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An online Ars Magica session


Adrian

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The more I read about Ars Magica, the more I realize how huge it is.

 

It's almost impossible to piece together all the information from the net alone, however. :(

 

For example, I read that some characters might have a set of virtues and flaws in addition to and separate from the main ones, of which I had no Idea of that as the lists I've seen have no mention of them. Along with might scores it all just gives me some headaches, but I'm a-learnin'.

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For example, I read that some characters might have a set of virtues and flaws in addition to and separate from the main ones, of which I had no Idea of that as the lists I've seen have no mention of them.

 

What? Now I'm curious.

 

The might score from what I know adds magical resistance and depending on who has it can be used to do certain actions. Like faeries thier might score affects their magic.

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Yeah, According to one of the books on faeries, which I found some excerpts from, a character may have up to 5 points of virtues and flaws, which are separate from the main ones, and are specific to the type of character (in my case I was researching faeries due to my desire to play a faerie-oriented mage). Though I don't have a list of all of them, these things are along the lines of being vulnerable to iron in some way as a flaw, and having access to special non-iron equipment as a virtue. I imagine that these apply primarily to pure fae characters, so perhaps it's mostly for NPCs that are also faeries, but I see nothing that says that such things are not allowed for those player-characters with faerie blood.

 

"Human characters with faerie blood choose up to +5 faerie Virtues balanced by -5 faerie Flaws, in addition to the regular Virtues and Flaws. These faerie Virtues and Flaws must balance to zero, and faerie Virtues must be balanced by faerie Flaws, not normal Flaws, and vice-versa."
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I think I understand it pretty well, it's just that I have somewhat limited access to the information so there are sure to be holes in my knowledge...

 

*sigh*

 

I imagine though, that such extra flaws, & virtues would exist for any of the types of magical characters, infernal, or faerie, or Divine, or possibly other miscellanious magical types.

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I believe the extra flaw are mostly use to set up the 'rule' and 'weakness' of your fairie, but that's just char with faerie blood.

 

Pure fairy Magus: 1 free, then up to 20 points of virtue paid with flaw at 2 virtue per flaw.

 

Pure fairy companion: 10 points virtue balanced by flaws.

 

Edit: It's also really hard to raise their 'skill' stat, so that might be another reason they started out stronger. They pretty much is a legend already in the first place.

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Well, I don't think there's such a thing as a genuine pure fairy magus. (though I've read that some faeries may pretend to be one sometimes.) The way I read it pure fae have no real interest in the affairs of mortals, though they do kidnap kids from time to time, whom tend to have the gift and they actually turn into faeries if they spend enough time in Arcadia. House Merinita seems to offer the fae trades for such kids before the transformation is complete. So a strong faerie-blooded magus would still be mortal.

 

I'm quite sure that apart from some Virtues and Flaws giving free opposing traits, you are limited to 10 points normally, and if certain prerequisites are made then you get the 5 extra for the special ones only.

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The more I read about Ars Magica, the more I realize how huge it is.

 

 

 

There are quite a few rules and supplements yes. Luckily I wrote on several, and I have a vague grasp. Characters can get extra Virtues and Flaws through Mystery Initiations, Twilight, and so forth. Don't worry! You don't need to know everything :) The core rulebook is useful, but not available on pdf sadly

 

cj x

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Cool, then.

 

I suppose that CJ will iron out any flaws in the magus I wanted to play as and that the boat retreval will actually take place before the Paris episode...?

 

 

Looking forward to it.

 

(and schwarzbart, the first 9 pages are free. Picking up the small free pieces are how I've been learning. :))

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Freespace: I inserted your char into metacreator, and it mostly pans out. Unless I screwed up somewhere (which is quite possible), it seems he only has 5 points of characteristics, ie. you can add two more. Also, presuming that he was apprenticed at 10, he has 12 exp more than he should - 642 vs 630. Other than that, everything is in order mechanically. Before you play, I would suggest you put a specialty on all your Abilities. That may be tough without the book though :I Also, come up with a name before the session. The details about his past can wait.

 

If CJ is OK with the character, I should be able to bring him in during the next session. It'll be a while before he appears, though, so be prepared to play Gus for most of the session.

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I know I said that I'd be here for the session this weekend, but my Saturday is sort of up in arms- I was forcefully signed up for an event (...not that it's a bad event or anything). I might only be able to be on for like an hour. =/ I'll keep trying to negotiate, but be prepared to maybe run without me... if I can only be there for an hour, I may just show up and watch, as I doubt we'll have boat recovery done in an hours worth of time.

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Schwarzbart: It's a program. Really useful for designing & checking main book characters, makes it much less of a headache once you learn how. http://www.alteregosoftware.com/ArsMagicaFeatures.html

 

I think you'll have to play Ramon again, because he's our only mode of transportation at the moment I think :D It'll be useful to get the boat back.

 

Mikka: Too bad! You can watch or play as you will; I can easily "deactivate" your char if necessary.

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Btw what char should I play this weekend I'm open for both.

Probably should keep your mage studying for the season unless the adventure need some magical solution that other can't provide.

 

... or make more char!

 

as I doubt we'll have boat recovery done in an hours worth of time.

Best case scenario: Fly to boat, shrink boat, pocket it, fly back home.

 

This will never happen.

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Hmmm.

 

I found a spreadsheet that I used here for creating the character.

 

http://flamingporcupine.net/rpg/char_sheets/arm5_abilities.html

 

There's no saving the data unless you have a printer, however. All I did was add up the xp as it was given per category, and yes he did start apprenticeship at 10.

 

Some of the abilites he has (like second sight) are perks from the fairy blood and thus shouldn't be counted in the XP count. I could have goofed up too, though. Would you mind explaining characteristics?

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Would you mind explaining characteristics?

As Mors Rattus explains it:

 

Choose stats. All start at 0. Range is +3 to -3. You have 7 points base. A stat at +1 costs 1, +2 costs 3, +3 costs 6. -1 Gives 1, -2 gives 3, -3 gives 6.

 

Intelligence (Int): Memory, and capacity to learn. Very important for Hermetic lab work.

Perception (Per): Ability to notice things and intuition.

Strength (Str): Physical power.

Stamina (Sta): Endurance and staying power, both mental and physical. Very important in spellcasting.

Presence (Prs): Appearance, demeanor and charisma. Important for making good impressions.

Communication (Com): Self-expression and influencing others. Very important for writing books and influencing people.

Dexterity (Dex): Agility and coordination. Important for attacking.

Quickness (Qik): Reaction speed and reflexes. Important for acting first.

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AHH!!

 

I downloaded the program and found the error (with communication) on that. I Call those things Attributes, personally. :)

 

Still, the reason why you say I still have two to spend is because of different math. According to the rules I read, you get seven points to buy them, and

 

+1 is one point

+2 is an extra three points.

 

But the program says +2 only requires 2 extra points! Since I have two +2, the math is different by two. Which is correct?

 

Edit: Double checked the rules I read. +2 requires 3 points total, not 4. Your math is correct. Whoops!

 

But I get an extra 2 points to spend!

 

Edit#2: I'm working on fixing the problems using the program. Wit, You can email me at freespace2dotcom (in otherwords, my screenname :)) at yahoo.

 

I use that everywhere. I'll email you the final revision when the session starts. (the one on this forum is old as I've tweaked it a bit since and given to CJ)

 

Edit#3: I got the same total as you did on the demo program, recalculated it on the spreadsheet and the totals are different, and I discovered that the program calculates XP a little differently from the worksheet when "affinity with an art" is taken into account. I *think* that's the problem.

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