With one butterfly familiar already in the saga, that might be a little repetitive, though it could be amusing, too. Snakes might work, since they shed their skin. Butterflies aren't the only insects that undergo a transformation from a larval to an adult stage, though they're among the most long-lived (a mayfly wouldn't live long enough to bind ). Beavers transform their environments, as do any number of burrowing animals.
Mythic creatures aren't out of the question, but you'd have to find one willing to bind with you.
Realms of Power (Magic) suggests White or Tortoiseshell cats (as per the magical lineages of cats stats given elsewhere in the book), foxes, hares, toads and other amphibians as well as butterflies and moths.
In terms of Forms, pretty much any familiar works with Animal (unless you start taking virtues that enable you to bind exotic things as familiars). Cats are under corpus, frogs and foxes under Terram.
I have to admit to not being entirely sure of the logic behind some of those Art assignments (and some of the logic that I've found is quite medieval - for example, hares are muto because they can change sexes (and also their fur to white, possibly, but, details)).
I'm not sure how well any of those are going to go with your personality, though.
(I would say that, short of something (roughly) anthropomorphic like a monkey or homunculus or a wolf-were (NOT a human werewolf!), or some other obscure (read: SG created?) "animal that can take the shape of a human", "Corpus" is out for familiars. Likewise Animal is redundant for (almost?) any.)
Hmmm...
Well, I suppose it's like the Shape/Material chart - what does red coral really have to do with demons anyway?
Anyway, magical or no, snakes are a natural for Muto, with their shedding skin and flexible bodies. As are most amphibians. Frogs ftw.
There are also some Muto/Terram lizards, like chameleons, but outside of the RL bestiary. Think a gila monster type thing.
Herbam could go the mandragoras/homunculus route (root). And Terram and Muto could support that as well.
(Problem is, afaik, an "exceptional" familiar like that requires either a Virtue or a special story - they're not just wandering about the backroads and fields of Mythic Europe waiting for any mage to scoop them up. BUT a season (or more!?) of (re)searching - maybe, sure.)
But with a single season of (re)searching, I'd believe a magical animal with a low Might that has some Muto power - a fox, a hare, something in that direction. (If this were Japan, it would totally work!)
In terms of animals I like the thematic style of a fox or badger. I think I could rationalise either. A fox has cunning to change itself to suit a ploy or tactic, it is patient and also curious. So I think a fox suits; perhaps a European red fox, so it's colouring is distinct.
I expect the effort to find one should be something which takes a season or two, or a story. That said, I'm certainly not willing to force other players through that story for the sake of it, so happy to spend time elapsed in search as the method to acquire and befriend a suitable animal. I would like a creature with might so that they are unaffected by warping, but not after anything exceptional.
Thank you for the suggestions folks, very much appreciated. Now onto the next step, stats and powers.
I'll volunteer to run that, with SG approval and guidance toward the final animal.
For some reason, I'm reminded of "back in the day", and an old, 1st-gen RPG, based on the Conan world iirc. Everything was "Encounter Tables" this and "Make a roll" for that. If you took a boat-journey in the large central sea, there was a decent chance (I want to say 10+ on 2d6?) that you'd end up drifting in the "doldrums", where the wind rarely blew - and once there, the odds were strongly in favour of you dying of thirst long before the dice said that enough wind would come to get you out of that area.
Time to roll up (yet) another character, and yet another to swear they'd never go near a boat again.
Q - Btr, characters should have 3 Traits. Grogs should have Loyal +/-, and "warriors" should have Brave +/-. Does that mean that turb grogs only have 1 unique Trait, or are the "mandatory" ones in addition? (Brave and Loyal have limited affect on how they're played most of the time.)
I'd suggest that if a Brave/Loyal trait is a key part of their personality (which is likely to roughly equate to having higher values) it makes more sense for it to count as "one of your three" rather than if it's largely nominal (so Theodoric, for example, having remained faithful to the covenant/order throughout the entire "inter-regnum" is noticeably loyal*).
*(I'm still wondering a little on whether he's quite as sane as all that - 15 odd years spent in a ruin on the offchance magi come back seems a little obsessive to me).
Brave/Loyal +1, as I think they have not been at N.C. long enough to have it higher.
Jovial +2, because otherwise they're not at all fun to write. I didn't like the negative implication that knuckleheads can sometimes include.
Then one would have Cautious +1, the other Direct +1. I forget which is which at present.
I've started a topic in the general forums about the "transformation" effects Fray would like to design in the future (here). I didn't want to thrash it too much here, and I think the general forums can help with the banter, but if this avenue of spells will be a non-starter in this game please let me know now before I get too invested.
For the sake of completeness here is the post, but perhaps put the ideas/opinions over there.
For purposes of this saga, I'm fine with whatever the consensus of the assembled eminences in the forum is. I'd be a little more hesitant if Fray were granting hinself magical powers, rather than just changing into funny-looking creatures.
cheers, ty.
The wider forum seems to have said "powers" are way beyond "normal" so I'd rather not get int that. imho a magical power would require a special virtue, or some sort of cult initiation, or whatever, etc. I'm thinking of a few specialised combat forms, and a better travel form, and all sorts of effects from gear and equipment. That alone should keep me busy.
That's the way I feel - 1 trait is a caricature, 3 traits are a character. (Altho' a grog might easily fall between the two.)
So we add Bravery and Loyalty on in addition, as extra dimensions critical to their role in the saga, but outside their core characters.
I've always understood the 2 to be separate - a librarian could be loyal but not brave, and a new grog could be brave but not loyal (or vice versa, for that matter!). The difference is standing up to danger vs. standing up for the covenant.
The brothers seem at least average brave - +0 to +1, maybe +2 (unless they don't walk their talk - which is always possible). As for Loyal, maybe, maybe not - that's a very ymmv measurement, esp for any new(ish) recruit.
Let's try to keep OOC discussions about a particular story in the thread for that story--that makes it far more easy to go back later and look at what happened.
). Beavers transform their environments, as do any number of burrowing animals.
