...and the above comment became somewhat academic, as I just realized that I had 3 personality flaws, and you're only allowed 2. So, I switched one over to a Social Flaw (truthful: takes a -3 penalty in social situations where it would be better to lie and/or bend the truth), and as a consequence, he only takes an XP penalty on 6/less, rather than 8/less.
HOWEVER - the point remains.
EDIt - just thought of another issue: major and minor story flaws are, to my understanding, supposed to be more-or-less the same in terms of story that they bring to the table. The main difference is that minor story flaws have an associated benefit, whereas major ones don't - that's why you're supposed to only have one Story flaw, regardless of its size. This calculation suggests that major Story flaws show up 3x as much as minor ones, even though they really probably shouldn't.
@Kevin
I like your analysis. The key worry seems to be that the number of xp gained is reduced.
Many years ago, I thought it would be fun to develop an apprentice season by season. and I did. The result was a monstrously powerful apprentice, although I wasn't particularly generous about studying times. I am telling you this, because I firmly believe that a season-by-season development will lead to characters that are more powerful than the 30xp/annum* assumed in the core book, especially if they cooperate.
*Of course some powers are hard to measure in xp like initiation virtues, items, familiars etc.
So the 2%-rule has three objectives:
Reduce the number of xp by about 5-10%.
Simulate that life cannot be planned reliably.
Discourage people from taking major story or personality flaws, because they will play less of a role in a saga that is focused on the lab as much as this one.
I am well aware that there are downsides to this. The best lessons in real life are taught by story flaws and personality flaws. But adopting your suggestion would defeat objectives 1 and 3.
Arthur has already posted his sheet updated to pre-tribunal state. If you all do this, we can start with the ic scenes.
I'm still uncertain where the best place is to put the seasons of development. Having them in cooperation may work, but I think I can agree with bitter who remarked that this may not be a good place to keep the result.
I had suggested putting them in the "development: name ex house" threads at the end of the posts.
Alternatively, we could add either one extra thread for all, or five threads (one per magus).
I am really not sure what is the most comfortable way to do it.
I think it better if you yourself make the posts about the season (rather than me collecting them), because it is hard for me to see the difference in your posts between "I plan to do this in the next couple of seasons), unless someone has a better idea" and "I have made a final and binding decision about my character's future".
@Kevin: Can I add your character's niece to covenant expenses as an NPC? I feel she should be paying upkeep like a companion because she's qualified, but I'm not sure really if she's just covenfolk (cheaper)? Do we keep tabs on her abilities? Or just on magic theory? Or do we simply assume she gets a fixed amount of xp/per year (like two seasons worth of training? Or 15xp? Or do we simply decide that she'll have a certain ability in MT, Latin, and Arttes Liberales?
I'm asking because theoretically, you could have her teach magic theory to two dozen other NPCs, all of whom could eventually write low-quality tractatus and become magic theory experts, especially if they have a decent com and teaching (magic theory). I am not opposed to such a development, but if you want many of these people, please do the book-keeping for them.
We could indeed put the seasonal summary at the end of the post where we put the stats at the end of a period. I will do this with Cornelius; see if you like the format.
the gross were only mentioned by number, not by nature or origin. I kind of assumed that each magus would have come with their personal shield grog. We should probably stat them up at some point, though I don't think there will be much need for them to have stats for the Tribunal meeting. And with the expected pace of the saga, it might not even be worth it to give them more than simple generic stats.
I may stat out St. Avery's neice, but she's (arguably) a boarderline companion - or rather, a grog that shows up in his life a lot and is really useful to have around.
I was planning on treating her like a statted-out grog(3 virtues/3flaws, etc.); useful, but not Companion-level useful. (And I think she counts as coven folk, in terms of cost.) And yeah, I was going to be giving her 2 seasons of training, 2 of exposure. And yep, I was planning on a spreadsheet to track folks if it ever got to that point.
Practicing a language is 8xp/season (no cost). You'd have to spend time and/or money to get a teacher/book.
Possibility 1: Acquire a book on an easily available topic: (BP/5, round up), including home delivery
Possibility 2: Rent A Teacher (single student): 1 pound/per season (11xp/season), includes cost of finding a teacher
Possibility 3: Offer the teacher (age: 20) covenant membership (usual covenant upkeep cost + 1 pound to hire him and get him there)
I would have been looking at getting a slightly larger lab right off the bat if possible and include the Spacious virtue (minor structure). Spacious can be included for free when setting up the lab, provided the space to do so is available.
Am I correct in assuming that our labs are already Size +1, since they already include the Auspicious Shape virtue? Subterranean is a free flaw, so it would not balance Auspicious Shape.
Bumping the a lab up to Size +2 would mean a diameter of approximately 35 feet (instead of about 32 for Size +1 and a bit less than 28 for Size 0).
I think this just means that those virtues/flaws are already there: the rooms are already carved/dug - they just need to be set up and arranged according to Hermetic principles.
From what I understand of the Covenant rules for labs, the only ways to have a virtue is to:
Increase Size
Increase Refinement
Balance it with a flaw
Having the lab be a special shape means its use of space is a bit less efficient, so it makes sense for it to have been slightly larger right from the start. Unless Pralix rules it to be a special case and states that Auspicious Shape in this instance is a free virtue. Since the Size of the labs were not stated in the Covenant economics post, it may simply not have been taken into account.
Auspicious shape can be taken for free at the beginning of the game. They simpy dug a hexagonal lab out of the rock. thank Bastion (whose player has been rather quiet)
So, is it possible to also have a larger lab right away? This only means increasing the diameter of the room from 28 feet to 32 (for Size +1) or 35 (for Size +2). That way, Cornelius could configure his lab to have the Spacious virtue without an additional investment of time when he does the initial setup.
