#RPGaDay26 Day 6: Reach

Reach

"Longarm" Bill is a shield grog relied upon for his size and skill with a pike, but is not especially well-liked. This is not his fault - everywhere he goes he seems to attract suspicion and is accused of causing all sorts of problems, but in truth his greatest sin is a fondness for beer. Fortunately, a covenant of magi can't be too picky with their servants, and while Bill finds the wizards intensely creepy, he's just glad that no one has yet found an excuse to kick him out.

Image of a man spearing a unicorn, from the Ashmole Bestiary. Taken from Wikimedia Commons, in public domain.

Longarm Bill

Character Type: Grog

Age: 24

Size: +1

Personality Traits: Alcoholic +3, Brave +1, Expects Blame +2, Loyal -1

Social Status, Free: Covenfolk

Virtues: Large, Puissant Great Weapon, Warrior

Flaws: Judged Unfairly, Poor Intelligence, Weakness (drink & debauchery)

Characteristics: Str +3, Sta +1, Dex +2, Qik +3, Int -5, Per +0, Pre +0, Com -2

Abilities:

Animal Handling (dogs) 2

Athletics (climbing) 3

Awareness (enemies) 3

Brawl (dodging) 4

Carouse (drinking contests) 4

Concentration (staying awake) 2

English (swearing) 5

Great Weapon (pike) 5+3

Guile (shirking) 2

Single Weapon (axe) 3

Stealth (hills) 2

Swim (long distance) 1

#RPGaDay26 Day 5: Burden

Burden

Octavia of House Guernicus is the eighth and final apprentice of an extremely powerful and respected magus: Quaesitor Singulus of House Guernicus. His seven previous apprentices have all gone on to excellent careers as Quaesitors and Hoplites within the Order. Now that he himself has passed into Twilight, barely five years after her Gauntlet, Octavia is left with great expectations from many in her House.

The Stonehenge Tribunal is notoriously corrupt, with a single covenant of Tremere magi dominating the Tribunal's politics and blatantly persecuting any covenants that defy their authority. Finally the word has come from Magvillus: Stonehenge must be brought to heel, lest other powerful covenants conclude that the Code of Hermes can be flouted without consequence. This task, not a particularly desirable one, has been given to Octavia.

Her precise mission is to investigate how things stand in Stonehenge and push for a stronger, more universal application of the Code of Hermes, and a reform of the local Peripheral Code. All eyes are on her and she is fully expected to succeed - after all, as far as Magvillus is concerned, how hard can it be to reign in a backwards little country like England?

Octavia doesn't speak the local language, doesn't know any of the native magi, and frankly is terrified of the powerful Tremere of Blackthorn covenant. Her talents lie more in command of the elements, especially earth, than investigative magic. For all that, she knows she must not fail the memory of her old parens. The weight of this task lies heavy on her shoulders.

Symbol of House Guernicus, made available under CC BY-SA 4.0 by Atlas Games

Octavia of House Guernicus

Character Type: Magus

Age: 28

Reputations: 4 (Hermetic: Quaesitor)

Virtues: The Gift, Hermetic Magus; Elemental Magic; Affinity with Terram, Book Learner, Deft Terram, Hermetic Prestige (Quaesitor), Puissant Code of Hermes, Puissant Rego, Puissant Terram, Skilled Parens

Flaws: Low Self-Esteem, Necessary Condition (skin in contact with stone or earth); Deficient Auram, Difficult Spontaneous Magic, Dutybound (reform the Stonehenge Tribunal), Hermetic Patron (House Guernicus)

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

Abilities:

Area Lore: Tuscany (rural) 3

Artes Liberales (grammar) 1

Athletics (climbing) 2

Awareness (identifying spells) 2

Code of Hermes (Tribunal procedures) 4+3

Concentration (maintaining spells) 1

Finesse (Terram) 1

Folk Ken (magi) 1

Guile (peasantry) 1

Italian (farming terms) 5

Latin (Hermetic terms) 5

Magic Theory (Rego) 5

Order of Hermes Lore (Quaesitors) 1

Parma Magica (Terram) 2

Stealth (concealing subtle gestures) 1

Survival (rural) 2

Arts:

Creo 5

Intellego 7

Muto 5

Perdo 5

Rego 8+3

Aquam 9 (46 xp)

Auram 8 (36 xp)

Corpus 2

Ignem 8 (36 xp)

Imaginem 7

Mentem 1

Terram 10+3 (62 xp)

Vim 5

Spells:

Breath of Winter - ReAq 15

Circle of Beast Warding - ReAn 5

Cloak of the Duck's Feathers - ReAq 5

Eye for Distant Visions - InIm 20

Fist of Shattering - PeTe 10

Hands of Grasping Earth - ReTe 15

Invisible Sling of Vilano - ReTe 10

Lamp Without Flame - CrIg 10

Maintaining the Demanding Spell - ReVi 15

Octavia's Rapid Relocation* - ReTe 15 (base 4 +1 50 paces +2 Voice) - transports an object in Voice range up to 50 paces away - casting requisites needed for non-Terram objects

Reformation of Clay* - ReTe 5 (base 2, +1 Conc +2 Voice) - shapes clay - note that finesse is needed to shape it as desired - often used after Rock of Viscid Clay, so that the final product will revert back into stone, fixing the shape

Rock of Viscid Clay - MuTe 15

Sense the Nature of Vis - InVi 5

Tales of the Ashes - InIg 5

Touch of the Pearl - InAq 5

Traveler's Friend* - ReTe 15 (Personal; Sun) - keeps dirt away from the caster's body

The Unseen Porter - ReTe 10

Wizard's Sidestep - ReIm 10

*= new spell

#RPGaDay26 Day 4: Charm

Day 4's theme is "Charm". Here's Eleanor of Warwick, a merchant and widow who long ago made a deal with a demon to become extraordinarily wealthy. Recently she has come to the Severn Valley to investigate trade opportunities along the river. On the advice of her "patron", she has recently opened communications with the nearby covenant, realising their need for unusual supplies. Presumably her patron has other goals in mind - but so long as she profits, it matters little to her. 

Though still charming, and cutting a handsome figure, she is getting on in years - by medieval standards - and the state of her soul is coming to mind for the first time in decades. She may seek a way out of the pact - ideally, without losing the life of luxury she has gained for herself.

Image from Wikimedia Commons, in the public domain

Eleanor of Warwick

Character Type: Companion

Social Status, Free: Merchant

Virtue: Wealthy; Affinity with Bargain, Gossip, Knows People, Puissant Bargain, Puissant Charm, Temporal Influence, Well-Travelled

Flaws: A Deal with the Devil, Depraved; Corrupted Abilities (Charm, Guile, Intrigue), Craving for Travel, Greedy, Unruly Air

Characteristics: Str -1 (1), Sta -1, Dex +0, Qik +0, Int +0, Per -1, Pre +2, Com +2

Age: 48 

Decreptitude: 2(15)

Personality Traits: Greedy +3, Pious -3, Sociable +2

Reputation: 2 (Townsfolk: gossip)

Abilities:

Area Lore: Denmark (trade goods) 2

Area Lore: England (trade goods) 4

Area Lore: Flanders (trade goods) 3

Awareness (close examination) 4

Bargain (wool) 7+3 (157 xp)

Brawl (daggers) 4

Carouse (games of chance) 3

Charm (opposite sex) 7+3*

English (trade) 5

Etiquette (nobility) 3

Folk Ken (merchants) 6

French (trade) 5

Guile (fooling the wealthy) 7*

Intrigue (gossip) 6*

Stealth (urban areas) 3

*=Corrupted Ability (see Flaws)

#RPGaDay26 Day 3: Poise

Poise

The theme of Day 3 is "Poise" and makes me think of a character who excels at putting others at their ease and bringing out their best qualities. As a Catholic, I am reminded of some priests I have known in the confessional booth who were able to make me feel comfortable confessing my sins, and left me encouraged to go forward in a better state of mind.

Father Guerric of Malvern Priory

Malvern Priory as it exists today; from Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

Father Guerric, younger son of a wealthy family in Normandy, is a Benedictine monk and priest of the Priory of St Mary in Malvern. He is blind, the result of a sudden illness a few years past, and since becoming unable to do manual labour, he serves the church as a confessor, spending a great deal of his time in the chapel. He is known to be an extraordinarily compassionate and encouraging man, and word of him has spread far enough that not only the locals but also nobility from around the Midlands come to give their confession to him. He is, by all accounts, an unflappable, urbane, and learned man, quite unusual in the rural Midlands.

Guerric has a reason to be so devoted to handing on the mercy of God - he has stood in need of it himself. In his youth he became involved with a small cult of diabolists, and participated in a number of odious rituals. When called upon to kill an innocent man, however, he balked, and fled to St Mary's priory. He gave his confession to the abbott, and as his penance took the tonsure and gave up all his worldly goods to the priory. His old cult have not forgotten him - his "sudden illness" that robbed him of his sight was in fact the result of a demonic attack. He has maintained his composure in quiet trust, and is willing to suffer any offense to his own person, but is determined to seek help to ensure his brothers do not suffer in the event of further attacks. This may well lead him to the "unusual scholars" living nearby.

Statistics

Name: Guerric

Character Type: Companion (confessor)

Age: 35

Reputation: 4 (Church; holy confessor)

Soak: -2

Virtues: Priest; Clear Thinker, Inspirational, Famous, Privileged Upbringing, Puissant Folk Ken, Self-Confident, Sense Holiness & Unholiness, Social Contacts, Unaffected by the Gift 

Flaws: Blind, Compassionate (major), Diabolic Past; Noncombatant

Characteristics: Str +0, Sta -2, Dex +0, Qik -2, Int +1, Per +3, Pre +2, Com +2

Abilities: 

Artes Liberales (rhetoric) 3

Charm (nobles) 5

Church Lore (history) 2

Civil & Canon Law (assigning penance) 3

English (hearing confession) 4

Etiquette (the Church) 5

Folk Ken (penitents) 5+3

French (hearing confession) 5

Guile (keeping secrets) 2

Infernal Lore (curses) 2

Latin (ecclesiastical) 5

Music (plainchant) 2

Philosophiae (moral) 3

Ride (staying seated) 1

Sense Holiness & Unholiness (evil) 2

Theology: Christian (heresy) 3

#RPGaDay26 Day 2: Stature

The Giant of Malvern

Yesterday I mused that the covenant I will be loosely exploring throughout August might be located in the Malvern Hills. Day 2's theme is Stature, so I'll embrace that and create a resident for a real life feature of the hills: Giant's Cave. Also known as Clutter's Cave, it is apparently thought to be a post-medieval man-made cave - but in Mythic Europe I prefer the more fantastical idea of a giant who makes the Malvern Hills his home.

(Image from Wikimedia Commons, made available under the CC BY-SA 2.0 licence by Pauline Eccles)

Giants in Ars Magica are inherently magical beings, similar to humans except for their incredible size and whatever magical powers they might possess. The giants in British folklore also tend to be quite stupid, but despite his dim wits the Giant of Malvern is a kind hearted soul. He has lived in the Hills since before recorded history, and refers to them as his mother. Driven by a supernatural hunger to consume living flesh on the new moon, but wishing to avoid harming humans, he hides himself in a small cave. Here he is left sheep by local shepherds when the new moon is close, to satisfy his hunger. 

Despite his relative harmlessness, an overzealous priest or knight might hear about this giant - and the "idolatrous sacrifices" the shepherds provide - and declare it an enemy of God. Or the magi might learn of the Terram vis that can be found within the cave - but only on the new moon, when the giant cannot control his carnivorous hunger.

I have designed Cluta (imagining that "Clutter's Cave" is derived from this) using the rules for Magic Humans in Realms of Power: Magic. He should be suitable as a magus-equivalent PC in a medium-power saga. I'm not too familiar with those specific rules, but hopefully my maths isn't totally off!

The Giant

Name: Cluta

Character type: NPC (Magic Human)

Magic Might: 24 (Terram)

Season: Summer

Size: +4 (~15' tall)

Soak: +8

Qualities: Gigantic (x3), Improved Might (x4), Improved Soak (x2), Lesser Power (x4), Terram Resistance

Inferiorities: Monstrous Appearance ("free", as a Magic Human)

Virtues: Magic Human; Ways of the Hills; Cave Regio Network, Puissant Terram Resistance, Tough, Warrior

Flaws: Greater Malediction (hunger wanes as the moon waxes, and vice versa - on the new moon he is like a starving man, and will gorge himself on living flesh until satiated); Anchored to the Hills, Clumsy, Simple-Minded, Weakness (sheepflesh)

Characteristics: Str +10, Sta +1, Dex +0, Qik -4, Int -3, Per +2, Pre +1, Com -1

Personality Traits: Hungry +(var.), Thick-Headed +3, Good-Hearted +2

Abilities:

Area Lore: Malvern Hills (caves) 6 

Athletics (climbing) 2

Awareness (sheep) 3

Brawl (kick) 3

Craft: Stonecarving (faces) 3 

English (begging) 2

Hunt (sheep) 2 

Magic Lore (regiones) 2 

Single Weapon (club) 3

Survival (hills) 4

Terram Resistance 2+3 

Thrown Weapon (rock) 2 

Powers:

Cloak of Impenetrable Mist: Cluta can summon a mist to shroud the hilltop, allowing him to travel unseen. Cost: 2 pts, Init: -9, Duration: Sun

Wall of Sealing Stone: By making a motion like drawing a curtain, Cluta can seal the entrance to his cave with solid rock. He can do this with any cave, but he's never tried. Cost: 5 pts, Init: -15, Duration: Sun

Crest of the Earth Wave: As the spell of the same name - when Cluta is enraged he can stamp his foot, from which the wave emanates. Cost: 4 pts, Init: -7.

Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum: Cluta can locate the blood of living animals and humans by scent, though he must take in a long, deep sniff of air to do so; Cost: 0 pts, Init: -11

Appearance: a 15 foot tall human-like figure, with mottled granite-grey skin and patches of grass-green hair all over his body. He can often be found wandering the hills, though usually shrouded in mist, and occasionally pinching sheep when the moon is a crescent.

The Cave Regio

Naturally, the cave appears far too small for a giant of Cluta's size. In fact, when Cluta enters (on his hands and knees), he opens the way to a regio with a Magic Aura of 6, a far larger cave than what is usually seen in the mundane world. Unless he seals the entrance with his Wall of Sealing Stone power, the regio can be freely entered so long as he is present within. There is a deeper regio level, which connects many magical caves across the British Isles, but this is currently known only to Cluta, who rarely travels by them.

#RPGaDay26 Day 1: Discipline

The theme for Day 1 of #RPGaDay26 is "Discipline". With that in mind, I have made a character for Ars Magica Definitive - an autocrat, an important servant of the magi, who governs all the other servants on their behalf (a job they are far too busy working magic to do). Matilda is a highly disciplined person, desperate to put her life at the service of magic ever since she lost her own magical gift in her youth. Despite her intense devotion, of course, the magi are unlikely to think about her as anything more than a reasonably competent underlying.

I hope to make more characters for RPGaDay - the covenant to which they belong will get fleshed out as I go, but for now it is "somewhere in the English Midlands", perhaps in the Malvern Hills.

Name: Matilda

Character type: Grog (autocrat)

Born to a young maga of House Bonisagus, Matilda showed signs of the Gift, and was soon taken as an apprentice by her mother. In the fourth year of her apprenticeship, however, a magical accident left her stripped of both her Gift and her left eye, and forever unable to handle metal without it melting in her grip. Refusing to allow the loss of her future to define her, Matilda threw herself into working for the covenant, and discovered a talent for leadership working in the scriptorium. This - and perhaps a little nepotism - led to her eventual selection for the role of autocrat, responsible for governing the mundane servants and specialists in the covenant. A covenant attracts strange and difficult people, even setting aside the magi, but Matilda has managed to impose a kind of order on the chaos. And if she feels any resentment toward her mother and the other magi... well, she tells herself it's the effect of the Gift, and gets on with the life she has been dealt.

Virtues: Failed Apprentice, Natural Leader, Strong-Willed.

Flaws: Missing Eye, Covenant Upbringing, Warped by Magic, Lesser Malediction (if she takes hold of anything metal, it melts through her fingers).

Characteristics: Str -1, Sta +0, Dex +0, Qik +0, Int +1, Per +1, Pre +2, Com +2

Abilities: 

Artes Liberales (mathematics) 4

Athletics (running away) 2

Awareness (idle hands) 2

Bargain (disgruntled servants) 3

Brawl (kick) 2

Covenant Lore (servants) 2

English (giving orders) 5

Etiquette (magi) 2

Folk Ken (magi) 5

Guile (fobbing off magi) 4

Latin (Hermetic terms) 4

Leadership (servants) 5

Magic Theory (Terram) 1

Magic Lore (English midlands) 2

Order of Hermes Lore (Stonehenge tribunal) 3

Profession: Autocrat (managing resources) 5

Profession: Scribe (covenant records) 2

Single Weapon (club) 1

Warping: 1(5)

Age: 40 (no decreptitude points)