Sorry have been really busy will hopefully catch up wednesday or thursday
I have been busy as well. New school year does that to you… I will try to write as fast as I can.
Okay.
This may be pretty stupid on my part, but...
We're currently 4 mostly stable in this game. Is this ok, or should we try to recruit?
On the one hand, it may be little, and, should one of us drop the game, the blow will be harsher than if we are more.
On the other hand, I fear that, yet again, we'll take someone who'll suddenly dissapear, never to come back.
What do you think?
We have a good foursome but I wouldn't mind one or two more however who those two are is very important. There are some people I would not want to join this game. Their views on games and rules don't suit me. I am pretty sure ardath feels I do.
I can put out a request for more players but once that is done it will be difficult to refuse those who apply. But on the other hand we could assume that those who apply know what they are getting into so I don’t think that will be a problem. For me it’s either way. I like how our small group has worked but yes more players would be nice. But still there are a number of abandoned laboratories at Ad Fons…
Andrew what is your opinion in this matter?
Have had Computer upgrade this weekend, just getting it working now. WIll try to commetn on everything later
Oh. Oooh yes.
Agree on all of the above, sadly
I don't really mind adding more players or not.
Yay, I get to use my newest spell.
Hey there folks,
Max has kindly offered to let me join your covenant. I've been reading ArM books since 3rd Ed as part of my vast library of Games I've Never Played, and would welcome any advice on character balance and mechanics, during char gen or after.
I'm thinking about playing a Verditus who is focused on covenant-enhancing devices, and generally obsessed with covenant defense. Since dwarf-blooded is an obvious pick, I thought it might be fun to pick up Faerie Magic along the way from apprenticeship to Ad Fons. In addition to some of the neat trap designs this would allow, it would also open up some interesting plot twists -- both for the current fae siege plotline and the politics of being part of two mystery cults.
I'm not sure if this would make for a functionally balanced character, though. Craft-focused Verditus plus fae-socializing? I know he doesn't actually spend 24/7 in the workshop when enchanting, but will the numbers leave me a gimp? What do you think?
Also, I know Ardath is already a Terram specialist, but I was thinking that her preference for combat magics and my focus on defenses & enchantments would keep us from clashing. If this isn't cool, let me know. I could easily switch to another form.
Here's what I have so far (up to apprenticeship):
Tyrion fillius Francloid ex Verditus
Personality Traits Loyal +2, Earnest +3, Discreet -2
Reputation 3: pater was a crazed genius prone to dangerous experimentation
Characteristics:
Int +3
Per 0
Pre +1
Com +2
Str -3
Sta +1
Dex 0
Qik -2
Age: 30 (apparent age, 21)
Afflictions: None
Size: -2
Confidence: 2(5)
Voting Sigil - A large piece of sculpted, banded agate
Casting Sigil - striations of color which look like banding (eg, banded agate)
Virtues
The Gift, Hermetic Magus. Verditus Magic (Casting Tools - shaped stones)
Affinity with Craft/Sculptor, Craft/Glassblower, Terram
Pussiant Craft/Sculptor, Craft/Glassblower, Terram
Strong Fae Blood - Dwarf
Start aging at 50 (apparent age = 70% of age)
Fae eyes - Second Sight, see in darkness. Gem colored eyes
Dwarf Blood - +1 to any craft total
Imbued With Spirit of Terram,
from RoP:Magic, use fatigue levels in place of terram vis
Freak out small Terram Spirits, piss off large ones
Flaws
Dwarf, general-3 (Size -2, Str -1, Sta -1)
Faerie Friend, story-1
Vabok Vabokshollid, father and noted craftdwarf
Faerie Upbringing, personality-1
Infamous Master, hemetic-1
Francloid ex Verditus the Right, an architectural madman who thinks his “artistic vision” is more important than the functionality of the design. Known for dangerous and cruel experimentation, including the "accident" which left Tyrion as he is now.
Twilight Prone, hermetic -3
Weakness, supernatural outcasts, personality-1
Has a soft spot for the freaks and geeks of the supernatural world. "Hey, man! Goblins have families, too, you know!"
Abilities 0-point skills are ones I mean to pick up post-apprenticeship
Bargain 0 (with fae)
Carouse 1 (gambling)
Charm 2 (mages)
Concentration 1 (spell)
**Craft / Sculptor 5 +3 (fae style)
**Craft / Glassblower 3 +3 (fae style)
Folk Ken 0 (body language)
Guile 2 (blame displacement)
Language, Native 5 (innuendo) Suggestions? Given his Fae Upbringing, is there a default Fae lanaguge?
Language, Latin 4 (innuendo)
Leadership 0 (intimidation) Suggestions for something more fun?
Prof: Scribe 2 (correspondence)
Artes Liberales 1 (ritual magic)
Philosophiae 1 (Verditius)
Verditus Cult Lore 0 (members)
Magic Theory 5 (enchantment)
Faerie Lore 2 (beasties)
Finesse 0 (terram)
Parma Magica 1 (terram)
Penetration 0 (terram)
Crystal Dart Mastery 1 (fast-cast)
Second Sight 2 (faeries)
Arts
Creo 4
Intellego 4
Muto 4
Perdo 4
Rego 4
Animal 3
Auram 1
Aquam _
Corpus 4
Herbam 3
Ignem 1
Imaginem 1
Mentem 4
**Terram 8(2xp) (+3)
Vis 4
Spells: Includes personal designs which need approval
Doublet of Impenetrable Silk
MuAn 15 Touch, Sun, Ind (adds +3 soak to cloth, +6 to leather)
Ward Against The Curious Scullion
ReCo 10, Touch, Ring, Circle
from Covenent, Repels Humans (with no might?)
The Crystal Dart
MuTe 10 (Rego) Voice, Mom, Ind
Always hits, +10 Damage
Mastery 1: fast cast
Hands of the Grasping Earth
ReTe 15 (Muto) Voice, Diam, Part
Strength stress 15 to escape
Burrowfingers (Based on Pit of the Grasping Earth)
ReTe 20 (Muto) Touch, Mom, Part
Creates a 700 cubic foot room underground, with smooth stone walls, shaped to
caster’s taste. Includes either a staircase or archway.
It does not affect noble metals or gems.
Command the Living Stone (as Living Fire, RoPMagic 133)
ReTe 20 Voice, Conc, Ind
Penetration > Might to control earth spirits
Watching Ward
ReVis 15, Touch, Special, Ind/Ritual
[i]Do I actually need a memorized Intellego spell for this to be useful?
Store The Essence
ReVis 15 (Terram) Touch, Mom, Ind
As the Gather The Essence of the Beast spell, only transferring the vis to a suitably prepared receptacle, and applies to all types of vis, not just corpses. Really, I just want a Terram-req bit of color
Biography
Francloid ex Verditus The Right, Architect, infamous for his mind-boggling building designs and reckless experiments with Forces Hermetic Magicians Toy With All The Time But Usually Know Enough To Wear Gloves While Poking Them, was once famously chastised by Stanlius of Bonisagus with the words, “All I’m saying is that a building usually has an inside and an outside.”
The boy, Tyrien was won by Francloid in a gambling match with the Great Dwarven weaponsmithi[/i], Vabok Vaboksholid, who had conceived the child on a Merinita maga as part of some larger bargain. Though Tyrion has never learned the name of his birth mother, he suspects that Francloid sought him as a prize to spite the maga.
For several years after Francloid had won the child, he used the child as the subject of vile experiments (some of which permanently affected him) until the boy grew old enough to seek help from one of Francloid’s soldales. The precocious child challenged the Tytalus to a game of poker, and very quickly won her as a champion in the fight to win his apprenticeship from his master. To this day, Tyrion still thinks that Queen-high will beat a pair of Jacks.
Tyrion challenged Francloid to Certamen through his champion, and won the right to his long-overdue apprenticeship to Francloid himself, though the Tytalus encouraged him to pick some other master. Tyrion needed to prove himself to the bastard who’d been torturing him ever since he left the Fae Realms. The boy through himself into his lessons, struggled with his trials, and passed the Gauntlet, but never once earned so much as a word of approval from his pater.
Okay, just a few comments. We used 5th edition, not 3rd that might explain some of the issues.
- Store vis spell to move vis from object to another. This is a lab activity that takes 1 day (thus doesn't interrupt a full season) and no need for a spell.
- Pussiant abilities are +2 and not +3 (just so you can adjust numbers). Pussient Arts are +3.
- Bringing in someone that likes goblins and wants to protect them when we are in all out war of survival against the goblin king may have problems.
- native language can be anything the fae decided to teach you but most likely native language of area you were raised in (though perhaps older form).
- I wouldhave to check math but I think you meant PeTe, not ReTe for burrowfingers and you are deleting stone in very specific shape. That would be PeTe with Rego REquisite and probably level 35 (take pit of gaping earth and add +1 magnitude for affecting stone, +1 for rego requisite/complexity and +1 for increased size)
- your other custom spell seems fine to me.
- have you aged him 5 years from gauntlet yet. That might give you a little more to play with?
We have a lot of strong fae blooded folks, seems strange we are at war with faeries.
Thanks for the input, Lady P.
- Pussiant abilities are +2 and not +3 (just so you can adjust numbers). Pussient Arts are +3.
Pussiant Abilities give +2, Dwarf-blooded gives an additional +1 to all craft rolls.
- Bringing in someone that likes goblins and wants to protect them when we are in all out war of survival against the goblin king may have problems.
I think I phrased that poorly. It's not that Tyrion likes bad guys, or evil fae. He has a soft spot for the supernatural underdogs: the werewolf that always get picked last by the rest of the pack, the magic-warped guy with the useless power, the Smeagols of the world. That sort of thing.
- I wouldhave to check math but I think you meant PeTe, not ReTe for burrowfingers and you are deleting stone in very specific shape. That would be PeTe with Rego REquisite and probably level 35 (take pit of gaping earth and add +1 magnitude for affecting stone, +1 for rego requisite/complexity and +1 for increased size)
I'll double check this. Thanks for number-crunching with me.
- have you aged him 5 years from gauntlet yet. That might give you a little more to play with?
Did everybody else get 5 years, or 3?
Edit: I'm waiting for Ardeth to greenlight me stomping on her Terram turf before I do the post-apprenticeship stuff. As I said, I'm pretty familiar with char gen, so it's easy for me to make adjustments at this stage.
We have a lot of strong fae blooded folks, seems strange we are at war with faeries.
Eh. Faeries are more likely to war with themselves than with mundanes.
Edit: Added bit about waiting for Ardeth.
Will look at the character later, there are some things that might ask for a comment (although I see one that I thought did, probably doesn't 
)
Ok for terram, especially if you take a different direction, but you'll be stunted in advancement, we have no books.
I originally designed Tyrion with the "Stone Guardian" spell from Triamore (a 4th Ed ReTe 35 ritual), and thinking about trying to do some kind of statue version of Tireless Servant (ReCo 25 lesser enchantment). Looking at the rules for in-game spell development is sort of horrifying, compared to Verditus crafting. Even crafting the Stone Guardians as enchantments rather than spells, I'd only be able to churn 1/season out after I develop the text itself. Nowhere near the sort of 4/season production capacity I was imagining.
Plus, it seems like you guys have got a lot of Rego Terram in your group already. So I'm gonna play with numbers for a bit and see if there isn't a way to have my cake and eat some Mentem pie too.
I'll be offline for most of the weekend, and I'll be in Canada for the week surrounding Halloween. No idea what my internet access will be like, but I'll probably have it for at least a bit every day.
Regardless, character concept and my idea for the introduction won't change, and the current storyguide(s) can start working that in now: A covenant building/defense focused dwarf-blooded Verditus. Possibly captured by the forces currently besieging Ad Fons, who escapes with the help of a Faerie Friend (his fae father, a dwarf weaponsmith).
Since I'm going to be reworking his numbers, does anyone want to make suggestions for skills that a magus interested in covenant security would have?
Tatiana is high rego but her terram sucks and the terram expert in the new character thread really needs to be deleted. She didn't fit with the covenant and so was replaced.
Sorry, I was in a hurry before.
Welcome back, then! 
IIRC, fae don't have a precise language, but a pretense which allow them to appear to speak any language. I'm not sure, though, this is kind of fuzzy.
Anyway, even if this is wrong, given their human inclination, I think any language corresponding to your place of origin is right.
This is tricky.
I agree with ladyP that you're deleting stone, thus Perdo. But in a specific shape and by "crafting" instead of just making things worse, thus Rego. But you create stone wall where there may not have some, thus your Muto.
This'd suggest something like Pe(Re, Mu) Te, pretty complicated, unless you want it to be useless if there's not stone, thus Pe(Re)Te.
But I'm not sure if this is possible, unless the Entrance starts at your touch. Else, it'd all be happening outside of your perception. So "create a room, complete with an entrance or staircase, starting there", yes. But "at 10 feet behind earth, I'll create a secret room" feels wrong. I don't know if I'm clear. This poses no problem anyway, since I doubt very much you'll be willing to create a room you yourself can't access 
A possibility is to do it as craft magic, excavating the unused earth, in wich case Re(Mu)Te would work, but you'd have to roll finesse. This is probably the easier option. In fact, this should anyway require some Finesse for design, else the room may collapse (although the stone version could avoid or lessen that), unless there's a duration allowing Rego to keep the earth in place. The problems comes from the roof.
So, possibilities, quickly (I gotta go, so there may be errors):
Pe(Re)Te 15
Destroys and reshapes earth to create a room. This won't work on stone. Affects 10 individuals (about 100 cubic paces). Earth walls may collapse, depending on design and type of earth (average finesse ease factor 9, semi-skilled artist?).
Base 3, +1 req, + 1 magnitudes, +1 touch, +1 part. A higher duration means it just can't collapse during that time.
Pe(Re)Te 20
As above, but works on stone. Used on earth, it has earth walls. On stone, this is probably more solid, thus at least a lower ease factor.
Base 3, +1 req, + 1 magnitudes, +1 touch, +1 part, +1 to affect stone.
There's a problem here, as this'd work on only 10 cubic spaces of stone. Thus, either a cramped room, or you add an extra magnitude, for lvl 25
Pe(Re, Mu)Te 25.
As above, but, used on earth, it changes some to create more enduring stone walls. And there's the size problem when used on stone, although you could do multiple castings or to lvl 30.
ReTe 15
This is the Craft Magic route. How long would it take a mundane craftsman to do this? I don't know, but a season seems on the safe side. I'd say ease factor 9 (semi-skilled artist), +6 for season (= 15!!!) for a crude cave, with higher rolls creating a better, finer room. Very hard, and I'm not even sure the ease factor ain't too low 
Forget it.
Base 4, +1 touch, +1 part, +1 size.
I don't really know how to make this easy. Which is probably because it shouldn't
Just a note, as I ran into this problem when considering my future development: That guideline is for (totally) controlling Elementals, like there's also a lvl 5 guideline for controlling Disembodied spirits of (form) in TMRE p28.
Thus, just like TMRE's version wouldn't work on elementals (since they aren't disembodied), the reverse should hold true. Or else, why bother with "Coerce the Spirit of the Flame" (ReIg 20) when you could instead use Living Fire (ReIg20)?
Well...
On one side, I'm worried by the terram requisite, since it does nothing, save to impede you. You should have some minor benefit from it.
On the other side, although nothing in the guidelines precludes it, I don't like having a spell of similar or lower level that is actually better than an existing, published spell. This makes no sense to me. On the other side, you've got that "suitably prepared receptable" to compensate for the added flexibility (although this is mostly fluff, this is a lot better), as well as the requisite. Hey, that's the minor benefit!
What if the spell allowed you to take vis from corpses or other sources of raw vis, and to transfer it into into specially prepared faerie glassware, like little crystal spheres? And that, if you knew the Art of the vis, you could give them a specific color when casting the spell, in order to identify them better later?
Well, ardath at least really don't like faeries at all 
Well, he's got a Faerie Friend who is his father, and that implies he grew up nearby (else the flaw wouldn't yield much story). So what's the local language of the forests? Low German? Pomeranian?
Tangent: I spent two hours trying to look up the breeding history of the Pom Pom thanks to this game. Things were looking mighty interesting, too, when the trail stopped dead in the 1700s. Dammit. I blame you. I want those two hours back.
Okay, let's talk intentions and try designing the spell from there instead. What I want is a spell like Pit of the Grasping Earth, except that:
- can use it both underground and at ground level
- I can affect the shape of the cavity with a Finesse role.
The 700 cubic foot space was an eyeballed estimate of how much space Grasping Earth created (I'm still not sure how big a "pace" is.). The smooth stone walls and stairway/arch aspects were unnecessary. I can just spont a ReTe after the fact for the same effect, and end up with a much more dwarf-like series of tunnels without it.
Your suggestion about the fae glass spheres (or, in my brain, "baubles") was exactly what I was thinking of. Really, I was just throwing in the Te pre-requisite to give a bit a color to the character. From Lady P's suggested revision of the spell, it sounds like there might be some game element to keeping vis in its original format that I'm unaware of.
With regard to your tireless servant only made of stone, I have this for a character in another game:
Stone Servant
Humanoid Statue size of Adolescent of a young girl.
Pawns: 16/16
- Animate the Lab Servant: ReTe(Mu) 32: (Base 3, +2 mag sun, +2 mag precise
control, +1 mag affect stone, +1 mag requisite (mu), +4 constant, +3 only creator can command):
Servant can move and respond to orders from Megaira (and only her) for
duration. It can assist in lab following simple orders like Tireless
Servant (covenants p121) for +1 general Quality, +1 safety
Note: The pawns used is 16 for enchanted item with 5 powers. You would only need 4 for lesser item. (she has the lab cleaning spell from covenants, a defensive enchantment to keep her from getting stolen, and a few offensive powers)
That's what I tried to do, only to discover it was tricky as presented T-T
-
IMO, that is covered by T: Part. So no problem here. The only thing I'm not sure at all is if you wanted to create a closed hole, say, 3 feet underground without any "entrance", to a point you couldn't perceive at all. The range being the range to the part of the spell you can perceive. Like, you must burrow, beginning somewhere on the ground, which is your "entrance".
-
Sure, no problem, that's what finesse is for, too. Note that, at ground level, you wouldn't need to worry about the roof caving in (it's just a hole), so you'd get something just like Pit of the Gaping Earth.
Btw, I just realized I wrote bullocks in my previous spells: Muto only works for the duration of the spell.
More on this... when I can
Any one with an idea on how to get our new magus into the game? I am thinking a strange ReCo botch...