Tranquillina Bonisagi, filia Maximianus

Eskil was born to a chirurgeon in the royal burgh of Eilginn, a coastal town in the northern reaches of the Loch Leglean Tribunal. Even when she was three or four, her speech was often characterized as being more like that of an adult than of a child. While her father enjoyed her precociousness, her mother felt constant unease in Eskil's presence, an attitude unfortunately shared by many of their neighbors. After a few more years had passed, it was not uncommon for maladies and accidents in the community to be blamed on her in whispers.

When Eskil was eight years old, her father hosted a visit by Cailleach-Dhubh Cumhachd, a nun from the abbey in nearby Farrais. The nun was amused by Eskil's expansive vocabulary as they supped; as the meal concluded, Cumhachd leaned over the girl with a quiet prayer, after which her face took on an expression of deep seriousness. By the end of the evening, Cumhachd had negotiated a steep price from the chirurgeon for the privilege of having Eskil enrolled in the abbey school.

For four years Eskil did little but study Latin and learn to read. Her conversations with the nuns were pleasant, but she had no real friends. One day, at the age of twelve, she accompanied Cumhachd on a routine shopping trip; this day, however, they returned not to the abbey but to a small group of towers out on the moors. Eskil was told that her instruction would continue at this isolated location, and she soon came to the conclusion that Cumhachd was no true nun. Gradually she learned the truth: she was now the apprentice of Cumhachd ex Tytalus, and her innate Gift was awakened two months later with the opening of the Arts.

At first, Eskil's keen eye and quick understanding of Hermetic magic pleased her mater, although the maga seldom allowed praise to interfere with a traditionally brutal Tytalus apprenticeship. Nevertheless, progress was steady for the first seven years, as Eskil was slowly broken down and prepared for reforging with an iron will. But the winter of 1185 held tragedy for Eskil: an experiment gone severely awry sent vis streaming into every corner of the laboratory. Only the Parma-clad Cumhachd was spared; the accident begat considerable changes to Eskil's life - supernatural, physical, and psychological.

She found herself innately attuned to magic: her lessons in Hermetic theory seemed almost obvious to her, and her spells were more durable than usual. She even found herself able to perceive magical places and effects with little more difficulty than checking the weather. However, she grew extremely apprehensive about vis, disinclined to use or even touch any item containing it. She also became physically frail and easily susceptible to bruises and maladies, which prodded her to start focussing her studies on Corpus.

Furious with Eskil's increasing reluctance to participate in enchanting and other laboratory work, and knowing it would eventually make the apprentice even stronger, Cumhachd refocused her training so that vis was everywhere she turned. But Eskil grew adept at wriggling out of such duties, her deceptions becoming more and more tenuous; as Cumhachd would never relent until her filia succeeded, the apprenticeship devolved into an impasse for two long years. Eventually, the Redcap rumor network made the situation an open secret within the local Tribunals. Tria Trianomae, seeing an opportunity for leverage, stepped in to claim Eskil as her apprentice by right of her lineage in House Bonisagus. At the age of 21, the apprentice moved south from her first covenant to her second.

As part of the negotiated transaction, Tria forbade Cumhachd from having any contact with Eskil until her Gauntlet had passed; the Tytalus, demonstrating excellent Hippian ethics, solemnly agreed to the restriction and then proceeded to ignore it. Letters found their way into Eskil's chamber, this one praising her (faintly), that one goading her into facing her fears in the laboratory, the next one chiding her for lack of loyalty or gratitude to her ex-mater. Eskil struggled with the new path set for her: on the one hand, she was genuinely interested in the Trianomae path, with its social aspects and its analytical study of the politics of the Order; on the other hand, she was constantly reminded of her failures under her first mater, and kept drifting into side projects irrelevant to Tria's exacting plan for her development.

It is conceivable that Eskil might have eventually found her balance and matured into a worthy filia for Tria; however, the elder maga had no time to waste in suboptimal situations. A deal was struck between sodales, and Eskil was informed that she had been sold to yet another magus, Maximianus of the Bonisagi path. In 1189, the young woman relocated once again to her fifth home and began her fourth plan of study.

Happily, the new environment was a better fit for the fate-buffeted apprentice. She was permitted to speak with the other Hermetic inhabitants, some of whom were in the Spring or Summer of their lives; and Maximianus, while emotionally detached, tolerated her mood swings and vacillating interests as long as she steadily progressed towards her Gauntlet. Cumhachd's interference (however well-intentioned) continued, perhaps with a bit less vigor, but it was not enough to derail Eskil this time. After four years working and studying, Eskil was taken for her Theoretical Interview, which she passed with flying colors.

On the last day of her apprenticeship, the keys to the Parma Magica ritual still spinning in her proud head, she dined with her pater and received two gifts from him. First, he bestowed upon her a Hermetic name: Tranquillina, a venerable name of imperial Roman origin just like Maximianus itself, and one which he hoped would signify a more peaceful soul for her as a mage. Second, he handed her a single silver coin, almost a millenium old, that depicted Augusta Tranquillina herself. The obverse, he told her, represented the intellectual pursuits of the Bonisagi; the reverse signified the value in harmony among magi of the Order.

Unfortunately, Cumhachd remained convinced that Eskil (as she still called her) never earned the right to take the Hermetic oath, but rather had contrived to sidestep a true Gauntlet through House connections. With dogmatic certainty, the Tytalus maga knew that Eskil's character would never be wholly formed until she addressed her unwillingness to defeat her visiphobia; she resolved not to relent on manipulating Eskil into facing her fears.

The newly proclaimed Tranquillina Bonisagi continued to pursue both her own spell-invention projects and active participation in the politics of the Order of Hermes. Many are the nights she finds herself working late in her laboratory, sustained more by magical stimulant than by nourishment and rest, driven by Cumhachd's goads (and ultimately her own self-doubt, still fueled by her failure to complete the rigorous Tytalus training) that she has not yet demonstrated her worth as a maga.

[size=125]Tranquillina Bonisagi, filia Maximianus[/size]

Gender: Female
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 102 lbs
Birth year: 1166
Gauntlet year: 1193
Age: 57 (15)
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Brownish-red
Handedness: Right

Characteristics: Int +3, Sta -3, Str -2, Dex -1, Qik -1, Com +3, Prs +2, Per +2
Size: 0
Decrepitude: 1 (2)
Longevity Ritual: +7
Warping Score: 2 (5)
Confidence: 1 (3)

Personality Traits: Insecure +3, Patient +2, Social +2
Virtues: The Gift, Hermetic Magus, Puissant Magic Theory; Flawless Magic; Affinity with Magic Theory, Affinity with Corpus, Enduring Magic, Magic Sensitivity, Puissant Intrigue, Side Effect[sup]1[/sup], Unaging
Flaws: Tormenting Master, Waster of Vis; Fragile Constitution, Oversensitive (being judged unfairly), Unimaginative Learner, Vis Allergy[sup]2[/sup]

[sup]1[/sup] Every time Tranquillina successfully casts a spell, she briefly gains the ability to sense the presence of nearby vis. The more vis there is, the more nauseated she feels; a rook of vis is generally enough to cause her to vomit. Mechanically, she can sense the presence of vis within a radius of (10 x magnitude of spell) paces of herself; this radius decreases by 10 paces per round until it disappears. She wouldn't know the type of vis; she wouldn't automatically know its exact location, but could triangulate it reasonably well if necessary.
[sup]2[/sup] Vis Allergy (custom Minor Hermetic Flaw): Whenever Tranquillina is in the presence of vis, all of her rolls and totals take a penalty based on the amount of vis present: -1 for a number of pawns up to her current Vim score, -3 for up to 2x her Vim score, and -5 for more than 2x her Vim score. This penalty is triggered by any vis that Tranquillina is carrying on her person, that is touching her, or that she is currently sensing (naturally or supernaturally).

Combat
Soak: -3
Dodge: Initiative -1, Defense +2
Fist: Initiative -1, Attack +1, Defense +1, Damage -2
Kick: Initiative -2, Attack +1, Defense +0, Damage +1
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20)

Abilities
Athletics 2 (running)
Artes Liberales 1 (logic)
Awareness 2 (being watched)
Brawl 2 (dodge)
Carouse 2 (conversations while carousing)
Charm 2 (distracting attention from herself)
Civil and Canon Law 1 (international law)
Code of Hermes 2 (apprentices)
Concentration 1 (conversations)
Etiquette 2 (addressing magi)
Finesse 2 (spells that move things)
Folk Ken 3 (their opinions of her)
Gaelic 5 (expansive vocabulary)
Guile 3 (faking confidence)
Intrigue 2+2 (alliances)
Latin 4 (Hermetic usage)
Leadership 1 (calming others)
Magic Theory 6+2 (Corpus)
Magic Sensitivity 3 (magical creatures)
Order of Hermes Lore 1 (Hermetic lineages)
Parma Magica 3 (Ignem)
Penetration 2 (Perdo)
Scribe 1 (books to study from)
Stealth 2 (quiet movement)
Survival 2 (when alone)
Swim 2 (long distances)

Arts
Cr 6, In 6, Mu 9, Pe 14, Re 9
An 8, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 27, He 0, Ig 0, Im 10, Me 10, Te 5, Vi 5

Sigil

When Tranquillina casts a spell, people nearby briefly feel a mild sense of nausea. She votes in Hermetic meetings with a third-century Roman coin depicting Augusta Tranquillina, wife of Gordianus III.

Spells Known
Stories of the Beast (gives an animal the ability to speak. MuAn 15: Base 5, +1 Touch, +1 Diam) - Mastery 3 (5) (Still Casting, Quiet Casting x2)
Purification of the Festering Wounds (CrCo 20) - Mastery 1 (Still Casting)
The Inexorable Search (InCo 20) - Mastery 1 (Penetration)
The Eye of the Sage (InCo 30) - Mastery 1 (Penetration)
Disguise of the New Visage (MuCo 15) - Mastery 3 (5) (Penetration, Quiet Casting x2)
The Wound that Weeps (PeCo 15) - Mastery 3 (5) (Multiple Casting, Fast Casting, Penetration)
Lifting the Dangling Puppet (ReCo 15) - Mastery 2 (Penetration, Still Casting)
The Gift of Vigour (ReCo 20) - Mastery 1 (Fast Casting)
Wizard's Leap (ReCo 15) - Mastery 2 (Fast Casting, Quiet Casting)
Leap of Homecoming (ReCo 35) - Mastery 1 (Still Casting)
The Ear for Distant Voices (InIm 20) - Mastery 1 (Still Casting)
Eyes of the Eagle (InIm 25) - Mastery 1 (Still Casting)
Veil of Invisibility (PeIm 20) - Mastery 3 (5) (Still Casting, Quiet Casting x2)
Wizard's Sidestep (ReIm 10) - Mastery 2 (Fast Casting, Still Casting)
Panic of the Trembling Heart (CrMe 15) - Mastery 3 (5) (Multiple Casting, Fast Casting, Penetration)
The Two-Faced Diplomat (CrMe 15) - see The Wizard's Grimoire, page 168 (ArM5 level calculation: Base 4, +1 Eye, +2 Sun) - Mastery 1 (Still Casting)
Perception of the Conflicting Motives (InMe 15) - Mastery 1 (Still Casting)
Enchantment of Detachment (PeMe 15) - Mastery 1 (Still Casting)
Aura of Rightful Authority (ReMe 20) - Mastery 2 (Still Casting, Quiet Casting)
The Resolute Mind of the Tireless Researcher (ReMe 20) - from Covenants, page 122 - Mastery 1 (Quiet Casting)
Wizard's Communion (MuVi 15) - Mastery 1 (Still Casting)
Unraveling the Fabric of Imaginem (PeVi 10) - Mastery 1 (Unraveling)

Tranquillina's only significant equipment is her talisman cloak, which she wears constantly.

At the moment this build is in a first-draft state; I certainly welcome any comments on how to polish it. I'll need to recheck the math at some point - I might have gone a few dozen XP too far.

My proposed Side Effect is that, every time Eskil successfully casts a spell, she can sense vis for a short time thereafter. Mechanically, she can sense the presence of vis within a radius of (10 x magnitude of spell) paces of herself; this radius decreases by 10 paces per round until it disappears. She wouldn't know the type of vis; she wouldn't automatically know its exact location, but could triangulate it reasonably well if necessary.

The Tormenting Elder Flaw is just Tormenting Master, but with her original mater (Cumhachd ex Tytalus) rather than her final mater (Tria).

The spell Purification of the Lingering Ailments is the analogue of Purification of the Festering Wounds for diseases, but provides a +6 bonus instead of +9 to relevant Recovery rolls.

Question: Can Unraveling the Fabric of (Form) be cast spontaneously?

Fair enough (and doh! for forgetting Puissant Intrigue twice). As of now, there is a free Virtue slot that can be used to further customize Eskil as a student of Tria. Of course other "pickiness" is also welcome.

My short answer is that I think Parma Magica would save the day here. Eskil has two means of detecting the presence of vis (besides, you know, talking to people about it): Magic Sensitivity and her Side Effect. Both are magical/supernatural powers, and so I imagine Parma Magica would keep them out. Even if not, though, Magic Sensitivity has to be consciously employed by Eskil (doesn't it?), so she could adopt a don't-ask-don't-tell attitude towards her sodales' vis. (Side Effect, if not blocked by Parma, would indeed cause agitation.)

Quite correct! Poor Eskil. :cry:

For the record: I discovered reading Grogs that you can't take more than -7 or negative characteristics (which makes sense, when you think about it, and limits optimisation). I was quite surprised, since it is apparently in the corebook (p30 IIRC), yet I have absolutely no recollection of it.

Also, since you have Flawless Magic, you have Mastery 1 in all your spells, with relevant mastery specialties, don't forget it, especially as you were interested by Harnessed Magic: This is a good specialty for you.

Why bother with "Purification of the Lingering Ailments (CrCo 15)" since you have the lvl 20 version? I can't see the reason for it.

Why couldn't it?

Well, if you want to show your tytalian roots, you could always take Self-Confident.
If you want to display your bonisagus side, take Puissant MT.
If you want to increase her Corpus focus, take Puissant Corpus.

Or consider a minor Focus related to vis. That's be fun, and help her detect it. Or minor Potent Magic in something. I really advise a focus/Potent Magic. It really helps define a character, if only thematically, and may provide some "oomph" if needed.
Hum... I've thought really hard about it, trying to give you some edge while being in continuity, and it is not easy. Another possibility would be a Minor Focus in Dispelling. That would sure be useful :smiley:

Serf's parma, but you could have the magnitude of cast spells add as a bonus to Magic Sensitivity rolls.

Hum... What do you want with this exactly?
If you want a spell that you cast, let flies, and that subsequently drains 1 fatigue level per round, permit me both to say express my disgust (IMO, generally speaking, fatigue-draining spells are already way overpowered, and this is trying to make them worse) and to object (Spells with a duration tend to be immovable and have the initial effect prolong itself throughout the duration, Concentration altering this)

Hmm? I reread the core rulebook but can't find any mention of this, and I don't have Grogs. (no really, I just got checked at the doctor's :wink: )

Yes, I forgot to mention that choosing these masteries still remained - good catch.

PotLA is for diseases; PotFW is for wounds. (There could be a stronger, level-20 version of PotLA - but I had envisioned that the level-15 version was the spell that Eskil invented in one season as her Gauntlet.)

No reason - I just didn't realize how trivial it is to cancel one's own low-level spells. Even with no xp in Perdo or Vim and Stamina 0, sponting this spell without Fatigue, one can automatically cancel their own level-15 spells (better than the apparent level 10, since the range only needs to be Touch for one's own spells) and has a 50/50 chance on their own level-20 spells. With Pe 5, Vi 5, Sta 2, and a 6 on both stress dice (one to cast the spell, one in the spell description), sponting with Fatigue, one can cancel their own level-30 spells.

:astonished: Maybe a Minor Focus is a good way to go, if nothing else comes to mind.

Also a reasonable idea (more applicable to stuff that doesn't set her teeth on edge, too :angry: ).

I see your point. Back when Harnessed Magic was in play, I intended not to have Eskil know any Duration: Concentration spells, and this came up in that process. I think the Diameter version does correctly follow the intention of the rules - but it's hard to defend against the overpowered criticism. I wouldn't be too sad to cross this spell off, especially if I need to cut a few XP; Call to Slumber should a be good enough substitute.

Moving this over here from table talk.
Just to clarify, once you learn the mastery ability you can apply it to any spell, you don't have to be taught a mastery ability for each individual spell. I'm still thinking that this is a rare thing that House Mercere is trying to control by limiting who they teach and getting agreements not to pass it on.

Are you sure you are not mixing up the rolls here? To cast a lvl 5 UtFoF as a non-fatiguing spont needs a roll of 25. Your other example, (Pe 5, Vi 5, Sta 2, and a 6 on both stress dice) gets you to 18 plus aura. That could get a lvl 10 which could get to a lvl 25 with a 50/50 chance and fatigued.

[Just to make sure we are on the same page]
I had a long long series of posts with Marko on dispelling magic as we worked out how it operated. Now he was trying to cast UtFoF as a spont as a fast cast to counter another spell which is not what you want. Unraveling the Fabric of (Form) is poorly worded when you compare it to what is in the PrVi guidelines (ArM5 pg 160) to spont a UtFoF of base 5 it is a spell level of 15 ( 10 in your case using touch). But the DISPELLING part is set on the base level which is 5. So a dispelling a lvl 15 spell as a non-fatiguing spont requires a casting roll of 50 ( in your case). base 5 + 1 touch = lvl 10 x 5 for non-fatiguing spont. 20 for fatiguing spont.

You would have a 50/50 chance of dispelling a mag4 spell with the same spont.

Given her vis issues, the sensation of vis should be something that causes discomfort, like nausea perhaps? With a rook causing her to vomit maybe?

This leads to an intelligent Parma situation, and IMO, she can't sense vis unless she actively tries or her side effect kicks in. The Side effect is an altered sense that makes her feel nausea whenever there is vis nearby. This doesn't have anything to do with Parma.

I've been pretty stingy about allowing new spells at chargen, published spells from the various books are OK. The idea is that you've been limited in some way that your advancement has been stunted for any reasons you want to create for your back story. By allowing player created spells in the development process, this effectively ignores the actual ability to make a spell in a timely manner. For example, I could create a 35th level spell but only have a LT of 36 and still learn the spell under RAW (and only spend 35 XP to do so, which is slightly more than a year's time). As a lab activity it would take 35 seasons assuming LT doesn't progress beyond 36. So there is a benefit to limiting the spells and buying them with experience points. You can learn useful spells that might be more difficult to acquire once Eskil enters play.

I can't seem to find it now, but I think you mentioned something about creating a spell for your gauntlet. This is problematic for two reasons, one is a game limitation above, and the other is story and House related. By choosing a Trianomae, you're gauntlet is that you are expected, as an apprentice, without benefit of Parma Magica to travel somewhere and deliver something and return or retrieve something and return. Now, if you want to have been sold by Tria to another Bonisagus, so you can do the original spell, and there is consensus that the spell is OK, I'm fine with that twist. Part of me wants to have Tria collect magi for short periods of time. But I can have her gauntlet a maga or two, too. It's not a big deal, it's just one of those "nice to have" story things. She had Ra'am for two years, sold him. She finished up the last year or two of an as yet unnamed magus in Iberia when his master was killed (master was Tenens in Iberia). She bought and sold Ulrich, an apprentice PC played by Peregrine, although that was kind of convoluted.

So, overall looking at the build.
SG observation is that your spells are a bit on the martial side. A corpus specialist Trianomae should probably know Leap of Homecoming, it would be too useful not to know. I realize she's a bit more of a lab rat than most, but it's something that Tria would have constantly pushed onto her. Tria, herself, doesn't need Leap of Homecoming, because she has other methods of fast travel at her disposal, which Eskil would know: she can move through the Magic Realm between different regios that have caves. She's a bit too generalized. I have a strong opinion on generalized magi: they aren't fun to play. Generally speaking, you want someone in the covenant to turn to you for solving a particular magical problem. I'd consider shifting experience points around and pushing Corpus even higher. I wouldn't worry about getting all the Arts at or close to 5, because the library is pretty good, for example the Creo book can get you to 6 Art score in a season: L6Q21.

Some character specific things that Tria would impose on any apprentice of hers, Latin 5 (to write), Scribe 2, Order of Hermes Lore 2. This is where I said I would get picky. Leadership isn't an issue, if you want it so you can have another assistant in a lab, there's an HR in this saga that all magi get Leadership +1 assistants, except Bonisagus, they get +2, but that doesn't apply to Trianomae.

Let me also add that the stress die for dispelling in any of the Unravelling spells is another roll, and it is more akin to a 4th edition quality die. You can't botch the roll, so a 0=10. It is, of course, still possible to botch the spell, before getting to the point of checking to see if you were able to dispel the other spell.

Is this right? My reading of HoH:TL, page 97 would incline me otherwise: "Mutantes also have three corresponding mastered spell abilities that they can teach to those who study from them. This allows the Mutantes to teach magic-taming in a very limited fashion, by concentrating on a particular method of changing a specific spell, which is all that can be done for magi who do not have it in the blood. Interested magi can learn these abilities from the Mutantes, but they cannot teach them to others." It's not at all clear though.

Here I'm not just being argumentative :mrgreen: If a one-time learning session gave Eskil the ability to choose Harnessed Casting as a mastery special-power for any spell thereafter, that would be a very cool thing for her to seek as an in-game goal going forward.

That doesn't sound right to me, either. Fiona (who has Flawless Magic) shouldn't be able to take her Still Casting mastery for Aura of Ennobled Presence and apply it to Curse of Circe, for example. However, if she were to have three levels of Spell Mastery for Curse of Circe and had applied them to Still Casting, Silent Casting, and Multiple Casting, then under the rules as written she would be able to silently and without gestures turn three different men into pigs (not that they aren't already, but that's beside the point).

This sounds fun to me :smiling_imp:

Also makes sense to me. I'll assume you're okay with my pulled-out-of-my-ass range of (10 x spell magnitude) paces unless I hear otherwise.

I feel like I should have figured this out beforehand, but the way you phrased it makes a lot of sense to me. Given that I probably have to lose a few XP, I'm fine with tossing out the three modified spells (Grip of the Choking Hand, Endurance of the Berserkers, and The Call to Slumber); this also has the happy effect of making her less martial. I've been caught completely without combat spells before and hated it, but I still have a couple left (The Wound that Weeps for offense and Panic of the Trembling Heart for defense) and they should suffice.

If I had to guess, I think you'd prefer the option where Tria sells Eskil to a Bonisagi before her apprenticeship is done. That would work for me; whichever lineage she's part of formally, I think the conflict could be played out between her happiness doing Trianomae-type things and her shame-driven research-like activities. I suppose in that case I should fill the currently empty Virtue spot back with Puissant Magic Theory?
But alternatively, I'm also fine with the option where Tria keeps Eskil until her Gauntlet, making her an honest-to-goodness Trianomae; in that case I'd just cross off the invented spell (Purification of the Lingering Ailments).

That makes sense. Creo itself is something she probably has already (unfortunately, given that primer in the library!), but I can reduce some Forms back to 0 (they were originally, but then I started worrying about her ability to teach an apprentice ... patience, patience.)

I was already coveting LoH, so I have no problem adding that in (and finding a way to pay for it XP-wise). I'm happy to include the other Ability scores too, although would it depend on which lineage Eskil ultimately enters at her Gauntlet?

Executive summary:

  • If you'd make the final call as to whether Tria sells Eskil to a Bonisagi or keeps her as a Trianomae, I'm good either way.
  • It can be hard to read people over text commuications, so let me say explicitly: I definitely do not feel railroaded or otherwise unhappy about these changes, Tria-related or otherwise. Chargen is so open-ended that constraints actually make me feel a little more settled ... plus I like the integration into existing game-world elements. Thank you for the input!

And now we know why: It isn't in there :smiley:

Ah, ok. I had missed that, my bad :blush:

Yes, it is :smiley:

As for the rest... Well, no... and maybe yes.

Just to explain myself, since this is settled

Normally, in the core rules, the duration is the duration of the magical effect, period. There's no "repeating". For example, in you create an armor for sun duration, it lasts for Sun duration. This doesn't create an armor each round. Similarly, if you have a PeCo effect that wounds someone, having it at Sun duration means that the wound can't be healed for Sun duration. So, going by the normal rule for heretic magic, Grip of the Shocking Hand should make you lose 1 fatigue level, and you'd be incapable of recovering it so long as the caster would concentrate.
Similarly, although this isn't voiced, almost all spells (I can't think of any exception, but there are probably some :unamused: ) whose effect isn't doing exactly the same thing every round (like raising someone vertically) have Conc duration, whereas Diameter or Sun would have usually been much more clever. See, for example, "Awaken the Slumbering Corpse", "Coerce the Spirits of the Night" or, probably the best example since Sun would have been much less dangerous, "Pull of the Skybound Winds".

The first thing is seldom breached, and when it is, it is usually through D: Conc, and for Legacy spells.
When the second one is breached, it is usually in the form of "the spell remains active, but any new command requires concentration", such as "The Earth Split Asunder".

So, in short? You've got clear and cut core rules, with a few spells breaking them because someone back then thought it might be cool to allow magi to play Darth Vader or something else, making the game more and more of a mess :unamused:

Just to see if I agree with you :wink:

Say, I want to dispell a MuTe spell I cast on my armor.
At voice range, the general Unravelling spell "cancels the effects of any one spell of a specified Form whose level is less than or equal to (spell level + 10 + stress die (no botch))". That's 15 + stress for a lvl 05 Unraveling.
Since it is a General spell, if you drop the Range to Touch, this means the spell's level + 15, so a lvl 05 spell lets you cancel lvl 20 ones (ignoring the stress roll). You'd need a CT of 25 if non-fatiguing.

Going by the guidelines, it uses the "Dispel effects of a specific type with a level less than the level + 4 magnitudes of the Vim spell + a stress die" guideline.
So (again discarding the stress roll), a lvl 05 spell, cast at Touch range, would dispell an effect of (level + 4 magnitudes - 1 magnitude for Range) = lvl 20.
Exactly what the corebook gives when you drops an Unravelling to Touch.

I'm sorry, but I disagree with you.

It is for you 2 to discuss this, so if gerg's okay, that's fine for me, but I know I feel a little uncomfortable with this: His side effect is a virtue, and you make it sound like a minor flaw.
I mean, for me, having it be a disgusting feeling is fine for her, but it mustn't become an handicap. How to put it? I don't think sensing the Dark Side is something Yoda likes. But it won't make him ill enough to be slowed in any way, which mausea and especially vomiting would do.
Oh. I read it is fine for him, so fine for me :smiley:

BTW, agree on the specialize. Unless you want to be a spont caster only, specialize!!!
If I may, gerg?
Limit the number of low-level spells to those you feel you must have. Take high level spells near the top of your lab total. And go for what you want her to be best at.

Fixer's discussion about Sun/Diameter vs. Conc spells made me think of how evil a Duration: Moon version of Invocation of Weariness would be: no recovery for a month. (And then add Multicast.... :smiling_imp: )

It's definitely true that this Virtue, as conceived, is a lot more like a Flaw than most. That is okay with me - I like the character concept enough. (I can also rationalize it by saying, hey, so many of Eskil's Flaws are vis-related that they don't really have the same power of a bunch of individual Flaws: she can only avoid vis so much.) In crucial situations, it would be nice for Eskil to be able to still act as she wishes despite projectile vomiting all over.

Good advice, thanks!

Oh, a(nother) question for Jonathan.Link: Right now I have Eskil as possessing a Longevity Ritual that's +4 (which is about the crappiest you'll ever see for a Corpus specialist! thanks to her Deleterious Circumstances). It seems more likely to me, given her character, that she would have gotten a colleague to do her Longevity Ritual for her as part of some deal. But that would result in a more potent LR, so I didn't want to do it before asking you. I can still knock off 10xp as if she did the lab season herself (to account for the season she needed to spend paying her colleague).

(Also, I'm reminding myself right here to add Warping for the LR.)

Note, she can detect vis, as a byproduct of casting another spell. I'm not imposing any game mechanic or penalty on this. Even for the vomiting.

Turning it back on you: if you were intransigent on learning Latin to 5 or scribe, or other things, such as a great discomfort with the gauntlet, she may have just decided to sell you to another Bonisagus. To get top vis price, she probably sold to a Bonisagi line magus. Note, she wouldn't take your unwillingness to do things impersonally, being a Trianomae is hard, requires being rather social and traveling a lot. Since Eskil would make a good Bonisagi, selling her isn't a problem. This is more story related, I can adjust Tria based on however you choose and don't have a dog in the hunt. Just note she's an active NPC, and is a frequently used plot device for me to involved other magi in the world at large.

That's good. IF this were earlier on in the saga, you would have had more flexibility. Tria and Ra'am, et. al. weren't a active NPCs for the first year or two of game time. I also compartmentalize pretty well; when I say Tria would demand Latin 5 and Scribe 2, I mean it is Tria. That being said, she's extremely mercenary in her methods. If something's not working out for her, she'll cut her losses and move on. Sometimes her temper gets the best of her, though. This is how it was with Ra'am. Here's a linkto download the MS Word Document that might inform a bit

Ok, this Deleterious thing is just too punitive for a Minor Flaw. It's supposed to be uncommon circumstances, and as you have described it, it is also worse than Rigid Magic.
Cannot use vis to boost spell casting totals? I dunno, but it needs to be changed, because it's Rigid Magic + Unable to enchant which is beyond the Pale for just a minor flaw.

As to the Longevity Ritual; you can make it yourself with your CrCo LT in one season, or you can submit two seasons to the process and find someone with an LT total of 70 (Peregrine, is this right?)? Also note, since that year leaves you only earning 10 xp, consider doing labwork the remaining two years, such as at least creating your base talisman.

Sounds about right. Looking back on my notes, that's about what she took at a LR bonus, figuring in her Difficult Longevity Ritual flaw.

Too bad Jormungandr's no longer around. It was quite delightful having him make her new LR.

Thanks for the fun read about Ra'am's history. Ok, my gut is telling me that Eskil would be too annoying for Tria's taste - too distracted by things that Tria doesn't find important for a budding Trianomae, coupled with the whole vis reluctance. So let's go with the option where Tria sells Eskil to a Bonisagi somewhere. Does an NPC in the saga somewhere come to mind for that role?

Ok, you've convinced me to rescue Eskil from myself. Here are some options - I'm interested in anyone's reactions:

  • Deleterious Circumstances only activates if Eskil is carrying a rook or more of vis.
  • It only activates if Eskil is using vis to boost spells.
  • It activates whenever she's holding vis, but it's only a -3 penalty instead of halving her magic totals. (This would be a nonstandard Flaw of course.)
  • We just drop the Deleterious Circumstances and pick up Weak Enchanter instead.

I actually kinda like the "Vis Allergy" concept, but agree that halving her Casting or Lab Totals whenever she's around Vis is pretty heinous, even for a Major Flaw.

I was kinda flipping through the Hermetic Flaws on my MC, and came up with an idea – loosely based on Painful Magic.

How about:

  • Vis Allergy (Major Hermetic Flaw): whenever Eskil is in the presence of Vis, all of her Casting and Lab Totals take a penalty based on the amount of vis present: -1 for a number of pawns up to her current Vim score, -3 up to 2x her Vim score, and -5 for more than 2x her Vim score. Furthermore, all actions she takes suffer a penalty as above (which is not cumulative with her Casting/Lab total penalties), and she must make a Sta + Vim Form Bonus vs. an Ease Factor of 9 or be incapacitated for Diameter duration due to nausea.

The penalties for her C/LT and all activities are based on the Fatigue Level penalties, and the penalties for Casting and All Activities don't stack - if she's around a rook of vis and her Vis score is 8, for example, she only takes a -3 to her Casting Total and not -6.