One Shot Questionnaire

Games Discussion Ars Magica
21

First, I would like to thank silveroak, Euphemism, ezzeline, Medusa and Laurent Astart for filling out the questiononare.

There are six possible player characters,

Abele of Guernicus

Arndt of Tytalus

Johanna of Jerbiton

Lutgurd of Flambeau

Zara of Ex Miscellania

Zbynek of Tremere

Each character had four traits that were in the questionnaire, each of which could receive a score of 1-4. So, if people filled the questionare as I asked, the highest someone could get for a Characer is 16, and the lowest they could get was 4. Medusa reversed the order, but as he or she told me, I can take 20-score to get a compariable score to the others.

silveroak filled the questionare out first, and Abele of Guernicus received 16 points. It was impossible for any of the other choices to dd as well, so I stopped there

Euphemism had two characters with a 14, Abele of Guernicus and Zbynek of Tremere. Since I already assigned Abele of Guernicus to silveroak, Euphemism would get Zbynek

Zbynek of Tremere

Wizard Sigil: taste of pepper

Characteristics: Int: +1 Per: +1 Pre: +1 Com: +0 Str: +1 Sta: +1 Dex: +1 Qik: +1

Size: 0

Age: 26 Height: 5’7” Weight: 135 lbs Gender: Male

Decrepitude: 0

Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Flawless Magic, Affinity with Perdo, Affinity with Rego, Inoffensive to Animals, Minor Magical Focus: Certimen, Puissant Terram, Puissant Vim, Skilled Parens, Tough, Overconfident (Major) , Twilight Prone, Infamous Master, Magical Animal Companion, Temperate, Weak Enchanter

Personality Traits: Unforgiving: +2 Truthful +1 Overconfident: +5

Equipment:

Combat:

Dodge: Init: +1, Attack -, Defense +3, Damage : NA

Punch: Init: +1 Attack: +1, Defense: +1 Damage: +1

Longsword: Init: +3 Attack:+8 Defense: +5 Damage: +7

Soak: +4 (+7 when Doublet of Inpenetrable Silk is on)

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

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

Abilities: Animal Handling: 1 (dogs) Artes Liberales: 1 (grammer) Athletics: 3 (running) Awareness: 3 (keeping watch) Brawl: 1 (dodging) Charm: 1 (those in authority) Concentration: 1 (spells) Folk Ken: 2 (making conversation) Guile: 1 (blatant lies) Hunt: 1 (tracking) Latin: 4 (hermetic usage) Magic Theory: 3 (spells) Parma Magica: 1 (Mentum) Ride: 1 (horses) Single Weapon: 2 (longsword) Stealth: 1 (hills) Survival 1 (hills)

Arts: Cr 4, In 4, Mu 4, Pe 9 Re 11, An 4, Aq 4, Au: 4, Co: 4, He:4, Ig 4, Im 4, Me 4, Te 7+3 Vi 7+3

Spells Known

Doublet of Impenetrable Silk: (MuHe 15) +10 Spell Mastery 1: Quiet Casting

Touch of the Pearls (InAq 5) +10 Spell Mastery 1 Quiet Casting

The Wound that Weeps: (PeCo 15) +15 Spell Mastery 1 Penetration

Endurance of the Beserker (ReCo 15) +17 Spell Mastery 1 Imperturbable

Rope of Bronze (MuHe Te Req 15) +10 Spell Mastery 1 Subtle Casting

Heat of the Searing Forge (CrIg 10) +10 Spell Mastery 1 Penetration

Loss of but a Moments Memory (PeMe 15) +15 Spell Mastery 1 Penetration

Eyes of the Treacherous Terrain (InTe 15) +16 Spell Mastery 1 Subtle Casting

Pit of the Gaping Earth (PeTe 15) +21 Spell Mastery 1 Fast Casting

The Trackless Step: (ReTe 10) +23 Spell Mastery 1 Quiet Casting

Demons Eternal Oblivion (PeVi 10) +21 Spell Mastery 1 Penetration

Opening the Intangible Tunnel: (ReVi 10) +23 Spell Mastery +1 Penetration

ezzeline gave Abele of Guernicus a 15, the next two highest scores were Arndt of Tytalus and Johanna of Jerbiton with 12. As I had already assigned Abele to silveroak, I figured it would be either Arndt or Johanna, but I decided to wait to see what the other players preferences were prior to assigning a character to ezzeline.

Once I corrected for switching the order of the numbers, Medusa had three characters which got a 13, Arndt of Tytalus, Lutgurd of Flambeau and Zbynek of Tremere. I had already assigned Zbynek, Medusa would get either Arndt or Lutgurd.

Finally, Laurent Astart gave Arndt of Tytalus a 13, with everything else lower. So, that settled the tie breakers above, Laurent would get Arndt of Tytalus

Arndt of Tytalus
Wizard Sigil: Wine
Characteristics: Int: +1 Per: +2 Pre: +1 Com: +0 Str: -1 Sta: +2 Dex: +1 Qik: +1
Size: 0
Age:25 Height: 5’8” Weight: 165 lbs Gender: Male
Decrepitude: 0
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Flexible Formulaic Magic, Affinity with Aquam, Cyclic Magic (positive, night) Deft Aquam, Educated, Minor Magical Focus: Wine, Self-Confident, Sharp Ears, Feud, Proud, Ambitious, Cyclic Magic (negative, day) Infamous Master, Poor Eyesight
Personality Traits: Proud: +5
Equipment: Dagger, Longsword Load: 1 Burden: 1 Encumberance: 1
Combat:
Dodge: Init: +1, Attack -, Defense +3, Damage : NA
Punch: Init: +1 Attack: +1, Defense: +3 Damage: +1
Dagger: Init: +1 Attack:+3 Defense: +4 Damage: +4
Longsword: Init: +4 Attack: +7 Defense: +6 Damage: +7

Soak: +2
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20)
Abilities: Artes Liberales: 1 (rhetoric) Athletics: 2 (running) Awareness: 2 (searching) Brawl: 1 (dagger) Charm: 1 (women) Concentration: 1 (spell) Finesse: 1 (Pushing things) Folk Ken: 2 (detecting lies) Guile: 3 (misdirection) High German: 5 (storytelling) Intrigue: 2 (setting people against each other) Latin: 4 (hermetic usage) Magic Theory: 3 (Aquam) Parma Magica: 1 (Mentem) Single Weapon: 2 (longsword) Stealth: 1 (inside) Survival: 1 (forest)
Arts: Cr 6, In 5, Mu 5, Pe 6 Re 5, An 4, Aq 12, Au: 0, Co: 5, He:0, Ig 0, Im 6, Me 5, Te 0, Vi 5
Spells Known
Mighty Torrent of Water (CrAq 20) +20
Parching Wind (PeAq 20) +20
Cloak of the Ducks Feathers: (ReAq 5) +19
Push of the Gentle Wave (ReAq 15) +19
Still the Raging Water (ReAq 15) +19
Assume the Stature of the Giants of Eld (MuCo 10) +12
Disguise of the New Visage (MuCo 15) +12
Prying Eyes (InIm 5) +13
Invisibility of the Standing Wizard (PeIm 15) +14

Medusa would get Lutgurd

Lutgurd of Flambeau

Wizard Sigil: spells seem suspicious

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

Size: 1

Age: 27 Height: 6’3” Weight: 200 lbs Gender: Female

Decrepitude: 0

Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Affinity with Perdo, Affinity with Vim, Cautious Sorcerer, Deft Vim, Improved Characteristics, Large, Puissant Parma Magica, Puissant Perdo, Puissant Vim, Skilled Parens, Warrior, Plagued By Angel, Restriction (Must be clothed), Incomprehensible, Infamous Master, Pessimistic, Pious

Personality Traits: Cautious+3 Loyal: +1 Glass half empty: +4

Equipment: Chain Mail, Partial, Longsword or Leather Scale Partial and Shortbow

Combat:

Dodge: Init: +1, Attack -, Defense +2, Damage : NA

Punch: Init: +1 Attack: +2, Defense: +2 Damage: +2

Longsword: Init: +3 Attack: +10 Defense: +6 Damage: +8

Shortbow: Init: Init: -1 Attack: +6 Defense: +3 Damage: +8

Soak: +8 wearing Chain Mail, +5 wearing Leather Scale

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

Wound Penalties: -1 (1-6), -3 (7-12), -5 (13-18), Incapacitated (19-24)

Abilities: Artes Liberales: 1 (arithmetic) Athletics: 4 (running) Awareness: 3 (alertness) Bows: 1 (shortbow) Brawl: 1 (wrestling) Charm: 1 (soldiers) Concentration: 1 (spells) Folk Ken: 3 (detecting lies) High German: 5 (language of soldiers) Hunt: 1 (deer) Infernal Lore: 1 (black magic) Latin: 4 (church usage) Magic Theory: 3 (spells) Parma Magica: 1+2 (Mentum) Single Weapon: 4 (longsword) Stealth: 1 (hill country) Survival: 1 (hill country) Theology: 2 (ways to detect heresy)

Arts: Cr 3, In 4, Mu 3, Pe 9+3 Re 4, An 4, Aq 3, Au: 4, Co: 4, He: 3, Ig 3, Im 5, Me 5 Te 4 Vi 11+3

Spells Known

Parching Wind (PeAq 20) +17

Whispering Wind (InAu 15) +9

Invocation of Weariness (PeCo 20) +18

Rise of the Feathery Body: (ReCo 10) +10

Intuition of the Forest: (InHe 10) +9

Veil of Invisibility (PeIm 20) +19

Loss of but a Moments Memory (PeMe 15) +19

Eyes of the Treacherous Terrain: (In 15)

Demons Eternal Oblivion (PeVi 10) +28

Wizards Reach: Mentum: (MuVi 15) +19

and ezzeline would get Johanna

Johanna of Jerbiton

Wizard Sigil: Big Eyes

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

Size: 0

Age: 26 Height: 6’3” Weight: 220 lbs Gender: Female

Decrepitude: 0

Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Mecurian Magic, Affinity with Corpus, Book Learner, Improved Characteristics, Inoffensive to Animals, Large, Personal Vis Source (Corpus) Puissant Corpus, Skilled Parens, Blatant Gift, Indiscreet, Continence, Disfigured (Head of cow), Humble, Unimaginative Learner

Personality Traits: Sad: +1 Humble: +3

Equipment: 8 pawns Corpus Vis

Combat:

Dodge: Init: -1, Attack -, Defense +1, Damage : NA

Punch: Init: -1 Attack: +0, Defense: +0 Damage: +1

Soak: +2

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

Wound Penalties: -1 (1-6), -3 (7-12), -5 (13-18), Incapacitated (19-24)

Abilities: Animal Handling: 2 (cows) Artes Liberales: 2 (logic) Athletics: 2 (running) Awareness: 3 (alertness) Brawl: 1 (dodging) Charm: 1 (children) Code of Hermes: 1 (relation with mundanes) English: 5 (storytelling) Etiquette: 1 (townsfolk) Finesse: 1 (appearance) Folk Ken: 3 (who is attracted to who) Guile: 1 (appearing inocent) Latin: 4 (hermetic usage) Magic Theory: 3 (Corpus) Parma Magica: 1 (Immaginum) Penetration: 1 (Corpus) Philosophae: 2 (ritual magic) Stealth: 1 (fields)

Arts: Cr 9, In 5, Mu 5, Pe 5 Re 5, An 5, Aq 0, Au: 0, Co: 15+3, He:0, Ig 0, Im 4, Me 0, Te 0, Vi 4

Spells Known

Gentle Caress of Aesclepius (CrCo ritual 30) +34

Revealed Flaws of the Mortal Flesh (InCo 10) +25

Sight of the True Form (InCo 20) +25

Eyes of the Cat: (MuCo An req) +12

Sure Footedness of the Craig Leaper (MuCo An req) +12

Disguise of the New Visage (MuCo 15) +25

Gift of the Bears Fortitude (MuCo 25) +25

Grip of the Choking Hand (PeCo 25) +25

Endurance of the Beserker (ReCo 15) +25

Wizards Communion (MuVi 30) +11

With six characters and five players, one character is not going to get picked. Actually, Zara seems like the kind of character that someone unfamiliar with the system might like, which is contraindicated for people who would post here.

Zara of Ex Miscellania
Wizard Sigil: slipperyness
Characteristics: Int: +2 Per: +2 Pre: +0 Com: +0 Str: +0 Sta: +4 Dex: +2 Qik: +1
Size: -1
Age: 29 Height: 5’7” Weight: 135 lbs Gender: Male
Decrepitude: 0
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Shapeshifter, Affinity with Muto, Animal Ken, Enduring Magic, Great Characteristic Stamina, Improved Characteristic (x3) Inoffensive to Animals, Puissant Herbam, Puissant Muto, Tough, Deficient Technique Perdo, Optimistic, Waster of Vis, Hedge Wizard, Small, Soft Hearted, Weak Scholar
Personality Traits: Optimistic: +6, Happy: +3 Merciful: +3
Equipment:
Combat:
Dodge: Init: +1, Attack -, Defense +3, Damage : NA
Punch: Init: +1 Attack: +1, Defense: +1 Damage: +1
Kick:

Soak: +7
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-4), -3 (5-8), -5 (9-12), Incapacitated (13-16)
Abilities: Animal Handling: 1 (horses) Animal Ken 3 (horses) Artes Liberales: 1 (geomentry) Area Knowledge Holy Roman Empire: 1 (covenant locations) Athletics: 3 (running) Awareness: 3 (alertness) Brawl: 4 (kicking) Charm: 1 (woodcutters) Concentration: 1 (spells) Folk Ken: 2 (being unobtrusive) Guile: 2 (complicated plots) High German: 5 (expansive vocabulary) Latin: 4 (hermetic usage) Magic Theory: 3 (spells) Parma Magica: 1 (Fairy Magic) Shapeshifter: 3 (human) Stealth: 2 (mountains) Survival 1 (mountains)
Arts: Cr 4, In 0, Mu 9+3, Pe 0 Re 4, An 4, Aq 4, Au: 4, Co: 0, He:4+3, Ig 0, Im 0, Me 0, Te 4 Vi 0
Spells Known
Lungs of the Fish (Mu Aq Au req 20) +20
Arm of the Infant (MuCo 20) +16
Clothe the Naked Form (CrHe 10) +15
Thaumaturgical Transformation of Plants to Iron (MuHe Te req 20) +20
Aura of Ennobled Presence (MuIm 10) +16
Disguise of the Transformed Visage (MuIm 15) +16
The Crystal Dart (MuTe with Re req 10) +12
Object of Increased Size (MuTe 15) +20, +16 with Corpus Target

Bear Form
Int: +2 Per: +2 Pre: -1 Com: -5 Str: +6 Sta: +4 Dex: +2 Qik: +1
Size: +2
Combat
Claws: Init: +1 Attack: +13 Defense: +10 Damage: +10
Teeth: Init: +1 Attack: +11 Defense: +8 Damage: +7
Grapple: Init: +1 Attack: Defense: +6 Damage: na
Soak: +10
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, 0,-1,-1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-7), -3 (8-14), -5 (15-21), Incapacitated (22-28)
Abilities: Animal Ken 3 (horses) Artes Liberales: 1 (geomentry) Area Knowledge Holy Roman Empire: 1 (covenant locations) Athletics: 3 (sprinting) Awareness: 3 (prey) Brawl: 5 (claws)) High German: 5 (expansive vocabulary) Hunt: 4 (deer) Latin: 4 (hermetic usage) Magic Theory: 3 (spells) Parma Magica: 1 (Fairy Magic) Shapeshifter: 3 (human) Survival 5 (foraging) Swim 3 (against the current)
Falcon Form
Int: +2 Per: +3 Pre: -1 Com: -2 Str: -4 Sta: +4 Dex: +1 Qik: +6
Size: -3
Combat
Talons: Init: +5 Attack: +6 Defense: +12 Damage: -4
Beak: Init: +6 Attack:+6 Defense: +9 Damage: -5
Soak: -2
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, 0,-1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-2), -3 (3-4), -5 (5-6), Incapacitated (7-8)
Abilities: Animal Ken 3 (horses) Artes Liberales: 1 (geomentry) Area Knowledge Holy Roman Empire: 1 (covenant locations) Athletics: 5 (swift flight) Awareness: 4 (spotting prey) Brawl: 2 (talons)) High German: 5 (expansive vocabulary) Hunt 4 (game birds) Latin: 4 (hermetic usage) Magic Theory: 3 (spells) Parma Magica: 1 (Fairy Magic) Shapeshifter: 3 (human) Survival 3 (cold climate)
Horse form
Int: +2 Per: +2 Pre: +0 Com: -4 Str: +4 Sta: +4 Dex: +0 Qik: +2
Size: +2
Combat
Kick: Init: +4 Attack: +5 Defense: +7 Damage: +5
Soak: +4
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, 0,-1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-7), -3 (8-14), -5 (15-21), Incapacitated (22-28)
Abilities: Animal Ken 3 (horses) Artes Liberales: 1 (geomentry) Area Knowledge Holy Roman Empire: 1 (covenant locations) Athletics: 4 (long distance running) Awareness: 3 (noises) Brawl: 2 (hooves)) High German: 5 (expansive vocabulary) Latin: 4 (hermetic usage) Magic Theory: 3 (spells) Parma Magica: 1 (Fairy Magic) Shapeshifter: 3 (human)

22

So I will give a fuller answer later. But yeah, I'd happily play that Flambeau. One thing which I'd suggest is not giving a gender to the characters but writing them neutral and giving each two possible names as male/female coded.

2 Likes
23

Aah, I was sure I'd get the Tytalus. The character seems nice to me. I'm sure it will be fun to play.

However, I'm a bit afraid by the Proud. It is easy to clash with another player because of this one. Especially a +5. I suppose this is the major version?

Also, did you forget to add an Ambitious trait?

Finally I agree with Medusa: It could be nice to allow to choose gender. It could be also nice to add a low personality trait. A character with a focus on wine could very well be prompt to partying.

1 Like
24

The characters seem o me to lack a certain diversity in design that is part of what makes games fun- I understand that beginning characters might want a pre-made character but allowing more people to create characters will give you a bit more variety of characters.

25

For what it's worth, this is how I'd rank my preferences for the characters after having seen them, from the one I'd like best (Zara) downwards:

Zara Ex Miscellanea
Arndt of Tyalus
Lutgurd of Flambeau
Abele of Guernicus
Johanna of Jerbiton
Zbynek of Tremere

I guess the results do not match the "point-ranking" results: the total is much more than the sum of its parts.

26

For all my criticism, as much as there was, your system worked out pretty well. I would prefer either Zbynek or Abele of the characters presented.

But man would I be hard on the tytalus with the suspicious (literally) sigil if I had been in the game. ("hmm so that is the devil worshipper"). Maybe that it is in line with the setting for a Tremere to have that relation with a Tytalus.

27

As you surmised, it was the major version of Proud.. I didn't put a personality trait against Ambitious as i mean for that to be conveyed more in the player history (which I still have not written yet)

If I understand your concern about Proud, it is that there is a tension between playing the character in line with that trait and playing in such a way that you don't cause hard feeling with the other players. What if I switched Proud and Ambitious (wishes to be known as the best wizard within the Order of Hermes) Still proud, but better able to hide those feelings for the greater goal of winning the competition and showing the Order what a great wizard you are.

1 Like
28

The Tytalus has a sigil of wine (to go along with the minor focus), the Flambeau has the sigil of suspicious.

29

I am pretty sure you are right about the characters lacking a diversity of design. I created all the characters and whatever type of character I would not make is not going to be there. I also left out characters who would be quirky to run, for instance I didn't have any Cri

However, having experienced players bring their own characters is problematic for these reasons.

  1. I have no idea if the characters brought by players will be correct according to the rules as written. Ars Magica is a tricky system, for everyone of us who understands the system there are five of us who think they undestand sometime and understand it wrong. If someone builds a Rego specialist who works with wards and doesn't realize that wards have to penetrate, I need to warn them off. Reviewing characters at the start of the game takes time. People get impatient enough with just a quiz, reviewing a character to make sure everything works the way it should and adjudicating these issues takes too long.
  2. If people bring their own character, I have no confidence that they will be sufficiently distinct from other characters. For all that I admit that these characters may lack a diversity in design, they are somewhat diverse. I have a shapechanger who can turn into a falcon, a Bjornaer who can turn into a falcon won't be the same, but the overlap may be less than ideal.
  3. I can feel confident that the characters are around the same power level. I don't want a player bringing in a character and looking at it and trying to explain why it is weak.

My goal is to create a one shot that can be used to introduce new players to how Ars Magica works. Experienced players are helpful in this, as they can explain to their teammates how things work rather than it always being me. However, I want to allow unfamiliar players to be effective at the start, which means giving them pregen characters.

That being said, if you wanted to make a player character that I could use in this one shot, that would be great.

1 Like
30

Actually, this would be a fun challenge. But the best results can be obtained only by a) knowing a rough plot of the story and b) designing the six characters together. Why don't you open a thread with a two-paragraph description of the plot and environment of the story, and another two paragraphs about abilities that the PC group must, or must not have (e.g. "no way to reliably detect demons", "at least one must be a quaesitor, or have quaesitor-backed authority", "all must know wizard's communion" etc.)? Then we can all post compact versions of the six PCs: say, characteristics, V&Fs, personality traits, important abilities (plus unassigned xp), Arts and spells (so we leave out stuff like combat totals, equipment etc.).

31

I agree. Anytime I run a one-off game, I make sure to generate the PCs myself. I think that the scenario and character design should go hand in hand for a one off, to make sure that the skills the PCs have get used and are matched to the challenges. If someone shows up with their own pre-gen, there is a serious risk that it will overlap with an existing character or will be orthogonal to anything happening. Social PC for a dungeon crawl or vice versa...

Also maintaining the power level between the PCs is pretty important, especially if some of the players are not familiar with the system. Like someone showing up with their ultra optimised fireball machine with mastered multicast ball of abysmal flame will just disrupt the game.

1 Like
32

I once posted a request to make characters for a GURPS oneshot over on the sjgames forum. The response there was discouraged for me to attempt to do that again, but if you think people would be interested, I will give it a try

1 Like
33

I stopped playing GURPs recently due to certain issues with people at SJGames expressing alt-right anti-social tendencies. I would recommend trying again at Atlas.

34

I learned long ago to avoid bringing politics or religion into any activity done for fun or money. It avoids some very polarizing effects which can ruin all the fun and enjoyment gained by those activities.

I have not noticed any over-arching political leaning in all my reading of the Atlas forum, which actually makes it a nice place to talk about something we all ultimately do for fun.

1 Like
35

SJGames has in the past 1) asserted that certain specific religious beliefs were inherently evil as part of their pre-playtest material and only removed them to "save space' while affirming their support of the accuracy of the claim of the author and b) continued to purchase additional work from an author who had been ejected from multiple conventions for sexually harassing's female con goers.
I discovered the latter after I was ejected from an SJG forum for noting that certain symbols that were commonly being used were associated with white supremacists, and suggesting that it would be more welcoming if they restrained that.
Personally I agree with the idea of avoiding such topics, which is one of the reasons that I feels Ars Magica should be moved to a fantasy world to avoid issues with real world religions, but I am heading back into personal rant territory now...

36

I just want to say that my group of inexperienced players found this to be helpful in figuring out what they wanted to build. I did some work on formatting and moved options you had that were more informative to be just above the questions.

37

I would be interested. I think some other people would be, too, though I cannot say how many. And I mean, the worst that can happen is that you'll waste a little time writing four paragraphs and nobody will post to your thread!