystery.

  • Very Rare : Three times normal value; Non Hermetic Items, not that they are more powerful, just that they are expensive because they are scarce in the Hermetic Economy.

Now for Arnau, he is a folk witch with folk witch grogs. I think they already have the power to enrich items of quality? yes? Common item then. 18qp.
I know why it may be recorded as 12 or 15. An older rule was 4x then 5x the bonus value. I devised the scaled value (Fixer did really) in response to the Weapon Quality debate. You can only be grandfathered in if you don't go back and fiddle with things. When you opt to revise the character, you pay the revised price. :mrgreen:
Then again, this is an opportunity for testing and improvement. How do you feel about this structure?

20

To be honest, I've not been paying much attention to this debate, as it's all based on something or other from City & Guild and Lords of Men, neither of which I have nor have I heard enough wordfame to make me go "Oooh, must have!"

I, personally, will probably just keep on using the weapon quality stuff from the core book and the Items of Quality from Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults and let everyone else pass me by (unless they're willing to be Vibria's friend and give her really awesome, spiffy, and cool-looking stuff :smiley: .).

21

They already did. Vibria's armor and helmet :wink:

22

OK, great. Wanted to make sure I was doing it right. Cost is steep but hey. Thanks for clarifying this point since I was using this kind of items (I find them to be extremely cool mood-enhancers: for me they look like real medieval magic items) and I had the impression I was "cheating" against my will. Cool, thanks!

As a side note, rules for item cost are not in the house rules of the forum, and it might be a good thing to have them there :slight_smile: I assume ou meant we have adopted the convention of GBP = bonus scale point cost *2:
+1 = 2 GBP
+2 = 6 GBP
+3 = 12 GBP
+4 = 20 GBP

I will update the Flame brothers with this, so it is important to have a clear idea of the final rules we have adopted for this. Thanks :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Xavi

23

Very very much agree.
I had a "natural magician" somewhere, I should maybe try and revise him.

You missed it :wink:
=>

24

Ah, right. Thanks for pointing it out. :slight_smile: Seems I have underequipped the grogs

Cheers,
Xavi

25

I intend to eventually make a rule that states only those with access to Expensive Armaments may have Excellent Quality items. Keep that in mind.

26

I looked at your updates. You like whipped cream and cherries alright, but that is okay. Limit yourself to this handful of elite and call the rest of them generic rank and file.

27

Misscalculated them (was counting cost as *2, not *3). They are up again. Largest bonus is a +2, and generally they are more or less the same as vibria mercenaries.