Virtues and Flaws

Almost all characters have some particular talents and some particular problems, represented in the game by Virtues and Flaws.

Virtues and Flaws are either Minor or Major. Virtues cost points, while Flaws grant points. Major Virtues cost three points, while Major Flaws grant three points. Minor Virtues and Flaws cost and grant (respectively) one point. Players start with no points for buying Virtues and Flaws, and thus must take Flaws if they want Virtues. A central character may have up to ten points of Flaws, but no more than five Minor Flaws.

Virtues provide a benefit to the character, pure and simple. Players rarely try to avoid getting the benefits they have paid for, so the main problem is making sure that they do not try to get benefits in areas they shouldn't.

Flaws come in two broad types. General, Hermetic, and Supernatural Flaws hinder the character, while Personality, Social Status, and Story Flaws enhance stories. The first category do not have to enhance stories, and the second do not have to hinder the character. If a General, Hermetic, or Supernatural Flaw will not hinder a character, it is not a Flaw, and the character should not be allowed to take it. Similarly, if a Story, Social Status, or Personality Flaw will not enhance stories, a character should not be allowed to take it. Thus, if you do not want to involve demons in your saga, no character can take Plagued by Demon as a Flaw. Conversely, a player who takes a Story Flaw is saying that he wants his character to be involved in that sort of story, so he should make sure that that is true.

Note that Flaws are not 'things you would not want to have were you the character'. They may be things you would very much like to have, but because they are a hindrance or a story hook, they still count as Flaws. This means that some characters may be extremely keen to keep their Flaws. Even more so, a game Flaw need not be a moral flaw, and a game Virtue need not be a moral virtue. Indeed, most moral virtues work well as Personality or Story Flaws, because they get the character involved in stories.

Some Flaws, such as Blind or Mute, could be fixed using Hermetic magic. A character with easy access to such magic can only take such a Flaw if there is some reason why it cannot be fixed, such as that it is part of a character's Essential Nature (see page @@). In general, characters cannot take Flaws which will quickly be removed in play.

Choosing Flaws

Your choice of Flaws, particularly Story and Personality Flaws, is a way of indicating the stories that you want to tell about your character. Particular concepts may suggest particular Flaws, or vice versa, but there is almost always flexibility.

For example, suppose that you came across the story of Saint Marina the Monk, and were inspired by it. A very brief summary of the story is as follows. A monk at a certain monastery was accused by the daughter of an innkeeper of getting her pregnant. He refused to defend himself by accusing her of lying, and confessed that he had sinned, and so the abbot assigned strict penances, which he performed without complaining for several years, until he died. After his death, the brothers laying him out discovered that the monk was a woman. Everyone marveled at her humility and obedience. Miracles were performed at her tomb, and she was venerated as a saint. (This is a genuine medieval story, and a web search will provide more detail.)

Which Flaws would you take?

The obvious choices are Dark Secret (Biologically Female) and Gender Nonconforming, both as Major Flaws. The troupe might say that they overlap too much and require you to reduce Gender Nonconforming to Minor. However, these are not the only choices.

You might take Monastic Vows as your Major Story Flaw, Pious as the Major Personality Flaw, and Gender Nonconforming as a Minor Personality Flaw (because the character is, and might as well get a point for it). In this case, the stories focus on the character's commitment to the monastic vocation, rather than the gender nonconformity.

You might also take Curse of Venus as the Major Story Flaw, Pious as the Major Personality Flaw, and, again, Gender Nonconforming as a Minor Personality Flaw. In this case, the character became a monk to get away from all the importunate men. The Flaw is still there, though, so the problems have not gone away. A serving woman gets a crush on the monk, and claims to have been made pregnant.

Another option is to take Enemies as the Major Story Flaw, and Optimistic as the Major Personality Flaw. She became a monk to get away from a match chosen by her father, whom she does not like at all. The abbot, and select other monks, are perfectly aware that she is a woman, and approve of her decision to run away. They aren't quite as sure as she is that everything will work out. In this case, you might not take Gender Nonconforming at all, because the character just thinks she is in disguise. The stories in this case are likely to tend towards farce.

There are many other options, and the same is true in general. These Flaws should serve as inspiration, but you should not feel forced, by a character concept, to take any particular Flaw — not even the Flaw that originally inspired the concept.

Social Status Virtues and Flaws

Social Status Virtues and Flaws represent a character’s standing in society. In Mythic Europe, no-one is completely outside society, and so every character must have one of these, to represent the way that society sees them. In general, these Virtues and Flaws are only available for sagas that take place in the relevant society — this chapter contains the Virtues and Flaws for characters from Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East, as well as for Jews, who could live in any of those areas. If your character is from somewhere a long way from the covenant, you should probably take Outsider or a Social Status related to the Order of Hermes, although it might be interesting to note what their status would be “back home”. (Foreign Upbringing might well also be appropriate, although that is not a Social Status.)

A significant number of Social Statuses are only available to men. This is because the societies of medieval Europe, on which those of Mythic Europe are closely based, were not gender equal. Because these are social statuses, the Virtues and Flaws with a male requirement are available to characters who are perceived by society as male (or as meeting any other requirement given). For example, a female character presenting as male may take these statuses, as long as society believes her to be a man. (You may want to give her Flaws to represent the complexity of her situation — see the nearby insert on Choosing Flaws.)

This only applies to Social Statuses. All other Virtues and Flaws are available to characters of any race, gender, or background, although some may be more common in particular groups. For example, Warrior is a General Virtue, and thus may be taken by female characters, even though most trained fighters in Mythic Europe are men.

Virtues and Flaws Rules and Guidelines

A Virtue or Flaw may be taken more than once only if the description explicitly allows it. Most Virtues and Flaws may only be taken once. All characters must take one Social Status, and may only take more than one if the descriptions of the Virtues or Flaws explicitly note that they are compatible.

A character should not have more than one Story Flaw. This is a guideline, and may be violated with the whole troupe's agreement. The risk is that one character will be central to too many stories.

A character may not have more than one Major Personality Flaw. A character should normally not have more than two Personality Flaws in total, as more risks him becoming a caricature.

Grogs

You may take up to 3 points of Flaws, and an equal number of points of Virtues
You must take one Social Status
You should not take Story Flaws
You should not take more than one Personality Flaw
You may not take Major Virtues or Flaws
You may not take Hermetic Virtues and Flaws
You may not take The Gift

Companions

You may take up to 10 points of Flaws, and an equal number of points of Virtues
You may not have more than 5 Minor Flaws
You must take at least one Social Status
You should not take more than one Story Flaw
You should not take more than two Personality Flaws, and may not take more than one Major Personality Flaw
You may not take Hermetic Virtues and Flaws, unless you have The Gift (this would be highly unusual)

Mythic Companions

You make take up to 10 points of Flaws, and 2 points of Virtues for every 1 point of Flaws, for a maximum of 20 points of Virtues
You may not have more than 5 Minor Flaws
You must take the Free Virtue defining which type of Mythic Companion you are
You gain a free Minor Virtue, normally defined by the type of Mythic Companion
You may be required to take some particular Virtues and Flaws. These cost, or grant, points as normal
You must take at least one Social Status
You should not take more than one Story Flaw
You should not take more than two Personality Flaws, and may not take more than one Major Personality Flaw

Magi

You may take up to 10 points of Flaws, and an equal number of points of Virtues
You may not have more than 5 Minor Flaws
You may not have more than one Major Hermetic Virtue
You must take The Gift and the Hermetic Magus Social Status Virtue
You receive one free Minor Virtue from your choice of House, which you need not balance with a Flaw
You should take at least one Hermetic Flaw
You should not take more than one Story Flaw
You should not take more than two Personality Flaws, and may not take more than one Major Personality Flaw

Types of Virtue and Flaw

There are several specific types of Virtue and Flaw. These are described here, and every Virtue and Flaw lists its type.

The Gift

The Gift is a special Virtue, because it has no cost. The character suffers all the penalties of The Gift, just as magi do (see page @@), but can be taught Supernatural Abilities without having to take the corresponding Virtues (see page @@ for rules). Most importantly, the character can be taught Hermetic Magic, so all magi must have this Virtue. A character with The Gift, even if he is not a magus, may take Hermetic Virtues and Flaws which relate to intrinsic ability rather than background or training.

Characters may take Virtues that grant Supernatural Abilities without taking The Gift, and such characters do not suffer the penalties imposed by The Gift. However, such characters may not learn new Supernatural Abilities in the course of the saga, although they may improve the ones they already have. It is possible for unGifted characters to Initiate new Supernatural Abilities through a Mystery Cult, but even this is harder for them than for the Gifted.

Characters who have The Gift may start play with a single Supernatural Ability, without having to take any other Virtue, but if they wish to learn others they must find opportunities to do so in the course of the saga. They may also take Virtues granting Supernatural Abilities if they wish to have more Abilities at character creation. Note that it is harder for a character with Supernatural Abilities to become a Hermetic magus (see Training Your Apprentice on page @@), so you may not wish to take any such abilities if you plan for the character to become an apprentice. The ability to cast Hermetic magic is the single supernatural ability possessed by Hermetic magi in virtue of The Gift; again, they may take more Supernatural Ability Virtues if they wish.

Grogs can never have The Gift, as a character with The Gift is too important to be a grog. As a rule, companions should only have The Gift if they are intended to become magi, or if they are members of one of the other magical traditions described in Ars Magica 5th Edition supplements. Troupes should not allow any other Gifted characters unless they are absolutely sure that they want them.

Hermetic

Only characters with The Gift can take these Virtues and Flaws, and some are only applicable to Hermetic magi who have already completed their training. If a character has enough Supernatural Virtues for Flaws that affect all of them to be of comparable scope to those affecting a magus’s Hermetic magic, the troupe may allow the character to take appropriate Hermetic Flaws as Supernatural Flaws. In most cases, Hermetic Virtues are still not applicable, but the troupe may choose to allow some.

Social Status

These Virtues and Flaws indicate your place in society, something that is very important in the hierarchical world of Mythic Europe. Some Social Status Virtues are Free, which means that they do not cost any points to buy.

Social Statuses by Culture

Because Social Status Virtues and Flaws refer to a character’s place in society, the available options vary depending on the society they live in. The “societies” given below are not precisely defined, and not, in most cases, closely tied to geography. Western Christendom is mostly in western Europe, but includes the Crusader States, while Islamic includes the southern Iberian peninsula, and the Jews live everywhere.

Social Status Virtues and Flaws
All Cultures Free Virtues Apprentice Covenfolk Craftsman Domestic Animal Hermetic Magus Laborer Merchant Paid Rights Peasant Wanderer Minor Virtues Custos Factor Failed Apprentice Forge-Companion Gentleman/woman Lone Redcap Mercenary Captain Merchant Adventurer Wise One Major Virtues Capo Partner Redcap Venditor Minor Flaws Branded Criminal Companion Animal Outcast Outlaw Leader Outsider Usurer Major Flaws Outlaw Outsider	Western Christendom Free Virtues Male Guild Sponsor Nuntius Templar Confrere/Consoeur Templar Servant Minor Virtues Baccalaureus Beadle Brother Chaplain Brother Knight Brother Sergeant Clerk Falconer Guild Apprentice Guild Master Journeyman Jurist Knight Marshal Master of Kennels Mendicant Friar Notary Priest Religious Simple Student Templar Administrator Templar Office Holder Templar Specialist Town Magistrate University Grammar Teacher Major Virtues Cathedral School Master Doctor in (Faculty) Guild Dean Landed Noble Magister in Artibus Magister in Medicina Senior Clergy Senior Master Templar Commander Minor Flaws Failed Journeyman Failed Master Failed Monk/Nun Surgical Empiricus	Eastern Christendom Minor Virtues Clerk Eunuch Falconer Jurist Knight Marshal Master of Kennels Notary Priest Religious Major Virtues Archieunuch Landed Noble Senior Clergy Minor Flaws Failed Monk/Nun	Jewish Free Virtues Shamash Sofer Minor Virtues Rabbi Shadchan Major Virtue Rosh Beth Din Minor Flaw Gabai Islamic Minor Virtues ’Alim Bureaucrat Emir Fida’i Mamluk Sufi Major Virtues Lasiq Muqta‘ Hibernia Free Virtue Bard Minor Virtue Senior Bard Major Virtue Master Bard Iberia Minor Virtues Almogaten Almogavar North Africa Minor Virtue Ineslemen Persia Minor Virtue Mazdean Priest Provençal Minor Virtues Perfectus Troubadour/Trobairitz

Supernatural

Supernatural Virtues and Flaws provide the character with some benefit that goes beyond the mundane. All Supernatural Virtues and Flaws are associated with one of the four realms, Magic, Faerie, Infernal, and Divine. The most common association for player characters is with the Magic realm, and this should be the choice if the character concept does not suggest another option. Some Virtues are always associated with other realms, such as Faerie Blood and Strong Faerie Blood, which are always associated with Faerie. A Virtue’s description notes if it is limited in this way. The Faerie realm is an appropriate source for most Supernatural Virtues, and in some cases, with the troupe's approval, Divine or Infernal sources may be appropriate. Note that Divine and Infernal Supernatural Virtues create more complex roleplaying situations than those associated with Magic or Faerie, and troupes may wish to avoid them for that reason.

The realm of a Virtue or Flaw determines how it interacts with supernatural auras (see page @@), and provides important background color. In addition, a character with a Supernatural Virtue or Flaw is immune to Warping caused by living in a high aura associated with the same realm (see page @@).

Tainted Virtues and Flaws

Tainted Virtues and Flaws are associated with the Infernal realm, and can be granted through corruption by demons (see Realms of Power: The Infernal, chapter 9). They can also be taken at character generation, although no more than half a character’s Virtues should be tainted, and similarly for Flaws. (That is, no more than five points of Tainted Virtues, or ten for a Mythic Companion, and no more than five points of Tainted Flaws.) Supernatural abilities granted by Tainted Virtues or Flaws are always Infernal powers.

At the troupe’s discretion, non-tainted versions of some of these powers may also be available, and associated with the Magic or Faerie realm.

Personality

A Major Personality Flaw is an aspect of the character’s personality that defines them and drives stories. You should suggest projects that your character might have to the troupe, so that the storyguide can use them to create plots if everyone likes the idea. Similarly, the troupe or storyguide can suggest that this might be a good moment for the character’s Flaw to get the better of them. (Conversely, the storyguide can certainly say that this would be a really bad moment, and then you should keep the Flaw under control, to avoid spoiling the game for everyone.)

For this reason, a Major Personality Flaw should always be something that makes the character act. Depression and angst are unsuitable as Major Personality Flaws, as they will make the character sit moping at home, and keep the player from having fun. On the other hand, these Flaws need not be things that other characters think badly of. A Pious character who wants to go on a pilgrimage, or a Compassionate character who wants to build an orphanage, are just as driven by their Personality Flaws as a character with Hatred who wants to commit murder, or one with Avaricious who aims to steal the local lord’s treasure.

In any case, a Personality Flaw leads to stories driven by your character’s actions, so choose one that reflect actions you want your character to take. A character may not have more than one Major Personality Flaw, as the Personality Flaw should be what people think of immediately when they think of the character.

Minor Personality Flaws are aspects of a character’s personality that strongly color much of what he does, but do not really interfere with or guide his life. The character can always ignore a Minor Personality Flaw when following it would be inconvenient, and certainly when it would clearly cause serious problems. Because you should choose a Flaw you want play, however, it should have a substantial effect at other times. Most characters should not have more than two Personality Flaws, Major or Minor, lest they move from entertaining to profoundly irritating. A Major Personality Flaw drives your character to act and get involved in stories, while a Minor Flaw merely provides color.

Story

Story Flaws are background features which can drag the character into stories. Most count as Major Flaws because they give the storyguide a way to drive your character to get involved in a story, no matter how inconvenient it might be. Most of the time, however, they are merely background color. You should not take more than one Story Flaw, Major or Minor, to avoid having a single character unduly dominate the saga.

When creating your own Story Flaws, bear in mind that they should always depend on someone or something outside the character, so that the storyguide can decide when your hook drags you off on an adventure. An internal Story Flaw is really a Personality Flaw (see earlier). Minor Story Flaws are much the same as Major Story Flaws, except that the character gets some solid benefit from the situation as well as being dragged into stories at inopportune moments.

Note that, when you take a Story Flaw, you are promising the rest of the troupe that you will play in those stories. Your character may not like the events that the Story Flaw leads to, but you should choose one that will lead to stories you want to play.

Personality and Story Flaws

In a typical saga with five players, each of whom has a companion and a magus, there may be ten Major Personality and ten Story Flaws. This means that a given Flaw will probably only have a significant effect in one story in twenty. If you are planning to run multi-session stories, or a short saga, you may, therefore, want to limit the number of such Flaws that the players can take, because otherwise they may never come into play.

General

General Virtues and Flaws cover everything else. Most provide bonuses or penalties to mundane activities.

Virtues List

Virtues
The Gift Hermetic, Major Diedne Magic Elemental Magic Faerie-Raised Magic Flawless Magic Flexible Formulaic Magic Gentle Gift Leper Magus Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic Major Magical Focus Mercurian Magic Mythic Blood Potent Magic Supernatural, Major Amorphous Bee King Blood of the Nephilim Command Animals Corpse Magic Curse-Throwing Demonic Blood Embitterment Entrancement Focus Power Greater Benediction Greater Immunity Greater Power Greater Purifying Touch Hex Immune to Disease Induction Ritual Power Sense Passions Shapeshifter Skinchanger (Dove) Spiritual Pact Strong Faerie Blood Summon Animals Supernatural Beauty Whistle Up The Wind Social Status, Major Archieunuch Capo Cathedral School Master Doctor in (Faculty) Guild Dean Landed Noble Lasiq Magister in Artibus Magister in Medicina Master Bard Muqta‘ Partner Redcap Rosh Beth Din Senior Clergy Senior Master Templar Commander Venditor General, Major Death Prophecy Ghostly Warder Giant Blood Guardian Angel License of Absence Magian Lineage Magical Warder Powerful Relic True Faith Ways of the (Land) Wealthy	Hermetic, Minor Adept Laboratory Student Affinity with Art Atlantean Magic Boosted Magic Cautious Sorcerer Clan Ilfetu Cyclic Magic (positive) Deft Form Enduring Magic The Enigma Exotic Casting Extractor of (Form) Vis Faerie Magic Fast Caster Free Study Gorgiastic Guest of House Criamon Harnessed Magic Heartbeast Hermetic Prestige Imbued with the Spirit of (Form) Inoffensive to (Beings) Inventive Genius Life Boost Magical Memory Mastered Spells Masterpiece Method Caster Minor Magical Focus Mystical Choreography Performance Magic Personal Vis Source Potent Magic Puissant Art Quiet Magic Secondary Insight Side Effect Skilled Parens Special Circumstances Spell Improvisation Study Bonus Subtle Magic Tethered Magic Verditius Magic Withstand Casting	Supernatural, Minor Amorphous Animal Ken Bound to (Role) Role Crafter’s Healing Demonic Might Demonic Powers Dowsing Dust Devil Enchanting (Ability) Eye of Hephaestus Fabric Ripper Familiarity with the Fae Feather Messenger Font of Knowledge Frightful Presence Gender Shift Homing Instinct Immunity to Cold Infernal Heirloom Kassalan Exorcism (Land) Regio Network Leather Ripper Lesser Benediction Lesser Immunity Lesser Power Lesser Purifying Touch Magic Sensitivity Magical Blood Maker of Textured Vessels Maker of Water Vessels Master of (Form) Creatures Muse Persona Personal Power Premonitions Ripper Second Sight See in Darkness Sense Holiness and Unholiness Skinchanger Strong Angelic Heritage Sufi Unaging Unbound Tongue Variable Power Voice of the (Land) Wilderness Sense Wisdom from Ignorance	Social Status, Minor ’Alim Almogaten Almogavar Baccalaureus Beadle Brother Chaplain Brother Knight Brother Sergeant Bureaucrat Clerk Custos Emir Eunuch Factor Failed Apprentice Falconer Fida’i Forge-Companion Gentleman/woman Guild Apprentice Guild Master Ineslemen Journeyman Jurist Knight Lone Redcap Mamluk Marshal Master of Kennels Mazdean Priest Mendicant Friar Mercenary Captain Merchant Adventurer Notary Perfectus Priest Rabbi Religious Senior Bard Shadchan Simple Student Sufi Templar Administrator Templar Office Holder Templar Specialist Town Magistrate Troubadour/Trobairitz University Grammar Teacher Wise One	General, Minor Academic Concentration (Subject) Affinity with Ability All According to Plan Alluring to (Beings) Apt Student Aptitude for (Sin) Arcane Lore Aristotelian Training Berserk Book Learner Cautious with (Ability) Clear Thinker Craft Guild Training Common Sense Convoluted Mind Educated Educated (Bardic) Educated (Hebrew) Educated (Islamic) Educated (Vernacular) Enduring Constitution Enticer of Multitudes Faerie Blood Falls Like a Cat Famous Ferocity Finding Hidden Loot Free Expression Forgettable Face Good Teacher Gossip Great (Characteristic) Hermetic Experience Improved Characteristics Independent Study Indescribable Face Inoffensive to (Beings) Inspirational Intuition Jack-of-All-Trades Just an Instant Keen Sense of Smell Keen Vision Knows People Large Latent Magical Ability Learn (Ability) from Mistakes Light Touch Lightning Reflexes Linguist Long-Winded Luck Magian Lineage Magic Items Magical Mount Mentored by Demons Mild Aging Natural Leader Rapid Convalescence Perfect Balance Perfect Eye for (Commodity) Physician of Salerno Piercing Gaze Prestigious Student Privileged Upbringing Protection Puissant Ability Rat Up a Drainpipe Relic Reserves of Strength Schooled in Crime Self-Confident Sharp Ears Skilled Smuggler Social Contacts Strong-Willed Student of (Realm) Tainted Treasure Templar Prestige Temporal Influence Tough Trained Assassin Troupe Upbringing True Love (PC) Unaffected by The Gift Venus' Blessing Warrior Well-Traveled	Mythic Companion, Free Devil Child Faerie Doctor Nephilim Spirit Votary Social Status, Free Apprentice Bard Covenfolk Craftsman Domestic Animal Hermetic Magus Laborer Male Guild Sponsor Merchant Nuntius Paid Rights Peasant Shamash Sofer Templar Confrere/Consoeur Templar Servant Wanderer Supernatural, Free Commanding Aura

Flaws List

Flaws
Hermetic, Major Blatant Gift Chaotic Magic The Constant Expression Deficient Technique Difficult Longevity Ritual Environmental Magic Condition Magic Addiction Monastic Vows (Hermetic) Necessary Condition Painful Magic Restriction Rigid Magic Short-Ranged Magic Study Requirement Suppressed Gift Twilight Prone Unnatural Magic Unstructured Caster Vulnerable Magic Waster of Vis Weak Magic Resistance Weak Spontaneous Magic Personality, Major or Minor Ambitious Avaricious Compassionate Compulsion Compulsive Lying Depraved Driven Envious Gender Nonconforming Generous Greedy Hatred Higher Purpose Lecherous Meddler Obsessed Optimistic Overconfident Oversensitive Pagan Pious Proud Rebellious Reckless Vow Weakness Wrathful Story, Major Abandoned Apprentice Beloved Rival Bigamist Black Sheep Curse of Venus Dark Secret A Deal with the Devil Dependent Diabolic Past Difficult Underlings Enemies Envied Beauty Evil Destiny Excommunicate Favors Feud Fury Indiscreet Many Marriageable Daughters Mistaken Identity Monastic Vows Oath of Fealty Plagued by Supernatural Entity Raised from the Dead Rector/Proctor Servant of the (Land) Supernatural Nuisance Suppressed Gift Tainted Offspring Tormenting Master Tragic Life True Love (NPC) Tzadik Nistar Unbaptized Unhappily Married University Dean Vendetta Vengeful Powers Wanderlust Social Status, Major Outlaw Outsider Supernatural, Major Age Quickly Blatant Magical Air Bound to (Realm) False Power Greater Malediction Horrifying Appearance – Snake Legs Hunger for (Form) Magic Lycanthrope Raised from the Dead General, Major Blind Crippled Deaf Dwarf Enfeebled The Falling Evil Leprosy Low Self-Esteem Magical Air Mute No Hands Poor Repellent	Hermetic, Minor Bound Casting Tools Bound Magic Brutal Artist Careless Sorcerer Ceremonial Spontaneous Magic Clumsy Magic Consumed Casting Tools Corrupted Arts Corrupted Spells Creative Block Cyclic Magic (negative) Deficient Form Deleterious Circumstances Difficult Spontaneous Magic Disjointed Magic Disorientating Magic Exciting Experimentation Fettered Magic Flawed Parma Magica Harmless Magic Hedge Wizard Incompatible Arts Inconstant Magic Infamous Master Limited Magic Resistance Loose Magic Offensive to (Beings) Poor Formulaic Magic Primogeniture Lineage Short-Lived Magic Slow Caster Spontaneous Casting Tools Stockade Parma Magica Susceptibility to Divine Power Susceptibility to Faerie Power Susceptibility to Infernal Power Unbearable to (Beings) Unimaginative Learner Unpredictable Magic Vulnerable Casting Vulnerable to Folk Tradition Warped Magic Weak Enchanter Weak Magic Weak Parens Weak Scholar Weird Magic Personality, Minor Busybody Carefree Church Upbringing Continence Covenant Upbringing Delusion Depressed Dutybound Faerie Upbringing Fear Fickle Nature Follower Foreign Upbringing Grudge Humble Imagined Folk Tradition Vulnerability Lost Love Magical Fascination Noncombatant Pessimistic Poor Memory Reclusive Secretive Seeker Short Attention Span Simple-Minded Sheltered Upbringing Slothful Soft-Hearted Temperate Weak-Willed Story, Minor Animal Companion Beloved Rival Blackmail Close Family Ties Demonic Familiar Employed by Company Faerie Friend Heir Hermetic Patron Impious Friend Magical (Being) Companion Manufactured Ignorance Mentor Primogeniture Lineage Visions Weak Personality Social Status, Minor Branded Criminal Companion Animal Failed Journeyman Failed Master Failed Monk/Nun Gabai Outcast Outlaw Leader Outsider Surgical Empiricus Usurer	Supernatural, Minor Baneful Circumstances Broken Vessel Corrupted Abilities Curse of Slander Cursed Guile Deteriorating Power Evil Eye Exiled Atlantean Flawed Powers Fluctuating Fortune Folk Magic (Form) Monstrosity Inscribed Shadow Lesser Malediction Manifest Sin Monstrous Blood Necessary (Realm) Aura for (Ability) Prohibition (Realm) Stigmatic Restricted Power Slow Power Stigmatic Catalyst Susceptibility to Sunlight Susceptibility to Warping Unruly Air Viaticarus Visions Warped by Magic General, Minor Ability Block Afflicted Tongue Anchored to the (Land) Apostate Arthritis Careless with (Ability) Castratus Clumsy Craving for Travel Curse of Slander Devoted Parent/Child Dhimmi Disfigured Environmental Sensitivity Failed Student Feral Scent Feral Upbringing Fish Out of Water (Terrain) Flashbacks Fragile Constitution Frail Gullible Hallucinations Hobbled Hunchback Incomprehensible Independent Craftsman Infamous Jinxed Judged Unfairly Lame Lingering Injury Low Tolerance Master of None Missing Ear Missing Eye Missing Hand Motion Sickness Night Terrors No Sense of Direction Nocturnal Obese Offensive to (Beings) Palsied Hands Poor (Characteristic) Poor Concentration Poor Eyesight Poor Hearing Poor Living Conditions Poor Student Primitive Equipment Raised in the Gutter Regular Restricted Learning Rolling Stone Savantism Short of Breath Sleep Disorder Slow Reflexes Small Frame Social Handicap Stuck in Your Ways Tainted with Evil Unbearable to (Beings) Uncertain Faith Uncontrollable Strength Uninspirational Unlucky Unspecialized Warped Senses Weak Characteristics Witch Marks

Virtues

Academic Concentration (Subject)

Minor, General

The character has concentrated in one of the seven subjects of Artes Liberales, in preference to the other six. He may add +3 to his Artes Liberales score for that subject. However, he must subtract 1 from Artes Liberales rolls and totals for the subjects he did not concentrate in. Include the bonus and penalty modifier in every total that Artes Liberales is used for, including writing books. This Virtue is incompatible with the Virtue Puissant Artes Liberales. Puissant Artes Liberales means a character is particularly adept with all seven liberal arts, while Academic Concentration means the character focused on one liberal art in preference to the others.

With troupe approval, this Virtue could be extended to Philosophiae. It is not allowed for any other Ability besides Artes Liberales and Philosophiae.

Adept Laboratory Student

Minor, Hermetic

You digest the instruction of others quite easily. You get a +6 bonus to Lab Totals when working from the lab texts of others, including when reinventing spells.

Affinity with Ability

Minor, General

All Advancement Totals for one Ability are increased by half, rounded up, as are any experience points you put in that Ability at character creation. You may only take this Virtue once for a given Ability, but may take it again for different Abilities. If you take this Virtue for an Ability, you may exceed the normal age-based cap during character generation (see page @@) by two points for that Ability.

Affinity with Art

Minor, Hermetic

Your Advancement Totals for one Hermetic Art are increased by one half, rounded up. At character creation, any experience points you put into that Art are also increased by one half (rounded up), and you may exceed the normal recommended limits. You may take this Virtue twice, for two different Arts.

’Alim

Minor, Social Status

You are a member of the religious elite. You may be a minor official, such as a mu’adhdhin or an imam, or you may be a major figure, such as a mufti (MUF-tee, someone formally entitled to give a legal opinion) or a qadi (QAW-dee, judge). You may purchase Academic Abilities during character generation. This Virtue is only available to male characters.

All According to Plan

Minor, General

Once per session, a player whose character has this Virtue can reroll a botch die. The character has prepared, in advance, for this exact failure and has a contingency plan, which the player must describe.

Alluring to (Beings)

Minor, General

This Virtue is associated with one of three classes of beings: mundane animals, faeries, or magical beings. These last two include characters associated with Faerie or the Magic realms, respectively, through Supernatural Virtues or Flaws, as well as beings with Faerie or Magic Might. These beings are strangely drawn to the character, and generally trust or obey her without thinking. She gets +3 on Communication and Presence rolls to affect them. Characters who are Offensive to beings of this sort cannot take this Virtue, including those who have The Gift or Magical Air, though characters who are Inoffensive to them or have the Gentle Gift may.

Note that while Alluring to Magical Beings can affect Hermetic magi, the Parma Magica protects against this effect as part of resisting the social penalties of The Gift. Might and other forms of general Magic Resistance do not hinder this effect.

Almogaten

Minor, Social Status

The character is the leader of a band of Almogavars, chosen by his fellows for his skill and experience. He commands a dozen men, and he is responsible for their welfare and prosperity. He has Standard Armaments and may take Martial Abilities.

Similar to the Mercenary Captain Virtue, you may choose Wealthy or Poor to represent the fortunes of the almogaten and his soldiers. If he is Poor, he leads only a half-dozen men and he has hit hard times lately. Some of his men only have Inexpensive Armaments, but his main concern is finding the next meal. If he is Wealthy, he leads a company of two dozen men, and can afford to upgrade their armaments. The band might own several horses, and perhaps some herd animals.

These characters are from the Iberian Peninsula, and if they are particularly far from home the troupe may rule that this is not available as a social status.

Almogavar

Minor, Social Status

The character is a member of a band of mercenaries and raiders, living a life of adventure according to a code of honor and discipline. He shares a bond of solidarity with his fellows, and they can depend on each other’s loyalty. He has Standard Armaments, and may take Martial Abilities. He may choose to be the Adalil, the second-in-command, at no additional cost, getting an increase in both authority and responsibility. He is supported by his unit, and may not take the Poor Flaw or Wealthy Virtue. These characters are from the Iberian Peninsula, and if they are particularly far from home the troupe may rule that this is not available as a social status.

Amorphous

Major or Minor, Supernatural, Tainted

The character is able to take on any human form, so long as it does not identifiably belong to a particular human being. The character develops this ability because his body has adopted the almost-gaseous property of demonic flesh, so any apparent changes in size or fitness are cosmetic, and do not affect the character’s statistics. Some amorphous people can select a single shape at midnight, which is the Major form of the Virtue. Its Minor form allows the character to change shape only after having performed a significant act linked to the Obsession of the sponsoring demon. The character may only change to his birth form by selecting it once the conditions of transformation have been met, or involuntarily changing shape when dying or entering holy ground.

Animal Ken

Minor, Supernatural

You can communicate with animals as if they were human beings. Choosing this Virtue confers the Ability Animal Ken 1 (page @@).

Apprentice

Free, Social Status

This Virtue may be taken by a child character who has the Gift and who has been accepted by an experienced Hermetic magus, with the troupe’s approval. You are a discipulus and will receive extensive magical training, having the potential to become a Hermetic magus in your own right. However you must obey the dictates and fulfil the errands of your master and endure his or her rigorous training, and may be treated no better than a slave.

Apt Student

Minor, General

You are particularly good at learning from others. When being taught or trained by someone else, add five to the Source Quality.

Aptitude for (Sin)

Minor, General, Tainted

This catch-all Virtue is for those minor effects which demons grant to their victims to allow them to sin more effectively, and so more often. Each Aptitude for a particular sin adds +3 to all rolls in a very limited circumstance linked to a demon’s Obsession. As examples, characters may have aptitudes for picking pockets, for committing adultery skillfully, or for poisoning people.

Arcane Lore

Minor, General

You may take Arcane Abilities during character generation. Unless you have The Gift, you cannot learn Parma Magica. You get an additional 50 experience points, which must be spent on Arcane Abilities.

A Gifted character who is not a Hermetic magus and knows Parma Magica must take the Major Story Flaw Enemy: Entire Order of Hermes, as magi are bound by their Oath to slay the character on sight, unless he immediately joins the Order. Such a character cannot be played in a normal saga, as the other player characters have to kill him.

Archieunuch

Major, Social Status

You have risen to enjoy the status and privilege associated with the most important and talented eunuchs, the archieunuchs. Although you are not a ruler in your own right, a ruler likely depends on you to govern effectively and has thus granted you considerable authority to act in his stead. Due to this status and importance, you wield significant influence among the lesser nobility. You might serve either as a regional administrator, an important courtier, or a general, and there are numerous servants and possibly other subordinate eunuchs under your command. You have been granted a residence, either within a castle or palace, or elsewhere. Due to your education, you may take Academic Abilities during character creation. This social status is found in the eastern Roman empire, with its capital at Constantinople, and does not exist in western Europe or much of the Muslim world. This Virtue is only available to male characters, who must also be eunuchs.

Aristotelian Training

Minor, General

The character is trained in the New Aristotle, having received his instruction from a teacher using recently translated texts of Aristotle in preference to the normal curriculum. The character gains a +1 bonus on Artes Liberales rolls for grammar, logic, and rhetoric, as well as a +1 bonus when calculating Disputatio Totals (see Art and Academe, page 103, for details). A magus with this Virtue may add +1 to his Lab Totals if attempting to synthesize the New Aristotle with Magic Theory (as described on page 11 of Art and Academe). This Virtue is compatible with Puissant Artes Liberales.

Atlantean Magic

Minor, Hermetic

The magus, or an ancestor in his lineage, has studied the magic of exiled Atlanteans and has developed several useful extensions to Hermetic magic. The magus has access to a special Range: Water-way, a special Duration: Storm, and a special Target: Body-of-water, that he may utilize with Spontaneous magic and in Formulaic or Ritual spells.

Water-way (Range): The magus can target anyone, or anything, on (or in) the same water-way as him. For example, a river, or canal, or lake, or sea is a water-way. Tributary streams of a river are the same water-way as the main river, but are not the same water-way as other tributaries to the main river. In some cases the troupe will need to decide precisely where one water-way begins, and another ends.

The magus must touch the water-way, when casting the spell, and the target must be either also touching the water-way or floating on it (in a boat, for example). A person on the bank of a river cannot be targeted by this spell. The magus need not be able to see the target, but he must be able to sense it in some way, unless the spell is an Intellego effect intended to determine whether something is in the water-way.

For determining the spell level, water-way is the same Range level as Sight.

Storm (Duration): A spell with this duration must be cast during a storm and lasts until the end of the storm. Normally, a storm lasts a number of minutes or hours, but some large storms may last for days. The form of the spell must be either Aquam or Auram, but the spell is not necessarily cast on the storm itself. The length of an entirely natural storm can be quickly estimated by rolling a stress die and dividing the result by 2 — this gives the number of hours that the storm will last. A botch has no consequence, excepting that the storm will dissipate in a number of minutes. The storyguide should secretly determine how long the storm will last — although an InAu spell, or Wilderness Sense Ability Roll could easily reveal this information.

For determining the spell level, Storm is the same Duration level as Concentration.

Body-of-water (Target): A spell with this target targets an entire body-of-water, whether this is a lake, a river, or a sea. Use the same guidelines as water-way to determine where a body-of-water begins and ends.

For determining the spell level, Body-of-water is the same level of Target as Structure (remember to increase the spell magnitude to effect a very large body-of-water, like a sea or the ocean).

Possible Abuses of Storms A ReAu spell with Storm duration intended to “keep a storm raging” will not result in a storm that lasts indefinitely. It will keep the storm raging for whatever its original life-time was. A ReAu spell with a duration of Sun can be used to keep to a storm raging for a day, of course, and repeated castings of such a spell will keep the storm present until the caster gives up.

Similarly, a CrAu spell with Storm duration will not create a storm lasts indefinitely. It merely creates a storm that lasts for the duration of whatever storm existed prior to the casting of the spell. That is, if no storm previously existed this spell will have no effect. A CrAu spell with a duration of Storm cast on an existing storm will, however, help to prevent the storm from being dissipated by PeAu effects before it should naturally expire. A CrAu spell with a duration of Sun can be used to create a storm with a duration of a day, of course.

Baccalaureus

Minor, Social Status

The character has completed a three-year program at a university to receive a baccalaureus artium (Bachelor of Arts degree). He is typically between 16 and 19 years old, and has 90 experience points that he may spend on Latin and Artes Liberales — 30 experience points per finished year of studies. His future decisions are varied once he gains his degree: he can extend his university career, teaching extraordinary lectures as he works toward his magister in artibus degree; teach in a cathedral or secular school; become a private tutor for a noble family; or find work in ecclesiastical or secular circles. The character has an Academic Reputation of 1.

This Virtue is compatible with the Hermetic Magus, Mendicant Friar, and Priest Virtues, and can be taken by a female character, but only if she is (or was) studying to be a physician at Salerno.

Bard

Free, Social Status

The character has attended a bardic school and has passed the examination after four years, earning him to the title of filí at the rank of Dos. This accords him some respect among the native Irish, amounting to a Local Reputation of 1. He should be no younger than 20. You should take the Educated (Bardic) Virtue to represent the learning he has received. This Social Status only applies in Ireland.

Beadle

Minor, Social Status

The character is an assistant to a university dean. He is a townsman or student of merit employed by the university to carry the university’s insignia in parades, collect dues and fines, read mandatory announcements at university congregations, and announce disputationes. The character may purchase Academic Abilities at character generation. This Virtue is only available to male characters.

Bee King

Major, Supernatural

Bee Kingship is the result of descent from particular faeries, and thus a form of faerie blood. It grants the following advantages: Bee Kings do not appear to age after reaching maturity, but every Bee King not killed by circumstances dies of a rapid illness precisely a century after birth.

Any Bee King may command any group of bees to perform any action of which they are physically capable, even if it will lead to their deaths. Usual instructions like attacking people, increasing the population of the hive, or constructing objects from wax continue to be performed until the instruction is countermanded (Penetration 50). Simple commands of a sentence or less long can be given orally.

Bee Kings may communicate complex messages to bees by having a single bee land on the Bee King’s tongue. This bee then acts as the king’s representative to the hive. Bee Kings can understand the speech of hives, and can read the minds of bees that they are touching.

Bee Kings are never stung by any variety of biting insect. An attacking bee swarm is treated as an environmental effect, rather than an opposing mêlée group. The swarm does +10 damage automatically each round. This damage may be Soaked normally.

Note that, in Mythic Europe, bees have kings, not queens, but a female character with this Virtue may choose to call herself a Bee Queen.

This is a Supernatural Virtue, and you cannot lose it when being trained as a magus (see page @@). If your master cannot preserve the ability, you cannot be trained.

Berserk

Minor, General

You are capable of entering a blinding rage when in combat or frustrating situations. You automatically gain the Personality Trait Angry +2 (or more, at your option). Any time you take a wound or wound an enemy, roll a stress die and add your Angry score. A roll of 9+ means you go berserk. The storyguide can also call for a roll when you are strongly frustrated. You may deliberately try to go berserk. In this case, you only need a 6+ when you take a wound or wound an enemy, or a 9+ if you have not been wounded or caused a wound. While berserk, you get +2 to Attack and Soak scores, but suffer a –2 penalty to Defense. While berserk, you cannot retreat, hesitate to attack, or give quarter. If you are still berserk when there are no enemies present, you attack your friends. You may roll once per round to calm down if you desire, requiring a stress die + Perception – Angry against an Ease Factor of 6. You may learn Martial Abilities at character creation.

Blood of the Nephilim

Major, Supernatural

You have the blood of angels in your veins and descend from the great heroes of the Antediluvian Age, the Nephilim. Unless you take the Mythic Companion Virtue, your heritage is somewhat diluted, although still significant.

Your Size is increased to +1, and this increases by +1 for every century you are alive.

You may learn Dominion Lore during character creation without needing to take the Arcane Lore Minor Virtue.

You age incredibly slowly, and may live for hundreds of years. You need make an aging roll only once every ten years after the age of 150, and receive a –5 to Aging Rolls. You gain no benefit from Longevity Potions or any magic or supernatural power that slows or relieves Aging or Decrepitude. Once you gain your first Decrepitude Point, it becomes increasingly difficult for you to learn new things: subtract your age ÷ 10 from all Advancement Totals, although the Advancement Total for a season cannot drop below 1.

Due to your great size, you must eat vast amounts of food (equal to what three normal people would eat in a day), and have the Minor Personality Flaw Greedy (which counts as one of your normal Flaws). If you go without food for even a single day you fall into a deep slumber, a kind of supernatural hibernation. You will starve to death in (2 + your Divine Might) days unless you are fed your own body weight in food. (Note that this Virtue does not itself grant Divine Might; see Strong Angelic Heritage, later.) After awakening, you suffer a number of lost Long Term Fatigue Levels equal to the number of days you went without food.

Craftsman

Free, Social Status

You live by making and selling goods. You are probably a free resident of a town, but you may be from a rural area. The Wealthy Major Virtue and Poor Major Flaw affect you normally.

Curse-Throwing

Major, Supernatural

Characters with this Virtue are able to cure diseases and remove curses by transferring them to another person. Choosing this Virtue confers the Supernatural Ability Curse-Throwing 1.

Custos

Minor, Social Status

You are an employee of a covenant, but you have high status within the walls. You may be a grog, or a specialist, or a manager. You may take one group of restricted Abilities during character generation, either Martial, Academic, or Arcane Abilities. If you choose Martial or Arcane Abilities, you may still learn to speak Latin, although you cannot read or write it. As a covenant employee, your wealth is determined by the covenant’s prosperity, and you may not take the Wealthy Virtue or Poor Flaw. This Virtue is available to male and female characters.

This Virtue may also apply to employees of other institutions, such as a noble household or a monastery.

Cyclic Magic (positive)

Minor, Hermetic

Your magic is attuned to some cycle of nature (solar, lunar, or seasonal, for example) and as such, is more potent at specific times. At those times, you receive a +3 bonus to all Casting Scores. The bonus also applies to Lab Totals if the positive part of the cycle covers the whole season. The cycle of your magic must be regular and approved by the storyguide. Furthermore, the length of time when the bonus applies must be equal to the amount of time when it does not.

Death Prophecy

Major, General

You have been blessed or cursed as to your fate. Someone (a magician, a faerie, or other supernatural creature) has put a condition on your death, and until the condition is met, you will not die, though you can be seriously injured. You heal normally, but cannot die as a result of wounds or old age. Unfortunately for you, fate or bad planning can bring about the conditions in unexpected ways. If, for instance, your death condition is to fear only boars, you should be wary of men bearing boars on their coats of arms or of inns named after boars, in addition to the purely mundane creature. This symbolism may not be obvious: a man known as a pig in his village might also count as a boar.

The storyguide must keep the prophecy in mind and give fair warning of items related to the prophecy. This is a Major Virtue because the character knows he can get away with insane risks; sneaking his prophcy up on him is an unfair way of negating the value of the Virtue. Players may only take this Virtue with the agreement of the storyguide or troupe.

Deft Form

Minor, Hermetic

You are particularly skilled with one Form. You suffer no penalty to the Casting Total casting spells in that Form when using non-standard voicings/gestures (see page @@), including using no voice or gestures because you are in a non-human form. Voice Range spells still have a Range based on how loudly you are speaking.

Demonic Blood

Major, Supernatural, Tainted

The character has a demon as a parent, and was conceived for a specific task by her Infernal mother or father. Because of this, she is an Infernal being and possesses an Infernal Might (Corpus) score of 5. This grants her Magic Resistance. Her body also contains one pawn of Corpus vis, which can only be extracted once she is dead. She is immune to Warping of any kind, need not eat or drink, and cannot produce a child; however, she suffers the natural urges associated with these activities, and may be required to make Personality rolls to overcome her desires.

She has up to 30 levels of Infernal Powers that may be invoked by spending Might Points. Design the effects using Hermetic spell guidelines, or the maleficia guidelines (see Realms of Power: The Infernal, Chapter 10: The Maleficia), taking into account the Powers of the demon parent. The Might cost for each Power is equal to its magnitude divided by two, rounded down (but always at least one point). These may be constant effects designed in the usual fashion (Sun duration, two uses per day, and an Environmental Trigger; see page @@); her Might Pool is always reduced by the cost of such a Power, and she cannot turn these Powers off. The Initiative total of each Power is the character’s Quickness.

She may be unaware of her true heritage, in which case she probably has either the Delusion or Manufactured Ignorance Flaw to explain her remarkable capabilities. She has the close attention of Hell, and thus should offset this Virtue with a Story Flaw to reflect that attention, such as Tragic Life. The character many learn Infernal Lore during character creation without needing to take the Arcane Lore Minor Virtue.

She is attended at nearly all times by a minor demon, which tends to remain in spiritual form, watching over her; if necessary, it protects her on behalf of her creator/parent. This demon is a ruach (page @@), who can use its Misfortune Power to blight her enemies. If she is unaware of her demonic heritage, she either considers herself exceedingly lucky, or believes the attending demon to be a Magical or Divine spirit. However, this attendant demon means that her demonic parent can always find her, and is kept appraised of what she is up to.

A Demonic Blooded character’s life span is short — roughly half that of a pure-blooded human. Her effective age (which applies as if it were her real age when creating a Longevity Ritual and when making rolls on the Aging Table) increases two years for every year that passes, and you must make two aging rolls each year once her effective age reaches 35. There is no way to halt or slow this other than Longevity Rituals, if she can convince someone to make one for her. However, she does not show the effects of aging; any Aging Points acquired do not get applied to her Characteristics, although they do still count as experience points towards Decrepitude.

You cannot take the Infernal Blessings Virtue described in Realms of Power: The Infernal; the Demonic Powers Virtue replaces that Virtue for the demon-blooded. You may not take any Virtue that affiliates her with a realm other than the Infernal. Also, you cannot take the Unaging Virtue or the Age Quickly Flaw. She may not have children, and so cannot have Dependents of this sort.

Demonic Might

Minor, Supernatural

You may only take this Virtue if your character has the Demonic Blood Virtue. Her Infernal Might increases by 2 points. Upon her death, her body contains a number of pawns of Corpus vis equal to her (Infernal Might / 5), rounding up. You may take this Virtue more than once, though it can account for no more than half of the character’s total Virtues.

Demonic Powers

Minor, Supernatural

Only a character with the Demonic Blood Virtue may have Demonic Powers. He gains an extra 20 levels of Infernal Powers in addition to the levels granted by Demonic Blood. You may also take this Virtue more than once, though it can account for no more than half of the character’s total Virtues.

Devil Child

Free, Mythic Companion

This Virtue has no cost, and can only be taken for a Mythic Companion who has been born with demonic parents. The character gets the Demonic Might or Demonic Powers (player’s choice) Minor Virtue free.

Diedne Magic

Major, Hermetic

Your magic lineage and traditions are from the druids and the vanquished former house of Diedne, making you especially skilled with Spontaneous magic. When you cast a Spontaneous spell without expending Fatigue, you may choose to divide by five or by two. If you choose to divide by five, you need not roll a stress die, and cannot botch, just as normal. If you choose to divide by two, you must roll a stress die, and may botch. When you expend fatigue on casting a spontaneous spell, the lowest applicable Art is doubled before the whole total is divided by two. You still roll a stress die, and may botch.

You must keep your lineage hidden from the Order, giving you a Major Story Flaw — Dark Secret is an obvious choice, but you may choose a different one with troupe approval. This is in addition to your normal allowance of Flaws, and does not grant you any points with which to buy Virtues.

Doctor in (Faculty)

Major, Social Status

The character has graduated from one of the higher faculties of a university, in medicine, civil or canon law, or theology, having already received his magister in artibus license, and may instruct fellow students. The character may teach anywhere, even at a university that he did not attend. This is the highest educational license in Mythic Europe. A doctor of medicine is also titled magister in medicina, having typically been taught in one of the southern universities.

A character starting the game with this Virtue must be at least (27 – Intelligence) years old. He must have a score of 5 in Latin, Artes Liberales, and the Ability that correlates to his faculty degree. The character has spent ten years at a university and receives an additional 300 experience points, which must be spent on Latin and Academic Abilities. He also begins the game with an Academic Reputation of 3.

Like other working characters, he must spend two seasons a year practicing his profession, either teaching or working in a secular or ecclesiastical court. Both the Wealthy Virtue and the Poor Flaw are allowable, but players must decide what calamity befell such an erudite scholar if he is Poor, for which he receives a Bad Reputation at a level of 2.

This Virtue is compatible with the Hermetic Magus, Mendicant Friar, and Priest Virtues. It is only available to male characters, with the exception of Doctors in Medicine who graduated from Salerno. That university does train female physicians.

Domestic Animal

Free, Social Status, animals only

The character is an animal who is the property of a covenant or character, and is supplied with food and shelter. He is expected to serve his master in return for this provender, as a mount, beast of burden, hunter, or so forth.

The magus can extract (Form) vis from a Magic aura, but only if the features of the aura exemplify the Form. For example, an aura on the shores of a lake might exemplify Aquam, an aura at a burial-site exemplifies Corpus, etc. Extracting vis in this way is a Laboratory activity; the magus extracts a number of pawns of Vis equal to a tenth of his Creo Vim (Form) Lab Total (round up). Obviously, he needs to have a Laboratory in the aura too, and, of course, the magus can chose to extract Vim vis instead (see page @@). This Virtue may be taken multiple times (once for each Form).

Eye of Hephaestus

Minor, Supernatural

The character can innately tell the quality of a manufactured item. If the item is somehow flawed he is instantly aware of that by merely touching it. He also has a chance to tell if an item is magical. For supernatural items made by a craftsman, make a Perception + Awareness + stress die roll against an Ease Factor of 9. If successful, the character knows the power of the item. For Hermetic enchanted items, or those made by other sorcerers, make a Perception + Awareness + stress die roll against an Ease Factor of 12. If successful, the character knows the item is enchanted, but has no idea how, or what its powers might be. Botching either roll results in false information. This Virtue does not offer any information about the actions or commands necessary to trigger an item’s powers.

Hephaestus was a pagan god of craftsmen, primarily metallurgists. Calling this Virtue the Eye of St Dunstan is more appropriate for Christian characters.

Fabric Ripper

Minor, Supernatural

The character has the supernatural ability to tear any manufactured thing made from plant or animal fibers. This allows her to destroy sails, break the strap holding on individual pieces of armor, snap the tack of a horse, burst a sack, and tatter a pair of pants with her mind. She spends a Fatigue level to activate the ability, and may only target one object per Fatigue level spent. This is a PeAn(He) 25 effect with +0 Penetration, and does not require any words or gestures.

Factor

Minor, Social Status

The character manages the interests of a trading house in a single city. This gives the character a strong social position and connections to many other regions; see City and Guild for more details. Many factors are junior partners in their companies, and they choose the Partner Virtue, not this one.

Faerie Blood

Minor, Supernatural

Somewhere in your ancestry there is a faerie, and this relation gives you an intuitive grasp of the motivations and personalities of those supernatural folk. Faeries are more comfortable around you than around other humans, and given time, may even forget the mortal blood in your veins. You are resistant to aging, and get –1 to all aging rolls.

Type of Faerie Blood (pick one, or create a similar one):

Blood of the Bee King: The descendants of Bee Kings may give simple instructions to bees they touch, and may understand the thoughts dominating hives of bees. They are unable to give bees instructions that will kill them, except to command warrior bees to attack, since warrior bees are so willing to die. (Penetration 25)

Dwarf Blood: You are descended from the master craftsmen of the fay, and get a +1 bonus to any total including a Craft Ability. Goblin Blood: Your ancestors were the sneaky inhabitants of the shadows underground, and you get a +1 bonus on all totals involving stealth. Satyr Blood: The satyrs are notoriously lecherous. You get a +1 bonus to Communication and Presence totals when dealing with sexually compatible characters.

Sidhe Blood: You are descended from one of the noble fay who rule the lands of Summer and sunlight. Because of the striking and unusual qualities of your nature add +1 to your Presence, but not to more than +3. Many mortals may consider you fascinating or alluring.

Spinnen Blood: A character who has Spinnen Blood can convert his or her own body weight of fiber into cloth per day, simply by touching it. Old cloth, or products made of cloth fibers, can be unwoven using the same ability, but this counts toward the maximum weight of cloth a character can alter per day. Some Spinnen, particularly those who have served as companions to magi, create other useful objects, like tents, ropes, or sails in lieu of the same weight of cloth. These characters are from a single family line that originated near Ghent; see The Lion and the Lily, page 97, for details of how most of the family live.

Undine Blood: The undines are the faeries of the water, and you get a +2 bonus to any action taken underwater, which will partially offset any penalty applied.

Characters with Faerie Blood can learn Faerie Lore at character generation.

Faerie Doctor Free, Mythic Companion

This Virtue makes you a Faerie Doctor and a Mythic Companion (page @@). You get the Dowsing Virtue for free.

Faerie Magic Minor, Hermetic

You have been initiated into the Outer Mystery of Faerie Magic (see page @@), and thus are a member of House Merinita. You have the Ability Faerie Magic 1. Note that all Merinita magi gain this Virtue for free at character generation.

Faerie-Raised Magic

Major, Hermetic

The character’s experience with faeries and the Faerie realm has conditioned him to invent spells very quickly; to him, Formulaic spells seem like inherent powers that you can learn through observation and experimentation. Because of this, he can teach himself spells outside of the laboratory. You may spend experience points from Exposure, Adventure, and Practice on spells you could normally invent that mimic faerie powers or other supernatural effects your character has observed that season.

To invent a spell in this way, the magus’s Technique + Form + Intelligence + Magic Theory must at least equal (the spell’s level – 10), and you must spend a number of experience points equal to (the spell magnitude + 4). Spells of level 5 or less cost their level in experience points (but always at least 1). For example, a level 2 spell costs 2 experience points, and a Level 15 spell costs 7 experience points. The magus cannot invent Ritual spells in this way. If the magus already knows a spell that is similar to one he wishes to invent (see Similar Spells, page @@), any experience points you spend towards learning that spell are increased by one-half, rounded up. This means that a level 25 spell would cost 6 experience points instead of 9, for example.

This Virtue also includes the Virtue Spell Improvisation. That is, you may add the magnitude of a known Formulaic spell as a bonus to your character’s Casting Total when spontaneously casting a spell that is similar to it.

If you take this Virtue during character creation, you should normally take the Faerie Upbringing Flaw. Because the magus’s master also had to teach him about human society, he probably had less time to teach him Hermetic magic. It is possible that the apprentice invented Formulaic spells quickly enough on his own to compensate for this, but you might take the Weak Parens Flaw to suggest this limitation of his apprenticeship.

Failed Apprentice

Minor, Social Status

You were once apprenticed to a mage, but something kept you from completing your studies. Perhaps your Gift was incomplete or some grievous mishap robbed you of it altogether. You may still work for your former master or for the covenant in some other capacity. Magi welcome you and have compassion for you — those who are given to such emotions, anyway. You may learn Academic, Arcane, and Martial Abilities during character creation, and you are familiar with the lives of magi. You may not have The Gift, but if your Gift was not completely destroyed, you may have some Supernatural Abilities. The Wealthy Virtue and Poor Flaw affect you normally.

Falconer

Minor, Social Status

The character trains hawks and falcons for a noble patron, and is responsible for the training, breeding, and health of the animals. He often has a personal servant to assist, and is an important member of the noble household, treated with great respect. He should possess the Ability Profession: Falconer, which governs the care of the birds, treatment of their diseases, and acquisition and breeding of hawks and falcons. The Ability Animal Handling is used for the training of the hawks. A specialist in non-falcons, such as the hawks, is called an austringer. A falconer receives 50 extra experience points at character generation to spend on the Abilities Animal Handling, Area Lore, Etiquette, Hunt, Latin, Profession: Falconer, and Ride. Many falconers are also Educated.

Falls Like a Cat

Minor, General

The character is not injured by falls of up to three times his height, or six times his height if he can soften his fall by catching on windowsills, breaking through awnings, or hitting branches on the way down. At greater heights the character suffers Impact damage of +1 for every additional foot, if landing on a hard surface, or for every additional four feet, if landing on a soft surface.

Familiarity with the Fae

Minor, Supernatural

You have a natural understanding of faerie ways, perhaps due to spending time among them. You get a +2 to all rolls involving social interaction with faeries. You also gain the effects of the Common Sense Virtue, but only when the situation pertains to faeries. You may purchase Faerie Lore at character generation, even if normally unable to take Arcane Abilities.

Famous

Never will this character be the one noticed or picked out of a crowd. Moments after speaking with him, very few people can give an adequate description of him. He often gets away with things because people are not sure it was actually him. If other characters must make a roll to identify him, it is at –3. On the downside, this trait is incompatible with great beauty, charisma, or commanding presence. Virtues like Venus’ Blessing or Inspirational are prohibited, although Curse of Venus could work.

Free Expression

Minor, General

You have the imagination and creativity needed to compose a new ballad or to paint an original picture, and have the potential to be a great artist. You get a +3 bonus on all rolls to create a new work of art.

Free Study

Minor, Hermetic

You are better at figuring things out for yourself than you are at poring over books. Add +3 to the Source Quality when studying from raw vis.

Frightful Presence

You have been blessed by some supernatural power. The effects of the benediction should be comparable to other Major Virtues. (See insert for examples.)

Example Greater Benedictions

Flight

You are able to fly without the need of wings. Every time you take to the air, you lose a Long-Term Fatigue Level, and can remain airborne for a maximum of an hour, traveling up to fifty miles in this hour. Once you touch the ground, your current flight ends regardless of how much of your hour has elapsed. You require a prop to fly, such as a carpet or staff, but any prop of the appropriate type suffices.

True Sight

You are rarely fooled by glamour or illusions that change the appearance of something (although a false image that does not change any particular thing’s appearance, such as from a Creo Imaginem spell, still fools you). Further, you can always detect the true form of a shapechanged creature (although not members of House Bjornaer, since both their human and animal forms are “true” forms). This power has a Penetration of 20.

Universally Liked

Everyone who knows you is your friend. You receive a +3 bonus to all social rolls with people who have known you more than one month. Anyone who tries to act against you by swaying the emotions or opinions of others has +3 added to all Ease Factors. This effect has a Penetration of 0.

Greater Immunity

Major, Supernatural

You are completely immune to one hazard which is both common and potentially deadly. For example, you might be immune to fire or to iron (and only iron) weapons. You may not take immunity to aging — see the Unaging Minor Virtue (page @@) instead. This immunity applies to mundane and magical versions of the thing. If you are immune to fire, you are also immune to magically created fire.

One important possibility is immunity to deprivation, which means that you suffer no loss of Fatigue or wounds from going without air, food or drink. However, you cannot regain long-term Fatigue without rest and sustenance, and if you are injured deprivation could cause your wounds to worsen.

You may take this Virtue more than once, with a different immunity each time.

Greater Power

Major, Supernatural

The character has a supernatural power that he can activate at will. If you take the Virtue once, this is a single power, equivalent to a Formulaic Hermetic spell with a level of 50 or lower. You may also spend levels one-for-one to give the power Penetration; otherwise, it has a Penetration of zero. This Virtue may be taken more than once, and the levels added together to create several powers. For example, a character who took the Virtue twice could have a power with a level of 60 and a Penetration of 0, and a second power with a level and Penetration of 20 each. By default, there should be one power per Virtue, as this Virtue is intended for powers that are individually significant. See Lesser Power if you want your character to have multiple minor powers. However, the troupe may allow the character to take more powers if they have a strong thematic link.

The power has an Initiative equal to the character’s Quickness ¬– (power magnitude/2) (rounded down). It costs one Fatigue level to activate if its level is less than or equal to 50, or two Fatigue levels if its level is 51 to 100. Higher level effects are unlikely to make sense.

This Virtue may be associated with any supernatural realm. If you have access to other books, such as Realms of Power: The Divine, Realms of Power: The Infernal, Realms of Power: Faerie, or Hedge Magic Revised Edition, you may want to base the power on a different system of supernatural powers, to get something more appropriate to the character. If you do, remember that the levels of effects may work on different scales for different systems, and you may want to change the number of levels of effect. The power must be associated with the same supernatural realm as the system on which it is based. (If you have access to other books, you may want to restrict powers based on Hermetic magic to the Magic realm.)

Greater Purifying Touch

Major, Supernatural

You can, with a touch and the expenditure of a Fatigue level, cure a single serious disease. This disease should be either life-threatening or seriously disabling, and should be one from which people do not normally recover by themselves. You must choose the disease that you can cure when you take this Virtue, and you can only cure that disease. You can only choose a disease, not other types of injury or misfortune. See page @@ for more information on diseases, and Art and Academe, page 45 for more detail.

Guardian Angel

Major, General

You have learned to hear the words of a divine watcher who gives you practical and spiritual advice. The angel whispers in your ear and tells you what is best for you spiritually, rather than materially. He approves of violence only when there is a holy reason — often difficult to demonstrate. If you act against the angel’s advice, he may leave you until you correct your ways. The angel has only a limited awareness of your thoughts, but when you speak aloud, he can hear and converse with you.

Your guardian angel can also help in two practical ways. First, he can grant you a +5 bonus to Soak. Second, he can grant you a Magic Resistance of 15. This Magic Resistance is not compatible with a magus’s Parma Magica, or Magic Resistance from most other sources, but it does add to the Magic Resistance resulting from Faith Points (see page @@). The angel only grants you these bonuses if you are acting in accordance with God’s will.

Guest of House Criamon

Minor, Hermetic

Magi with this Virtue are, politically, members of House Criamon, but may be created using the rules for any other House. Guests are offered membership, which Criamon see as a political formality, for many reasons. The troupe and player should determine why the character found it necessary to find sanctuary with this House.

Guild Apprentice

Minor, Social Status

The character is a youth between the ages of 10 and 20 who is learning his trade from a guild master or journeyman. He has entered into a contract with his master that guarantees his training. The character is not able to benefit from either the Poor Flaw or the Wealthy Virtue, since he is essentially the property of his master, until he moves to the journeyman rank. Most of his time is spent in ways determined by his master.

Guild Dean

Major, Social Status

The character is the ultimate authority of his guild, the man who decides many of the important decisions that face the guild and represents it politically. The character is involved in town politics, long-term trade contacts, and negotiations with other guilds and local craftsmen. The town’s population views him as an important and prestigious member of their community. You may select Academic Abilities at character generation.

Guild Master

Minor, Social Status

The character is a guild master and may legally practice his trade in town, and hire journeymen to work for him. He participates in guild activities and is considered a member in good standing. You may select Academic Abilities at character generation.

Harnessed Magic

Minor, Hermetic

You have great control over your spells. You are able to cancel any of your spells simply by concentrating. You can even cancel the magic in magic items which you created. The act of canceling your magic should be treated as if you were casting a spell for timing and concentration purposes. If you are distracted and fail a Concentration roll, another attempt may be made in a later round. Spells and magic items can be canceled out over any distance, but once they have been canceled, you must recast a spell or reinvest a power in a magic item to start the effect again.

The drawback is that when you die, all of your spells and magic items sputter out.

Heartbeast

Minor, Hermetic

You have been initiated into the Outer Mystery of the Heartbeast (see page @@), and thus are a member of House Bjornaer. You start with the Ability Heartbeast 1. Note that all Bjornaer magi gain this Virtue for free at character creation.

Hermetic Experience

Minor, General

The character has experience with the magi of the Order of Hermes. Maybe he is currently employed by a covenant, once served in the retinue of a magus, or has had other dealings or disputes with them. In any case, you have an additional 50 experience points to spend on Order of Hermes Lore, Magic Lore, or Latin. You cannot spend other experience points on Magic Lore or Latin unless the character has another Virtue or Flaw permitting this. This Virtue may be taken by any grog or covenfolk, or those who have had an exceptionally close relationship with the Order of Hermes. It may be taken by a magus, but there is usually no point.

Hermetic Magus

Free, Social Status

You are a member of the Order of Hermes. All magi must take this as their Social Status, and only magi may take it.

Hermetic Prestige

Minor, Hermetic

Because of something in your background, other magi look up to you even if you haven’t earned their respect. Some envy you, and most will certainly expect more from you than from others. You gain a Reputation of level 4 within the Order.

Hex

Major, Supernatural

The character has the ability to curse her enemies, making dire predictions about their future, which tend to come true. This gives her the Supernatural Ability Hex at 1. This Virtue is most often associated with the Infernal realm.

Homing Instinct

Minor, Supernatural

The character always knows precisely how to get from where she is to a number of locations equal to her Intelligence Score (a minimum of 1). To add a location to the character’s repertoire she must be at that location, the location must be open to the air (so it cannot be inside, for example), and the player must make an Intelligence + Concentration Roll against an Ease Factor of 6. If this would increase the number of known locations beyond the character’s limit, then another location must be “forgotten.”

In addition, the character has a fixed Arcane Connection to locations that she knows, which may be exploited in the usual ways (page @@). This Arcane Connection is an artifact of the mind, and so may not be given to another character.

Imbued with the Spirit of (Form)

Minor, Hermetic

The magus has absorbed some of the powers of an elemental or other magic object (perhaps by consuming it). This act taints the magus, so that any being with a Magic Might associated with the Form of this Virtue can sense his nature when near-by. Typically, weak creatures will be afraid of the magus and powerful ones will attempt to kill him.

Whenever casting a spell or performing a Laboratory Activity that requires vis of the chosen Form, the magus may substitute Long-Term Fatigue Levels for the vis. Each Long-Term Fatigue Level lost reduces the vis requirement of the spell or effect by 1. When casting a spell the Fatigue Levels are lost after the spell is cast. For Laboratory Activities the Fatigue loss lasts for the duration of the Laboratory process (that is, at least a season), and Fatigue Levels substituted for vis do not count towards the magi’s limit of vis expenditure in a season. The magus takes the Fatigue Penalty to his Lab Total. Note that studying vis is not a Laboratory activity, so the magus may not substitute Fatigue Levels for vis when studying.

For example, a magus casting an Enchantment of the Scrying Pool ritual (InAq 30, page @@), requires 6 pawns of some combination of Intellego and Aquam vis. If the magus is Imbued with the Spirit of Aquam, he may tire himself (losing three Long Term Fatigue Levels), and reduce the vis requirement by 3.

Immune to Disease

Major, Supernatural, Tainted

The character is marked as the property of a very powerful demon, and the lesser demons that cause most diseases refuse to harm him. Even characters who turn against their masters retain this protection, because the mark is indelible, and disease demons are not usually very bright. A few diseases, for example, those sent as scourges by God, affect the character normally.

Immunity to Cold

Minor, Supernatural

Normal cold does not harm you, nor does it make you feel uncomfortable. You do not need warm environments to remain healthy. Extreme, magically created cold, such as the effect of Wizard’s Icy Grip (page @@), still affects you normally.

Improved Characteristics

Minor, General

You have an additional three points to spend on buying Characteristics, but you are still limited to a maximum score of +3 in any single Characteristic unless you take the Virtue Great Characteristic. You may take this Virtue multiple times.

Indescribable Face

Minor, General

After meeting this character, other characters usually find it hard to describe him sufficiently well to separate him from others. Some forgettable characters are just average height and weight, with unremarkable features. Others have a particular feature which is so striking it crowds out other memories. He has an ostentatious hat. She was carrying a little dog. The characters can recall the striking feature, but little else. A player who selects this Virtue for his character needs to select which form of the Virtue his character has.

A character who is simply average is always forgettable. He can’t turn the ability off and may use props when building a Reputation among other criminals. He may be “that guy in the black gloves who strangles people,” for example, although no-one recalls precisely what he looks like. Intimately related characters can eventually become sufficiently used to the character’s forgettable face that they remember it.

A character who distracts with a prop is memorable when she wishes to be. She can simply not use her devices of distraction if she wishes to make an impression. She can also switch her distracting prop. For example if she hears that someone is looking for a lady with a curious dog, she might switch to a baby, or a curious hat. A character who distracts with props is usually not recognized by random people in crowds (whose eyes also follow the prop, not the face), but this protection is less perfect than a truly forgettable face.

Independent Study

Minor, General

The character develops new skills extremely quickly on his own. When he is studying through Practice, add two to the Source Quality, and add three to the Source Quality of his Adventure experience.

Induction

Major, Supernatural

The character has the supernatural power to make people experience things that are not there. She gains the Supernatural Ability Induction (page @@) with a score of 1.

Ineslemen

Minor, Social Status

This character is a member of one of the designated religious tribes of the Tuareg and is therefore accorded some authority over disputes and immunity from the usual feudal demands of the nobles. He may purchase Theology: Islam, Islamic Law and (Realm) Lore during character generation and gains an additional 50 XP to spend on these Abilities. The character begins with the Minor Flaw Noncombatant, which does not yield any points for buying Virtues. This Social Status only exists in North Africa.

Infernal Heirloom

Minor, Supernatural, Tainted

Infernal heirlooms are magical items that the character inherits from a diabolist, or, more rarely, finds. The character has the use of the item, without having to deal with the demon that created it. The item is extremely useful in some way, but each use draws its owner closer to the character, as the demon attempts to reclaim its treasure.

Most Infernal heirlooms have only a single effect, and they are usually triggered by a minor act of, or intention to, sin. As a guideline, each heirloom may create an effect once per day that is equivalent to a Hermetic spell of level 25. Items that produce less powerful effects may be used more frequently at the troupe’s discretion.

Inoffensive to (Beings)

Minor, General and Hermetic

This Virtue is associated with one of five classes of beings: animals, divine beings, faeries, demons, or magical creatures. These last four include characters associated with the Divine, Faerie, Infernal, or Magic realm, respectively, through Supernatural Virtues or Flaws, as well as beings with Might.

The character’s Gift does not bother beings of this sort, although it still has the normal effects on others. For example, Inoffensive to Animals makes it easier for her to get along with mundane beasts. Animals who react positively to The Gift still react positively to her, since she does have The Gift, but those that do not are not disturbed by her presence.

Minor, Social Status

The character is a judge, advocate, or procurator — essentially a medieval lawyer in some capacity. At character generation he may purchase the Abilities Latin, Artes Liberales, and Civil and Canon Law. He is not necessarily university trained, as he may have obtained his education through private schools, tutors, or a cathedral school, and need not have a degree. If he is a cleric, he works in an ecclesiastical setting: the papal curia, the College of Cardinals, or a bishop’s or archbishop’s office. If he is a layman, he works for a secular prince or town municipality.

This Virtue is compatible with the Baccalaureus, Magister in Artibus, and Doctor in (Faculty) Virtues, as a jurist may have a university education. It is also compatible with the Priest and Mendicant Friar Virtues. It is only available to male characters.

Just an Instant

Minor, General

A character with this Virtue, who has had a few seconds to look about a room, does not need to make Awareness checks to detect or remember anything of interest on the room’s exposed surfaces. Some characters use this Virtue to discover the layout of a space so they can navigate it in the dark, while others use it to save time while stealing. Characters with this Virtue are also useful lab assistants, because they know where everything is, and are aware of experiments about to critically fail.

Kassalan Exorcism

Minor, Supernatural

Troupes may veto any use of these connections which spoils the tension and pace of the game.

Laborer

Free, Social Status

The character is a trained worker who practices a trade that is a valuable service to his community, but by which no finished good is produced. Unlike a peasant, who is an agrarian worker who works at a variety of jobs, a laborer concentrates on one specific endeavor to earn his livelihood, be it hauling wood, washing clothes, cleaning latrines, carrying luggage, or serving food.

(Land) Regio Network

Minor, Supernatural

The character has access to an extensive network of regiones, perhaps located in the depths of many lakes throughout Mythic Europe, or hidden above the clouds in the sky, or buried in subterranean caves under the ground. The character is associated with one particular type of regio network. Once the character is in such a regio he may travel to any other regio in the network; travel time is one Diameter regardless of geographic distance. To determine whether the character knows the location of a networked regio in a particular locale an Intelligence + (Area) Lore roll is made against an Ease Factor of 9. The character knows how to enter these regiones and can, if he chooses, guide other characters into the regiones — although other characters must be able to survive in the environment of the regio.

Access to the network may be ultimately controlled by other characters or powers.

Landed Noble

Major, Social Status

You owe fealty and service to a higher noble, and control land, serfs, and men-at-arms. You have half a dozen servants at your manor house, including a couple of bodyguards. Your servants should be controlled by the rest of the troupe. You have sworn an Oath of Fealty, and so it would be reasonable to balance this Virtue with that Flaw. You get the normal points for Oath of Fealty if you do. You are wealthier than most characters, but have no additional free time. You have the power to enforce the law within your fief, but you may not impose the death penalty, nor may you mutilate criminals. Floggings and fines are the normal penalties you impose.

If you are Poor, your fief is either very small, or in a poor area for farming with few other resources. You must spend every season managing it, or it may collapse completely, leaving you effectively landless. You are no wealthier than most average characters, and you have only a couple of servants. Wealthy Landed Nobles control more than one fief, and have bailiffs or stewards for each, so that they do not need to devote any time to looking after their lands. You are significantly richer than most Wealthy characters, and could afford to build a small castle or a large chapel within a cathedral. You have around fifty servants, including a significant number of warriors.

This Status Virtue is compatible with the Knight Minor Status Virtue, but unlike that Virtue it is available to male and female characters.

Large

Minor, General

Your Size is +1 instead of 0, so you are between six and seven feet tall. This means that the severity of wounds you take increases in six point intervals rather than five point intervals. (See page @@). You cannot take this Virtue and Giant Blood (page @@), Small Frame (page @@), or Dwarf (page @@).

Lasiq

Major, Social Status

The character is an experienced assassin of the Nizari Isma’ilis, having successfully completed seven murders at the orders of his grand master, and commands a small band of up to six fida’is. Lasiq may take Martial Abilities at character creation. As for a fida’i, a lasiq may be far from home on a mission, either alone or with some fida’i. In such as case, he is pretending to have some other social status, which you should choose. For more details on the Nizaris, see The Cradle and the Crescent, from page 162.

Latent Magic Ability

Minor, General

You have a magical quality that has not yet manifested itself. You probably do not realize you have this capacity; if you are a magus, your master failed to detect it during your apprenticeship. At the storyguide’s discretion, this quality might appear spontaneously or because of some relevant event (like drinking faerie wine). This is not The Gift, and the latent ability is more limited than that.

Learn (Ability) From Mistakes

Minor, General

You are able to improve a particular Ability through the expedient of repeated failure. The first time in a given game session that you botch a roll or fail by exactly one point, you gain five experience points in the Ability. The roll must have come up naturally in the course of the story. You may take this Virtue several times, once for each Ability chosen.

Leather Ripper

Minor, Supernatural

This character has the supernatural ability to destroy a group of leather objects. This causes metal armor to fall away, as the strips holding it together disintegrate. It destroys the tack of a horseman, forcing a Ride roll, with penalties of up to –9 depending on how dangerous his current maneuvers are. It can destroy the scabbard, belt and boots of a foe, allowing the ripper to flee or attack. This is a PeAn(He) 30 effect with +0 Penetration. The character must concentrate for a moment and spend a Fatigue level to activate the power, but does not need to speak or gesture.

Leper Magus

Major, Hermetic

This Virtue describes the mystic legacy passed on from Tytalus to Hariste’s line through the vector of leprosy. This Virtue can only be bought if the character also has the Leprosy Flaw, and is only available to magi trained in House Tytalus. It allows him to draw upon the strength of his body to increase the power of his magic, granting the Life Boost Minor Virtue. He can also draw even deeper into this power if he desires, mortifying his disease-ridden flesh to produce vis to power his own spells. The vis generated in this way can only be used by the magus himself, in spellcasting or laboratory activities (but not study), and cannot be stored in any way — in fact, it never leaves his body. By accepting a Light Wound, the magus can infuse a single magical working with three pawns of vis, of any Technique or Form. A Medium Wound supplies six pawns, a Heavy Wound nine pawns, an Incapacitating Wound 12 pawns, and a Deadly Wound (killing the magus) 15 pawns. Any vis that is produced beyond the magus’s capacity to use in the current magical activity is lost, as is any vis surplus to the requirements of the activity to which this power is applied. Leprotic wounds open on the magus’s body as he calls upon this power, but not quickly enough to affect the Casting Total of a non-Ritual spell affected by this power. All Lab Totals suffer the wound penalty as normal, as do the Casting Totals of spells that take more than one round to cast (such as Ritual spells). The character makes no Recovery rolls for this wound until the magical activity that the vis is being used for is complete (i.e., at the end of the casting of the spell, or the end of a season for lab work). While this means that the wound cannot get better, it also means that it does not risk worsening. Since the power is expressed from the pain of this wound, magic used to negate that pain also negates the benefits of this Virtue. A wound taken in this fashion must heal completely before the power may be used again, and any character using this power more than three times a year must make an extra Aging roll in winter.

Lesser Benediction

Minor, Supernatural

You have been blessed by some supernatural power. The effects of the benediction should be comparable to other Minor Virtues. (See insert for examples.)

Example Lesser Benedictions

Gift of the Gab

You are a very convincing speaker; anyone attempting to detect untruth in your words receives a –3 penalty to their rolls.

Green Fingers

Plants always prosper under your care. Your crops never suffer from natural diseases or pests so long as you personally tend to them, and you can therefore get half as much again in terms of yield as others.

Pricking Thumbs

If you are in the presence of someone who bears you ill will, you feel a pricking sensation in your thumbs. You cannot distinguish one enemy from a crowd with this ability.

Unusually Fecund

Every sexual encounter with a partner of the opposite sex results in conception.

Lesser Immunity

Minor, Supernatural

You are immune to some hazard which is either rare, or not deadly, or both. See Greater Immunity, page @@.

Minor, Supernatural

The character’s essential nature has been improved through exposure to the Magic realm, often from a magic being, which gives her true form special supernatural properties. This typically changes the character’s appearance enough that others can recognize that there is something unusual about her, and people might say that she has magical blood — or “faerie blood” (since many people in Mythic Europe do not understand the differences between the Magic and Faerie realms).

The character may learn Magic Lore during character creation, and is resistant to aging, receiving a –1 bonus to all of her Aging rolls. In addition, she receives a minor physical advantage appropriate to one of the four different types of magic beings (magic animals, magic humans, magic spirits, and magic things), the one that is associated with the character’s background. Some examples are below, or you can make up your own.

Magic Animal: The character has a physical feature normally associated with animals, such as wings, scales, gills, teeth, or claws. These give as much as a +3 bonus to appropriate activities, or may allow the character to perform actions that a normal character could not manage (such as fly, or breathe underwater). This feature is very difficult to hide, making the character obviously different from other humans.

Magic Human: The character may increase one of his Characteristics by 1, but not above +3. This is often Strength or Stamina (to represent the blood of giant ancestors), or Presence (to represent the blood of god-like beings). This often gives the character an otherworldly appearance. The character also has a positive Reputation at level 3 among others of his bloodline.

Magic Spirit: The character gains an appropriate Supernatural Ability (one associated with a Minor Virtue), such as Magic Sensitivity, Premonitions, Second Sight, or Wilderness Sense, with an initial score of 1, though whenever the character uses this Ability, her appearance becomes obviously supernatural. For example, her eyes might turn black, she might rise a foot from the ground, or her hair might be blown about by a wind no one else can feel.

Magic Thing: The character has a Lesser or Personal Power associated with an object or thing. Whenever she activates the effect, her appearance also changes in a way appropriate to the form of the power. For example, a power that protects against flames would cause her skin to become dark with soot and smell like smoke, and a power that lets her walk on water might cause her to become semi-transparent, like water.

Magical Mount

Minor, General

The character has a mount, beast-of-burden, or “guard dog,” a creature that has Cunning instead of Intelligence and a Magic Might Score of up to 25. It has an extra Personality Trait (Loyal 0) and will obey simple verbal commands. If it has a positive Cunning score, the creature is also able to perform limited acts on its own initiative. If the character is incapable of training the creature himself, it must have been a gift from another character (probably a powerful magus) and the character must take a Major Story Flaw to represent the consequences: Favors, to represent his debt to his patron, is the simplest, but Enemies, if the mount was lured away, is also a possibility. In this case, only a companion or magus-level character can take this Virtue.

Magical Warder

Major, General

The character has a magical being that accompanies him, watches over him, and sees that he comes to no harm. It does not require anything from the character in return for its service, but note that the more powerful the warder, the less willing or able it is to help the character, and the less often it is available to protect him.

A classic example is the ghost of someone close to the character. The ghost is invisible and silent to anyone but you, unless they have Second Sight or some other supernatural means of detecting it. It can see and hear what is going on around you, and leave your presence for up to half a day, so it makes a good spy. See page @@ for example statistics for such a Magical Warder.

Design this being as a magic character, using the guidelines in Chapter 13, or in Realms of Power: Magic — a ghostly warder is a good example of a companion character; it is less powerful and basically an extension of the character’s will, while a more powerful Warder’s assistance is rarer and even more circumstantial.

Magister in Artibus

Major, Social Status

You have incepted Master of Arts in one of the universities of Europe (Paris, Bologna, Oxford, Cambridge, Montpellier, Arezzo or Salamanca) and completed your two years’ regency of compulsory teaching. You are entitled to be addressed as Magister, are subject only to canon law, and may teach anywhere in Europe.

You are at least (25 – Int) years old, and must have scores of at least 5 in Latin and Artes Liberales. You have, however, spent eight years in a university, and gain an additional 30 experience points in each of those years, for a total of 240 additional experience points over and above your allowance based on age. You may buy Academic Abilities during character generation, and must spend your additional experience points on Academic Abilities or Teaching. You have an Academic Reputation of 2.

You must spend two seasons teaching to maintain yourself and your reputation as a dependable instructor. These two seasons are spread between September and June, so you are genuinely free in the summer. If you take the Poor Flaw, you are still genuinely free in the summer. If you take the Wealthy Virtue, you can maintain your reputation with a single season’s teaching.

This Virtue is only available to male characters, and is compatible with the Hermetic Magus, Mendicant Friar, and Priest Virtues.

Magister in Medicina

Major, Social Status

The character has achieved a doctorate in medicine from one of the medical schools of Europe (Salerno, Cremona, Montpellier, or Bologna), and completed his two years’ compulsory teaching. This Virtue offers the same benefits as Doctor in (Faculty). This Virtue is compatible with the Hermetic Magus, and Priest Virtues. Note that this Virtue is available to female characters, although they must have graduated from Salerno; male characters may have graduated from any of the medical schools.

Major Magical Focus

Major, Hermetic

Your magic is much more potent in a fairly limited area, such as weather, necromancy, birds, or emotions. This area should be smaller than a single Art, but may be spread over several Arts – necromancy, for example, covers both Corpus and Mentem effects. You cannot be focused on laboratory activities, although a focus does apply to laboratory activities.

Sample Major Magical Foci

This list is merely exemplary. Other foci are possible.

Animal: Birds, or mammals, or domesticated animals.

Aquam: Salt water or fresh water.

Auram: Weather.

Corpus: Men or women.

Herbam: Trees or food plants.

Imaginem: Visual images, auditory images, tactile images, or taste and smell together.

Mentem: Emotions or memories.

Terram: Metals or stone.

Necromancy: Corpus and Mentem as applied to the bodies and spirits of dead people.

Damage: Any Art, as long as the effect does damage directly, either by inflicting a wound or doing a certain amount of damage which can be soaked.

Disguise: Changing the appearance of something, by any means.

When you cast a spell or generate a Lab Total within your focus, add the lowest applicable Art score twice. If a spell has requisites, the lowest applicable score may be one of the requisites, rather than one of the primary Arts. Thus, if a magus with a focus on birds was casting a spell to turn a bird into pure flame, MuAn (Ig), with Muto 14, An 18, and Ig 10, his final total would be 34 + other modifiers: 14 from Muto, and 20 from adding Ignem twice. If he was casting a spell to turn a bird into another sort of bird, MuAn with no requisites, his total would be 46 + other modifiers, 18 from Animal and 28 from adding Muto twice.

A character can have only one Magical Focus, either major or minor, regardless of the source of the focus.

Maker of Textured Vessels

Minor, Supernatural

Textured vessels are those which have mystical patterns impressed into their surfaces before firing. A character with this Virtue has a repertoire of shapes: one shape per level in the Craft: Potter Ability. Each shape corresponds to an Ability, and the character gains additional shapes as the Craft skill increases. The character takes one season to learn each added shape when her Ability increases, and requires the assistance of someone who already knows the new shape desired.

Crafting a vessel costs one Long-Term Fatigue level. Each vessel grants a +3 bonus in a single Ability. The materials used while attempting the roll must have been stored inside the vessel. Storing materials for Abilities in pots does not cause Warping. The first time a character uses a pot in this way, it accepts the user as its owner, and provides no bonus for anyone else. A pot is an Arcane Connection to its master. Characters with Magic Resistance cannot be claimed by pots, and gain no benefit from them.

A separate version of this Virtue allows the character to make leather vessels, and relies on Craft: Leatherworker. It is otherwise identical. In the African cultures where this Virtue is most common, the pottery version is associated with women, and the leather version with men, but this does not limit which characters can take either Virtue.

Maker of Water Vessels

Minor, Supernatural

A character who drinks from a magical water vessel made by a character with this Virtue may swap one Ability score for the Craft: Potter score of the crafter at the time the vessel was made. This effect lasts for one scene or three minutes, whichever is longer. Each vessel is tied, at its cre- ation, to a particular Ability, by its shape.

Each character knows a variety of vessel shapes, each shape corresponding to a single Ability. A starting character knows a number of shapes equal to her Craft: Potter score. The character takes one season to learn a new shape when her Ability increases, and requires the assistance of someone who already knows the new shape desired. Making a vessel costs a Long-Term Fatigue level.

After a vessel is drunk from the first time, it takes the drinker as its owner. Other drinkers gain no benefit from the vessel, and it becomes an Arcane Connection to its owner. Characters with Magic Resistance cannot be claimed by vessels. The first drink from an unowned vessel, which establishes ownership, causes Warping, unless the drinker has Supernatural Virtues. Similarly, drinking from a vessel one does not own causes Warping, unless the drinker has Supernatural Virtues.

A separate version of this Virtue allows the character to make leather vessels, and relies on Craft: Leatherworker. It is otherwise identical. In the African cultures where this Virtue is most common, the pottery version is associated with women, and the leather version with men, but this does not limit which characters can take either Virtue.

Male Guild Sponsor

Free, Social Status

The character’s father or husband is a guild craftsman and she has been allowed entry into his field of work, which is otherwise restricted to men. The character may work at her trade, following the same procedures as the regular male workers. Every guild allows such members, so she may practice any craft she desires. The character must select a separate guild Social Status Virtue as well as this free Virtue to represent her status in the guild system. This Virtue is only available to female characters, and is compatible with all Social Status Virtues reflecting status in a guild.

Mamluk

Minor, Social Status

You are a former military slave, bought as a child, trained at a military school and educated in Islam, and then freed upon reaching adulthood. You are probably Turkish, but you may also be Mongol or even Greek. You are likely to have been trained in the use of lances, bows, shields, chainmail, and lamellar armor (same statistics as chainmail) and one or two swords, both on foot and on horseback, though this does not necessarily mean that you will own these at the start of the game (storyguide’s option).

You may take Martial Abilities at character creation, and as a special case you may also take the Ability Theology: Islam, even if you do not have the Minor General Virtue Educated. This Virtue is only available to male characters, and (for Companion characters only) is compatible with both the Emir and Muqta‘ Virtues, as many Mamluks have climbed high in the Muslim hierarchy.

Marshal

Minor, Social Status

A noble’s stables require a specialist to coordinate the care, feeding, and welfare of the animals. This person is called a marshal, and the title holds considerable honor. The Marshal of England is the king’s official in charge of his cavalry, but even the marshal of a baron is an important personage, given the vital roles played by horses in warfare and hunting, as well as routine travel.

A marshal should take the Ability Profession: Marshal, which deals with understanding, purchasing, and caring for horses. It functions as the Ability Medicine for the purpose of treating veterinary diseases, and for surgery involving these animals. A marshal receives 50 extra experience points at character generation to spend on the abilities Animal Handling, Etiquette, Hunt, Latin, Profession: Marshal and Ride, and may take Martial Abilities freely.

A marshal may overseen other specialists, including farriers who make horseshoes; leatherworkers who produce tack, harness, and saddles; and the trained staff who administer day-to-day grooming and mucking out of the stables.

Master Bard

Major, Social Status

The character has spent at least nine years of study at a bardic school and is a master of the trade, called an Anruth. He has a teaching position at a prestigious school, or else an official position with an Irish clan chief; either way this earns him a Local Reputation at level 3. If resident at a school, he has an obligation to teach for at least two seasons a year; if he works for a lord, two seasons are instead spent composing praise poems and stories for his patron.

The character should be at least 25 years old, and must have a Profession: Storyteller or Poet of at least 5, and also a 5 in at least one of Area Lore, Organization Lore, Faerie Lore, or Magic Lore. You can spend experience points on Arcane Abilities at character creation, and have an extra 240 experience points to spend on Art of Memory, Profession: Storyteller, Profession: Poet, any Area Lore, any Organization Lore, Faerie Lore, or Magic Lore. This Social Status is only available in Ireland.

Master of (Form) Creatures

Minor, Supernatural

The character can tame animals and other unintelligent beings whose Magic Might is aligned with a particular Form. During character creation, the character may take Magic Lore, and this Virtue may be taken multiple times, once for each Form. See page @@ for rules for training magical (and mundane) animals.

Master of Kennels

Minor, Social Status

The character manages the kennels for a noble patron, and is responsible for the training, breeding, and health of the animals. He has an appropriate staff under him, depending on the size of the kennels, and often possesses the privilege of riding with the hunt. He may be considered an intimate and important member of the noble household, despite his common birth, and be treated with commensurate respect. He is also expected to organize the huntsmen — that is, the dog handlers — and train servants or locals to perform that role. He should possess the Ability Profession: Master of Kennels, which governs the care of the dogs, treatment of their diseases, and acquisition and breeding of hounds. The Ability Animal Handling is used for the training of the animals. A master of kennels receives 50 extra experience points at character generation to spend on the abilities Animal Handling, Etiquette, Hunt, Latin, Profession: Master of Kennels, and Ride, and may take Martial Abilities freely.

Mastered Spells

Minor, Hermetic

You have fifty experience points to spend on mastering spells that you know. (See page @@ for rules on mastering spells.) You may take this Virtue if you also have Flawless Magic, to give you more experience points to spend on mastering your spells. You may take this Virtue multiple times.

Masterpiece

Minor, Hermetic

For some benevolent reason, the magus’s parens has allowed him to keep the lesser enchanted item he made to prove himself a magus and pass his Gauntlet. This masterpiece must be a lesser enchanted item. You should design a lesser enchanted item that your character could make based on his Lab Totals at character generation, following the regular rules for construction of such a device. You ignore vis costs, as the magus’s parens provided those from her laboratory stores. This Gauntlet test is standard for House Verditius, but a maga from another House may have chosen to impose it.

Mazdean Priest

Minor, Social Status

Your character is an ordained Mazdean priest, initiated as a mobed. This means that the character may carry out the various rituals and ceremonies, such as the Yasna, Vivevdat, Navjote, marriage, burial, official prayers, purification rituals, lighting of sacred fires, and initiation of new priests. In Mazdean communities, your character is held in high regard and treated with great respect. The character wears pure white clothes and, when performing ceremonies, covers his face with a white veil to protect the sacred flame from his breath and saliva. See The Cradle and the Crescent, Chapter 5 for more details on Mythic Zoroastrianism.

As a mobed, your character resides in a community that likely has a fire temple. This means that your character has arduous and time-consuming religious and ceremonial duties. Most of your time is spent praying, performing ritual purification rites and tending to the sacred fire. If you are Wealthy, you have several ervads (junior priests) who perform many of the more arduous tasks. If you are Poor, it likely reflects the poor station of Mazdeans in the community in general, and you may also possess the Outsider Flaw.

Your character may take Academic Abilities at character generation. Most such characters take the Minor Personality Flaw Vow to reflect your constant state of ritual purity, and dedication to your community. This can only be your character’s social status if he lives in a Mazdean community, all of which are to the east of Mythic Europe, and most of which are in Persia. A Mazdean priest in exile in Europe should take a different Social Status Virtue or Flaw, as discussed earlier. This Virtue is only available to male characters.

Mendicant Friar

Minor, Social Status

You are a follower of St. Francis or St. Dominic going among the rich and poor, spreading the word of God and giving comfort to the sick, homeless, hungry, or dying. You are sworn to serve the Church for the rest of your life, but your wandering habits are considered suspect by the local bishop and parish clergy, and you lack political influence within the organization. Like all clerics, however, you are only subject to canon law. Due to your training, you may take Academic Abilities during character generation. If you wish, you may be an ordained priest and may officiate at marriages, baptisms, funerals, and the Mass, though the parish clergy may resent your interfering on their “turf.” You do not need to take the Priest Virtue in addition to this one if you do want to be ordained.

You have sworn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which could together constitute a Major Story Flaw (Monastic Vows, see page @@), and which would be a natural choice if you take this Virtue. You may not take the Wealthy Virtue or Poor Flaw. This Virtue is only available to male characters, and is compatible with the Magister in Artibus Major Virtue.

Mentored by Demons

Minor, General, Tainted

A character mentored by demons learns faster than is possible for those studying with human teachers, but demons only teach those Abilities that suit their plans for the character. Characters trained by demons may exceed the maximum skill level for a given age provided by the character creation rules. Students of demons may also have Abilities that are usually restricted to suitable backgrounds. People mentored by demons do not recognize the supernatural nature of their teachers — many consider their exceptional skills an expression of their innate superiority to others. This attitude is particularly common in children afflicted with Pride. Mentored characters have an additional 50 experience points to spend on any Ability. Characters may purchase this Virtue multiple times, and gain 50 further experience points each time. Characters trained to this extreme know that their teachers are supernatural figures, but often have the Manufactured Ignorance Flaw.

Mercenary Captain

Minor, Social Status

You lead a small company of mercenaries (5 to 10), for hire to the highest bidder. You are much like a knight-errant, only without the prestige. During your travels you have gained great wealth — and squandered it — several times over. You may take Martial Abilities during character generation. If you are Poor, you lead only a couple of other mercenaries, but you and they may have armor and weapons available to normal characters. If you are Wealthy you lead about twenty mercenaries, and can delegate some of the work to sergeants. This Virtue is available to male and female characters.

Merchant

Free, Social Status

You live from the buying and selling of goods. You may be a peddler, if you are relatively poor, a shopkeeper, or a traveling merchant. The Wealthy Major Virtue and Poor Major Flaw affect you normally.

Merchant Adventurer

Minor, Social Status

The character is in command of a ship, and a crew. The character has sufficient capital for a cargo, but may have substantial debts, which may be represented by the Favors Flaw. See City and Guild for more details on trade. A merchant adventurer who owns a share of the company he works for should select the Partner Virtue instead of this one.

Mercurian Magic

Major, Hermetic

Your magical lineage and traditions are from the Roman priests of Mercury, which predate the Order of Hermes, making you especially skilled with Ritual Magic and magic used in conjunction with others. In addition to your standard spell allocation, you also know Wizard’s Vigil (page @@) at a level equal to the highest level of Ritual spell that you know, and should you invent or learn a Ritual spell of higher level, you automatically invent a Wizard’s Vigil spell of the same level, without needing to spend extra time.

When casting a spell using Wizard’s Vigil (page @@) or other spells, such as Wizard’s Communion (page @@), with the same function, you may add your Mastery score (page @@) in the spell being cast and your Mastery score in Wizard’s Vigil to the effective level of the Wizard’s Vigil. Finally, any Ritual spells which you cast have only half the usual vis requirement. If cast as part of a Wizard’s Vigil, all the participants need to have this Virtue to gain this benefit.

All known members of the Mercurian lineage also have the Minor Flaw Ceremonial Spontaneous Magic.

Method Caster

Minor, Hermetic

You are excellent at formulaic spells, as you have perfected a consistent and precise method for casting them. You gain a +3 bonus to the Casting Total of any Formulaic or Ritual spell you cast. However, if you vary at all from your precise method (by altering your gestures or voicing), you do not get this bonus.

Mild Aging

Minor, General

The character’s aging rolls benefit from a +1 bonus to the Living Conditions Modifier, in addition to whatever his social standing normally offers him. Furthermore, he receives a +3 bonus to rolls to survive an aging crisis. He may be dedicated to living a healthy life, or else have been blessed by some supernatural being.

Minor Enchantments

Minor, Supernatural

The character has one or more items in his possession that have magical powers. These should be designed as Hermetic enchantments, and the total levels of powers in all the items, after adjustment for uses per day and so forth, must be 25 or less. The character may take this Virtue more than once: add the total levels together, but no single power can be greater than 30th level. If he loses the item or it is destroyed, then it is gone for good.

Minor Magical Focus

Minor, Hermetic

Your magic is particularly attuned to some narrow field, such as self-transformation, birds of prey, or healing. In general, the field should be slightly narrower than a single Technique and Form combination, although it may include restricted areas of several such combinations. Healing, for example, is a part of Creo Corpus, Creo Animal, and possibly Creo Herbam. You cannot be focused on a laboratory activity, such as creating charged items, although a focus does apply to laboratory activities.

Sample Minor Magical Foci

This list is merely exemplary; other foci are possible.

Animal: Birds of prey, canines, mustelidae.

Aquam: Stagnant water, small streams.

Auram: Wind, rain, lightning.

Corpus: Aging, disease.

Herbam: Fruiting, wood.

Imaginem: A particular color or sound.

Mentem: Anger, lust, erasing memories, changing memories.

Terram: Creating metals, destroying stone.

Healing: Applies to people, animals, and plants.

Self-transformation: Applies to both Corpus and Mentem.

When you cast a spell or generate a Lab Total within your focus, add the lowest applicable Art score twice, as for a Major Magical Focus (page @@). A magus may only have one Magical Focus, whether major or minor, regardless of the source of the focus.

Muqta‘ (Muq-Ta‘)

Major, Social Status

You are an important emir, entrusted with an iqta‘ (iq-TAW‘, similar to a feudal fief). All rules for the Landed Noble Virtue apply, except that most Muslims take the Minor Status Virtue Emir, rather than Knight.

Muse

Minor, Supernatural

A muse possesses that rare beauty that encourages others to rise to worthiness. A character with this Virtue may grant Free Expression to a single other character, or can double the effect of Free Expression that a single character already possesses, while the muse is with him. The artist typically holds the muse in such high regard that he feels the need to continually improve, both in artistic technique and as a person, to be worthy of the muse’s attention. Muses may be of either sex, and need not have beautiful bodies.

Mystical Choreography

Minor, Hermetic

The magus’s skill at manipulating the shape and movement of the body allows him to reduce the amount of time required to perform Ceremonial Magic. The character performs ceremonies as per page @@, but requires only five minutes per magnitude. If the character has a prepared space, no matter how temporary, this falls to one minute per magnitude.

This Virtue is particularly important to those Jerbiton magi who use ceremonial casting to overcome the penalties associated with the Dominion.

Mythic Blood

Major, Hermetic

You are a blood descendant of either a wizard of legend (possibly one of the Twelve Founders, or some other ancient and powerful sorcerer) or a supernatural being (such as a dragon).

Your potent Gift means that you do not lose Fatigue levels if your Casting Total falls short of the level of a formulaic spell by ten points or less, although you do lose Fatigue if the spell fails completely. When casting Ritual spells, lose three fewer Fatigue levels than normal. This means that you lose no Fatigue levels if you succeed, or fail by ten points or less. You must expend Fatigue normally to cast Spontaneous magic, and if you fail to cast a Formulaic spell you lose the normal number of Fatigue levels.

Additionally, you may choose one special magic feat which you can invoke at will and cancel at will, as often as you like. Invoking this feat takes as long as fast-casting a Mastered Formulaic spell (see page @@), and requires the same level of concentration. The effect should be designed as a non-Ritual Hermetic effect, with a level + Penetration limited as below. The Penetration of the effect is not modified by the magus’s Penetration Ability score, and cannot be negative, so that the highest possible level of the effect is 30.

Minor, Hermetic

In Mythic Europe, many Hermetic magi have learned how to disguise their magical practices by incorporating them fully into a mundane task or action at which they excel. This Virtue lets the magus conceal spellcasting by using the actions or words of some Ability to replace the normal Hermetic gestures and words, and lets him maintain a spell without needing Concentration rolls.

When the Virtue is acquired, specify the Ability to which it applies. You may choose any Craft, Profession, or other Ability with a clear verbal or physical practice. You may not choose any Language, Supernatural, Academic, or Arcane Ability.

There are distinct Virtues for each possible Ability, as each allows different methods to work its actions into magic: knowing one method of Performance Magic does not let the magus use any other Ability in magic.

It is the action or words of the practice that are the focus of this Virtue, not the products of craft-working. An Ability that is verbal (such as storytelling) replaces the words of spellcasting; similarly, an Ability that is physical (such as hunting) replaces gestures. An Ability that encompasses both verbal and physical aspects (such as music, or mumming (acting)) allows the performer more flexibility.

The magus must actually perform the Ability to count as using this Virtue, and other Virtues or Mastery Abilities do not remove that requirement. For example, he cannot sing silently, although he can hunt silently.

Words or gestures that are not being replaced by Performance Magic remain as normal mystical components of spell-casting: use the normal rules and adjustments (including Virtues such as Quiet Magic and Mastery Abilities such as Still Casting).

Example: Orlando is a musician and magus, and knows Sorcerous Music and Subtle Magic. He may cast spells while he sings (with no penalty for no gestures), plays his lute, or sings and plays. If he sings or plays quietly, he suffers the normal –5 penalty. He can cast spells silently, but only by not using Sorcerous Music.

His friend Furioso, another Sorcerous Musician, lacks Subtle Magic. If he has no instrument with him, then, unlike Orlando, he must use normal Hermetic gestures or suffer the penalty for no gestures.

The magus may choose to vocalize loudly, or move exaggeratedly, and gain the equivalent bonuses as for loud words or exaggerated gestures. Bystanders may notice this as unusual activity, and take interest where they might not otherwise.

New Duration: Performance. The spell lasts as long as the caster performs the Performance Ability. Performance is equivalent to Concentration Duration. To cast a Performance Duration spell, the magus must succeed in a roll (simple or stress die, according to circumstances) of Characteristic (varies with Ability) + Ability against an Ease Factor of 3.

The spell fails if this fails, and botches if the roll botches. The spell ends when the magus ceases to perform the Ability, but no Concentration or Ability rolls are needed to maintain the spell while the performance continues.

Formulaic spells must be devised with the new Duration to use this Ability; if so designed, the spell cannot be cast without performing.

Example: Harold knows Performance Magic (Hunt), casts Hunter’s Tracks of the Faerie Glow (a variant of Tracks of the Faerie Glow), and succeeds with his simple Hunt roll. His magically enhanced vision persists as long as he keeps up the hunt, even if he is distracted by chatter or other spellcasting. Example: Orlando sings while he casts a Sung Lamp Without Flame. The light continues while he continues to sing, however badly, but ends when he stops singing. Needing to convey urgent instructions to a recalcitrant grog, he uses an enchanted device with Maintaining the Demanding Spell to maintain the spell while he stops to shout at the grog; before the Maintaining effect ends he resumes his sung performance.

Performance Abilities

Of the Abilities listed in this book, the following qualify for Performance Magic (although not all are particularly effective, and some may be hard to use effectively):

Physical: Athletics, Brawl, Chirurgy, Hunt, Legerdemain, Ride, Stealth, Swim, Bows, Great Weapon, Single Weapon, Thrown Weapon

Verbal: Bargain, Charm, Guile, Intrigue, Leadership, Teaching

Verbal And Physical: Animal Handling, Carouse, Music

Variable: Craft (Type), Profession (Type)

While Brawl and Martial Abilities may be used in Performance Magic, the magus needs to perform semi-ritualistic movements to cast spells, responding to the needs of the spell, not to the actions of an opponent. If the magus is in combat, then he may only use Performance Magic (Brawl or Martial Abilities) if the player rolls a stress die with three extra botch dice, and treats all non-botches as die rolls of zero. (This represents ignoring the opponent and casting the spell.)

Sorcerous Music (Performance Magic)

Performance Magic (Music) is often known as Sorcerous Music.

Music is unusual among Performance Magic Abilities — perhaps because instrumental music is similar to the human voice — in that playing a tune on an instrument can freely replace either or both of gestures and words. The magus needs to play an instrument in order to replace gestures, but has a free choice as to whether he sings or plays a tune to replace mystical words. Indeed, wind instruments require that he play a tune to replace words, as he cannot sing while playing a whistle!

Sorcerous Music can be performed as singing-only and not replace gestures (with normal spellcasting penalties or the benefits of Subtle Magic), or can be performed without singing (if the magus plays an instrumental tune), but cannot be performed silently.

When using Voice Range with Sorcerous Music, the spell carries as far as the music (song or instrument) could be heard. For some loud instruments, this may be a long way.

Recognizing Performance Magic

Most people do not recognize performing an Ability as spellcasting, so the performer may act more openly than most magi; even other Hermetic magi do not automatically recognize his actions.

If a Hermetic magus contemplates Fast Casting to oppose a spell and the caster is using Hermetic words and gestures, a magus may determine the Form automatically (page @@). In other circumstances, the magus must work the Form out.

Determining the Form of a Magical Effect: Stress Die + Perception + Awareness vs. 15 – effect magnitude

If the spell is being cast with mundane words or gestures, the Ease Factor is adjusted as follows:

–3 if Hermetic words are spoken (and can be heard)

+0 if Hermetic gestures are made (and seen)

+3 if both words and gestures are mundane

Persona

Minor, Supernatural

The character may adopt one or more flawless disguises, changing both his physical appearance and mannerisms. Choosing this Virtue confers the Supernatural Ability Persona 1.

Personal Power

Minor, Supernatural

The character has a supernatural power that he can activate at will. This is a single power, equivalent to a Formulaic Hermetic spell with a level of 25 or lower. The power has an Initiative equal to the character’s Quickness ¬– (power magnitude/2). It costs one Fatigue level to activate if its level is less than or equal to 50, and two Fatigue levels if its level is 51 to 100. You may also spend levels one-for-one to give the power Penetration; otherwise, it has a Penetration of zero.

The effect must meet at least one of the following criteria:

The effect must be Range: Personal, OR

The effect must be constant

This Virtue may be taken more than once, and the levels added together to create several powers. For example, a character who took the Virtue twice could have a power with a level of 30 and a Penetration of 0, and a second power with a level and Penetration of 10 each. Note that many powers with a Personal Range do not need a Penetration score, as they do not need to Penetrate the caster’s Magic Resistance (if any), and cannot affect any other target. If the character is likely to want to affect creatures with Magic Resistance while under the effect of the Personal Power, then Penetration may be valuable (see the Hermetic Magic chapter for further details on the functioning of Penetration).

This Virtue may be associated with any supernatural realm. If you have access to other books, such as Realms of Power: The Divine, Realms of Power: The Infernal, Realms of Power: Faerie, or Hedge Magic Revised Edition, you may want to base the power on a different system of supernatural powers, to get something more appropriate to the character. If you do, remember that the levels of effects may work on different scales for different systems, and you may want to change the number of levels of effect. The power must be associated with the same supernatural realm as the system on which it is based. (If you have access to other books, you may want to restrict powers based on Hermetic magic to the Magic realm.)

Personal Vis Source

Minor, Hermetic

You have exclusive access to a supply of raw vis. Determine the amount and type with the help of your troupe; the yield should be about one tenth as much as the player covenant expects to gather per year at the beginning of the saga. The yield of your source does not normally change over the course of time, even if the covenant uncovers new sources.

Physician of Salerno

Minor, General

The character has attended the famed School of Salerno, the pre-eminent source of medical learning. Not only does he carry the reputation of the school with him (granting a Reputation of Physician of Salerno 2), but he has also learned some unique medical procedures such as the preparation of anesthetics. This Virtue grants an additional 50 experience points to spend on Medicine, Philosophiae, and medical formulae (if you are using the rules in Art and Academe, Chapter Five). To take this Virtue, you must be able to take Academic Abilities.

Piercing Gaze

Minor, General

By staring intently at people you make them feel uneasy, as if you are peering into their souls. Those with ulterior motives, uneasy consciences, or lying tongues must make rolls against an appropriate Personality Trait, Guile, or whatever the storyguide deems appropriate, to remain calm. Furthermore, you gain a +3 to rolls involving intimidation. Faeries and demons are unfazed by your power.

Potent Magic

Minor or Major, Hermetic

The maga’s magic is particularly attuned to a narrow field, much as in a Magical Focus. The benefits of Potent Magic are compatible with a Magical Focus; unlike a Magical Focus, a maga may have more than one area of Potent Magic, although only one Potent Magic Virtue applies to any single activity. Potent Magic provides the maga with a bonus in her field of magic, and permits her to devise Potent spells that gain a casting bonus from the sympathetic magic in shapes and materials. Potent Magic can be taught as an alternative to a Magical Focus.

Minor Potent Magic covers the same narrow fields as a Minor Magical Focus, and grants a +3 bonus to Lab Totals and Casting Score.

Major Potent Magic covers the same wide fields as a Major Magical Focus, and grants a +6 bonus to Lab Totals and Casting Score.

A maga with Potent Magic may also invent new Potent spells within the field of her Potent Magic, and may vary spells she knows.

Potent Spells

A Potent spell has a bonus known as its Potency, which is arrived at by combining one or more Casting Items into the design of the spell. Casting Items use the factors given in the Shape and Material Bonus table (page @@): each Casting Item provides one bonus. (If more than one bonus is possible, the spell design states which one is used.)

Potency Score = Sum of Bonus from each Casting Item

Potency Bonus: Add Potency to Casting Score

Potency is part of the spell design; a Lab Text for a Potent spell includes the specified Casting Items and Potency Score. A magus teaching a Potent spell teaches the formula he knows, including the Casting Items and Potency Score. The level, for the purposes of inventing it as well as for casting, of a Potent spell is unaltered by the Potency Score. However, a magus may not invent a Potent spell with a Potency higher than his Magic Theory score, even with the aid of a Lab Text or teacher.

Any magus can learn a Potent spell from a Lab Text or teacher, and apply Potency to his Casting Score; the Potent Magic Virtue is required to design a Potent spell from scratch, but not to reproduce one from a Lab Text.

To cast a Potent spell, the caster must touch the specified Casting Items. The items need not be large; they may be small and symbolic (for example, a shield-shaped brooch is still symbolically a shield). If the caster does not have the Casting Items available, the spell cannot be cast at all.

Example: A wand provides several bonuses including +2 “repel things” and +4 “control things at a distance.” A Potent version of Disguise of the Putrid Aroma could use either bonus in its Potency. Combining it with magnetite (+3 Animal) allows a design with either Potency 5 (requires Magic Theory 5) or Potency 7 (requires Magic Theory 7). The caster must hold a wand and piece of magnetite (or a wand set with magnetite) to add the Potency to his Casting Score.

Potency applies only to Formulaic spells — Spontaneous Magic allows Ceremonial Casting to produce similar results, and enchanted devices use Shape and Material Bonuses during enchantment.

Potent Magic And Potent Spells

A magus with Potent Magic may create new Potent spells or alter Potent spells to vary the Casting Items.

When inventing a spell within the field of his Potent Magic (including from a Lab Text), the magus simply chooses Casting Items for the design, and then invents the spell as normal. Each chosen Casting Item (up to the limit of Magic Theory) adds a single Shape or Material Bonus to Potency; if more than one bonus might apply to the spell, choose one and note it in the design. The total Potency may not exceed the magus’s Magic Theory.

Rapid Convalescence

Minor, General

Your body can heal quickly. You get a +3 bonus on all rolls to recover from wounds.

Rat Up a Drainpipe

Minor, General

Using a mixture of acrobatics, climbing and dodging, this character can run through urban areas as if unobstructed. This gives a substantial advantage in opposed Athletics rolls which represent being chased.

Redcap

Major, Social Status

Although you do not have The Gift and cannot work Hermetic magic, you are a full member of the Order of Hermes and of House Mercere (see page @@). There are Gifted members of House Mercere, but they do not take this Virtue, taking the Hermetic Magus Social Status (page @@) instead.

You deliver messages for the Order, and you possess a number of enchanted devices to help you do this. A newly-Gauntleted Redcap has enchanted devices with fifty levels of effect, including modifications to the level due to factors such as the number of uses per day (see the Laboratory chapter, page @@, for details). These levels are invariably split between two or more effects useful for delivering messages. New Redcaps are never given items capable of killing, wounding, or ensorcelling large numbers of mundanes; the risk of abuse bringing trouble on the Order is too great. These will be upgraded and replaced in return for good service, on average an extra two levels per year. You are trained in a similar manner to magi, and may take Academic, Arcane, and Martial Abilities during character generation. You have spent fifteen years as an apprentice, and gained a total of 300 experience points in those fifteen years. (See Detailed Character Creation, page @@.) In addition, you have the Well Traveled Virtue (page @@) at no cost. When you start to age, a magus with a Lab Total of at least fifty will devise a Longevity Ritual (see page @@) for you free of charge, if you wish. If you make suitable contacts in the course of the saga, this ritual may be devised by a more powerful magus. Redcaps created some years past Gauntlet get improved enchanted devices, as described above, and, if applicable, a Longevity Ritual.

You are supported by your covenant, so you cannot take the Wealthy Virtue or Poor Flaw. You may not take The Gift. You must spend two seasons per year delivering messages for the Order. Your other two seasons are, however, genuinely free, and you may do whatever you wish. This Virtue is available to male and female characters.

Relic

Minor, General

You own a holy relic, such as the finger bone of a saint, with a True Faith Score of one. This can be built into any other item you possess (a sword, for instance). The relic does not possess any additional powers. See Chapter 12: Realms for rules for relics and True Faith.

Religious

Minor, Social Status

The character is a monk, a nun, a beguine, an anchoress or anchorite, a holy hermit, or similar. You may take Academic Abilities for the character during character generation. The Wealthy Virtue and Poor Flaw are unlikely to be appropriate.

Note that for a friar character you should take the Mendicant Friar Virtue instead. Monks ordained as priests should instead take the Priest Social Status. Senior monks and nuns should instead have the Senior Clergy Social Status.

Reserves of Strength

Minor, General

Once per day, when in need, you can perform an incredible feat of strength. For the duration of the action, add +3 to your effective Strength score. Afterwards, though, you must make two Fatigue rolls.

Ripper

Minor, Supernatural

A ripper has two powers. He can destroy a single piece of cloth, or disembowel a single animal, by spending a Fatigue level, at Sight range, without words or gestures. These are a PeAn(He) 25 and a PeAn 45 effect, each with +0 Penetration. Note that this description is deliberately limiting: a ripper can’t break a horse’s leg or send it blind. A ripper cannot sever a rope. A ripper cannot cleanly slice things with his mind. The ripper has two, entirely inflexible, effects.

Ritual Power

Major, Supernatural

The character has a supernatural power that he can activate at will. This is a single power, equivalent to a Ritual Hermetic spell with a level of 25 or lower. The power has an Initiative equal to the character’s Quickness ¬– (twice power magnitude). It costs one Fatigue level to activate if its level is less than or equal to 25, two Fatigue levels if its level is 26 to 50, and so on. In addition, you must spend one Confidence Point for every magnitude of the effect. You may also spend levels one-for-one to give the power Penetration; otherwise, it has a Penetration of zero.

This Virtue may be taken more than once, and the levels added together to create several powers or a single stronger power.

This Virtue may be associated with any supernatural realm. If you have access to other books, such as Realms of Power: The Divine, Realms of Power: The Infernal, Realms of Power: Faerie, or Hedge Magic Revised Edition, you may want to base the power on a different system of supernatural powers, to get something more appropriate to the character. If you do, remember that the levels of effects may work on different scales for different systems, and you may want to change the number of levels of effect. The power must be associated with the same supernatural realm as the system on which it is based. (If you have access to other books, you may want to restrict powers based on Hermetic magic to the Magic realm.)

Rosh Beth Din

Major, Social Status

The Rosh Beth Din, or Head of the Court, presides at the Beth Din rabbinic court. Your character must be (30 – Int) years old to take this Virtue and have scores of at least 5 in Hebrew, Rabbinic Law, and Theology: Judaism. Your character may purchase Academic Abilities at character generation and gains 50 extra experience points to be spent on the required Abilities.

The Rosh Beth Din gains the +2 good Reputation Rosh Beth Din, which applies across his country. This Virtue also includes the effects of the Social Contacts Virtue and you are able to find contacts within any Jewish community that supports a yeshivah. This Virtue is only available to male characters.

Schooled in Crime

Minor, General

The character has been trained extensively in the criminal arts, and has 50 additional experience to spend on Abilities related to thievery. Area Lore, Athletics, Awareness, Bargain, Brawl, Charm, Guile, Legerdemain and Stealth are all suitable, and other Abilities may be added to this list with troupe approval.

Second Sight

Minor, Supernatural

You are able to see through illusionary concealment and disguise, including invisibility, and can also see naturally invisible things such as spirits and the boundaries between regio levels (see page @@). Choosing this Virtue confers the Ability Second Sight 1 (page @@).

Secondary Insight

Minor, Hermetic

Your method of magical study is especially versatile. When you spend a season studying one of the magical Techniques from a book, a teacher, or raw vis, you also gain a single experience point in any 4 Forms of your choosing. When studying one of the magical Forms, you also gain a single experience point in any 2 separate Techniques of your choosing. You may not put more than one bonus experience point into a single Art, and may choose different Arts to receive the bonus experience points in each season, even when continuing to study the same Art from the same source. These bonus experience points are not increased by Affinities or any other factors.

See in Darkness

Minor, Supernatural

You can see in complete darkness. Other than that, your eyesight is not more acute than ordinary people’s, and you do not see farther than normal people would see in daylight.

Self-Confident

Minor, General

You have firm confidence in your own abilities, and have a Confidence Score of two. You also start with five Confidence Points, rather than the usual three. (See page @@ for Confidence rules.)

Senior Bard

Minor, Social Status

The character has spent five or six years at a bardic school, and is ranked a Cano or Cli respectively. The character has a Local Reputation of 2 representing his fame as a storyteller.

The character has a minimum age of 22, and you can spend experience points on any Realm Lore at character creation even if otherwise unable to take Arcane Abilities. The character should have at least one Area Lore, Realm Lore, or Organization Lore at a score of 5, and has an extra 90 experience points to spend on Art of Memory, Profession: Storyteller, Profession: Poet, any Area Lore, any Organization Lore, Faerie Lore, or Magic Lore. This Social Status is only available in Hibernia.

Senior Clergy

Major, Social Status

The character is an archbishop, bishop, abbot, abbess, or other senior member of the Church. He has access to the resources of the Church and may have additional duties and powers according to his office.

You may make take either the Wealthy or Poor Virtue/Flaw for the character. This does not necessarily represent the status of the character’s diocese — instead it represents the personal wealth of the character. Senior clergy can amass wealth by receiving the benefice of several offices. Indeed, it is not unusual for a character to receive the benefice from various parishes scattered throughout Mythic Europe. He may never even visit some of the dioceses in which his parishes are located, although obviously the character needs to employ a curate to discharge the actual priestly duties in these remote parishes.

The character has a Reputation of level 4, either good or bad, in both the local community and the Church.

You may purchase Academic Abilities for the character during character generation.

Senior clergy are subject to canon law, and must be celibate and tonsured (if male). Note whether the character has been ordained as a deacon, priest, bishop, etc. Abbess is the only common position available to women with this Virtue, and even such women are not ordained. The Paid Rights Virtue does not enable women to take any of the other positions.

Senior Master

Major, Social Status

The character has been a prosperous guild master for a number of years and has risen to a position of authority in his guild. He has knowledge of guild affairs and participate in the self-governing of the guild. He may own multiple workshops and employ a large number of workers. You may select Academic Abilities at character generation.

Sense Holiness and Unholiness

Minor, Supernatural

You are able to feel the presence of good and evil. In auras of particularly strong divine or infernal influence, your sensitivity may overwhelm you. Choosing this Virtue confers the Ability Sense Holiness and Unholiness 1 (page @@).

Sense Passions

Major, Supernatural

The character can see into the hearts and minds of others, learning their weaknesses, fears, and evil thoughts. This gives her the Supernatural Ability Sense Passions at 1 (page @@).

Shadchan

Minor, Social Status

Free, Social Status

The sofer is the scribe whose role it is to create a new Sefer Torah, or repair any fading or damage to an existing scroll, as required. The sofer must be educated and able to read and write Hebrew as the act of scribing the Sefer Torah requires knowledge and understanding of the text. As a sofer, the character must have the Educated (Hebrew) Virtue.

Special Circumstances

Minor, Hermetic

You are able to perform magic better in certain uncommon situations (such as during a storm or while touching the target), gaining a +3 bonus to your Casting Scores and Magic Resistance. (A character only gains a bonus to Magic Resistance if she has Magic Resistance from another source.) You may take this Virtue more than once, but you only gain a +3 bonus even if more than one set of circumstances applies.

Spell Improvisation

Minor, Hermetic

The magus may add the magnitude of a Formulaic spell he knows as a bonus to his Casting Total when Spontaneously casting a spell that is similar to it (see Similar Spells, page @@). This includes fast-casting a spell that is the same as or very similar to one of his Formulaic spells, though he does not get this bonus if he has the Fast Cast Ability for a mastered spell, since in that case you add his Mastery Ability instead. This bonus does not stack with other bonuses to his Casting Total, nor does it stack with itself if the magus happens to know several similar spells.

Spirit Votary

Free, Mythic Companion

Taking this Virtue at character creation makes the character a Spirit Votary, a kind of Mythic Companion (page @@). This Virtue grants the Second Sight Virtue for free, and allows the character to have two points of Virtues for every point of Flaw.

Spiritual Pact

Major, Supernatural

The character has made a pact or agreement with a powerful Magical spirit, and in return for loyal service, is granted access to that spirit’s power. The pact serves as an Arcane Connection to the character of indefinite duration, which the spirit can use to make itself aware of the current location and state of health of its servant.

The character can channel the power of the spirit by spending a Confidence Point. Make a Presence + Magic Lore + stress die roll: this is the amount of Magic Might Pool that the character acquires from his spiritual master. The Might points acquired are always less than the current Might points of the spirit, regardless of the roll’s result. On a botch, the character loses all current Confidence points. This action is equivalent to spellcasting with regard to the concentration it requires. The character can spend these Might points on any of the spirit’s powers. Penetration is calculated in the usual way for magical creatures using the initial Might Pool in place of Magic Might, and including the character’s Penetration Ability, if any.

The character using this power does not have a Might score, just a Might pool. He does not gain Magic Resistance from the use of this power, nor does he leave behind vis if he is slain. He cannot be affected by Vim spells (or similar magics) that target the Might score of supernatural creatures. Without a Might score, the pool does not replenish; once the character has spent all of his Might points this power ends. All powers used have their duration lapse when the character uses his last point of Might Pool. If this power is evoked again while the character still possesses Might Pool, then the new points gained replace the points left over; the two pools do not add. The points acquired by the character are lost from the spirit’s Might pool and cannot be returned by the character, but the spirit regenerates the spent points as normal.

While the connection to the spirit is active, there is some visual manifestation of this, which makes it clear that some supernatural effect is taking place. For example, if contacting a fertility spirit, fruits and grains might spring from around the character’s footsteps. While in contact with a war spirit, a character might appear to be clothed in ghostly armor. When the character is actively channeling the spirit, he acts as an Arcane Connection to the spirit of indefinite duration, although this connection lapses when the Might Pool is exhausted.

The storyguide should decide upon the powers of the spirit. With the agreement of the troupe, this Virtue could be used to channel the power from a spirit of a different Supernatural Realm; or from a group of closely related spirits, such as a small pantheon of pagan “gods,” but care should be taken not to grant the character too much flexibility with this one Virtue. A character can only have a single pact.

Strong Angelic Heritage

Minor, Supernatural

Your angelic heritage is purer, granting you a Divine Might score and supernatural powers. This Virtue may only be taken if you have the Major Virtue Blood of the Nephilim.

You are a divine being and possess a Divine Might (Corpus) score equal to your age divided by 20, which increases as you grow older. This grants you a Magic Resistance score. You contain a number of pawns of Corpus vis equal to your Divine Might divided by 10 (rounded down, but always at least one pawn) that can only be extracted if you are dead. You are immune to Warping of any sort, and may not have any supernatural powers that derive from a realm other than the Divine.

You have up to thirty levels of holy powers that may be invoked by spending Might points. Design the powers’ effects using the Hermetic spell guidelines (or the guidelines for Holy Powers in Realms of Power: The Divine, from page 46). The Might cost for each power is equal to its magnitude divided by two (rounded down, but always at least one point). The Initiative score of the power is your Quickness.

You may take this Virtue multiple times. Each additional time you take it increases by thirty the number of levels of holy powers you may invoke, but has no other effect; in particular, it does not increase your Divine Might.

Strong Faerie Blood

Major, Supernatural

The blood of the fay is strong in you. Perhaps one of your parents was actually a faerie, or maybe you were conceived or born in a place of great faerie power. This ancestry grants you several abilities.

First, you have natural longevity. You start making aging rolls at the age of fifty, rather than the normal 35, and get –3 to Aging Rolls, cumulative with any other bonuses.

Second, you have faerie eyes. This gives you the Virtue Second Sight (see page @@) at no cost, and you can see normally in total darkness or semi-darkness, such as in deep woods or at night. Your eyes look mostly normal, but are an unusual and vivid color.

Third, you may learn Faerie Lore during character generation.

Finally, you get the benefits of a particular type of fay heritage, as given in the Virtue Faerie Blood (page @@). Your specific fay heritage is clearly visible. Choose one physical quirk, such as small horns, literally blue blood, or eyes without irises and pupils, appropriate to the faeries from which you are descended.

You may not have both Faerie Blood and Strong Faerie Blood.

This is a Supernatural Virtue, and you cannot lose it when being trained as a magus (see page @@). If your master cannot preserve the ability, you cannot be trained.

Strong-Willed

Minor, General

You cannot easily be coerced into activities, beliefs, or feelings. You get +3 on any roll which may require strength of will.

Student of (Realm)

Minor, General

You have been trained in the mystical aspects of one of the four realms of power (Divine, Faerie, Infernal, or Magic), and you have a +2 bonus on all uses of the appropriate Lore. You may take that Lore at character generation even if you cannot learn other Arcane Abilities. You may take this Virtue multiple times, for a different realm each time. You may not take Student of (Realm) and Puissant Ability for the same Lore.

Study Bonus

Minor, Hermetic

When given the opportunity to study an Art from books or raw vis in the presence of the Form or Technique, your surroundings give you new insights into your studies. Add two to die rolls to study from vis, or two to the Quality of any text you study from. Your current Art score determines the magnitude of the surroundings you require to get the bonus. See the table for some guidelines.

Study Bonus Examples Art Score Minimum Presence of Art

0 A candle flame (Ignem), a magic aura (Vim), a dying insect (Perdo)

5 A pond (Aquam), a painting (Imaginem), a caterpillar and butterfly (Muto)

10 A breezy place in the open air (Auram), a live animal at least the size of a cat (Animal), half a dozen plants at different stages of growth (Creo)

15 An area of bare natural rock, such as a mountainside (Terram), a human corpse to dissect (Corpus), at least one book on each of a dozen mundane subjects (Intellego)

20 In a forest (Herbam), at a gathering of scholars (Mentem), at a law court (Rego)

25 In a boat on a large body of water (Aquam), in a strong (6+) magic aura (Vim), in a hospital full of people dying of pestilence (Perdo)

30 In the middle of a large fire (Ignem), in a building covered with elaborate figured decoration in many media, where music is constantly played (Imaginem), in the presence of a magical shapeshifter whose transformations you can control (Muto).

35 Flying in the middle of a hurricane (Auram), while dissecting several magical animals (Animal), while surrounded by scrying devices showing every detail of the country for miles around (Intellego)

Subtle Magic

Minor, Hermetic

You may cast spells without using gestures at no penalty. You gain no benefits from using normal gestures but gain the normal benefit for exaggerated gestures.

Sufi

Minor, Social Status, Supernatural

You are a Muslim mystic, seeking a closer union with God through asceticism and rituals. You are a member of a tariqa of Sufis led by a shaykh. While the group supports you in times of need, your shaykh expects equal commitment from you to him or her and the other members; you automatically have the Minor Story Flaw Mentor, which does not yield any points for buying Virtues. See Realms of Power: The Divine, Revised Edition, page 116, for details of the supernatural powers wielded by some Sufis. It is also possible to be an entirely mundane Sufi, in which case you should take this Virtue as a Social Status Virtue.

Most Muslims treat you with respect for your pious lifestyle. You may purchase the Abilities Theology: Islam, Islamic Law, and Dominion Lore at character creation.

This Virtue may be taken by both male and female characters, either as a Minor Social Status Virtue or a Minor Supernatural Virtue.

Summon Animals

Major, Supernatural

You are able to summon animals to your side. This Virtue grants a score of 1 in the Supernatural Ability Summon Animals.

Supernatural Beauty

Major, Supernatural

The character possesses that style of mystical beauty that, when threatened, calls royal power, folk magic, and heroism to its defense. A player may use this Virtue, once per story, to ask a storyguide to insert a fortunate coincidence, of the storyguide’s choice, into a scene. The troupe may veto the use of the Virtue in any situation where supernatural aid seems profoundly unlikely. Characters with this Virtue are frequently assisted by passing knights of chivalrous inclination, often find magic weapons, and frequently have their jailers, or their jailers’ daughters, fall in love with them.

Faeries frequently assist characters with this Virtue. Faeries understand the classic forms of aid that beauty evokes in stories, and so many of the magical steeds and wandering princes the character encounters are actually faeries, watching the story unfold from the inside. A character lacking a positive Presence score may not have this Virtue.

Tainted Treasure

Minor, General, Tainted

The character has inherited or acquired a vast amount of treasure, but it is cursed to cause harm. This treasure might come from an ancestor who made a deal with demons, or tricked them out of money. It might have been stolen from one of the secret caches that demons maintain, so that they have wealth nearby to tempt humans. A tainted person who rebels, and swaps the Tragic Life Flaw for the Plagued by Supernatural Entity Flaw, might be tempted to retain some of the valuable props provided for their role. The treasure is sufficient that the character could transform it into a source of the Wealthy Virtue. As examples, the character could buy a ship and become a trader, or buy land in a city and become a landlord.

The difficulty is that the wealth is cursed, so it lacks the natural increase in bounty that is a gift from God. If traded for other items of value, the curse moves to these items. Any venture into which it is invested will, eventually, fail. Any building it is used to purchase will, eventually, burn down. If it is used for a non-sinful purpose, the treasure destroys itself: gold given to charity turns to sand, ships used to ferry supplies to the starving steer themselves onto rocks.

The wealth may be used to purchase the services of people, who, because they have souls, choose their own fates. The limitation that the wealth only allows itself to be spent sinfully remains, however, so it is likely to be given to amoral, covetous, envious, dangerous people.

Templar Administrator

Minor, Social Status

The character is technically a brother-knight or brother-sergeant for the Poor Knights of the Temple of Solomon, but is really an administrator for the order’s many holdings and activities. While he has sworn the Templar oath and vows, and lives a monastic life, his many duties mean he is likely to never see active combat. He is answerable only to his superiors in the order and to the pope. He may have considerable influence and access to enormous resources, but no additional time. You may take Academic Abilities during character creation. This Virtue can replace the Brother-Knight, Brother-Sergeant, and Brother-Priest Status Virtues. This Virtue is only available to male characters.

Minor, Social Status

Troubadours are wandering minstrels and poets (“trobairitz” is the feminine form). The tradition originated in southern France (see Faith and Flame, page 12), but has spread across much of western Europe.

You are not tied to any community and survive by performing, entertaining, or doing other casual work. You may take Academic skills during character creation and should have a reputation regarding the sort of material you produce and your adherence to the tenets of courtly love. The Wealthy Virtue and Poor Flaw affect you normally, although if you are wealthy, you are supported by someone. Your supporter does not question your activities in any way, however.

Troubadour characters often possess Virtues such as Famous, Free Expression, Inspirational, Puissant Performance, Social Contacts, True Love, and Well-Traveled.

Troupe Upbringing

Minor, General

You were raised among a group of entertainers, spending much of your childhood traveling from town to town. Rolls involving Abilities in a selected area (which you should have approved by the storyguide) receive a +2 modifier. Examples might include tumbling and acrobatics, knife throwing and juggling, or storytelling and acting.

True Faith

Major, General

Through piety and holy devotion you have faith that can move mountains. You have a True Faith score of one and can gain more. For more about True Faith, see page @@.

True Love (PC)

Minor, General

You have found the one person meant for you in all of creation, and the bond between the two of you cannot be sundered. Whenever you are suffering, in danger, or dejected, the thought of your love gives you strength to persevere. Thus, you may add +3 to appropriate Personality Trait rolls, and add additional bonuses as allowed by the storyguide (never in excess of +3) to activities that will return you to your love, or save her life. In dire need, she may even come to rescue you. On the other hand, you are tied to your lover, to whom you must return frequently. If you do not, you may suffer penalties to most actions requiring spirit due to melancholy. If any enchantment keeps you from your true love’s side, the power of your devotion can probably break it. Your True Love is another player character, who must also have this Virtue. True Love is never one-sided.

This Virtue may be renamed ‘True Friend’ to cover equally close attachments which are not romantic.

Turb Trained

Minor, Social Status

This character has grown up at the covenant, been trained to fight in the turb, and picked up a few things from the magi’s trusted servants. At character creation, he is allowed to learn Martial Abilities. He may also learn whichever single dead language the magi speak in addition to his local tongue. His fortunes are tied to the turb, and he is thus prohibited from being Wealthy or Poor.

Unaffected by The Gift

Minor, General

The character is not affected by the negative effects of The Gift or Magical Air in others. Even a Blatant Gift does not especially bother the character.

Unaging

Minor, Supernatural

You do not suffer the effects of age. In game terms, your aging points do not decrease your Characteristics, only building up to give you Decrepitude points. If a crisis is not potentially fatal, you suffer no ill-effects. You may die from terminal and potentially fatal crises, according to the normal rules. You are not enfeebled when you reach four Decrepitude points, but you die as normal when you reach five. You may choose your apparent age freely, although if you are basically human it should be less than or equal to your actual age.

Unbound Tongue

Minor, Supernatural

Whenever the character is transformed into a non-human form (whether by spell, magic item, curse, or a heartbeast) he may speak any human languages he knows with no impediment. If he is a magus, he may use his voice as normal to cast spells.

University Grammar Teacher

Minor, Social Status

The character is employed by a university to teach its younger members grammar. The character can be of any age and either gender. He may purchase the Academic Abilities: Latin and Artes Liberales at character generation, and should have a score in Teaching. He must teach two seasons out of the year.

Variable Power

You can create winds by whistling. This Virtue grants a score of 1 in the Supernatural Ability Whistle Up The Wind.

Wilderness Sense

Minor, Supernatural

You are mystically attuned to the ways of the wilderness. Choosing this Virtue confers the Ability Wilderness Sense 1 (page @@).

Wisdom from Ignorance

Minor, Supernatural

One school of Sufis found in Egypt is particularly interested in calligraphy, and the aesthetics of the enigma. By this, they mean that pondering texts which have been structured as mean- ingful, but which the viewer cannot read, can be used as a form of meditation which brings enlightenment. They are able to use books as sources of training provided they are unable to read the language they are written in.

The sufis use this ability to gain understanding of spiritual matters, so players should create Ability books normally, and when sufis use this Virtue, switch the Ability learned from the book to Theology, Organisation Lore: Sufis or similarly uplifting subjects. A sufi using this Virtue may occasionally gain experience in materially practical Abilities, but this only occurs in the context of overcoming specific challenges on spiritual journeys. Directly applicable learning like this is considered a miracle by the sufi, and troupes should police this like any other miracle.

Wise One

Minor, Social Status

You belong to a broad class that includes mystics, seers, healers, and the like. You are probably magical, and will probably want to purchase a Virtue that gives you some sort of supernatural ability. You are well regarded in the community, although your presence may cause fear as well as awe or respect. If you lack such good standing, though, you are most likely a wanderer or an outcast. You may take either Arcane or Academic Abilities, but not both, at character creation. The Wealthy Virtue and Poor Flaw affect you normally. This Virtue is available to male and female characters.

Withstand Casting

Minor, Hermetic

If a magus has this Virtue, then whenever he is about to lose Fatigue from casting a spell, he loses 1 less Fatigue level than normal, with a minimum of 1 Fatigue level — but if the spell would have been cast without Fatigue loss, then he still loses no Fatigue.

A magus may take the Virtue more than once, and withstand 1 Fatigue level for each level of the Virtue, although the minimum Fatigue loss remains. If he has Withstand Casting (3), he may withstand up to 3 Fatigue levels lost, with a minimum of 1 level lost.

The Virtue decreases the severity of the Fatigue lost in the exact manner of the existing Fatigue loss. Thus, if the magus casts a Formulaic spell, the Fatigue is short-term Fatigue, easily recovered, and if he runs out of Fatigue levels he is rendered unconscious, loss of extra Fatigue levels results in him being unconscious for one hour for each overflowing level, and the respite of Withstand Casting lessens this. If, on the other hand, he casts a Ritual spell, then the Fatigue is long-term Fatigue, and losing more Fatigue than he has remaining causes wounds — the respite of Withstand Casting reduces the severity of wounds, and this may result in him taking no wounds (with the minimum Fatigue lost rendering him unconscious).

You may not start your character with both Vulnerable Casting and Withstand Casting. However, she may acquire both in the course of play (Withstand Casting from Initiation rituals or beneficial Twilight effects; Vulnerable Casting from Ordeals or bad Twilight effects). If this occurs, apply the extra loss from Vulnerability first, then withstand the increased loss.

Some Virtues, such as Life Boost and Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic, actually use the magus’s life-force to power the spell: the lost Fatigue powers the spell, and without that loss, no power boost is possible. While a magus may choose to apply Withstand Casting to such a spell, if he does then he loses the benefits from withstood levels.

Example: Vita, a maga with Life-Linked Spontaneous Magic, aims to cast a level 20 spell, but falls short and only generates a level 16 result. She will lose 2 Fatigue levels (1 for spontaneous casting, 1 for the shortfall in Life- Linked Magic).

Although she has Vulnerable Casting (1) (from past Twilight experiences) so suffers an extra Fatigue level loss, she also has Withstand Casting (3) (from Initiations), and can use this to withstand the Fatigue lost to the Vulnerable Casting.

She has another 2 levels of Withstand Casting, but if she eliminates the Life-Linked loss, the spell will fail (and she will still suffer any remaining Fatigue loss). She cannot Withstand the base Spontaneous casting Fatigue.

It is, however, useful to have the Withstand Casting Virtue even with Life- Linked Spontaneous Magic, in case that shortfall is extreme; for example, if the magus botches and the Casting Total is reduced to zero.

Example: Some time later, Vita tries again, hoping to cast another level 20 spell. However, she botches, and her Casting Total is zero. She would normally lose 6 Fatigue levels (1 for spontaneous casting, plus 1 for Vulnerable Casting, plus 4 for the shortfall in Casting Total), but she can withstand 3 Fatigue levels lost, and only suffers a net loss of 3 Fatigue levels. The spell fails, but she is still conscious.

Flaws

Abandoned Apprentice

For a Minor Story Flaw, the character has a rival who is both fiercely protective of him and obsessed with opposing him at every turn. For Tytalan magi, this rival is usually an older maga, most likely the magus’s former teacher, or possibly an elder apprentice of the character’s master. Much like the Enemies Flaw, the rival periodically causes trouble for the magus; however, she jealously guards the privilege of making the magus’s life a misery, and often steps in to remove obstacles that are not of her own making. The rival genuinely believes that her opposition benefits her victim, and desires to see him prosper through adversity.

If the character takes on the role of the beloved rival for another character, then this is a Major Flaw. The character generates stories by causing trouble for their rival, and also has to react when someone else tries to harm them.

Such relationships are a tradition of House Tytalus, and may be mutual. When the rivalry is mutual, the troupe may allow the character to take both the Minor and Major versions of this Flaw. This will mean that the rivalry will be a very important feature of the whole saga, and thus the whole troupe must consider whether they want that.

Bigamist

Major, Story

The character has two entirely separate lives, in two cities, and moves between the two on some pretext, most likely trade. Bigamists have two spouses, and maintain two households, which they must pay for. If you are using the rules in City and Guild, the merchant’s annual cost of maintaining his business rises by (6 x Wealth Multiplier) Labor Points. Some bigamists mitigate this expense by pretending to be of lower status in their alternate life, which reduces the additional Labor Point cost by half (to 3 x Wealth Multiplier).

Black Sheep

Major, Story

You come from a prestigious family, but you have somehow estranged yourself from your relatives. They have nothing to do with you, unless they wish to punish you somehow or make use of you. Those who resent your family’s power can take safe revenge by assaulting you. You begin the game with a bad Reputation of your choice at level 2, among those who respect your family.

Blackmail

Minor, Story

You have information that some powerful person would prefer kept hidden. You receive payments or services in return for your silence, and you may occasionally demand special favors. Don’t push your luck — your victim may decide it isn’t worth the cost, or silence you permanently. This benefit has a yearly value of about 50 silver pennies, possibly more if you keep the pressure on. You should detail and record the specifics of this arrangement.

Blatant Gift

Major, Hermetic

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, and should see page @@ for further discussion of this Flaw’s effects.

Blatant Magical Air

Major, Supernatural

Only characters with a Magical Air or The Gift may take this Flaw.

The character is especially disturbing to others, so much that they can barely tolerate its presence. The character suffers a –6 penalty to social actions, and is immediately hated and feared by members of the mundane population. This effect is the same as the Blatant Gift, and a character may not have both Flaws.

Major, General

You have little or no sight. Using missile weapons is futile, reading is impossible, and navigation in unknown territory is difficult to say the least. Blind magi can detect targets by other senses, and thus are less limited than people trying to use missile weapons. However, blind magi cannot aim spells without magical aid.

Bound Casting Tools

Minor, Hermetic

The magus’s casting tools, as used by House Verditius, are so personal that they become lasting Arcane Connections to him. Regular casting tools remain as Arcane Connections for a few weeks, his last years.

Bound Magic

Minor, Hermetic

When you die, all of your spells end abruptly and any magic items that you created cease to function. You cannot take this Flaw with Harnessed Magic (page @@), as that Virtue already includes this effect.

Bound to (Realm)

Major, Supernatural

The character is no longer able to survive in the mundane world, and sickens if it is outside a particular sort of supernatural aura for an extended period of time. The character must live in a supernatural aura of 5 or greater to remain healthy; if it spends most of a season outside such an aura, make a Stamina Roll against an Ease Factor of (9 – Size). If you fail the roll, the character sustains a Heavy wound, unless the previous season it also failed such a roll, in which case it sustains an Incapacitating wound instead. Choose the realm (Divine, Faerie, Infernal, or Magic) to which the character is bound when you take the Flaw.

Bound to (Role) Role

Minor, Supernatural

This character is physically bonded to some form of device, whether through a mystic event, long years of exposure and warping, or the ministrations of an experimental magus. The degree of the bonding is for the troupe to define, but the bonding may be physical, such as a locksmith whose fingers are picks, files, and keys, or mystical, such as a watchman who is confined to his watch tower as though contained by an unbreakable ward. The manner of this bonding determines the kind of life that the character may live. A watchman unable to leave his tower may make it his home, while a coachman who has become part of his coach cannot survive for long once separated from it.

If separated from the bonded device or place in any way, the character must make deprivation checks as though deprived of food (i.e., a check every three days). The effects of this are canceled if the character is brought into contact with the device or returned to his bound place, at which point they rebond.

This Flaw also includes the effects of the Unaging Virtue, but the character’s apparent age advances in line with their physical age. Role-Bound characters retain the need to sleep and breathe and those not physically bonded to a device, such as those bound to a place, retain their other physical needs.

This Flaw may originate from any of the Supernatural Realms: a magical origin might represent the expression of an Essential Trait, a faerie origin could show that the character occupies an archetypal role, ready to play his part in the wider story, while divine and infernal origins may represent eternal punishment on Earth.

This Flaw may only be taken by grogs and is suitable for the Warping to a Pattern Minor Site Hook presented in Covenants, page 11.

Branded Criminal

Minor, Social Status

As punishment for some crime in your past, a mark has been burned into your cheek. This adversely affects your ability to function in society. You may not take the Wealthy Virtue, but you may take Martial Abilities at character creation. You may choose not to take such abilities, if your crime was not violent.

Broken Vessel

Minor, Supernatural

The character is constantly aware that her supernatural powers may only be temporary. Failures using those abilities represent the ebbing away of the power that sustains them. When a zero is rolled on any Stress Roll (not Simple Roll) for any of her Supernatural Abilities, Powers, or in casting spells, she loses 5 experience points from that Ability or an Art involved in the Power or Spell. If the roll then botches, the character automatically loses enough experience points to reduce her score in the affected Art or Ability by one full level (or 5 experience points, whichever is greater). Characters may only take this Flaw if they have at least one Supernatural Ability or Art normally improved through experience points.

Brutal Artist

Minor, Hermetic

This Flaw is only available to magi of House Jerbiton. The magus creates and enjoys art that is ugly, according to his Housemates. He suffers a –3 penalty on social rolls with Jerbiton magi, and cannot develop a positive Reputation in the House, because his mind is so obviously disturbed. This restricts his involvement in the leagues (see Houses of Hermes: Societates, page 53). Over time, the character might convince his sodales that his work is not ugly, but this requires stories, much as removing any other Flaw.

Busybody

Minor, Personality

You usually know everything that is going on among your friends and acquaintances, especially in private matters. You are always interested in rumors and gossip, and are frequently able to extract personal secrets from people. Among magi the language is more dignified, but the idea is the same: you keep tabs on the Hermetic community (your covenant, your House, and nearby covenants — at the least). However, magi probably don’t have much knowledge of what’s going on among the lower-class members of their covenant unless they choose to apply this Flaw specifically to such people at character creation.

Carefree

Minor, Personality

You are unshakably cheerful and happy in all circumstances.

Careless Sorcerer

Minor, Hermetic

You are slapdash in your use of magical power, and must roll two more botch dice than normal when casting spells. Note that if you would normally roll no botch dice, you still roll none.

Careless with (Ability)

Minor, General

The character is particularly reckless when it comes to a particular Ability, chosen when this Virtue is taken. This Ability should be one that is important to the character, or the troupe may veto the choice of this Flaw. When she fails, she does so dramatically. Whenever she rolls a zero when using the Ability, that zero is treated as a botch. She may need to roll extra botch dice depending on the circumstances, but she always suffer the effects of at least a single botch. This Flaw may be taken more than once; each time, it applies to a different Ability.

Castratus

Minor, General

You were castrated before puberty, leaving you beardless and somewhat effeminate compared to most men. Social rolls involving characters from Latin culture suffer a –3 penalty. Under Byzantine law you may not marry, although you may adopt children. In Byzantine culture, this may have been an astute career move on your guardians’ part, as eunuchs can attain positions of power. Elsewhere, it was probably the result of an accident or an assault. This Flaw is only available to characters who were born with testicles.

Ceremonial Spontaneous Magic

Minor, Hermetic

You need time and effort to focus your Spontaneous magic. You can only cast Spontaneous spells using the rules for Ceremonial Casting (page @@). This Flaw is not compatible with Difficult Spontaneous Magic or Weak Spontaneous Magic.

Chaotic Magic

Major, Hermetic

Your magic is very wild. When you cast a spontaneous spell, you must specify a desired level of effect. If you fall short of or exceed that target by more than one level, the spell still works, but its effects are beyond your control—the storyguide decides the results. The level of effect includes any levels you assign to Penetration.

Church Upbringing

Minor, Personality

This Flaw covers children schooled by the Church and mostly raised by clerics as well, a fate befalling some orphans, bastards, Gifted children, and other misfits. The Church may act out of charity or a wealthy individual may have paid to discreetly get a difficult child out of the way. This secluded upbringing leaves the character less knowledgeable about the rest of society, which he finds unstructured, uncouth, and confusing. The player must spend 25 experience points from the normal budget on Artes Liberales, Latin, Music, Organization Lore: Church, or Theology. Unless the character has a Virtue that permits it, no other experience points may be spent on Academic Abilities.

Close Family Ties

Minor, Story

Your family is one of the most important things in your life, and still supports and aids you whenever possible, even at personal risk. Family members do not hesitate to do you any favor that is within their power, and can call on their friends and neighbors to help you. It works both ways, however; your family will require help from you some day.

Clumsy

Minor, General

You are not very graceful and tend to drop things — you are at –3 in all related rolls. Furthermore, roll an extra botch die when taking actions related to Dexterity. Roleplay your clumsiness.

Clumsy Magic

Minor, Hermetic

You have trouble targeting your spells accurately. Any aiming roll is subject to disastrous failure: an aiming roll of 0 is automatically a botch. (Aiming rolls do not count as mystical rolls for the purposes of gaining Warping Points.) You receive a –3 penalty to any rolls involving Finesse.

Companion Animal

Minor, Social Status, animals only

The character is the Animal Companion of another character (either a player character or a storyguide character) and therefore has little control over his own life. He is largely dependent on his master for food and shelter, and has an additional Personality Trait of “Loyal to Master” which represents this bond. Among people who know his master, the character is treated better than he would be, perhaps as that person’s pet or bodyguard. Others most likely treat him as a brute or a dumb beast.

Compassionate

Major or Minor, Personality

You help anyone who is wounded or in trouble. You cannot bear to see suffering in others, although you happily drive yourself to exhaustion.

Compulsion

Major or Minor, Personality

You have an unfortunate urge that you have trouble resisting. Examples include drinking, sex, perfection, bragging, or gambling.

Compulsive Lying

Major or Minor, Personality

Telling the truth is really hard for this character. This does not apply in situations where the answer is evident and any lie would be transparent; he does not claim that the sky is green under normal conditions. However, when he cannot be immediately caught out, he finds it hard to avoid embellishing stories, or simply making them up. Perhaps he wants to make himself look good, perhaps he wants to downplay his own part in a conflict, or perhaps he just loves the power of confusing people.

The Constant Expression

Major, Hermetic

The maga forms the center of a magical maelstrom, perpetually casting non-fatiguing Spontaneous magic effects. The resulting effects are minor due to the nature of non-fatiguing Spontaneous magic but are likely to cause distraction and/or other problems. Though non-fatiguing, the effort of marshaling the magic into less dangerous forms is tiring and the maga is considered to have lost one long-term Fatigue level which cannot be regained through sleep. The effects produced by the constant expression may target anything that the maga could normally target with spontaneous spell, including herself, although they are more likely to target things touched by or seen by the maga.

The maga may actively concentrate in order to suppress this automatic magic entirely, making an initial Stamina + Concentration simple roll against Ease Factor 3 + (Warping Score). On a failure, a further roll is allowed every two minutes after the maga has composed herself. If the magic has been suppressed, the maga may cast Spontaneous and Formulaic spells normally.

In order to cast Ceremonial or Ritual magic the maga must make a Concentration roll as described above. One attempt can be made every 15 minutes, a successful attempt sufficient to cover the duration of the casting. Nevertheless, the maga suffers a number of additional botch dice equal to her Warping Score.

The constant expression of magic also makes laboratory work inherently risky. Any laboratory the maga works in is treated as having a free Flaw providing a Safety penalty of –3 (see Covenants, page 111).

Penalties from foreign auras, or from effects such as Aegis of the Hearth, may dampen the constant expression. Where the penalty reduces the casting total to 0, no magic is expressed.

The player should decide, based on personality, sigil, and favored arts, how the constant expression most often manifests, though the storyguide may vary the actual effect scene-by-scene.

Conciatta of Bonisagus, a brilliant theorist of the tenth century who extended Hermetic magic to affect the Divine, Faerie, and Infernal realms, famously suffered from this Flaw, which is otherwise extremely rare. Other magi may assume that a character who has it has some connection with her. More details of Conciatta can be found in Legends of Hermes.

Consumed Casting Tools

Minor, Hermetic

The character’s casting tools are magically consumed after he uses them. It takes an hour to make a new casting tool. Regular casting tools do not allow the magus to make multiple copies of them, so he may not stock up on casting tools. Making a casting tool for a spell that already has a casting tool erases the magical connection from the existing tool to the spell. The magus does not need a laboratory to make casting tools. This Flaw may only be taken by Verditius magi.

Continence

Minor, Personality

You do not engage in sexual activity. This may be due to a vow of celibacy, or simply personal choice.

Corrupted Abilities

Minor, Supernatural, Tainted

One or more of the character’s Abilities was taught to her by a demon, or came through some other corrupted source of study. Use of a corrupted Ability for a selfish or sinful action receives a +3 bonus to the roll. Succeeding in a roll because of this bonus (that is, when without it the roll would have failed) means that the character immediately acquires 5 experience points in that Ability. However, uses of the Ability that are neutral or selfless receive a –3 penalty, and if you fail the roll because of this penalty, the character loses 5 experience points in the Ability. Any use of a corrupted Ability is an unholy act, which can be sensed by Divine Powers. You may only take this Flaw once, though you can choose to have it affect multiple Abilities if you wish.

Corrupted Arts

Minor, Hermetic, Tainted

The character has studied one of the Hermetic Arts from a corrupted source. Use of a corrupted Art for a selfish or sinful action receives a +3 bonus to the character’s Casting Total. Succeeding in a roll because of this bonus (that is, when without it the roll would have failed) means he immediately acquires 5 experience points in that Art. However, uses of the Art that are neutral or selfless receive a –3 penalty, and if you fail the roll because of this penalty, he immediately loses 5 experience points in the Art.

Any use of a corrupted Art taints the character’s magic, causing it to appear unholy. You may only take this Flaw once, though it can affect multiple Arts.

Corrupted Spells

Demonic Familiar

Minor, Story

The character is bound to a famulus, a familiar demon that possesses an animal and can lend the character its senses, or mask the evil taint of her Powers. This demonic familiar is not loyal to the character or concerned about her well-being, and often has its own goals and needs. The character may occasionally need to bargain with it or even threaten it to receive its aid.

At the storyguide’s discretion, this Flaw may be taken to represent other sorts of demons with which the character has a close relationship, such as a warder, teacher, or paramour. The more powerful the demon, the more the character will be expected to do to earn its assistance, and the less involved it will be with her on a daily basis.

Dependent

Major, Story

You feel responsible for someone, and bound to help if they are in trouble. This person may be a relative or friend, but should be relatively weak and a non-player character. If your Dependent passes beyond your ability to help, or becomes too powerful, you should substitute another Story Flaw. Possibilities include taking the children of the old Dependent as new dependents, taking the killers of the Dependent as Enemies, or taking the Dependent as a True Friend.

Depraved

Major or Minor, Personality

The character seeks to undermine religion whenever possible, and generally tries to avoid the Dominion. He might sin in public, teach misinformation about the tenets of the faith, or show obvious disdain for holy things. He is not necessarily an infernalist; it could be that he simply despises organized religion, dislikes the Divine realm, or does not believe in God. He might even be persuaded to attend services, though he does not take any of it seriously and is likely to disrupt the ceremony with his discomfort and ignorance.

Depressed

Minor, Personality

You have a dark outlook on life, seeing little point in acting and taking no pleasure in anything that happens.

Deteriorating Power

Minor, Supernatural

Like the Variable Powers Virtue, this Flaw reduces the effectiveness of one of the character’s powers (Greater, Lesser, or Ritual) over time. This penalty is linked to either the character’s (age / 10), (Might Score – Might Pool / 5), or Warping Score. For example, a magic character with Deteriorating Powers linked to age and an age of 25 would have one of his powers reduced by 3 magnitudes.

This Flaw may be taken more than once, if the character has more than one Power.

Devoted Parent/Child

Minor, General

The character is extremely attached to a parent or child. Where he goes, she goes also. Separation of more than a day causes anxiety, and gives a –1 penalty to all rolls due to stress.

Dhimmi

Minor, General

You are a non-Muslim living under Muslim rule. If you are adult and male, you must pay the jizya head tax, and all dhimmis must abide by certain social restrictions (described in the sourcebooks for these areas of Mythic Europe — see Realms of Power: The Divine, The Cradle and the Crescent, Between Sand and Sea, and Lands of the Nile), in return for which they receive tolerance and protection from the Muslim authorities. The actual amount a dhimmi has to pay in jizya varies, but rarely exceeds a dinar (a gold coin) per year.

Diabolic Past

Major, Story

You were associated with diabolists, and though you have escaped their evil ways, you are still haunted by your upbringing and the memory of acts best left unspoken. Perhaps your parents were diabolists, although you were not, or maybe you joined a cult but soon repented and fled. Your former associates still take an interest in your activities and whereabouts. Unfortunately. You may purchase the Ability Infernal Lore, even if you are normally not permitted to buy Arcane Abilities.

Difficult Longevity Ritual

Major, Hermetic

Something in your magical nature makes it difficult to create an effective Longevity Ritual for you. Anyone (including yourself) creating a Longevity Ritual for you must halve their Lab Total. You may create Longevity Rituals for others without penalty.

Difficult Spontaneous Magic

A character lacking a positive Presence score may not have this Flaw.

Envious

Major or Minor, Personality

You believe that everyone has it better than you do, and that they don’t deserve their good fortune, while you do. Thus, you try to ruin their lives and take their goods for yourself. (This is not a good Flaw for a player character, as it is likely to lead to conflict with the other players.)

Environmental Magic Condition

Major, Hermetic

All of the character’s Casting and Lab Totals are halved in certain common conditions related to his environment, for example, whenever he is inside. Note that this should be significantly more restrictive than the Hermetic Flaw Deleterious Circumstances.

Environmental Sensitivity

Minor, General

The character is unusually sensitive to an uncommon environmental feature, such as bad air, salt water, or extreme temperatures. Whenever the character is exposed to these conditions, he has a –3 penalty to his Stamina for any debilitation checks (page @@).

Evil Destiny

Major, Story

The Infernal realm has taken an interest in the character, but he does not know how or why. Perhaps one of his Powers is actually Infernal, or demons are plotting against him, or he is convinced that he is being stalked by something evil. He cannot discuss this openly for fear that he will be accused of infernalism, but must be always on his guard against the dark forces that he knows will come for him one day.

The storyguide will use this Flaw to subtly work the Infernal realm into your character, leaving you unaware of the specifics. You might have other Flaws that relate to the Infernal, but not (yet) know what they are, such as Corrupted Abilities. The character could also simply be Plagued by Demons or Susceptible to the Infernal. Through the course of the story you may eventually discover what his Flaw is, but until then you are only haunted with the knowledge that something about him is not right.

Evil Eye

Minor, Supernatural

You character bears the Evil Eye, the uncontrolled potential to bring harm to others around her. Characters making stress rolls in her presence are subject to an additional botch die. Characters may protect themselves through the use of an amulet or a ritual, decided upon by the troupe, which does not need to be magical or supernatural in nature. A Magic Resistance of 0 or more, including the effect of the Aegis of the Hearth, is also sufficient to guard against this effect.

Exciting Experimentation

Minor, Hermetic

Your character’s experiments tend to have a flair for the ... dramatic. When rolling on any of the experimentation tables, roll two dice instead of the normal one. The storyguide then chooses and applies the more amusing of your two results.

Excommunicate

Major, Story

For your crimes against God and the Church, you have been cast out of your faith, undoing your baptism and driving you from your religious community. You have a bad reputation at level 3 within the Church, and cannot benefit from the sacraments.

Exiled Atlantean

Minor, Supernatural

The character is an exiled Atlantean; she is tainted by her contact with the surface world, and cannot return to her magic regio. This exile is enforced by the very nature of the magic regio to which the Atlanteans are native, so there is no authority figure to which she may appeal, or any obvious method of returning to favor. The exile applies even if the Atlantean left her native magic regio involuntarily. More details about the Atlanteans can be found in Realms of Power: Magic, page 90.

Faerie Friend

Minor, Story

You have an ally among the fay. How much assistance you can get depends on the power of the friend — a small faerie with (relatively) minor powers can accompany you on a day to day basis. Powerful faeries have other business, and may only be available to answer questions and provide guidance, not to accompany you around on your adventures. Your ally is fully sentient, has its own powers, and can speak when it chooses. You may want to have another player act the part. While a faerie companion can be a great boon, it can also be a terrible burden. If it is nasty or mischievous, it could cause trouble for you everywhere. Characters with this Flaw can purchase the Arcane Knowledge Faerie Lore, even if they are normally restricted from purchasing it.

Faerie Upbringing

Minor, Personality

Perhaps you were abandoned by your true kin, and the faeries found you. Maybe your family actually lived in a faerie forest, or faeries took you as a babe. Though you are now back in human society, you feel at home with and have an enhanced understanding of faeries, magic, and other strange things. However, you find human society, including religion, bizarre. You may learn Faerie Lore at character generation.

Failed Journeyman

Minor, Social Status

The character has been expelled from a guild due to past illegal or questionable practices. He may not practice his trade in town nor sell his goods there. The character is expected to find another means of livelihood, although no other guild will accept him, so many such men must find a way to practice their trade illegally. He has a bad Reputation of 2 in town.

Failed Master

Minor, Social Status

Either through faulty management or illegal business practices, the character has run his workshop into the ground. He must work as a journeyman if he wants to practice his trade legally in town. The character has a bad Reputation of 4 in town, and it will be difficult for him to regain his legal status as a master.

Failed Monk

Minor, Social Status

You were once a member of a cloistered order, but were cast out for some great sin or gross incompetence, or perhaps you ran away and your abbot might allow you to come back after a suitable punishment. Because of this, you have a poor Reputation at level 2 in the local area and within the Church. You no longer need to observe your monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, though you may still practice them as they might be ingrained in your nature. You may take Academic Abilities during character creation.

Female characters may take this Flaw as Failed Nun.

Failed Student

Minor, General

The character has studied for a specific university license and failed his final examination. If he passed earlier exams, he may have a scholastic Social Status Virtue showing how far he got. (Obviously, this cannot be Doctor in (Faculty).) The character has a Bad Academic Reputation of 2.

The Falling Evil

Major, General

The character occasionally suffers convulsions and blackouts. Convulsions occur randomly and infrequently; for any given event, the storyguide should secretly roll a stress die, and if the result is 9 or more then a convulsion will occur at some point during that event, as chosen by the storyguide. This spasm causes random movements and hallucinations, leaving the character temporarily Incapacitated. She collapses to the ground and twitches, and you can make a Stamina roll against an Ease Factor of 9 every round; success means that the convulsion ends, although the character is reduced to the Dazed Fatigue level following a fit. The Falling Evil is usually caused by possession by demons (Art & Academe, page 48), but that form of the illness is usually temporary in nature. The character does not seem to have a disease, and cannot naturally recover from this affliction. It may be that it stems from a different source. In Ancient Greece and Rome, it was called the “divine illness,” as it was believed that the gods spoke to those who had such fits.

False Power

Major, Supernatural, Tainted

One of the character’s Supernatural Virtues is associated with the Infernal realm, in addition to the realm with which it would normally be associated, which causes it to appear unholy when subjected to Divine or Infernal. This quality could be because of something inherent to the Power, or perhaps because of the interference of Infernal agents.

This Flaw can apply to Supernatural Virtues that define the character’s background, like Faerie Blood, Diedne Magic, or even The Gift. In these cases, falsehood permeates the whole of the character’s being, causing everything she does to seem unholy to those with the ability to sense it.

The False Power is often subtly changed by its Infernal aspect, making it more sinister or negative. Here are some examples: (False) Premonitions: The taint of the character’s Premonitions Power leaves it vulnerable to Infernal manipulation, even if the character has Magic Resistance. Many of the character’s premonitions are accurate, and pursuit of the stories they evoke is usually worthwhile. These valuable insights often lead characters to trust lies that a demon offers through the Power in order to manipulate their response to pivotal events.

(False) Second Sight: The character is particularly likely to see through an illusion or deception when what he sees would lead him to sin. Sometimes he may see through mundane obstacles, if the information gained would tempt him to sinful acts.

(False) Shapeshifter: The character can change his shape, but only into animals typically associated with the Infernal, such as a cat, a wolf, a raven, or a rat. When in these shapes, he seems unholy to those can recognize that quality.

It is quite possible that the character does not know that his Power is false. Once he does, he may find himself in a moral dilemma. Most people consider it a sin to use Powers associated with the Infernal realm for any reason, and would label him an infernalist if they discovered the nature of his Power. Yet his Power is also associated with another realm, making it more difficult to recognize it as Infernal, and leaving it unclear whether the Power is inherently evil or simply tainted by association. Perhaps the character believes it is not wrong for him to use his Powers, so long as he does not pursue evil ends with them.

Once the character recognizes that the Power has an unholy aspect, he may choose to treat it as an Infernal Power at any time, using the Infernal Power column of the realm interaction chart and thus giving him a bonus in Infernal auras. This may also grant him other benefits: like other infernalists he can boost his casting total with sacrifices, and use an Infernal Ceremony to include others in the activation, as described in Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 91. However, doing this removes any illusions about the Power’s realm — even magical and faerie Powers can recognize that it is Infernal.

If the character realizes his Power is corrupted, he may decide to seek help from the Divine. Sincere repentance and participation in a form of ceremonial absolution allow the character to lose this Flaw, though this also takes away the Virtue it modifies. This is a heavy penance, but it is the only way to exorcise the evil influence of the Infernal realm, and of course there are far greater rewards in Heaven.

This Flaw may be taken multiple times, once for each appropriate Supernatural Virtue that the character possesses, but in each subsequent instance as a Minor Flaw rather than a Major one. Also note that this Flaw cannot apply to Supernatural Virtues that are affiliated to the Infernal realm in the first place, and the troupe may not allow it to apply to Virtues derived from the Divine.

Favors

Major, Story

You owe a boon to someone (or to a great many people), and may be called upon to return the favor at any time. The consequences of ignoring such a request can range from mild to deadly serious, at the storyguide’s discretion.

Fear

Minor, Personality

You are scared of something that you are likely to encounter fairly often. Its presence makes you edgy and very uncomfortable.

Feral Scent

Minor, General

Perhaps due to his beast blood or feral upbringing, the character has the strong natural smell of a wild animal. Humans tend to avoid being too close to him, and may be on edge in his vicinity without knowing why. He may well spook domesticated animals if he surprises them. He suffers a –1 penalty to social interactions (which stacks with the penalties imposed by The Gift, if he has it), and develops a negative Reputation of Unclean at level 2. However, if he has Initiated the Sensory Magic Mystery (described in Houses of Hermes: Mystery Cults, page 27), any spells he casts with a Scent Target have twice their normal area of effect.

Feral Upbringing

Minor, General

You grew up in the wilderness, either raised by wild animals or surviving on your own. For much of your life you could not speak, and knew nothing of human ways. Now that you have joined human society (or the covenant), you have learned to understand some basic spoken phrases, but civilized life is still a mystery you want little part of. You may only choose beginning Abilities that you could have learned in the wilds. In particular, you may not start with a score in a Language. In your first five years you gain 120 experience points, which must be split between (Area) Lore, Animal Handling, Athletics, Awareness, Brawl, Hunt, Stealth, Survival, and Swim.

Fettered Magic

Minor, Hermetic

All of your spells and the effects of any magic items you activate are Arcane Connections to you. You cannot take this with the Virtue Tethered Magic, as the Virtue already includes this effect.

Feud

Major, Story

Your family is involved in a feud. The opposing family or families are roughly of equivalent strength to your family and its allies. You are liable to be ambushed or attacked by opposing clansmen, and your family expects you to join raids against your enemies.

Fickle Nature

Minor, Personality

The character swings between two types of personality behaviors that are directly opposite. There is no middle ground, so the character is always either displaying traits of one behavior or the other. Select a Personality Trait at +4, and its opposite at +4. Typical Personality Traits are: Happy and Sad, Energetic and Lazy, Confident and Diffident, or Proud and Humble.

Fish Out of Water (Terrain)

Minor, General

This character has an affinity with one type of terrain, whether this is at sea, in the woods, the rolling hills, or in the urban landscape of towns and cities, and feels uncomfortable and awkward when away from where he wants to be. The character suffers a –1 penalty to all stress rolls taken outside of their favored terrain and also rolls one more botch dice than normal in those situations.

Appropriate areas may be Cities & Towns, Villages, Rivers, The Sea, Mountains, Woodland, Desert, etc.

This Flaw may only be taken once, because taking it more than once makes it less serious, rather than more.

Flashbacks

Minor, General

When engaged in combat, or a similar violent and tense situation, the stress might trigger a flashback to the horrors of past battles, which left this character mentally scarred. The hallucinations seem so real that it is hard to avoid reacting to them. When an event appropriate for the Flashbacks occurs, roll a stress die against an Ease Factor of 9. On a failure, the character panics and reverts to his past nightmares. At the storyguide’s discretion, modifiers from –1 to –5 could apply, for things like full-scale battle, fires, or stampeding animals. In addition, add or subtract any relevant Personality Traits, depending on whether they might lessen or worsen the effects of this Flaw.

Divination: Acquire magical senses that detect health, wealth, and mental state. Uses Intellego Corpus, Intellego Mentem, and Intellego Terram guidelines.

Healing: Grants a Recovery bonus for either wounds or diseases, and aids the birthing of children and livestock. Uses the Creo Corpus or Creo Animal guidelines. Infernal Lore cannot be used to produce this type of effect.

Evil Eye: Causes minor acts of mischief like pain, blight of crops, hair loss, sneezing, and so forth. Uses the Perdo Corpus, Perdo Animal, or Perdo Herbam guidelines. Divine Lore cannot be used to produce this type of effect.

To cast a spell the character must expend a Fatigue level, whether the spell succeeds or fails. He must also spend at least 15 minutes preparing the spell, during which time he needs unbroken concentration and access to his “magical” materials (while necessary, these materials offer no benefit to the casting). The spell is designed exactly like a Hermetic spell. The Casting Total is equal to (Stamina + (Realm) Lore + Aura modifier + stress die) / 2. Penetration is calculated in the normal fashion: Casting Total – Spell Level + Penetration modifiers. You may pick this Virtue more than once, to acquire expertise in a different category of spells. Each time you choose this Virtue, you can align it to the same Realm as before or pick a different one, although a character cannot have access to both the Divine and Infernal Realms.

Foreign Upbringing

Minor, Personality

This Flaw is somewhat similar to Covenant Upbringing, but means that the character is a foreigner and comes from a remote or isolated corner of Mythic Europe. He appears and sounds nothing like the locals, has odd customs, habits, and religion (although he need not be pagan), and is quite confused by local society. However, he is not an Outsider, and has been accepted — for the most part. His Native Language is one foreign to the saga, and he needs to learn another language in order to communicate with the rest of the turb. The maximum scores at character creation for locality-dependent Abilities like Language, Area Lore, or Organization Lore, as well as some social Abilities, are half (round up) that which his age normally allows.

(Form) Monstrosity

Minor, Supernatural

This Flaw is primarily intended for animal characters, but may be taken for characters who are basically human with the approval of the troupe. The character is a monstrosity with a monstrous feature, or mutation, which corresponds to a magical Form. The feature may be beneficial in limited circumstances, but generally gives the character no advantage over its non-mutated peers.

Animals are not usually bothered by monsters — the character still has the correct scent, and behavior — and a single monstrous bull might be found happily living among a herd of otherwise normal cattle, for example. People, on the other hand, are highly troubled by the appearance of monstrosities, which they invariably attribute to malign influence; obviously monstrous animals are usually killed by peasants. Often, 1 pawn of Muto vis may be extracted from the corpse of a monstrous character, found concentrated in the monstrous feature.

Some examples of possible monstrosities are listed below, but the troupe may devise their own, as required:

Form Monstrosity

Animal an additional head

Aquam gills, or webbing on land animals

Auram wings on a land or sea animal

Corpus human-like limbs or eyes

Herbam a branch for a tail

Ignem fiery breath, or an extremely elevated body temperature

Imaginem unnatural hide (tiger fur on a horse, for example)

Mentem sensitivity to spirits (animal can both sense and is afraid of spirits)

Terram teeth or claws of stone

Vim sensitive to magic (animal feels pain when in a magical aura)

Fragile Constitution

Minor, General

You are sickly and weak. You suffer a –3 penalty on all rolls to recover from wounds and diseases.

Frail

Minor, General

The character is weak of build and easily hurt when undertaking physical activities. He has a –3 penalty to his Soak score.

Fury

Major, Story

A violent temper sometimes overwhelms you, sending you into a destructive, uncontrollable rage. You are likely to be provoked by some sort of specific event, such as being insulted, being hurt, or hearing the Order of Hermes disparaged. Roll 9+ on a stress die to avoid flying into a rage when such an event occurs, with another roll every round to try to calm yourself should you fail the first. On a botch, you try to kill everyone around you. While enraged you get +3 to Damage, but –1 on all other scores and rolls.

Gabai

This weakness can be a boon to a crafty character. A maga might invent a spell to destroy a heavy rock at Concentration Duration; she could then cast it and lie in wait. When her enemy walks into the vacant space, she could release her concentration and crush her victim beneath it when it reforms. However, in most cases this limitation is a minor hindrance, as useful Perdo magic requires longer Durations.

Hatred

Major or Minor, Personality

You hate someone or some group so much that hurting them dominates your life. The target of your hatred must not be someone you could easily overcome.

Hedge Wizard

Minor, Hermetic

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.

Heir

Minor, Story

You have little power or wealth now, but you stand to inherit land and possibly money. You need do nothing special to remain in your position, but others may occasionally attempt to remove you from the line of succession — one way or another. When you finally win your inheritance you gain its responsibilities as well, so your freedom may be restricted.

Hermetic Patron

Minor, Story

You must be a Redcap or magus to take this Flaw.

You are watched over by an older magus or a more established Redcap, who considers you his charge and helps you out from time to time. This patron must be an NPC. Because of your special relationship, he is willing to do additional favors for you that cost him little, such as casting spells on you, lending you magic items, allowing you access to his books, providing you with mundane materials, supporting you financially for a season or two, or even adopting you into his House. However, in return he will expect special attention from you, and may periodically send you on missions or assign you important tasks.

You may take this Flaw with a large group of magi as your patrons, though the more numerous your benefactors, the more you will be expected to do for them.

Higher Purpose

Major or Minor, Personality

Let others concern themselves with petty matters, you have a nobler goal. This purpose should be altruistic, like freeing an oppressed people or bringing peace between the Order of Hermes and society.

Hobbled

Minor, General

Both of the character’s legs are severely damaged. She may not walk unless assisted by crutches or other devices, with which she can only move a mere half mile per hour. Any roll that requires moving quickly is penalized by –9. Her Dodge and other combat rolls are penalized by –6, and you roll double the normal botch dice in combat situations.

Horrifying Appearance – Snake Legs

Major, Supernatural

You have no legs, and instead your hips give rise to two or more snake-like tails; you should consider how you survived childhood with this horrific deformity. Your movement is not hindered under most circumstances. You can hide this deformity under clothing, but you cannot move without revealing it, leaving you feigning being crippled as well.

Humble

Minor, Personality

You are humble, always willing to believe that others are more skilled and better than you. You do not necessarily underestimate your own abilities, you just think others are better.

Hunchback

Minor, General You have a deformed body that gives you a grotesque appearance and hinders your movements. You are at –3 to all rolls involving agility and balance. Communication rolls that involve good looks are at –3.

Hunger for (Form) Magic

Major, Supernatural

The character has been repeatedly exposed to magic and has thus become dependent upon magic to survive. The character must consume 1 pawn of vis each season, corresponding to the Form that it has been mostly exposed to. If the character is unable to consume a pawn of vis in a season, it loses a Long-Term Fatigue Level that cannot be regained until a pawn of the appropriate vis is consumed. For example, a character that has Hunger for Ignem Magic and has not consumed a pawn of Ignem vis for a whole year will have lost 4 Long-Term Fatigue Levels, and so be Dazed with a –5 penalty to activities. If the character then consumes 1 pawn of Ignem vis, it will regain a Fatigue Level and become Tired after an hour has elapsed.

Imagined Folk Tradition Vulnerability

Minor, Personality

Although this flaw closely resembles a Delusion, Imagined Folk Tradition Vulnerability has other game mechanical effects as well. This character utterly and sincerely believes that he has been touched by the fay, and that they have granted him his special skills — whether or not any such exist. So, naturally, he is convinced that he is as vulnerable to traditional wards and folk magic as the fey. Whenever there is talk about such folk remedies, or people around him try to perform them, he does his best to dissuade them. If he can get away with it, he removes or sabotage such wards; for instance, he sneaks around at night and removes any warding marks or materials at doorways. Finally, he exhibits strange behavior around active wards or ritualistic actions. This could be refusing to shake hands with a person right after they have drawn the sign of the cross, or flinching whenever salt is flung over someone’s shoulder. On the plus side, this Flaw allows the character to purchase a score of 1 (but no more) in Faerie Lore at character creation. This is because he needs a rudimentary knowledge of the fay and the wards against them in order to be able to act this way. Without such knowledge, his behavior is based on what he thinks such wards might be.

Impious Friend

Magical (Being) Companion

Minor, Story

Major, Story

Someone, who looks exactly like you and whom you and your companions will most likely never meet, lives near you, and is responsible for an ongoing variety of violent, illegal, obscene, or embarrassing acts. You often have to explain who you are, and sometimes have to deal with the consequences of the other person’s acts.

Monastic Vows

Major, Story

You have taken vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to a religious superior. This covers the vows taken by mendicant friars, as well as those taken by monks and nuns strictly speaking.

Monastic Vows (Hermetic)

Major, Hermetic

You have taken vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to a religious superior, which means that you cannot own vis and must only possess functional magic devices. You cannot marry, and many magi might interpret that as prohibiting binding a familiar. You must do what your master commands in service of your order, though in return you can expect aid and assistance when needed.

Monstrous Blood

Minor, Supernatural

The character’s essential nature has been changed through exposure to the Magic realm, often because of a relationship to a magic being, which gives her true form unfortunate supernatural properties. This changes the character’s appearance enough that others can immediately recognize that there is something wrong about her, and people might say that she has tainted blood. The character is more resistant to age and receives a –1 bonus to all Aging rolls, and may learn Magic Lore during character creation.

However, the character also gains a minor physical deformity appropriate to the Magic being type that is associated with the character’s background. Some examples are below, or you can make up your own.

Magic Animal: The character has a physical feature normally associated with animals, such as wings, scales, gills, sharp teeth, or claws. These are not usable by the character, and give a –3 penalty to appropriate activities (such as running or climbing) as these deformities get in the way.

Magic Human: The character must decrease one of his Characteristics by 1, but not below –3. This might be Strength or Stamina to represent weakened blood, or Presence to indicate a dowdy appearance. The character also has a poor Reputation of level 3 among other magic beings.

Magic Spirit: The character has a mental block against many activities that are not supernatural, possibly due to a noticeable difficulty with retaining memories. Subtract 3 from all of the character’s Intelligence and Perception rolls that do not involve a Supernatural Ability or Art.

Magic Thing: The character has a constant Lesser Power that is mostly detrimental to it in some way, such as a ward that prevents it from picking up wooden objects, or that causes books it touches to burst into flame. The effect normally occurs involuntarily, but the character can spend a Confidence Point to prevent it from triggering.

Motion Sickness

Minor, General

Riding a horse, in a cart, or sailing on a ship makes you violently ill. When not traveling on foot, you suffer double the fatigue loss on long journeys, with a minimum loss of two Fatigue levels. Violent jostling over a period of a few hours could conceivably lead to unconsciousness.

Mute

Major, General

You cannot speak; perhaps your tongue was cut out. You probably use rudimentary hand gestures and grunts to communicate your needs. You can still understand languages perfectly well, and may learn to read and write if you have an appropriate Virtue. Note that magi with this Flaw get a –10 penalty to all spellcasting, although this may be offset by taking the Quiet Magic Virtue (page @@). A magus with this Flaw can be assumed to be able to make sounds, which are sufficient to allow normal use of the Voice Range.

Necessary Condition

Major, Hermetic

In order for your magic to work, you must perform a specific action while casting any spell. This should be something simple, such as singing or spinning around three times. If you cannot perform the action, you cannot cast spells at all.

Necessary (Realm) Aura for (Ability)

Minor, Supernatural

Due to some connection with a given supernatural realm, the absence of a given supernatural aura has a pronounced effect upon the character’s ability to focus on certain tasks. The character has a –3 penalty to any totals he generates with a particular Ability when not in the right aura. A character may take this Flaw once for any particular Ability. The chosen Ability should be one which the character is likely to use frequently, such as in service to the covenant or to support his day-to-day activities.

When applied to Craft or Profession Abilities, this Flaw also reduces the character’s capability to support himself by reducing the number of Labor Points (as described in City & Guild) he accumulates each season when not working within the appropriate aura.

Troupes should think carefully about how a character would be limited by taking Magic (which covers most covenants) or Dominion (which covers most other human settlements) aura. If the character would not be limited, the Flaw should not be allowed.

Night Terrors

Minor, General

This character is plagued far too often by horrible nightmares and fits of screaming in his sleep. The character must make a Stress Roll against an Ease Factor of 9 in order to avoid suffering terrors. The storyguide may call for modifiers of –1 to –3 if he has faced eerie or terrifying events recently, like meeting a demon or battling the undead.

The character’s presence sometimes causes symbolic marks to appear on the bodies of people without Magic Resistance nearby. The character cannot control this process, but may make Intelligence + Enigmatic Wisdom rolls against an Ease Factor of 6 to tell those so afflicted what form of spiritual purification they must undergo for the stigma to disappear. Characters who are stigmatized may have a hostile reaction if they realize the source of the stigmata. This Flaw is normally found among magi of House Criamon, and magi of that House would be interested in any other character who manifested it.

Stockade Parma Magica

Minor, Hermetic

Because of your restricted understanding of Parma Magica, you cannot suppress your Parma once it is erected. Any friendly spell or magical affect must penetrate your Parma Magica to affect you, just as if it were a hostile spell.

Stuck in Your Ways

Minor, General

Having come from a covenant, this character knows how things must be done to best serve the needs of covenfolk and magi alike. Only, his new home does things differently. And they’re wrong. When making Stress Rolls against his Profession Abilities or any Ability concerning his new covenant, such as Leadership or Folk Ken, this character uses the lower of that Ability score and his current Covenant Lore Ability for his current covenant. Note that bonuses from Puissant or other Virtues still apply to the roll.

This Flaw can also be applied to organizations other than covenants, such as abbeys, universities, guilds, or churches.

Study Requirement

Major, Hermetic

You are unable to study magic from books or vis alone. You must study in the presence of the appropriate Art. For example, you need to sit next to a brook or pond to study Aquam, or a large fire to study Ignem. Growing things are good for Creo, decaying ones good for Perdo. As your knowledge grows, you need to work with larger and larger quantities. See the Study Bonus Virtue on page @@ for a list of examples.

You may take both Study Bonus and Study Requirement.

Supernatural Nuisance

Major, Story

Supernatural entities of a certain kind interfere in your life in minor ways whenever you are around them. This differs from Plagued by Supernatural Entity in that the nuisances do not have any long-term plans. This could represent a ghost that haunts you, or general enmity from faeries towards you.

Suppressed Gift

Major, Hermetic, Story

The character has The Gift but cannot access its power, having temporarily lost his magical ability through mishap or some other misfortune. While the Gift is suppressed, the character cannot perform Hermetic magic, improve his Arts, or perform the Parma Magica. His Arts do provide him with Magic Resistance and he continues to suffer the negative social penalties of The Gift. Such a character may still use Supernatural Virtues and Abilities. He may be a member of the Order of Hermes, depending on when his Gift was suppressed.

Minor, Supernatural

Your character’s constant exposure to magic has made him more susceptible to supernatural Warping than he might otherwise be. In any year in which the character gains a Warping Point from any Realm or any source (including Longevity Rituals, living within an aura, and powerful supernatural effects), the character gains one additional Warping Point associated with that same Realm. This means that if he gains a single Warping Point from each Realm in a year, he gains four additional Warping Points, one from each Realm, at the end of that year.

These additional points do not contribute to Wizard’s Twilight or to other events caused by the acquisition of Warping Points as they accrete slowly over the course of the year.

Tainted Offspring

Major, Story, Tainted

The character has a child who has been marked for great, but unpleasant, things by a powerful demon. The character must struggle not only with the servants the demon sends to subvert the child, but the child’s own tendency toward evil.

Tainted With Evil

Minor, General

An air of corruption surrounds you as a result of something you, your parents, or your ancestors did. Others naturally feel very ill at ease around you, and can easily grow to hate you. Gaining a positive Reputation is impossible. Magi do not react as strongly to this attribute as normal people.

Temperate

Minor, Personality

You do not over-indulge in any sensual pleasures.

Tormenting Master

Major, Story

Your master does not believe you have successfully passed the apprentice's gauntlet (the test of becoming a magus). He periodically troubles you with political moves and indirect attacks. This Flaw is only applicable to magi, although other characters could take an analogous Story Flaw.

Tragic Life

Major, Story, Tainted

The character’s life has been manipulated by demons to ensure that she will act in a certain way in response to important events, usually to her own detriment and in such a way as to further a particular demon’s aims. This means that she is a tainted character.

Tainted characters are produced as tools, to influence pivotal events. This Flaw represents two factors: the events that the demons have designed the person to influence are likely to happen, and the person has been designed and conditioned to behave predictably when her moment of destiny arrives. Tainted people are likely, at their point of destiny, to choose to sin, and so cause terrible events. The repercussions of the tragedy they create often harm the tainted person. The predisposition toward sin at the character’s pivotal moment should be represented with a sinful Personality Trait.

Tainted people have difficult lives, but are not doomed from the moment of their conception. They have five sources of hope.

Demons do not foresee the future, they simply predict it through extremely skilled judgments. Arbitrary occurrences can ruin their schemes. The process of creating and training tainted people contains random factors. These include inherited Flaws, like Tainted with Evil or Disfigured, which are personally painful, but might distance the character from her designed destiny.

The character’s relationships with other humans also provide unpredictable elements. Most significantly, virtuous humans may notice the tainted person’s tendency toward a certain type of sin, and teach them to resist it.

Humans have free will. All deception aside, the tainted person still has the power to choose not to perform sins. The tainted person may not understand this, or may feel that the sin she performed is minor and justified given the situation in which she is presented with her choice, but the choice is still entirely and absolutely hers.

Finally, the agents of the Divine meddle in the plans of Infernal lords.

Tainted characters are designed for specific situations. Characters who struggle successfully against their destiny find that their creator cannot usually fashion an alternative situation to which the tainted person is perfectly suited. The tainted character loses the Tragic Life Flaw, but usually gains the Plagued by Supernatural Entity Flaw instead, as the demonic lord vents his spite on the character.

True Love

Major or Minor, Story

You have found the one person meant for you in all of creation, and the bond between the two of you cannot be sundered. Whenever you are suffering, in danger, or dejected, the thought of your love will give you strength to persevere. In dire need, he may even come to rescue you. More often, he will be in trouble and need rescuing. If any enchantment keeps you from your true love's side, the power of your devotion can probably break it. Your love is higher than mortal magic, and no magic can make you hate your love, or make you truly betray him. Your True Love must be a non-player character. To have another player character as your True Love, see the True Love Virtue on page @@.

This Story Hook may be renamed 'True Friend' to cover characters with whom you are very closely linked, but not in a romantic way.

If the True Love is significantly weaker than the player character, and not able to provide useful assistance in most cases, this is a Major Flaw. If the True Love is competent, equal to or better than the player character, then this is only a Minor Flaw. The True Love may need rescuing occasionally, but more often she will involve the player character in her plans.

Twilight Prone

Major, Hermetic

You either enjoy or cannot help running excessive amounts of magic through you when you cast spells. You must roll to resist Twilight on a single magical botch, rather than on a double botch like most magi.

Tzadik Nistar

Major, Story

Your character is one of the Tzadikim Nistarim, one of the 36 hidden righteous upon which the continuation of the world relies. She is destined to face a moment of moral decision, where she and the world through her will be tested. This moment could be small and personal, or it require a very public act. The result of failing in her test has immediate consequences defined by the storyguide. The Dominion may fall in her community or in the place of her moral failure; the Infernal may claim a new soul; or a whole region may face severe hardship until she puts right her failure. Although this is a Jewish tradition, a character need not be Jewish to take this Flaw. She may suspect that she has been chosen as one of the 36, but she does not know in advance what her personal test will be, though it may be discovered by consulting with prophets and learned men.

Unbaptized

Major, Story

You are a Christian who has never been baptized for whatever reason, perhaps because you have some kind of supernatural background that might be undone by the ceremony — many magi believe that baptism impairs The Gift. Your faith is important enough to you that you still strive to be virtuous and attend Mass, though you do not benefit from the sacraments. Most common people who discover this fear and avoid you.

Unbearable to (Beings)

Minor, Hermetic or General

This Flaw is associated with one of three classes of beings: mundane humans, demons, or divine beings. These last two include characters associated with the Divine or the Infernal realms, respectively, through Supernatural Virtues or Flaws, as well as beings with Divine or Infernal Might. These beings are extremely disturbed, frightened, and possibly enraged by the character’s presence. She suffers an additional –3 penalty on all social interactions with them, which adds to the –3 penalty normally associated with The Gift. Only characters with The Gift or Magical Air may take this Flaw, and it cannot be combined with the Blatant Gift.

You may not take this Flaw more than once; characters who are Unbearable to more than one kind of being should take the Blatant Gift instead.

Uncertain Faith

The character has one or more non-Infernal Powers in which the Infernal realm has taken a personal interest. Whenever she uses one of these Powers in a way that is not sinful, it has an unpleasant side effect. This is always harmful, and often recognizably Infernal, and the severity varies depending upon the Power’s application, so that extremely good works cause even more terrible evil. The effect is not obviously linked to the use of the Power, and in fact it may seem completely unrelated. It always manifests at about the same time as the use of the Power, however, though the character may not be aware of this.

Some potential side effects might include:

Illness and disease among local people or animals.

Open sores and other painful wounds.

Distrust and a bad reputation among strangers.

Infernal auras in the surrounding area.

Negative or sinful Personality Traits.

Additional botch dice on a particular type of roll.

Demons suddenly causing havoc in the region.

The forces that wreak vengeance cannot cross Magic Resistance or effects like Aegis of the Hearth that keep demons away, yet they can still sense when these Powers are put to good use, and they retaliate however they can.

The character may not know about these circumstances, but once she realizes the relationship between her Power and these side effects, they usually seem much worse, as paranoia and guilt may cause her to worry about the potential harm her Powers may cause. Hell hopes that this makes using the Power for good seem too great a sacrifice.

Vengeful Powers may be taken as a Hermetic Flaw, as applicable to Hermetic magic. In that case, the effect triggers whenever the character performs magic that is without sin. It is more commonly associated with Supernatural Abilities, however.

Viaticarus

Minor, Supernatural

At some point in the character’s past, he was at death’s door, and as a result a priest performed the sacrament of Extreme Unction. The purpose of this sacrament was to remit him of all venial sins, and prepare him for the journey beyond (the viaticum); but against all expectations, he survived. This leaves him in a spiritual no-man’s land, not one of the dead, but neither wholly of the living. Because of this, he is immune to the temptations of demons, and therefore cannot be affected by their Obsession power; he simply does not register to them as a soul in need of corruption. However, his skin has an unusual pallor, and his eyes are sunken. People may smell a charnel odor about him. These effects are subtle at first, but as he ages, he gradually comes to resemble a corpse more and more, resulting in a penalty to all social interaction rolls equal to his Decrepitude score.

He has difficulty crossing thresholds where unquiet spirits are not welcome; if a person with a (Realm) Lore of 1 or more has set up a traditional ward, such as a line of salt or an iron nail laid on the lintel, then he cannot enter the protected building or area. Further, although he does not have a Might score, he is repulsed by any magical warding that can keep out a creature with a Might score aligned to Corpus or Mentem (including the Aegis of the Hearth), regardless of its level or Penetration. However, both types of exclusion can be negated if he is invited to cross by the person who established the ward, or someone who lives within. He can still touch individuals with Magic Resistance, since he has no active power around him.

If the character’s status is known in the community in which he lives, he should take the Outcast Social Status Flaw.

Visions

Minor, Story, Supernatural

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 or in places connected with a powerful emotional or magical event, such as the site of a patricide or diabolic sacrifice. Your visions may warn you of dangers to come, or get you involved in matters you would otherwise have avoided. The visions come purely at the storyguide's discretion, and reveal only what he wants to reveal.

Vow

Major or Minor, Personality

You have sworn to do something difficult, and breaking your vow is a serious matter. Example vows include never raising a weapon, never speaking, or living in poverty. If you do fail to uphold your vow, you must perform some kind of atonement, whether it be religious penance or coming to terms with your failure in some other way. A Vow that is a Major Flaw must be a vow to do something, rather than refrain from something, so that it can drive you to act.

Vulnerable Casting

Minor, Hermetic

Some magi are better able to withstand the Fatigue loss of casting spells, and some less so. If a maga has this Flaw, then whenever she is about to lose Fatigue from casting a spell, she loses 1 more Fatigue level than normal. If the spell would have been cast without Fatigue loss, then she still loses no Fatigue.

A maga may have, or acquire, this Flaw more than once, losing 1 extra Fatigue level for each level of this Flaw. If she has Vulnerable Casting (2), then she loses 2 extra Fatigue levels whenever she casts a fatiguing spell.

Magi of the Mercurian cults often succumb to this Flaw, but other magi may suffer from it, regardless of their affiliation.

The Flaw increases the severity of the Fatigue lost, in the exact manner of the existing Fatigue loss. Thus, if a maga casts a Formulaic spell, the Fatigue is short-term Fatigue, easily recovered, and if she runs out of Fatigue levels she is rendered unconscious, loss of extra Fatigue levels results in her being unconscious for one hour for each overflowing level, and so does the Fatigue from Vulnerable Casting. If, on the other hand, she casts a Ritual spell, then this is long-term Fatigue, and losing more Fatigue than she has remaining causes wounds, so the increased Fatigue of Vulnerable Casting does the same.

You may not start your character with both Vulnerable Casting and Withstand Casting, but the maga may acquire either in the course of play (from Initiation, Ordeals, or Twilight effects). In this case, apply the vulnerability first, then withstand the increased loss.

Vulnerable Magic

Major, Hermetic

The character’s magic is automatically dispelled in certain uncommon circumstances. Examples include: when touching iron, when under the influence of the Divine, when crossing over running water, when his name is spoken three times, or when he is not touching the ground. This condition immediately ends the duration of a spell when it is applied to the target, or all of your active spells when applied to you.

This Flaw may be taken multiple times, so long as a different condition is specified for each. It may not be combined with Restrictions or Necessary Conditions that have the same (or equivalent) conditions.

Wanderlust

Major, Story

The character feels compelled to travel with a passion that is so strong that he cannot spend more than a season in the same place. The character can only spend two (nonconsecutive) seasons each year in the same area, and must spend the intervening seasons traveling to different locales — places he has never been. If for some reason he cannot travel, he will become very uncomfortable; this discomfort should cause stories in the same way as the travel would.

Warped by Magic

Minor, Supernatural

The character’s adventures have exposed him to powerful magical forces that have left a mark on him. He has five Warping Points and a Warping Score of 1, including a Minor Flaw (which is not balanced by a Virtue) that somehow reflects the source of the Warping. His encounters allow you to spend experience points on Magic Lore during character creation. A magus may take this Flaw to represent Warping gained before his apprenticeship. With the permission of the troupe, this Flaw may be modified to represent Warping from other Realms.

Warped Magic

Minor, Hermetic

Your magic is accompanied by some unpleasant side effect that always manifests itself the same way, but with increasing intensity according to the level of the spell. Examples include nearby items become hot or nearby plant matter becomes shriveled and wilted. This effect may cause trouble from time to time, but is usually just annoying.

Warped Senses

Minor, General

The character has become overly sensitive to environmental conditions, which affects his behavior in certain uncommon circumstances. Some examples include:

Sensitive (Sense): One of your senses is so sensitive that it is overwhelmed under circumstances that others find normal. If it is sight, normal daylight dazzles you. If it is hearing, sounds above normal speaking volume hurt your ears. If it is taste, only bland food is tolerable. If it is smell, strong odors, good or bad, are nauseating. You suffer a –2 penalty on all activities under relevant circumstances. (It is inadvisable to combine Sensitive Sight with Keen Vision, and Sensitive Hearing with Sharp Ears, and these are incompatible with Blind and Deaf, respectively.)

Weak (Sense): One of your senses is so weak that it is useless under circumstances that others find normal. If it is sight, you can only see well in good illumination (e.g. broad daylight). If it is hearing, you can only hear sounds above normal speaking volume. If taste, only highly flavored food is palatable. If smell, you can only detect strong odors. You suffer a –2 penalty on all activities under relevant circumstances. (Weak Sight is incompatible with Sensitive Sight, Keen Vision, and Blind and you cannot take Weak Hearing with Sensitive Hearing, Sharp Ears, or Deaf.)

Sensitive to Cold: You function normally at temperatures considerably above the norm for your part of the world. You lose 1 Fatigue level for every hour you spend in an environment two steps or more below your accustomed conditions on the Environmental Temperatures chart (see sidebar). Your responses to heat are reduced in intensity by 2 (page @@).

Sensitive to Heat: You function normally at temperatures considerably below the norm for your part of the world. You lose 1 Fatigue level for every hour you spend in an environment two steps or more above your habituated conditions on the Environmental Temperatures chart (see sidebar). Your response to ice is reduced in intensity to 0 (page @@).

This is a common Flaw for characters who become Warped by a strong magic environment.

Environmental Temperatures Unnaturally hot

As hot as being next to a raging fire, molten lava, or molten iron

Tropical mid-day

Major or Minor, Personality

You are prone to anger over the smallest issues, and your rage when you are thwarted in something major is terrible to behold.

Attribution

Based on the material for Ars Magica, ©1993-2024, licensed by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games®, under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license 4.0 ("CC-BY-SA 4.0"). Ars Magica Open License Logo ©2024 Trident, Inc. The Ars Magica Open License Logo, Ars Magica, and Mythic Europe are trademarks of Trident, Inc., and are used with permission. Order of Hermes, Tremere, Doissetep, and Grimgroth are trademarks of Paradox Interactive AB and are used with permission.

v t e Ars Magica Definitive Edition Rulebook
Project: Redcap	ArM5 DE Open Ars Magica Conversion Tracker
Contents	Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Order of Hermes Chapter 3: Characters Chapter 4: Virtues and Flaws Chapter 5: Abilities Chapter 6: Covenants Chapter 7: Hermetic Magic Chapter 8: Laboratory Chapter 9: Spells Chapter 10: Long-Term Effects Chapter 11: Obstacles Chapter 12: Realms Chapter 13: Beastiary Chapter 14: Mythic Europe Chapter 15: Stories Chapter 16: Sagas