Let's use this thread to discuss character creation please.

Welcome.

Just to give you a heads up on a couple of things:

I try to check the boards on all my games once a day, at least five days a week.

I will usually be off Wednesdays and probably one of the weekend days.  My job schedule is a bit funky though.  So I may have to be gone overnight at times.  Will try to post a heads up to all my games when that happens.

Okay.  Character creation in Ars.

So you know, in most Ars groups, the character creation process is a group effort.  Other players can input on your character.  Not all groups are like that.  But many I've seen online are.

So let's get you familiar with the process before you go jumping into a troupe style game.

I'm going to ask you to build three characters.  A magi.  A companion.  And a grog.

I am assuming you have read the 5e core book.  Have you read any others?

If you feel comfortable with it, go ahead and work up the characters.  I would say start with the grog.  Let me know if you have questions.  Tahnks.

I’ve read most of the 5e book, nothing else (except for a supplement or two for previous editions).  I’ll get started on the grog shortly.

Thanks again for adding me.

For the grog, should I use one of the templates?

I really want to make either my grog or companion a hunchback for some reason.  Maybe I’ve seen too many Universal monster movies from the 30’s and 40’s.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:33, Sun 08 May 2022.

In reply to Gauntlet (msg # 5):

There was a player in one of my games once who's magi was both a dwarf and a hunchback.  Think he also had blatant gift.  No NPC liked him ever.

Templates can be a good place to start yes.  Personally though, I tend to start with their occupation.  Shield Grog/Bodyguard, Cook, Herder, etc.  If you wanted to make your grog a hunchback, consider making them a beggar or thief for example.  They could also be your magi's personal servant.

For your companion, make them mundane.  Making a magical or faerie companion is not something I recommend for beginners.  Especially if you have not read the supplements.  If you wanted to make your companion a hunchback, you have more latitude than you would with a grog hunchback.  A hunchback companion could be most any occupation.  A scholar or criminal mastermind or some such.

My suggestion is make one of them a military/fighter type and the other one the hunchback.  But that's just a suggestion.

In reply to The Founder's Ghost (msg # 6):

Here is a quick grog I made up using MetaCreator.  It's a rough draft, but I used fisherman as an occupation.  If I were using him in a game, I'd tweak him quite a bit.  But just to give you an idea of using an occupation as a base.

I think I want one character to be a somewhat embittered, but educated, hunchback, a servant of my master… perhaps a failed apprentice himself?  The other one, I want to be a tall, overly strong sadistic goon who does whatever physical labor my master needs done.  (Neither one of these would be very pleasant to be around, of course.)

But I have no idea what their professions would be.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:22, Sun 08 May 2022.

In reply to Gauntlet (msg # 8):

In my opinion, from what you just described, the hunchback would be your companion and a failed apprentice.

"Failed Apprentice" is usually one of those terms that almost always steers towards companion.  Thought that's not always necessarily the case.

---

The goon would be...well.  A goon grog.

If you wanted to look at templates, I would say either the Beserker or the Grizzled Veteran templates on page 21ish of the core rule book.

You can use those as a base.  Consider what kind of work your magi would have the Goon do.  Is he more a hitman type?  Is he more a thug?

With your Virtues and Flaws, you need to optimize, as you can only have +3/-3.  Enduring Con, Large, Berserk and Reserves of Strength are good options.  Warrior is almost mandatory, though you can make an interesting fighter by leaning on Brawl.  That is, as long as the guy never goes up against a knight or a demon.

You may also want to look at the Social Status: Custos with him.  Since he is favored by his magi, he may be the type to lord it over the other grogs at the covenant.  But that depends on how you see the guy acting.

If you are wrapping your Goon's background close to your magi's, you may want to consider building the magi first then.  It can help shape your ideas on the Grog character since they are so close.

---

The failed apprentice is a little tougher.  Take a look at the Female Scholar or Priest companion templates.  If you do go the failed apprentice/hunchback route, you would start with

Virtue: Failed Apprentice, Flaw: Hunchback +1/-1.

This is how I would go about the build for him.  First, decide what House he apprenticed under.  The apprenticeship for a Criamon is muuuuuuuuucccch different than the apprenticeship for a Tytalus.  It can make a difference in what he was taught and what philosophies he was exposed to as a child.

Next, consider how he failed his apprenticeship.  Was his Gift not complete?  Did he just not have it in him?  Or maybe his master/parens screwed something up.  Maybe there was a lab accident and Hunchy went into Twilight and lost his Gift.  Or maybe he went along with his Parens to some faerie court and they did something to him.

This can be a big decision because if he still has some kind of Gift left, he can have supernatural abilities.  Second Sight.  Premonitions.  What have you.

Once you make those decisions, then consider what other Virtues and Flaws he might have.  Is he bitter at the Order of Hermes in general?  At his Parens or your Magi specifically?  Does Hunchy have a thirst for revenge?  Or is he just bitter at a world that gave him a glimpse of heaven and then took it away?  The answers to those questions can be translated into personality flaws or story flaws.


Hunchy would be valuable because he would have been taught to read and write Latin and maybe taught some basics of magic theory (make sure to buy those up).  So he can get work as a librarian or a lab assistant in a covenant.  Make sure you buy up his abilities to reflect what work he actually does.

Any of that help?
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:13, Sun 08 May 2022.

Just so I’m clear about this, is the magi I’m creating going to be my character, or my parens?  My guy is just going to be an apprentice for now, right?

I was thinking the magi would be your character.  But let's talk about that.

An apprentice game in Ars Magica is a bit of a different animal.  You start as a child.  There are a lot of special rules involved, so many in fact apprentice games have their own supplement.   http://www.warehouse23.com/pro...s-magica-apprentices

It might be easier to learn the rules, particularly around advancement, by playing "the regular game".  That is, start with a magi who is just out of gauntlet.  Most games are going to start at the point of the magi just being out of gauntlet or a few years out of gauntlet.

I will leave it up to you though.  If you want to run an apprentice game, we can, but I would probably ask you to consider picking up the Apprentice supplement.

If you want to just rely on the core rulebook for now, make up a magi who is just out of gauntlet per the rules in the core book.

If you do want to go the "regular game" route, I would recommend the following houses as being easiest for a new player:

Bjornaer
Bonisagus
Flambeau
Jerbiton
Tremere

Any house will work though.  These are just the most straight forward in my opinion.

If you want to go the apprentice route, hold off on making the PC for now.  Just make the grog and companion.

Any questions/concerns thus far?

Thanks.

I purchased the Apprentice supplement and just started reading it.  It’s really intriguing how you could literally role-play a character from birth.  I’ve never tried to do anything like that in any RPG I’ve played.  You could literally write a novel about a wizard’s apprentice without going into anything like that level of detail.

Reading on…