Intelligence: 2
Perception: 3
Strength: -1 (Slight and small)
Stamina: 2
Dexterity: -1 (Arthritic hands)
Quickness: -2
Presence: 1 (Imposingly ugly)
Communication: -1 (Cryptic)

Confidence: 3/3
Size: 0
Decrepitude: 0

Virtues

Common Sense (1): Whenever you are about to do something contrary to what is sensible in the game setting, common sense (the Storyguide) alerts you to the error. This is an excellent Virtue for a beginning player, as it legitimizes any help the Storyguide may give.
Second Sight (1): You are able to see ghosts, demons, and other invisible spirits. A roll of 9+ on Second Sight + Perception is usually successful, but your target may be higher or lower at the Storyguide's discretion. Choosing this Virtue confers the Talent Second Sight 1, which can be improved as other Talents.
Visions (3): You often see images related to emotionally or magically laden events. A vision might be of the past, a possible future, or a distant occurrence, and is often symbolic or confusing. Visions usually come to you at quiet times in places connected with a powerful emotional or magical event, such as the site of a patricide or diabolic sacrifice. Choosing this Virtue confers the Talent Visions 1, which can be improved with experience points. When you wish to use this Talent, you tell the Storyguide what specifically you would like to have a vision regarding. The Storyguide assigns an ease factor based on the difficulty of gaining information about the topic. The Storyguide should then make the roll in secret — on a botch, incorrect information is divulged.
Divination (Tasting) (4): Divination involves divining the nature, location, and possible futures of people, places, objects, and events through a variety of methods. This Virtue grants you the Exceptional Talent Divination at level 1, which can be improved with experience. Numerous types of divination existed in the 13th Century. This talent gives a character knowledge of only a specific type of divination. Common forms of divination in this era include astrology, analyzing dreams, gazing into fires, crystals, or mirrors, and reading the entrails of animals. Each variety of divination gives similar results, but each requires its own special preparations which must be preformed in order to divine effectively. To ask a question the diviner must make a stress roll adding Divination and Intelligence; the result must equal the level of difficulty for the question being asked.
If the diviner successfully determines the best day and time (ease factor 15) for a single endeavor which takes place in a limited time frame (not more than a day) and requires a single roll (for example, looking for a lost treasure, asking a favor of the king, or playing a game of chess with Death), then the diviner rolls a simple die, and compares it with the following: 1-6: +3, 7-9: +6, 10: +9. The bonus determined is then added to the roll in question, provided that the endeavor is undertaken at the proper time. The Storyguide decides how far into the future the divined time is.
If the endeavor is a long one requiring numerous rolls, like fighting a battle, going on a journey, or slaying a dragon, a successful divination roll gives a +1 to all rolls directly concerning this endeavor. If the diviner botches the rolls to determine an auspicious day and time, then they have inadvertently determined the worst possible time for such an endeavor, and all the bonuses listed above are treated as penalties.
Examples of sample questions with their levels of difficulty are listed below. Note that divination does not imply predestination. A correct reading about the future will only give you the most likely of all the possible futures.

Roll Required	Nature of Question
9+	Answer one question about a distant person's current fate
9+	Answer one question about an object which is present
12+	Determine the location or fate of a distance object
12+	Determine the basic character of a person
15+	Determine auspicious and inauspicious days and times for performing a given endeavor
18+	Determine some important piece of information about the possible future of an individual
18+	Determine the likely course of a planned endeavor

Flaws

Blatant Gift (-1): People immediately realize that there is something strange about you, even if they do not know you are a magus. Animals are extremely disturbed, frightened, and possibly enraged by your presence. You suffer a -6 penalty on all interaction rolls with normal people and animals.
Hedge Wizard (-1): Because of your esoteric magic, other magi distrust you, and more importantly, grant you no respect. You start with a negative Reputation within the Order of Hermes at level 3 as a hedge wizard, even though you are a member of the Order.
Incomprehensible (-1): You have an eccentric understanding of magic which you are almost completely unable to describe. Your rolls are at -3 when discussing or writing about magic (assuming that you are trying to communicate clearly).
Slow Caster (-2): Your magic requires more time to prepare and execute than that of other magi. Your formulaic spells take two rounds to cast; spontaneous spells also take two rounds unless you fast-cast. Ritual spells are performed as normal, since all magic must cast them slowly and carefully.
Old (-3): You started your apprenticeship late in life, or were held far too long by your master. Your age is 40 + Stamina, or higher if you wish. This means you may have to make rolls on the Aging chart (without the aid of a longevity potion) before play even begins. Your first year as a magus will probably be spent in creating your longevity potion.

Abilities

Speak Latin (??) (3): This skill is similar to all other Speak (Language) skills, but it is only available to educated characters. Characters who have associated with magi for long periods of time may have picked up Speak Latin with the Storyguide's permission. All educated characters know Latin, since without it you cannot learn any Academic Knowledges. In other areas of the world, Greek and Hebrew may fill similar functions. Characters with foreign backgrounds may choose either of these instead of Latin. (Intelligence)
Speak English (??) (4): Fluency in a particular language. Rather than roll a die modifier, your score in this language measures your ability to communicate. When two people speak to each other, the lower Ability score determines how well they communicate. Characters who speak related languages can communicate at a penalty to their scores (assigned by the Storyguide) depending on how closely related the two languages are. Speak Latin (and Greek and Hebrew) cannot be chosen with this Knowledge — it is a separate Academic Knowledge. (Intelligence)
Folk Ken (??) (2): Understanding the background, personality, and motives of another person. Often the Storyguide secretly rolls a die when this Ability is used. Thus, you do not know if your character guessed correctly, or even botched. (Intelligence, Perception)
Leadership (??) (3): Getting people to obey your orders and to follow you. Can also be used to inspire fear in others, cowing them into submission. (Presence)
Parma Magica (??) (3): Protection from magic. This is a special ritual (not a ritual spell) that takes about a minute to perform. It lets you add 5 times your Parma Magica score to magic resistance rolls until the next sunrise or sunset, whichever comes first. You may also protect one other person for each point of Parma Magica, but the score is effectively modified by -3 (so you need a score of 4+ to do any good at all). You may cancel the effect at will. (N/A)
Penetration (??) (4): Getting your spell through the target's magic resistance. Generally, you add your Ability score to your spellcasting rolls and compare the total to the target's magic resistance roll. (N/A)
Concentration (??) (4): Focusing your mental faculties on one task, particularly for extended periods of time. If you are attempting a feat that demands your extra attention, or if you have just failed an action and are trying again, the Storyguide can call for a Concentration roll before you can make the attempt. This Ability is especially important for magi because it helps them maintain concentration on spells despite distractions. (Stamina, Intelligence)
Finesse (??) (4): Manipulating spells and performing special feats with them. You would use this Ability to position objects delicately or to target spells. (Perception)
Enigmatic Wisdom (??) (5)[1 xp]: A far-reaching perception of strange and baffling phenomena that helps you understand their nature, though you may seem strange or even ludicrous to the uninitiated. This Knowledge is rarely taken by magi of houses other than Criamon, though there is no restriction against it. Your score in this Knowledge is added to rolls to interpret dreams and riddles, and to understnad phantasms and arcane or mysterious situations. Thanks to this Ability, Criamon magi go into Wizard's Twilight (see ArM4 pg. 182) more often, but survive it better than most. (Perception, Intelligence)
Awareness (??) (3): Noticing things, be they things you are looking for or things that you are not aware of. It is also used to see how alert you are in circumstances that require watchfulness. (Perception)
Second Sight (??) (1)
Visions (??) (3.1)
Divination (Tasting) (4)
Magic Theory (??) (3): Knowledge of what magic is and how it works, used primarily in the laboratory. Magic Theory deals primarily with Hermetic magic, though higher scores might indicate some knowledge of other traditions. You can sometimes gain experience through experimentation (see ArM4, pg. 191) (Intelligence)
Scribe Latin (??) (1): The Scribe skill covers the basic ability to read and write, and also the ability to compose a letter, charter, or book. In Western Europe, the Roman alphabet is used for most languages. Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic script are used in other areas. Scribe skill must be purchased separately for each language or alphabet you wish to be proficient in. (Intelligence)
Area Lore: Bynnewalle Area (??) (1.1): Knowledge of one particular region, covenant, or even a village. It includes knowing where things are in the immediate area, local history and legends, and the centers of power in the region. (Intelligence)

Extra Tokens

Unassigned Points

Combat

Atria doesn't really know how to handle mundane weapons.

Soak: 2

Personality Traits

(none)

Reputations

Hedge Wizard (Order of Hermes) 3

Hermetic Traits

Atria knows a great deal about the Technique of Intellego, although she is also a student of Creo. Her preferred forms are Animal, Corpus, Herbam, and Mentem.

Concentration: 4
Fast-Cast Speed: 1

Magic Arts

Sigil

When Atria casts a spell, there is a smell of sulfur in the air.

Grimoire

Opening the Tome of the Animal's Mind (InAn 25) (17): R: Touch/Near, D: Conc, T: Ind
Spell Focus: The Tail of a Sphinx (+3)
You touch the head of the animal in question and read its memories of the past day. The further the animal is from human, the harder it is to read its memories accurately. If you simply scan the beast's memories, not looking for anything special, you get the memories the beast thinks are most important. If you are trying to get a specific fact, you need a Perception stres roll of 6+, or 12+ if the fact is obscure. Since normal animals are sensitive to magic, they resist your touch and try to shy away from you both when the spell is cast and while the spell continues to function. This can be quite a problem with larger animals.
The Inexorable Search (InCo 20) (19): R: Arc, D: Conc, T: Ind
Spell Focus: A Feather from the Target's Pillow (+4)
Determines the location of a specific person. To cast the spell you need a map and an arcane connection. After casting the spell, you can move your finger over the map at the rate of one hour per square foot of map. When your finger passes over the person's location as represented on the map, you sense the person's presence. (If the person is not in the area covered by teh amp, no sensations result.) You can locate the person to within a thumb's width on the map. Thus, a map with a larger scale gives more-precise information. Each casting of the spell allows for the searching of one map. A similar spell allows you to search for a dead body (Tracing the Trail of Death's Stench).
Whispers Through the Black Gate (InCo 15) (18): R: Reach/Near, D: Conc, T: Ind
Spell Focus: A Green Turquoise (+3)
Requisite: Mentem
You can speak through the barrier — the figurative "gate" — that stands between the dead and the living, to one corpse that has not yet decayed into a skeleton. The corpse cannot have been buried in Church burial, nor have belonged to a spirit that went straight to Heaven (for example, a saint or a crusader). The spirit that you speak with is not compelled to tell the truth: you can, of course, find ways to coerce or trick it into doing so. All those around you can hear the voice of the corpse. Green turquoise is heavily associated with necromancy; peasants tend to shy away from one with such an "evil" stone.
Intuition of the Forest (InHe 10) (18): R:Per/Touch, D: Sun/Year, T: Bound
Spell Focus: Chips from a Faun's Hoof (+5)
You engage in a type of communion with the woods that you are in, giving you an intuitive sense of how to get along in the forest, and how to get the most out of the forest without causing it harm. You get a +3 to all nature-oriented rolls (not including spells) when in a forest or similar area. Causing significant harm to the forest cancels this spell.
Converse with Plant and Tree (InHe 25) (18): R: Touch/Far, D: Conc, T: Ind
Spell Focus: A Chewed Leaf (+1)
You can speak with a plant for one conversation. The level of converstaion depends on the type of plants; longer-lived and more noble palnts have more to say. A single question and response takes ten to thirty minutes, with slower-growing plants speaking more slowly. Typicall, plants can talk about the soil and about other plants around them, but have limited awareness of more momentary events, such as the passing of animals or people, unless that passing has direct bearing on the plant (for example, a person cut its trunk). News can spread quickly through a forest when it has to, called from tree to tree on the wind. Bystanders cannot understand your conversation.
Sight of the Transparent Motive (InMe 10) (18): R: Eye/Near, D: Mom, T: Ind
Spell Focus: A clear crystal (+3)
Detects the general motive most powerfully influencing the target at the moment. General motives are such things as fear, anger, and greed, not specific things like the desire to look good before one's superiors.
Posing the Silent Question (InMe 20) (18): R: Eye/Sight, D: Mom, T: Ind
Spell Focus: A sapphire (+1)
You can ask one silent mental question of the target, then detect the answer. The truth of the answer is limited by the knowledge of the target. Questions to the effect of "What would you do if…?" often receive inaccurate replies. You are likely to get what the target thinks he would do, not necessarily what he would really do. The target of the spell does not notice the questioning unless he or she makes a magic resistance roll.
Thoughts Within Babble (InMe 25) (18): R: Per/Touch, D: Conc, T: Group
Spell Focus: A Quill (+3)
You can understand the speech of the those within the target area, or any writing in any language, unless the speech or writing is coded. Perception or Communication stress rolls are needed for difficult exchanges.

page revision: 15, last edited: 24 Mar 2012 21:22

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Ars Magica: Bynnewalle Saga

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Character Description

Background

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General Traits

Characteristics