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[Haquim]

In terms of special house rules to differentiate each house at character creation. I'm planning a chronicle of DA:Mage and the only tradition avaiable will be Order of Hermes, therefore I need to make houses a bit different between themselves.
My idea is something along these lines:
-Flambeau → Speciality in Fire based spells (Vires), and 1 less quitessence needed when casting such spells OR 1 extra dot in Athletics or Dodge and 1 extra dot in Melee or Archery
-Jerbiton → Speciality in Mind based spells used to persuade (Corona), and 1 less quintessence needed when casting...

[Haquim]

It's pretty clear that's Tremere talking. Saulot would not have bothered or have reason to go there searching for what was left of the Order of Hermes. The way he talks (Vis instead of quintessence, or daemon instead of avatar for example) is meant to represent a medieval mage and it reminds of Ars Magica terminology.
And there's no reason the one speaking could not be Tremere in Goratrix's body. Keep in mind revisited suggested Tremere killed the antitribu to lower his generation to third again, so he would have had the power to deal with a bunch of masters and adepts (but not the Oracle...

[Haquim]

I'm searching for a set of house rules reguarding the representation of the Houses of Hermes in DA: Mage.
Theat game presents several proto-traditions. Among them the Horder of Hermes but all hermetics are treated the same, while in fact the Order is made of several Houses with different magical specializations. What I'm searching for are suggestions about how to represent those House-specilizations at character creation.
I have some ideas but I'd like to hear what others think as well....

[Haquim]

As far as "canon" goes (and these days it doesn't mean much at all) 3rd gens are exponentialy more powerful than 4th gens. They have more potential and more experience. Being the focuses of Caine's curse they are also "special" and are supposed to have the ability to at least influence their progeny. All this makes a 4th vs 3rd gen one on one fight an easy win for the antes. If you want to go with Time of Judgment, you could infer that it takes at least 3 really and old 4th gens to have chance to contain an ante at its weakest. It's not nearly enough to beat it though.
...

[Haquim]

Personally I never considered the Antediluvians to be infallible uber-gods who can't fail. Everything we know about them shows they are extremely powerful but also neither omnipotent nor omniscent. And they CAN be killed.


As for the MEANING of the Jyhad, to me it's about the reason antediluvians do things. And in my games all of them play the game because they want to escape Caine's judgment. Caine is the source of the curse and he can stop it from working on others. He can snap his fingers and make the antediluvians powerless. He did exactly that at the time of the second...

[Haquim]

-Gratiano is 4th generation. If he had successfully diablerized Lasombra he would be 3rd generation.
-I agree it's possible (not certain) Lasombra allowed his physical form to be destroyed, it's just that HE was not destroyed, he just went to to the Abyss.
-Gehenna suggests a number of possible things for all of the Antediluvians (well, ok... not for poor Ravnos), does not mean those outcomes are the definitive truth about Antes, it's just plot ideas for STs to run if they like them.
-Lasombra Trilogy hints at an extensive use of dominate on those who attempted to diablerize...

[Haquim]

Generation has always been a problematic background. It basically determines a character's potential and risks making some PCs simply more powerful than others IN THE LONG RUN.
If you are playing a short story made of a few chapters then spending a lot of freebies into it is not a wise choice (although the difference between 8th and 10th gen is pretty steep anyway) and spending freebies in disciplines is probably going to benefit a player more in the short run. In the long run having a bigger blood pool and potentially the ability to spend more blood per round while a PC also increases his...

[Haquim]

You are right about Augustus but I believe you are (quite) wrong about Gratiano.

1. Gratiano has always been listed as a member of the 4th generation.
2. The supposed diablerie of Lasombra may have never actually happened as it was mentioned every one of the vampires involved (Lasombra and Assamite) showed signs of extremely powerful dominate and if IIRC in Lasombra trilogy Lucita discovers that Gratiano cannot remember what happened when he confronted Lasombra.
3. It's been suggested time and again that Lasombra is actually hiding in the Abyss waiting for Gehenna when...

[Haquim]

First thing first: keep in mind these things are subject to interpretation, as editions chenged things, added contraddictory explanations for events and nothing is written in stone. That said, Augustus and Tremere diableries of Cappadocius and Sauolt respectively are quite different as events and their implications for the metaplot are different as well.

AUGUSTUS AND CAPPADOCIUS

Augustus diblerized Cappadocius in 1444 CE as part of a complex conspiracy he led to replace the antediluvian as head of the clan of death. The diablerie happened because Cappadocius allowed it...

[Haquim]

They went along with Goratric (Etrius included, and Etrius hated Goratrix) because Tremere said so. And you are right, they did not know the effect of the potion, even Goratrix did not, as he was convinced he had found a way to solve the problem and enjoyed the praise of his master. Tremere on the other hand knew but he made the choice anyway...

[Haquim]

Tremere knew though. He says this himself in Blood Treachery. He went along with Goratrix's plan despite knowing. Perhaps he believed he would be able to step back but he makes abundantly clear between the risk of dying with magic (at the time Tremere was convinced Magic was dying while it was just changing) and immortality in a lesser form he choose the latter option....

[Haquim]

Mages can live hundreds or even thousands of years themselves, the problem is they acquire paradox in doing so with all that entails.
The elders of the Bubasti tribe of the Bastet changing breed are supposed to be immortal as well, so it stands to reason they know some powerful high ranked gift that allows them to live forever (probably tied to the land of Egypt though).

[Haquim]

While I agree with you about Baba Yaga not being a pratictioner of Dur An Ki and probably never having visited the lands outside the slavic east I wouldn't use any real world historical dates as reference for her or any other vampire embraced before recorded history. If is supposed to be 7 thousand years old there are also other vampires older than she is, as old or nearly as old. Besides placing the first and second city in an historical period is not easy at all even if you choose to ignore Demon:the Fallen lore where things like the City of Sargun exist before the time there was any real city...

[Haquim]

I don't think Dur An Ki would be a good fit for Baba Yaga. In life she probably was some sort of awakened mage (from the Old Faith due to her obvious links to winter or the Spirit Talkers, because of the sheer number of powerful entities she could call upon) and retained her focus on magic in undeath. Keep in mind Thaumaturgy is also just a generic name to define "blood magic" it does NOT just describe Tremere Blood sorcery and its hermetic focus as it was the name given to the practice when the only blood mages around were Tremere. So Baba Yaga can very well have "thaumaturgy",...

[Haquim]

The world of darkness is full of historical people who belong to this or that splat, although details often don't match real world history.

Just to mention a few more:

Gian Galeazzo
Fabrizio Ulfila
Vitel...

[Haquim]

Marianna has a unlife long vendetta against the Giovanni clan. If she survives in the current nights she's probably still out there hunting Giovanni and planning their downfall. Her fate was tied to Capadocius' and he's supposed to be dead and gone by the end of Giovanni Chronicles (for those who don't know: after he fails to diablerize God and is partially diablerized by Ausustus instead, he turns into a wraith and then into a spectre), that probably leaves Marianna without the being who led her for most of her unlife. Depending on your game she could have found a new focus, she might even be...

[Haquim]

The fact a book like Nights of Prophecy states that Vasilisa was twice Baba Yaga's age doesn't really mean much. Rage Across Russia states Baba yaga was able to summon the Zmei AND Koshchei to battle Absimilliard. The antediluvian deceived the Zmei but could not do the same with Koshchei. They fought and in the end the talon of the Wyrm returned, while Absimiliard did not. Is this true? If so how could Vasilisa have killed her with such ease? Then is Vasilisa's background as a deranged 12 thousand years old serial killer true or is that just fabbrication?
In Nights of Prophecy Vasilisa kills...