7/24/16

Endrite (GM): Get me outta this wack-ass swing choir!

johns (GM): back in a bit

Endrite (GM): Bye bye.

The Bye Bye Man.

cthinker (GM): cumthinker's magus here

johns (GM): someone scrawled an 'L' or 'V' on one of the labs and I dont know if that is someone claiming it for their character

ropekid, where would Aleseta like to set up

Joshua S.: probably the lab souf of ferris

johns (GM): hail CEO darvin

Darvin (GM): Greeting

I don't know why my picture changed

johns (GM): question time folks

should we make a new Ars thread

Joshua S.: hmm

to what end??

Darvin: ^

Joshua S.: oh so you can manage it

and usurp power from br

johns (GM): more that a 600 page thread is a bit daunting to new people who might want to join the game

Joshua S.: requirement to play ars: read this 600 page thrad. idiot! fucker!!

Darvin: I think anything more than a 10 page thread is going to feel that way to new players, imo

Endrite (GM): All right, good sesh today everyone.

See you all next week.

Anyway I think we should make a new thread.

Joshua S.: i'm fine w/ starting a new thread.

johns (GM): I mean no disrepsect to our fallen comrade

for today, Dys may drop by to watch but wasn't feeling confident enough to debut his new character yet

and prinny is idk, prinny

Joshua S. stomps on picture of BR's avatar.

johns (GM): The summers of 1318 and 1319 have been unusually cool and rainy. This is a pleasant relief to those in the city of Rome, which is typically sweltering and unbearable in that season. Other consequences soon emerge

Endrite: Prinny needs to be destroyed with dungs, trucks, and knives.

johns (GM): be the change you wish to see in the world

Aleseta of Bonisagus emerges from her lab after reading books for four years straight.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "Salve."

Sir Sebaste the Steward: In Autumn 1319, the Magi are having one of their council meetings. Venator is off traveling-- for pleasure, he claims-- leaving you all to manage yourselves.

Proclus of Rome: I'm not happy about Venator's leadership style.

Sir Sebaste the Steward: sounds like a perfect time to propose a charter imo

Proclus of Rome: We're almost totally isolated from the Roman Tribunal despite living in the most important part of it.

Sir Sebaste the Steward: Your knightly Steward approaches the council table grimly. "Masters, I have some bad news for you all. Our pantry is running nearly empty... Last month at the marketplace, a bushel of grain was 10 times its regular price. This week I went and there is no grain at all, the barley costs what the grain cost then, and who knows how long that will last."

Aleseta of Bonisagus: sounds rad  reads book

Sir Sebaste the Steward: "I promise you I have been scouring high and low but.. It seems food is scarce everywhere these days."

"It may be a very lean winter, Masters..."

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "Well, how about other markets? Is there a nearby port we could go to for provisions? It might be worth it if we stock up now."

Proclus of Rome: We could always ask the rats if they've been eating too much.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: Those Darn Rats

Proclus of Rome: Though we might want to word it a little more diplomatically for His Highness.

Sir Sebaste the Steward: "I've been to the Port of Ostia, madame. Fewer ships are coming in this year than before, and their cargoes low. The harvest was bad all around it seems.."

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "That is curious... what is the cause?"

Proclus of Rome: Can anyone talk to plants?

Sir Sebaste the Steward: "Two cold summers in a row."

Proclus of Rome: We could ask the grain.

Ferris of Trianoma: No luck here

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "Well, that will do it, I suppose. Hmm. Where else could we secure provisions, I wonder."

Sir Sebaste the Steward: "Too much rain, grain unable to ripen... I am no farmer, I only know the state of the markets."

Ferris of Trianoma: How unusual has the rainy summers been? Unprecedented?

Proclus of Rome: How close is the city to famine?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: ♫ blame it on the grain yeahh yeah ♫

Sir Sebaste the Steward: "I am not certain Master Proclus. I know I haven't seen a stray cat or dog anywhere in the past week, meaning they've already been snapped up and made into vittles."

Aleseta of Bonisagus: rip

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Speaking of, is Merlin still alive?

Sir Sebaste the Steward: Sure

You want to eat him?

Proclus of Rome: Well, I was just curious.

Sir Sebaste the Steward: As for Ferris' question the weather is unprecedented to observers of the time though later meteorologists could tell you a thing or two about the end of the Medieval Warm Period

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "Sodales, where shall we look for provisions? I don't know what options are available to us."

"What is our shortfall in terms of time, Sir Sebaste? That is, how many months' worth do we need?"

Sir Sebaste the Steward: "We could make it through to next Autumn by dropping to half or third rations. We'd live but it wouldn't be very pleasant.. and I wouldn't be surprised if we lose a few of our employees looking for better chances elsewhere."

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Sir Sebaste the Steward: or in other words, loyalty & living conditions hit + aging rolls

Proclus of Rome: What about outside the city?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "If nearby ports are exhausted, perhaps we should consider foreign options, possibly across the peninsula on the Adriatic."

johns (GM): In a typical famine the cities are the best off. That the city of Rome itself is struggling bodes poorly for the countryside

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "Or across the Adriatic."

Proclus of Rome: I don't recommend we buy food from the house on fire or from the man being broken on a wheel.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: lol

buys food from death ridin on St. Mark

Ferris of Trianoma: Well, is there anything anyone needs to do before heading off to there?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "Sir Sebaste, what are the ports or regions that seem the most likely to have provisions? Provence?"

Sir Sebaste the Steward: He doesn't know, a traveling merchant would be better informed.

cthinker (GM): naples is a huge exporter of grain

Proclus of Rome: Good thing we know one.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: cool merchant krewe

let's go talk to him

Proclus of Rome: Is Benedetti around?

cthinker (GM): i mean uh

Aristocritus of Trianoma: I don't know anything about grain.

Proclus of Rome: I mean we could also talk to the Baker's Guild.

But the less we have to deal with that woman the better.

johns (GM): Alright

Do you mean Benedetti's? Or is there some other merchant we know

right ok

Benedetti lives in a nice 2 story house in an upscale neighborhood. Arriving there you see a bit of commotion just outside his house:

Aleseta of Bonisagus peeks at the commotion meddlesomely.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: benedetti is the guy with the vis window, right

johns (GM): A man in dirty white robes and ragged hair is standing on crate, delivering a passioned sermon about the end of the world, and blaming the greed of Rome's merchants for it. A mixed crowd listens, some peasants, some well dressed who shout obscenities and make lewd gestures at him

Aye Cthinker

Proclus of Rome: What's the aura here?

Aleseta of Bonisagus walks up to an obscenities shouter.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "Who's this, then?" in Italian.

johns (GM): Dominion 2

The man replies, "Just some lunatic. He's been out here for days screaming his head off."

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "Well, someone should so something about it if you ask me! Rome doesn't need someone stirring up trouble."

Ferris of Trianoma: "We need to stand united during trying times."

Proclus of Rome: "I'm willing to reserve judgement."

johns (GM): The man looks at Ferris weirdly but nods to Aleseta.

The Zealot starts quoting scripture about Revelation, judgment day and so on. He at least knows his stuff.

Proclus of Rome: I mean, with Cupid loose in the city anything could happen.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: johns, Aleseta would like to remember something from Revelation about the false prophet. Would that be Church Lore and if so what DIFF?

Proclus of Rome: Wouldn't it be Theology?

johns (GM): Theology or Divine Lore, low difficulty

Aleseta of Bonisagus: good news: she has the same score in both!!

rolling d10+3+3 Theology

(

2

)

+3+3

=

8

Proclus of Rome: Convenient.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: high enough?

johns (GM): Sure

which actually reminds me, for knowledge checks I was wondering if it makes sense to start scrapping rolls altogether and make it a flat "your score is X high or not" thing since the d10 adds a lot of weird variability

idk how well that flies with folks tho

Aleseta of Bonisagus: hmm

Proclus of Rome: I don't mind it for routine checks though you might want to roll for particularly esoteric information.

Ferris of Trianoma: Yeah, Proclus's makes the most sense to me

Proclus of Rome: For example, knowing the story of Atlantis could just be a check and knowing all the supposed locations of Atlantis could require a roll.

johns (GM): Sure. also there are some situations where I feel like someone with relevant lore should be immediately informed of something their PC knows without having to roll it-- like if someone is acting really obviously faerie wouldn't have to say "uhh someone roll faerie lore plz?" before PCs 'know' it

Aristocritus of Trianoma: i kind of like the rolls

that sort of automatic knowledge also sounds good though

Aleseta of Bonisagus: Aleseta instead quotes John, yelling out "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." emphasizing FALSE PROPHETS gestures assholishly toward the raving dude

Proclus of Rome: Also I'm not sure that there should be any check at all for something a player might know. If you think you know something you should just be able to say it.

Time will tell whether it is correct or not, of course.

johns (GM): wow you'll never survive a game of Paranoia like that

That gets a good reaction out of the people who were already heckling him. The lower class folk who were buying into his speech look at you warily. ...

The preacher points to Alesata and quotes: "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour."

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "This old one must have seen the flag on Venetian ship and confused it with the devil incarnate." she jokes, referentially.

btw it is cool reading books from this period that savage old people as worthless idiots

Proclus of Rome: Well, the last two old people I've met have been worthless idiots.

Oh last 3.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: nice

Proclus of Rome: The crazy old woman from the Rat House, the priest who liked my lecture but kept hugging me, and Venator.

Zealot: lol

The Zealot starts pointing accusingly at the other three magi. "Foul sorcerors, abominations, enemies of all that is good! The merchants covort with the wicked and deceitful while God's judgment draws nearer!"

"Repent now before it is too late!"

Proclus of Rome: "Excuse me, I'm a philosopher."

"I don't know where you get your information from, but it is clear that I am NOT a sorcerer, as I am not a Canaanite."

Aleseta of Bonisagus: nice

Ferris of Trianoma: I'll just go with a simple, "Fuck off."

Proclus of Rome: Classic Roman invention.

Zealot: That gets a good reaction out of the upperclass crowd, Ferris

Aleseta of Bonisagus: lol

are there any animals around here btw

Proclus of Rome: Probably not any large ones.

Zealot: Crows and the occasional slim rat

Proclus of Rome: The Rat Diet.

Not to be confused with the Diet of Rats.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: crow zone

Zealot: tfw you realize the diet of worms isn't what you think it is

Anyway this guy sorta revels in the abuse he's getting, making speeches about the suffering of the apostles and so on, he's very dedicated

The people buying into it look ready to follow on his every word

Aleseta of Bonisagus: (in Latin to her sodales) "How do we get rid of this asshole?"

Zealot: He isn't physically blocking the door if you just want to walk by him btw

Aleseta of Bonisagus: hmm.

a lil worried he'll incite the crowd to mob us

Proclus of Rome: We could challenge him to a formal debate.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: i have no imaginem so i can't create any illusions...

Ferris of Trianoma: I feel overly confident Proclus could win any debate.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: we could fly up to the roof, proving him right and probably starting a riot

Zealot: disputatio is the new certamen

Proclus of Rome: I can't fly.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: well ain't that a shame.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "Sure, debate him, Proclus."

Zealot: Heh

You up for disputatio?

Proclus of Rome: Yeah but let me check.

I think that normal debate uses different rules than Tytalan debate.

Zealot: awww yeah time to bring in a whole new set of mechanics

Aleseta of Bonisagus: hell yeah

I think the only other time we used these rules was for the Satanic baker debate.

Zealot: it came up a few sessions ago when you weren't around, Proclus vs. Bonfilia

Aleseta of Bonisagus thinks back fondly to devilishly good life-extending bread.

Zealot: over whether or not to make a child suffer so they can look good in the eyes of a nobleman

Aleseta of Bonisagus: lol

Proclus of Rome: Hmm, looks like I get a bit of an edge over him.

Zealot: Do you actually know Theology?

Proclus of Rome: On the other hand, I doubt this fellow is academically trained at all so Disputatio might also be inappropriate.

Not at all.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: hmm

Aleseta has Theology and Church Lore, Charm, and Guile.

idk what's important in disputatio

Proclus of Rome: You use the Ability in question and add Communication and a Stress roll.

Then defend with the Ability, Perception, and a Stress roll.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: her comm is +3

but idk if the gift makes that worthless

Zealot: Do you have Good Teacher, Inspirational, Incomprehensible, Piercing Gaze, Puissant Theology, Short Attention Span, Strong-Willed, Clear Thinker, Enfeebled, or Afflicted Tongue

Aleseta of Bonisagus: she has Good Teacher

Proclus of Rome: I don't think Good Teacher does anything.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: cool!!!

Zealot: In front of a crowd, the Gift provides -3 to your rolls, but Good Teacher adds +3 to your attack rolls

Aleseta of Bonisagus: ok

Zealot: i'm looking at Art & Academe p. 104

seems simple enough if we want to just power through this. Who's getting up to debate, Aleseta or Proclus?

Proclus of Rome: Same but I also have the Tytalan debate rules open.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: what Ability is being used? Theology?

Aristocritus of Trianoma: aristocritus is prepared to cheer and boo as necessary

Zealot: Theology

Aleseta of Bonisagus: hmm. worried this dude has high theology but welp,

Proclus of Rome: Well, it looks like someone familiar with Tytalan debate is free to use any of the Tytalan forms against someone who is only using Disputatio.

Zealot: im going to write a letter to David Chart telling him he should have expected a situation like this and made mechanics for it

Zealot hopes this guy has stats in the book his hook comes from

Aleseta of Bonisagus: lol

Zealot: Alright, good to go

Proclus of Rome: So instead of just using Theology you can also use Folk Ken, Intrigue, and the Artes Liberales to attack.

Is that right?

That looks like what is in the box.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: i also have AL, but at the same value (3)

Zealot: The Zealot, Paul, accepts your offer to debate and compels his crowd to drag out another crate from somewhere

Proclus of Rome: My Artes Liberales is 8.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: oh nice

what's your comm

Zealot: that's the Tytalan way it works Proclus

Proclus of Rome: +1.

Zealot: which imo is more interesting

it's what we used last time

Aleseta of Bonisagus: so is aleseta still the best person to debate, or proclus?

Zealot: im happy to stick to it here and leave A&A for pure academit disputatio

Proclus of Rome: It might make MORE sense this way because this guy is unlikely to be an academically trained debater.

Whoops./

Zealot: OK.

Proclus of Rome: Misclick.

Zealot: I like that.

we even still have the chart from last time

Aleseta of Bonisagus: how do i get my cloak back that i didn't know i had

Proclus of Rome: You steal it back from me.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: idk how to do that!

Zealot: lmao

if endrite drags the card onto the table I think you can pick it up again

Proclus of Rome: You just click on it in my inventory.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: cool

Proclus of Rome: I just wanted to get a sense of which rolls can be influenced by the cloak.

Probably Artes Liberales and Leadership.

In a debate setting.

Zealot: For an argument with a demagogue, sure

Ok

rolling 1d10!+1 Initiative

(

2

)

+1

=

3

Proclus of Rome: Wait who is debating here?

I thought Aleseta wanted to try.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: yeah i still don't know who should be debating, aleseta or proclus

if proclus can use AL that seems a little better

Proclus of Rome: Frankly my lowest debate score is Intrigue at +3, but you have a better Communication score and I don't mind if you want to try.

Paul the Zealot: Want to flip a coin?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: Aleseta would rather have Proclus go

Proclus of Rome: Ok.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: it will likely also go faster since i haven't used these rules personally

Proclus of Rome: It's really fun.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: cool well i'll learn it this sesh and hopefully use them in the future

Proclus of Rome: Also isn't the Gift penalty -5 with Abilities as Arts?

Paul the Zealot: Yeah

Proclus of Rome: Ok.

rolling 1d10! +1

(

10

+

10

+

6

)

+1

=

27

That's my initiative.

Sorry.

Paul the Zealot: Very good

Aleseta of Bonisagus: speed debater

Paul the Zealot: Ah right we also need a 3rd party who we whisper our attack/defenses to

Proclus of Rome: Isn't that only between PCs?

Paul the Zealot: Alright if you trust me to play fair

Proclus of Rome: With an NPC he likely has a favored debate style.

Anyway.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: game w/ honor

Paul the Zealot: Choose your attack, Proclus

ill still whisper my attacks/defends to cthinker so he can shame me if I cheat

Proclus of Rome: I'll start with Folk Ken and probe for a reason as to why he decided to start preaching today.

Ok.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: ok

Proclus of Rome: You can already cheat because only you know his stats.

Paul the Zealot: oh I guess folk ken only is for attack and not defend so he defends with

rolling 1d3

(

2

)

=

2

Guile

rolling 1d10!+1+2-3 Defense

(

10

+

2

)

+1+2-3

=

12

Proclus of Rome: Ok.

Paul the Zealot: i dont know proclus's stats off hand and im not gonna look em up

Proclus of Rome:

rolling 1d10! + 5 -3 -5

(

1

)

+5-3-5

=

-2

Aristocritus of Trianoma: lol

Aleseta of Bonisagus: nice

Ferris of Trianoma: I no longer feel overly confident

Paul the Zealot: Paul bluffs with a bogus lie that nevertheless the crowd seems to buy into

Aristocritus of Trianoma: i'm prepared to jump onto the rooftops now.

Paul the Zealot: Proclus, choose your defense

Proclus of Rome: Ok.

Hmm.

I'll go with Charm.

Paul the Zealot: Defend Folk Ken

i mean

Attack Folk Ken

rolling 1d10!+3+4 Attack

(

7

)

+3+4

=

14

Proclus of Rome:

rolling 1d10! +4 +2 -5

(

3

)

+4+2-5

=

4

Aristocritus of Trianoma: is there some sort of rock-paper-scissors relationship going on with the abilities you select

Proclus of Rome: Yes.

Can't you see the table?

Aristocritus of Trianoma: nope

Paul the Zealot: Does Proclus have a positive reputation of any sort

Aristocritus of Trianoma: all i see is the tomb

Paul the Zealot: Are you logged in as GM?

You miss scene transitions if you do that

Aristocritus of Trianoma: oh, yeah

Proclus of Rome: He has +3 as a Philosopher in Rome.

Paul the Zealot: shuck you missed out the cannibalism scene

Proclus of Rome: Yeah you should be logged in as a player otherwise the GM can't drag you to different maps.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: ok, now i see the table

Paul the Zealot: Okay, that's valid, so Weakening = 10 advantage + 1 presence - 3 rep & 1 conf = 8

do you have Clear Thinker virtue by change?

chance

Proclus of Rome: What's my confidence score again?

Paul the Zealot: 1 unless you're Self-Confident

Aristocritus of Trianoma: the cthinker virtue

Proclus of Rome: It's 1 + 2 from Self-Confident, right?

Paul the Zealot: Confidence score is a fixed score that represents how many conf points you can spend at once, 1 for regular, 0 for no self esteem, 2 for self confident

so weakening total is 7 now I guess

Proclus of Rome: Ok.

Paul the Zealot: Still 2 fatigues lost

Proclus, your turn to attack, turn this around!

Proclus of Rome: So my total is +3 from positive reputation and +2 from Self-Confident.

What's the fatigue penalty?

Paul the Zealot: -1

Proclus of Rome: Ok.

Paul the Zealot: levels are 0/-1/-3/-5/unconcscious

Proclus of Rome: Righty oh.

Paul the Zealot: er 0/0/-1/-3/-5

Proclus of Rome: Alright, this round I'll use Artes Liberales to try and trap him in a rhetorical snare.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: snafu

Paul the Zealot: He defends with Guile

rolling 1d10!+1+2 Defense

(

1

)

+1+2

=

4

Aleseta of Bonisagus: owned!!!!

idiot! fucker!!!

Proclus of Rome:

rolling 1d10! + 8 + 1 - 5

(

4

)

+8+1-5

=

8

Paul the Zealot: He directs the crowd's attention to your very noticable witches marks and warted nose. On closer inspection everyone notices that they do not exist

Aleseta of Bonisagus: http://i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/429/009/081.png

Ferris of Trianoma: Gottem

Paul the Zealot: What's proclus's Presence?

Heya Dys

Proclus of Rome: So my weakening total is +8 + 1 Presence.

Paul the Zealot: nice av

dys: Hi

Proclus of Rome: I will however, note that I made a mistake on rolling my initiative.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: hi

Paul the Zealot: This guy has Confidence 1 and no reputation so

let me roll botch die on that defense btw

Proclus of Rome: It should have been 26 because my Perception is +0.

Paul the Zealot:

rolling 2d10

(

4

+

1

)

=

5

okay yeah complete fail

full damage so 8 aka 2 fatigue levels

Proclus of Rome: 9.

My full damage is 9.

Paul the Zealot: he resists 1 point

deal

with

it

Proclus of Rome: Fine!

Aristocritus of Trianoma: paul the zealot spits up blood. all of this takes a great deal of time to describe but in fact happens in the time it takes for a spark to fly from flint

Paul the Zealot: Choose a defense

Proclus of Rome: Ok I'll defend with Guile, trying to get him to make an argument that undermines his position.

Paul the Zealot: he attackes with Artes Liberales

rolling 1d10!+3+4 Attack

(

10

+

1

)

+3+4

=

18

Proclus of Rome:

rolling 1d10! + 4 + 2 -5

(

1

)

+4+2-5

=

2

Paul the Zealot: Paul pulls a Ronald Reagan and recovers from his earlier misstatement by quoting a bunch of latin making himself look smart

Boy R.: salvete

Paul the Zealot:

rolling 2d10 botch

(

7

+

5

)

=

12

hey BR!!!!!

Proclus of Rome: Yikes.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: yo

Paul the Zealot: proclus' resistance is 5 so

12

Proclus of Rome: Argh.

Paul the Zealot: 3 fatigues

sorry but that's K.O.

Boy R.: debates ftw

Aristocritus of Trianoma: that's a really good token for the rabble

Aleseta of Bonisagus: yes

Paul the Zealot: The rabble has heard enough and starts drowning out Proclus with jeers whenever he speaks

Proclus of Rome: Everyone loves the ol' rabble token.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: oh sh

Proclus of Rome: I really need to learn the 7th Ring of Solomon so I stop botching all the time.

johns (GM): It was a good plan though so have a Conf point

Aleseta of Bonisagus: nice

Proclus of Rome: Thank you.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "Condolences, Proclus. Well, should we just try head in or should we wait until later, when the crowd is thinner?" (in Latin, to sodales)

Proclus of Rome: "I suppose it would be respectful to wait or to at least use a different entrance."

Is Red Dominion different than White Dominion?

johns (GM): yeah it shows up better on white backdrops

Proclus of Rome: We could try the servant's entrance.

Joshua S.: Let's use another entrance or abscond until later.

Proclus of Rome: Servants' entrance.

johns (GM): Only a poor merchant would have a lone Servant's Entrance

Alright you slunk away from the crowd, disgraced in debate yet again, alas

You are known to Benedetti's household so a servant is willing to let you in through the kitchen and so on

and meet the man himself. hello.

Proclus of Rome: Hello.

Benedetti: "I saw the whole thing from the window. It was a valiant attempt, thank you."

Aristocritus of Trianoma: did we end up betraying benedetti, or was that someone else

Aleseta of Bonisagus: Bongiorno, etc.

Proclus of Rome: What are you talking about Aristocritus?

Boy R.: unless i missed something you're on good terms. he's custodian of a covenant vis source, lavinia is his family's physcian

Aristocritus of Trianoma: oh good

Proclus of Rome: Who did we betray?

Benedetti: do you mean Jacapo, the book merchant?

Proclus of Rome: I don't really know what you're talking about here.

Oh him.

We didn't betray him at all!

We saved him!

Aristocritus of Trianoma: the whole book merchant thing was basically just a nonstop chain of betrayals

Benedetti: it's the italian way

Benedetti offers you wine and cheese or whatever is typical for the era. He admits his pantry is low too but the truly wealthy always have some source or another to work with

Proclus of Rome: "Where have you been finding food during these cold seasons?

"

Lodewig of Tytalus forages in the countryside

Benedetti: He leans in and smiles slyly. "The nobles keep several granaries to ensure they never go hungry. The men who attend them, sometimes see an opportunity to make a bit extra coin, and some of their lords' supply goes missing."

Aleseta of Bonisagus: grift, ftw

Benedetti: "Actually it is quite fortunate you've stopped by, I had an idea for a venture that could use learned men, er, men and women's opinions."

Proclus of Rome: "Theft doesn't seem like it would solve the problem facing the city."

Benedetti: "Oh no, not at all."

Ferris of Trianoma: "What did you have in mind?"

Benedetti: "And in the countryside they will take to eating the seed crops, the hunting animals, the pests, and then each other."

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "Well, we're facing a food shortage of our own in the coming months, so if we could help each other out, why not?"

Benedetti: "Well, the harvest in Egypt is as good as ever, I heard. The Genoese own a trade monopoly there that shuts myself out. When the winter comes and the sea becomes dangerous, trade drops and the sellers in Alexandria become willing to sell their remaining grain to anyone they can."

Aleseta of Bonisagus: hmm, hmm.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: ah heck

brb

Benedetti: "I am thinking of sailing to Alexandria in the dead of winter. Dangerous, but with great potential for profit."

Proclus of Rome: "As long as Cupid isn't on the ship we should be able to handle any potential hazards."

"But won't the Genoese do something when they find out that you violated their monopoly?"

Benedetti: He shrugs and smiles.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: mmmm haha

Benedetti: "No gain without risk in my work."

"What sort of aid could you use your.. philosophy, to accomplish for this task? The sea itself is the biggest problem, fierce waves and frequent storms. Few chances to stop for provision on the way."

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "If there are any animals, especially domesticated, involved in the travel, I can help there."

Proclus of Rome: "Can you domesticate fish? That could be very useful in a sea voyage."

Benedetti: You needn't necessarily go yourself, enchanted items or spells cast before it heads out could be useful too

Ferris of Trianoma: Dolphin carriage ftw

Proclus of Rome: I don't really know anything about sea voyages except that you should make sure there aren't any Fairies on board.

Oh!

I can dry someone out if they're wet.

Ferris of Trianoma: I don't anything anything that would help with a long boat journey. Anyone else have something we can do to send this boat along without us?

Lodewig of Tytalus: I could make all the sailors quite small, enabling you to fit more cargo

Aleseta of Bonisagus: lol

it would be easy enough to make a charged item with break the oncoming wave or equiv

Lodewig of Tytalus: tru

Benedetti: You can take a couple seasons in the lab for this if you like, you would reap a mundane profit for your magical assistance

Aleseta of Bonisagus: aleseta can probably make the charged item in a season or two

Lodewig of Tytalus: no auram or aquam here, alas

sailors foretaste of the morrow is a good effect though, for those with the ability

Proclus of Rome: What about shrinking the cargo?

Then resizing it when it gets back to port?

Benedetti: that could increase the profitability by a factor of 10

Lodewig of Tytalus: it would be extremely effective. i'll see what a spell would take

Proclus of Rome: Wow!

Aleseta of Bonisagus: but it would need to last for the journey, yeah?

Lodewig of Tytalus: what are we dealing in, herbam?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: or have enough charges

Proclus of Rome: Well, if one of us goes we could tend to it ourselves.

Lodewig of Tytalus: per the last rules vote, circle spells do not work on moving surfaces

Benedetti: hrmm city & guild has detailed trade route maps for europe but nothing for going to the Levant

Proclus of Rome: MuHe would be level 3 for shrinking it.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: If it's just one season of traveling, Aleseta could go.

She has 10 Muto, 5 Herbam.

Proclus of Rome: Well, we could make it usual thing by inventing a ship's hold that does what we need it to do.

Lodewig of Tytalus: 14 muto 9 herbam here :dukedog:

Aleseta of Bonisagus: noice

but yeah anything relating to domesticated animals is her main focus.

Lodewig of Tytalus: we might be able to make a proper enchantment that does the job

that'd be a major investement tho

Proclus of Rome: My MuHe is only 8.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: yeah for now it seems smarter to make a charged item. minimal investment (no vis, a season) and we can handle the provisions shortfall.

Lodewig of Tytalus: did we agree that a ship is a Structure?

Benedetti: "This book lacks sufficient size

to detail the range of creatures that

might assail a ship." boooo

Yes, Ship = Structure imo

Lodewig of Tytalus: base structure ought to cover the largest ships that exist rn

Proclus of Rome: Oh, this is a good time to ask, but what happens to a ship under the influence of the Perfected Structure?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: cogs ftw

Benedetti: "Venice also has two

250-ton ships, which it uses as part

of its annual grain voyage to Egypt." hmm

Lodewig of Tytalus: hmm

Aleseta of Bonisagus: nice

Proclus of Rome: Oh also, does Bind the Mystical Structure work on ships?

Benedetti: It should

It's a wood construction with rooms in it

Lodewig of Tytalus: well are any ships at benedetti's disposal larger than a ten-room dwelling

Benedetti: skimming City & Guild's section here I'm assuming it's a 20 ton storage nef

so easily within structure range

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Well, I have Bind the Mystical Structure at level 46.

Lodewig of Tytalus: can the voyage be made within Moon?

Proclus of Rome: We could just invest the ship with inventions.

Lodewig of Tytalus: well if not, it just means more charges, that's the longest duration you can put in an item anyway

Benedetti: Yeah, I think a round trip will be 30 days or less

Proclus of Rome: The great thing about Hermetic Architecture is that everyone can work on a structure, not just the Hermetic Architect.

All the Hermetic Architect does is place the completed items in the correct locations.

Lodewig of Tytalus: he'd want to pay us a mint to make him an enchanted ship

though i'd be down to work on one

Benedetti: Proclus going by the description of the Perfect structure, perfecting a boat would turn it into a perfect square

Aleseta of Bonisagus: a square ship. this shocks you.

Proclus of Rome: Yeah that's what it looks like.

Benedetti: I am not sure how seaworthy that is

Lodewig of Tytalus: ok we're looking at 3 +1 touch +3 structure +3 moon

dys: It's perfectly seaworthy.

Proclus of Rome: Actually it would probably be a cube.

Or a rectangle.

Lodewig of Tytalus: so 30 base. would take a few seasons to invent, then more to manufacture a decent amount of charges

Aleseta of Bonisagus: hrm

Proclus of Rome: The biggest issue is that we are quite vis poor.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: A charged item doesn't require vis to make, yeah?

Proclus of Rome: I don't really know.

Benedetti: Benedetti also offers that he knows someone who knows someone who etc. if you are looking for a way to get food and don't mind getting your hands dirty

charged items = no vis cost

Lodewig of Tytalus: it doesn't

Proclus of Rome: Aha.

Lodewig of Tytalus: this is something bonfilia would probably be great at

Proclus of Rome: It isn't making cursed bread though.

Lodewig of Tytalus: she has a ton of herbam iirc, and verditius can use all sorts of bonuses

and not worry about being vis poor

Proclus of Rome: Well don't just think about Herbam.

Also consider useful Aquam and Auram effects that would make the journey safer.

Lodewig of Tytalus: i could alter the crew's minds to make them more confident sailors

although, not more competent

Aleseta of Bonisagus: Hmm. Is he transporting any leather goods or animal products?

Proclus of Rome: Not on this trip.

It's for grain.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: lodewig had a high MuHe. a high CrHe could help preserve grain, also.

Proclus of Rome: Shrinking it seems like the way to go, honestly.

Benedetti: he can pick up meat as well if you have something to make it worth doing

Proclus of Rome: I mean it isn't more difficult than any other MuHe effect apparently.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: "If there is meat that normally would not survive the journey and would yield a good profit, I could make something to preserve it."

"As long as the journey is not overly long."

Proclus of Rome: Hmm I guess the biggest problem with that would be giving it a Sun duration because then all the grain would return to its original size at the same time.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: yeah

how long is the trip, one-way?

Benedetti: 14 days

Proclus of Rome: Maybe give the hold a double sun duration effect that shrinks grain placed into it.

Lodewig of Tytalus: what about something to make grain float so vast quantities can be towed like balloons?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: lol yesss

Benedetti: there's two separate variables at work here: The Profitability, and the Chance of Success... tell you what, I'll roll on a 1d100 against an arbitrary number modified by whatever stuff you come up for each table. if the chance of success fails the ship sinks though

Proclus of Rome: Wouldn't birds eat it all?

Lodewig of Tytalus: or the winds would tear it apart

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

What would make the ship less likely to sink?

Strengthening the wood is a good place to start.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: ok. i'm back

Aleseta of Bonisagus: So, I could make a charged CrAn item that's the Animal equivalent to Charm Against Putrefaction with Room target.

lasts moon

should be a L20 effect

Lodewig of Tytalus: OR come up with a spell to transform grain to something small and innocuous for Sun, then negotiate the use of a mercer portal from alexandria to genoa or wherever harco is

Benedetti: ooooooh shit!

Ferris of Trianoma: Yeah, scrapping something and punching a hole in the hull would be a common way to go, so strengthening the wood would be a good way to go.

Proclus of Rome: A portal?

Portals are totally untrustworthy.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: I think using a Mercer portal is super expensive, isn't it?

Lodewig of Tytalus: probably, for exactly this reason

Aleseta of Bonisagus: our local aura is +3?

Lodewig of Tytalus: ye

Proclus of Rome: A Rope of Bronze-style effect would only be level 30 with a Structure target.

But if we used Hermetic Architecture, it would be a Self target.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: btw in one season i can make that room target meat preservation effect with 3 charges and moon duration

Lodewig of Tytalus: going with room and sun the grain shrinking might be doable

Aleseta of Bonisagus: 4 charges if i bother using an appropriate shape/material

Proclus of Rome: You can actually get it down to a Touch target if you invest a device to be used in Hermetic Architecture.

Lodewig of Tytalus: lab total 37

only takes a little experimentation

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: johns, does the meat preservation idea appeal to Benedetti or would the herbam effect/plan be better?

Proclus of Rome: We need to decide if we're using Hermetic Architecture or not here.

Lodewig of Tytalus: i don't see the advantage in hermetic architecture, unless he's prepared to pay us an archmage's ransom of vis

Benedetti: The meat will make the trip more profitable. You will have food, and the wealthy of Rome will have food, but there'd be little left for the rest. Assuming this bothers you at all.

Proclus of Rome: The advantage is that the level of the effects would be drastically reduced because they could use Self or Touch ranges.

Lodewig of Tytalus: they can already use touch range

Proclus of Rome: It wouldn't even use that much vis.

Lodewig of Tytalus: you just touch your magic wand or whatever to the target

Ferris of Trianoma: The outcome of Plan Meat sounds alright.

Lodewig of Tytalus: the grain plan would require no experimentation if 2 magi work on it

Proclus of Rome: Ok.

We also need to strengthen the ship against the elements.

My Auram, Aquam, and Herbam scores are all pretty low.

Unfortunately.

Lodewig of Tytalus: dang wait sorry it'd need another season as well to produce more than 1 charge

i can devote 2 seasons frmo the year's i haven't spent, but it's

Aristocritus of Trianoma: i have 4 aquam. that probably doesn't help

Lodewig of Tytalus: probably not the most efficient plan

beats mine

Proclus of Rome: I don't think that would be fair since you didn't learn about this plan until today.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: i also have a bunch of unused seasons though

Aleseta of Bonisagus: i'm still leaning toward Plan Meat since it's my plan and only one season and solves our problem (though it doesn't help rome, whoops/lol/fuck you got mine)

Lodewig of Tytalus: what's our problem exactly anyway?

I was upriver on a fishing trip

Ferris of Trianoma: My Auram (3), Aquam (6), Herbam (1)

Proclus of Rome: There's not enough food in Rome.

Lodewig of Tytalus walks into conference room tucking in fresh shirt

Proclus of Rome: What's the Profit Factor of shrunken grain vs. full sized meat?

Ferris of Trianoma: Well, our problem is WE don't have enough food. Rome not having enough food isn't a problem for us yet, more of a preventative measure.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: Our problem is that we don't have enough food for the upcoming seasons. Rome's problem is that it, also, does not have enough food for the upcoming season.

Lodewig of Tytalus: I see, I see

a curious coincidence

Proclus of Rome: What's the more dirty-handed method of finding food, out of curiosity?

Benedetti: Okay, in C&G a bushel of standard grain is 5 MP, an equivalent unit of "foodstuffs" is 10 MP

Stealing it, probably

Proclus of Rome: That would be wrong, probably.

It really depends on who we'd be stealing it from.

Benedetti: so I feel comfortable saying a cargo of living animals is worth twice the equivalent size in grain

Lodewig of Tytalus: so anyone feel like there haven't been enough crusades lately?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: lol

Proclus of Rome: Can you shrink the living animals though?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: Aleseta could.

Benedetti: i doubt people transport dead animals for eating in a world before refridgerators

Proclus of Rome: Interestingly, there is no limit on the size of shrunken grain per the MuHe guidelines.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: she has beast of miniscule proportions

Proclus of Rome: What about salted meat?

Benedetti: fair point

Aleseta of Bonisagus: refrigerators = L2 CrAn effect. boom.

Benedetti: also true

turns out you can really break the mundane economy with magic? who knew

Lodewig of Tytalus: preserving meat without salt would make you a killing on the luxury market probably, but if there's a famine people are probably happy with the salty kind

Proclus of Rome: Shrinking all the grain to be small enough to fit in a small bag would POSSIBLY be a good idea.

It could also be a terrible idea when you get mugged.

I feel like there should definitely be a limit on how small you can shrink something.

Lodewig of Tytalus: that's why you set a trigger to break the spell when anyone else opens the pouch

pocket grain!

Benedetti: lol

Proclus of Rome: Especially since it looks like there also isn't any limit on how large you can make something.

Lodewig of Tytalus: size changing spells suffer from abysmal/non-existent guidelines

Aleseta of Bonisagus: ??

they usually have size guidelines...

Aristocritus of Trianoma: in medieval italy each holiday has a special food you have to eat to properly celebrate it. so if we opt for grain for all instead of meat for us our souls might be at risk

Proclus of Rome: So instead of going to all this trouble we could just make a single grain of wheat the size of Rome.

Lodewig of Tytalus: there's guideline's for scaling something up, but no guideline for how small you can shrink something, except copying an existing spell

which are generally limited to giving a person or animal -2 size

also scaling up is crazy generous

it's a bad idea to subsist on muto'd food though, fwiw

Aleseta of Bonisagus: beast of miniscule prop is a base L4 effect with the animal guidelines saying a basic Individual in Animal is a creature the same size as a pony, Size +1.

make a killing in the pony market, my man.

aren't additional sizes always +1 mag?

Proclus of Rome: How small does Beast of Minuscule Proportions make the animal?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: with the form determining what each size category really means?

-2

Lodewig of Tytalus: +1 mag gives you 10x whatever your target volume is

Benedetti: aren't additional sizes always +1 mag?

yes thats what I thought so

Lodewig of Tytalus: some spells suggest this is equivalent to boosting a creature's size category by 2

Aleseta of Bonisagus: taking a pony from size +1 to size -1 makes it the size of a human adolescent.

roughly

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Lodewig of Tytalus: ye

Proclus of Rome: Well one of the issues is that we could definitely transport much more dead grain than we could live animals.

Lodewig of Tytalus: or just a short person

i know this is one of the more exploitable bits of ars, i keep reading stories about covenants that make their cows the size of mice for the winter and so on

Aleseta of Bonisagus: w00t

Benedetti: thats cool though

Lodewig of Tytalus: oh for sure

until the rats get in

Proclus of Rome: I feel like more restrictive guidelines are called for.

johns (GM): the silver consensus is the only real reason you don't use magic to become billionaires

Lodewig of Tytalus: jk warding against vermin is trivial

Proclus of Rome: What is the Silver Consensus?

johns (GM): You're not supposed to spend more than 2 pounds of magically created silver per year

Proclus of Rome: Oh well this is totally different.

johns (GM): which some tribunals strictly interpret as "any magic taints the source of money," italy is more flexible

Lodewig of Tytalus: i think as long as the magic is doing something useful it should be fine

johns (GM): Alright, but we got a little side tracked here

Lodewig of Tytalus: lol

Proclus of Rome: Did we?

johns (GM): We can enchant the cargo itself sure, but how do we make the ship survive rough waters better

Lodewig of Tytalus: a charm of flotation

but my rego is shit

Proclus of Rome: Well like I said, we could toughen the wood in the ship to be like bronze by bumping Rope of Bronze to a structure target and level 30.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: my rego is pretty good

well. it's 9

Lodewig of Tytalus: I don't know enough about sailing to say whether toughening the timbers will help stop a boat from sinking

Proclus of Rome: Well it would protect it from rocks and from breaking against waves.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: some sort of Break the Oncoming Wave (ReAq 10) efffect would be nice

Lodewig of Tytalus: mm

Aleseta of Bonisagus: but you would have to change it a bit

Lodewig of Tytalus: a prow or figurehead with that as a constant effect would be sweet

Proclus of Rome: It would need to be of larger magnitude.

Since it only works to ten paces.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: range would need to go to touch

johns (GM): im just skimming through city and guilds trade and chapter and man this looks like a lot of fun stuff but entirely meant for characters who arent wizards

Proclus of Rome: Yeah.

I mean yeah on the range.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: is transforming mythic europe the one that has a section about inventing shipping containers and cranes

and pallets, of course

johns (GM): Hermetic Projects has the Magical Shipyard, Transforming Mythic Europe has a chapter about a bunch of different technologies you can invent magically to completely break the world including transport

Proclus of Rome: Deadly melons.

Lodewig of Tytalus: half the ars supplements are basically building a completely different game on top of the wizard tower fantasy

i wonder if many people run lords of men, c&g, the church for no-magi sagas

Aristocritus of Trianoma: spend long hours in the lab discovering pallets to break the power of the diabolical Longshoreman's Brotherhood

johns (GM): lol

Ferris of Trianoma: I don't know if I would want to use the ars system without being able to do goofy magic

Proclus of Rome: Uh what else could we do here?

Lodewig of Tytalus: did you know? the pallet was invented by the application of hermetic architecture techniquest to common nets and boxes

Proclus of Rome: Break the Wave and Ship of Bronze both seem like they could work well here.

johns (GM): just reading this in C&G and feeling stupid for suggesting it myself, but

Most ships are forced to skip

from port to port along a coast,

so that they can refill with water

and provisions. Minor enchanted

items that make seawater potable,

johns (GM): and items that attract birds and

fish for food, allow characters to

sail straight to their destination.

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

johns (GM): is that within your repertoir?

Proclus of Rome: Well, no, but it should be easy.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: purifying seawater is craq, right

or is it muto

Aleseta of Bonisagus: i figure it would be CrAq or maybe PeTe (destroy the salt)

Aristocritus of Trianoma: or wait, it can't be muto

Lodewig of Tytalus: craq or peaq imo

Proclus of Rome: Yeah.

Lodewig of Tytalus: muto would work, temporarily

Proclus of Rome: Yeah it's a level 15 Perdo Aquam effect.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: anyway we should make the ship fly

johns (GM): ^^^^^^

Aleseta of Bonisagus: I would like to decide what we are doing for good merchant so we can move on if that's okay. is MEAT PLAN okay even though it only helps us and not Rome, or do we need a plan that also helps Rome?

Lodewig of Tytalus: that's fine with me

tbh I think his boats should be able to make the crossing without magical assistance

Proclus of Rome: Well the real question is how much more profitable is 10x meat compared with 1000x grain?

Well, we're investing in his venture so we want to make sure that it pays off.

johns (GM): Twice as profitable Proclus

Proclus of Rome: Instead of sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: the meat plan might earn us a little favor with the nobles and the rich

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

I think we should go with the grain because a widespread famine would make Rome much more dangerous.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: but the church and the commoners will never like us anyway. so the answer is clear

Proclus of Rome: Well, why wouldn't they like us?

Sailing into harbor with a year's worth of grain would definitely make us popular.

Lodewig of Tytalus: ok I think ship of bronze is overcosted for hte likely benefit, and idk if anyone among us is capable of wind or wave protections

Proclus of Rome: Wave protection is ReAq 10 though.

Lodewig of Tytalus: I'm prepared to donate time to the grain project, but if you want to preserve meat that's fine with me too

Proclus of Rome: Ship of Bronze is also extensible to warships.

Lodewig of Tytalus: on a person, for like a couple of minutes

johns (GM): Tell you what, let me give solid numbers: right now I'm thinking with a skilled helmsman there is a 66% chance of success, so if I roll higher than 33 on a 1d100 the venture succeeds

Lodewig of Tytalus: if you think it's worth your while to research, go for it

Ferris of Trianoma: Aren't we talking about doing both? Meat plan + wave/wind breaking.

Lodewig of Tytalus: you could make a killer fleet down the line

Aleseta of Bonisagus: Aleseta is spending a season doing Plan Meat, but if someone else wants to do grain preservation or ship preservation stuff, great.

Proclus of Rome: I guess there isn't anything stopping Benedetti from making multiple trips.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: i haven't really done any magic item stuff

Proclus of Rome: Me neither.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: so. what exactly would i have to do to create the wave-breaking enchantment

Lodewig of Tytalus: would you like to lend me your magic theory in the lab? and i'll invent an item that shrinks grains

it costs a season of your time, mind

Aleseta of Bonisagus: good news: if my boy Benedetti gives me some myrrh, he can have a device that will do it 5 times, each time for a Moon duration.

johns (GM): For the return on profit, I'm gonna take a Typical Income source (100 MP), double it if you go for meat, roll 1d50 to see what percent is lost to ruin/spoilage/other problems, and benedetti gets half the end cut

Lodewig of Tytalus: niiice

Aleseta of Bonisagus: that's A Lot of Meat

Ferris of Trianoma: I'll lend my 7 Magic Theory + time to your project Lodewig

Aleseta of Bonisagus: cool

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Wait what about just giving away the grain?

Lodewig of Tytalus: thanks ferris

does benefitting from someone else's magic theory also increase the amount of shape/material bonus you can use?

johns (GM): seems it should use whoever's is higher

Aleseta of Bonisagus: you only get 1 shape and 1 material bonus per item IIRC

regardless of how many folks are helping

Proclus of Rome: Yeah.

Lodewig of Tytalus: ok no it's whoever's leading the project that limits it

johns (GM): hmm

Proclus of Rome: But what WOULD happen if we gave away a whole shipload of shrunken grain?

johns (GM): You'd definitely get a Reputation

Proclus of Rome: I mean how much would it cost us?

johns (GM): Well your "investment" is the magical input, not anything financial

Proclus of Rome: Yeah but you gotta buy the grain and hire the ship.

Lodewig of Tytalus: lab total 39

can we obtain mercury?

Aristocritus of Trianoma: oh i should just use benedetti as my contact for shipwrecks and sea monster stories

Lodewig of Tytalus: dang this is for sun duration and would use two charges a day

johns (GM): Oh. Well Benedetti isn't going to give away a shipload of cargo so you'd probably have to find a crew, ship, experienced captain

Lodewig of Tytalus: sorry this is unworkable. have your season back ferris

being a noob at magic hurts

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Ferris of Trianoma: No worries

johns (GM): with 40 MP in the bank the cost for proclus idea is "more than you can afford"

Proclus of Rome: Hmm...

I guess we should table it for now.

johns (GM): unless you want to solicit investors or something idk

Lodewig of Tytalus: looks like meat scheme is a go though

everything else is pie in the sky

Proclus of Rome: Well, who is interested in charitable adventures in Rome?

The Vatican?

johns (GM): Should I just roll the odds of success/fail assuming no magical assistance?

Lodewig of Tytalus: I've discovered something beyond my powers, so I reflexively lost interest in the whole enterprise

johns (GM): lol sorry

Aleseta of Bonisagus: it is really beyond other folks to make a higher level ReAq effect with touch target

Lodewig of Tytalus: (in character, personally i'm on the edge of my seat)

Proclus of Rome: I have +18 Rego Aquam.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: what's your lab total

for rego aquam

Proclus of Rome: That is my lab total.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: the yikes face

Aristocritus of Trianoma: what do you add to your arts to get the lab total

Lodewig of Tytalus: how about a nice ceremony?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: lab total is

Lodewig of Tytalus: you could maybe hist something at moon duration

Proclus of Rome: Intelligence, Lab Total, and aura.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: Form + Technique + Magic Theory/2 + Intelligence, Aura

Proclus of Rome: Well who has the best Rego Aquam here?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: don't forget magic theory!!

johns (GM): you can boost your Lab Total up to +13 through experimenting........

Proclus of Rome: Well too bad I did!

Aleseta of Bonisagus: yeah add magic theory/2

also if you have inventive genius you get +3, +6 when experimenting

Proclus of Rome: I do have Inventive Genius.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: when making new shit, anyway

nice, nice

johns (GM): probably not useful but if you asked Lavinia to help she's MT 4 Int 2 so +4 to the lab total

Proclus of Rome: Still I'm sure others have better Rego Aquam.

Lodewig of Tytalus: you can also work overtime, or take weird drugs and spells that give you warping

Aleseta of Bonisagus: mm

Aristocritus of Trianoma: oh, my reaq lab total is 25 / 28 while experimenting then

Lodewig of Tytalus: i'm not prepared to do taht this time around

johns (GM): do you have a link to your char sheet cthinker

Aleseta of Bonisagus: my ReAq lab total is 22 but i'm already on Plan Meat

Aristocritus of Trianoma: plus i have a bunch of unspent seasons where i would probably be reading books about elements anyway

Lodewig of Tytalus: experimenting gives you +1d10, with an additional +(0-3) depending on how much risk oyu want to take

Aristocritus of Trianoma: i haven't turned it into a spreadsheet yet unfortunately

Lodewig of Tytalus: as long as you've got the numbers

Proclus of Rome: You should use Johns' spreadsheet.

It's great.

Almost.

Some of the numbers are wrong.

johns (GM): except for all the parts that dont work

Aristocritus of Trianoma: i really should

Proclus of Rome: Like your Lab Totals are going to be about 20 higher than they should be.

johns (GM): darvin made a badass spreadsheet you should steal his too

Aristocritus of Trianoma: also i've only spent seasons up to fall 1317

Lodewig of Tytalus: i'm reasonable confident my formulas are accurate to ars but i don't know excel so it's real hacky

Ferris of Trianoma: I... I like spreadsheets.

johns (GM): They rule

Proclus of Rome: So for purifying water how much would we need to do per day?

Lodewig of Tytalus: they're irl esoteric numerology and thus kind of intimidating

johns (GM): ah geez do I really need to convert metric liters to Ars Magica base units

Proclus of Rome: lmao

Aristocritus of Trianoma: lol

Proclus of Rome: Convert Mythic Pounds to Mythic Euros.

Lodewig of Tytalus: if it helps, the base individual for Aquam is one stream, current or pool

johns (GM): a base individual should be fine, it'd be like a single barrel

Proclus of Rome: That doesn't help at all!

Aleseta of Bonisagus: Mythic Lira

Proclus of Rome: Where are the expanded materials bonuses?

Covenants?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: http://www.atlas-games.com/pdf_storage/ArM5IndexS&MbyBonus.pdf

johns (GM): US measurement of volume for non-petroleum liquids. See also US oil barrels, US federal barrels, US dry barrels and UK barrels.

L =US bbl lqd ____________ 0.0083864

dys: This is convenient for Potent Magic, thanks.

johns (GM): assuming a crew of 20 drinks 5 liters of freshwater per day, the recommended minimum, that's still less than 1 complete barrel

ergo

1 unit

Proclus of Rome: Ok.

johns (GM): i hate you now endrite

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: is 25+ enough to produce an enchanted figurehead in a reasonable amount of time, or would that be hopeless

Proclus of Rome: Does it make sense to have a single barrel of water eating up a charge per day?

johns (GM): can you just make it a lesser enchantment with 1 use per day

Lodewig of Tytalus: sure

you get a frequency of Sun by default

johns (GM): doesnt look like we have Aquam vis but we have Creo Rego and Perdo

BR were you replying to me or cthinker

i lost track of what level enchantment you were gonna make to help against the sea

Proclus of Rome: There was Level 30 for Ship of Bronze, which was dismissed as being too impractical.

Lodewig of Tytalus: sorry I was replying to johns

the most efficient way to make enchantments is generally as a lesser enchantment, so half your lab total is the cap on the spell level you can instil

and that's without using any extra options like enviromental triggers or increased frequency

break the oncoming wave is base 5, it's kind of rough. you'd want sun duration.

or, actually, it's entirely doable

base 5, personal, indiviaul, +2 sun

Lodewig of Tytalus: what's your ReAq lab total Aristocritus?

Aristocritus of Trianoma: 25 / 28 while experimenting

Lodewig of Tytalus: I can chip in +4 if I spend a season to assist. Sorry but I'm not a lab rat

johns (GM): does that include the bonus you get from shape or materials (half your magic theory)

Lodewig of Tytalus: ok experimenting will give you anywhere from +1 to +13

Aristocritus of Trianoma: it includes half my magic theory

Lodewig of Tytalus: ok with the right materials you can bump it up to full magic theory

what's your lab total if you don't halve?

Aristocritus of Trianoma: add 3 more

Proclus of Rome: It's weird that Figurehead isn't on the list of shapes.

Lodewig of Tytalus: then do that, and I can spend a season so it's guaranteed

imo we should always be open to new shape and material bonuses that seem appropriate

Aleseta of Bonisagus: yeah

johns (GM): Jade is +4 for aquam

Aleseta of Bonisagus: there's only so much atlas can document

Proclus of Rome: I guess it falls to me to make the sweet water barrel.

Lodewig of Tytalus: a crystal of any variety grants +5 to water related effects. boom.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: nice

johns (GM): Ok, cool

Lodewig of Tytalus: ok there's loads of water bonuses, nice

johns (GM): If you can make a masthead that parts waves, and a freshwater maker so they don't need to make land, they can sail straight to Alexandria and barring a 1% chance of getting murdered by pirates the journey is successful

Does everyone's lab math work out for these projects written here?

Proclus of Rome: What's the Freshwater Barrel take?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: mine does

Proclus of Rome: I'm still a little confused about how this all works.

johns (GM): L2 CrAq for +3 moon duration can give them artificial magic water that is unhealthy in the long run but works for this voyage

Base 3 PeTe can destroy dirt such as salt

Base 3 ReAq can boil water into steam, separating out the salt

Ferris of Trianoma: (by the way, I have to go in 10 minutes, sorry)

Proclus of Rome: It says level 15 for PrAq to destroy the saltiness in salt water.

johns (GM): No prob

Thank you for sticking around through Lab chat

Aleseta of Bonisagus: get out ur retorts

johns (GM): Destroying the property of something is always tougher than destroying it outright

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Lodewig of Tytalus: i strongly feel that perdo terram shouldn't affect dissolved minerals

Proclus of Rome: Yeah that doesn't seem very medieval.

Lodewig of Tytalus: aquam governs all liquids

plus i think destroying a constituent element is different from "destroying" a property like weight or viscosity

those spells have to have durations and shit

Proclus of Rome: I'm just reporting on the guideline in the book.

johns (GM): can you make the ReAq guidelines

Proclus of Rome: Anyway it seems like the kettle barrel would also require some kind of other inventive work because it would also need a device to capture and condense the liquid.

johns (GM): alembics exist

Lodewig of Tytalus: i wouldn't know, i'm not a philosopher

Proclus of Rome: Still, that seems like a good idea.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: when did this (picture of alembic) become hotter than this (picture of retort)

Proclus of Rome: That'd only be level 4 then.

Lodewig of Tytalus: can't they just take enough supplies for this voyage? i feel like we're babying this alleged shipping company through every difficulty

johns (GM): the more supplies they carry the less space for cargo is the general rule

Lodewig of Tytalus: which is a crime that retards their growth as individuals, as little potential as any of them may have had

Proclus of Rome: Ok so let me make sure I have this right.

Turning water into steam is ReAq 3, then +1 for range Touch and +0 for duration mom and target Individual.

Right?

johns (GM): yeah

Proclus of Rome: That seems easy enough.

So I'd create a device that can only be used once per day.

That's +0, so we're still at Level 4.

johns (GM): Neat

Proclus of Rome: What else do I need to do here, math-wise?

johns (GM): nothing afiak

What's your ReAq lab total

Aleseta of Bonisagus: don't forget magic theory/2!

Proclus of Rome: +18 with no experimentation.

Heh, I'm using a spreadsheet.

johns (GM): Then I will presume Proclus can pull it off

Proclus of Rome: So wait, how much vis would this cost?

1?

Aristocritus of Trianoma: oh yeah, would the wave breaking enchantment be 2 vis

johns (GM): if it's L15 3 vis

Proclus of Rome: What about making a charged object?

Wait no I think I'll just keep it as is.

How much vis we got?

johns (GM): 5 pawns rego

well 6 actually including 1319's income

Ropekid, is the meat plan an item that will cost vis?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: nope!

Ferris of Trianoma: Sorry guys, I started trying to make a fish attraction net too late. I have to go. Thanks for the session Johns!

johns (GM): Thank you for attending Ferris

Next session I promise: less theorycraft

Proclus of Rome: This is living.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: yeah lab total stuff, especially when it comes to enchantment, is hard to do on the fly

Proclus of Rome: Well I can't speak for everyone but for myself I'm not familiar with item invention.

johns (GM): That's why I kept a brute force option in mind but Proclus is too much of a boyscout, sadly

Anyway

Proclus of Rome: Also Prinny isn't here to be a Full Psycho.

johns (GM): yeah lol

prinny is the little devil figure that pops up on your cartoon shoulder to give you bad ideas

Anyway, we're locked into the current plan put up here?

Lodewig of Tytalus: looks good

Proclus of Rome: Looks like it.

johns (GM):

rolling 1d100 no botch

(

40

)

=

40

yay

Lodewig of Tytalus: a vessel of boundless meat and water

johns (GM):

rolling 1d50 percent lost

(

32

)

=

32

Aleseta of Bonisagus: pls make the new thread subtitle "A Vessel of Boundless Meat and Water"

Proclus of Rome: Wait how can there be any spoilage if the animals are alive?

Aleseta of Bonisagus: they aren't. my plan was for meat.

Proclus of Rome: Oh.

Ok then.

johns (GM): Anyway, the whole venture is worth 136 MP, your cut of which is 68 MP plus all the food you need

Proclus of Rome: Nice.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: elliot carver voice: delicious.

Proclus of Rome: But we still need to deal with the greater famine in Rome.

johns (GM): Come Christmas time, you are feasting on mutton and beef while the city outside turns to shit

Goongrats!

Lodewig of Tytalus: eh, I already worked this year

Aleseta of Bonisagus: w00t

Lodewig of Tytalus: excellent christmas feast everybody

johns (GM): ill also mark an increase to covenant loyalty for the fine quality of the food (fwiw)

Proclus of Rome: Nice.

Aleseta of Bonisagus:  medieval italian chef kissing fingers

Proclus of Rome: So does this happen every year now?

johns (GM): You've also increased your ties to Benedetti, which could be very profitable in the long run if you want to go wild

Lodewig of Tytalus: lodewig gets drunk and proposes endless toasts as the mob batters at the door

I have taken the form of a wolf wearing a napkin

Aleseta of Bonisagus: i hope it doesn't happen every year! i don't want to spend a season every year making a charged item.

Proclus of Rome: Hmm ok.

Lodewig of Tytalus: happy christmas everybody

johns (GM): The historical famine I'm looking at, its lasting effects were gone by 1322

Proclus of Rome: When should we start work on the mine?

Lodewig of Tytalus: waht year is it now?

Proclus of Rome: Oh so there's still a chance we can fix it.

1320.

Lodewig of Tytalus: ok cool

johns (GM): And a wealthy city is the most protected, so life in Rome starts to come back to normal (if with a bit fewer people around) in 1320

Lodewig of Tytalus: well we probably can't make thing's worse

Proclus of Rome: Uh by 1320 is today.

johns (GM): It's 1319 now

By 1320 Autumn (harvest time)

Proclus of Rome: Ok.

johns (GM): According to official records about the British Royal family, an example of the best off in society, for whom records were kept, the average life expectancy in 1276 was 35.28 years

wtf

Proclus of Rome: I think this windfall is a good opportunity to start work on any other moneymaking schemes.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: well

johns (GM): Between 1301 and 1325, during the Great Famine it was 29.84 years while between 1348 and 1375 during the Plague, it was only to 17.33 years

Aleseta of Bonisagus: keep in mind that does include infant/child mortality

Proclus of Rome: You have to factor in infant mortality to those numbers.

johns (GM): ahhh that makes more sense

Aleseta of Bonisagus: 50% infant/60% child mortality ftw

johns (GM): good lord

Proclus of Rome: Which is through the roof and is why people don't even notice children under the age of 10.

johns (GM): This just makes me more hype for the Main Attraction coming up: Black Death

Aleseta of Bonisagus: my great-great-great-great grandfather was married 4 times and had 25 kids, of whom 10 survived to adulthood.

johns (GM): yowza!!!

Aleseta of Bonisagus: rip

Lodewig of Tytalus: pretty good

Proclus of Rome: So when should we start planning out the mine?

I feel like it'd be mostly what we did today but with a Terram focus.

johns (GM): Theorycrafting is cool but perhaps the thread is better for it

Aleseta of Bonisagus: def

dys: My magus that's still under construction has good terram.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: i'm interested in the mine because it would be good for my big vis hunting pipe dream

Proclus of Rome: Agreedo.

Lodewig of Tytalus: feel free to pose endless magic theory problems in the thread

johns (GM): oh

Proclus of Rome: Well let's talk about the political problems in here.

johns (GM): oh shit

Proclus of Rome: Is it even possible for us to own a mine?

johns (GM): there's a story hook in one of the books I got about a lead mine

this is perfect, now I have a way to work it in. thank you endrite

Lodewig of Tytalus: i'll make a new lab rat magus and will be able to participate without ever making it to the start of a game

Proclus of Rome: That's a good idea.

johns (GM): maybe you can't own the land the mine is on without being a lord but you could work out a deal where you own an interest in it? so the lord would have to be in on the scheme

Proclus of Rome: What about a mine underneath the covenant?

I immediately realize the problems with that in the world's oldest city.

Aleseta of Bonisagus: lol

johns (GM): I guess there's no adventure XP because everyone spends the season in the lab

Proclus of Rome: The "adventure" was a long afternoon chat in a nice house.

Classic!

Lodewig of Tytalus: if we're talking about making a legitimate mine with magical aid, don't we first need to find something worth mining?

Proclus of Rome: Do I get the barrel back?

Well that's where I have an idea!

johns (GM): italy has lead, tin, and iron

you can have it back yeah

Proclus of Rome: An InTe effect that allows you to see through stone and dirt wouldn't allow you to see through metal.

Lodewig of Tytalus: there's a spell to that effect in fact

Proclus of Rome: Is there?

Lodewig of Tytalus: naturally it breaks the guidelines given at the beginning of the chapter

the usual trouble with sense spells is that they have to piggyback on one of your natural senses

Proclus of Rome: Anyway, you combine that with The Miner's Keen Eye.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: just send a bunch of grogs down into the catacombs with pickaxes every day until the catacombs fill up with dwarves etc

Lodewig of Tytalus: so for eg, a vision spell, you can only magically sense properties on things you can already see

Proclus of Rome: Which book is this in?

Lodewig of Tytalus: the miner's keen eye adds a magnitude or two to let you penetrate a few meters of rock, instead of addressing this flaw

the core

Proclus of Rome: It's only 3 paces, which is about one meter.

Lodewig of Tytalus: I think that's the best hermetic theory can do though

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Being able to see through rock is a level 20 effect.

Aristocritus of Trianoma: the spell that lets you see through water is similar isn't it

Lodewig of Tytalus: there's the possibility of mutoing the ground to be transparent

yeah probably

they're both at odds with the intellego guidelines

Proclus of Rome: What?

It's right there.

Level 20: Learn the magical properties of an object. Make your senses unhindered

by earth (for example, see right through a rock).

Aleseta of Bonisagus: okay i'm bowing out. c u in thrad.

Lodewig of Tytalus: hmm

Aleseta of Bonisagus: gg thx johns

Aristocritus of Trianoma: gg

Lodewig of Tytalus: then why build mke at base 2

Proclus of Rome: Wait.

Damn.

Lodewig of Tytalus: i mean ok, that's cool

Proclus of Rome: He still needs to add me as a friend on Steam so I can pester him about demons.

What's MKE?

Lodewig of Tytalus: miner's keen eye

Proclus of Rome: Hmm.

Maybe it makes the kind of earth you're looking for "glow".

Lodewig of Tytalus: seems kind of arbitrary, but then the final level seems fair and that;s what matters

Proclus of Rome: Anyway it looks like it'd be level 25.

Lodewig of Tytalus: what parameters are you using?

johns (GM): I'm running out of steam so I am gonna head out for now, cheers all

Lodewig of Tytalus: base 20 +4 vision +1 conc is pretty demanding

Proclus of Rome: Effect level 20, +0 range Personal, + 1 duration Concentration, +0 target Individual.

It wouldn't be vision range.

It only works on you.

Lodewig of Tytalus: if the range is personal, then the target should be a sense unless you're trying to discover information about yourself

Proclus of Rome: Ok.

Alright then that's a bit tougher!

Level 55.

Still it isn't a ritual and that's what's important.

Lodewig of Tytalus: level 55 is a ritual

indeed, it's the level at which spells must be rituals

Proclus of Rome: Oh shit you're right.

Hmm.

Lodewig of Tytalus: 20 +5 mags is only 45 though

Proclus of Rome: Oh, my math was wrong.

Lodewig of Tytalus: that's still probably beyond any of us for decades

a spell that lets you smell gold through the earth might be more feasible

Proclus of Rome: Well I'm not sure that's true.

Lodewig of Tytalus: well gl, i hope you find the invention you're looking for

Proclus of Rome: Yeah I'm going to think about it some more.

johns (GM): Vis market time

Form vis undergoing flux:

rolling 1d2

(

1

)

=

1

rolling 1d5

(

1

)

=

1

Creo

Creo adjustment:

johns (GM):

rolling 1d10

(

8

)

=

8

that was technique, now form

rolling 1d4

(

4

)

=

4

rolling 4d10

(

3

+

8

+

8

+

5

)

=

24

rolling 1d10

(

7

)

=

7

3 5 7 8

johns (GM): Auram, Herbam, Imaginem Mentem

Auram

rolling 1d10

(

7

)

=

7

Herbam

rolling 1d10

(

7

)

=

7

Imaginem

johns (GM):

rolling 1d10

(

10

)

=

10

Mentem

rolling 1d10

(

1

)

=

1

Endrite (GM): Oh, gotta roll for the Aegis of the Hearth.

Proclus of Rome:

rolling 1d10 + 21

(

9

)

+21

=

30

I did it.