Lily Character Sheet
From Ars Magica
Contents |
Characteristics
Intelligence 0
Perception -2 (near-sighted)
Strength +1 (toned)
Stamina +2 (vigorous)
Presence +1 (noble bearing)
Communication +1 (well-spoken)
Dexterity +3 (nimble)
Quickness +1 (spry)
Statistics
Age: 19
Warping: 5 (divine)
Decrepitude: 0
Virtues & Flaws
Virtues
- Landed Noble (major, social)
- Wealthy (major, general)
- Privileged Upbringing (minor, general) ---> Change to Educated (minor, general)
- Well-Travelled (minor, general) ---> Change to Warrior (minor, general)
- Unaging (minor, supernatural)
- Improved Characteristics (minor, general)
Flaws
- Raised from the Dead (major, story, supernatural)
- Flaw from warping: Visions (minor, supernatural)
- Flaw from warping: Visions (minor, supernatural)
- Lost Love (minor, personality)
- Oath of Fealty: English crown (major, story, required)
- Compassionate (major, personality)
Educated and Warrior provide access to academic and martial skills, respectively, and your choice of skills necessitates these virtues.
Personality Traits
Compassionate +3
Circumspect +1
Strong-willed +2
Abilities
General:
Speak Middle English (colloquialisms): 5
Speak Norman French (expansive vocabulary): 5
Area Lore (Shropshire): 2 (15)
Awareness (alertness): 2 (15)
Charm (quick wit): 2 (15)
Craft (knitting): 2 (15)
Etiquette (clergy): 2 (15)
Folk Ken (common folk): 3 (30)
Hunt (deer): 2 (15)
Leadership (inspiration): 2 (15)
Living Language: Welsh (conversational): 3 (30)
Ride (speed): 2 (15)
Academic:
Artes Liberales (grammar): 3 (30)
Civil and Canon Law (church): 1 (5)
Common Law (local laws): 2 (15)
Dead Language: Latin (academic): 4 (50)
Theology (history): 2 (20)
Martial:
Bow (Recurve): 4 (50)
Single Weapon (longsword and shield): 5 (75)
Combat Information
Burden=9, Encumbrance=1
Armor: Partial chainmail suit; Soak=8
Specially crafted recurve bow: Init: -2, Atk: +12, Dfn: +6, Dmg: +9
Longsword and heater shield: Init: +2, Atk: +13, Dfn: +11, Dmg: +7
Approval=
- Please see Virtues section.
Weaponry Debate
Longsword/Shortsword
--I picked longsword for two reasons. First, I thought that a master-at-arms of a noble house would most likely be a longsword specialist.
- Lily doesn't require the services of a specialist, and there is no reason why she can't recieve the same training as the soldier grogs. The only question, is whether or not she'd actually get trained as well as them, which is a factor of her gender and the intention behind her training.
- The soldier grogs won't recieve training in Longsword or Longbow, though that does mean they will be more useful.
Secondly, the longsword is a "better" weapon, so it seemed the most likely choice for someone who can afford it.
- It's a different weapon. The Romans could have chosen any sword, but they chose the Gladius. They could attack without smashing their neighbour in the face. The numbers do not reflect the difficulties of use - you'll have trouble using a Longsword indoors; you'll have trouble using a shortsword from horseback.
I would prefer to have her use a weapon more like a rapier-- a lighter, faster weapon, less likely to hack through armor, but more likely to be poked into chinks in armor (through the visor of a helm, a weak spot in one's gorget, etc). Unfortunately we're about three hundred years too early for that.
- The shortsword is a lighter, faster weapon.
Longbows
Saying that she's not strong enough to draw a man's longbow because she's female,
I said that I did not believe Lily could draw a man's longbow. By man's longbow, I clearly mean a standard military longbow, or a typical man's longbow. There is no such thing as a standard or typical woman's longbow in this era.
When Perikles posted his brief, I actually had a woman with a longbow and shortsword in mind, but then she was a fighter, and not a gifted academic.
I have taken the liberty of deleting all your comments about women-in-general from the rest of this conversation, in order to make it easier to read and reply to.
despite that she has the requisite strength (+2), indicates a belief that women are always inherently less strong than men.
- Another assumption. My belief, based on personal experience, scholarly accounts, and the Ars Magica Core, is that no human with +2 strength can draw a longbow. Strength +2 is the minimum strength required to begin training, and after many years of training, the aspiring archer trains his body to be able to pull the string back, but this strength only really applies to draw a bow, and is not suitable to be represented by an increase in general strength.
I agree that the longbow is fantastically difficult to be able to use. To represent that, ArM5 says that a character must have at least +2 strength to be physically capable of using one. My character has a +2 strength, which I will agree is uncommon for a female.
- ARM5 states +2 strength, and many years of training to be able to use it. - just like real life.
If you'll examine the weapon tables on pages 176 and 177, the Strength requirement states: "The minimum strength score needed to use the weapon."
- Bow, Long: The famous English longbow, which equally famously required years of training and physical conditioning to use.
- We are talking about the kind of training that a noble woman would have great difficulty justifying, and even if she did manage it, she's going to end up being treated like "Briene".
Ruling that Lily can't use a longbow because she's not dedicated enough of her life to physical conditioning; that's fine.
- Well, this is moving into the realm of the character brief, and so shall have to wait until Perikles is available for comment.
Lily *is* heavily focused on study. If you would like me to drop her strength score to reflect that, and use weapons modified to cater to that.
- I think she is much better off with a shortbow, as it means her arms will be the same length, and she can better perform her role as a martial companion to Mnemosyne, as she'll have a weapon suited for skirmishes and ambushes that she can readily travel with.
Lily doesn't get out and plow fields or swing a blacksmith's hammer, so I can see her being limited to a max of +1 strength. I just really wanted to use a longbow because none of my ArM characters have ever had any bow skill, and I wanted to play with a longbow.
- Well, if that's the case, you can always change Lily. I don't mind how much you fiddle with your character prior to final approval, though once it is approved, I'd prefer it if it didn't change in any significant way.
Notes about the Character
Stuck here temporarily.
Manor/Fief
I'm willing to try the Noble virtues as you have them, and see where it goes. I'll sort her out with a primary manor, upon which her steward can be overseeing the construction of a fortified manor house, or similarly expensive building (such as a tower, planter's castle, etc.) Though you may well have two manors, I'd rather leave the second one undetailed for now, and if for any reason we need to introduce it, we can do so with the benefit of having had the setting fleshed out. I'll check out Stokesay at some point before the saga begins.
Servants
- Man-at-arms - The 'Standard Soldier', page 22, Ars Magica 5th Ed. Core Rules.
- Lady-in-waiting
- Lady-in-waiting
The man-at-arms is just a random guard who has managed to appear to his superiors to be sufficiently reliable, and capable on the road, that he has been picked to accompany her ladyship. Lily was trained by an entirely different person, who has a somewhat unusual view of the role of women in society. Lily trained with him while an older, and trusted, female servant looked on, thus gaining the benefits of one-on-one training and a distinct lack of unpleasant gossip about her fitness for marriage (she lacks the reputation 'tom-boy', or similar...)
The decision to train Lily in martial abilities is a good source of background and story... without checking your background (I'm leaving momentarily) I'd assume it was made by her father, and that it was his authority which saw it was done, and done discreetly. Perhaps some nearby manors had been attacked by the Welsh (or he had some vague forewarning of the attack that killed him), and the horrible aftermath made her father (who was often seperated from his daughter due to having more than one fief) fear terribly for her safety.
These two young ladies in waiting have stereotypical skill-sets. I'll draw up the character sheet in concert with the two players I have in mind... :D They have been carefully tutored prior to recently entering Lily's service.
nb. Lily has other servants that she may send for, and these will be determined when she has need of them. All her grogs will be played by other players, and their personalities will thus be set by the writing style, etc. of the player. Feel free to make some suggestions though.
Education
House Jerbiton has set up a small number of academic schools where ladies may study mundane subjects, and this could work well for Lilly.
--I could see the girlhood friend of a Quaesitor being able to get into one of those schools, although I'd have to re-think how Lily and Mnem met, then.
House Jerbiton is a good reason for Lily to have a non-church inspired view of gender roles. A church education will just drive the stake deeper.
Gender Issues
- I'm investigating the gender issues, but they could be quite severe for someone of her class, compared with, say, the grogs...
> Yes. She should have very little respect from her peers; other nobles should be polite, kind insofar as they're trying to convince her to marry them or their sons, but otherwise disdainful. She should be viewed by other nobles as being a bit of a willful child, and honestly, she pretty much is. She's more concerned with her own fun, and she doesn't realize yet that in order to really protect the people she cares about so much, she *needs* to go out and find a good husband who she might be able to convince to act in their interest. Possible adventures I was anticipating would be scenarios in which she would become painfully aware of just how horribly the commonfolk are being treated by the royal armies marching through on their way to and from Wales; she tries to fix the situation but is utterly stymied, rinse-lather-repeat until she wises up and resigns herself to having to marry some soft-hearted chump. Then going off to seek out said soft-hearted chump. Hilarity ensues.
The reaction would be that, while it's unseemly for the times, Our Father Who Art In Heaven clearly has some plan for her, and they would really prefer that whenever the time comes 'round for whatever that is, she's as inclined towards the church as possible. So long as she remains discreet about being educated, they're willing to accomodate her odd requests. When you control what someone knows, you have enormous power over them
(yet another reason for Lily to become quite fond of the magi, and for that to cause conflict with the church); the clergy's feelings for her should be about 50/50 between genuine respect and their desire to have influence over her. This could be slanted more towards the genuine respect if you're less cynical about the church than I am. (I grew up in Catholic school as a "precocious" child, and having had no small amount of "friendly debates" with priests over the natures of worship, sin, and forgiveness.) Her education would be, of course, facilitated in no small part by the Wealth virtue, as she'd be giving generously to the Church to "prove" her gratefulness.
