Step by Step history of Patrick

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Base Camp
1

To be deleted, modified, etc.

NOTE: This does not include the Rego XP from switching his Affinity from Animal Handling to Rego, because I'm honking tired, but I really want to play. I will adjust those in a few days.

The ASG, and other players, are encouraged to suggest possible Virtue/Flaw affects that might happen to him as a result of this rather tongue-in-cheek character history. Note that all the Super Nifty Magic Items and Uber Loyal Grogs he gains could very easily be lost along the way, and currently have no stats, only cute names, and concept suggestions. I leave it to the ASG to tell me what he still has. They are meant to simply represent his payment for working as a magic animal hunter/tamer for the cult.

BEGINNING CHARACTER:
Patrick the Unrepentant, Tytalus

Voting Sigil - a ring bearing celtic knotwork and a wolf’s head
Casting Sigil - arctic wolf effects (howls, coloration, wolf-ish-ness)

The Gift, Magus, Self-Confident (free)
Animal Ken (mSup)
Inoffensive to Animals (mG)
Inventive Genius(mH)
Affinity with Rego (mG)
Warrior
Minor Magic Focus - Wards (mH)
Flexible Formulaic Magic +3 (MH)
“
“
Independent Study (+2 Practice XP, +3 Adventure XP, HoH:MC 86) (mG)

Flaws
Oversensitive - Slurring the Irish (mP)
Indiscreet (MS) -3
“
“
Lost Love (mP)
Visions - dead daughter (mSup)
Magic Addiction (MH) -3
“
“
Weird Magic (mH)(mSup)

Personality Traits : Reckless +1, Generous +1, Discreet -2

Characteristics:
Int +2 Per 0 Age: 20
Pre 0 Com 0 Size: 0
Str +1 Sta +2 Confidence: 2 /5
Dex 0 Qik 0 Afflictions: None

Abilities
Area Lore Ireland 2 (villages)
Animal Handling 3 (taming)
Athletics 1 (balance)
Awareness 1 (search)
Stealth 1 (shadowing)
Survival 2 (forests)

Language, Gaelic 5 (Irish)
Language, Latin 4 (written)

Artes Liberales 1 (mathematics)

Magic Theory 3 (spells)
Parma Magica 1 (Mentem)

Single Weapon 4 (when war-painted)

Animal Ken 3 (charm)

Arts
Creo 5
Intellego 5
Muto 5
Perdo 0
Rego 5

Animal 5
Auram 0
Aquam 0
Corpus 0
Herbam 5
Ignem 0
Imaginem 0
Mentem 0
Terram 0
Vim 5

Spells
Those marked with an * should get his Focus bonus - subject to ST approval

Image of the Beast InAn 5 Arc, Mom, Ind
*Ward against Beasts of Legend ReAn 20 Touch, Ring, Circle
Bind Wound CrCo 10 Touch, Sun, Ind
Eyes of the Cat MuCo(An) 5 Touch, Sun, Ind
Intuition of the Forest InHe 10 Touch, Sun, Group
*Tangle of Wood and Thorns ReHe 15 Voice, Conc, Ind
Wizard’s Sidestep ReIm 10 Per, Sun, Ind
Words of Unbroken Silence CrMe 10 Sight, Mom, Ind
Invisible Sling of Vilanos ReTe 10 Voice, Mom, Ind
Trackless Step ReTe10 Touch, Conc, Ind
Gather the Essence of the Beast ReVi 15 Touch, Mom, Ind

2

Timeline:
Age 20:
1 Adventure! Returns home, wooes wife, Maeve. Learns Carouse 11xp, Animal Handling 2xp . Gains Maeve the Huntress Companion!
2 Studies Parma. 14xp
3 Studies Penetration. 14xp
4 Studies Finesse. 14xp
Corresponds with pater, Magic Lore 1xp, subjects of study 1xp each
No Warping - performed little to no magic this year.

Age 21:
His gifted daughter, Leah, is born!
1 Studies Imaginem. 14
2 Adventure! Leah is stolen by a magic beast, which he tracks and kills. Learns Hunt 10xp, Magic Lore 2xp, Perdo 1xp. Gains a BeastSkin Cloak! (various comfort charms)
3 Studies Perdo. 14
4 Studies Artes Liberales. 14
Corresponds with pater, Magic Lore 4xp
Warping 2

Age 22:
A daughter is born!
Adventure! Leah is stolen by a faerie beast, which he lures with music and kills. Learns Hunt 5xp, Faerie Lore 5xp, Animal Ken 3xp. Gains A Nice Pair of Walking Shoes (trackless step)
Studies Artes Liberales. 14
Studies Artes Liberales. 14
Studies Corpus. 14
Corresponds with Contact from future cult, Artes Liberales 3xp, pater on Magic Lore 1xp
Warping 4

Age 23:
A daughter is born!
Adventure! Becomes embroiled in a Secret Mystery Cult! Learns Cult Lore 5xp, Carouse 2xp, Magic Lore 3xp, Stealth 3xp. Gains A Compass of Dubious Morality!
Studies Philosophiae 16
Studies Philosophiae 14
Studies Imaginem 14
Correspond with Cultists on Cult Lore! 4xp
Warping 5 (3 seasons in mundane study)

Age 24:
A daughter is born!
1 Adventure! Questing for the Cult. Learns Survival 5xp, Hunt 8xp. Gains a Super Awesome Tutor for his children!
2 Studies Mentem 14
3 Studies Terram 14
4Studies Ignem 14
Corresponds with pater on Mentem, Ignem, Terram Corpus
Warping 7

Age 25:
A daughter is born!
Adventure! Questing for the cult. Learns Music 5xp, Cult Lore 8. Gains The Extremely Visible Crossbow of Vilanos.
Tutored in Cult Lore: 13
Learns the secrets of Hermetic Numerology!
Studies Ignem 14xp
Corresponds with pater, Ignem, Auram, Aquam, Finesse

Age 26:
A daughter is born!
Studies Auram 14
Studies Aquam 14
Adventure! Questing for the cult! Learns Finesse 1xp, Parma 10, Animal Handling 2 Gains book for enchanting!
Enchants Book for Numerology
Corresponds with people! Animal Handling 4xp

Age 27:
A gifted son is born!
Learns the secrets of Hermetic Geometry!
Learns rotes: 1 CrIg! Rote LT: 29. Max Magnitude = (Rote LT)/5. MT Exposure 2
Learns Rotes 2 ! RoteLT 29, MT Exposure 2
Adventure! Disaster! His family dies! His Tutor dies! His covenant dies! Learns Stealth 7xp, Hunt 6xp. Gains The Extremely Mundane Sword! Gains Reputation: Suspiciously Sole Survivor
Corresponds with Animal Handling 4xp

Age 28:
He grieves!
Trains in Craft:Wood 16
Trains in Carouse 16
Trains in Brawl 16
Adventure! Saves some villagers from a magic beast! Gains Animal Ken 13xp. Gains The Cage of Changes! Acquires a loyal grog (hunter)
Corresponds with no one!
No warping - abstains from magic this year.

Age 29:
He grieves!

  1. Adventure! His pater kicks his depressed butt back into The Game! Gains Infernal Lore 13xp. Acquires a new grog (linguist, animal handler)!
    2. Studies Rego 14
  2. Studies Intellego 14
    4. Studies Rego 14
    Corresponds with pater, Rego 2 xp., Intellego 2xp
    No or little warping - abstained from magic for 3 seasons.

Age 30:
Studies Intellego 14
Studies Creo 14
Studies Creo 14
Adventure! Captures a magic beast for a friend. Gains 1 xp Hunt, 12xp Magic Lore. Gains a Magic Tent.
Corresponds with people! Creo 2xp, Animal Handling 2xp

Age 31:
Studies Muto 16
Studies Muto 16
Studies Rego Tractus 10
Adventure! Captures a magic beast for a friend. Gains 5xp Concentration, 4 xp Animal Ken, 4 xp Magic Lore
Corresponds with people! Gains Muto 2xp, MT 2xp

Age 32:
Studies Corpus 14
Studies Corpus 14
Learns spells! Lab Total T10+F9+Int2 + Magic Theory4 + Aura5 = 30
Including Leap of the Homecoming ReCo35 MT 2

Adventure! Captures a magic beast for a magi-friend. Gains 12 XP in Animal Handling, 1xp in Animal Ken
Corresponds with people! Gains Corpus 2xp, Animal 2xp

Age 33:
Approaches the saga
Studies Animal 14xp
Studies Animal 14xp
Learns spells!
Adventure! Challenged to Certamen, loses! Must call himself “the Unrepentant” from now on. Flees to saga in disgrace. 4 xp to Magic Lore, 9xp to Survival
Corresponds with people! Gains 1xp Survival, Perdo 3xp

NOTES:
Again, the magic items and grogs are all easily sacrificed.

After a bit, I decided I might be going to easy on myself, and stopped counting Warping. Will let the SG assign those (feel free to edit the post, just put it in color so I see it).

Absolutely no idea how you want to handle the Rotes or Spell Learning. Does he have a source of lab texts? A teacher to teach them to him? I am still struggling to understand the power levels involved in this game.

Once again, I have not yet recalculated the numbers for his Rego Affinity, since it mucks with the Summae availability, and this will affect his spell lists.

This is using the Samos Cult requirements for the 1st two circles of initiation, for simplicity. He is a 2nd circle cultist, and may not have been in contact with them since his family died.

3

Patrick the Unrepentant, Tytalus
Age 33

Abilities 0-point skills are ones I mean to pick up
Area Lore Ireland 2 (villages)
Animal Handling 3.8 (taming)
Athletics 1 (balance)
Awareness 1 (search)
Brawl 2.1 (grapple)
Carouse 2.3(drunk song)
Concentration 1 (spells)
Craft: Wood 2.1 (whittling)
Hunt 3 (at night)
Music 1 (wooden)
Prof: Scribe 0 (copying)
Stealth 2 (shadowing)
Survival 3 (forests)
Teaching 0

Language, Gaelic 5 (Irish)
Language, Latin 4 (written)

Artes Liberales 4 (geometry)
OoH Lore 0
Philosophiae 3 (ceremonial magic)
Cult Lore 3 (members)

Dominion Lore 0
Faerie Lore 1 (irritants)
Finesse 3
Infernal Lore 0
Magic Lore 3 (taming)
Magic Theory 3.8 (spells)
Parma Magica 3 (Ignem)
Penetration 2 (Rego)

Single Weapon 4 (when war-painted)

Animal Ken 4 (charm)

Arts
Creo 9
Intellego 9
Muto 9
Perdo 5.3
Rego 10

Animal 9
Auram 5
Aquam 5
Corpus 9
Herbam 5
Ignem 5
Imaginem 7
Mentem 5
Terram 5
Vim 5

Spells

Image of the Beast InAn 5 Arc, Mom, Ind
*Ward against Beasts of Legend ReAn 20 Touch, Ring, Circle
Bind Wound CrCo 10 Touch, Sun, Ind
Eyes of the Cat MuCo(An) 5 Touch, Sun, Ind
Intuition of the Forest InHe 10 Touch, Sun, Group
*Tangle of Wood and Thorns ReHe 15 Voice, Conc, Ind
Wizard’s Sidestep ReIm 10 Per, Sun, Ind
Words of Unbroken Silence CrMe 10 Sight, Mom, Ind
Invisible Sling of Vilanos ReTe 10 Voice, Mom, Ind
Trackless Step ReTe10 Touch, Conc, Ind
Gather the Essence of the Beast ReVi 15 Touch, Mom, Ind

(plus 2 seasons of spell study (Including Leap of the Homecoming ReCo35 MT 2 ), and 2 seasons of rote study.)

Possible Rotes -- Having to use only one Tech/Form for a season makes these much less interesting than I first imagined:

Round 1:

  • Warm Clothing, CrIg 5 R:Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual
  • Ring of Moonlight, CrIG 4, R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Circle, roll up for more light
  • Ring of Candlelight, CrIg 5, Touch, Ring, Circle
  • Palm of Flame, CrIg 5, Touch, Conc, Ind
  • Be As a Beacon, CrIg 5, Per, Conc, Ind ( Base 4 - Cloudy Daylight, +1 Conc)
  • Speak with Passion CrIg 5, Voice, Mom, Ind (Base 3, +2 Voice, ignite flammable object)

Round 2:

  • Lovely, Lucky, Hosed and Screwed? InVi 3, Base 2, + 1 Touch, Mom, Ind
    Four different spells to determine aura power. One spell each for Hermetic, Faerie, Divine and Infernal auras.
  • Search for Vis InVi 5 Base 1 +4 Vision, Per, Mom, Vision
  • Scales of Magical Weight, InVim 5, as book
  • Sense the Nature of Vis, InVim 5m, as book
4

Had a quick look through, although I largely haven't checked the sums yet. Thoughts:

  • Adventure xp is limited to a maximum of 5 per subject.
  • I don't think Tangle of Wood and Thorns should get the wards focus bonus- it's an attack and immobilisation spell, not a ward.
  • The level cap on quality 14 summae being available is level 3; after that it's level 10 (and of course there are potentially limits due to hitting the maximum level of the summa). This definitely affects Artes Liberales; I don't think it affects anything else.
  • I think you've typoed one of your philosophy xp gains (16 rather than 14).
  • Default warping is 2 per year; there's an arguement for reducing it due to not having a longevity ritual, but on the other hand Weird Magic and arguably Magic Addiction would tend to bump it up again, so 2xp per year is probably about right.
  • You don't have a high enough Magic Theory to handle the vis to open a Numerologist's book (I assume it's the lesser version you're going for?).
  • My thoughts on lab texts is that they're probably mostly available for common spells, but might be difficult to find for obscure or custom ones. Rotes are iffier, depending on the size of the Mystery Cult. In either case this is going to be a case of "see what MTKnife says", though. My understanding is that the power level is medium, but I haven't yet got that much to relate that to.
  • If you can't get lab texts, you're going to have to decrease the number of rotes you get per season (but I think you know that).
  • Where you've written, for example, "Trains in Craft: Wood", do you mean training, or teaching? Training xp is only master's ability +3, so quality 16 is a fair bit too high for it.
  • If you mean teaching, I don't think all of your skills are going to be common/academic enough for you to find a professional teacher. The cult lore you can probably just about scrape as it's meant to be an academically focussed cult, but I'm unconvinced about the Craft: Wood, and the Carouse (yes, some grounding in carouse particularly might be common, but not necessarily in people who are professional teachers).
  • I don't think your lab total is high enough for you to learn Leap of Homecoming.
  • He should probably have picked up at least basic levels in Order of Hermes Lore and Code of Hermes.
  • What does Be as Beacon do? Make you emit light?
  • On the issue of the magic items, I'd rather he lost at least most of them before he entered play, although you could treat the general virtue MT Knife said you could gain per 10 years as being picking up a moderate item (for comparison, Magic items is a mG virtue on pg 106 of HoH:TL which gives 25 levels of magic item to redcaps).
  • Alternatively, another possible virtue for him to have picked up is Magical Mount (pg 46 RoP:M)
  • A couple of grog level characters is probably reasonable to pick up.
  • If you're using the Pythagorean initiations, you need to pick up the vow flaw or equivalent.
  • As an idea, the combination of Indiscreet and being a member of a mystery cult might have caused him some problems at some point?
5

Quote-ness gets complex. I'll use color instead.

6

This is a standard restriction rather than something specific to the saga (pg 163 of the main book, "You may apply a maximum of five Adventure experience points to a single Ability or Art").

Scott's laid out rules for the Teacher quality available for less common skills as well - Com +1 and Teaching 3. I agree it's hardly gamebreaking, but may as well get it right. Although I'd also ask with the Carouse - is he actually going out and finding someone to teach him how to drink/gamble/socialise as a fulltime job for a season, or is he just practicing a lot?

For training xp, Scott didn't specify a specific level available, but he did say that when looking for teachers it'd be hard to find someone with skill above 5, so quality 8 is probably reasonable.

7

Thanks for bearing with me on this. I wanted to move forward with char development, but am on a business trip, so access to books/network is limited for a couple of weeks.

8

In ArM, "Teaching" and "Training" have distinct meanings, and so we need to be careful about the usage there. Training, as happens for an apprentice, doesn't impart as many XP's. Its main advantage is that it doesn't take up any of the master's time (hence, I always assume that magi use Training for apprentices and familiars in the lab, except during seasons where they need the bonuses from their lab assistants). Thus, for character generation, we have limitations on Teaching (there has to be a reason for the teacher to give up his time), but they aren't really necessary for Training.

I'll second Salutor's comments on the magic items and the Indiscreet Flaw.

Scott

9

New Timeline:

Age 20: A recent graduate
1 Adventure! Returns home, wooes wife, Maeve. Learns Carouse 5xp, Animal Handling 5xp, Music 3xp . Gains Maeve the Huntress Companion!
2 Studies Parma summa L3Q14. 14xp
3 Studies Penetration summa L3Q14. 14xp
4 Studies Magic Theory summa L5Q10. 10xp
Corresponds with pater, Magic Lore 4xp, for 4 seasons
Warping Total 2

Age 21: His gifted daughter, Leah, is born!
1 Studies Imaginem book L5Q14. 14xp
2 Adventure! Leah is stolen by a magic beast, which he lures with music and kills. Learns Hunt 5xp, Animal Handling 5xp, Music 2xp, Penetration 1xp.
3 Studies Perdo. 14xp
4 Studies Magic Theory summa L5Q10. 10xp
Corresponds with pater, Imaginem 1xp, Perdo 1xp, Magic Lore 2xp
Warping Total 4

Age 22: A 2nd daughter is born!
1 Adventure! Leah is stolen by a magic beast, which he hunts with animal allies and kills. Learns Hunt 5xp, Animal Handling 5xp, Animal Ken 3xp.
2 Studies Artes Liberales summae. L3Q14
3 Studies Artes Liberales summae L3Q14 (maxes at 11)
4 Studies Corpus summa L5Q14. 14
Corresponds with pater on Corpus 1xp, Contact from future cult, Philosophiae 3xp
Warping Total 6 = 1.1 Twilight Avoidance = 7+stress die(2) vs 2+aura+stress (2) == 9 vs 3+aura
invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2982903/

Age 23: A 3rd daughter is born!
1 Adventure! Becomes embroiled in a Secret Mystery Cult! Learns Cult Lore 5xp, Magic Lore 3xp, Stealth 5xp
2 Studies Philosophiae summa L3Q14. 14xp
3 Studies Philosophiae summa L3Q14. (maxes at 13 xp)
4 Studies Terram L5Q14
Correspond with Cultists on Terram 1xp, OoH Lore 3xp
Warping Total 8

Age 24: A 4th daughter is born!
1 Adventure! Questing for the Cult. Learns Animal Handling 5xp, Dominion Lore 5xp, Parma Magica 3xp Gains a Super Awesome Tutor for his children!
2 Initiates into Cult: Hermetic Numerology, Vow: Secrecy
3 Studies Auram 14
4 Studies Ignem 14
Corresponds with cultists on Auram 1xp, Ignem 1xp, OoH Lore 2xp
Warping Total 10

Age 25: A 5th daughter is born!
1Adventure! Questing for the cult. Learns Animal Ken 5xp, Stealth 5xp, Parma Magic 3xp
2Studies Artes Liberales summa L5Q10
3Studies Artes Liberales summa L5Q10
4Studies Aquam 14xp
Corresponds with cultists, Aquam 1xp, CoH 3xp
Warping Total 12

Age 26: A 6th daughter is born!
1Studies Mentem 14
2Studies Artes Liberales summa L5Q10
3Adventure! Questing for the cult! Learns Hunt 5xp, Finesse 5xp, Animal Ken 2xp, Magic Lore 1xp. Gains book for enchanting!
4Tutored in Cult Lore 13xp
Corresponds with people! Mentem 1xp, CoH 2xp, Cult Lore 1xp
Warping Total 14

Age 27: A gifted son, his 7th child, is born!
1Tutored in Cult Lore 13xp
2Enchants Book as Talisman, Enters 2nd Circle: Learns Geometry
3Learns rotes: 1 CrIg! Rote LT: 26+aura. Max Magnitude = (Rote LT)/5. MT Exposure 2
4Learns Rotes 2 InVi ! Rote LT: 26+aura. Max Magnitude = (Rote LT)/5. MT Exposure 2
Corresponds with cultists on Rego 4xp*1.5 = 6xp
Warping Total 16 = 2.1 Avoidance: 7+die5 vs 3+aura+die 4 = 12 vs 7+aura

Age 28: Disaster!
1 Adventure! He is Indiscreet about the Cult! His family dies! His Tutor dies! His covenant dies! Learns Stealth 5xp, Hunt 5xp, Finesse 3xp. Gains Reputation: Suspiciously Sole Survivor.
2 Flees into woods, speaking only to animals. Practices Animal Ken as Language (8xp + 2 Practice xp)
3 Continues to hermit! Animal Ken as Language 10xp
4 Continues to hermit! Animal Ken as Language 10xp
Corresponds with no one!
No warping - abstains from magic this year.

Age 29: He grieves!

  1. Adventure! His pater kicks his depressed butt back into The Game! Gains Infernal Lore 5xp, Faerie Lore 5xp, Finesse 3xp Acquires a new grog (linguist, hunter)!
  2. Studies Rego summae L9Q10 = 15xp
  3. Studies Rego tractus Q10 = 15xp
  4. Studies Intellego summae L9Q10
    Corresponds with pater, Rego 4xp* 1.5 = 6
    Warping Total 18

Age 30: Attempting to reconnect with the cult.
1 Studies Rego tractus Q10 = 15xp
2 Learns Spells from Pater’s Lab Texts (Soothe the Ferocious Beast, Viper’s Gaze)
3 Studies Finesse summa L3Q14
4 Adventure! Captures a magic beast for a friend. Gains 5 xp Hunt, 5xp Magic Lore, Rego 3*1.5= 4.5.
Corresponds with cultists, trying to regain favor! Rego 1.5 xp, Cult Lore 3xp
Warping Total 20

Age 31:
1 Studies Concentration L3Q14 summa
2 Studies Intellego summae L9Q10
3 Studies Intellego summae L9Q10 (max 9xp)
4 Adventure! Captures a magic beast for a friend. Gains Parma Magica 5xp, Finesse 5xp, Rego 3xp * 1.5 = 4.5
Corresponds with people! Concentration 1xp, Intellego 1xp, Rego 1.5, Magic Theory 1xp. Gains Reputation 3: Beast Hunter
Warping Total 22

Age 32:
1 Studies Animal summae L9Q10
2 Studies Animal summae L9Q10
3 Learns “Determine Location of Absent Volume InAn 25 from Lab Text, Lab Total T9+F8+Int2 + Magic Theory5 + Aura5 = 29
4 Adventure! Captures a magic beast for a friend. Gains 5 XP in Animal Ken, 5xp in Hunt, Rego 3(4.5)xp. Gains Magic Item Virtue (25lvls)
Corresponds with people! Gains Animal 1xp, Rego 3(4.5)
Warping Total 24

Age 33:
1 Approaches the saga
2 Studies Mentem 14xp
3 Studies Mentem 14xp
4 Invents an Arcane-Circular Ward Against Demons ReVi 25! Lab Total: Rego 14 + Vim 5(+5) +Int 2 + MT 5 + Aura 5 + Book Bonus 4 + Inventive Genius 6 + Experimentation 8, 5:Side Effect, 5:a minor side effect = 54 Do I have to make this both Arcane Ring and Arcane Circle?
Adventure! Challenged to Certamen, loses! Must call himself “the Unrepentant” from now on. Flees to saga in disgrace. 4(6) xp to Rego, 5xp to Craft:Wood, Stealth 4xp. Gains Animal Ken/Animal Handler grog.
Corresponds with people! Gains 1xp Mentem, Magic Lore 3xp

CHARACTER SHEET AT AGE 34

Abilities
Area Lore Ireland 2 (villages)
Animal Handling 4 (taming)
Athletics (balance) 1
Awareness (search) 1
Brawl 0
Carouse 1 (drinking)
Concentration 2 (ignoring sounds)
Craft: Wood (whittle) 1
Hunt 3 (track)
Music (woodwinds) 1
Prof: Scribe (copyin) 0
Stealth (shadowing) 2.9
Survival (forests) 2
Teaching 0

Language, Gaelic 5 (flirting)
Language, Latin 4 (written)

Artes Liberales 4 (arthimetic)
OoH Lore 1 (buyers)
Philosophiae 3 (moral)
Cult Lore 3.5 (members)
Code of Heremes 1 (mundane relations)

Dominion Lore 1 (critters)
Faerie Lore 1 (critters)
Finesse 3 (aiming)
Infernal Lore 1 (demons)
Magic Lore 2.3 (creatures)
Magic Theory 4.5 (spells)
Parma Magica 3 (Mentem)
Penetration 2 (Rego)

Single Weapon 4 (when war-painted)

Animal Ken 4.15 (charm)

Arts
Creo 5 Intellego 9 Muto 5 Perdo 5 *Rego 14

Animal 8 Auram 5 Aquam 5 Corpus 5 Herbam 5
Ignem 5 Imaginem 5 Mentem 8 Terram 5 Vim 5

New Virtues/Flaws:
Hermetic Numerology,
Vow: Cult Secrecy
Hermetic Geometry
Reputation 3: Suspiciously Sole Survivor
Reputation 3: Beast Hunter
Magic Items (25 lvls)

  • Trough of Alteration CrVi 15
    Base 5, +1 Touch, +5 for 24 uses/day,
    A small food/water trough which inflicts 1 warping point (see RoP:M 79) each time a creature eats food or drinks water placed inside it. On one side are several orifices in which you can place Vis, which fuels the device in unclear ways. It was the maker's hope that the vis would affect the nature of the warping, but he decided to trade it for a very nice wolfhound before coming to any conclusions.

  • Earring of Babel InMe 10
    Base 5, + 1 Conc, 1 use/day
    This small silver earring allows the wearer to understand the meaning of spoken words.

New Spells:
Rotes, as before
Determine Location of Absent Volume InAn 25
A warding spell (TBD -- Arcane Circular Ward Against Demons

Followers:

  1. hunter/linguist grog,
  2. Animal Ken/Animal Trainer grog

Thoughts:

  • I should probably re-work his initial spell list to include more wards, since rings/circles/wards are supposed to be his big stick.

  • I'm still suffering sticker-shock on how much harder it is to learn spells than for a Verditus to create items.

  • Contemplating changing Indiscreet (Major Story) for Difficult Underlings (Major Story), the idea being that whenever he tries to talk an animal into doing something for him, things go awry. That might get a bit silly, though.

  • The earring is uninteresting, but I can't think of much better to do with 10 lvls of magic item.

10

Red denotes pre-apprenticeship changes since last draft
Blue denotes details left to fill out, or questions for the troupe.

Patrick the Unrepentant, Tytalus

Voting Sigil - a ring bearing celtic knotwork and a wolf’s head
Casting Sigil - arctic wolf effects (howls, coloration, wolf-ish-ness)

The Gift, Magus, Self-Confident (free)
Animal Ken (mSup), Inoffensive to Animals (mG), Inventive Genius(mH), Affinity with Rego (mG), Warrior, Minor Magic Focus - Wards (mH), Flexible Formulaic Magic +3 (MH), Independent Study (+2 Practice XP, +3 Adventure XP, HoH:MC 86) (mG)
Hermetic Numerology, Hermetic Geometry, Reputation 3: Suspiciously Sole Survivor, Reputation 3: Beast Hunter

Flaws
Oversensitive - Slurring the Irish (mP), Indiscreet (MS) -3 or maybe Difficult Underlings?
Lost Love (mP), Visions - dead daughter (mSup), Magic Addiction (MH) -3, Weird Magic (mH)(mSup)
Vow: Secrecy about Cult, Magic Items (25lvls)

Personality Traits : Reckless +1, Cheerfully Maudlin +2, Discreet -3

Characteristics: Age: 34 , Size: 0 , Confidence: 2 /5 , Afflictions: None
Int +2
Per 0
Pre 0
Com 0
Str +1
Sta +2
Dex 0
Qik 0

Abilities
Area Lore Ireland (villages) 2
Animal Handling (taming) 4
Athletics (balance) 1
Awareness (search) 1
Brawl (subdue) 0
Carouse (drinking) 1
Concentration (ignore sound) 2
Craft: Wood (whittle) 1
Hunt (track) 3
Music (woodwinds) 1
Prof: Scribe (copyin) 0
Stealth (shadowing) 2.9
Survival (forests) 2
Teaching 0

Language, Gaelic (Irish) 5
Language, Latin (written) 4

Artes Liberales(mathematics) 4
OoH Lore (buyers) 1
Philosophiae (moral) 3
Cult Lore (members) 3.5
Code of Hermes (mundanes) 1

Dominion Lore (critters) 1
Faerie Lore (critters) 1
Finesse (aiming) 3
Infernal Lore (demons) 1
Magic Lore (creatures) 2.3
Magic Theory (spells) 4.5
Parma Magica (Mentem) 3
Penetration (Rego) 2

Single Weapon (when war-painted) 4

Animal Ken (charm) 4.15

Arts
Creo 5
Intellego 9
Muto 5
Perdo 5
*Rego 14

Animal 8
Auram 5
Aquam 5
Corpus 5
Herbam 5
Ignem 5
Imaginem 5
Mentem 8
Terram 5
Vim 5

Spells Last edited on April 17, 2011

*Ward against Beasts of Legend ReAn 20 Touch, Ring, Circle
Bind Wound CrCo 10 Touch, Sun, Ind
Intuition of the Forest InHe 10 Touch, Sun, Group
Wizard’s Sidestep ReIm 10 Per, Sun, Ind
Words of Unbroken Silence CrMe 10 Sight, Mom, Ind
Invisible Sling of Vilanos ReTe 10 Voice, Mom, Ind

  • Aegis of the Hearth ReVi20 Touch, Year, Boundary, Ritual
    Gather the Essence of the Beast ReVi 15 Touch, Mom, Ind
    *Ward Against Faeries ReVi 15 Touch, Ring, Circle

Soothe the Ferocious Beast ReAn 10 Voice, Mom, Ind
Viper’s Gaze ReAn 15 Eye, Conc, Ind

  • Arcane Ring Ward against Demons ReVi 25 Touch, Arcane Ring, Arcane Circle. As a ReVi 15 ring/circle ward only +1 Arcane Ring, +1 Arcane Circle. Includes a Minor Side Effect to be determined by SG.

Talisman
Which book?,
Opened with 8 pawns (+4 bonus to Numerology, Geometry)
No effects invested yet.

11

Right, I still haven't check all the figures yet, but here are my thoughts so far:

  • You can't have a level 10 Aegis of the Hearth - rituals are minimum level 20.
  • You might want to consider bumping up the levels of some of your other wards a bit - remember this saga has the houserule that wards don't need to penetrate, so as long as you can learn them, and cast within 10 levels of the spell level they'll work.
  • I don't think there's any reason Arcane Ring and Arcane Circle have to be paired, although there also wouldn't be much point in having Arcane Ring and standard circle, or vice versa, as you'd lose not having to go over and draw the circle where the target it. You could combine Arcane circle and duration sun, however, although this would break at the minimum of sun duration, the magical circle being broken or the real circle being broken.
  • The Earring of Babel won't work as designed - it would need to be Base 5 + 1 Touch + 1 Concentration + 3 Hearing + 5lvls item maintains concentration = 35.
  • Difficult underlings to my mind is more intended when you expect to have groups of people(/animals) under your command on a regular basis. It's a story hook because your second in command has just got himself horrifically drunk in the local tavern and caused a major fight/spilled all your secrets/insulted someone he really shouldn't have done, and you then have to go and deal with the consequences.
  • As a Tytalus, a possibility for your Numerologist's Book you might consider is The Analects of Tytalus, a collection of the sayings and wisdom of Tytalus which was gathered by the first Primus of the House and which remains very popular to this day. (It's described in a bit more detail in HoH: S. Stats are Summa on House Tytalus Lore, Level 4 quality 11, Summa on Philosophiae level 3, quality 11, Tractatus on Order of Hermes Lore, quality 8.) A few quotes: "I have made war on my mother, clashed with my brother, argued with my friends and quarrelled with my daughters, yet my worst rival wears my face in the mirror." "Victory without battle is like training a wolf; a pointless waste of effort for all concerned." "Hate is as powerful as Love. Who is to judge which is the most noble?"
12

~mumbles obscenities~ Alright, I will drop another Lvl 10 spell and bump it to 20.

If I bump the wards up any, then I have to lose a lot of the versatility in his spell list, and sadly FFM won't bump the effect level, just the R/D/T. I may have to go back and spend a season or three learning more spells....

So what about (normal) Ring/Arcane Circle? Because he's already got a few Ring/Circle spells, but FFM only lets him adjust by one magnitude.

As a tangent: it isn't in the RAW, but would it be possible for him to initiate a mystery that expands his Flexible Formulaic Magic even further? ~contemplates~ Perhaps the Soldiers of Euclid (or whatever we're calling them) seek flexibility and perfection of self? The Hermetic Math mysteries lead to combat flexibility/effectiveness, which leads to creating the "mathematically ideal body?"

Oh, and on the subject of FFM: does it work with my Rotes? They are somewhere between a formulaic spell and a non-fatiguing spont.

I thought I was missing something on that. There isn't much that I can find to do with only 10 lvls. I thought about a magic bow for my grog, but couldn't figure one less than 15. Same thing for a pair of boots with Trackless Step. Even a waterproof or lightweight chest/bag worked out to be 15. Could I get Items of Quality with the remaining 10 spell levels?

This sounds like a good option. I was thinking of unusually high level summae on Artes Liberales (math or geometry), Philosophiae (moral), or one of the M/F/D/I Lores. I'll wait to see if anybody else has ideas.

13

Or how about an invested item, a small gold cross that so far has only been enchanted with Cloak of Duck's Feathers (Lvl 5 +5 for 24 uses/day), and has 9 spaces still open?

14

Still waiting on answers to the questions in my last two posts, and input on how/when to join the campaign.

Here is the current character sheet, horribly formatted due to time limitations:

Patrick the Unrepentant, Tytalus

Reputation 3: Suspiciously Sole Survivor,
Reputation 3: Beast Hunter

Voting Sigil - a ring bearing celtic knotwork and a wolf’s head
Casting Sigil - arctic wolf effects (howls, coloration, wolf-ish-ness)

Virtues Flaws
The Gift, Magus, Self-Confident (free) Oversensitive - Slurring the Irish (mP)
Animal Ken (mSup) Indiscreet (MS) -3
Inoffensive to Animals (mG) Lost Love (mP)
Inventive Genius(mH) Visions - dead daughter (mSup)
Affinity with Rego (mG) Magic Addiction (MH) -3
Warrior Weird Magic (mH)(mSup)
Minor Magic Focus - Wards (mH) Vow: Secrecy about the Cult
Flexible Formulaic Magic +3 (MH)
Independent Study (+2 Practice XP, +3 Adventure XP, HoH:MC 86) (mG)
Hermetic Numerology,
Hermetic Geometry,
Magic Items

Trough of Alteration CrVi 15 Base 5, +1 Touch, +5 for 24 uses/day, A small food/water trough which inflicts 1 warping point (see RoP:M 79) each time a creature eats food or drinks water placed inside it. On one side are several orifices in which you can place Vis, which fuels the device in unclear ways. It was the maker's hope that the vis would affect the nature of the warping, but he decided to trade it for a very nice wolfhound before coming to any conclusions.

Small Gold pendant of St Cristopher
Cloak of Duck's Feathers (Lvl 5 +5 for 24 uses/day)
Invested item. 9 Open spaces left.

The Analects of Tytalus (talisman, pages only)
House Tytalus Lore, Level 4 quality 11, Summa on Philosophiae level 3, quality 11, Tractatus on Order of Hermes Lore, quality 8.

Karl, Shield Grog: Linguist/Hunter

Personality Traits : Reckless +1, Cheerfully Maudlin +2, Discreet -3

Characteristics:
Int +2 Per 0 Age: 34
Pre 0 Com 0 Size: 0
Str +1 Sta +2 Confidence: 2 /5
Dex 0 Qik 0 Warping: 26

Abilities
Area Lore Ireland (villages) 2
Animal Handling (taming) 4
Athletics (balance) 1
Awareness (search) 1
Brawl (subdue) 0
Carouse (drinking) 1
Concentration (ignore sound) 2
Craft: Wood (whittle) 1
Hunt (track) 3
Music (woodwinds) 1
Prof: Scribe (copyin) 0
Stealth (shadowing) 2.9
Survival (forests) 2
Teaching 0

Language, Gaelic (Irish) 5
Language, Latin (written) 4

Artes Liberales(mathematics) 4
OoH Lore (buyers) 1
Philosophiae (moral) 3
Cult Lore (members) 3.5
Code of Hermes (mundanes) 1

Dominion Lore (critters) 1
Faerie Lore (critters) 1
Finesse (aiming) 3
Infernal Lore (demons) 1
Magic Lore (creatures) 2.3
Magic Theory (spells) 4.5
Parma Magica (Mentem) 3
Penetration (Rego) 2

Single Weapon (war-painted) 4

Animal Ken (charm) 4.15

Arts
Creo 5
Intellego 9
Muto 5
Perdo 5
*Rego 14

Animal 8
Auram 5
Aquam 5
Corpus 5
Herbam 5
Ignem 5
Imaginem 5
Mentem 8
Terram 5
Vim 5

Spells
Determine Location of Absent Volume InAn 25 (CrIm) Arc, Conc, Ind
Soothe the Ferocious Beast ReAn 10 Voice, Mom, Ind
Viper’s Gaze ReAn 15 Eye, Conc, Ind
*Ward against Beasts of Legend ReAn 20 Touch, Ring, Circle
Bind Wound CrCo 10 Touch, Sun, Ind
Intuition of the Forest InHe 10 Touch, Sun, Group
Wizard’s Sidestep ReIm 10 Per, Sun, Ind
Words of Unbroken Silence CrMe 10 Sight, Mom, Ind
Invisible Sling of Vilanos ReTe 10 Voice, Mom, Ind

  • Aegis of the Hearth ReVi 20 Touch, Year, Boundary, Ritual
    Gather the Essence of the Beast ReVi 15 Touch, Mom, Ind
    *Ward Against Faeries ReVi 15 Touch, Ring, Circle
    *ArcRing Ward Against Demons ReVi 25 Touch, ArcRing, ArcCircle
  • when the ward is cast, the topmost layer of the ground or floor inside the circle arranges itself into a complex pattern of hexagons (the effect is purely cosmetic).

Rotes CT: (T + F + Aura +( 7 / Geometry 10 / Book14 )) /2
*Ring of Moonlight, CrIG 4, R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Circle,
*Ring of Candlelight, CrIg 5, Touch, Ring, Circle
Warm Clothing, CrIg 5 R:Touch, D: Sun, T: Individual
Palm of Flame, CrIg 5, Touch, Conc, Ind (Base 3)
Be As a Beacon, CrIg 5, Per, Conc, Ind
( Base 4 - Cloudy Daylight, +1 Conc)
Speak with Passion CrIg 5, Voice, Mom, Ind
(Base 3, +2 Voice, ignite flammable object)

Lovely (Hermetic) InVi 3 Touch, Mom, Ind
Lucky, (Faerie) InVi 3 Touch, Mom, Ind
Hosed (Dominion) InVi 3 Touch, Mom, Ind
Screwed? (Infernal) InVi 3, Touch, Mom, Ind
Four different spells to determine aura power. Base 2, + 1 Touch

Search for Vis InVi 5 Per, Mom, Vision
Scales of Magical Weight, InVi 5, Touch, Mom, Ind
Sense the Nature of Vis, InVi 5 Touch, Mom, Ind

15

Sorry, forgot/was leaving it for MTKnife (some combination. I can't remember now).

I reckon taking empty spaces in lieu of enchantment is probably fine.

Haven't checked the new version of the character sheet yet; will try to find time in the next day or so, - sorry, I've been really busy the last couple of days.

Again, I think normal Ring/Arcane Circle is allowable, but pointless - you're losing the benefit of not having to go over there and draw the circle, and it's still costing you an extra magnitude.

I'm going to leave the FFM questions to MTKnife, although I'd be inclined to say probably not on the rotes.

16

Part of your problem was making a separate thread, when I expect questions (as opposed to your character history, though that should really be there too) to be in Character Development.

I'm going to agree with Salutor on FFM with. As for an expanded version of FFM, sure, though obviously there'll be a cost. Maybe after I finish grading next week I can come up with a full mystery for you.

Scott

17

Right, finally got round to checking the latest version of Patrick. Thoughts:

  • Based on what MTKnife said in the character creation thread on Ysild, Visions counts as a Story flaw as well as a supernatural one, so you can't have both it and Indiscreet.
  • You've missed your stamina out of your casting total for your rotes.
  • What does "7 / Geometry 10 / Book14" mean in your rote casting total?
  • I think you're getting too high a study total for Mentem in year 33. You're over level 5 by then, so it should be quality 10, not 14.
  • MTKnife, could you sort the side-effect on the ward against demons?
18

I just looked back over the thread, but I can't figure out what you're asking about.

Scott

19
20

OK, yes, I saw that, and I saw your response to it. I still don't understand the question--partly because I'm not familiar with those guidelines (I don't even know what book they're in). Please, take pity and point me to the right place.

Scott