The New Saga: Tribunal & Gauntlet Ideas

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

Two sessions in, and the apprentices are doing well.

We have:

Renaldo, actually Michel, a Bonisagus pretender and Hermetic prodigy who cannot cast magic while being watched by a magus (thanks for that - Erik was it?)

Magnus Ericsson, soon to be Victor Secundus, House Tytalus elementalist and a Jutlander. Possessed of a Fury and great Overconfidence.

Caliana Zarqa, soon to be Sirena, daughter of a Moorish merchant. Mistress of Rego Mentem... as long as she is singing. Possessed of the Gentle Gift. Of House Jerbiton.

Reylar, to be Valerian raised in a Faerie Forest, possessed of elfen features that seem to attract the wrong people, a Merenita master of Imaginem and Herbam.

Lorenzo, to be Maximus, a Spaniard with the blood of Giants in his veins. A Verditius initiate with strong skill in the elements.

Thus far, they managed to accidentally trap the King of Winter while on a Vis gathering expedition.

Two weeks later, they managed to free the King of Winter and allow him to return to Arcadia - thus allowing Spring to begin and the regional Tribunal to be rescheduled to later in the year. As Winter fae flee back to their unseen lands, a fae wolf that speaks with the voices of those it has eaten blocks their path, eager to have some fresh meat for the trip back.

The two apprentices and three grogs manage to kill it with little problem.

And thus endeth the story.

SO... the saga begins in the Rhine, at the Drei Silburne Ringe Covenant - a minor covenant that never really achieved Autumn power and instead began to hit Winter with a whimper.

They'll be heading to Durenmar after a final season of study.

I want to get them introduced to Hermetic politics, Tribunal goings on, while starting with a season of study as my new 'rules chunk' to add to their arsenal.

However, I'm still reading GotF, and have never really done a Tribunal before.

Does anyone have any advice or possible mini-story seeds that might help make the Tribunal come to life? How would you introduce Tribunals?

Second off: Apprentice's Gauntlets - how many of you play them out? I'm considering it, but am stuck for ideas. Anyone have any samples or ideas?

Thanks in advance! The Saga seems to have the player's attention, though the system seems to them to be more complex than they've been used to of late.

Vrylakos

2

Sounds nice (the magi are very different and have nice background storys and possible story hooks) but it is "Konvent der Drei silbernen Ringe" oder "Drei silberne Ringe Konvent" :wink:

3

While the specifics may not be germane or useful to your particular saga, I found The Fallen Fane a good resource for helping me get my head around the sorts of things wizards would do at Tribunal (including stealing a couple issues outright).

4

Thanks for that. My German class was many, many years ago, so I was faking the funk.

V.

5

Ah! Good idea! I was thinking about running that as a live action game earlier in the year! Thanks for reminding me of its use as a resource!

V.

6

Our Bonisagus apprentice was given a standardized written test, which his Master graded and told him he failed. Now what he scored didn't matter to his Master. The Master was intent on always failing his apprentice. The 'real' gauntlet was the apprentice was suppose to assert himself and declare himself a Magus. It took three times to pass that gauntlet I believe.

Our Flambeau was thrown for a loop and given the same test. Except she really had to pass it.

Our Mercere was told to deliver a message. However the person who was suppose to recieve the message considered her Pater an enemy and didn't want to recieve the message and nearly killed the apprentice in the delivery.

Currently my Magus (a Tytalus) has an apprentice that is long over due to gauntlet. My Magus has essentially told him he has to kill the Jinn that plauges him. The apprentice wants to reinterpret the terms of the gauntlet so he doesn't have to kill the Jinn. This adventure is long over due.

I think gauntlets can be character defining material and are great material to play though.

7

He's a question. Certamen is a magical trance.

Can the pretender Bonisagus who cannot cast spontaneous or formulaic spells engage in Certamen?

He did last night, over whether the incapacitated fae wolf should be saved or slain, but it was against the Tytalus apprentice, with puissant Penetration. They had received Certamen training earlier that day. Once they all become magi, though... it may be important to know.

I'm thinking I'll let him, but does anyone else have any thoughts?

V.

8

Engage in Certamen with a 0 in Technique, 0 in Form? I'd say only if his "Arts have been opened", as discussed in another thread, but that's just a gut reaction.

In a related question, how does the Order/Code address the issue of Certamen and any (legitimate) mage who cannot cast, such as many Redcaps, and some Jerbiton (Larta) and such?

(This just came up in a campaign I'm in, so any insight or references would be apprciated muchly.)

9

Ack, I realise my question was poorly phrased. The Bonisagus pretender character can cast magic... but has the deleterious circumstance of 'unless watched by other magi'.

This being the case, could he engage in Certamen against another mage?

V.

10

Ah- yes, that's... um, well, maybe not. Hmmm...

Some Virtues and Flaws for regular casting are applied to Certamen- I don't know if all are. I withdraw the above statement, and wait with equal curiosity for an answer to your question, and my own, above.

11

Redcaps can generally find champions: Gifted Mercere, Guernicus Advocates, Tremere Disputants or even the odd bored Tytalus.

Larta magi probably have similar connections. There are more Jerbitons than gifted Mercere, and they are probably just as protective of the non-gifted members of their house as the Mercere are.

12

Indeed, interesting questions both!

V.

13

Deleterious circumstances says "all of your magic totals are halved under certain uncommon circumstances" (p. 53)

restriction says "you can not cast spells at all under certain uncommon conditions" (p.58)

From these pasages I'd rule that the character can engage in certamen, using half their score if they have deleterious circumstances or at their full score if they have a restriction. (I'm not clear on which flaw the character has).

14

Apologies again. He has the Major one, the Restriction. I did not have the sheet with me when I posted, and was going from memory.

Vrylakos

15

(One more try...)

In a related question, how does the Order/Code address the issue of Certamen and any (legitimate) mage who cannot cast, such as many Redcaps, and some Jerbiton (Larta) and such?

16

The way I play it, they have to concede defeat unless they can find someone willing to champion them. This is one of the reasons Redcaps tend to be so humble around magi.

17

Redcaps humble? This is a great example of how different games can intrepret material um... differently. In our game Redcaps are the only reliable means that information moves through the Order and in our game a lot of important information moves quickly. Mess with a Red Cap your information get lost, or doesnt appear. Redcaps can penalize Magi be stalling, loseing, or deliverying messages out of order. For this reason, Redcaps our treated with respect and deference in our games. Also, Redcaps as a rule stay our of politics so they hardly have an issue that merits Certamin.

Again this is 'our' game and I just point out how it's interesting that they are interpreted differently.

18

Can the magus convince his opponent to either close his eyes or cover them with a cloth. An arrogant magus might accept the challenge. If not, I'd look for a champion.

19

Yes, but that sounds more "passive aggressive" than arrogant (or whatever you would term the counterpart to "humble").

20

Point taken. Passive Agressive. Yes, I guess so. I suppose an element that is lost in discussing this is actual game play. My Mercere isn't passive agressive, she's just um, aggressive. She sort of gets in a persons face and says 'Don't mess with me or I will A B or C."

But in general the Mercere in our game are passive agrressive.