Okay...looking at the book, fixing to work on Fiona's talisman (I'm thinking a large gnarly staff of some kind)...and I feel like I'm missing something, because it seems too easy.
To make a talisman, all you have to do is spend a season attuning it? No Vis expenditure, no lab totals nothing? Just budda-bing-bang-boom, there it is?
And to instill effects in a talisman, it's done as a regular enchantment, with a +5 to your Lab Total and an obscenely high Vis limit (in Fiona's case, 16 for Mu + 14 for Co = 40)? Can't quite tell if you need to open the talisman for enchantment first (i.e. plunk in some Vim vis one season, then instill the effects afterward), or if it's all done over seasons using form-specific vis?
Sorry, never made a Talisman before, and thus never had a reason to really look hard at the rules. Sooo...is this right, or am I confused?
A bit confused...
It has to be at least opened for enchantment before you can make it your talisman. Any item you've previously created can be attuned as your Talisman, as well. So, you're looking at using at least 3 seasons: open for investment, attune as talisman then invest effect. You can also switch the order, invest effect and then attune it as your talisman.
Okay, so one season plunking a dozen pawns of Vim vis into it (since the capacity of a talisman is independent of it's shape and material). Then, a season Attuning it as her talisman. Then, after that, she can instill effects into it, up to its capacity of currently 30 pawns of vis. Sound about right?
That's how I went about creating mine. Love Talismans.
What I don't understand is how do you get more room into it, as it's effect space is limited only by your 2 highest Arts?
Do you have to periodically open it with more Vim Vis to make it equal those Arts or is it automatically opened like that?
BTW, a great effect for a staff talisman is Wood that neither Breaks nor Bends, prevents it from getting broken. Take a look at my Talisman for the breakdown of that effect if you want.
Doesn't the capacity increase as your highest Technique and Form do? e.g. Fiona's got 16 Muto and 14 Corpus, so she can instill 30 pawns. If she were to up her Corpus to 16 and Muto to 17, then she can cram 33 in there without having to do anything else to the talisman, if I'm understanding correctly.
Since the Talisman is considered an extension of you, I believe (and call this a ruling) that it's capacity increases as your two high Arts ,for Technique and Form, increase. This is especially easy to see when you're allowed to open part of the Talisman at a given time.
But opening part of it at a time, does that cost more vis and time in the lab? That one line there is what keeps throwing me. If that wasn't added I would assume that it just simply equals your highest T and F. With that line it seems that when you have a higher T and F than when you enchanted it and want to take advantage, then you need to open it again and stuff in more vis so that it equals your T and F.
Yes, it costs vis to open it for additional enchantment. Say your highest TeFo when you first created your talisman was 12 and your MT was 5. The best you could do in a single season is open 10 points of enchantment. You could come back and open the remaining 2 unopened levels a following season or decide that 10 was sufficient for your needs for the present. A few years later and your TeFo combo is up to 20, and your MT is still 5, so you have 10 pawns of room to open in the Talisman, and you can open the rest of it for enchantment in a single season.
It's just like opening any device for enchantment, except that the limit is your highest TeFo combination. It grows as your Arts grow, and you don't have to open the entire device for enchantment. If you have only 2 pawns of Vim vis, and it will be enough to instill the effect you want, you can certainly do that. It's inefficient, because if your MT was 5, and you had 10 points of enchantment that could be opened in your Talisman doing 2 now and 8 later means you're kind of wasting a season. Although, sometimes you need that effect in there pronto, to heck with efficiency.
I'm not sure I understand what your asking "do you have to do it?" means. You don't have to add any additional effects. If you want additional effects, open more space for enchantment. If your two highest Arts are different than when you initially opened it, the Talisman is still governed by the two highest arts. If it was MuCo 20 before, but is now ReHe 25, and your Talisman was fully opened for MuCo 20, you don't have to reopen the talisman for 25 points. You just have to open it for 5 points. Is that clear?
This answered it, thanks. Basically what was never clear was if the staff's space grows as your Arts grow, or whether only its potential grows, and to access it you need to spend more time and vis in the lab.
Also i think the very first opening has to be according to the normal rules for enchanted devices because only AFTER opening it you can attune it as your talisman. So when you open it for the first time, its not a talisman yet.
Yes, it has to be opened as normal according to the size and material limits, only after that point can it be attuned as a talisman, and be then limited by the highest TeFo combination.
okay, I think I've got it (and added it to her character sheet). Her Talisman is a 7½ foot long staff made of rough wood; while not gnarly and bent, it is not perfectly straight, and it is obvious that it was not made by a carpenter. It has been partially opened (8 pawns) and attuned, but she has not done anything further with it as yet.
So, is there a preference for a wiki location?
I'm in a game with Peregrine_Bjornaer (Phoenix) that uses Wetpaint. It makes my teeth hurt, it's slow, the html formatting is hit or miss.
I've played with Obsidian Portal a bit. It's not nearly as slow. It doesn't have the nice sidemenu tha Wetpaint does. If most people are setup on one or another, I'll setup wherever. Just looking for a bit of input.
Oh, and has anyone given a thought to companions? Is my idea that you play a companion for another magus just nuts and no one wants to do it? Are you just too invested in getting the magi ready?
Hah - I was typing my first entry in the 'companions' thread as you were writing this.
I don't know what the others think, naturally, but the idea seems a good one to me. It gives us a natural reason for characters at different levels of power to be in the same stories together.
The 4 grogs are separate from the companion. You're retinue upon arrival will be at least 5, 4 grogs+1 companion. Additionally, as qcipher did, you can use your personal build points to bring another person with you. I just wanted to make that clear.
And, there should be grogs at the covenant. These may be built in two different ways. Part of the 250 bps, or built as fully fleshed out characters. Both have advantages and disadvantages... When allocating your build points you need to weigh whether or not you want to create a mess of grogs to handle the various tasks, or if you just want to handwave them away as build points.
A third option, is probably the same as using build points, or will have the same effect. Have me design the grogs, but I will have to slash the build points players have to build the covenant.
Yup, got that. I just meant that 'member of rescued family' might be a good idea for a companion, if someone wanted to go that way. I'll edit to clarify.
I'm pretty sure that I have an account on Obsidian Portal, but haven't used it yet. I'm willing to give it a go. Haven't really looked around to see what other options are out there. I do know that I like the idea of having a wiki or website, so that everything isn't here...that would be a bear to look for stuff in.
I actually haven't yet...if I recall, we're supposed to throw character ideas out and see if anyone wants to play it. Been working too much on my maga (and almost rebuilding her from gauntlet to put more emphasis on the herbalist aspect vs the transformation but decided it wasn't worth it). Plan on bringing a new shield grog, her cook/maid (not sure if one or two characters), probably someone else that the doddering old fools of Insula Canaria won't be too upset about losing.
This is where I come in with an element of self-doubt.
I have concerns that I'm putting a lot of work on the members of the troupe, given how much stuff there is to do to even begin playing. I don't want players to feel like I'm neglecting duties they'd rather I see to myself.
For example, the troupe's responsibility generally is to design the covenant, assing boons and hooks and build points.
Then create a number of grogs to populate the covenant, or use build points from above, or some combination of the two.
Create their magus and companion characters, and complete the retinue for 4 grogs coming with the magus. My part to date has been selecting the location and doing some research about it, developing the general story, and outlining where characters and their flaws are fitting into the story and generally working background.
Having done something similar, as a player, for Phoenix, it's an enourmous amount of work. If there's something I can do to help the process, I'm very interested in being at your disposal.
I was also contemplating some additional letters-generating correspondence between Apollodorus and the players to establish a bit more information. I presumed that the initial notification was sent out via Redcap a few years, perhaps as many as five years back, so there can be some amount of correspondence between your character in Apollodorus. It gives characters a chance to find out more about Apollodorus before play commences. It will also highlight any weakspots in my background research and give me time to address those before play begins in earnest. Let me know what you think, and don't hold back. The key I'm looking for is consensus of the troupe. If I don't have it, I'll try and work a solution that works to maximize everyone's Bibracte experience.
