Setting Development: Covenant and Characters

Retired Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: What if we joined them
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[size=150]SITE[/size]
+1 Regio: the covenant is based around a regio accessible throughout the city; all entrances are not controlled by the covenant
+5 Aura: the regio has an aura of 6; auras of individual lacunae may vary
+2 Healthy Feature: the covenant has a particularly pure spring in the regio where all of the residences gather their water
-3 Urban: the covenant is in the city of Thessaloniki
-1 Road: Thessaloniki is a port city

[size=150]FORTIFICATIONS[/size]
+0 Manor House: the various structures of the covenant are normal buildings

[size=150]RESOURCES[/size]
+1 Wealthy: the primary income source is a greater income source (docking fees).
+1 Secondary Income: the covenant has a secondary income source (an apothecary shop)
+1 Vis Grant: the covenant grants vis to the members of the covenant as a matter of right
+2 Hidden Resources: this gives 500 BP for future storyguides to use as rewards
+1 Right: A local leader (see Powerful Ally below) has arranged for the covenant to be granted the right to collect docking fees at some of the local docks.

[size=150]RESIDENTS[/size]
+0 Peasants: what covenfolk exist are commoners
+1 Veteran Fighters: The covenant has a core of skilled fighters that serve as guards for the school and the magi
+1 Literate: the covenfolk are by and large literate (this seems appropriate especially given that we're centered around a school)
+1 Loyal Covenfolk: the covenant has been around for a long time; what covenfolk we have are loyal
+1 Strong Community: we're an old covenant; the covenfolk are more tightly knit than green covenfolk
-1 Rights and Customs: the covenant has been around for a long time; the covenfolk have come to expect some things
-3 School: the center of the covenant forms the grounds of a local school; all of the magi are publicly associated with the school

[size=150]EXTERNAL RELATIONS[/size]
+1 Felicitous Tribunal: the Theban Tribunal is easy to get along with
+1 Local Ally: the covenant has a friend in the city government or the Church
-3 Mundane Politics: the covenant is involved in the mundane politics of the city
+3 Powerful Ally: either a powerful nobleman or a prince of the Church has allied with the covenant
+3 Prestige (mundane): about a year ago, the covenant helped the city deal with a plague; this has the city thinking very kindly of us

[size=150]SURROUNDINGS[/size]
+1 Hidden Ways: The magi can use the covenant's regio to quickly move around the city
-3 Meddlesome Saint: the patron saint of the city is the covenant's patron as well, and has taken an interest in the covenant

[size=150]OTHER[/size]
+2 Floating: each residence gets to pick two minor boons that applies only to their residence
-15 Unknown: we'll have 5 points of mystery hooks, one for each storyguide

[size=150]0 TOTAL [/size]

Okay, so based on feedback, I adjusted the boons and hooks as noted above. I dropped one of the Secondary Income sources, added Hidden Ways, and added Prestige (mundane). I figure if people want a great Edifice, they always have the option of getting it with their floating boons.

I ran some quick and dirty numbers and even if the covenant size swells to 250 members (which seems far higher than we're ever likely to reach), we can still afford upkeep with a little left over for a rainy day. 350 MP/year goes a long way. That even counts giving 10% of our income in tithes to the church and 10% of our income away in tithes (taxes) to the city. (We'll need to figure out total tithes. But 10% to the church seems a fairly common requirement. Not sure what we think about city taxes. Maybe 20% total payment for tithes is too high.)

Now, a comment on floating boons, It seems to me that some are inappropriate for just a residence, and some need to be adjusted to avoid unbalancing things. Here are minor boons that I think we shouldn't allow for residences: Aura, Difficult Access, Hostile Environment, Mystical Portal, Regio, Seclusion, Unnatural Law, Vast Aura, Vivid Environment, Artillery, Bedrock, Shell Keep, Tower Keep, Vast and Labyrinthine, Writ of Crenellation, Right, Vis Grant, Famous Resident, Inhuman Residents, Useful Curse, Benefice, Promised Favors, Ungoverned, Chase, and Minority. Some of these just don't make sense in the city; others really ought to be bought for the covenant as a whole or not at all. For example, if we have a Mercere Portal, it should be for the covenant as a whole, and not for just one residence. I also think that three minor boons should be modified for the floating boon to take into account that each floating boon is really only 1/5 of a boon. I think Secondary Income source should give 20 MP/year, not 100; and Hidden Resources should give 50 BP, not 250. Wealthy, likewise, should only raise a Secondary Income source to 50 MP/year, not 250. This is only a suggestion, of course, and I may have missed something. I beg people to use their judgement in deciding what is and isn't appropriate for a floating boon.

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I assume we can pick any aura for our lab up to and including (if it is in the regio) the covenant aura for our labs. I could see difficult access or hostile environment if the sanctum is underwater or on a small island. Other than that I could see otherworldly portals, regios or inhuman residents being restricted to a single sanctum, but agree they should be utilized as a covenant rather than individual resource.

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I had assumed that we'd all have labs of Aura 6 in the regio, though I guess someone might choose to have a lab at a lower Aura if they wanted to, e.g. outside the regio. Technically, the auras of the lacunae our residences are in can be as high as 5 (i.e., one lower than the regio). But it would seem odd to me to have five lacunae in a Dominion-heavy city each having an Aura of 5. I would propose that the lacunae be no more than Aura 3 just to make sense,

I suppose, given the nature of the regio, it's possible to have difficult access or hostile environment under the right circumstances if a magus wanted that.

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Okay, it seems that we're closing in on a final boon/hook buy for the covenant. All that seems to be left is to decide on wealth. I propose that we drop 1 point from Hidden Resources and up our "money" boons to 3. That will let us either (a) have two Greater income sources (425 MP/year) or (b) have one Legendary income source (850 MP/year).

Now, a Legendary income source requires some justification. But as silveroak pointed out, one example given for a Legendary income source is the custom duties at Constantinople. If those are Legendary, can Thessaloniki's be that far behind (especially given the setbacks Constantinople has been hit with lately.)

There are pros and cons with each decision. Two Greater income sources get us half the money, but are more secure in that we can lose one and still make a lot of money. One Legendary income source gets us a huge amount of money, but if anything happens to it, we're in a world of hurt.

What are people's thoughts on the matter? I tend to be conservative and so I'd go with the two Greater. But if people want the one Legendary, that could be fun too. If we do pick two Greater, we'll have to settle on what the second one will be. Will it be the school or will it be something else? Given our penchant for healing magic, it seemed like a number of apothecary shops throughout the city might be a Greater income source. But I'm open to anything people might suggest.

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Let's go for Legendary. Having this at risk makes for a better story.

We have two mages who are largely concerned with the spiritual, and most others who are concerned mostly that the labs are stocked. I imagine that we got complacent about our funding.

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I concur. Legendary sources of income are unlikely to fall from a single blow- it's like conjecturing if Microsoft were to go broke tomorrow. Tying our only income to a secular authority also makes sense plot wise...

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Okay, so Legendary it is. I'll modify the listing and post it on the official thread.

(BTW, thomsja, can you make that thread sticky? I think you're the only one with that permission.)

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We have no mod attached to our sub forum at moment.

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Godo catch. I hadn't noticed that. We'll probably need one of us to be named nominal moderator if we want to make things sticky (which is handy to be able to do.)

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OK now I'm confused according to C&G 55 Blacksmith make tools and steel for other professions but in Cov 66 Toolmaker is a separate craft.
( Somehow I have the feeling Cov. needed a profession that in this specialization didn't even exist ~1200)
If we really have to see Toolmaker as separate craft and not a Blacksmith specialization it is to wonder if the toolmaker buy then steel from a Blacksmith or prepare it him self.

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A blacksmith shapes metal into desired shapes - that sounds like a toolmaker. I don't see a difference.

72

Toolmaker is a conceit.
Blacksmiths make tools- but not all tools (there are tools made of wood, for example). However most modern guides to blacksmithing include a lot of instruction on how to make tools.
That being said, weaponsmith is also a separate vocation, despite the fact that blacksmiths can make swords, and this is in fact historically accurate due to the amount of effort put in to perfecting sword steel and sword production.
So the question is whether we follow the conceit of a toolmaker from covenants, or substitute blacksmith. To be fair if toolmaker is a specialized vocation I would expect it to be an exceptional one, like weaponsmith, and thus generate the full ability score in savings- but only from lab costs, whereas blacksmith would subtract 1/2 skill+1(per craftsman) from consumables, but would still be allowed (if toolmakers do not exist) to provide the free virtue of superior tools without an upkeep cost for labs...

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I agree.

I say we allow a toolmaker and allow him to take his full skill in MP from the lab total (up to 50% of the lab cost)

As for allowing the virtue of Superior Tools without upkeep, that sounds fine to me, assuming that he can consistently produce superior items. As I understand C&G, that means he would have to have a Workshop Total of 12, which requires a good Primary Characteristic and an equally good Ability. The same would go for Superior Equipment and the glassmaker (who may need to be modified to fit that bill - I wasn't up on C&G rules when I made him).

74

Good I keep toolmaker as profession for my familiar then. As I also want to take Touched by Magic (C&G 71) the workshop total of 12 would be very helpful there also.
(Although I still have to look how this workshop total is calculated)
For the Touched by Magic I would like to take the Form: Fortunam from HMRE:89 instead of the 2 Hermetic form if that is ok with the group.

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Hmm, that's one I'd have to think on. The rules are pretty explicit about taking two hermetic forms. I'm concerned about what unintended consequences there might be for allowing Fortunatam instead, especially with a familiar craftsman who might get to some truly high level crafting. Would we start seeing a proliferation of items that prevent botches? That doesn't seem to advance the story much, as desirable as it may be as a player.

I'm particularly concerned because Fortunatam levels are generally lower than corresponding hermetic levels, meaning that using a mechanism designed for hermetic magic you could do a lot more with Fortunatam.

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Furthering my thought, a TuFo device of Touch range with Sun duration and two uses a day (effectively permanent) that eliminated the chance of a botch altogether by changing a stress die to a simple die would have a craft level of 18. All other items made with Tueor Fortunatam would be no higher in difficulty.

Assuming the crafter has a Workshop of level of at least 12, located in the +6 Aura, with an assistant of no less than craft Ability 6, and a S/M bonus of around +3, that means from the get go, he can create items to effectively permanently eliminate botches from a given ability in just 3 seasons.

SuFo is even worse. A SuFo item of Touch range with Sun duration and two uses a day that grants a Minor General VIrtue is only craft level 18, again, 3 seasons for our starting crafter. That means a proliferation of Minor General Virtues at a rapid rate (with the potential for a host of them crafted pre-game). A SuFo item of Touch range with Sun duration and two uses a day that grants a Major General VIrtue is craft level 20, which is still very, very achievable in about 4 seasons. So, it will probably take about 3 seasons to get a Minor General Virtue and a full year to get a Major General Virtue, with the possibility that some of this crafting will take place pre-game.

Who needs to buy Ways of the Town and City, Book Learner, Apt Student, Good Teacher, Improved Characteristics, Independent Study, Puissant (Ability), Self-Confident, Unaffected by the Gift, and others when your familiar can just whip up a charm that gives it to you for free? I'd argue that some virtues can't be made into a charm (Wealthy, Guardian Angel, True Faith, Ghostly Warder, and some others), but they're technically on the list.

It's hardly fair to the people who spent virtue points on these virtues to have them become a simple commodity in the game, especially when they are likely to benefit one character more than any other.

So I believe I've thought it over and have come to the conclusion that Touched By Magic should not be able to be applied to Fortunatam.

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kk then I scrap the idea with Fortunatam.

78

Would it Ok to perform ritual spells pre game as "1 day distraction" in a season if the used up Vis come from the 100BP we have and we not reach the Vis that could spend in a season?
I ask because I managed to invent a ritual to increase perception by +1 but to no more then +2 (yes with +1 touch in case anyone wonder if he can profit from it later as well)

79

I don't see any problem with that, providing you have the vis for the spell. Frankly, given the popularity of Creo in the covenant, I suspect you won't be the only one making such spells.

One interesting question is whether, since we're all in the same covenant, any such spells created could be tailored to other members of the covenant as well as their creators to allow for no warping. Because one of the down sides of a normal stat-boosting spell is that it gives a point of warping.

80

ArM 168 sound like we can design a spell only for one target beside the caster that suffer no warping.