Quercus Rector of Tytalus

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: The Price of Freedom
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Name: Quercus Rector filius Boniface Consetudinem, Societates Tytali
Covenant: Heligoland
Saga: Price of Freedom
Characteristics: Int +2, Per +1, Pre 0, Com +1, Str +1, Sta +2, Dex +1, Qik 0
Age: 28
Conf: 2(5)

VIRTUES AND FLAWS
Self Confident (free), Improved characteristics, well travelled, Skilled Parens, Minor Magical Focus: Oak, Puissant Rego, Puissant Herbam, FLEXIBLE FORMULAIC MAGIC, Skinchanger (sparrowhawk)

MAJOR PERDO DEFICIENCY, WEAK MAGIC RESISTANCE (under a clear sky), Driven (sharing of resources by the OoH), Infamous Master (sharer of resources), Susceptibility to Divine Power (double penalties), Prohibition (cast on forest animals).

ABILITIES
Speak Low German (Saxon) 6
Speak Latin (Hermetic) 4
Area Lore: Rhine tribunal (covenants) 2

Athletics (hiking) 2
Awareness (searching) 1
Chirurgy (broken bones) 1
Stealth (outdoors) 1
Survival (forage) 1
Profession Carpenter (planking) 2
Profession: Shipwright (oak ships) 2

Folk Ken (mundanes) 1
Bargain (resources) 2
Leadership (mundanes) 2
Guile (half truths) 1
Intrigue (hermetic) 1

OoH Lore (Rhine Tribunal) 1
Code of Hermes (secure resources) 1
Magic Lore (vis sources) 1
Faerie Lore (Rhine faeries) 1

Profession: Scribe (copying) 1 (2)
Artes Liberales (ritual casting) 2
Philosphiae (ceremonial casting) 1
Magic Theory (Herbam) 4 (3)
Parma Magica (Mentem) 2
Concentration (spell concentration) 1
Finesse (Rego) 1
Penetration (Rego) 1

Brawl (dodge) 1
Great weapon (staff) 2

PERSONALITY TRAITS
Brave +1
Driven +3
Dependable +2
Likes challenges +2

COMBAT
Brawl: +0, +2, +3, +1
Brawl (dagger): +0, +4, +2, +4
Oak staff: +2, +7, +6, +3

Soak: +2
Load: 1 (quiver)
Encumbrance: 0

ARTS
Cr 7, In 4, Mu 9, Pe 0, Re 7+3
Co 1, He 6+3, Im 3, Vi 5

SPELLS (need to be explained better)
spells with * apply the focus in oak wood (not added)

Bind Wound (CrCo10) +10
B3, +1 touch, +2 sun

Preternatural Growth and Shrinking (MuCo10) +12
B3, +1 touch, +2 sun

Rise of the Feathery Body (ReCo10) +13
B4, +1 touch, +1 conc

Clothe the Naked Form (CrHe10) +18
This spell creates a linen garment following the instructions of Quercus. The design can be varied between castings. His sigil tends to express itself in the hem of the tunic, where a wavy ribbon tends to appear, even when Quercus does not want it.
B3, +1 touch, +1 sun

Summon the Glade Dweller (CrHe30) +18*
This spell grows a birch, oak or chestnut tree from a nut (generally an acorn, since Quercus favours oaks) in a single day or night. Quercus' trees tend to grow hale and straight, even if the branches end up being quite a messy entanglement or the trunk parts at a certain point.
B15, +1 touch, +2 sun

Suppleness of the Willow (MuHe5) +20*
Makes a wood item or plant pliable for the duration of the spell. This spell has broad uses in carpentry. (Another name for Pass the Unyielding Portal).
B3, +1 touch, +1 diameter

Piercing Shaft of Wood (Mu(Re)He10) +20*
B3, +2 voice

Wood Golem (ReHe25) +21*
This spell animates a wooden item, that follows the instructions of the caster for the duration. Quercus generally uses this to animate wood statues that he has carved before. The item moves with purpose following your instructions, but does not require constant oversight. It acts as a zombie-like character. Quercus uses this spell a lot to create laborers for his projects or to have a stool moving behind him in case he wants to sit down.

Image Phantom (MuIm20) +14
Quercus considers this spell extremely useful to make his golems pass as humans to cursory or long range observation.
B4, +1 touch, +2 sun

Unseen Porter (ReTe10) +12*
Generally used to move logs and trunks.
B3, +2 voice, +1 Conc

Gather the Essence of the Beast (ReVi15) +15
B10, +1 touch

Aegis of the Hearth (ReVi20) +17

SIGIL
Order and suppleness. His spells are always show a marked order. Everything moves in a supple but orderly way, as if commanded to do so in a certain (and clear) pattern. The order is fluid, though. When things are made to change, they do so in an orderly way as well. Destruction and creation spells also show a clear purpose and develop orderly, even if the order is sometimes weird, like a spiral or moving in waves of intensity.

VOTING SIGIL
An oak acorn.

MUNDANE EQUIPMENT AND APPEARANCE
Quercus dresses with high quality dark green clothes like those of the gentry, but they are all made of natural fibres like linen, not wool. He wears linen and wood shoes as well. He tends to carry around a quiver with around 30 thick unfletched arrow shafts. The shafts are made of oak wood, something unusual. His gray cloak tends to be a little bit dirty, and some small twigs can be seen interwoven in the garment.

BACKGROUND
Quercus Rector of Tytalus is the first and so far only offspring of Boniface of Tytalus. Boniface has achieved quite a (bad) reputation in the Order of Hermes as a proponent of increasing the sharing of resources among covenants, by law if necessary. He defends that the distrust between magi and their hoarding of (in most cases unnecessary) resources results in a weaker Order, and one more prone to corruption by infernal forces (deadly sin of Greed) as was seen in the corruption of his own house. He advocates change and a more open and accommodating Order instead of a radical, intolerant and nepotist Order. He is not well liked by his peers, and his constant manoeuvres to achieve his results have earned him many enemies. Nobody expects better of his hermetic offspring.

Boniface is also a hands-down magus that has always defended the premise of using utilitarian spells over grand effects. He does not like to overload himself with unnecessary supplies or magics, and has transmitted this credo to Quercus. Despite his many years loathing him for his constant pushing, Quercus has been shaped into a likely-minded magus. While his pater tends to centre in Aquam and terram, Quercus tends to centre in manipulating plants and plant products, both shaping them to his wishes and moving them as he desires to achieve results. He is especially proficient manipulating oak and lately he has started to develop an interest in mundane uses for oak, like shipbuilding.

Like his pater, Quercus was having problems achieving a stable position in an established covenant, since his outspoken opinions were not welcomed by a lot of his peers, and he has been forced to be a peregrinator for many years. He has developed quite a wide knowledge of the whole tribunal in his forced wandering behaviour, and has polished his language until he is fairly capable to understand and be understood by most people in the Empire. However, Quercus does not like to travel that much, and would like to find a place where to cast his roots. This means that he welcomed the chance to start afresh in a new location with other magi that find the autumn covenant environment oppressive and outdated. Both Boniface and Quercus belong to the Linden guild, something quite ironic given the magic specialization of Quercus.

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Page reserved for Quercus' familiar

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After apprenticeship Quercus faces his first self-imposed challenge. he decides to build a covenant as his first step to shake up the calcified order. His parens likes the idea and contributes a few resources of his own, but only as a token gift: it will be his challenge, not his holidays. Boniface helped in contacting the redcap network with the right message for them to find a decent location for a covenant in a border region.

Boniface gift him his copy of The Hippian Way by Pralix of Tytalus and commented by several dozen authors. Quercus looks at the book with disgust, even hate. He thinks (and says so) that it has "no educational value whatsoever". However, he keeps it. Sometimes you need kindling for your campfires.

So just after apprenticeship (1207) Quercus has the following resources:

The Hippian Way by Pralix of Tytalus. Commented by several dozen authors.
This is the instructional book used by the Hippians of house Tytalus instead of the Analects, that are mainstream Tytalus ideology. the book talks about the need to put yourself a real challenge and dive into it until you think it is a challenge you have overcome. In the case of Pralix the challenge was the creation of the Ordo Miscellanea, a project that did shake up the Order and magical landscape without having to waste effort in making the life of other people miserable. According to Quercus and any other hyppian apprentice or ex apprentice it has "no educational value whatsoever" and certainly does make the life of people miserable!

Collaborative efforts in the lab: a defence of its value for the Order, by Boniface of Tytalus. Magic Theory Tractatus (Q10).
A really nice book, edited several times and decorated with nice illustrations of the Triamore workshop. A small piece of art.

Registering vis sources, by Marco the Redcap. Code of Hermes Tractatus (Q8).
Here Marco the Redcap explains how he found a multiplicity of sources in strange places and circumstances and how he registered them in diverse tribunals. A commented book where it is stated that most of the vis sources that the book uses as examples do not seem to be in the registers of any tribunal despite the claims of the author. However, it is inspiring and the legal details it describes are accurate and useful.

The balance of the humors by Conscientia of Bonisagus. Corpus Summa (L6 Q7).
Conscientia of Bonisafgus is a specialist maga that develops spells for other magi. That means that she is really good at a multiplicity of activities, but that her overall knowledge of the magical arts is not as high as other Hermetic magicians. However, she is a good creator of low level books. This introductory book states what she learned when she was researching Corpus spells for a client. While not excellent, it is more than enough to set a grounding for the uninitiated into the form of Corpus.

6 Mythic Pounds of silver or equivalent wealth.

4 pawns of Herbam vis.

Fresse, his trusted if somewhat morose shield grog and cousin.

Needing more resources for his project, Quercus decides to head for Triamore, where the pair of Tytalus have been well received in the past. he leaves his stuff with a contact in Bruges, a major port city in Flanders since he does not want to carry all that around. He made some favors for the merchant, so they are in friendly terms.

After 2 years in Triamore (1208-1209) acting as a lab assistant for Aline, learning Aegis of the Hearth, fighting giant Ardennes spiders (where Fresse was badly mauled) to get some vis and creating a magic item for Triamore as a way to maintain their future good opinion. In this 2-year period he acquires the following stuff:

The Underlying Principles of Thaumaturgical Perceptions, by Cataractus of Jerbiton, Intellego Summa (L9Q12)
Cataractus was a blind magus of the 10th century that tended to channel his senses through daimons. This Intellego summa shows ways to use magic to gain senses and impressions impossible for the mundane. Some of the descriptions are rather bizarre since Cataractus could not compare them to real sight, but the text is clear and to the points. despite being 120 years old, the book keeps its value. only some passages and minor points have been superseded by more modern Intellego Magic Theory.

Quercus in Promptu by Quercus of Tytalus. Herbam Tractatus Q7.
The Oak Revealed is a tractatus that Quercus wrote while in triamore. They have it under cow and calf oath and he cannot share it for 7 years according to their contract. The book explores on the possibilities offered by oak as a construction material both for real state and for naval vessels. The uses are many, and it has shown to be a strong wood yet surprisingly supple to magical manipulation while resistant to lightning. it is the first book on the subject written in the last 200 years, and Triamore was more than happy to have it. the copy of Quercus has a thanks to Japik Dolphinus in the foreword. The Triamore copy goes by a much less appealing name.

A perfectly functional lab, but not as well outfitted with expensive materials as it could be, so it is at -1.

8 seasons of access to Triamore (no library or lab access though: you need to pay 1 pawn/season for that). These must be used in the next 8 years. Triamore sucks as a place to use a lab, since the aura is really low (and we are really noobs) so I think we will make good use of these negotiating lab text copies

Alice, a new maid. She got a crush on Fresse when she was taking care of his wounds, and asked to accompany them when they left the covenant. Her father. the turb's captain was not happy about it, but bent in front of the unexpected energy shown by his daughter.

Character Development
Quercus spends the first 2 years of his post-gauntlet life i triamore.

YEAR 1 at Triamore (1208):

  • Help Aline in his weird experiments. Vim exposure and MT exposure. 8 XP total. 7 towards vim (vim 4+3), 1 towards MT.

YEAR 2 at Triamore (1209):

  • Write a tractatus on Herbam "Oak: the sailor of storms". Quercus gets a copy for himself and one that remains in Triamore with no cow and calf oath. the version of Quercus getsOne copy for me, one copy for Triamore (to be copied by the Triamore scribes). 2 XP towards Scribe.
  • Learn Aegis 20. 2 Vim exposure XP (vim 5)
  • Goes adventuring and after fighting a pair of giant spiders gets 2 pawns of Herbam in the form of ash tree sapplings. Fresse is heavily wounded during this encounter, but he eventually recovers. Quercus is quite shaken by this encounter, since the magical cratures were able to easily overcome his magical defences and leave him out of combat for most of the engagement. He practices Parma obsessively and rises it to 2 (10XP).
  • Create a Conjuration of the Chopped Wood (CrHe5: creates a log; +10 unlimited uses) item. Quercus gifts it to Triamore to keep their goodwill. Ther castellan repays him with a -1 lab for this and the maintenance services he has performed on the roof, that have supposed a heavy improvement of the covenant's income situation.
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Wow, that's a crazy coincidence. Your magus is really similar, virtue- and focus-wise, to what I had in mind. I'll have to rethink my stuff a little.

5

I have selected the spells, and i have become (in practical terms ) a herbam magus. In fact it is so similar to Severin from TOME that I am a little scared :stuck_out_tongue: My idea is to make him evolve into a shipwright able to ply wood as he desires. If you centre in another evolution pattern i see no problem to having similar stats. I always say that q character is how you play it, not a bunch of numbers in a sheet of paper :slight_smile:

Enviat des del meu MT6515M usant Tapatalk 2

6

Ok, first version is up. I need to fine tune some details (like calculating combat totals, which will suck, and deciding on the Mastery of spells he has), but he is basically finished. (Rego) Herbam specialist, with some minor vim and corpus utility spells. Will bring a few sacks of acorns to populate heligoland with an artificial forest, since I think he would not like such a barren place :stuck_out_tongue:

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Finally someone who doesn't try to broaden his focus as far as it will stretch !

cough cough I get the message, but that wording is completely anachronistic ! Unless that parens is also an unrepentant Pagan or unbeliever, he's much more likely to refer to the brotherhood of all children of God and take his examples from monastic communities, isn't he ?

If we're using the languages in GoTF, Frisian is a dialect of Low German, and there's no such thing as plain German (only High (as in high in the mountains) and Low (as in from the lowlands by the sea) German). So you would have Speak Low German (Frisian) 5 or Speak Low German (everyday usage) 5 if you had traveled extensively and gotten rid of your accent, and Speak High German (a specific dialect) 3 or Speak High German (trade) 3

Those are Craft, surely, since you actually create things.

That one can be a profession if you direct the projects, or a Craft if you are more hands-on

By the rules your specialty can be a Form, but not a Technique

You don't make concentration rolls to cast ceremonial magic, unless of course you are casting a Concentration spell, or maybe a MuVi spell, ceremonially.

A log with roughly sharpened edges would count as a processed plant product and be base 2. With base one 1 you would have a tree limb.

Without a Group Target, that's create one flax garment. Which is usually called linen, but I disgress.

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Note that ArM5 p.46 lists "Wood" as a potential minor magical focus. This may be overly generous, as this covers about half of the whole Form of Herbam.

On the other hand, "Oak Wood" may be too restrictive. I don't have a problem with this, but it could also have been widened to cover a bit more. Your choice.

As per GotF p.138, Friesian (correct spelling) is a dialect of Low German. So it would be noted down as "Low German (Friesian) 5". This allows communication with people speaking High German at a -2 penalty to both speakers, so you don't need a seperate language ability for it.

Should this be "Survival: Forest" instead? Or am I missing something?

Too many custom-made spells. Your pater would not have developped those spells for the purpose of teaching them to you.

You can have up to 2 custom-made spells. I will also allow Clothe the Naked Form, even though it is from Magi of Hermes, because I recognized this would be a common spell for magi who can shapeshift.

The rest of the spells should be replaced with standard ones from the core book. Preferably spells that would fit your pater's interests. :wink:

9

The parens description was to be understood without ranting for a while :slight_smile: since I have already done so in the background, but yes, I will change it. Glad you like the focus.

Point taken on the languages (no GotF at hand when I created the character) and the profession/craft (doh!). I have never noticed that think about Parma Specialization. We have been doing it wrong for decades, it seems.

The concentration specialization is for any lengthy magical process, or that was my intention. Ritual magic as well as ceremonial magic (you do not roll, but you might be interrupted at half casting :slight_smile:)

Sharpened log? Really? Certainly we are using HR here with my table troupe then. :slight_smile: Consider it a cosmetic effect :slight_smile:
In any case I will trim it later with spontaneous ReHe. The idea is to create fuel for the covenant (and to sell, if the buyer is OK with Moon duration) as well as ammo to throw around if necessary with the Catapult, so not significant differences between the sharpened and unsharpened tree trunks: they burn equally well and cause the same damage.

Clothe the naked form is RAW. (Magi of Hermes IIRC), it creates one tunic, not multiple of them. Processed plant product. Thanks for pointing to the linen bit. :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Xavi

10

The focus examples in the RAW do not follow the rules written in the same page, since they are too broad. So I decided to limit myself. I can go for Decidious wood. That will include other kinds of wood also used in ship construction. In any case I think I will centre most of my spells around oak since oak is cool.

I am a little bit more concerned about the veto on the spells. All the spells follow the core book guidelines as directed. This is why I do not have aimed spells, for example. Herbam is significantly lacking outside the area of mass murder capabilities (read: combat) if you want a theme, and I think the spells are sensible for an herbam-based magus that works with wood and plans to use his ability to do that: construct ships and houses; Get wood, move wood around (both violently and gently), shape wood, modify wood, create wooden servants to work with...). I would prefer to keep him as is if possible. He is FAR from a maxed out character IMO (YMMV, as usual) so I do not think such character would imbalance the saga at all.

I took a level in Forest Lore (GotF ability). It will probably never be used since we live in a freakin' tiny island :mrgreen: but I thought that an herbam-based magus is likely to have undergone some kind of communing experience with the forest. IIRC it is not restricted (and frankly, right now I am not sure what it actually does; I took it because I thought it was mystically cool) so you can take it, but I have no issues removing it if necessary. It might still disappear along with fletcher in favour of a higher level of shipwright-ness, for example.

Xavi

11

I didn't go through all of your spells in detail, but I was fairly clear on the subject of personalized spells when Halancar asked the question in the OOC Discussions and Table Talk thread:

Right now, you are proposing no less than 7 spells which are either variants or designed from scratch. Six of those are designed specifically with your magus' specialty in mind, which is specifically outside of your parens'. The seventh spell is Hear the Song of Power, which I had not noticed at first.

This is much more than "one or two minor spells designed from scratch". I'm asking you to cut down on personalized spells and use standard spells from the core book. You can invent the rest of them once the saga starts.

Looking at GotF right now. It's an Arcane Ability which gives you intimate knowledge of a specific forest that has a supernatural aura. It is the entrance to a number of mystery paths. The only way to acquire it is to spend significant time in that forest -- source quality is the aura of the forest, so the process is quite slow. If you keep it, you'll need to name the forest in question.

12

Regarding the specialty in mind, the magus can cast all those spells equally well if he had a focus in pink sturgeons. :slight_smile: The focus is not taken into account in any of the spells so far. :slight_smile:

I thought direct transpositions of base guidelines like "detect vis" or "make a plant grow in a day or night" were kosher. Pure core ArM book guidelines, just attaching R-D-T to them. It is not about further guidelines being available (all the spells use guidelines in the core book) but about applying them. On a side note, one of the ways to slow down the incredible speed of apprentices developing in play compared to RAW character creation is to make them invent their own spells instead of supplying them with lab texts. We have done that and it helps them to finish apprenticeship way less buffed (and much more similar) to core rules character creation. The Master helps them in the lab, but theior lab total is significantly lower and so they need to spend more time there to learn spells.

Well, back to the drawing board. :slight_smile:

Xavi

13

I wrote specialty (as in Herbam), didn't I? :wink:

And as I said, you can keep some of the custom-designed spells. But just a few.

14

Edited the character. He is way less centered around herbam now (necessary, to be able to learn the new spells), but seems I managed to create something similar including spells from other parts :slight_smile: It will be harder to develop some of the shipbuilding spells I was planning to create, but I will manage.

Cheers,
Xavi

15

That's an interesting one. Where does it come from, background-wise?

Any particular reason for the higher-then-usual native language score? And I see that you changed the specialty from Friesian to Saxon?

No score in Intrigue? That's somewhat unusual for a Tytalus. :wink:

For reference to the comments below.

What use will it be to multicast this spell, considering that it is a touch-ranged spell?

Note that I may use the House Rule which requires the Multicast mastery to be taken once for each additional copy of the spell that can be cast. Are there major objections to that? (It's a rhetorical question here. I'll repost it over in the House Rules Discussions thread.)

+2 Sun instead of +1 diameter, but the spell level is correct.

How was he able to learn this spell? His CrHe lab total is Cr 6 + He 9 (including Puissant) + Int 2 + MT 4 (in Herbam) = 21. The Minor Magical Focus doesn't apply when learning this spell because it is designed to grow any tree, not just oak.

I'm not sure about giving further instructions after the spell has been cast, usually that is the domain of D:Conc spells. A similar spell to this, Commanding the Harnessed Beast (ReAn 30), implants a complicated command but does not seem to allow you to change this command once it is set. The Walking Corpse (ReCo 35) allows the corpse to follow simple verbal commands, but it has a Mentem requisite and is a Ritual. Stir the Slumbering Tree (MuHe 25) gives a tree some level of consciousness, but again with a Mentem requisite.

What is you case for allowing the statue to recieve further commands over the duration of the spell? I think you would need a Mentem requisite here for the spell to do what you want, and that would also raise the level by 1 magnitude (making it difficult for your magus to have learned the spell, since his lab total would have been 24 + aura).

16

The prohibition came from the original "forest path" idea. I removed it, but being an herbam-oriented magus it seems ok for the prohibition to remain. It can easily be a geas cast on him by his own pater.

He is supposed to have been a peregrinator. So the increased German is in fact a multiplicity of Empire languages mixed together. He has functional communication capabilities in quite a few places throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Having Low German 5 and High German 3 was quite stupid, since Low German 5 gives you an effective level of High German 3 (-2), hence the change.

I have flexible formulaic magic, so I can boost range from touch to Voice. Shrink is a defensive spell to reduce the size of enemies (and make my grogs larger).

True about the tree planting spell. I will make it "oak only", so that the focus applies. I made all the calculations assuming that it applied, so it has to apply.

The Wooden Golem spell identical to the carved assassin in TOME p. 55 (with the level corrected). It follows the guidelines in the core book, where level 10 gives intelligence to the plant or plant product. The ReHe spells do not list Mentem requisites in any case, basically because their own Mentem requisite is their own Form, not the human mind. I do not think that it needs a Mentem requisite or it being Concentration to work since the plant is intelligent enough as per the guidelines provided in the core book.

Basically the whole idea is to have brutish really strong unskilled assistants made of wood (read: disposable). Good in a fight? Yes, but even better as unskilled labor force in a shipyard. The tree-creating spell goes in the same direction. They are the basic parameters (along with the wood manipulation spells) to create my wannabe ship workshop.

Xavi

17

Cool with these. I missed the trick with Flexible. :smiley:

Works for me.

I don't have TOME, so I can't look up the specifics of that spell. Hmmm, let me think.

How to you see this working? You cast the spell and the statue immediately begins to attack a target of your choice? Or you cast the spell, then gives it a specific and simple command ("attack this man") and it starts moving to obey?

I'm leaning for the second. If there is a level of intelligence in the statue, it needs to be given verbal commands. So there would be a delay between the casting and being able to give it commands, and sometimes a (short) delay between giving a command and the statue complying (processing... processing... acquiring target... moving to attack).

Also, what would be the combat stats for a statue? I'm assuming it is human-sized (as there aren't any size increases built into the spell). It would have no weapon skill. The closest that I can find are the stats from Lord of the Trees (Init +5, Atk +7 and Dam +10), but that is for a full-sized tree (+2 size magnitudes built into that spell). There is also the matter of Soak and Body Levels, which don't apply for a tree but certainly would for a much smaller statue.

Let me know what you propose here. :smiley:

18

The carved assassin spell reads like this (TOME p.55; Fall and Rise)

As you can see it lacks the +1 for Touch, so the correct level is 25, not 20.

As I see it, the statues would be like big, burly, fairly stupid humanoids. Can be directed, but are not specially bright, and certainly are not masters of grace and fleetness of foot. If used in combat they are basically big burly bashing machines, but very resistant to damage at that since theyb re made of wood, so expect a high soak and a low defence. Size might be +1 using flexible magic (it is not defined as such, but size is a spell parameter when you look at the spell examples in the core book, so it can be modified with FFM). We used these in our last saga, but we generally did not bother with stats (we tended to hand-wave human sized combat a lot). Will ask the player if she bothered to have stats for the constructs. If not I will raid my own ROP:M and ROP:F to see if there is anything similar there.

As suggested, I changed the focus to Deciduous wood. I can go back to oak if there is dislike about this. I have no big issues with this.

As a side note, I am also changing the skinchanger virtue from Seagull to Sparrowhawk. Sparrowhawks nest in (you guessed it) oaks! so they fit better with the character concept. A sparrowhawk fits better with the whole oak concept than the seagull. Seagull does not fit the concept very well, really, and I was having trouble justifying to myself why I would have a sea going bird with no relation at all with forest as a skinchanger virtue. An alternative that mixes oaks and the sea is the larger Withte Tailed Sea Eagle. I am still undecided about these, so suggestions and opinions welcome :slight_smile:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_Eagle
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Sparrowhawk

Cheers,
Xavi

19

I don't have a problem with the +1 Size through FFM. And as you say, they will be strong and resistant to damage, but slow and clumsy. Pretty much like zombies. They may be almost completely immune to trusting weapons like arrows.

Oak was certainly more colorful. If there was a way to define the focus so that it groups together a few tree types, that would be good.

In modern terms, I would have suggested the Fagaceae family, which groups beech, chestnut and oak. But I'm stumped (pun intended) as to how we could call this in period.

Either one is fine with me.

One thing has been running through the back of my head for a while now. You've mentionned a few hints about creating a forest of oaks using your magic, and a lot of your character concept seems to be running in that direction. Because of the location of the covenant, any sudden appearance of trees may raise suspicion from mundanes. The plateau of the island is bare of trees, so they would be quite noticeable and unusual. If they appear somewhere else on the island, they will also be noticed, although they might not immediately be linked to the covenant. But eventually, there are risks involved in this course of action. You may have thought about this, but I figured I should raise the concern.

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That is the idea. They can be used for combat, but I see them more as labourers than combatants. I have a shield grog for that (even if a shield grog leading a group of 4 or 5 burly woodmen sounds REALLY cool now that I think about it... it reminds me of the entry of the trolls in Minas Tirith in the Jackson movies, just in a smaller scale).

A spear or sword is not much use against them either, so I guess I will give them a fairly high soak. I asked Laura (the player) and she says that she does not have concrete stats for them, but that in the few cases that we used them she gave them a soak of +10, attack +10, defence +5 and that was it.

That sounds cool. It does not need to be a period classification. We can just say that he found it much easier to manipulate these kinds of tree than others. Sounds feasible as a trial and error process. I like it. Thanks.

I am aware of that. I need wood in significant amounts to develop the kind of magic and improvements I want, so I need access to trees and wood.

I plan to try to convince the covenant to make plain obvious to the inhabitants that we are magicians instead of trying to hide in the shadows and pretend they do not notice us. We are Magicians with a capital M, not warlocks or witches. Magicians are good guys :stuck_out_tongue: If they accept us (basically because they can provide them with stuff that they like, like cheap wood, good knowledge of the sea and an improved mining process) I plan to make obvious that we will use our magic to rise trees.

If this plan fails (because the covenant does not fancy it or the locals are friends of the pitchfork and bonfire traditions) I will make periodic trips to the mainland to get trees, rising the trees I want in a quiet place. Maybe it is a bad plan, but it is the one I have come up with :stuck_out_tongue:

Xavi