Flaws:
Diminutive (0) -- obvious reasons, but I'm actually going to take it as a Free flaw rather than a Minor, since it doesn't hamper my character any.
Predecessor (-1) -- two previous owners.
Undecorated (-1) -- Stultus has just moved in, and his last lab was a "guest lab", he doesn't have a lot of possessions.
Free Virtues/Flaws
Idyllic Surroundings
Mountaintop
Superior Equipment/Tools
Magical Lighting (glowing veins in the walls)
So, I have 3 points of Virtues to spend... and I'm having trouble figuring out what to spend them on. thinks snorts snorts again
JL, I'd like to take the "Greater Horde" feature, and have the lab be infested with Aeslin Mice. (They're from Seanan McGuire's "InCryptid" series, which I -- incidentally -- highly recommend.) I think that would be absolutely hilarious.
Have a hard time seeing how they would suddenly appear. Maybe we can do a story to acquire the Horde?
Are you thinking of one of these as your eventual familiar?
No, he's got a familiar. Rahere. I was thinking it would be funny, that's all.
As for them suddenly appearing... a splinter population from somewhere deep within the mountain, coming up through cracks only mice could fit through, and finding a warm cave to settle in? Sometime after Viscaria left but before Stultus moved in? There could be all sorts of weird things under that mountain. For that matter, isn't there a portal to the magic realm hanging around someplace?
We could do a story to acquire them, but I dunno if someone who hasn't read InCryptid could run it... or what that story would look like. The mice are tremendously silly, after all... fine for a bit of comic relief, or for local color, but centering a story around them might mess with the tone of the game.
It was just an idea, I'm not married to it. I just saw "Greater Horde", discounted it initially because it didn't seem to fit, and then asked myself "well, what could I do to make them fit?"
Y'know what, I thought better of it.
I still really, REALLY like the concept of Aeslin Mice, but they wouldn't be terribly good lab helpers. So I'd like to take them as the "Inhabitants" minor Flaw instead, take a Lesser Feature to balance the Flaw, and take a Greater Feature to balance the other Flaws.
"Wall" or "Tablet" would be good features. Something like the Moon Door from "Game of Thrones" would fit thematically, represented as "Void" or "Window". (I loved the way HBO filmed that in the TV series, even though it's not strictly by the book.) The ledge might count as "Balcony"...
No issue here. Greater Feature is probably the best way to balance out the few Flaws that seem natural. There are probably several good ideas for things that might already be present, and certainly many for features you could install yourself. What specialization would you aim for (just curious)?
That's a very good question. I wish it had a good answer.
Stultus doesn't have an overriding area of focus (like Tranquillina or Korvin or Fiona ). He's good at Mentem and Imaginem, but that's mostly because they were tools he'd used. His future studies will depend heavily on what it is he wants to accomplish. So while the Activity specializations would be Items and Spells or Texts, the Art specializations at this point are Um, Idunno, and GetBackToMe.
Nothing wrong with stocking up on activity specializations instead of Art specializations. Still adds a lot of color to your lab.
Glad you're enjoying the "construction process"
Diminutive, Predecessor, Undecorated, Idyllic Surroundings, Mountaintop, Superior Equipment, Superior Tools, Magical Lighting
Inhabitants: Aeslin Mice
Lesser Feature: Enchanter's table (+1 Items)
Greater Feature: A labyrinth of ropes/platforms/tunnels/boxes for Rahere to hang out in (+3 Animal, as per "animal pen").
Specialties:
Experimentation +1, Items +2-1 (Undecorated penalty).
Te +1, Au +1, Im +2-1, An +4-1.
