I'd think that in most faerie places, you could do either of those, probably, but this regio would be entirely too small.
Scott
LOL, Xavi has his own rules set! 20 or 25 seems reasonable to me. I am going to use my old Might scale guys, 25 is a Drake, 50 medium dragon, 75 elder wyrm, and 100 for an ancient serpent. Sigurdsen is in the 60's somewhere, the Giant is a 55.
not that it matters much to me but I dont really see a wolf, however large, as having a Might in the neighbourhood of a Drake. Most of the high might creatures have such might because of the various magical attack/abilities they need to power. Besides his greater size, there is nothing special about a wolf (unless it breathes fire by some inexplicable reason).
Wouldn't 15 be much more fitting for the might of an overly large magical version of an otherwise mundane creature?
maybe he is intelligent, talks, teleports and has a paralyzing gaze? is 20 reasonable?
Even 20 is high for an "ordinary" magical beast. With the change in the way MR works in ArM5, there's no need anymore for absurdly high Might scores.
Scott
to me, 20 is very low. Extremely low! My freshly gauntleted magus Roberto can penetrate 20. One of the reasons I gave Wards back their strength (and why I gave you 10+ years of development) is so that I can use high might creatures. Young Firedrakes will have 25 or 30. Ogers are 25ish. Hags are 40. Pan Caudrax is 75. A demon prince will be 95. And there are might 20 wolves in the RAW I do believe.
Boys and penetration. Freud would love this!
Some of my best games were totally low-level (I even remember a character of mine getting killed while hunting an ordinary pig). It doesn't always have to be a dragon
Btw:
My redcap is slowly assuming form. Communication 5 + maximum sex appeal. She knows how to talk to the boys...
Very funny 
True, but this is not one of those games. This is a high powered mega dramadventure saga.
Excellent! Talk to Max, he is your boss 
LOL! Well, we know where SHE is likely to end up sooner or later, in the sanctum of our lecherous sex addict Verdi, Dimir Tar lol.
Antoni may have the personality trait,
but his rep is clean!
Dimir "Redd Foxx" Taar, welcome to Andorra!
In the description of Magical Animal Companion it reads "the beast has a Magic Might score of 10 - size." That would be MM = 8-9 for a size +1 or +2 wolf like this one, as per the RAW.
I tend to disregard that as being too low, though. he is the pack leader of a pack of large wolves, so I tend to put them slightly above that number. 15 or so.
20 is not even remotely "powerful" in the current edition. 75 is not very powerful in the current edition, in fact, regardless of what the RAW says. With some dedication you can beat those numbers easily by brute force. Virgin Mary, if not acting according to the Divine Plan is fair game for an archmage, in fact. Pan Caudarax would make a nice pet for some of those archmages. In fact, doubling the might of some of those creatures in the RAW would put them in the ir proper place. Might 20 is a joke taking into account PRECISELY the power levels of magi in ArM5. Except for newly gauntleted magi not maxed out towards penetration, that is.
But that is beside the point. A might of 15 would fit this wolf well enough. it has powers of tracking without losing its quarry, render the victim mute and paralyze it by sight. Usual wolf stuff, basically, but having it magical so the legends are true. No fancy teleport spells here, thank you 
The model for the wolf, in case you need stats for the beast would be pretty similar to those of the Coeris wolves of HoH:TL (tremere chapter)
About the power level adventures, yup, some of our best adventures had 3-4 grogs and no companions or magi. Grogs with an intelligence of -1 on average and specialized in breaking skulls or doing some other physical work trying to solve faerie riddles, that is. IIRC one of the answers to how could the faeries reach a new equilibria at 5 oclock was answered by "well, do a BIG melee and the one that stands up at the end is da new leader of Da house". The faeries found that to be so gross that they awarded the grog extra prestige just for the daring of saying so in the middle of a Flower Faerie court.
Cheers,
Xavi
20 isn't low to most players, and you might want to keep in mind that people's characters are probably designed around different expectations.
Scott
Thsi girl is based on 20/year after childhood. This somewhat devalues the Redcap Major Virtue, but I don't care. Here she comes:
Lejla - A chaaaarming companion
On her travels, a redcap named Miriam fell in love with Hassan al'Benari, the steward of the Muslim rulers of Valencia, and they had a daughter, Lejla. Miriam left her daughter with Hassan, because she had no time to raise the child herself and because she knew that the Muslims treated their women better than the Christians.
So Lejla spent her first years at Valencia's court, a charming child that even found the acceptance of Fatima, Hassan's regular wife.
But the day Lejla turned seven, her mother showed up at Valencia and laid claim to the girl. Hassan and Fatima, who were unwilling to let Lejla go, said they'd only consent if Lejla wanted to leave. They were enraged when the girl for some reason stubbornly insisted on leaving, and haven't forgiven her since.
Her mother initiated her into the ways of the Milvini Antiquiti, and the girl showed an unbelievable literary talent. During their travels, Lejla quickly picked up all the languages she came across.
After her apprenticeship, she continued to travel Iberia for the Order, flirting, collecting stories and writing excellent books.
Notes: Lejla can be used as superb teacher and author. She is a perfect translator and very skilled at intrigue. She also knows about the Muslim population and their ways. Men usually don't stand a chance against her: She can talk them into anything she wants (Charm 6 + Communications 5 + Aura of Ennobled presence 3= 14 + dice). She rarely fights in person, but relies on some man to dirty his hands for her. If she feels threatened she tries to change her appearance to escape or changes into a falcon using her ring.
Characteristics: Int 1, Per 1, Str -2, Sta 0, Pre 2, Com 5, Dex -1, Qik 0
Size: -1
Age: 40 (apparent age 25)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 2 (Warping Points 0): Flaw: fragile Constitution
Confidence Score: 1 (Confidence Points 3)
Virtues and Flaws: Redcap; clear thinker, Free Expression, Good Teacher, Great Communication (twice), Linguist, Venus' blessing, well traveled (free); Black Sheep, Outsider (Muslima); ability block: martial, fragile constitution , obsessed (stories), oversensitive (personal hygiene), small
Personality Traits: charming +3, curious +3, brave+2
Reputations: grateful -2 (Lejla's family)
immoral 2 (Pyrenees)
Weapon/Attack Init Atk Dfn Dam
Fist 0 +1 +2 -2
Kick -1 +1 +1 +1
Knife 0 +3 +3 +0
Soak: +0 (+3 item)
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious - (alter if necessary)
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-4), -3 (5-8), -5 (9-12), Incapacitated (13-16), Dead (17+)
Abilities: Area Lore Valencia (politics) 1, Area Lore Pyrenees (legends) 2, Athletics (hiking) 1, Awareness (hearing) 2, Bargain (male Muslims) 2, Brawl (Knife) 2, Charm (witty) 6, Chirurgy (binding wounds) 2, Concentration (stories) 1, Etiquette (Islamic) 2,
Folk Ken (Muslims) 3, Guile (disguise) 4, Intrigue (Muslims) 4, Leadership (Harem) 1, Arabic (Andalusi) 5, Basque (storytelling) 4, Spanish (Aragonese) 5, Music (composing songs) 2, Order of Hermes Lore (politics) 3, Codex of Hermes (redcaps) 3, Islamic Lore (legends) 3, Ride (speed) 2, Stealth (hiding) 2, Survival (Mountains) 1, Swim (salt water) 1, Teaching (single student) 3, Artes Liberales (Grammar) 3, Latin (book writing) 4, Theology Islam (Q'ran) 2, Islamic Law (women's rights) 2, Profession: Scribe (orderly) 3, Magic Theory (teaching) 2, Occitan (Catalan) 4
Twilight Scars:
Equipment: Ring, Robes, ornate Knife
Encumbrance: 0 (Burden 0)
Description and Background:
I couldn't be bothered with a year by year calculation, so I just calculated the total vailable xp and used them.
Early Childhood 5 years: 45+75=120xp
Apprenticeship 15 years (starts at 7): 300 redcap xp + 50 well traveled xp
20 other years: 20x20xp=400xp
Total: 870xp (Careful: Linguist)
Magic Items:
Devices: 50 lvls + 36 lvls (18 years post Gauntlet): 86 lvls
Longevity Potion -10 (lvl 50)
Ring:
Shape of the Ancient Kite (3/day) lvl 42 (Falcon; includes all possessions); Hoh: TL
Aura of Ennobled Presence (2/day) lvl 11
Disguise of the Transformed Image (at will) lvl 19
Robes:
of Impenetrable silk lvl 14 (B4, +2 Sun, +4 lvls permanent)
Suggestion:
Books written by her (in Latin):
Collected aphorisms [Tractatus Charm Q14]
Islam explained [Tractatus Q14 for Theology Islam, Islamic Law, and Islamic Lore]
Magic Theory Primer [Tractatus Q14]
Yer a big girl now Viola, you can handle it!
But anyway, Xavi is willing to settle for Might 15. I think that is a fair number. How does everyone feel about that?
The Lord hath given, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1:21)
I think the wolf would howl in laughter if you quoted sxcriptures at him.
I do not expect the Might of this creature to be used for anything meaningful, so no biggie it having Might 1 or 1000, really. 15 seems to astrike a balance between whatr some people seem to consider excessive (others do not) and what the RAW says it would be.
Cheers,
Xavi
Given that the wolf does have some powers, I am not concerned whether it is 15 or 20 really, I just wanted to provoke a bit of discussion and Xavi seems to have responded adequately. Thus I leave it to the big silver hammer to make the final arbitration.
Another character for debate. I invented Marie's favorite shield grog. No more ladies who can't use weapons...
If I don't get any cries of protest, I will post both The Camper and Lejla into the character thread tomorrow evening (EST).
The Camper – a battle bodyguard grog
Ronaldo comes from a local farmer family. He is a as tough as a bear, but dreams of being intelligent as well: He looks up to people who are intellectuals in his eyes (which means: they can read and write), and twice in his life he saved enough money to hire someone two teach him how to write, but both teachers gave up in frustration. He just can't handle language too intelligently.
He still hopes: He idolizes Marie, because she managed to learn how to write and because she "discovered him" and recruited him, as an ordinary grog first. He worked hard and now is an elite custos.
He looks tough and ugly. That's how he fights, too. He has started using a longevity potion last year.
Characteristics: Int -2, Per +1 Str +4, Sta +3, Pre -2, Com -3, Dex 2, Qik 2
Size: 0
Age: 36 (seems to be 35)
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (1 Warping point)
Virtues and Flaws: Custos; strong, tough, affinity single weapons (free aility instead of warrior that usually comes with custos); ability block (dyslexia), afflicted tongue, vow: covenant, Weakness: Marie
Personality Traits: loyal +3, brave+3, calm+2
Reputations: capable 2 (Andorra covenant Grogs)
Weapon/Attack Init Atk Dfn Dam
Fist +2 +10 +10 +4
Kick +1 +9 +8 +7
Longsword+shield +4 +16 +16 +10
Ls+Sh, mounted +4 +19 +19 +10
Soak: +3 Sta +3 tough, 9 chain mail = +15
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious - (alter if necessary)
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)
Abilities: Occitan (Catalan) 5, Brawl (Fist) 7, Athletics (lifting) 2, Folk Ken (peasants) 2, Awareness (bodyguarding) 5, Craft: Farmer (herding animals) 3, Animal handling (farm animals) 2, Area Lore Andorra (peasants) 2, Carouse (drinking contests) 2, Chirurgy (bind wounds) 2, Profession: soldier (keeping stuff in order) 4, Hunt (track) 3, Leadership (other grogs) 1, Ride (warhorses) 3, Survival (mountains) 4, Single Weapon (Longsword) 9
Twilight Scars:
Equipment (Custos): Longsword (Load 1), Heater Shield (Load 2) and Full Chain Mail (Load 6), sometimes a horse, soldier's basic field equipment (Load 1)
Encumbrance: Load 10 (Burden 0)
Description and Background:
Early childhood
Occitan (Catalan) 5
Brawl (Fist) 2
Athletics (lifting) 2
Folk Ken (peasants) 2
After that (31 years x 20 xp= 620 xp)
Awareness (bodyguarding) 5
Craft: Farmer (herding animals) 3
Animal handling (farm animals) 2
Area Lore Andorra (peasants) 2
Carouse (drinking contests) 2
Brawl+4= 7
Chirurgy (bind wounds) 2
Profession: soldier (keeping stuff in order) 4
Hunt (track) 3
Leadership (other grogs) 1
Ride (warhorses) 3
Survival (mountains) 4
Single Weapon (Longsword) 9 (Gratis: 75xp)
Covenfolk
Our covenfolk may not be what you are accustomed to in other games. We have servants you can order around, yes. But if you treat them too harshly then they will quit. That’s the price we pay for having elite highly skilled professionals. We do have military discipline amongst our fighting men, but this is handled internally by them. For example, one day not so long ago, one custos mouthed off to Antonio. He said “bite me†when he was criticized for his appearance during a line up inspection. Antonio shook his head and said “you’re new, I’ll let you slideâ€, because the man is magnanimous.
Two of our sergeants (we have several) took him out back and gave him a Brooklyn style reprimand. Lorenzo Slovanovich held him, while Moses Mendez belted him across the face a few times and gave him several punches in the gut. That was a dozen years ago and that guy, Joseph DuBois, is one of our most trusted officers today.
BTW, my sucky naming is to emphasize the multicultural nature of our covenfolk. Yes, over half of them will be from Catalan, and most of the rest will be from nearby locations (other parts of Spain, France, and even Italy). But we are a covenant of magi, and even mundanes travel and migrate. We recruit good people wherever they come from. Some people may claim we are segregated by religion and ethnicity. Amongst our custos and covenfolk, we have Christians, Jews, Moslems, white and black men, Northern and Southern (Mozarab) Hispanics, Franks, and even a few Greeks.
House Rule
I guess I am going to apply my “average source quality of 10†rule to non magi as well. But this requires tweaking, because I don’t want to affect magi pre-apprenticeship development. So pick an age your “apprenticeship†began. If a warrior, this is the age your training began. For most, this is around age 13; give or take a few years. So, you get 45xps for early childhood, 120 for your youth (15 per year from age 5 to 13), and from thatage onward, use the House Rule.
Simply put: Average characters advance by 20 xp’s a year, the Wealthy by 30 a year, and the Poor by only 15 a year. Custos and Covenfolk are subsidized by the covenant, so they qualify as average.
Unlike magi, these xp’s do include exposure. Going season by season is discouraged. You can use special virtues though, applying any one virtue no more than once a year (twice only if you are wealthy).
Grogs have the standard +/-3 limit for Virtues and Flaws, and Custos may have up to +/- 10. However, those who take the Custos social status must also take Vow and Warrior (or Educated) at no additional cost. Custos are each offered Longevity. Oddly enough, most choose not to take the offer, and instead opt to age naturally and retire as village elders.
Those that do thus become valuable investments of time and vis, and are well cared for. A long lived grog often attains the rank of a “Turb Sergeant†(though the Andorran Guard would have a better term I am sure).
As for other enchanted items, well, put in a request and I will see what I can do 
House Mercere
I should emphasize the House Mercere presence here. There is a Mercere Quarter of the covenant. This isn’t actually a full quarter, nor does it mean that their space entirely contiguous. But this does include most of the space of the largest tower of the covenant, as well as a number of smaller buildings within the walls of the outer bailey, and a large house down in the village below. They control two labs in the tower, one that is used by visiting Mercere magi to train and study, and another that is for the extraction and handling of vis.
Max’s character occupies the training lab, and at any given time there is a miscellaneous junior Mercere magus serving a turn for a year working in the vis lab. Rodrigo’s lab is in the main keep. He is the one that gave House Mercere the Grand Tower for use, keeping his private magical pursuits separate. His son Florenzo uses his lab, and claims there is no mysteries hidden in there. He will not let anyone in there. It is common knowledge that he has his father’s permission to use the lab, but he does not feel he has his father’s authority to allow others in there. Why does he come to Andorra periodically to use this lab when he is a member of Barcelona? Because of the Aura, but mainly to keep an eye out an make sure that House Mercere does not try to take it. He will leave Barcelona and join Andorra to claim his inheritance if he has to.
But he doesn’t want to, because he doesn’t think he is dead. Its only been eight years. The thing is, though, Rodrigo had quite a bit of Warping, much more than Antonio. Severe or Final Twilight is a very real possibility.
House Mercere can get you what you need, at a very moderate price. They give you the insider rates for vis exchange: 1 to 1 for vf to vf or vt to vt, 2 for 1 to change vf to vt, or 1 for 2 when exchanging vt for vf.