I've been trying to make sure I understamd the rules for Arcadian travel.
From what I can tell from HoH: MC, getting into Arcadia and getting out of it are two separate things. For doing either, you have to make two separate rolls:
- A roll to make a charm. The ease factor is 12 for a mundane place, 15 for a regio level and 18 if the destination is part of Arcadia. Rolls to make the charm are Characteristic + Charm Ability + die (probably simple).
- An Arcadian Travel roll. This is ease factor:
- Travelling to a Regio level: destination level x 3
- Leaving a Regio Level: current level x 3
- Travelling to Arcadia: (13 - current aura modifier) x 3
- Travelling from Arcadia: (13 - destination aura modifier) x3
Possessing an arcane connection to the destination subtracts 6 from the ease factor. Rolls to travel are Per + Charm Ability + Aura modifier + stress die.
It's not possible to travel to a mundane place without first travelling to a regio level above it. My interpretation of that is that it is not possible:
- To open a trod directly from one mundane place to another.
- To travel from the regio located in Tanais directly to a non-regio in Alexandria (say).
- To travel directly from Arcadia to a non-regio place (?) (Ease factor need not be absolutely prohibitive if there's still a strong aura).
- To travel to a non-regio place that doesn't have a faerie regio above it (?).
It's not entirely clear whether you can travel from a regio in Tanais to one in Alexandria without going through Arcadia, although my inclination is to say you can't (or, frankly, I don't see much reason to go into Arcadia). Whilst it's not actually explicit, I'd also be inclined to rule that you can only use it to get in and out of Faerie regios, not other types.
This has also got the slightly funny result that by the time you're in a Faerie aura of 7, it's easier to go to Arcadia than it is to go to a regio above you (since regios must have a higher aura than the base level).
RoP: F have some slightly different rules for how getting into Arcadia (and Arcadia only, not Faerie regios). You make a charm as normal, and then gain your Arcadian Travel roll (Per + Charm Ability + Aura + Stress die) in "threshold points". You need (13 - current aura modifier) x 3 threshold points to enter Arcadia (which is consistent with the Ease Factor given in the Arcadian Travel virtue). However, you can also get additional threshold points from a variety of sources, including crossing boundaries, various special times such as equinoxes and solstices, and having faerie virtues. The net effect is to make it easier to get into Arcadia (or other aspects of the Faerie Realm). Leaving Arcadia is unchanged from the Arcadian Travel write-up.
Is there anything I've got wrong/important I've missed?
As far as I can tell, the really tricky part is going to be making the charms. What ability does Viola use - Dex + Craft: Illumination? I'm not actually quite sure what's meant by Illumination in this context. Com + Latin (for poetry)? Both only seem to have a total score of 2, which would make charms difficult.