Only if you consider that the Aegis as either a PeVi-like "Dispelling" effect or a ReVi-like "suppressing" effect.
If it does keep persons under a magical effect at bay (like Parma would), then, there's no problem, since Parma does not count as an active magical effect (parma isn't resisted by MR).
Looking oh HoH: MC p22
The Magical effect is active only at the moment of transformation. Once this is done, there's no active magic. So I'd say it isn't affected.
On the other hand, active effects, like a spell to change yourself into something, would be affected.
For the purpose of dispelling supernatural abilities with WomS, though, I'd do as with Parma, and consider that lvl = Ability *5. (The doubling is, as far as I can tell, because you need to beat MR. Note that this doesn't factor in the Vim score, which is probably an error)
Exactly. You have the choice of either the harder WomS, or the easier "specific magic" spell.
This comment wasn't received with the jest that was, I am assuming and hoping, it was intended. It hit me not long after amul revisited his frustration with me. That wasn't sitting particularly well with me, either. I thought I had explained the five year thing pretty well. I see things getting done that players had set their goals for pretty early on in the saga. I'm addressing story flaws now, and most of them also tie into the overall saga arc.
So I'm going to address amul's frustration. I believe amul is frustrated because he's taken on the bulk of planning for the Tribunal (which is what his character was "hired" to do). He also wants some level guarantee that the things that have been done are going to lead to a successful Tribunal and has been asking me to adjudicate that.
The duties required of the Tribunal host are pretty clear and I already stated them once, and even when you guys started going off on a tangent, I adjusted your discussion a bit and tried to get you to focus on what was required. Above and beyond that is an exercise for the players, and it isn't my place to be involved.
Going back on qcipher's comment. Yeah, I do expect players to read something. I don't mind pointing the way now and again or even swinging the clue-by-four, but I really do expect players to read my posts. I like to think I do leave some nuggets of information in them.
I'm extending the break I've taken since Sunday. I'm going on vacation next week, I plan to unplug a fair bit, so I'm not sure if I will do any posting. I think you have enough to do as far as satisfying your characters' goals for the five year interim.
Also, I'd like you guys to really think about the Tournament; Alexei said he isn't going to participate because he's princeps during that season. I'm suggesting as SG that it doesn't make a lot of sense for the champion of a game to not participate. His participation in The Joust is a big reason why you guys won the Tournament in 1221, further, you're going to be handicapped by Falconball (it's unseemly to win at a game of your own design).
(I do not say any of this to rekindle the tension, but because it seems like both JL and I have been doing a bad job of understanding the other person's perspective.)
To be clear, my frustration does not come from the quantity of work or the lack of affirmation regarding that work. Rather, the frustration I've been expressing comes from the "deadline shift" for that project on me. When I joined the campaign, you guys had covered about 2 years of game time over a year of real-time, and when I suggested making Viscaria a hireling who was working on the tribunal for Mons Electi, that was the pacing that I was anticipating, and that was the prospect that enticed me to join the campaign.
Moreover, I have not been asking you, JL, to adjudicate the long term success of the Tribunal plans. I have been asking you to fault-check my thinking (eg, "Is this a logical reaction to what's happening, or have I been reading things wrong?"), and I have been asking you to adjudicate the acquisition of resources to begin working on the project before you started roleplaying the Kind Word and Crowbar thread.
At this point, I think my frustration comes more from the lack of a clear understanding between you (JL) and I about what the expectations are regarding how to play this 5 year segment of time. I have had to plan Viscaria's actions around a goal which I thought I understood, but feel like JL has given me frequent hints that I have misunderstood the goal, without clarifying how. I have had to plan V's actions around the assumption of resources which I have repeatedly asked for but have yet to receive. I have to roleplay nearly all of the current "active story period" without knowing what sort of impact the 1st season will have on her (mind you, I'm not suggesting there's anything wrong with this last point, I am just saying it adds to my stress).
After the discussion this weekend, I would have said that I felt much closer to that understanding than before, but seeing that JL is still frustrated, now I am worried that I am continuing to misunderstand him.
The pacing is completely immaterial to your character to doing the work necessary for the Tribunal. Stories are about slice of life and addressing story flaws and other things that characters find necessary. Stories focusing on acquiring resources can be undertaken, once you (as in the players) determine what those resources are. I'm not going to decide that. The five year jump is a tool for me to focus on the story flaws, address the progression of time necessary to get to the Tribunal and Grand Tribunals. It was never my intention to "rob" the players of being able to do something. If you think I need to provide a story to account for a necessary resource, I can do it, you can write it up, and I can review/approve or we can handwave it.
Again, fault checking for what I've read through... I don't think that's up to me over and above what I have done. An example of that fault checking is the nixing of trying to add different contests to the Tournament.
Play it as you need to play it. I book ended your stories for a reason. I don't think I've given frequent hints, I think I've given sufficient guidance based on what I see the character having done. She didn't read the book, Fiona did. And I did say, early on what was required to all the players, but in a very basic manner. Let me ask a question that might open this up. How do you think the world will respond to your hosting duties?
I'd like a complete and concise list that simply summarizes what the covenant[1] needs. I don't want to read through several posts of discussion and get turned around and then misunderstand what was asked for. And as to stress, I think some of that is necessary for a good game/story. It may not feel good, but I think I can make the resolution payoff, that's up to me. Was PB stressed over the Duncan story? Don't know, but I hope so. qcipher about Alexei and his giant problem?
Saying some of this stuff out of character doesn't really let me get as good a payoff as if it were done within the story. Perhaps I haven't been repeating myself enough, and as time has passed certain things were forgotten. As far as I can tell, the requirements appear to have been met. Everything else is up to you guys. Again it's the how and why that makes it interesting, and in this instance, the players are responsible for the how and why, and I'm responsible for the reaction. This is actually a reversal of the standard story/game process. Welcome to the world of an SG (which I know you were), you're stressed out wondering if the players are going to think your stories are any good.
[1]The covenant, as in all the players coming to an agreement that yes, this is what we want. Then who's going to ask for it, and some nominal description of how they think they are going to acquire it.
Well, I have no clue if Isen is suited to this or not, but he can do it. Actually...
To hell with it. I don't like the publicity, and am ill-suited to this.
But if you're not gonna represent Mons Electi, someone ought to do it. And if I may, I think that Fiona would be awesome in the Joust, too
On an unrelated subject, watched the Dark Knight Rises. Some slow moments, some things I didn't like much, but otherwise, and globally, a fine and moving... well, movie. I have just one beef with it. Why, oh, why, did he have to go and pick Marion "Deep One" Cotillard?
Well...one of the things I think we should do at this point is have Alexei be 'talked into' competing in the joust. He felt that it wouldn't be proper, but the fact is he'd definitely want to compete and defend his title.
After "drinking from the fire hose" at work the last two weeks, I'm trying to catch up in Ars. Anything I need to know right now that is not in a thread just for Korvin?
Yes, and no. IMO, everything that's in play is in the realm of the players and their interactions. You guys can interact, or you can rely on me to provide all the interaction. I have the sense that much (too much) is reliant on me.
There's the discussion of the Tribunal (is everyone signed off on what's to be done?), Viscaria's ascension to a full member rather than a peregrinator. I'm sure there's plenty to do that is inter-character and can build a richer story filling in the gaps for a five year period. I'm responding on my phone and on vacation, and am mostly unplugged from this saga for the week, if something urgently needs my attention (before next Monday/Tuesday) PM me and I'll respond as soon as I have time. I'll pick up my stories starting sometime next week.
Next Wednesday the 8th, I am leaving for Texas, and not back home until the night of the 20th. Flying into Houston, staying there for a couple of days, driving up to Austin for the next week, back to Houston probably Sunday the 19th.
Also, this Saturday I will be away all day. Going to New York to see the Mariners (riding a six-game winning streak, yay!) play the Damn Yankees at Mos Eisley Stadium.
So, little progressed on the Tribunal, or at least I can't determine if everyone is signed off and ready to go on it. We have a bit of time before things get underway, since I have yet to complete Viscaria's story which amul thinks will color how things progress for his five years. As that story progresses, I'd like to see the plans your characters have take a firmer shape...as in implemented.
Stated or obvious (to me) goals for the Tribunal period Fiona has the Giant Summit she wants, if she wants it then, she can probably set it up to happen after the tournament, perhaps even creating housing of sufficient size for them to use. Then contacting all the giants, which she has started doing.
I had thought that Korvin would be interested in trying to control or manage the Hermetic Fair that coincides with Tribunal and Tournament, given his lineage and the fractures within his House. He doesn't have to, but it's definitely possible with a Redcap and a Magical Mercere. Alexei wants to show of the grogs, how is he organizing them? I've never been 100% clear as to how the grogs have been trained and prepared to work as a unit. It's a stated goal for Alexei to compete in a Flambeau Tournament, having a healthy cadre of grogs is part and parcel of that, and is ostensibly his stated responsibility. Also, there is the Melee part of the Tournament, which is an event for grogs or at least the non magically inclined. Viscaria is building everything...but is what she is building meeting with everyone's approval. Do the magi of Mons Electi attempt to micromanage her or set things up just so, to their prefrences? Isen is doing...what? I'm sure it's not a lot given The Fixer's time/posting constraints.
How do the magi expect to avail themselves of their guests during this time? How are the staff going to be trained and selected (consider that there are a lot of magi for them to become annoyed with, and new magi means becoming used to the Gift is out, as it is becoming used to a specific magus or maga). How are magi goign to come and go? How are the players going to keep other magi from going over to visit the castle when there is going to be a nice fancy bridge for them to walk across? (I'm assuming the placement of the Hermes Portal was going to be done somewhere within the Tribunal village... Yeah, that last one is a bit of a hint, but I think that it is necessary to outline that potential logistics problem, and then other problems are for you, the players to identify and solve.
There's all sorts of things that are to be done around Mons Electi, too. I've purposely ignored developing the covenant, because I wanted the players to do this. Things will eventually start breaking down, because the rotating princeps thing was never designed to work over the long term. I already exploited the lack of a security plan and watch detail once. Finances are something I can touch on, and so on and so forth...
How does the fair normally run? I doubt I can control it as the Senior Redcap in the Tribunal would run it and he and I do not seem to be on the best terms.
I am going to send out some letters to Gifted Mercere to try to get some of them to come.
She will continue writing letters to everyone she can find, even Atlas (btw, did we ever find/make a Greek teacher/translator?). I think everyone except Stonehenge is having Tribunal at the same time. Ideally, since everyone's study/lab seasons are pretty much shot for Tribunal anyway, she would prefer to have the Summit shortly after Tribunal. I'm thinking, to allow travel time for the giant-kin to get here, a month after Tribunal starts. (So, if Tribunal is June 15, Summit would be July 15.) Which means she will need to talk to Viscaria before then to see if she would re-erect the temporary housing for the occasion. Fiona will also, if necessary, dip into her vis allowance to compensate them for their time and trouble.
Fiona, for one, is letting her do her job. She was brought on as an expert, she has had some pretty good ideas, and Fiona would only step in if she sees something that's totally wtf.
Fiona plans on doing a lot of mingling, meeting and greeting and glad-handing and what not. She is the vice-princeps that season, and is willing to help Alexei in any way she can, as she expects being princeps during Tribunal to be rather taxing.
I'm assuming that, since Henri was Reynault's "apprentice" in the early days of the covenant, that he took over after Reynault's death. Basically, just giving him the green-light to hire/recruit who he needs to see to the mundane needs for the Tribunal. Cooks, servants, heralds/messengers, what not.
There should probably be a central gate/arrival point for the visitors to come to, on the mundane side and just outside the regio. I believe we have a guard-gate that meets that criteria? And have runners there at all times to fetch someone to invite them into the Aegis and escort them to where they will be staying, maybe give them a quick, if half-assed, tour.
So, we need a security plan with a little more detail than "We come up with a security plan"?
I agree that we should probably come up with a better Princeps plan, which Fiona will bring up after the Tribunal. I'm sure there are grumblings of discontent among the mortals for not knowing who's in charge at any given time ("Quick, the quarry's on fire again! Someone go get Fiona!" "But she was in charge last week! Isn't it Viscaria's turn?" "I don't know...just get somebody, I don't care who, as long as they have a wand!")
Not much, yeah. That's why Isen is morose, after all :-/
He'll assist viscaria somewhat, by putting those circle enchantments we discussed before. In fact, so long as it is sponted, he could assist her even more for those Rego Terram Craft magic she'll do, but he will follow her indications, as he knows nothing about architecture.
He'll also participate in the flambeau tournament.
It just occurs to me: We need a police force.
Not for the magi (well, in fact, we may need one, but it would be very bad politics, so we shouldn't), but for the grogs and retainers. All the mundanes who, contrary to all those noble magi, will get drunk and cause problems. This may also be useful should unwanted guests venture into the regio.
=> We should forbid wearing mundane weapons on the tribunal site. They should be allowed in a covenant's quarters (they're at home, of sorts, and we respect that), but nowhere else. Only the "police" will be armed on the common areas.
Of course, we don't want to insult our guests, so we should ask beforehand that each covenant helps us in this endeavour, by lending us grogs that'll help in this endeavour. An equal number per covenant, although, since it is our duty, we don't want to burden them too much, and want this to be a party for everyone, grogs included. So our forces should be 1/4 of it.
I'd say we should have 1/3 of our forces serving as the police (the less experimented ones), with the other 2 thirds (the more seasonned warriors) manning the covenant. Sadly, we can't let them relax, as this seems like a good time for our ennemies to strike. But they should receive a better pay for this, especially the ones manning the castle.
If his sodales agree, he'll send out letters to every involved covenant.
Isen is out of his depth for most of these questions.
And he's not eager to meet most magi anyway, save if they are seekers, milites, or share similar magical interests. For these, he'll be very different.
But he'll insist that we cast a separate Aegis over covenant grounds and the tribunal. We have the vis to spare, it shouldn't be much difficult, and it'll protect us from a lot of potential problems.
Well, possible solution: Have clearly separate posts, run by 1 magi.
For exemple, we could have:
A mundane representant
A OoH representant
Someone overseeing buildings and constructions
Someone overseeing covenant security
Someone overseeing spies and information (we lack this, and it is VERY important)
Someone overseeing magical ressources
Note that some of these can be transfered to mundanes, but they should work under a given magus, who's the ultimate authority.
We should also prepare for various eventualities. Like:
What do we do if the covenant is under attack by a superior force? We need an escape plan for everyone, which means probably working on some item. A charged item would be great for this (since it's useless once used up, so our ennemies can't follow). Maybe Isen can work on this.
What do we do if someone disappears? We should take blood samples of important mundanes at regular intervals. Probably magi, too, although this is too great a risk, in a way. But what else? Do we have a spell allowing to search for someone at AC range?
What do we do should our ennemies turn to diabolism and we're overrun by possessed covenfolk? This (IIRC) require a DEO-like specific spell to exorcise.
What do we do if the covenant is on fire? Best thing is probably some PeIg devices.
IMO, we should also consider giving select mundanes the ability and authority to put some of these plans under way. That is, if we have an Escape Gate, having some of them know how to use it. Same thing if we craft Anti-Possession wands.
Korvin will continue his letter writing campaign to all of the Mercere magi to invite them to Mons Electi for a meeting. The letter to the Redcap is a different tack. I will also have one for a senior Redcap in the Rhine Tribunal (probably not Horst). To JL, do you want me to write out all the letters?
Consider that grogs form other covenants are going to be loyal to the other covenants ( Confluensis ).
A command structure with many different troops from different commands would be a nightmare. We have about 40-50 soldiers. I would guess that several groups of 5 could patrol the "streets". Allow the Covenant grogs ( from other covenants) patrol their own areas. If we think we need more soldiers for guard duty I would hire mercenaries to protect the grounds but not to deal with Magi ( except Alexei).
I like this. We still need someone to control the finances.
