Lifepaths of Man: Coven Setting

[Eric Minton]

I threw this together tonight to allow for wizardly enclaves in the fashion of Ars Magica. The lifepaths were built in accordance with abzu's lifepath creation rules. Please critique them!

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Coven Setting

Coven Born
Time: 10 years
Traits: 3
Res: 3
Stats: -
Leads: City, Sea, Servitude, Outcast
Skills: 4pts: General, *Blasé

Servant
Time: 6 years
Traits: 1
Res: 5
Stats: -
Leads: City, Court, Outcast, Servitude
Skills: 3pts: Inconspicuous, Wizard-Wise, Soothing Platitudes, *Obsequious

Steward
Time: 10 years
Traits: 1
Res: 20
Stats: +1 Men
Leads: City, Noble, Court, Outcast
Skills: 9pts: Coven Administration, Accounting, Soothing Platitudes, Read, Scribe, Wizard-Wise, Etiquette, Ugly Truth, *Harried or *Venal

Scribe
Time: 7 years
Traits: 1
Res: 7
Stats: +1 Men
Leads: City, Villager, Outcast
Skills: 4pts: Scribe, Read, Illuminations, Calligraphy, Cartography, *Hunched

Scholar (Requires Student or Sorcerer’s Apprentice)
Time: 10 years
Traits: 2
Res: 7
Stats: +1 Men
Leads: Villager, City, Court
Skills: 8pts: History, Symbology, Research, Philosophy, Astrology, Instruction Training, Law, *Academic or *Pompous

Librarian (Requires Scribe, Student or Scholar)
Time: 10 years
Traits: 2
Res: 10
Stats: +1 Men
Leads: Villager, City, Court
Skills: 6pts: Read, Bookbinding, Research, Illuminations, Scribe, Calligraphy, *Odd

Guard
Time: 5 years
Traits: 1
Res: 6
Stats: +1 Phy
Leads: Villager, City, Soldier, Outcast
Skills: 5pts: Appropriate Weapons, Brawling, Armor Training, Intimidation

Sentinel
Time: 3 years
Traits: 1
Res: 3
Stats: -
Leads: Villager, City, Soldier, Outcast
Skills: 3pts: Observation Training, Appropriate Weapons, *Patient or *Bored

Sorcerer’s Personal Guard (requires Guard)
Time: 6 years
Traits: 2
Res: 10
Stats: +1 Phy
Leads: City, Court, Soldier, Outcast
Skills: 7pts: Shield Training, Brawling, Armor Training, Intimidation, Appropriate Weapons, *Loyal, *Patient

Sergeant (requires Guard or any Professional Soldier lifepath)
Time: 6 years
Traits: 1
Res: 8
Stats: +1 Men/Phy
Leads: City, Court, Soldier, Outcast
Skills: 7pts: Intimidation, Command, Appropriate Weapons, Field Dressing, Brawling, Shield Training, Armor Training

Captain (requires Sergeant, Knight, Squire or Man-at-Arms)
Time: 8 years
Traits: 1
Res: 12
Stats: +1 Men/Phy
Leads: City, Court, Soldier, Outcast
Skills: 8pts: Etiquette, Coven-Wise, Command, Intimidation, Ride, Appropriate Weapons, Armor Training, Shield Training, Ugly Truth, *Poker Face

Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Time: 6 years
Traits: 3
Res: 10
Stats: +1 Men
Leads: City, Villager, Peasant, Outcast
Skills: 7pts: Read, Scribe, Research, Calligraphy, Symbology, Sorcery, *Competitive, *Proud or *Bitter

Sorcerer (requires Sorcerer’s Apprentice)
Time: 6 years
Traits: 1
Res: 30
Stats: +1 Men/Phy
Leads: City, Villager, Peasant, Court, Outcast
Skills: 6pts: Sorcery, Enchanting, Summoning, Calligraphy, Astrology, Alchemy, Nigromancy, Demonology, *Arrogant

Senior Wizard (requires Sorcerer and Scholar)
Time: 8 years
Traits: 2
Res: 45
Stats: +1 Men
Leads: City, Villager, Peasant, Court, Outcast
Skills: 6pts: Persuasion, Rhetoric, Intimidation, Falsehood, Conspicuous, *Ambitious or *Obsessive

Master of the Coven (requires Senior Wizard)
Time: 10 years
Traits: 2
Res: 60
Stats: +1 Men
Leads: City, Villager, Peasant, Court, Outcast
Skills: 6pts: Coven-Wise, Oratory, Observation Training, Ugly Truth, *Suspicious or *Paranoid

[Drozdal]

Nice Ars-Magican Grog society setting with magi included.
To be more true to ArM setting I would give Coven Legacy trait to all those Coven Born "grogs" - ahem - servants.

Coven Legacy - Character Trait (1pt.)

You have been born and raised inside sheltered coven under the watchfull eye of the magi. Common people usually treat you with distrust and shun away from you, when they discover your true origin.

Droz

[Eric Minton]

Coven Legacy - Character Trait (1pt.)

You have been born and raised inside sheltered coven under the watchfull eye of the magi. Common people usually treat you with distrust and shun away from you, when they discover your true origin.
I like the idea of a trait applicable to all coven-born. But why would a coven-born servant or sorcerer be shunned more than a sorcerer born outside a coven? The trait should probably involve some kind of personal weirdness... any thoughts?

- Eric

[SirEktar]

Remember that the point of Companions (and I suppose grogs) in ArM are to deal with mundanes leaving the mages to concentrate on magical concerns. I'd hesitate to automatically give *all* covenfolk traits that would impact their ability to deal with regular folk.

[Eric Minton]

Remember that the point of Companions (and I suppose grogs) in ArM are to deal with mundanes leaving the mages to concentrate on magical concerns. I'd hesitate to automatically give *all* covenfolk traits that would impact their ability to deal with regular folk.
Companions in ArM rarely come from the covenant itself. We're just talking about those born and raised there. Even so, I'm not wedded to the idea; the reason Coven Born get 3 traits is to help account for the strangeness that those born among sorcerers and spells will soak up. It could manifest through traits from Pariah and Disturbed, through Cursed and Haunted, to Hands of Stone and Gifted.