Humbug Scoolbus fucked around with this message at 21:49 on Feb 26, 2014

Sweet and Awful fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Feb 26, 2014

• Diedne Magic: Major. Further, you receive the Dark Secret Flaw if you take this, as the lineages descending from House Diedne are reviled by the Order. This does not count towards your normal Flaw allowances or give you any points for Virtues. When you cast a spontaneous spell without using Fatigue, you can choose whether to cast weakly or strongly. If you cast weakly, continue as normal. If you cast strongly, you cast as if you had spent Fatigue, but without spending Fatigue. When you choose to cast while spending Fatigue, you double the lowest Art involved in the spell before the total is divided by two as normal.
  
• Elemental Magic: Major. Whenever you gain XP in Ignem, Terram, Aquam or Auram, you gain 1 XP in the three you didn't gain XP in. Further, you may ignore Form requisites in those four Arts, so long as the requisites are also of those four Arts. This Virtue is awful. Don't take it. If you're going to take it, take Secondary Insight instead. Elemental Magic is easily the worst Virtue in the entire game.
  
• Flawless Magic: Major. All of your spells begin the game mastered, with a level of 1 in their mastery ability. You may choose a different special ability for each one as normal. If you learn any new spells, you also master them at level 1 when you learn them. All XP you gain towards Spell Mastery is doubled. This is actually really, really good. I don't take it often because it's a lot of work, but it's really good.
  
• Flexible Formulaic Magic: Major. You may alter your formulaic spells slightly. You can raise or lower one and only one of Range, Duration or Target by one step when you cast a formulaic spell, chosen as you cast, so long as doing so does not violate any normal limits on formulaic magic. Casting success, fatigue loss and Penetration are all calculated based on the spell's modified level. You cannot alter Ritual magic this way. This is quite handy - being able to alter your spells a little on the fly changes a single-target buff to a self-only buff if you feel like making it easier to cast, for example, or spell that normally requires eye contact could be made to be Voice-range in a pitched battle.
  
• Gentle Gift: Major. You have no social penalty for the Gift, rather than the normal -3 penalty to all social rolls. This applies to all humans and animals - anything that would react negatively to the Gift does not do so to yours. Handy, especially for socialite magi like those often found in House Jerbiton.
  
• Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic: Major. When you cast a spontaneous spell, you may choose to activate this ability and declare what level of effect you want before you roll, including Penetration. Roll your spell as normal. If your roll exceeds your target, you spend only one Fatigue level, as normal. If you do not, you must spend an additional Fatigue level per 5 points you missed by (or fraction thereof). If you run out of Fatigue, you take a wound, with the number of levels still needed being the damage you take, ignoring all soak. You can kill yourself this way. However, no matter what happens, that spell does go off. I don't like this Virtue, it's kind of niche, but handy if you absolutely need to not fail a spell. Hell, technically, it will let you cast any spell at all and be sure you succeed if you're willing to die to do it.
  
• Major Magical Focus: Major. You have a focus to your magic, within which you are much more potent than normal. This is smaller than Art, but might apply to several Arts. Examples: Necromancy, weather, birds, emotions. You cannot have a Focus in lab activities, but your Focus does apply its bonus to them in relevant situations. That bonus is simple: whenever the Focus applies, add the lowest Art score involved to the roll or lab total a second time. You may only ever have a single Focus.
  
• Mercurian Magic: Major. Your magical lineage descends from the Roman Cult of Mercury, and you have a special talent for Ritual magic and group rituals. You receive the spell Wizard's Communion at a level equal to the highest Ritual spell you know, on top of your normal spell allotment. If you ever learn or create a Ritual spell of higher level, you automatically learn Wizard's communion at that level as well, with no extra time spent learning it. When you cast a spell via Wizard's Communion, you may add your Mastery score in that spell and your Mastery score in Wizard's Communion to the Communion's effective level. Any Ritual spells you cast have only half the usual vis cost, though any spells cast as part of a Communion have the normal cost unless all participants have this Virtue. You may only cast spontaneous magic via the Ceremonial Casting rules, though, so you're stuck with formulaic magic for day-to-day work. This is very handy for magi focused on rituals - healers, for example.
  
• Mythic Blood: Major. You descend by blood from a legendary wizard or supernatural being. You do not lose any Fatigue levels when you cast a formulaic spell but miss the target by 10 or less points, though you lose Fatigue as normal if the spell outright fails. Additionally, you have a single magical ability you may use at will and end at will, as often as you like. Invoking this ability takes the same amount of time as fast-casting a mastered spell and the same amount of concentration. You design the spell as a Hermetic effect, whose (level+Penetration) total is limited by how you activate it. You do not add your Penetration ability to this total for design purposes, and it cannot be negative. If you must speak and gesture to use your power, your total to work with is 30. If you only speak, 25. If you only gesture, 20. If you do neither, 15. You also receive a free Minor Magical Focus in an area related to your ancestor and a hereditary Minor Personality Flaw that, again, is costless and provides no balancing benefits. Very nice, all told.
  
• Secondary Insight: Major. When you study a Hermetic Technique by book, teacher or vis, you also gain 1 XP in any 4 Forms of your choice. When you study a Form, you gain 1 XP in any two Techniques of your choice. You cannot apply more than 1 bonus XP to a single Art. This is much better than Elemental Magic, though still not super great. I usually allow it to apply to all XP gains rather than just study.
  
• Adept Laboratory Student: Minor. You get +6 to lab totals when working from the lab texts of others. This is handy if you just want to learn a lot of spells from lab texts or recreate what others have already done, but I prefer to invent my own poo poo.
  
• Affinity With Art: Minor. Any XP you gain in a single Hermetic Art is increased by half, rounding up. At chargen, any XP placed in the Art is increased by half, rounding up, too. You may exceed normal recommended age limits in that Art. This is really, really good if you want to specialize.
  
• Cautious Sorcerer: Minor. When casting spells or doing labwork, roll three fewer botch dice if you check for botch, to a minimum of 1. This is applied after all other effects that reduce botch dice, and some of those other effects can drop you to zero, though.
  
• Cyclic Magic (Positive): Minor. You remember negative Cyclic Magic? Same deal, except during the positive end of your cycle, you get a +3 bonus to all spell rolls and lab totals (though, the lab total bonus, much as the penalty in negative Cyclic Magic, applies only if the bonus lasts an entire season). During your negative part of the cycle, you cast as normal. Yes, you can take both and vacillate between +3 and -3.
  
• Deft Form: Minor. Pick one Hermetic Form. You take no penalty when using nonstandard voicing or gestures, including 'no voicing, no gestures,' when you use that Form. (Of course, Voice-range spells still rely on the range of your voice, so they're zero range if you cast silently.) It's not bad for specialists but I prefer other methods for getting this effect. (Yeah, subtle magic is nice, but the main use I see for this stuff is always casting while shapeshifted.)
  
• Enduring Magic: Minor. Your spells with ranges other than Concentration, Momentary and Ring last longer than normal. When you cast a spell, the GM rolls a d10 secretly and multiplies the normal duration by the result of the die roll. This does not affect Ritual spells.
  
• The Enigma: This is the House Virtue of House Criamon, and no one else can learn it.
  
• Faerie Magic: This is the House Virtue of House Merinita, and no one else can learn it.
  
• Fast Caster: Minor. You get +3 Initiative when casting in combat.
  
• Free Study: Minor. When you study magic from vis, you add +3 to your study roll. Handy at high levels, not so great early on when you won't be studying from vis.
  
• Harnessed Magic: Minor. You have enough control over your spells to end any of them by simple concentration, or even cancel the magic you instill in magic items. This takes as much time and concentration as casting a spell does. If you are distracted, you may try again later. You may cancel your magic over any distance, but once canceled, the magic is gone until you recast the spell or reinvest the item. When you die, all of your ongoing spells and magic items immediately lose all their power. It's...well, for a Minor Virtue, it's decent, but not one of my top picks. And yes, normal magi cannot end their spells at will - they have to allow the duration to run out.
  
• Heartbeast: This is the House Virtue of House Bjornaer, and no one else can learn it.
  
• Hermetic Prestige: We've covered this one already.
  
• Inoffensive to Animals: Minor. Your Gift has no negative effects on animals, though it affects people normal. An unGifted character with the Magical Air flaw can take this Virtue.
  
• Inventive Genius: Minor. You get +3 to lab totals to create new spells, items and potions. If you experiment, you instead get +6. I really like this Virtue a lot.
  
• Life Boost: Minor. You may boost your formulaic spell casting totals by spending Fatigue. Every Fatigue level you spend gives +5 to your roll. You may spend more Fatigue than you actually have, but if you do, you must soak 1d10 damage, +5 damage per 'Fatigue' level you spend that you don't have, with no armor bonus. Your Fatigue is spent even if you somehow fail to cast the spell. You can kill yourself this way, and you must commit to your fatigue spending before you make the roll. It's less good than Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic because you are limited to your formulaics, which I generally feel you should try to be able to cast normally.
  
• Minor Magical Focus: Minor. As per Major Magical Focus, but your Focus is narrower - generally slightly narrow than a single Form/Technique combo. Examples: Self-transformation, healing, birds of prey. Again: no matter what level it is, you can only ever have a single Focus.
  
• Magical Memory: Minor. Your lab texts are all entirely in your head, and you always get the benefit of using a lab text when recreating something you've already done, even if you don't use a physical lab text. You do not get this benefit from the lab texts of others unless you've already used them before. I generally feel this is a waste of a Virtue, but at least it's fairly obviously a waste.
  
• Mastered Spells: Minor. You get 50 XP to spend on Mastery skills for spells you know. You can take this multiple times.
  
• Method Caster: Minor. You get +3 to all formulaic spells you cast...as long as you never, ever alter your voicing and gestures from the standard method you use. Since the bonus for bigger voice and gestures is a total of +2 for both, that's fine - you just can't stack them for +5. The main downside is that if you want to be quiet or subtle, you lose your bonus on top of taking the normal penalties.
  
• Personal Vis Source: Minor. You have exclusive access to a vis source, which supplies about one tenth of the amount of vis the entire covenant gets per year at chargen. If the covenant gets more vis, your source does not increase to match it. Still, this is extremely handy for enchanters, who go through vis a lot.
  
• Puissant Art: Minor. You get +3 to all uses of a single Art. You can take this up to twice, for two different Arts. Very handy for specialists.
  
• Quiet Magic: Minor. You have no penalty for quiet voicing and only a -5 penalty for silent magic. You get no special benefits from normal voicing. You can take this Virtue twice to eliminate the silent magic penalty entirely.
  
• Side Effect: Minor. You have some minor, mostly beneficial side effect to all magic you cast. Occasionally it is annoying. For example, you might gain a commanding presence, giving +1 to Presence rolls for a brief period after casting, or a calm state of mind that gives a bonus to Concentration rolls for a while.
  
• Skilled Parens: Minor. You get 60 bonus XP and 30 bonus spell levels during apprenticeship. Very nice, as bonus XP virtues go, though it has no effect in ongoing play.
  
• Special Circumstances: Minor. In certain uncommon circumstances, your magic is better, such as 'during a storm' or 'when touching the target'. You get a +3 bonus to cast or resist spells in those circumstances. You can take this more than once, but you never get more than a +3 bonus even when multiple circumstances apply.
  
• Study Bonus: Minor. When you study an Art from a book or raw vis, you get 2 bonus XP (or +2 to your die roll, on vis study) as long as you have some physical materials related to that Art to study while you do it. The amount you need is based on your skill in that Art. Take Ignem - if you don't have much skill, a candle flame will do. If you have some skill, a campfire is fine. If you're notably skilled, you'll need to be in the middle of a large fire, or eventually even a volcano. You can have both this and Study Requirement.
  
• Subtle Magic: Minor. You take no penalty for subtle or no gestures when casting. You get no special benefits from normal gestures.
  
• Verditius Magic: This is the House Virtue of House Verditius, and no one else can learn it.

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

• Entrancement: Major. You can control others’ will by staring into their eyes and giving verbal commands. You get 5 XP in Entrancement and can spend XP on Entrancement without problems.
  
• Greater Immunity: Major. You are immune to one common and potentially deadly hazard, such as fire or iron weapons. (Just iron - not steel, not bronze, not wood. Wooden weapons would be their own immunity.) You can’t take immunity to age, that’s what Unaging is for. You are immune to the thing whether it’s magical or not - fire grants immunity to both mundane and magical fire.
  
• Greater Purifying Touch: Major. You may touch someone and expand a Fatigue level to cure a single specific serious disease. This disease is either life-threatening or seriously disabling, and not one that people recover from naturally in most cases. You choose the disease when you take the virtue. You can only cure that disease, and not injury or other types of misfortune.
  
• Shapeshifter: Major. You can turn into one or more mundane animals. You gain 5 XP in Shapeshifter and can spend XP on Shapeshifter without problems.
  
• Strong Faerie Blood: Major. You have natural longevity, and do not need to make aging rolls until age 50, rather than 35, and get -3 to all aging rolls on top of any other bonuses you might have to them. You gain the Second Sight virtue for free and can see normally in darkness and dim light. Your eyes have vivid color. You may take Faerie Lore at character generation, even if you can’t take other Arcane Abilities. You also receive the benefit of your particular form of faerie heritage as per Faerie Blood, below. Your fae heritage is visible - perhaps you have small horns, literal blue blood or pure white eyes, depending on your fae lineage.
  
• Animal Ken: Minor. You can talk to animals as though they were human beings. You get 5 XP in Animal Ken and can spend XP on Animal Ken without problems.
  
• Dowsing: Minor. You can find things nearby with the use of intuition and a dowsing tool. You get 5 XP in Dowsing and can spend XP on Dowsing without problems.
  
• Enchanting Music: Minor. You can magically induce emotion and belief with your music. You get 5 XP in Enchanting Music and can spend XP on Enchanting Music without problems.
  
• Faerie Blood: Minor. You are resistant to aging and get -1 to all aging rolls on top of any other bonuses you might have to them. Further, you receive a minor benefit based on your heritage. Examples:
  
  • Dwarf Blood: +1 to any roll or total involving a Craft ability.
    
  • Goblin Blood: +1 to any roll or total involving stealth.
    
  • Satyr Blood: +1 to Communication and Presence when dealing with sexually compatible characters.
    
  • Sidhe Blood: You get +1 to your Presence score after you assign attributes, but to no higher than +3.
    
  • Undine Blood: +2 to any action underwater. (Most actions underwater will have a penalty you’re offsetting.)
• Lesser Immunity: Minor. You are immune, as per Greater Immunity, to something that is either rare, not deadly or both.
  
• Lesser Purifying Touch: Minor. You can heal a disease, as per Greater Purifying Touch, that is either not very serious or is usually recovered from naturally.
  
• Magic Sensitivity: Minor. You can identify places or objects as magical. However, you are also more susceptible to magical effects. You get 5 XP in Magic Sensitivity and can spend XP on Magic Sensitivity without problems.
  
• Premonitions: Minor. You intuitively sense when things are likely to go wrong or are wrong. You get 5 XP in Premonitions and can spend XP on Premonitions without problems.
  
• Second Sight: Minor. You can see through illusions, disguises and even natural invisibility, allowing you to spot spirits or regio borders. You get 5 XP in Second Sight and can spend XP on Second Sight without problems.
  
• Sense Holiness and Unholiness: Minor. You can sense the presence of true good and evil. This can, if they are especially powerful, overwhelm you. You get 5 XP in Sense Holiness and Unholiness and can spend XP on Sense Holiness and Unholiness without problems.
  
• Skinchanger: Minor. You have a magical cloak of animal skin or other item made from an animal. When you are touching it, you may assume the form of that animal. This takes a full round, and you retain your mind and mental faculties while in animal form. Your clothes and possessions do not transform with you, and magic will reveal you as a transformed human. If your transformation item is stolen, it is an Arcane Connection to you and you can’t transform until it is returned. If the item is destroyed, you can spend a season making a new one, with a method based on what the item is. Your skin may be of any animal between Size -5 (a robin) and Size +2 (a bear). While in animal form, you have the normal stats of the animal, with one exception: you get a +3 bonus to Soak.
  
• Wilderness Sense: Minor. You are mystically attuned to the ways of the wilderness. You get 5 XP in Wilderness Sense and can spend XP on Wilderness Sense without problems.
  
• Unaging: Minor. You do not suffer the effects of age. Your stats don’t decrease as you gain aging points, though they do build up to gain Decrepitude. If an aging crisis is not potentially fatal, you suffer no problems from it. If it is potentially fatal, you still die if you fail the Stamina roll but are otherwise unaffected. You are not enfeebled by reaching Decrepitude 4, but will die as normal when you hit Decrepitude 5. You may choose your apparent age freely, though if you are essentially human it will be less than or equal to your actual age.

• Death Prophecy: Someone has named a condition that must be met to kill you - a magician, faerie or other supernatural creature. Until the condition is met, you won’t die, though you can still be seriously injured. You heal normally, but will not die of your wounds or of old age. Unfortunately, fate or bad planning can bring about the necessary condition in unexpected ways. For example: if your death condition is to fear only boars, you might be killed by men with boars on their coats of arms, or in an inn named for a boar, as well as by actual boars. Sometimes, the symbolism is even more oblique - a man known in his village as “a pig” might count as a boar if the GM is particularly mean. However, the book advises that the GM must at least give fair warning about items related to the prophecy, and that the group should agree on allowing the virtue - so if they do, the GM is being a jerk if he cheats the player out of their Major Virtue.
  
• Ghostly Warder: You have a ghost watching over you. Someone that cares about you even beyond death. The ghost is invisible and silent to all but you and those who have Second Sight. It can see and hear normally, and can leave your presence for up to half an hour each day. However, the ghost’s death has left it with mental quirks. It has 300 XP worth of abilities that it can use to advise you, and may select any abilities without restriction.
  
• Giant Blood: You are descended from literal giants. You are up to eight feet tall and can weigh up to 500 pounds. You are Size +2 and get +1 to both Strength and Stamina, to a maximum of +6. You may not combine this with the Large Virtue or the Flaws Small Frame or Dwarf. This is one of the best combat virtues in the entire game, since size is a major determinant in how badly you get wounded by damage.
  
• Guardian Angel: You are watched by a literal angel that gives you advice. It whispers in your ear, telling you what is best spiritually. (Not materially.) The angel hates violence unless there is a holy reason for it, which is not usually the case, and if you ignore the angel’s advice, it will abandon you until you mend your ways. The angel has only limited awareness of your thoughts, but when you speak aloud, it can hear and talk to you. The angel can also give you material benefits: it can grant +5 soak whenever it wants, or give you Magic Resistance 15. This Resistance does not stack with any other form of Resistance except that which results from Faith Points. The angel will give these bonuses only when you are acting in accord with God’s will.
  
• True Faith: You have a deep, unbreakable faith in God. No force can remove this from you. You have 1 Faith point and can gain more. (Having Faith Points gives you Magic Resistance equal to 10 times your number of Faith Points. You gain Faith Points via extreme devotion to God and actions of great piety. These rules were later revised, but we’re just looking at the Core right now.) This is a great Virtue, and once the revised rules are in place, easily one of the best in the game.
  
• Ways of the (Land): You have a deep understanding of a specific form of terrain - for example, you might have Ways of the Forest or Ways of the Mountain, or even Ways of the Town. You get +3 to all rolls made in that terrain, including combat rolls, that directly involve the area or its inhabitants (mundane, magical or faerie - demons and angels are not actually from the terrain). Also, you roll one fewer botch die than normal when making botch checks on rolls that pertain to your area of understanding, to a minimum of zero. Animals of the terrain normally leave you alone, and always respect you, even though particularly vicious ones might still attack. (For Ways of the Town: People count for the +3 bonus but not this. There are, however, many urban animals in the 1200s.) You may take this Virtue multiple times for different types of terrain.
  
• Wealthy: This can’t be taken by magi or anyone supported directly by a covenant. You are a rich member of your social class. You have three free seasons per year rather than two, needing only one season per year to maintain your lifestyle. Your actual wealth depends on your social status and job - a noble would have many servants and even some bodyguards, while a wealthy townsman might have three servants and a nice house. You can afford goods associated with higher classes than your own, though using them risks gaining a reputation for being a vulgar social climber. This virtue also gives you bonus XP during chargen! It is one of the best in the game. Pity magi can’t take it.

• Affinity with (Ability): Any XP you gain for the chosen Ability is increased by half, rounding up. This includes XP put in the ability in chargen. You can break normal age-based limits on that ability, too. Very nice for someone focused on one thing!
  
• Apt Student: When you gain XP by being taught by someone, you gain 5 more XP than normal. Pretty nice, if you have good teachers around, but you’re still limited by what they can teach.
  
• Arcane Lore: You may take Arcane Abilities during character generation. (Those aren’t the supernatural powers - they’re stuff like arcane lore.) Unless you have the Gift, you still can’t learn the Parma Magica. You also get 50 XP to spend on Arcane Abilities. If you are Gifted, you can learn the Parma, but if you aren’t part of the Order you must take the Major Story Flaw Enemies: The Entire Order of Hermes. The game suggests that you shouldn’t do this because the party will be trying to murder your rear end.
  
• Berserk: First, you automatically get the Angry personality trait at +2 or +3. Any time you are wounded or wound an enemy, you must roll your Angry. If you roll 9 or higher, you go berserk. The GM can also call for a roll when you are very frustrated. You may deliberately go berserk, which takes only a 6 or higher when you trigger it normally, or 9 or higher if there is no trigger. While berserk, you get +2 to Attack and Soak totals, but -2 to Defense. You cannot retreat, hesitate to attack or give quarter while berserk. If you are still berserk when all enemies are gone, you will attack your friends. You may roll to calm down once per round, whenever you want. You roll 1d10+Perception-Angry, and need a 6 or higher. Lastly, you may take Martial Abilities during chargen.
  
• Book Learner: When studying from books, you get 3 more XP than normal. This is one of the best virtues in the game, especially for magi, who spend a lot of time studying books.
  
• Cautious with (Ability): When you make botch checks for the chosen Ability, you roll two fewer botch dice than normal, to a minimum of zero. You can take this Virtue even for Abilities you can’t learn during chargen.
  
• Clear Thinker: You get +3 to all rolls to resist lies, confusion, befuddlement or subterfuge. Magical or mundane.
  
• Common Sense: The GM will tell you when you’re doing something that would be intensely stupid or contrary to the setting. I feel this is a wasted Virtue - the GM should be telling you that anyway.
  
• Educated: You can take Academic Abilities during chargen and get 50 XP to spend on Latin and Artes Liberales.
  
• Enduring Constitution: You reduce the penalties for fatigue by 1, and reduce the total wound penalty you take when wounded by 1, to a minimum of 0. You get +3 to all rolls to resist pain.
  
• Famous: You have a good Reputation of some kind at level 4, with whatever specific group you want. It need not be a deserved good reputation.
  
• Free Expression: You get +3 to all rolls to make a new work of art. (This is surprisingly handy sometimes, but got a much-needed buff later in dealing with faeries.)
  
• Good Teacher: Any books you write get +3 Quality (the stat that determines how much XP they give) and any students you teach gain 5 more XP than normal. This Virtue is not very handy for the person who has it, but the rest of the party (and any apprentice you take) will love it.
  
• Gossip: You know all sorts of poo poo about local politics and rumors. On d10 roll of 6 or higher, you know all the interesting news before anyone else does. You treat all local Reputations as double their actual level. You may be able to give Reputations with a few well-chosen discussions.
  
• Great (Characteristic): You may raise a single Characteristic that is already at least +3 by 1, to a maximum of +5. You can take this Virtue up to twice for any given Characteristic.
  
• Improved Characteristics: You have 3 more points to spend on Characteristics. This does not increase your normal maximums. You may take this more than once.
  
• Inspirational: You may urge people to great heights, giving them +3 to rolls for appropriate personality traits. This is most useful for inspiring people towards various emotions or inspiring bravery - one game I’ve run had a guy use it and save the entire party from a faerie’s fear powers.
  
• Intuition: You have a natural sense for making the right decisions. Whenever you are given a choice in which luck plays a major role, such as deciding which of three unmarked paths to follow, the GM will roll a d10 secretly. On a 6+, the GM will tell you which decision is the “right” decisions.
  
• Keen Vision: You get +3 to all rolls involving sight (except for ranged attacks).
  
• Large: You are between six and seven feet tall. This makes you Size +1. This is quite a good combat virtue! It cannot be combined with Giant, or the Flaws Small Frame or Dwarf.
  
• Latent Magical Ability: You have an unmanifested magical power. It may appear spontaneously whenever the GM likes, usually during a relevant event. It is not the Gift, and you probably aren’t aware of it. I don’t like this Virtue - it’s basically just hoping the GM gives you a cool power and a chance to use it.
  
• Learn (Ability) From Mistakes: You choose one Ability when you take this Virtue. The first time each session that you either botch a roll of that Ability or fail a roll of that Ability by exactly 1 point, you gain 5 XP in that Ability. The roll must come up naturally as part of the story. You can take this more than once, for different Abilities.
  
• Light Touch: You get +1 to all rolls involving subtle manipulation of objects (including musical instruments but not ranged weapons), and roll one less botch die when making botch checks involving such things.
  
• Lightning Reflexes: When you are surprised or startled, you may roll your Quickness. On a 3 or higher, you reflexively. You tell the GM what one type of action you’re likely to respond with - attacking, blocking, running, etc. If you attack in response, you get a +9 bonus to Initiative. The GM is always the final arbiter of what happens, but it’s always in the best interests of your immediate survival. You can only react this way to threats you’re not fully aware of - if you know the assassin is there because you watched him sneak up, you don’t get this Virtue’s benefits. You don’t get a choice about whether you react - the GM just tells you someone is sneaking up, not whether it’s a friend or enemy, say, but you react all the same. You must, however, be able to perceive the action to react to it - if you’re asleep, you’re as hosed as anyone else.
  
• Long-Winded: You get +3 to any Fatigue roll, except for casting spells.
  
• Luck: In situations where luck is the main factor, you get a bonus of +1 to +3 depending on the GM’s view on how much luck is involved. You are very, very good at games of chance and are often accused of cheating.
  
• Rapid Convalescence: You get +3 to all wound recovery rolls. This is very nice - the main cause of death in Ars is old age, followed by ‘died of his wounds getting worse without treatment.’
  
• Perfect Balance: You get +6 to any rolls to avoid falling or tripping.
  
• Piercing Gaze: You may stare intently at someone, causing them to feel uneasy. Those who have uneasy consciences or who are lying must roll an appropriate Personality Trait, Guile or whatever else the GM decides is appropriate in order to remain calm. You also get +3 to all rolls involving intimidation. None of this applies to either faeries or demons.
  
• Privileged Upbringing: You get 50 XP to spend on any General, Martial or Academic Abilities. This does not allow you to spend any additional XP on Martial or Academic Abilities if you have no Virtue that unlocks them.
  
• Protection: You are under the protection of a powerful noble or Churchman (or maybe someone else with a lot of power). Those that know of this treat you carefully, and those who don’t pay for it. You have a Reputation, which is your choice of good or bad, at level 3 - or more, if your protector is particularly well-known.
  
• Puissant (Ability): You get +2 to all rolls or totals involving the chosen Ability.
  
• Relic: You own a holy relic containing a single Faith point. This can be built into any item you own. While you are in contact with the item, you get the benefits of that Faith.
  
• Reserves of Strength: Once per day, you may add +3 to your Strength for the duration of a single action. Afterwards, you must make two Fatigue rolls.
  
• Self-Confident: You start with a Confidence score of 2 rather than 1, and 5 Confidence points rather than 3. (More on Confidence later.)
  
• Sharp Ears: You get +3 to all rolls involving hearing.
  
• Social Contacts: Choose a specific social circle when you take this Virtue. You know many people in that circle, all over the place. Whenever you go somewhere new, you can reach someone you know on a Presence roll of 6+.This may be harder in more remote areas or areas where you explicitly probably don’t know anyone. You can take this more than once, for a different social circle each time.
  
• Strong-Willed: You get +3 to any roll that may involve strength of will.
  
• Student of (Realm): Choose one Realm - Magic, Faerie, Infernal or Divine. You get +2 to all uses of the appropriate Lore, and you can take that Lore at chargen even if you can’t take other Arcane Abilities. This is basically Puissant (Ability) for those Lores, except it also unlocks them if you didn’t already. As a result, you can’t take both.
  
• Temporal Influence: You have societal power. A leader goes to you for advice, and you may be a leader yourself. The more influence you have, the more responsibility comes with it and the harder it is to work unopposed with magi. Grogs may not take this Virtue.
  
• Tough: You get +3 Soak.
  
• Troupe Upbringing: You were raised by traveling entertainers. Pick an area your folks focused on - say, juggling and throwing stuff, tumbling and acrobatics or storytelling and acting. You get +2 to all rolls involving that focus.
  
• True Love (PC): As True Love, the Flaw, but with another PC. You must both take it. You get +3 to appropriate Personality Trait rolls, and can add up to +3 to any roll the GM allows you to do it for, as long as the roll is related to getting you to your love or protecting them. If you do not have frequent contact with your love, you may suffer penalties from melancholy. You can, again, take this as True Friend to be non-romantic.
  
• Venus’ Blessing: You get +3 to any Communication or Presence rolls with sexually compatibile characters in appropriate situations. Also, you are super hot.
  
• Warrior: You may take Martial Abilities at chargen, and you get 50 XP to spend on Martial Abilities.
  
• Well-Traveled: You get 50 XP to spend on living languages, Area Lores, Bargain, Carouse, Charm, Etiquette, Folk Ken or Guile.

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

Azran fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Feb 27, 2014

Lemon-Lime fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Feb 27, 2014

Azran fucked around with this message at 18:29 on Feb 27, 2014

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Characteristics
Strength -3		Intelligence +3
Stamina +2		Perception +2
Dexterity -2		Presence +1
Quickness +0		Communication +2

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

• Living Language: Every language is its own Ability. Rather than being rolled, it generally measures your fluency, as follows. When speaking with another person, communication occurs at the lower of their two scores in the shared language. Latin and Hebrew are not living languages in most places, but if you live in one of the rare places that they are, you can learn them as living languages rather than dead ones, with no need for a Virtue. This ability can be rolled occasionally - it also covers artistic composition in the language, as well as telling stories in it. Example specialties: Poetry, prose, specific dialects, expansive vocabulary, specific technical vocabulary, slang, storytelling.
  
  • 0, but with XP in the ability: You know a few words, like ‘please’ or ‘thank you.’
    
  • 1: You can ask basic questions like ‘where is the church’ or ‘do you sell food’ and mostly understand the answers. You have a terrible accent, make a lot of mistakes and need people to speak slowly to properly understand them.
    
  • 2: You can sustain short conversations on common topics. You still make a lot of mistakes and often misunderstand words.
    
  • 3: You can hold a conversation on everday topics, though it’s slow and you still have a bad accent and make mistakes.
    
  • 4: You can hold conversations on non-technical topics and rarely make mistakes. People don’t usually need to repeat themselves. You must have at least level 4 in a language to read a book written in that language and gain XP from it. (Also you have to be literate in that language, which is not covered by this skill directly.)
    
  • 5: You speak fluently, though you have a weak accent if it’s not your native tongue. You know as much about the language as most natives. You must have a language at 5 to write a book in it. (And, obviously, literacy.)
    
  • 6: You choose your words very well and, even in a non-native tongue, have no accent.
• Charm: Fascinating, enticing or endearing others to you, but only on a personal, one-on-one basis. Also, winning people over emotionally, particularly sexually compatible people. Example specialties: Courtly love, first impressions, being witty.
  
• Folk Ken: Understanding the personality, background and motives of other people. Generally rolled secretly by the GM, so you don’t know if you failed or botched. Example specialties: Peasants, townsfolk, nobles, clergy, magi, the opposite sex.
  
• Guile: Lying, feigning emotions or beliefs, disguises. If you understand your target (9+ on a Perception+Folk Ken roll), you get a +1 to Guile against them. Example specialties: Particular kinds of deception, lying to authority, fast talk, elaborate lies.
  
• Stealth: Sneaking around without being seen or heard, and also hiding or tailing people. Example specialties: Hide, sneak, shadowing, urban areas, natural areas.
  
• Survival: Finding food, water, proper routes, safety and shelter in the wilderness. Building fires, cooking without implements or tools. Example specialties: Specific locales.
  
• Swim: Swimming. Example specialties: Long distances, diving, underwater maneuvering.

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Characteristics
Strength -3		Intelligence +3
Stamina +2		Perception +2
Dexterity -2		Presence +1
Quickness +0		Communication +2

Abilities
Area Lore: Andalusia (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Area Lore: Castille (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Folk Ken (Peasants) 2 (15 XP)
Spanish (Slang) 1 (5 XP)
Arabic (Poetry) 5 (75 XP)
Survival (Hills) 2 (15 XP)

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

• Dead Language: Works as per Living Language, save that the language is one that is not spoken natively any more. Example specialties: Academic usage, Church ceremonies, Hermetic usage.
  
• Artes Liberales: the seven liberal arts, the basis of medieval education. They are divided into the Trivium (grammar, logic and rhetoric) and the Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music). The main focus is on the Trivium, but both are taught. So this one Ability covers theoretical questions of linguistic structure, the styudy of syllogism and reasoning, basic math, the study of planes and solid figures, the study of light, predicting the positions of stars and planets and the (purely theoretical) study of proportion and musical theory. That last one has nothing to do with actually playing or singing - it’s all pure theorycrafting. This skill also covers the ability to read and write. For every rank in it, you are literate in all languages you know that use one specific alphabet - the Latin alphabet, say, or the Greek or Arabic ones. This skill is also important for Ritual and ceremonial magic. Example specialties: Grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, Ritual magic, Ceremonial magic.

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Characteristics
Strength -3		Intelligence +3
Stamina +2		Perception +2
Dexterity -2		Presence +1
Quickness +0		Communication +2

Abilities
General
Area Lore: Andalusia (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Area Lore: Castille (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Folk Ken (Peasants) 2 (15 XP)
Spanish (Slang) 1 (5 XP)
Arabic (Poetry) 5 (75 XP)
Survival (Hills) 2 (15 XP)
Academic
Latin (Hermetic Usage) 3 (30 XP)
Artes Liberales (Logic) 2 (20 XP)

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

• Armor is a training skill (costs 2 points to open, and can't be advanced) which will remove penalties from removing armor.
  
• Shield is the same but for shields.
  
• Brawling is nice if we're caught without our sword, but is really good because it can be FoRKed (Field of Related Knowledge - gives +1D/2D if exponent > 6 when making a check) when using the Sword skill.
  
• Conspicuous lets us make ourselves known above even a rowdy audience.
  
• Oratory lets us make use of our boisterous voice to make speeches.
  
• Lament of Mourning will be essential to counteract Grief (which will be explained later).
  
• As a Sword Bard, we should definitely pick up Song of the Sword - we get a few blessings which we can empower our sword with by song (like bonuses to speed or power).
  

Armor B2 (aptitude only)
Shield B3 (aptitude only)

Brawling B3 (B2 + 1 pt)
Command G2
Conspicuous G4 (G2 + 2 pts)
Music-wise B3 (B2 + 1 pt)
Oratory G4 (G2 + 2 pts)
Rope Chant B2
Sing G4 (G2 + 2 pts)
Sword B5 (B3 + 2 pts)

Lament of Mourning G2 (G2 + 0 pts)
Lyric of Healing G4 (G2 + 2 pts)
Song of Merriment G3 (G2 + 1 pts)
Song of Songs G3 (G2 + 1 pts)
Song of the Sword G5 (G2 + 3 pts)

• Gear - standard adventuring trinkets; swords, armor, MacGuffins, the works
  
• Relationships - characters who will be given recurring roles in the sessions
  
• Affiliations - Power in various organizations
  
• Reputation - renown and influence
  
• Gangs and crews - people who'll back us up in a pinch
  
• Bodyguards, Squires and Apprentices
  
• Spells - we can't buy these, cause we're Elves and only use songs
  

+------+------------+-------+-----------+-----+----------------+
| Name |      Feane | Stock |       Elf | Age |            192 |
+----+-+--+----+----+----+--+-+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+
| Wi | Pe | Ag | Sp | Po | Fo | He | Re | Ste | Mw | Res | Cir |
| G4 | B4 | B6 | B5 | B4 | B3 | B7 | B5 |  B7 | B9 |  B0 |  G2 |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----+----+-----+-----+
|       Stride |  8 |        Grief | G1 |     Hesitation |  4  |
+----+----+----+----+----+----+---------+----------------+-----+
| Su | Li | Mi | Se | Tr | Mo | Relationship: Son, leader of   |
| B2 | B4 | B6 | B7 | B8 | B9 |     rebel elves                |
+----+----+-+--+----+----+----+--------------------------------+
|    | Char | Born Under the Silver Stars, Fair and Statuesque |
|    |      | Vocal, Ineffable Feature (Tongue)                |
|    +------+--------------------------------------------------+
| Tr |   Dt | Essence of the Earth, First Born, Grief,         |
|    |      | Keen Sight, Sword of the White Towers            |
|    +------+--------------------------------------------------+
|    |  C-O | Sonorous Voice                                   |
+----+------+--------------------------------------------------+
|    | I will keep my son alive                                |
| Bl | I will learn what the True Song means                   |
|    | I will help the Swords retake our ancestral fortress    |
+----+---------------------------------------------------------+
|    | My lips always sing the Song of the Sword in time       |
| In |     before danger                                       |
|    | Don't say my son's name in front of those who wish him  |
|    |     dead                                                |
+----+---------------------------------------------------------+
|    | Armor B2, Shield B3                                     |
|    +---------------------------------------------------------+
|    | Brawling B3, Command G2, Conspicuous G4, Music-wise B3, |
| Sk | Oratory G4, Rope Chant B2, Sing G4, Sword B5            |
|    +---------------------------------------------------------+
|    | Lament of Mourning G2, Lyric of Healing G4,             |
|    | Song of Merriment G3, Song of Songs G3,                 |
|    | Song of the Sword G5                                    |
+----+---------------------------------------------------------+
| Gr | Elven clothes, shoes, arms, rope; training gear,        |
|    | leather armor                                           |
+----+---------------------------------------------------------+

[1] Develop a character concept. discuss it with the game moderator, and select an appropriate character power level.
[2] Select a species and record the default attribute scores for that species.
[3] Modify the character's attributes, using either the point-based or random system.
[4] Select biomods for the character and record any changes to the character's primary and derived attributes.
[5] Record the character's abilities. Choose the character's aptitudes.
[6] Select one origin package and two background packages for the character.
[7] Choose professional training packages for the character.
[8] Allocate points to the character's custom skills.
[9] Consult with the game moderator and select equipment appropriate to the character and campaign.

Attributes			3/5
Biomods				2-4 Minor, 1-2 Major
Aptitudes			2/4
Professional Packages		5
Points for Custom Skills	10
Max Skill Level at Start	6

BUILD			7
FITNESS			2
AGILITY			0
DEXTERITY		-10	
AWARENESS		1
	CHEMICAL (Not Cetaceans)
	ECHOLOCATION (Only Cetaceans)
	HEARING
	INTUITION
	TOUCH
	VISION
INTELLECT		-1
PRESENCE		0
WILL			0
(Figured Characteristics)
ENDURANCE		+3
REFLEXES		+0
STRENGTH		+0
TOUGHNESS		+0

LEVEL  CHARACTER POINTS
-3				-4
-2				-2
-1				-1
0				0
+1				+1
+2				+2
+3				+4

BUILD			6
FITNESS			2
AGILITY			0
DEXTERITY		-10	
AWARENESS		2
	CHEMICAL (Not Cetaceans)
	ECHOLOCATION (Only Cetaceans)
	HEARING
	INTUITION
	TOUCH
	VISION
INTELLECT		0
PRESENCE		2
WILL			0
(Figured Characteristics)
ENDURANCE		4
REFLEXES		1
STRENGTH		4
TOUGHNESS		2

BUILD			6
FITNESS			2
AGILITY			0
DEXTERITY		-10	
AWARENESS		2
	CHEMICAL (Not Cetaceans)
	ECHOLOCATION (Only Cetaceans)
	HEARING
	INTUITION
	TOUCH
	VISION
INTELLECT		0
PRESENCE		2
WILL			0
(Figured Characteristics)
ENDURANCE		4
REFLEXES		1
STRENGTH		4
TOUGHNESS		2

Agriculture 1d10
	Animal Husbandry 3 
	Aquaculture 3
Command 2d10
	Leadership 3
Communication 2d10
	Language(Interspec) 6
	Language(Latin) 3
	Negotiation 3
	Oration 3
	Persuasion 4
	Writing 2
Culture 3d10
	Cetacean 6
	Colonial 5
	Earth 3
Fine Arts 3d10
	Acting 5
	Dance 5
	Music 7
Human Sciences 2d10
	History 4
	Politics 1
	Theology 3
Life Sciences 1d10
	Botany 2
	Genetics 1
	Zoology 3
Medicine 1d10
	First Aid 3
	Psychology 1
Physical Sciences 1d10
	Astronomy 1
	Geology 1
	Meteorology 3
	Physics 1
Survival 1d10
	Fishing 3
	Foraging 2
Tech 2d10
	Computers 5
	Electronics 4
	Mechanics 2
	Remote Operation 3

Humbug Scoolbus fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Feb 27, 2014

• Colt Peacemaker $15
  
• 50 rounds $3
  
• Single-barrel shotgun $25
  
• Gun belt $2
  
• Holster $3
  
• 20 Shotgun shells $2
  
• Axe Handle $1
  
• Bible
  
• Cross

• Protection: We can try to stop supernatural evil from directly attacking us (our Faith roll is contested against it's Spirit roll)
  
• Lay on Hands: Just like Cure X Wounds.
  
• Sacrifice: Usually, we can only give our friends Fate Chips if we pay an equal cost into the pot. With this miracle, we can directly give to a friend.
  
• Holy Roller: We can try to gamble our luck to get more Fate Chips, but if we goof up, we lose our highest chip.
  
• Smite: Increase our (or a friends) Strength to clobber baddies harder.
  
• Inspiration: Gives us a bonus to our Tale-Tellin' roll.

Preacher Douglass Reeves

    Deftness: 1d8
      -Shootin': Shotgun 3
    Nimbleness: 4d6
      -Climbin' 1 (FREE)
      -Dodge 2
      -Fightin': Brawlin' 3
      -Sneak 2 (1 pt)
    Quickness: 3d6
    Strength: 2d8
    Vigor: 2d8

    Cognition: 1d8
      -Scrutinize 2
      -Search 3 (1 pt FREE)
    Knowledge: 3d8
      -Area Knowledge: Home County 2 (FREE)
      -Medicine: General 2
      -Professional:Theology 2
    Mien: 3d10
      -Persuasion 3
      -Tale-Tellin' 3
    Smarts: 2d12
    Spirit: 3d12
      -Faith 5
      -Guts 4

Grit: 0
Pace: 12
Size: 6
Wind: 20

Hindrances:
[*]Heroic
[*]Obligation (Deliver a sermon on Sundays)
[*]Clueless
[*]Squeamish

Edges:
[*]Arcane Background:Blessed 
[*]Brave
[*]Gift of Gab

Miracles:
[*]Protection
[*]Lay on Hands
[*]Sacrifice
[*]Holy Roller
[*]Smite
[*]Inspiration

Gear: ($199)
[*]Colt Peacemaker $15
[*]50 rounds $3
[*]Single-barrel shotgun $25
[*]Gun belt $2
[*]Holster $3
[*]20 Shotgun shells $2
[*]Axe Handle $1
[*]Bible
[*]Cross

Current Character
2983 Circini: F8 V
Habitable Zone Orbit: 4

Skeggiold Prime: 
Starport: A
Size: 0
Atm: 0
Hyd: 0
Pop: 5
Gov: 6
Law: 3
Tech: 15
O.1717

Captain Tolman Jenkins - O3
Str: 10 (A)
Dex: 9
End: 4
Int: 7
Edu: 8
Soc: 10 (A)

Medals:
WB x3
MCUF x4
MCG x1
SEH x1

Skills:
Zero-G - 1
Driver - 1
Biology - 4
Linguistics - 1
Medical - 4
Forensics - 2
Fighting - 3
Navigation - 3
Sensors - 1
Computer - 1
Tactics - 1
Vacc Suit - 2
Army - 1
Gunner - 1
Stealth - 1

Knowledges:
Slug Throw - 2
Sprays - 2

Mustache Ride fucked around with this message at 07:48 on Feb 28, 2014

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Characteristics
Strength -3		Intelligence +3
Stamina +2		Perception +2
Dexterity -2		Presence +1
Quickness +0		Communication +2

Abilities
General
Area Lore: Andalusia (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Area Lore: Castille (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Folk Ken (Peasants) 2 (15 XP)
Spanish (Slang) 1 (5 XP)
Arabic (Poetry) 5 (75 XP)
Survival (Hills) 2 (15 XP)
Academic
Latin (Hermetic Usage) 3 (30 XP)
Artes Liberales (Logic) 2 (20 XP)

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

• Code of Hermes: Knowledge of Wizard Law, precedent in Wizard Law and how to use Wizard Law, including when it’s a good idea to call for a vote and how to frame an argument. Example specialties: Wizards’ Marches, apprentices, mundane relations, Tribunal procedures, political intrigue
  
• Dominion Lore: Knowledge of the supernatural manifestations of Divine power. Has nothing to do with the mundane Church or theology, but instead covers miracles and angels and so on. It’s about power, not doctrine. Example specialties: Angels, saints, Divine creatures
  
• Faerie Lore: Knowledge of faerie powers, weaknesses, motivations and areas. Example specialties: Faerie forests, faerie mounds, specific types of faerie.
  
• Finesse: Manipulating spells and doing special tricks with them. Used for delicate maneuvering, aiming aimed spells and replicating the work of craftsmen. Example specialties: Grace, precision, any one Form.
  
• Infernal Lore: Knowledge of Infernal power and agents, including the habits and weaknesses of demons and undead, as well as curses. Example specialties: Demons, undead, curses.
  
• Magic Lore: Knowledge of magical creatures, areas and traditions. Example specialties: Creatures, magical traditions, regiones.
  
• Magic Theory: Knowledge of Hermetic theory and Hermetic magic in technical terms. Used to do lab work, and useless to almost anyone but a Hermetic or, in small amounts, a scribe working for magi. Example specialties: Inventing spells, enchanting items, a specific Art.
  
• Parma Magica: Protection against magic. The Parma requires the Gift, and is a special ritual, not a spell, which takes five minutes to perform. It adds five times your Parma Magica score to your Magic Resistance until the next sunrise or sunset. You may suppress your Parma temporarily by concentrating, as if concentrating on a spell, but you need not concentrate to keep it up. For each point of Parma, you may extend the protection to one other person by touching them. This lasts until neither of you can see the other, or until you cancel it, which you can do at will. While protecting others, your Parma score is reduced by 3 for purposes of its effectiveness - which means that with Parma 3 or lower, you and the people you protect have Magic Resistance 0. Magi still get Form resistance, at least! And MR 0 is still enough to, say, stop the social effects of the Gift. Example specialties: Any specific Form.
  
• Penetration: Getting past Magic Resistance. Example specialties: Any one Art.

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Characteristics
Strength -3		Intelligence +3
Stamina +2		Perception +2
Dexterity -2		Presence +1
Quickness +0		Communication +2

Abilities
General
Area Lore: Andalusia (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Area Lore: Castille (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Folk Ken (Peasants) 2 (15 XP)
Spanish (Slang) 1 (5 XP)
Arabic (Poetry) 5 (75 XP)
Survival (Hills) 2 (15 XP)
Academic
Latin (Hermetic Usage) 4 (50 XP)
Artes Liberales (Logic) 2 (20 XP)
Arcane
Code of Hermes (Political Intrigue) 3 (30 XP)
Magic Theory (Intellego) 3 (30 XP)
Parma Magica (Mentem) 1 (5 XP)
Penetration (Intellego) 2 (15 XP)
Finesse (Precision) 1 (5 XP)

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Characteristics
Strength -3		Intelligence +3
Stamina +2		Perception +2
Dexterity -2		Presence +1
Quickness +0		Communication +2

Abilities
General
Area Lore: Andalusia (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Area Lore: Castille (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Brawl (Dodging) 2 (15 XP)
Charm (Magi) 2 (15 XP)
Folk Ken (Peasants) 3 (30 XP)
Guile (Keeping Secrets) 2 (15 XP)
Intrigue (Negotiations) 2 (15 XP)
Spanish (Slang) 1 (5 XP)
Arabic (Poetry) 5 (75 XP)
Survival (Hills) 2 (15 XP)
Academic
Latin (Hermetic Usage) 4 (50 XP)
Artes Liberales (Logic) 2 (20 XP)
Arcane
Code of Hermes (Political Intrigue) 3 (20*1.5 XP)
Magic Theory (Intellego) 3 (30 XP)
Parma Magica (Mentem) 1 (5 XP)
Penetration (Intellego) 2 (15 XP)
Finesse (Precision) 1 (5 XP)

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

• Creo: ‘I create.’ Creates and improves things, though permanent creation requires vis.
  
• Intellego: ‘I know.’ Reveals facts and information about things.
  
• Muto: ‘I change.’ Alters the properties of things. Permanent changes take vis.
  
• Perdo: ‘I destroy.’ Destroys and weakens things.
  
• Rego: ‘I control.’ Moves and controls things.

• Animal: Magic on animals and animal materials.
  
• Aquam: Magic on water and other liquids. Not weather.
  
• Auram: Magic on air and weather.
  
• Corpus: Magic on human bodies. Covers healing and physical necromancy.
  
• Herbam: Magic on plants and plant materials.
  
• Ignem: Magic on fire and light.
  
• Imaginem: Magic on sensory images - sounds, sights, feelings, tastes, smells.
  
• Mentem: Magic on human minds. Covers spiritual necromancy.
  
• Terram: Magic on earth, stone and metal.
  
• Vim: Magic on magic.

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Characteristics
Strength -3		Intelligence +3
Stamina +2		Perception +2
Dexterity -2		Presence +1
Quickness +0		Communication +2

Abilities
General
Area Lore: Andalusia (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Area Lore: Castille (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Brawl (Dodging) 2 (15 XP)
Charm (Magi) 2 (15 XP)
Folk Ken (Peasants) 3 (30 XP)
Guile (Keeping Secrets) 2 (15 XP)
Intrigue (Negotiations) 2 (15 XP)
Spanish (Slang) 1 (5 XP)
Arabic (Poetry) 5 (75 XP)
Survival (Hills) 2 (15 XP)
Academic
Latin (Hermetic Usage) 4 (50 XP)
Artes Liberales (Logic) 2 (20 XP)
Arcane
Code of Hermes (Political Intrigue) 3 (20*1.5 XP)
Magic Theory (Intellego) 3 (30 XP)
Parma Magica (Mentem) 1 (5 XP)
Penetration (Intellego) 2 (15 XP)
Finesse (Precision) 1 (5 XP)

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Arts
Intellego 9 (30*1.5 XP), Perdo 7 (30 XP), Auram 7 (34 XP), Herbam 8 (36 XP)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 23:02 on Feb 28, 2014

Dagon fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Feb 28, 2014

• Probe Nature’s Hidden Lore: Level 4. Tells you what kind of plant you’re touching and a mental image of its natural habitat. This works on plant products, too, so it can be handy occasionally. Still, it’s so easy that Malik can just cast out out of hand without having to learn it.
  
• Hunt for the Wild Herb: Level 5. While you concentrate, you can smell one type of plant and follow the scent. You must have a sample of the plant you want to find, and you roll Preception at 6+ to follow the smell. If there is no plant close enough to smell, you smell nothing, but the spell still works. Handy for an herbalist and, occasionally, a detective...but still so easy that we don’t need to learn it.
  
• Intuition of the Forest: Level 10. You can intuitively commune with the local forest, sensing how to get the most from it without hurting it. You get +3 to all nature-oriented rolls except spells when in a forest or similar area until the next sunrise or sunset. The spell ends early if you cause significant harm to the forest. Handy for exploration. We might grab it.
  
• Shriek of the Impending Shafts: Level 15. You can hear woden objects shrieking as they come near you. You get +9 Defense against wooden weapons, so long as you have room to dodge, and you can automatically dodge any wooden missiles fired from more than ten paces away. Only you can hear the shrieking, and no one can simulate it. We’ll be grabbing this - it’s a great defensive spell.
  
• Converse with Plant and Tree: Level 25. You can talk to a single plant you touch, for as long as you concentrate. The more noble and longer-lived plants, obviously, are smarter. A single question and answer takes between ten and thirty minutes depending on how slow the plant grows. Typically, plants can tell you about the soil and plants around them, but have less awareness of momentary events unless those events had a direct bearing on the plant in question - for example, if someone cut its trunk. However, plants can talk to each other, so news does travel in forests. Bystanders cannot understand the conversation. We’re definitely grabbing this, though casting it succesfully may be a challenge. Still, a great investigatory spell.

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Characteristics
Strength -3		Intelligence +3
Stamina +2		Perception +2
Dexterity -2		Presence +1
Quickness +0		Communication +2

Abilities
General
Area Lore: Andalusia (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Area Lore: Castille (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Brawl (Dodging) 2 (15 XP)
Charm (Magi) 2 (15 XP)
Folk Ken (Peasants) 3 (30 XP)
Guile (Keeping Secrets) 2 (15 XP)
Intrigue (Negotiations) 2 (15 XP)
Spanish (Slang) 1 (5 XP)
Arabic (Poetry) 5 (75 XP)
Survival (Hills) 2 (15 XP)
Academic
Latin (Hermetic Usage) 4 (50 XP)
Artes Liberales (Logic) 2 (20 XP)
Arcane
Code of Hermes (Political Intrigue) 3 (20*1.5 XP)
Magic Theory (Intellego) 3 (30 XP)
Parma Magica (Mentem) 1 (5 XP)
Penetration (Intellego) 2 (15 XP)
Finesse (Precision) 1 (5 XP)

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Arts
Intellego 9 (30*1.5 XP), Perdo 7 (30 XP), Auram 7 (34 XP), Herbam 8 (36 XP)

Spells
Shriek of the Impending Shafts (InHe 15), Converse with Plant and Tree (InHe 25)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

• Curse of the Rotted Wood: Level 5. A single non-living wooden object that you touch rots and falls apart. Objects up to the size of a single door can be affected, though anything that big takes two rounds to decay, not one. Usually, large chunks of wood start falling off and then slowly crumble until only dust is left. A handy spell, but easy to cast without learning it specifically. Call it a maybe.
  
• Wizard’s Autumn: Level 15. You touch a tree among a small grove. All deciduous trees in that grove have their leaves turn brown and fall to the ground over the course of a full minute. The trees will not bud again until next spring. Very impressive, but not perhaps the most useful spell.
  
• Plant’s Withering Bane: Level 20. Withers and destroys one living plant in voice range, up to and including plants the size of a small tree. Handy in places, impressive, but somewhat limited. Maybe.

• True Sight of the Air: Level 15. Until the next sunrise or sunset, you can see clearly through any obfuscation of the air, including smoke, fog or dust, even if it’s magical. We’ll be grabbing this.
  
• Whispering Winds: Level 15. Pick any group of people you can see. For as long as you concentrate, you can hear what they are saying, so long as no solid barrier, including a glass one, intervenes. This is a unique spell that does not perfectly fit Hermetic theory, but it sure is a useful one! We’re taking it.
  
• Sailor’s Foretaste of the Morrow: Level 20. You learn what tomorrow’s weather will be and get a general impression of the weather of the next week. This applies only to the area you cast the spell in, and is based on current conditions and extrapolation, since Hermetic magic cannot see the future. So, sometimes it is wrong - but only when things like magic or volcanic eruptions get involved. Useful for sea travel, obviously.
  
• Eyes of the Bat: Level 25. You can move around in complete darkness until the next sunrise or sunset, using your hearing to sense air and its boundaries. You can’t hear fine distinctions between objects, but it is 360-degree ‘vision.’ Very nice but a bit potent - we could learn it, but casting it will be a challenge. Call it a maybe.

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Characteristics
Strength -3		Intelligence +3
Stamina +2		Perception +2
Dexterity -2		Presence +1
Quickness +0		Communication +2

Abilities
General
Area Lore: Andalusia (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Area Lore: Castille (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Brawl (Dodging) 2 (15 XP)
Charm (Magi) 2 (15 XP)
Folk Ken (Peasants) 3 (30 XP)
Guile (Keeping Secrets) 2 (15 XP)
Intrigue (Negotiations) 2 (15 XP)
Spanish (Slang) 1 (5 XP)
Arabic (Poetry) 5 (75 XP)
Survival (Hills) 2 (15 XP)
Academic
Latin (Hermetic Usage) 4 (50 XP)
Artes Liberales (Logic) 2 (20 XP)
Arcane
Code of Hermes (Political Intrigue) 3 (20*1.5 XP)
Magic Theory (Intellego) 3 (30 XP)
Parma Magica (Mentem) 1 (5 XP)
Penetration (Intellego) 2 (15 XP)
Finesse (Precision) 1 (5 XP)

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Arts
Intellego 9 (30*1.5 XP), Perdo 7 (30 XP), Auram 7 (34 XP), Herbam 8 (36 XP)

Spells
Shriek of the Impending Shafts (InHe 15), Converse with Plant and Tree (InHe 25), True Sight of the Air (InAu 15),
 Whispering Winds (InAu 15)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

• Room of Stale Air: Level 15. The air in one room within voice range (so long as you can see inside the room) becomes sutffy and uncomfortable. Everyone in the room gets -3 to all rolls involving physical exertion, and for each round of exertion, they must roll Stamina 6+ to avoid losing a Fatigue level. This can sometimes cause panic, and the air will refresh itself based on how well-ventilated the room is. A good trap. We pick it up for trapping criminals.
  
• Quiet the Raging Winds: Level 20. This stops all wind around you from blowing, leaving only calm air. This cannot affect winds caused by Ritual magic, and only affects those that are blowing on you when you cast the spell. Under normal circumstances, the winds will remain calm for at least an hour. It’s impressive, sure, but not very handy.

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Characteristics
Strength -3		Intelligence +3
Stamina +2		Perception +2
Dexterity -2		Presence +1
Quickness +0		Communication +2

Abilities
General
Area Lore: Andalusia (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Area Lore: Castille (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Brawl (Dodging) 2 (15 XP)
Charm (Magi) 2 (15 XP)
Folk Ken (Peasants) 3 (30 XP)
Guile (Keeping Secrets) 2 (15 XP)
Intrigue (Negotiations) 2 (15 XP)
Spanish (Slang) 1 (5 XP)
Arabic (Poetry) 5 (75 XP)
Survival (Hills) 2 (15 XP)
Academic
Latin (Hermetic Usage) 4 (50 XP)
Artes Liberales (Logic) 2 (20 XP)
Arcane
Code of Hermes (Political Intrigue) 3 (20*1.5 XP)
Magic Theory (Intellego) 3 (30 XP)
Parma Magica (Mentem) 1 (5 XP)
Penetration (Intellego) 2 (15 XP)
Finesse (Precision) 1 (5 XP)

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Arts
Intellego 9 (30*1.5 XP), Perdo 7 (30 XP), Auram 7 (34 XP), Herbam 8 (36 XP)

Spells
Shriek of the Impending Shafts (InHe 15), Converse with Plant and Tree (InHe 25), True Sight of the Air (InAu 15),
 Whispering Winds (InAu 15), Room of Stale Air (PeAu 15)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

Malik ibn Darras, Avendaras
House: Guernicus

Characteristics
Strength -3		Intelligence +3
Stamina +2		Perception +2
Dexterity -2		Presence +1
Quickness +0		Communication +2

Abilities
General
Area Lore: Andalusia (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Area Lore: Castille (Geography) 1 (5 XP)
Brawl (Dodging) 2 (15 XP)
Charm (Magi) 2 (15 XP)
Folk Ken (Peasants) 3 (30 XP)
Guile (Keeping Secrets) 2 (15 XP)
Intrigue (Negotiations) 2 (15 XP)
Spanish (Slang) 1 (5 XP)
Arabic (Poetry) 5 (75 XP)
Survival (Hills) 2 (15 XP)
Academic
Latin (Hermetic Usage) 4 (50 XP)
Artes Liberales (Logic) 2 (20 XP)
Arcane
Code of Hermes (Political Intrigue) 3 (20*1.5 XP)
Magic Theory (Intellego) 3 (30 XP)
Parma Magica (Mentem) 1 (5 XP)
Penetration (Intellego) 2 (15 XP)
Finesse (Precision) 1 (5 XP)

Virtues
(FREE) Hermetic Prestige (0)
Flawless Magic (3)
Affinity with Intellego (1)
Piercing Gaze (1)
Affinity with Code of Hermes (1)
Educated (1)
Puissant Intellego (1)
Skilled Parens (1)
Inventive Genius (1)

Flaws
Weak Scholar (-1)
Weak Spontaneous Magic (-1)
Dependent (-3)
Driven: Root our corruption (-1)
Pessimistic (-1)
Outsider (-3)

Arts
Intellego 9 (30*1.5 XP), Perdo 7 (30 XP), Auram 7 (34 XP), Herbam 8 (36 XP)

Spells
Shriek of the Impending Shafts (InHe 15), Converse with Plant and Tree (InHe 25), True Sight of the Air (InAu 15),
 Whispering Winds (InAu 15), Room of Stale Air (PeAu 15), The Invisible Eye Revealed (InVi 15), Frosty Breath of the
 Spoken Lie (InMe 20)

Reputations
Dogged Investigator 3 (Hermetic)
Filthy Moor 2 (Local)

Mors Rattus fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Feb 28, 2014