Character Creation Guidelines
Please provide explicit notes for point/experience allocation for each step, along with any necessary explanations, background, or other relevant details. Point allocation should be as realistic and "well rounded" as possible to reflect the life stage in question.
Please show notes for any Secondary Mage Experience (per the House Rule) allocation separately to make tracking the restrictions on its use easier.
1: Declare concept & receive approval to build the character. Approval will result in the creation of a private character creation thread to provide discrete space to work on the character.
2: Provide Virtue, Flaw, & Attribute Build
- Include a description & justification for any Virtue/Flaw that requires it, preferably of paragraph length.
- For a Mage, declare House Affiliation & select House Virtue.
-- (Optional) All Magi may select, if desired, an extra Major non-Hermetic Virtue and Major Hermetic Flaw using rules like those for House Ex Misc. This is intended to balance the possible value of builds between all Houses.
3: Allocate experience for Early Childhood & provide at least a paragraph describing the origin and background of the character during this phase of life.
4: Declare number of additional Later Life years.
- For a Mage, declare number of additional Later Life years prior to Apprenticeship.
- Include a description of at least a paragraph in length per five years or fraction thereof of time in character background for this time.
5: (For Mages) Allocate Apprenticeship experience & spell levels.
- Include a description of at least three paragraphs in length in character background regarding this time.
- Please note the house rule about apprenticeship experience/spell levels (350, and 180 respectively) as this overrides the usual numbers.
- Arts may be assigned values above 10 in this period, and arcane abilities like Finesse or Magic Theory may not go above 4 (not counting Puissant). Parma Magica, as the last thing a mage learns, may not be higher than 1 at character creation.
- This phase of character creation is also when the Secondary Mage Experience House Rule starts taking effect. In Apprenticeship, this provides 180xp though the use of that experience is restricted by said House Rule. Note that this experience may not be used to meet the minimum requirements for Magi but may be used to increase appropriate things above their minimum levels.
- In addition, due to the change in how auras work (see the house rules), the highest level spell you may learn during apprenticeship is Technique + Form + Intelligence + Magic Theory +6.
6: (For Mages) Declare a number of additional After Apprenticeship years and allocate experience/points/labor accordingly.
- Starting Mages are restricted to a maximum of five years of After Apprenticeship time.
- Each post apprenticeship year may be allocated by season, each season being presumed to have a default 10 source quality (or elsewise being worth 10 experience points) if allocated to learning unless the character explicitly has access to a superior source.
- Please note that given the rather abstract nature of all this, we will presume you have access to the covenant's library (or rather, a comparable one), so you are welcome to use any of the listed books if you desire.
- Seasons allocated to tasks instead may still generate Exposure and Secondary Mage Experience.
- You are assumed to have access to a level three aura (please check the house rules for changes to auras!), and a quality two lab, in addition to lab texts for most spells. If you have questions about if you could reasonably find a lab text, just ask!
- Remember to continue applying the Secondary Mage Experience House Rule in this phase of character creation if you have After Apprenticeship time.
- Include a description of at least one paragraph in length in character background regarding this time.
- Default Vis income during this time is 4 pawns per year which may be saved or negotiated to be spent in some way during character creation.
- Initiations desired to occur post apprenticeship must be associated with an established Mystery Cult, must follow a Mystery Path, and will generally have Cult Lore and other requirements in order to be approved. You may propose new Mystery Cults and/or Initiation Paths however such material will have high standards for approval. Initiations during the Post Apprenticeship period of five years are limited to a maximum of an additional three points of virtues.
7: Final Details
- Determine Personality Traits as on ArM5 pg 33.
-- You may have more than three Personality Traits if desired however try to keep them only to things that are core elements of the personality of the character.
- Determine Reputations, if any, as per ArM5 pg 33.
- Determine Confidence, Points & Score, as per ArM5 pg 33. If you have a virtue that affects Confidence remember to applly it.
- Determine Equipment, as per ArM5 pg 33
-- (Magi & Companions) Magi have means to garner mundane wealth rather easily, and frequently share said wealth with their Companions. Characters of either tier may have nearly any personal (man-portable) mundane equipment desired. Items of exceptional quality/craftsmanship (resulting in bonuses) should be especially requested and adjudicated.
-- (Grogs) The equipment of Grogs should be more modest. Exceptional equipment granting bonuses is usually but not always inappropriate.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:55, Sun 06 June 2021.
