Freshly gauntleted characters will explore a winter covenant in southern France (because the old dudes told them to). Then things will take a truly unforeseeable turn.
Ars Magica: Phoenix - Rise from the ashes [3-8 Players]
System: ArM5.
Deadline: Characters created by November 20th. Chance to join later - unless we are full.
Starting Level: freshly gauntleted.
Advancement Rules: mostly through lab seasons.
Combat Rules: Normal. Self-made items with penetration>0 cannot be charged items or items that last only for a limited amount of time.
Dice-Rolling Rules: we use invisible castle (I have the right to ignore anything you roll and tell you the outcome is different)
Special Rules: I am right - the rules are tools for orientation, but I will make case by case decisions. Don't ever quote the rules at me: I am a gamer not a lawyer.
Posting Rate: twice weekly or more.
Absences: If they can't be parked in their labs, I will take them over and sacrifice them when a chance arises.
Writing Expectations: average. This is not a literature experiment, but a character/covenant development experiment.
Text Formatting: black, ooc is used at the bottom of the post to post ooc.
Plot- or Character-Driven: no major story flaws are allowed (they can be taken as minor story flaws). I know where the story is going.
Focus: covenant building, characters will age several decades during downtime.
Character Types: I want characters that fit - I do not like characters that take powerful virtues and weak flaws. So I am not happy about book learner Flambeau hoplites, or skilled parens ex Miscellanea unless you can convince me that this character really deserves that virtue.
Campaign Description: We go into a winter covenant because we were sent by powerful magi (who will reward/punish us if we don't), explore it and then build a covenant.
Companions or grogs are not needed. Familiars are obviously not there for freshly gauntleted magi. You do not have a longevity ritual at the beginning of the game. Parma is limited to 1.
I hate wards (unless they are against mosquitos or cold feet) and will do all I can to make them useless.
Char gen:
You each get your own thread to create your character - normal detailed chargen.
To are to write a character summary for the others to read (about 6 lines):
Magus X, house, looks like this (body + clothing worn) and sounds like that (and smells?). He is [character traits and quirks]. He is interested in healing/auram/animals/finding the fountain of youth/girls etc...
Do not include statistics or his personal history.
personality flaws and story flaws will later slow down characters (he is expected to spend one season out of 8 years per point of personality/story flaw doing things without getting an xp reward).
More rules may be needed - but I think this is pretty much covered.
Character creation hint:
Since you will be building a covenant - characters that are good at contributing to the common goal and getting along with each other will probably be the most successful ones.
I'm interested, but since I tend to play defense-focused characters, I'm a little skeptical about your wards ruling, unless we're talking about two different things. Are you referring to the general-level ring/circle wards?
The usual wards and penetration debate.
Wards must penetrate (which makes them useless against powerful creatures).
People also conveniently tend to forget wards when they eat or dress.
But there are other options then wards - nobody will be forced to fight high-powered monsters anyway. It is part of a sg's responsibility not to kill off the characters (unless they take foolish and utterly avoidable risks).
A sg is like a god - and player characters are like ants: Crushing them is easy, too easy, and boring.
Actually, you don't have to worry too much about your character's offense or defense: You can, but you won't need these as much as you may think.
There are enough saga's about killing monsters.
So if you insist on a ward focused character - you may consider going somewhere else.
PS: I'm being blunt again - I know Americans have more uplifting ways of saying that.
Does that mean as per the rules on page 29 , or season by season for each year of apprenticeship?
We would need to know what summae and tractatii are available.
Unless you just use the Customized Covenant Creation Summary on page 5 of Covenants.
I doubt you want players choosing a major supernatural flaw like Lycanthropy either.
(unless all the players take it) :mrgreen:
Does this mean that you would prefer points spent on social skills or practical skills (or both)?
Will the Gentle Gift be a benefit?
Can we use Virtues and Flaws from any published 5th Ed book?
e.g. (Astrological) Mutable Virtue or Flaw (from page 37 of The Mysteries)?
I've been reading the books for ages, but haven't really played yet (I've just started in another campaign here on the forums). I know char gen pretty well, but have little experience with the rules in play. If that's okay with you, I'd love to join.
It means page 29, so you don't need any summae or tractatus for creating a character.
Why not? A character could take it. I do recommend you have a spell to chain up your character though - and it would probably determine many of his goals in life . Probably with dark secret (taken as a minor flaw).
As long as I have the book (and I've got most of them), they fit, and they do not derail my plans. Astrlogical Mutable is okay.
I think the taking the Gentle gift must be rewarded - the blatant gift on the other side will make things more difficult.
At gauntlet you have few options spending your points anyway. Most of character improvement will happen in downtime seasons during the game?
Necromancers either require spirits (leaving you wide open to demons and being a hassle to create), or zombies (which makes it hard for your group to talk to people).
But I guess if you are willing to take the risk of becoming a diabolist (without any chance of realising it - magic cannot detect demons) and if you can keep your dead well hidden (so people won't call in the inquisition when they see you) - why not. A difficult concept is not necessarily a bad concept.
There are houses more inclined to deal with the dead: ex Misc, Tytalus (old summoning tradition going back to Tytalus mater), Tremere (tremere's mater and the military use of ghosts), Guernicus (a dead witness may indeed be a good witness), Criamon (summoning the old housemates for lessons at the domus magnus, Bjornaer (Ancesot cult) or Faustian Bonisagi ((research at any cost) come to mind. Verditius are usually more into creating things than into creating dead people.
Still you can take one if you insist on a Verditius as long as he's plausible.
They all work (and your choice will likely influence some aspect of the saga). Plus, at gauntlet - specialisation at gauntlet is minor anyway. All characters will to a large degree develop the skills necessary for the task in the many seasons of advancement during the game.
Out of curiosity, would a Verditus glass & metal smith step on your toes too much, Ravenscroft? I've been toying around with other character concepts while we wait for the forum to exist.
