Prochorus ex Miscellanea

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: The Price of Freedom
1

Appearance
Prochorus is a short, slim man in his thirties. He wears a huge, blond, scraggly beard and lets his hair grow long. He has piercing blue eyes and a determined gait. He usually wears plain brown robes, but for the occasion he may slip into white volkhvy robes embroidered with red beads. Prochorus always carries a thin drum that is about a pace across. Sometimes he also carries a small Kantele strapped across his back.

Pictures
http://kalevalataidettakouluille.ateneum.fi/images/vainamoinen-pallo.gif
Volkhvy robe: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/%D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BD%D1%8C_%D0%BE_%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%89%D0%B5%D0%BC_%D0%9E%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%B3%D0%B5.jpg
Drum: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rune_drum_1691_AD.JPG
Sound: youtube.com/watch?v=evd_IWzVQYo

History
Pawel was born in a small fishing village near Wolgast in Western Pomerania. His father, a German fisherman, had moved there hoping for a better life. Pawel’s early years were spent braving the sea with his father, playing in the woods, wooing pretty girls with bawdy songs, and brawling with peers who harbored a violent hatred for the presumedly cocky little lad.

Pawel was apprenticed at thirteen to Aapram ex Miscellanea and taken to Oculus Septentrionalis in Lübeck. He hated the city from the start. In this respect, Pawel resembled his pater. Although Aapram’s knowledge of the North, together with his Gentle Gift, had earned him a place and substantial influence in the covenant, the coarse magus never really earned the respect of his sodales or felt at home in the city. Pawel couldn’t understand why he stayed.

The covenant relied on Gently-Gifted members to remain inconspicuous. Since Pawel was lacking in this regard, Aapram made sure to foster his talent for manipulating minds. Pawel learned to rectify most of the problems his presence invariably caused when he left the covenant, but also grew used to having his way with mundanes. This has proven problematic with covenant grogs, since they do not like to be manipulated with magic, and have grown to recognize Pawel’s magic as such.

Staying in Oculus Septentrionalis after his apprenticeship was never an option for Pawel. He lacked the Gentle Gift, for one. For another, he was sick of the place and its glib, smug, condescending magi. By his Gauntlet, Pawel was itching for a chance to show Hermetic society his mettle. Officially renamed Prochorus, he packed his Tietäjä robe, drum, and kantele, and set off.

Tradition

The Tietäjäs originate in an all-male tradition of hedge wizard sages and poem-singers from the karelia-ingria region. Rather than being destroyed through the Christianization that intensified in the region around the year 1000 and threatened them, the Tietäjäs banded together and sought protection in the Order. They were readily accepted, as the Order was seeking to expand into the area. Their new allegiance made the Tietäjäs no friends with the volkhvy or Scandinavian wizards, however, who perceived them as having allied with the enemy. Because of this, some of the Tietäjäs have since felt the need to relocate south, especially along the Novgorod trade route through the Baltic Sea and down the Volga. The tradition currently has 10 to 15 members, all members of the Order, although some live in seclusion and have little contact with their sodales.

The Tietäjäs have been part of the Order for under 200 years, a relatively short time, and it shows. They often favor traditional dress and let their beards grow wild, cast spells via guttural poems, and carry shamanic drums or traditional string instruments. They are disrespected by members of the traditional houses as hedge wizards.

The Tietäjäs adhere to an animistic religion that venerates animal spirits. The most important of these is the Sotka, a divine scaup that gave birth to the world. Others include Mesikämmen the bear, the embodiment of the forefathers; Kokko, the vengeful weather eagle; Hiiden hirvi, the great six-legged elk that keeps the summer at bay; Iku-Turso the pike, the bane of boats; Kostja the crane, a bringer of watchfulness; and Sirke the adder, the farmer’s foe. According to old Tietäjäs, their ability to assume the shapes of totemic animals derives from worship. This is dubitable given that some of the tradition’s junior magi have been recruited from Christian stock, and are not devout followers of the old ways, yet are able to shapeshift nonetheless if appropriately taught. The shapes they assume do seem related to their personalities, however, which is also true of the older Tietäjäs.

Characteristics
Int +3 (Quick), Per +1 (Astute), Pre +2 (Imposing), Com +2 (Wordsmith), Str -2 (Slender), Sta +1 (Fit), Dex -1 (Graceless), Qik 0

Confidence: 2 (5)
Size: -1
Age: 28 (28)
Decrepitude: 0 Warping Score: 0 (0)

Virtues
The Gift, Hermetic Magus (Free; magus)

Subtle Magic, Shapeshifter (greater scaup, bear) (Free; tradition)

Improved Characteristics, Life Linked Spontaneous Magic, Self Confident, Minor Magical Focus (mind control), Puissant Rego, Puissant Mentem, Performance Magic, Special Circumstances (playing an instrument)

Flaws
Weak Magic Resistance (in dominion) (Free; tradition)

Unimaginative Learner, Driven (Self reliance and recognition), Small Frame, Difficult Underlings, Weakness (Pretty Face), Hedge Wizard

Abilities
Athletics 2 (run), Swim 2 (underwater), Brawl 2 (dodge), Low German 5 (Pomeranian), Music 3 (sing), Profession: Fisherman 2 (sea), Profession: Scribe 1 (copying), Concentration 1 (spell concentration), Folk Ken 2 (peasants), Survival 1 [1] (by the sea), Guile 3 (covert mind magic), Area Lore: Baltic sea 1 (Lübeck), Awareness 2 (alertness), Latin 4 (Hermetic usage), Code of Hermes 1 (mundane relations), Artes Liberales 1 (ceremonial magic), Parma Magica 1 (Mentem), Magic Theory 3 (Mentem), Magic Lore 1 (ghosts) Faerie Lore 1 (sea faeries), Finesse 1 (Mentem), Shapeshifter 2 (greater scaup), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (politics)

[375 xp: 75 native language, early childhood 45, later life 120, shapeshifting virtue 5, apprenticeship 130]

Personality and Reputations
Confident +3, Boastful +2, Determined +3, Quick Tempered +1

Reputations: Hedge Wizard 3

Combat

Arts
Creo 5, Intellego 5, Muto 5, Perdo 5, Rego 6+3 [1], Corpus 3 (1), Imaginem 3, Mentem 7+3, Vim 3 (3)

Equipment
Kantele carved out of walnut tree
Drum

Spells Known
Standard:
Wizard's Sidestep (ReIm 10) +13
Aura of Rightful Authority (ReMe 20) +29
Trust of Childlike Faith (PeMe 10) +16
The Call to Slumber (ReMe 10) +20
Loss of But a Moment's Memory (PeMe 15) +16
Posing the Silent Question (InMe 20) +16

Modified:
The Eye of the Overlord (ReMe 25) +29
(Range: Eye, Duration: Diameter, Target: Individual)
You control a human being for as long as you can see him. You can make him perform any act he is capable of. You may issue commands verbally or otherwise, but the target only follows them to the degree he can undestand them. The target follows orders in a determined but mechanical way, which may arouse suspicion in others. Upon completing his instructions, or in the absence of them, the target stands still. The target reverts to normal after the spell's effect ends, and may be extremely angry with the magus.
(Base 15, +1 Eye, +1 Diameter)

Personal Charm (MuIm 5) +9
Personal-range version of Aura of Ennobled Presence.
(Base 3, +2 Sun)

Greater Recollection of Memories Never Quite Lived (MuMe 5) +16
Changes the target's memory of an event into a similar, though different, memory. The target is no more sure of this manufactured memory than of the authentic one, so he may discover strange fabrications to be false.
(Base 2, +1 Eye, +2 Sun)

Sigil
Helplessness. Prochorus' spells are accompanied by a sensation of helplessness in those affected or present.

Exp:
From stories:
Summer 1210: The Sunken Sailor: 1 to survival; The Wayward Inn: 5 to Magic Lore, 1 to Rego

From study:
Autumn 1210 Vim summa 9 xp 0 -> 3 (3)
Winter 1210 Corpus summa 7 xp 0 -> 3 (1)

2

Prochorus in bear form

Characteristics
Int +3, Per +1 (norm. 0), Pre +2 (norm. 0), Com -3 (norm. -5), Str +4 (+norm. +6), Sta +4, Dex +1 (norm. +2), Qik 0

Size: +2

Combat
Claws: Init 0, Attack +12, Defense +9, Damage +8
Teeth: Init 0, Attack +10, Defense +7, Damage +5
Grapple: Init 0, Attack +6, Defense +5, Damage n/a
Soak: +10
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0/0, -1/-1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-7), -3 (8-14), -5 (15-21), Incapacitated (22-28), Dead (29+)

Abilities
Athletics 3 (sprinting), Awareness 3 (prey), Brawl 5 (claws), Hunt 4 (deer), Survival 5 (foraging), Swim 3 (against the current)

Appearance
Prochorus' bear form is slightly smaller than average with a light brown fur. As here: bearsoftheworld.net/images/b ... ear_ru.jpg


Prochorus in Scaup Form

Size: -3

Int:+3 Str: -5 Dex: -1 (norm. 0) Pre: 0 (norm. -2) Com: 0 (norm. -2) Per: +2 Sta: +2 Quick: +5

Abilities:
Brawl 4 (dodging)
Survival 3 (home terrain)
Awareness 4 (predators)
Athletics 5 (flying)
Swim 6 (home terrain)
Stealth 4 (hiding)

Combat:
Dodge: Init +5, dfn +10


Virtues & Flaws:
Puissant Swim
Clumsy

Qualities:
Accomplished Flyer (*migrates)
Amphibious (hold breath twice as long)
Timid
Defensive Fighter

3

Sounds cool. A mind control dude that is not gentle gifted is something i have not seen before :slight_smile: i like it. It is also quite an outcast, so i can see him going to the new covenant. And he will be useful to win us a place there among the mundanes (and crews for our potential future ships?)! Good one. Once i get hold of a computer i will post mine :slight_smile:

Cheers!
Xavi

Enviat des del meu MT6515M usant Tapatalk 2

4

Here's a bunch of comments. Please take them as they are intende: constructive criticism. :slight_smile:

I'll be interested in seeing more about the tradition. Is it still based on the concept of the bardic wizard, or is that more of an individual interests of the character? Because the is no longer anything in his magic that is related to singing. That constitutes a shift in concept.

The stats seem a bit scattered. I'd have expected stronger Pre and Com, even if it means lower Int. Abilities are also all over the place, leaving the character weak in almost everything. A youth brought up in a fisherman's family (and who became a wizard's apprentice at the age of 13) should have more than a score of 1 in Sailor (that should probably be Profession: Fisherman instead). The numerous abilities at 1 in social stuff (Bargin, Charm, Folk Ken, Leadership, Etiquette, Guile) are less than optimal. Same thing with the knowledge abilities in the various Realms (Church Lore, Faerie Lore, Magic Lore, Infernal Lore).

The character suffers a similar challenge in his Arts. All score are low, leading to a weak magus overall. Spontaneous magic will be unable to achieve anything over level 5 without burning additional Fatigue through Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic. Study Requirement will also make it difficult to improve some of the Arts at the covenant. Some won't be a problem (Aquam, Auram and Terram for sure), but other may be troublesome (Mentem and Vim, for example). Thus, it might have been advantageous to start with a much stronger score in Mentem -- stronger than what you can hope to easily achieve locally, but which would have made sense while living with your master in Lubeck.

As for spells, you have two (including your highest-level spell) that affect animals. I can understand Viper's Gaze as a defensive/utility spell, but Mastering the Unruly Beast is harder to understand. Then you have many different Mentem spells, only one of which fits your Focus in Mind Control. Note that Posing the Silent Question will be very hard to cast in those situations when it is the most useful -- amongst mundanes -- because the casting bonus is fairly low and may be penalized by the local (Divine) aura of a town/city. A stronger score in Mentem would help you there.

I noticed the kantele in his equipment and something jumped up at me. What happens if it gets damaged? It may be hard to find a craftsman that can fix it or make another one.

Overall the character makes sense, but would benefit from some fine-tuning. :smiley:

5

I edited some stuff in as you posted this - did you see it already? I ditched the singing because I wasn't happy with the singing focus without performance magic. My idea was for concrete knowledge as opposed to abstract - I tried to have that reflect in the story as well.

I'll round them up a little, then.

Why are those difficult to improve? I've never had a character with study requirement, but I imagined mentem at around level 10 would be something like "in the presence of an intelligent mind", for which a shield grog would suffice. How does that work, exactly?

Yeah, good point. Didn't think about that. He doesn't carry it around most of the time, it's more for the important occasion.

Thanks for the excellent help with the character!

6

I had not, but just read it.

It is rather strange that a tradition of "sages and poem-singers" would have their signature virtue be Shapeshifter, and have nothing at all related to singing. Study Bonus and Study Requirement also don't seem like a very good thematical fit to the concept of the tradition either.

Making things worse is that since the character has Quiet Magic, I don't even see him even relying on his voice much anymore for his magic. So the tradition become rather further diluted in the character. Whereas I see an Ex Misc tradition as defining his core magical identity. I don't get that feeling here. :frowning:

Note that it wouldn't require changing everything in your character to make the tradition much more flavourful. Some of the tradition vs personal V&F could be exchanged. For example, you could make the Minor Focus with Mind Control the tradition's free minor Hermetic virtue instead of Study Bonus. Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic is also more evocative of poem-singing than Shapeshifter. I would change Study Requirement for something else. I liked the Necessary Condition (singing), but another possibility might be Restriction (cannot affect deaf people or animals).

Frankly, I was thinking beyond a score of 10. Up to that, one (or a few) people might work for Mentem, while living in a magical aura would work for Vim.

But for scores above 15 you'll start having problemms. The aura will need to be stronger for Vim, and you might have to to actually live in a city for Mentem.

Another thing I didn't mention in my previous post. You list the flaw Enemies (Tyyska the Hag) but give little information about her. Is this the "hideous flying monster" from your character's history? Remember that the enemy needs to be powerful enough to endanger you. If the hag is from far north, then what are her means of attack? And reasons for doing so?

7

How would you feel about a tradition with Minor Focus: Mind Control, Necessary Condition (singing), and Shapeshifter? Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic cannot be given by the tradition, I think, because it's a Hermetic Virtue whereas the tradition needs a Major Supernatural one.

Would Special Circumstances (playing a drum) be legit, btw? That would go well as the tradition's hermetic virtue.

I haven't planned her out in detail yet, but my idea was that she would be a faerie. I'm getting the feeling now, however, that simply getting my own character to work will be plenty of work without trying to think about faerie things that I know next to nothing about. Maybe I'll switch the flaw to something more straightforward and less involved.

8

Minor Focus: Mind Control, Necessary Condition (singing), and Shapeshifter are better. I did realize that LLSM was Hermetic after writing about it, but forgot to edit my post.

Special Circumstances would work also. Could be widened to a number of musical instruments, not just a drum, if you wanted. Although specific instruments might interfere with gestures/words. Subtle Magic might also have been a possibility, because of that.

9

I changed things around. I didn't rewrite the description to reflect the changes yet. Before I do, could you give your opinion Arthur?

This is what I did:

Changed the tradition to necessary condition - subtle magic (they play instruments and change into animals) - shapechanger

Gave him special circumstances for the drum and kantele (maybe I'll still come up with a third one he used to play as a kid), changed Enemies to Difficult underlings (his mind control magic hasn't done wonders for his leadership abilities)

Upped his social characteristics at the cost of the physical

Rounded up the abilities to a smaller number

Ditched Vim and Animal, dumped a few points into imaginem, improved rego and mentem a little

Ditched animal spells, added a Mind of the Overlord spell that's essentially just the ReMe 15 mind control guideline at eye and diameter, added a personal-range Aura of ennobled presence.

I've still got 10 spell levels unallocated, not sure what I'll do with those. I'd like to have a spell that makes listeners like his (pretty mediocre) music better, or maybe makes them think his singing all the time is normal, but I'm not sure how I'd do that (is that a "subtle difference to the target's mental state" or what?)

10

The level 10 MuIm spell Notes of a Delightful Sound in the core rulebook pretty much does this.

11

These are the stats for the 4th edition Dolphin profile from The Medieval Bestiary, page 75-76

DOLPHIN
Cun +3, Per +1, Str +5, Sta +3, Dex -1 (I find that weird), Qik +4.
Size +2
Brave +2, Curious +2

Athletics (leaping) 3, Awareness 4, Swim (underwater manoeuvers) 6

Ferocity: 2 (rudely treated)

Bite* +5, +0 +3 +8
Ram** +10 +5 +8 +7

  • rarely used in combat
    ** includes the benefits charging

Soak +6
Fatigue +3

DOLPHIN OF VIRTUE.
Same characteristics as dolphin, but add the following
Magic Might 15
Cun +5, Per +2
Athlethics 5, Folk Ken 2, Swim 8
Part the Waves ReAq20, 1 point: The dolphin can travel very quickly through the waters when it wishes. Each might point spent lets it double its speed for two rounds.

Hope that helps :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Xavi

12

Will do.

A much better mix for the tradition. The Shapeshifter virtue still looks a bit strange, so just make sure you give it some more attention when you describe the tradition. As it is the major virtue, it should be the central point of the tradition. Might take a bit of reworking to the tradition's background. And the bear shape seem completely divorced from the tradition, from what I've seen so far.

The Special Circumstances could simply be described as a general "playing a musical instrument" for the purposes of the virtue. Not a big deal. It has built-in limits, since it makes your spellcasting conspicuous when you use it (you can't simply start playing while engaging in negociations with a merchant or ship's captain).

Difficult Underlings will cause your magus many problems/complications, but less severe individually than Enemies. I can work with it. 8)

Meh. I was hoping you would reduce Int instead. Now you end up with the generic mix of stats for a magus that wants to interact socially: high Int/Sta/social, low physical. Much like one could expect from a Jerbiton magus. Seems a bit at odds with a tradition whose big virtue is Shapeshifter. I can live with it, but the stats are bland IMO.

Looks good.

They're fine, although you don't get much use out of those Creo and Muto scores in the current mix of formulaic spells. Of course, you'll rely on quite a bit of spontaneous magic, but you're a mind-controller... So I'd have expected a higher Rego score. But as I said, that mix is reasonable.

Any spell that is a variant (such as a R:Pers Aura of Ennobled Presence) should be fully described and have a different name to avoid any confusion. Same thing for a completely new spell (The Eye of the Overlord) -- I can't assess it if I don't have a full description of what it does. Same goes for Greater Recollection of Memories Never Quite Lived; in what ways is it "Greater"?

13

I explained the shapeshifter thing, changes special circumstances to "playing musical instrument" and wrote up the spells. (I just realized at this moment that I have three custom spells and only two were allowed, right, so I might end up reverting Recollection to the standard version - I only changed it to make use of the single spell level that it's silly level 4 design leaves.)

Anyway, the shapeshifter shapes now come from real(ish) old Finnish animistic beliefs; this is the way I intended it originally, but I left it out of the description because I couldn't take the pagan flaw, which is not in the core book. I now wrote it so that Prochorus himself doesn't need to be a full-fledged pagan even though he's a member of the tradition, but he still gets his shapes from the totem animals.

I'm going to leave the characteristics if you can live with them, because I cannot imagine a (relatively) dumb tietäjä. These guys are supposed to be the learned and smart ones.

(After the unavoidable corrections,) I think Prochorus is starting to look ready. I'll begin thinking about the grogs and supplies things, though I fear it might take a few days before I'm done with them.

14

Learned and wise in no way mean smart. But I'm ok with that, it was just a comment -- not a directive. :slight_smile:

Something like the Sami drum?

I assume that Aapram was gentle-gifted? Otherwise he would have not been accepted at Oculus.

How large is the tradition? How long ago since it was integrated? Are there still members who are not members of the Order, or was the tradition brought wholesale into the Order? Are there still members who have not learned Hermetic magic, aside from the Parma Magica?

These might be useful over the course of the saga, should I decide to use the tradition in some way.

That’s ok, two of them are really minor variations.

15

Specified the description: Yes, like a Sami drum (added the pic from the wiki); yes, Aapram is gentle-gifted; 10-15 members, all members of the Order, although some are not in contact with Hermetics much.

16

Once Arthur specifies the books you are bringing I will add them to the common resources thread :slight_smile:

Any silver on your sack? Lab texts?

17

I think 10 mythic pounds would be in line with what the others have. The Wizard's communion would probably be the only labtext.

18

I'm fine with that. As the covenant won't have any source of income at first, you'll need the seed capital.

19

I would like to make the following changes: necessary condition for weak magic resistance (divine); study bonus for performance magic. That way he benefits a lot from music, but isn't restricted to it any more. The divine weakness fits with the tradition, I find. The spells and arts are fine now that he can actually use them.

Sound ok?

20

I'm good with Weak Magic Resistance when he is in a Divine aura. Note that this includes any time he is at the former inn that the covenant purchased, as well as in most towns for that matter. The flaw will also apply to any Divine-aligned power used against him.

Although Performance Magic is not from the core book, it is really really appropriate for this character, so I am going to allow it.