Lost in Dreams II (OCC)

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

Okay, so Ritual Magic is M/VH, so a point gives effective skill 10, So a spell requiring Magery 3 would be effective skill 4. Peter is going to have to learn to respect magic a bit more, as he's never met a Critical Spell Failure before. Knowledge spells are usually less spectacular and you usually get lies instead of fireworks, so that lesson may not come as quickly with this college. Hopefully his teacher fills him in on the potential ramifications.

With no actual Magery to boost the skill level, and Magery penalties to a low base skill, this world's magic could be highly volatile to an impulsive and overconfident Peter!

Magery... I've got some strong feelings about how magery interacts with the standard magic system. It acts like a +1 talent to casting spells is a major boost in power, when 3 ER and a "you can cast X Magery spells" would convey the feeling of power better. By that metric, Peter is Magery 3 .... but that doesn't give a skill bonus.

Who wouldn't want to pick up a skill in an hour? Peter's desires have little to do with it, it takes how long it takes! But he has picked up most magic in a matter of moments to hours when he's had any kind of instruction, so he does kind of expect it at this point for a given 'trick'. College spells are obviously far broader than anything he's learned so far, so getting a point after such a meeting is exceptionally exceptional.

I mean, a big part of the issue is that Peter plays as though time is a resource (it is, but not everyone plays that way-- turns out BG3 was harder for me because I was playing like the time pressure was real -- silly computer games). He rarely just sits somewhere for a week practicing something or learning a language. And it fits who he is, it just means that he's constantly trying to learn a skill in an hour!

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

As an information Mage, it would be very surprising if this guy did not examine Peter's Aura... which would tell him if he had Magery and how much. Which could lead to an interesting discussion... who knows what else is in Peter's aura?

Good note, thanks!

[Anaya]

Okay, let's give this a try:

Amy Mills
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Appearance: Tall, caucasian, left-handed, long red hair, blue eyes.
Occupation: None

Background: Amy is a drifter through life. She was born into a decently well off family, that provided for all her needs. She's under no pressure to find a job, or contribute to society. Her education has been scattered and unfocused. She has enough natural talent to coast without much effort. She's tried her hand at writing, singing, gaming, and more. But she never sticks with anything long enough to master it. Amy sees no reason to leave her comfort zone. Perhaps what she needs is a little push...

Attributes
ST 10
DX 12 [40]
IQ 12 [40]
HT 10
----------------------------------------
80

Advantages
Eidetic Memory (Photographic) [10]
Voice [10]
Fit [5]
----------------------------------------
25

Disadvantages
Insomniac [-10]
Pacifism (Cannot Harm Innocents) [-10]
Squeamish [-10]
Social Stigma (Valuable Property; Sometimes [-50%]) [-5]
Social Stigma (Second-Class Citizen; Sometimes [-50%]) [-2]

Broad-Minded [-1]
Distractible [-1]
Distinctive Feature (Long red hair) [-1]
Responsive [-1]
----------------------------------------
-41

Skills
Karate-12 [DX+0] [4]

Sewing-12 [DX+0] [1]

Running-10 [HT+0] [2]

Singing-12 [HT+2] [1] {+2 from Voice}

Diplomacy-14 [IQ+2] [4] {+2 from Voice}
Literature-12 [IQ+0] [4]
Musical Composition-12 [IQ+0] [4]

Acting-14 [IQ+2] [2] {+2 from Voice}
Artist (Drawing)-12 [IQ+0] [2]
Cooking-12 [IQ+0] [2]
Expert Skill (Game Theory)-12 [IQ+0] [2] {Flavour}
Fast Talk-14 [IQ+2] [2] {+2 from Voice}
Gambling-12 [IQ+0] [2]
Photography-12 [IQ+0] [2] {Flavour}
Poetry-12 [IQ+0] [2] {Flavour}
Research-12 [IQ+0] [2]
Writing-12 [IQ+0] [2]

Area Knowledge (United Kingdom)-13 [IQ+1] [2] {Flavour}
Games (Go)-13 [IQ+1] [2] {Flavour}
Computer Operation-12 [IQ+0] [1]
First Aid-12 [IQ+0] [1]
----------------------------------------
46

100 (+10 Flavour}

[TGLS]

Well this is most sudden and unexpected. Welcome!

Originally Posted by Anaya

Social Stigma (Valuable Property; Sometimes [-50%]) [-5]
Social Stigma (Second-Class Citizen; Sometimes [-50%]) [-2]

I think you're only supposed to pick one of these, not both.

[Anaya]

Originally Posted by TGLS

I think you're only supposed to pick one of these, not both.

Plenty of existing characters (like Chandra) have both.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Anaya

Plenty of existing characters (like Chandra) have both.

Correct, before we had a crop of teenage boys, we had a crop of College Aged Women (I'd say girls, but having just referred to Julian and Peter, they feel like women at the moment). They all used those two disadvantages... though I'd say Tereza is more iconic than Chandra (both had long runs. Tereza ended up basically finishing her story though).

Amy Mills

It feels barebones, but its solid, and I can't say there is anything obvious that I would add to it. I take it she's from the UK?

She is approved. Give me a day to stick her in a world. This is a very pleasant surprise!

[Anaya]

Originally Posted by ericthered

It feels barebones, but its solid, and I can't say there is anything obvious that I would add to it.

Amy's life has yet to take shape. I can elaborate on any specifics that you're curious about. But you can probably guess most of it from her advantages, disadvantages and skills. This is one of those times when the sheet does most of the talking.

I take it she's from the UK?

Yes.

[the_matrix_walker]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Double checking here: Marcello is a combat oriented character built on 150 points and only has a 13 in pistol? Where are all his points? just checking.

Sometimes I wonder about where Goliath's points are, or if he has a sheet or a stat list or he's all hand-wavy...

[ericthered]

I have a sheet. Its halfway between a stat sheet and a proper character sheet and I often forget it exists, and its technically incomplete. But he has, for example, brawling 15, tracking 14 (before the smell bonus) and intimidation 13. It does point accounting, though I don't think I've spent all of the points. He's listed at 81 points right now, with 19 unspent points for when I need to add things.


With the points Peter has picked up, he's probably due for some upgrades.

[the_matrix_walker]

Originally Posted by ericthered

I have a sheet. Its halfway between a stat sheet and a proper character sheet and I often forget it exists, and its technically incomplete. But he has, for example, brawling 15, tracking 14 (before the smell bonus) and intimidation 13. It does point accounting, though I don't think I've spent all of the points. He's listed at 81 points right now, with 19 unspent points for when I need to add things.


With the points Peter has picked up, he's probably due for some upgrades.

Peter is a 305 point character now (well, 300 with 5 unspent)... but I presume you're not including the 153 point Dreamer package.

Originally Posted by ericthered

I also envisioned it only applying to the casters eyes. I think it still is, just based on how much of the information the aura gives is only available to the caster. We can certainly say that's how this version works.

You don't want the home version? just kidding. I'm surprised it is magery 1. That means effective skill is 8. Peter burns through his energy fairly quickly, and only succeeds at casting the spell four out of the ten times he casts it.

Yeah. With No Magery and the basic skill being a VH, skill levels are dangerously low. Cast that in a low mana area and critical failure hits on a 13. Regular spells are at -1 skill per yard to the target and that adds up fast. This is the hardest and most dangerous magic Peter has encountered. It can summon demons if you screw it up badly. It's super reckless to teach him. This guy looked at his aura, and saw he had something like a dimensional storm and giant energy battery, access to the power but weirdly with no talent and he taught him anyway... They should both be thrown in wizard-jail for everyone's protection.

(Recover energy here is a 5 point advantage that doubles energy return from mystic uses, kind of like the other half of fit... you may buy it when you have the points for it)

It is tempting to just take it 'because Peter is awesome at magic' but getting energy back in an hour vs two is really not that useful in the grand scheme, especially when you have an energy reserve. Recover Energy is a great deal when a point or two in a MH spell gets you a 15, but pricey at 5... And I'm going to need the points. I'll need to put 20 points into a college skill to cast a Magery 2 spell at 12, so if I do want Peter to study this magic it will be really expensive to make it safe and reliable. (Hubris for hoping to skip some prerequisites to cherry pick or have a modular dial-a-spell I guess.)

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by the_matrix_walker

Peter is a 305 point character now (well, 300 with 5 unspent)... but I presume you're not including the 153 point Dreamer package.

Wait, you've picked up 42 points? nice.



I've boosted a bunch of his stats, added luck and night vision, and some survival skills and athletic skills. I also found some errors, like forgetting NFM on his Strength, and not adding his traits. That brings him up to... 106 points. He is a really good dog at this point, rocking around 17 on hearing checks, 18 on smell or tracking, and can probably keep you fed himself.

Yeah. With No Magery and the basic skill being a VH, skill levels are dangerously low. Cast that in a low mana area and critical failure hits on a 13. Regular spells are at -1 skill per yard to the target and that adds up fast. This is the hardest and most dangerous magic Peter has encountered. It can summon demons if you screw it up badly. It's super reckless to teach him. This guy looked at his aura, and saw he had something like a dimensional storm and giant energy battery, access to the power but weirdly with no talent and he taught him anyway... They should both be thrown in wizard-jail for everyone's protection.

If that's the way it works... no promises.

It is tempting to just take it 'because Peter is awesome at magic' but getting energy back in an hour vs two is really not that useful in the grand scheme, especially when you have an energy reserve. Recover Energy is a great deal when a point or two in a MH spell gets you a 15, but pricey at 5... And I'm going to need the points. I'll need to put 20 points into a college skill to cast a Magery 2 spell at 12, so if I do want Peter to study this magic it will be really expensive to make it safe and reliable. (Hubris for hoping to skip some prerequisites to cherry pick or have a modular dial-a-spell I guess.)

on the other hand, specific spells are techniques, so raising one or two favorites might be doable.

Yeah, its not an automatic grab at 5 points, especially given that a lot of his magic doesn't use FP, but its not a bad option. Which means its probably priced about right.