Vocis of Tremere - Development

Vocis at Gauntlet...

Voting Sigil - rock crystal placard in the shape of a tightly-curled ram’s horn
Casting Sigil – TBD

Virtues
The Gift, Magus, Minor Magical Focus (certamen) (free)
Flexible Formulaic Magic (major Hermetic)
Skilled Parens (minor Hermetic)
Affinity with Imaginem (minor Hermetic)
Deft Imaginem (minor Hermetic)
Harnessed Magic (minor Hermetic)
Affinity with Finesse (minor General)
Improved Characteristics (minor General)

Flaws
Waster of Vis (major Hermetic)
Overconfident (major Personality)
Covenant Upbrining (minor Personality)
Deficient Form (Terram) (minor Hermetic)
Mentor (minor Story)

Characteristics:
Int +2
Per +2
Str 0
Sta +1
Prs 0
Com +1
Dex +1
Qik +1

Age: 25 (born 1180)
Size: 0
Confidence: 1(3)
Warping: 0
Personality: Confident +3, Curious -2, Friendly +1

Abilities
Occitan [Provencal] (poetry) 5
Latin (Hermetic) 4
Area Lore: Provencal (covenants) 2
Area Lore: Iberia (covenants) 1
Area Lore: Andorra (covenants) 1
Folk Ken (magi) 3
Charm (build trust) 3
Guile (bluff) 3
Etiquette (magi) 1
Intrigue (gossip) 1
Bargain 1
Awareness (alertness) 3
Stealth (sneak) 1
Single Weapon (longsword) 2
Brawl (dagger) 1
Artes Liberales (geometry) 2
Philosophiae (ritual) 1
Magic Theory (spells) 3
Parma Magica (Terram) 1
Finesse (Imaginem) 2
Concentration (spells) 2
Order of Hermes Lore (politics) 2
Code of Hermes (intrigue) 1

Arts
Creo 7
Intellego 5
Muto 5
Perdo 6
Rego 5

Animal 1
Aquam 0
Auram 0
Corpus 5
Herbam 1
Ignem 1
Imaginem* 10
Mentem 5
Terram 0
Vim 5

Spells
Bind Wound CrCo 10 T/S/I
Eyes of the Cat MuCo(An) 5 T/S/I
The Wound that Weeps PeCo 15 V/M/I
Silent Shout CrIm 10 S/M/P (HoH:S p. 68)
Phantasmal Animal CrIm 20 V/D/I
Phantasm of the Human Form CrIm 25 V/S/I
Discern Own Illusions InIm 15 P/S/V
Aura of Ennobled Presence MuIm 10 T/S/I
Disguise of the Transformed Image MuIm 15 T/S/I
Veil of Invisibility PeIm 20 T/S/I
Wizard’s Sidestep ReIm 10 P/S/I
Words of the Unbroken Silence CrMe 10 S/M/I
Opening the Intangible Tunnel ReVi 15 A/D/I (Conc duration changed to Diam)

EDIT: Changed Cautious Sorcerer to Harnessed Magic, changed Busybody to Covenant Upbringing, moved birth date back one year.

Solid Illusionist :smiley:
As you develop, I reccomend some solid Mentem effects as well.
what does S/M/I and etc mean? At first glance I am guessing Mastery. If so, I need you to lost the mastery score and write out abilities a bit more so we don't have to guess
Example...
ReVi30 Supercool Spell: Mastery 5 (Silent x2, Penetration, Imperturbable, Multicast)
Haven't run any numbers on it. Just looking at design.
But Flexible Formulaic Magic combined with Imaginem is brilliant :slight_smile:
Don't forget, an Ignem requisite allows you to add Light, and a Mentem component will really mess someone up.
:smiling_imp:
Look into the Jerbiton section of Societates for some cool illusion ideas as you develop.

I think he means Sight/Momentary/Individual, for example.

Oh...
:blush:

Thanks. The only other character I've played is a Terram specialist with no Imaginem at all, so I'm learning as I go. :slight_smile:

I definitely see the benefits, but I'm not sure I'm going that way. My initial drafts of my first two cycles are heavy on Imaginem, Finesse, Corpus (for teleporting), and Parma/Penetration. My tentative ideas for cycle 3 are very Imaginem-heavy. I'm also working on some alternative familiar communication powers based on Imaginem.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. It also gives me a little boost when inventing spells, which I need without a standard focus.

Already doing it. Transparencies and miniatures have some great battlefield applications.

Most excellent!
:smiley:

Vocis of Tremere was born near the village of Saint Cirq Lapopie in 1180, the fourth child of peasant farmers. He was noticed at a very young age by a magus from the nearby covenant of Clair de Lune, who convinced his parents that their strange child was best suited for the life of a magus. Vocis moved into Clair de Lune at the tender age of 5. He was fostered to an old serving woman and raised among the children of grogs. Most of his childhood was spent trying to overcome the social difficulties of his nascent Gift, with mixed results.

In his 10th year, Vocis drew the attention of Phineus of Tremere, a veteran artificer of the House. He began Vocis’s training in the hopes he would follow him into the artificers, but Vocis’s inability to use vis effectively led to a change in tactics. Phineus worked to Vocis’s strengths, grooming him for the signaler role and ensuring the young apprentice had ample resources to maximize his talents despite the covenant’s somewhat remote location.

In 1200, a new master carpenter took up residence in Clair de Lune. More importantly for Vocis, he brought along his lovely 16-year-old daughter Amelia. All of the young grogs and male servants made fools of themselves over the girl, with fistfights and other contests of manhood becoming a daily occurrence. Vocis knew he was doomed to lose such mundane challenges and his Gift would make direct seduction difficult, but he had two advantages on which to rely – his magical ability and his willingness to exploit it for all it was worth. He used every trick in his arsenal and several that weren’t – changing his appearance, changing her appearance, deepening his voice, ‘summoning’ songbirds and illusory sprites. His gained his first Warping point trying to create an illusory waterfall into the nearby river. Eventually Vocis’s efforts paid off and the couple wed on the spring solstice in 1201. The bride's ring was crafted by Vocis himself, with a magical stone that changes color at her whim.

Five years (and two children) later, Vocis completed his training and lost a spirited duel to his parens before the Tremere exarch of Provencal, proving his fitness for the title of Tremere magus.

Cycle 1: 1206-1212

Vocis’s first seven years post-Gauntlet were fairly quiet. Most of his time was spent on improving himself as a magus and a signaler. Though the Albigensian Crusade was wreaking havoc in the surrounding area, Phineus largely stayed out of it and Vocis followed his lead. Vocis did travel to Iberia in 1211 seeking a familiar, eventually finding and later bonding the falcon Celeste. While there, he met some of the magi involved in the Shadow War and resolved to join them in ‘the good fight’ as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he returned home to find his beloved Amelia had fallen severely ill and suffered a stroke, despite her youth. Vocis spent months at her bedside, meeting her every need and cursing himself for not focusing on the practical Arts of healing magic. For a brief time he considered abandoning his burgeoning magical career and focusing on healing, but Phineus was eventually able to convince him that his duty to House and Order must come first. Once Amelia recovered in 1212, Vocis volunteered for the Iberian campaign with her blessing.

21 seasons of Advancement:
17 xp Creo, 30 xp Rego, 13 xp Corpus, 50 (+ 25) xp Imaginem, 15 (+7.5) xp Finesse, 20 xp Magic Theory, 10 xp Parma Magica, 5 xp Prof: Scribe, 5 xp Penetration, 5 xp Magic Lore, 5 xp Faerie Lore, 15 xp Order of Hermes Lore, 5 xp Stealth, 5 xp Leadership

3 lab seasons:

  1. Learning CrIm spells (3 xp Imaginem)
    a. Whisper of the Divided Twins, CrIm(In) level 20 (Net Wizard’s Grimoire)
    b. Foul Whispers of the Demonic Voice, CrIm level 10 (NWG)
    c. Relay the Vision of the Magus, CrIm 5 (NWG)

  2. Learning InIm spells (3 xp Imaginem)
    a. [strike]Summoning the Distant Image[/strike] To See as Though a Plethron Distant, InIm 25 (MoH p. 101)
    b. Prying Eyes, InIm 5

  3. Learning InVi spells (2 xp Intelligo)
    a. The Invisible Eye Revealed, InVi 20

1 season finding Celeste, his falcon familiar (2 xp Area Lore: Iberia)
1 season bonding Celeste (InIm lab score 30, 3 xp Imaginem, 8 pawns of vis)
1 season spent assisting Phineus in development of Vocis’s longevity ritual (2 xp Magic Theory)
1 season lost to Amelia’s illness

Warping points: 3

EDIT: replaced Summoning the Distant Image with To See as Though a Plethron Distant

Cycle 2: 1213 - 1220

[Please note that most details of Vocis's exploits in the Shadow Wars are left deliberately vague. No NPCs or locations are mentioned by name. It's entirely possible some of the PCs who participated in the wars encountered Vocis during that time, but I'll leave that to the troupe (or individual players) to decide.]

Vocis spent his first few years in the Shadow Wars behind the lines, coordinating the war effort and providing support where he could. His activities fell into three general areas: communicating with mundane soldiers either verbally or mentally, casting minor ‘prep’ spells on mundane soldiers, and spying on enemy fortifications. Vocis collected and fixed a large number of arcane connections over the years to facilitate these activities. ACs to individual soldiers were provided willingly and only with the permission of the magi to whom they were reporting. ACs to locations were either collected by Vocis personally (mostly ‘home base’ areas) or by Celeste (enemy areas).

[Note: Most ACs from mundane individuals have since been returned/destroyed, but Vocis kept all of the location-based ACs. He does not have ACs to any magi or the interior of any covenants.]

Vocis used any spare time he could find during these years to prepare himself, both physically and magically, for more direct participation in the war effort. In 1218 the Order commanders placed Vocis in a small scout unit of elite grogs and he began to spend time behind the front lines. His unit won a handful of skirmishes, but the information they were able to provide was far more important. In late 1219, his unit was instructed to reconnoiter a series of Roman ruins around which disappearances and other ‘strange occurrences’ had been reported by the local populace. After external scrying failed to yield useful information, Vocis and his unit snuck into the ruins for direct reconnaissance. The ruins themselves were largely empty, but the unit found a series of tunnels that led them (almost literally) to the pits of Hell.

The creatures living in those tunnels may once have been men, but they had since been corrupted to the point of monstrosity. Vocis fought side-by-side with his men, using magic when he could, steel when he couldn’t. Something in the tunnels was impeding his ability to contact his superiors, but he pushed his unit on despite this. Eventually they found what could only be described as a nest of the creatures. Vocis and the unit’s officer discussed the matter, but before a decision could be reached the creatures burst into the tunnel and swarmed the unit. Vocis fought bravely until his wounds and fatigue caused him to lose control of a Pilum of Fire and he was forced into Twilight for the first time.

The Twilight itself was worse than the situation he left – a true glimpse of Hell itself. The creatures he was fighting and demons of the Pit branded him with hot irons while corrupted flames roared all around. Time seemed to stand still as the brands came down and the flames burned away his flesh. Eventually he returned to the tunnel that started it all, surrounded by a handful of injured soldiers and the stench of two dozen corpses.

Vocis’s men were able to get him back to the nearest camp, where he spent several weeks recovering from his physical and psychological injuries. His exploits were discussed extensively by his superiors, with most considering his actions courageous while others thought them irresponsible. Eventually the former group won the day and Vocis was granted the ranked of skilled magus. Vocis returned to Clair de Lune to find his first grandchild had been born in his absence.

20 seasons of Advancement:
10 xp Creo, 7 xp Perdo, 10 xp Rego, 25 xp Corpus, 20 (+10) Imaginem, 15 xp Ignem, 15 (+7.5) xp Finesse, 10 xp Penetration, 15 xp Parma Magica, 15 xp Concentration, 5 xp Infernal Lore, 8 xp Iberia Lore, 5 xp Stealth, 15 xp Leadership, 15 xp Single Weapon, 5 xp Athletics

10 lab seasons:

  1. Learning InIm spells (3 xp Imaginem)
    a. Summoning the Distant Image, InIm 25
    b. Prying Eyes, InIm 5

  2. Learning CrIg spells (2 xp Ignem)
    a. Pilum of Fire, CrIg 20

  3. Learning PeVi spells (2 xp Vim)
    a. Demon’s Eternal Oblivion, PeVi 10
    b. Unraveling the Fabric of Mentem, PeVi 15

  4. Learning MuCo spells (2 xp Muto)
    a. Gift of Bear’s Fortitude, MuCo 25

  5. Learning PeIm spells (3 xp Imaginem)
    a. Ambush on the Deserted Road, PeIm 20 (HoH:S 64)
    b. Silence the Cockerel’s Cry, PeIm 15 (NWG)

  6. Learning ReCo spells (2 xp Corpus)
    a. Leap of Homecoming, ReCo 35

  7. First season of inventing Painted with Fire (3 xp Imaginem)

  8. Second season of inventing Painted with Fire (3 xp Imaginem)
    a. Painted with Fire, Cr(Re)Im(Ig) 20 (Base 1, +2 Voice, +1 Conc, +2 Group, +1 Re, +1 Ig) - This spell wreathes the target group in illusory flames which provide illumination. The flames do not burn or even feel warm, but they may cause a brief panic among unsuspecting targets (SG's discretion). The flames also serve to illuminate invisible targets or targets concealed by darkness. Vocis invented this spell during the Shadow Wars to illuminate concealed enemy personnel for friendly archers and magi.

  9. Empower familiar bond – Celeste can mentally convey complex thoughts (2 xp Mentem)

  10. Empower familiar bond – Vocis can mentally convey complex thoughts (2 xp Mentem)

1 season gaining Well-Traveled virtue (10 xp Etiquette, 15 xp Lang: Spanish, 15 xp Area Lore: Iberia, 5 xp Lang: Arabic, 5 xp Lang: Basque)

1 season lost to recovery from battle and Twilight

Warping points: 3 + 8 (longevity ritual) + 4 (Twilight) = 14

Twilight scars:
All magical flames Vocis creates, whether real or illusory, are a dark and corrupted reflection of the flames of Hell he encountered in his Twilight.

If I may, you don't need Penetration for most illusions, so you could easily drop that.

I agree that concentrating on Imaginem, with a vast grimoire of spells, is a great idea, yoy really should do it.

BtW, for what it's worth, look at Arachné's imaginem spells. She has 2 low-level (lvl 05) disguise spells that you'll probably be able to emulate fatigueless :smiley:

:laughing: thanks :smiley:
I visited it, I must have some pictures, if you'd like it.
I don't think you'll need it, but I also have rough outlines of Clair de Lune here, if you want some background color:
arm5phoenix.wetpaint.com/page/Clair+de+Lune

Don't have the time to check them, but I'd advice against using the Net Grimoire at face value :wink:
For exemple, to quickly check Whispers of the Divided Twins (to check the first spell), it doesn't include an extra magnitude for producing clear, intelligible words.

I added it as part of his push to be a (slightly) more offensive magus during the Shadow Wars. I can drop it to 2 and add the points to my woefully neglected Concentration.

My inexperience with Imaginem is affecting me here. I'm relying heavily on published spells because I'm just not sure what kind of illusions I'll need on a regular basis. I'm also running into the question of 'should I bother inventing this spell or just cast it spontaneously'? I realize FFM makes inventing spells more useful, I'm just not sure where to draw the line. Suggestions would be appreciated.

Full disclosure - I just did a quick google search for Provencal covenants and this was the one that looked the best. :slight_smile: I'd certainly like to see whatever you have so I can get a better handle on his background. I'm shooting for someplace fairly remote so my lack of familiarity with Andorra's (and Doissetep's) back story won't cause a problem.

I figured some of them would have issues. I'll fix this one and take a closer look at the others I've chosen.

For FFM, don't forget to invent some spells with target: Part, even if they are useless as it is. That way, you can make them either Individual or Group.

For exemple, a T: Part pilum of fire is crap, but you can either make it a regular PoF or put it at Group.

For "static", simple illusions, don't bother, they are usually fairly easy to spont (base 2 for 2 senses, +1 touch, +2 Sun).
So concentrate on more complex spells, like moving illusions* (guards, animals), and take them at T: Part
For exemple, you could have illusions of a moving guard, a bear, an eagle...

  • I realize btw that I made a mistake in my imaginem spells, I'll have to correct it, so probably drop either a sense, or a spell :frowning: These are "moving", so this warrants one more magnitude. If this did like "disguise of the new visage" but for the whole body, I'd add 2 more, but it is limited to always the same appearance, so I won't.

For humans illusions, it might be worth adding magnitudes so that you may do different "looks" than always the same guy. Sorry, I'd like tohelp you more, but I don't have the time.
I'll look at your net grimoire spells if/when I have the time.

Hmmm...I saw the FFM potential for ranges (Voice + Intangible Tunnel essentially covers everything) but hadn't considered target because Part is so bad in most cases. I'll see what I can do with this, though needing to invent the spells will make it difficult. My lab scores are pretty sad outside of Imaginem and Corpus.

Looks like I can invent (in one season) a variant of Phantasm of the Human Form with Conc duration and Part target (level 25). However, I'm concerned that bumping that to Group will result in images that are identical in both appearance and movement. Would another magnitude be required for intricacy to avoid this problem?

I've been assuming that Phantasm of the Human Form allows me to make a unique person with each casting. Is that not the case? The description of Phantasmal Animal explicitly states it can create any beast, but the PotHF description doesn't specify.

No problem. The advice you've given here has already sent me in new directions. Many thanks.

Maybe with an Int+Finesse roll determining how different from standard or generic form? Otherwise, I'd think the form would look the same all the time...

I know I'm out of my weight class here, but here's my take... :slight_smile:

Phantasmal Animal states the spell creates the image of any animal or beast up to size +1. PotHF says it creates the image of 'a clothed and equipped human'. When looking at the build details for each spell, the only substantial differences are PA having a higher base to include smell and PotHF including +1 for intricacy, presumably for understandable speech. Other than that they're essentially the same design. Why would one generate the image of any animal or beast while the other can only generate the image of one specific human?

Not really. You do have a point, in that you could vary some of the details, but we are talking about a created image, and like anything created otherwise, it should be based on a finesse roll. Some common spells, such as combat spells and the healing spells don't really need a finesse roll, IMO. The quality of the work is largely incidental to the end result, or at least inherently part of the spell. I suppose we could get creative... Look at that ugly/beautifual Ball of Abysmal Flame with which Carmen smites her enemies. If you're on the receiving end, you could care less what it looks like, let me tell you! :laughing:

Something like this, that makes something and has a duration, does require a finesse roll to determine how closely it matches the vision of the caster. IMHO. :smiley:

Fightmaster has it right. You can create an illusion of any sort of human just as easilly as an illusion of any animal.
But in both cases, you are creating a "generic" image (a typical dog, a non-discript grog, etc). To generate a specific image, emulating a specific creature or person; I would require a Finesse roll for that, to determine how convincing the illusion is.

What I usually do (and some of the spells work like this, being very, very, very specific, whereas others don't. The wonders of Legacy :unamused: ), is to assume that, the more specific a spell is, the more cost-efficient he is, whereas more generic spells require finesse and/or added magitudes.

For exemple, Arachné Muto Imaginem spells create a specific appearance, always the same, so using the base guideline is ok IMO*. If I had wanted her to have a MuIm spell that allowed her to take multiple appearances, I'd have added 1-2 magnitudes, and/or written in the need for a finesse roll each time (probably something like +1 mag + finesse, or +2 mag without finesse).

IMO, it makes sense (simpler spells are easier, better spells are harder), and gives various paths of development: I like the idea of 2 players, one with a lot of specific, efficient, low-level spells (or who's just good at sponting), the other with a single, more powerful spell.
Informally, it also solves the rules bit that JL raised, in that they require you to roll finesse for things, yet this is often forgotten by players who also don't like it.

  • I'll re-check them on other points, I'm not sure they are entirely OK. The MuIm guidelines seem to agree, but I'll check with published spells when I can. Unless someone can do it for me?

For other advices, think about forms. You can do fire illusions, plant illusions, water illusions, castle illusions, boulder illusions, doors illusions... Think about a room where nothing appears as it is. Think about monsters, illusions of fire demons, manticoras... Although you can probably spont them on a case per case basis.
Think of illusory treasures (MuIm base 2 to affect sight and touch, duration sun, touch range, group +1 magnitude= lvl 20 to change up to 100 small stones into gold coins that can be taken apart and moved).
You can also mute an enemy magus using PeIm.
Think about hiding covenants: Replace the covenant’s images, smells and sound with that of a great chasm, so that people see nothing wrong here and don’t come near it.
Think about communications, by making your voice appear to an grog you’ve got an AC to (ReIm 15, +1 complexity as it changes with you, +4 AC, +1 Conc = lvl 35), and making you able to hear his voice (InIm base 1, +4 AC, +1 diam = lvl 10 only!!!).
Enhance your senses! Sight and Hearing, smell and touch!
And we need to check, but I think you may “gift” senses you someone else with MuIm combined with InIm. So, if, for exemple, you’ve got an AC to a marketplace, you can shift his sight and hearing there. In the middle of a battle. So he’ll feel just like he had been teleported, until he is struck. And then, he can’t trust his 2 main senses.

I say keep it simple. Wave over the Finesse roll unless you are trying to pull some trick with it. Example: Phansasma Animal allows to to create an illusion of a generic dog or typical bird. If you want to emulate your neighbor's dog or a red crested kestral, that requires a Finesse roll at the time of casting.
Just my opinion. But being overly complicated can slow down play and intimidate new players.

It's not about generic animals: Phantasm of the Human Form.
It's about creating people, and I would imagine specific people, not generic people. No problem with generic people, such as some peasant... but the image of a well known redcap/magus/noble? Getting trickier there...