Sorry, folks. I just got poked by Jonathan and realized this game went straight out of my head awhile back. I'm going to blame the hot weather, not regularly checking this board, two weddings and some other things that I'll make up later (but I promise they'll be good like being turned into a newt or something). In the end, I apologize and am glad to see I didn't hold anything up. I'll try to get through all the discussions prior to posting anything so as not to restart settled topics. I should have a character idea or two to post by the end of the week.
OK, sorry for being silent. Somehow I got 3 weeks of "calm before Autumn work" to turn into "hardly any time and a Grand Tribunal" and it seems I'll be more than a little busy the next weeks as well. It looks like I'll have part of my life back come September. I am reading but have little time for writing.
JL, in this letter Praxiteles announces that he is relocating to Koblenz. Is that pure coincidence that he selected that city? Because the only thing Petronius mentioned to Praxiteles about potential locations was "in the Rhine River Gorge" (in this letter). The only letter where Petronius mentions Koblenz is in a letter to Aedituus, but you may have thought this was sent to Praxiteles (only the title of the post indicated that this was being sent to Aedituus -- I'll make sure any future letter are clearly identified).
If this was indeed a mistake, feel free to change your letter.
BTW, to all, I am updating the first post of the Pre-Saga Correspondence thread to indicate the detailed timeline. It will make interactions easier to track.
Let's call it coincidence. It does happen occasionally and may suggest to the magi that stars are aligning or whatever mystical BS we want to swallow. Consider that we are intending to be there, and so we must contrive some reasons for our characters be there. You might ask the question in your letter why Praxiteles goes there, and I'll indicate his reason (Henri De Tours discovered a Lacuna with a Magic Aura of 1), which fits with my character's goal of staying in a city.
I watched The Hunger Games last night with my in-laws and wife. I hadn't read the book, but both my wife and mother-in-law had. I started picking apart the story; they thought I didn't like the movie, I thought it was pretty well done.
Katniss and Gale were in love but would take a lot to admit it to themselves, let alone each other.
Peeta had loved Katniss from afar or a long time and that he would ultimately sacrifice himself for her (I was close on this).
I thought it was a good movie, they thought I didn't like it. Yeah, I'm saying it again. I had to repeat it a couple of times last night.
Bringing this home: just because things are predictable doesn't mean it's not a good story. Building and complicating relationships and doing so in a realistic manner is key to good story telling.
I haven't seen it yet, but plan on seeing it at some point. I just hope the film is better then the promotional pictures I've seen, where the girl's archery posture is pretty bad. Couldn't help seeing this as I do a lot of archery, and teach it. So it just jumped at me.
But I agree -- just before it's predictable doesn't mean it can't be well executed.
You'll probably be disappointed. Things are designed to look good to the masses, and while Lawrence might have been taught proper stance/technique it probably all went out the window when they saw how it looked on camera. Experts in all fields become disappointed in how Hollywood glosses over aspects of hour beloved hobbies/careers. Not to be blunt or diminish your disappointment in her stance/technique, but 90% of the world isn't going to know enough to care about it. And Hollywood plays to the 90% (at least it hopes to play to them).
Although it does detract from the experience somewhat, we learn to cope with it. As roleplayer, I guess this is one more place to apply "suspension of disbelief" (to use an old expression).
EDIT: Here's the picture I'm talking about. There's at least 6 things that are wrong right there.
My time is still somewhat limited this coming week. I'll try to post a few items (like build choices) this weekend. Doing more in-character work would be good, as I am still not completely sure who Aedituus is. Go ahead and get started; I'll chime in as soon as I can.
Maybe continuing letters is better for a but, as characters can write much more easily and simply given the player constraints right now. I'll whip some letters out.
I've been working on various projects that Petronius plan on working on, as well as a wide shopping list of things he want to learn.
One of those things is spells he'd be interested in learning, either to facilitate his research or simply as a utility tool. As a Mercurian, he will need formulaic spells for a lot of things that would be done through spontaneous magic for most magi.
So I was rereading the description of the Great Library at Durenmar in GotF, and wondering how expensive it would be to get permission to copy some lab texts? On the one hand, GotF mentions that "Visitors to the Great Library are not permitted to take its books outside its walls, nor to copy them, without the explicit permission of the librarian.", but on the other hand it also states that members of House Bonisagus may study there for as many seasons as they wish.
I would assume that getting permission to copy lab texts would be much easier to obtain than actual books, but what do you think would be a reasonable price for such a privilege? Does 1 pawn of raw vis per season make sense? A copy of a new tractatus?
That may be higher for a non-Bonisagus, or change depending on how busy Durenmar is at a specific moment. But having a general idea of what it cost would be useful for planning purposes. Petronius, having spent some time at Durenmar during the planning stages of the covenant, would certainly have a good idea of what the cost is.
Would the "Experimentation" specialization of a lab apply to Original Research? I would tend to think so, but I am open to arguments towards it being a separate specialization.
Hmmm... The 3 pawns/year is for peregrinators in general, who stay anywhere from 3 to 7 years. The box insert also mentions that the fee of vis can also be paid through service, with a season of work equivalent to a year's fee.
But would that be the same if the stay is relatively short, like a season or two? What if the guest does not need a lab during his stay?
This may be something like 1 pawn/season for hosting the magus (discounted to 3 pawns/year for longer visits), and a further fee for actual copying rights.
The librarian would have final word on what is available for copy, but this might also look something like:
Consulting and copying lab notes (not lab texts for spells or enchantments), Rhine Tribunal and Grand Tribunal records: free
Lab texts for spells and enchantments (some may have restricted access and will not be found in the general library): 1 pawn/season or some equivalent
Tractatus: 1 pawns/season or some equivalent
Summae: to be negociated on a case by case basis
All of this supposes that the magus is doing the copying himself. It is also a basic baseline, which can change depending on the exact situation. A bonisagus may expect to pay slightly less (say 2 pawns for 3 seasons of copying), or a botched social roll interacting with the librarian may mean a specific magus has to pay more (or is even barred from copying for a few years).
An equivalent payment for 1 pawn may be a copy of a tractatus not currently in the library. A season of service would count as 3 pawns or more, based on the actual service negociated.
