So as not to be a complete flake who doesn't do anything but complain that there aren't enough magical traditions out there, I thought I'd share some of the stuff we've developed in our group recently.

For the upcoming Well of Souls game, I and a player fleshed out the Lordly Advisory Wizardry school for his character, a petty noble and member of Guilbert's entourage, yin to Etienne's yang, as it were..

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One of the four 'approved' schools of Wizardry in Seshnela, a word which here means 'too large to be restricted only to activities that solely benefit the Church', the School of Lordly Advisory is an Academy that focuses on magical training valuable to those sworn to serve the great lords and ladies of the Kingdom.

Entry Requirements:
Member in good standing of the Rokari Church. Sponsored by a noble patron.

Virtues:
Loyal, Obedient.

Grimoires:
The Abiding Book (see Heroquest)

Loyal Advisor Grimoire (Assess Appropriate Payment, Be Understood by Anyone, Calm Stranger, Encourage Trust, Help Him Fight, Preserve Darkness, Read Anything)

Humble Servant Grimoire (Avoid Discovery, Clean Up Master, Darken Window, Deflect Inquiry, Lessen Master's Pain, Sober Up)

Talismans:
Wizards of this school often use multiple, subtle talismans for their spells, but all the sorts of things one might commonly find in the possession of a typical petty noble or his servant (coin purses, lucky coin, snuff box, et cetera).

Secret:
None.

Worshippers:
Members of the School are typically lay worshippers of the Rokari Church.

Other Side:
The nodes of the Grimoires used by the school are on the Adept Plane.

Other Connections:
The School is one of only for that are officially part of the Rokari Church.

Disadvantages:
None significant.

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Comments, suggestions, and critiques, as always, welcome.

Doyce wrote: One of the four 'approved' schools of Wizardry in Seshnela, a word which here means 'too large to be restricted only to activities that solely benefit the Church',

Other Connections:
The School is one of only for that are officially part of the Rokari Church.

Mike Holmes wrote:

Doyce wrote: One of the four 'approved' schools of Wizardry in Seshnela, a word which here means 'too large to be restricted only to activities that solely benefit the Church',

Lost me there. What does this mean? Are there other schools or not? And is this based off some canon of which you are aware, or are you just making this fact up (just curious)?

I like the grimoires, generally, but there's something subservient about them that seems at odds with the amount of work that it takes (I imagine) to become an adept. Seems like becoming a doctor just to work for one person doing his laundry as well as tending to his ailments.

Is this school relatively "easy" to get into?

Other Connections:
The School is one of only for that are officially part of the Rokari Church.

Doyce wrote: So, there's academies other than the main four, but we'd never see them in play as heroes, because all the graduates of those small Schools are expected to take up positions supporting various functions in the Church. (Example: [paraphrase] Ecclesiastical Accountant Ratier in Well of Souls.)

Now, as far as 'subservient' goes, take a look at the 'war wizards,' (iron blood?) in the book, who's sole function seems to be to make knights and arbelests kick more ass. Ugh. Second only to that is the ... I can't remember the name, but the "Librarian" School... "we study for years to learn spells that let us... study even BETTER." Lame. Two fine NPC-filler schools, but lame for PCs, and unfortunately the only examples provided. The Abiding Book itself is generally far more useful.

Mike Holmes wrote: Way cooler than laundry. :-)

I simply love the Jeeves twist on the servant/advisor character.

Perhaps a Stern Glare spell to be used when interacting with castle minons? "The Master will not receive any food today, toadie!"

olleolleolle wrote: Perhaps a Stern Glare spell to be used when interacting with castle minons?

I have forwarded these ideas along to the player so he has goals set for his magical development. :)

Again, it's just the education level involved, just to become a glorified servant. Perhaps if he were more like a Major Domo, I could reconcile it more. I mean, I like the "jeeves" character concept - he's competent, sharp, etc. The character type just doesn't strike me as having been educated to take on the position.

Now if you model him off Higgens from Magnum PI, then I think you have something.

I think that, perhaps, the way around this for me is to think of a graduate from an academy like this as a simple undergraduate. Given their ability levels, actually, this must be the case. Hmm. In fact, now I'm forcing myself to see adepts like graduates from Hogworts. Which is working much better. I could see Neville going on to become a servant like this.

Also important to keep the very magical nature of the universe in mind, I guess.

Still, it's just not quite right. I see the "Lord Advisor" school as producing advisors, not servants. There's a very important class distinction in there. The advisor is higher even than the "upstairs" servant. I mean what class did the character in question come from?

Probably just my own biases here, and nothing to really worry about - I'm just kvetching.

Interestingly, the Carmanians have a whole class called the Vizeri which is evocative of the "Vizier," as in advisor to the Sultan (and interestingly where the term Wizard comes from, and, I dunno, maybe even advisor). Yeah, like Jaffar from Alladin. They are very distinctly above the working class, and below the noble class, being intended as advisors and beauracracy for the noble class. This concept is strongly informing my idea of what a Lordly Advisor might be like.

Mike

Mike Holmes wrote: Interestingly, the Carmanians have a whole class called the Vizeri which is evocative of the "Vizier," as in advisor to the Sultan (and interestingly where the term Wizard comes from, and, I dunno, maybe even advisor). Yeah, like Jaffar from Alladin. They are very distinctly above the working class, and below the noble class, being intended as advisors and beauracracy for the noble class. This concept is strongly informing my idea of what a Lordly Advisor might be like.

Just to clarify, his class is that which people with the Petty Noble occupation have, but his occupation is servant? Or am I confused? If this is the case, this is precisely the problem that I'm talking about. Actually, I can see a single PC getting into such a situation - I don't have a problem with that, given that PCs are exceptions often. What smacks my suspension of disbelief around is that there's a whole Academy where nobles go to study hard to become servants of other nobles. If you can just rectify my misunderstanding, or put this in a different light, it might help me a lot to see your vision.

BTW, did you see the Advisor keyword on the Shadow World part of the wiki?

Mike

Mike Holmes wrote: Just to clarify, his class is that which people with the Petty Noble occupation have, but his occupation is servant?

I seem to remember reading that actual English butlers were highly trained and sought-after, and accordingly well-compensated. Would it be possible for, say, "Clean Up Master" 5W2 to give the master a subsequent bonus in their interaction with the Queen? If so, that might mechanically explain why nobles would pay large sums to have powerful "wizards" carry out such apparently mundane tasks...

I'm not sure how this could be implemented mechanically, though. As a blessing, or an augment perhaps?

Okay, I did a bit of work this school, and here's what I came up with:

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One of the four 'approved' schools of Wizardry in Seshnela, a word which here means 'too large to be restricted only to activities that solely benefit the Church', the School of Lordly Advisory is an Academy that focuses on magical training valuable to those sworn to serve the great lords and ladies of the Kingdom, even the King.

Entry Requirements:Member in good standing of the Rokari Church. Sponsored by a noble patron.

Virtues:Loyal, Obedient, Competent.

Grimoires:
The Abiding Book (see Heroquest)

Loyal Advisor Grimoire
(Be Understood by Anyone, Calm Stranger, Encourage Trust, Glean Information, Listen at a Distance, Read Anything, Understand Foreign Tongue)

Humble Servant Grimoire
(Assess Appropriate Bribe, Avoid Discovery, Clean Up Attire, Darken Window, Deflect Inquiry, Lessen Pain, Sober Up)

Talismans:Wizards of this school often use multiple, subtle talismans for their spells, but all the sorts of things one might commonly find in the possession of a typical petty noble or member of court.

Secret:None.

Worshippers:Members of the School are typically lay worshippers of the Rokari Church.

Other Side:The nodes of the Grimoires used by the school are on the Adept Plane.

Other Connections:The School is one of only for that are officially part of the Rokari Church.

Disadvantages:None significant.


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I hope one of the chief things this does is speak to the question of why anyone would want to attend this Academy -- speaking frankly, the school is damn useful even if you have no intention of every working for someone else -- combined with the Abiding Book spells, it's a useful set for anyone who's engaged in any sort of intrigue and information gathering. Honestly, the Lordly Advisory school would be an excellent place from which the King might recruit spies.

And still, the sort of thing that a Noble would find useful as an adjutant.

Thoughts? Did I turn around and make things too broad?

Doyce wrote: No. He's a legitimate petty noble. Third son, not going to inherit jack, but part of the nobility, yes.

So... what is this guy? His part of the entourage. Simply speaking, he's the responsible one, who benefits from Guilbert's good will and in exchange has taken it on himself to keep him out of trouble. It's not even an official thing -- they're just friends, although Guilbert's definitely the higher-ranked guy.

That's the PC. Obviously there are more common variations on this. The most common I see are those who want to get the magical training but simply can't swing it without funding and sponsorship from someone. They get a noble to say "sure, I'll pay your way in, but only to the Lordly Advisory Academy, and afterward I'll expect you to work for me for a time not less than double that which you spent at Academy. Agreed?"

(Frankly, I see a few students of Lordly Advisory *actually* studying the Black Path 'secret school' that I made up -- it's not as though their patron will notice the difference... they're just as effective either way :)

First, note that I cross-posted an updated version of the school up a few posts.

Mike Holmes wrote: I thought that I'd read that he had the Servant occupation somewhere. That's where a lot of the problem is right there. Probably from spending too much time on the Wiki.

Mike Holmes wrote:

They get a noble to say "sure, I'll pay your way in, but only to the Lordly Advisory Academy, and afterward I'll expect you to work for me for a time not less than double that which you spent at Academy. Agreed?"

So it's sort of an indentured period. How long might these last? Not unlike a squire in this way, actually.

Snowden wrote: I seem to remember reading that actual English butlers were highly trained and sought-after, and accordingly well-compensated. Would it be possible for, say, "Clean Up Master" 5W2 to give the master a subsequent bonus in their interaction with the Queen? If so, that might mechanically explain why nobles would pay large sums to have powerful "wizards" carry out such apparently mundane tasks...

I'm not sure how this could be implemented mechanically, though. As a blessing, or an augment perhaps?

Doyce wrote: His character sheet as has a Lackey as a follower, which I then linked to a Servant keyword on the wiki. That could easily be it.

Mike Holmes wrote:

Doyce wrote: His character sheet as has a Lackey as a follower, which I then linked to a Servant keyword on the wiki. That could easily be it.

Prolly, yep.

So, the advisor has a servant? Cool.

Mike Holmes wrote: Just to clarify, his class is that which people with the Petty Noble occupation have, but his occupation is servant? Or am I confused? If this is the case, this is precisely the problem that I'm talking about. Actually, I can see a single PC getting into such a situation - I don't have a problem with that, given that PCs are exceptions often. What smacks my suspension of disbelief around is that there's a whole Academy where nobles go to study hard to become servants of other nobles.

Mike Holmes wrote: Just to clarify, his class is that which people with the Petty Noble occupation have, but his occupation is servant? Or am I confused? If this is the case, this is precisely the problem that I'm talking about. Actually, I can see a single PC getting into such a situation - I don't have a problem with that, given that PCs are exceptions often. What smacks my suspension of disbelief around is that there's a whole Academy where nobles go to study hard to become servants of other nobles.