OK, food for thought.
C-hound, let's do some serious discussion on personal e-mail, come to an agreement, and then post here for the those not interested in number-crunching. I've got the usual office suite of spreadsheet and document programs so send me what you have and we'll play and, hopefully, you and I can close this by, say, Saturday morning?
-K!
OK, but I've been doing everything pen & paper, and only formating it for posting on these boards.
If anyone else wants to get in on these details of the books/library before we move on to other issues (inc. Boons/Hooks, & etc), you're more than welcome- just let us know, and we'll all CC on the emails.
(V- email will be launched later today.)
Somebody with some time on their hands must surely have a copy of Covenants for Metacreator. If push comes to shove I'll try to find some time this weekend to put all the details into a proper covenants sheet so we can track it all nicely and we can all have nice formatted pdf files for our records.
Actually, I do have a copy of the Covenants template for Metacreator. What I have found, though, is when you are reviewing different scenarios that it isn't quite as easy as Excel.
It IS superb for long-term tracking and monitoring, though, by leaps and bounds and does have a very pretty output. So, what I'll do is after C-hound, Steve, and I finally 'stick a fork in it' and call the library ready for public consumption, we'll send out the two best proposals over e-mail, vote for which is best amongst the whole troupe and then put it into a Metacreator file for you to manage over the long term as well as balance Hooks, Boons, Lab Specializations and so on. Fair?
BTW, for the rest of the folks out there, while it is obviously not required, I do strongly recommend picking up a copy of Metacreator for both character management (particularly after they finish the Mysteries upgrade) and laboratory management. Some really great work went into it and the help files really do help.
Yes, Pencil 1.0 and Paper 3.5 work very well, too and have less up front cost, but Metacreator kicks serious tuckus in comparing cases, filing, back-up, and runs rings around Eraser 2.1 when it comes to editing!
Also, if you don't already have a copy, Covenants is a good book to have if your character is going to be doing a lot of lab work (esp. Verditius and Bonisagus) or book writing. It initially comes across as a storyguide supplement, but about half the chapters are actively usable by all, particularly when the SG pulls you aside and says "you're playing covenfolk next session, and we need 5 bit players" it helps tremendously. IMO a very well done and useful supplement to have on your shelf.
Regards,
-K!
While the computers are crunching the numbers, and the topic has come up about renumeration for services in the charter thread, a few things need to be said about the Covenant's Resources.
We have a stable income of 350L-400L (L being the symbol I'll use for the Mythic Pound), most of it coming from the mine (in the form of tin, zinc, lead, a little silver and gold, and quite a few semi-precious stones). As noted way up topic, we have the right to the tolls on our bridges (a typical source of income), easily worth 100L by itself. A share of the Inn's profits, and the modest taxes and fees from the fair make up a variable amount, usually around 50L a year.
The Village of Lough Caillte is mainly agricultural, having the typical assortment of livestock and fields. Some fish are had from the lake, and the river beneath the lake. No one really hunts the game in the woods, since an incident with a mean faerie rabbit several years back. Most of the covenant's food and basic necessities come from the local fields. However, the port of Limerick is 2-3 days easy travel to the south, where Venditores from the Order are known to have a house for business. Galway, to the west, is an excellent source of fish. Ballinasloe, to our north by a day, has an autumn horse and market fair. Waterford has a small glass works, but is under Norman control. From the ports of Southern Ireland, we have access to the goods of France, The Empire, Flanders and Christian Iberia. From there, the rest of the world.
The Village itself numbers about 100-150 people, and the hamlet outside the gate of the covenant has another 30-40, plus the 30 or so inhabitants of the covenant proper (not including Player Characters).
Steve
I think as the library is looking pretty solid now I don't really know how and where to spend my 150 points. So, I've come up with a novel way of tackling the problem. I'm going to auction the build points.
Well, I say auction...
I'm going to sell off my points at a rate of one Mythic Pint per 10 build points. I figure that way Corvus won't go short of a drink or two during the first week he's at Loch Caillte.
So, who'll start me on the first lot, a nice well-rounded 20 build points, ideal for a glossed Summa with room for maybe a couple of resonances?
Don't do that- we'll just put in the same type of stuff we did before. Don't stress over the Item text or the Ritual if you don't want to- Guidelines is only guidelines.
Just pick a mage who died- pick 4 level 25 spells that they would have had and one 20 - done. Or about that many spells in any theme- maybe from another mage entirely, or some trade thing- who knows where spells come from! Pick 5 big fire spells from Dierdre, or more Nautical ones from Kallias, or whatever. No one questions, so it's all gravy.
Part of the fun is being surprised at others' gifts/curses. 
"beneath"?...
Below, as in "down stream". Argh... Curse you, semantics! 
As someone reminded me, there are 3 points of Boons left to balance things out (I've taken 2). So, if anyone has Covenants and wants to suggest 3 minor boons (besides hidden resources), Feel free.
Anyway, more ramblings from the SG, again on the subject of covenant resources:
The Aura at the covenant is a strong and steady +3... Or Average. It does not vary, even with the presence of the church in the village. The Aura switches to a Faerie Aura at the lake shore, and gets stronger as one approaches the Island. The town has a dominion aura, but in the words of Glendower, "'Tis verra strange..." It's +2 in the town, +3 at the church. Even the sound of the bell, easily heard at the covenant, does not drive the fae back into their trods, like it would elsewhere. As to what the exact details are, you'll have to go into town and find out. The fields to the east have no aura.
On the subject of labs... As has been observed, several of the labs have magical heating (Sylphie's and Kallias', in particular). Investigations (which will take a season) will have to be performed to reveal other specifics.
On the subject of Location : County Galway (and the Fifth of Connacht, in general) is a temperate area, rarely getting below 10C in the winter, and 25C in the summer (due to the Gulf Stream, but we don't know that IC). Fall and Winter are rainier than spring or summer. The area receives about 115cm/46cm of rain a year, and is less prone to severe weather. Snow rarely falls, even more rarely stays (unless Mab has been doing something aurum related ... again ). IOW, a nice place to live, if it wasn't for the rough, uneven terrain. We're on the eastern end of the county, so we have the best of both; Rolling terrain that is easily farmed, and the beginnings of the rough western coastal area, rich in mineral wealth.
Steve
Ah. Like on a map. (Well, there ARE faerie aura and regios around here- it made sense to me both ways at the time. Still does, actually.)
As far as boons, I don't have Covenants (ver' sad!). The only minor (+1) Boon listed in core that strikes me as appropriate would be to bump the Aura by another +1 to a whopping +4 - I'd be up for that, unless that conflicts with the SG's concept. That, or (as suggested elsewhere) +250 more "hidden" points of damaged books in the library.
The Rhine river in one saga was split magically - there was an Upper Rhine (the one the mundane world knows) and the Lower Rhine, where the Rheingold lies, in waters deep and swift.
Anyway, The idea was to keep warping by Aura to a minimum, so a +4 works just fine, too.
I can deal with more hidden resources as well. I bet you can too, since it means I have to come up with them .
Steve
(That part we could help you with- we give you a much bigger library, and you pull about ten score pts out, randomly and/or selectively, that are "damaged" somehow, not fit for study until they are repaired/recopied/whatever. Arts, Abilities, Tracts, Summae, Lab Texts- dealer's choice. That will take some new, specifically crafted spells, perhaps some a new specialist, and money and time, and there we go.
(We currently have an "excellent" library in that it covers a wide variety of subjects- but it covers only a very few in any real depth.)
A small vis source or two as yet to be found (perhaps with a mini-adventure to do so), would take up 50-100 more or so.
And additional enchantments built into the labs or covenant itself, perhaps forgotten or unknown by Dierdre and Mab, or known but with a lost activation trigger, could be more. (Iirc, we started suggesting items for the covenant, and quickly ran thru our self-allotted points.)
Or whatever. But we could work with you- you give us some parameters, and we'll crunch the numbers to fill in the blank.)
Apologies to all on the delay on this, BTW. Got hung up on an unexpected family issue yesterday.
CH and Krys: You should have the final scenarios to you by Monday morning.
Others: proposed covnenant build will be presented on Monday eveing or sometime on Tuesday.
Again, many apologies.
-K!
Cool- no rush, we'll stay busy.
On other fronts, there are a couple items that we are close to finishing, so we can move on freely. Each only requires a couple votes of "aye", or suggested alternatives, and we'll make them finalized.
[color=blue]Lab Texts
If you recall, 250 points had been set aside for "no brainer" picks, things that any covenant in our position simply would be assumed to have picked up at some point, and that there is no really good excuse why they didn't...
(edited, redundant to table, 3 posts below)
...
(2nd topic- Covenant Magic Items- to be discussed after we resolve this one! Iirc, we burned thru our self-allotment of points for that aspect, or certainly ran out before we had filled our rough wishlist. We may get a bit of a reprieve in the form of "Unknown Resources", but we'll have to see what we have first, and then what we might.)
Those sound pretty good. In all honesty wouldn't it be a good idea to have a few other casting tablets? Spells that are good (but powerful) or spells that are nice but not needed too often (once a year like the Aegis) would be good ideas, as well as the healing spells. Someone wouldn't have to learn the spell, just have a remotely high enough spell casting total. As for learning from a tablet, I don't think you can, but I'd give a bonus to learn it as if you knew a similar spell, so it would make it a bit easier.
(My thoughts exactly. (And with Wizard's Communion, those high-level spells all become within reach.)
The only reason to learn "yearly rituals" like Aegis is that it cuts back on the Botch Dice, if one rolls a 0, which is once every 10 years or so. Meh - volunteers?*
(* Actually, that is, imo, exactly the sort of thing that would count for a "season of duty" toward the Covenant!)
As for Casting Tablets, we could have both Lab Texts and CT's for some likely spells. Expensive, but we could cut back on some others, or whatever.
Does anyone (with Covenants?) have a definitive answer whether or not we can learn/study a spell from a Casting Tablet?)
[color=blue][size=167]Lab Texts[/size]
(1000/1000 pts, + ~500 SG texts)
Listed by Form, then (generally) by Magnitude.
| [size=150][b][color=darkred] Form[/b][/size] | [size=150][b][color=darkred] Lab Texts[/b][/size] | [size=150][b][color=darkred] Casting Tablets[/b][/size] | Animal | ReAn 5 Binding the Mundane Codex (1) MuAn 15 Doublet of Impenetrable Silk ReAn 15 Circle of Beast Warding ReAn 20 Ward against the Beasts of Legend CrAn 20 [b](R)[/b] Soothe pains of the Beast CrAn 35 The Wizard's Mount | - | Aquam | InAq 5 Touch of the Pearls MuAq 20 Lungs of the Fish ReAq 25 Ward vs Fae of the Water InAq 30 [b](R)[/b] Voice of the Sea (2) | InAq 30 [b](R)[/b] Enchantment of the Scrying Pool | Aurum | InAu 15 True Sight of the Air InAu 20 Sailor’s Foretaste of the Morrow CrAu 20 Aeolus' Blessing (3) CrAu 25 Clouds of Rain and Thunder | - | Corpus | CrCo 10 Bind Wound PeC0 15 Dust to Dust InCo 20 Sight of the True Form InCo 20 The Inexorable Search ReCo 20 The Mighty Fling of the Menacing Knight (4) CrCo 20 Purification of the Festering Wound CrCo 20 [b](R)[/b] Gentle Touch of the Purifed Body CrCo 25 [b](R)[/b] Restoration of the Defiled Body ReCo 35 Leap of Homecoming | CrCo 30 [b](R)[/b] Surgeon's Healing Touch (1 Serious Wd.) CrCo 40 [b](R)[/b] Incantation of the Body made whole (all damage) CrCo 30 [b](R)[/b] Cheating the Reaper CrCo 40 [b](R)[/b] The Gift of Another Day (5) | Herbem | ReHe 20 Ward Against Persistent Archers (6) ReHe 25 Ward vs Fae of the Wood InHe 25 Architect's Eye (7) | - | Ignem | CrIg 10 Lamp without Flame CrIg 10 Heat of the Searing Forge PeIg 10 Apprentice's Friend (8) ReIg 25 Ward Against Heat and Flames | - | Imagonem | InMe 20 Discern Images of Truth and Falsehood | - | Mentem | ReMe 20 Ring of Warding against Spirits | - | Terrem | MuTe 10 The Crystal Dart ReTe 20 The Spell of Wrought Metal (9) ReTe 25 The Phantom Blacksmith (10) CrTe 25 Wall of Protecting Stone | CrTe 35 [b](R)[/b] Conjuring The Mystic Tower | Vim | InVi 20 Piercing the Magic Veil InVi 20 Piercing the Faerie Veil MuVi 20 Wizard's Boost (Corpus) MuVi 20 Wizard's Reach (Ignem) ReVi 20 Aegis of the Hearth ReVi 20 Circular Ward Against Demons MuVi 20 Wizard's Communion ReVi 25 Maintain the Demanding Spell MuVi 30 Wizard's Boost (Target) ReVi 30 [b](R)[/b] Aegis of the Hearth | ReVi 30 [b](R)[/b] Aegis of the Hearth |
| [i]Misc. Items[/i] | Healing wand - CrCo 20
Purification of the Festering wound (Note A)
Weather Feather - InAu 20 The Rod of Inspiration - ReCo 30 (Note C)) |
- |
| Totals | 49 Texts | 7 Texts |
Notes:
Item Notes:
A) 1 use per day, Duration Moon
"The target gains +9 to recover rolls..." (see p 129)
(The item may be lying around somewhere right now, as it's a pretty handy thing to have.)
Shape: wand. Material: Ivory (+5 to Healing)
B) Use 1x/day
Know precisely what tomorrow's weather will be, and general idea for the next week.
Shape: Feather w/ Hazel handle. Material: Hazel (+3 Divination) + Swift pinfeather
C) R: Touch D: Sun T: Individual
Base 10, +1 Touch, +2 Sun total 25, +3 (6 uses)
Shape: Riding Crop. Material: Boar Leather (+3 stubborness, ignore pain)
This device is often invested into items of correction and coercion; a rod, whip, even a leather glove (BUT this text is for only the riding crop!) It is typically actived by a hard whack onto the target's face or back (not enough to cause a wound). Once struck the target will feel invigorated, angry even, and immune to the effects of pain and fatigue for the rest of the day (like Endurance of the Berzerker).
This lab text would allow the creation of a rod or suitable item to have 6 charges (lab text/ 5).
Looks solid to me.
Looks good to me too.
Great stuff.
Quick update from my end: Not my week. Internet was down last night. Will send library scenarios to Steve and CH tonight with voting tomorrow.
-K!
OK, great - that's 4 Player votes in favour - if no one objects, I'll add in the SG texts, and make it into one big Table of Lab Texts.
Krys- is it becoming near time for a new Sticky thread, one with all the Covenant Info?
Btw- Here's a suggestion that has worked in other PbP games- we create an account called "Scribe", or something, that we share the password for. Anything that will be continually updated can posted by "Scribe", and we all can log in and change that as we need to, or the Scribe duty can be passed from one Player to another. Either we each have a different area, perhaps for a year by year "Saga Log" that each mage can add to or not, or various accounting posts - for instance, if we spend 7 Terram vis for a tower, that should be deducted and noted for the Stores. (We can work out a way so 2 players don't double-post.)
The Vis stocks, libraries, and so on, all will change over time- if we don't have to rely on one person, those posts will be easier to update. Just a thought.