Companion
Does anyone need a companion building for their magus?
Leon.[/b]
Magi don't have individual "companions" attached to them in this saga, afaik. You build your companion for yourself, to play when your mage is not active in the current adventure. Not sure how "adventuring" your Verdi' will be, but if he's in the lab a lot you'll need someone who can go out and about.
But Daggin will need a shield grog. Awareness, athletics and riding (Daggin often rides), as well as the usual combat mix. And a minimum of social graces- he doesn't need Ettiquette (tho' some would be nice!), but he can't be a complete troll, as D. often goes to various libraries in cities, courts and abbeys and such, and has enough trouble making good impressions with The Gift.
Daggin does pursue a variety of rumours of ancient lore, so if your companion had similar or parallel interests, the two of them would have a hook to operate together at times.
I don't have a companion character sorted out but as Corvus will most likely be daring and adventurous enough for the moment I'm happy to live with that and/or Conner Mac Conner.
Connor isn't your companion? He seemed far too dangerous for a shield grog! 
btw...
Appreciate your comments, but I suddenly realized that we haven't seen your mage! Planning on posting IC any time soon?
We have seen...
- Rhiannon - Steve/Krys'
- Fabrica Diabolica - Qcipher
- Mathius - Leon/Brutus
- Stephan - Kurt/Verticius
- Corvus - Mark
- Daggin- CH
We haven't heard hide nor hair from...
o Sheridan - Fluffy t. Squirrel (one recent OOC comment today)
o ??? - Chuck
So... what's up, guys? You in, or should we break out the waiting list???
Chuck is having to deal with a sudden increase of business due to his competition closing, and some serious medical issues in his family. I've been assured that he will join us, sometime.
And I think I've got Fluffy all sorted out with what he needed to get in here and post.
I'll give each, respectively, until the end of the month to get caught up and posting. I can always write in late arrivals.
Steve
Well, we'll just make their decisions for them (the stables would work as a sanctum, right?) 8)
I realized that Daggin was thinking that 8 of us were around the table, and there were only 6. If they show up a day or a week late, no biggie. May even be a lab left over (which one was still trapped, now?...)
(btw- Krys- e-mail out to you.)
Usually this isn't a problem in OOC as much as it is with the main thread, but even that was ad-hoc while some finished getting their characters introduced. Sorry for forging ahead, but as the brain stormed, so did the posts.
However, that brings up an important issue, so that we don't leave folk in the dust in the story- what is the expected posting rate?
Me, I'd like to see about 5x/week- About 4 posts Mon-Fri, and about 2 Fri-Sun, for a total of 5+. PbP can move slowly enough as it is, and anything that can keep things moving is desirable. If we all "know" that the plot will progress, that others will respond by X time, we can all sit down at our PC's with some confidence that we won't see our own last post still staring us in the face as the last contribution.
But it all works out to how often the SG wants to respond to everyone. Well, Krys, whadya think?
The storyguide is aiming for 3-4 posts a weeks himself. 
Granted, some of my time right now is being spent on such things as a Covenant Map, and making a fool of myself at 3am, and trying to create a working set of Initiation Scripts for an Ex. Misc tradtion, and decide if I really want to create any more personal characters...
Boy, it's a good thing I have the 4th Edition NPC book. I can use most of 'em to fill in the gaps...
Steve
Embarassingly enough.. I just never noticed this subforum thing pop up.. and no-one mentioned it specifically.. so I only saw it a couple of days ago.. .. .. not a clue how I'd be able to pop up now tho.. and was unsure whether I should've or not, cause Krys said all the mages had arrived
(Above any thread you're reading, at the bottom of the header info, next to "Post Reply", is a line that shows "where you are"- right now it should read:
[color=brown]Atlas Games Forum Index -> Ars Magica, 5th Edition: Loch Caillte (Lost Lake)
These are hotlinks. Click on "Atlas Games Forum Index", and you can see all the various Forums for all the diff Games. Below that, and below the "Admin/Official Announcements" forum, are the various "Play by Post" forums- of which this is one.
Also there are the general advert areas, etc.
Navigation is a wonderful skill to have.) 
The storyguide will now be unsubtle, and recommend:
That if you wish to see what you know about a magus, any magus, you can make a Int + Order of Hermes Roll. The appropriate specialties, and virtues/flaws apply to the roll. The die roll is Stress, with no botches. Treat "0" as zero.
Likewise, I'll need from everyone a list of things that would be publicly known about them, rated from +3, +6,+9,+12,+15,+18, and +21 (the difficulty of the roll).
Seriously, I had players in the Foxcourt Saga do this all the time. Can you imagine the exposition one player got when he rolled in the 30's for his Int + Order of Hermes roll?
Steve
I like it - secrets (and misc final numbers for my magi) will be sent forthwith! However, I would rather see you, the SG, roll all my dice for such, for several reasons:
-
Speeds things up. (A LOT!)
Rather than ask for a roll, then wait for that response, then give the info, you just give the info. You have the stats on all(?) the magi, and you know all the modifiers, so there's no diff. And it's only a moment of RL time either way. -
Secrecy/OOC knowledge.
Asking a Player to make a "Perception/Knowledge" type roll makes them suspect there's a damn good reason for that roll- if they fail, they may still, even unconsciously, change their character's actions. OR, if they roll low and succeed, or roll high and still fail, that can trigger additional suspicions. (No necessary reason our characters should ever know the modifiers or target number!) And if we Botch a Knowledge Lore roll (and know we've botched), it is sometimes very difficult to simulate the results and keep that knowledge purely OOC. -
Perception of fairness.
While no one here would suspect another player of cheating, sometimes the dice are SO absurdly lucky that such suspicions could not but arise, even if unjustly. Or, I know that, in a moment of weakness (read "beer"), after being abused by a long string of terrible, terrible rolls, I've been tempted to... ah... alter the course of pure chance. By having the SG roll everyone's dice, that cannot arise. -
More Role, less Roll.
In PbP (more than tabletop, but there too), by mentioning the dice less and simply sliding the results into the posts, the math is de-emphasized, and the pure character takes over. (It's surprising how big a diff it can make.)
So... that's my preference, for all those reasons separately and combined.
Should we send this to you as a PM?
Either by PM, or E-Mail.
Steve
Those of you who sent characters via PM, please send them to my e-mail address, and include [Ars Magica] or [Loch Caillte] in the subject line so my spam shredding e-mail filters don't eat them.
Thanks,
Steve
Oo. Good point. If you could cite, here, who you have character sheets for, that would be helpful for the rest of us and we only resend what you need.
Thanks,
-K!
Speaking of CharSheets, some of these magi possibly arrived with Shield Grogs in tow, or with personal Shield Grogs already selected but still in transit. Even if not, at worst one locally will soon(?) be selected.
Daggin still needs a shield grog (probably(?) one he had from his previous covenant???), and I still need to build one for someone (shouldn't be a reciprocal arrangement, I'd think, so that means 2 diff Players, one for my Shield Grog, and my Shield Grog for a different Player's mage.)
Daggin is looking for the usual competant thug, but one who would not be offensive in refined company. So, many of the usual Flaws are a deal-breaker, unfortunately. A bit of Ettiquette wouldn't hurt, but isn't necessary- a gentleman's gentleman, with a bad attitude, would be optimal. Anything between those extremes. 8) Some Riding would be expected, as well as the usual Athletics, Awareness, Stealth, Survival and so on, but nothing too burdensome (and I don't think those are completely unexpected, considering.) Weapons up to you, natch, so long as they do the job. Full dental and burial benefits.
As far as I'm concerned, I'd be up for playing almost any sort of shield grog, and will faithfully and creatively according to their personality/relationship. While I have my preferred Companions and Magi concepts, a shield grog is more open, and I'm good with that. Let me know what sort of body-guard your mage would be looking for, below or in PM, and we can find a compatible match and get your magus behind a meatwall asap.
I'll play your grog. I'll work something up this evening/tomorrow. Check personal e-mail for discussion.
-K!
Mathius needs a shield grog. Someone that he can stand behind, or someone to "handle" problems while he ducks into cover. Mathius knows that he isn't very good at spontaneous magics, and he doesn't know many attack spells. Combat is what he hires other people to do.
Shield grog will get a Lesser Enchanted ring (Silvery Scales of the Knight)