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Skip Navigation LinksHigh Fantasy HERO>Content>Magic>Magic Systems>Metruvius>Metruvians
Metruvians

Metruvius

Metruvius System Metruvians Metruvian Package Deals
Sample Metruvius Famillia Sample Metruvius Facillia  
Sample Metruvian: Shapup Dao
Sample Metruvian: Thia Halamodavis
Sample Metruvian: Kallinius Vright
Sample Metruvian: Seaphul Kort
Metruvians (meh-TRUE-vee-an) are excellent complements to most adventuring groups, adding an impressive array of functionality to a party's capabilities. Practitioners of the Metruvius Magic System, Metruvians are flexible and powerful, able to adapt their collection of base effects and Advantages to best suit a given situation.
Focus
Compared to other professions Metruvians emphasize the practical application of power and a concentration on having a smaller selection of very flexible abilities instead of a collection of semi-redundant and highly structured static Spells.
A player can expect their Metruvian to start off respectably capable and progress primarily by increasing their flexibility rather than their actual potency. Metruvians tend to be more tool-box oriented rather than concentrating on raw power, but on the other hand don't have a restrictive graded Spell Level scheme or other structured approach to categorizing and or rating the power of their Magic.
Means to Power
Rather than learning to cast static Spells, Metruvians master the secrets of basic building blocks of magical power and essential theories of manipulating that power in very abstract and broadly applicable ways. By combining their knowledge of basic principles which are called Famillia (fah-MILL-ee-uh) with advanced methods of manipulating them called Facillia (fah-SILL-ee-uh), Metruvians are able to manifest a bewildering variety of finely nuanced Magic.
CASTING MODEL
Familiarities with base effects called Famillia, and Naked Power Advantages (NPA's) called Facillia are a Metruvian's primary abilities.
A Metruvians real power is determined both by the combined potency of their Famillia and Facillia (how many Active Points are in their base effects plus their NPA's when used together) and the total number of Famillia and Facillia they have.
Famillia and Facillia are described in great detail in the Metruvius System document.
FAMILLIA, FACILLIA, AND MASTER METRUVIAN STATUS
What exactly indicates "Master" Metruvian status might vary from setting to setting, or even from region to region within the same setting, and Metruvius is difficult to measure in terms of simple points to begin with.
However a Metruvian with at least six Facillia usable with at least 60 Active Points of base effect and six Famillia with at least 60 Active Points can generally be considered to be a "Master".
ENDURANCE RESERVES
Metruvians may use a Magic Endurance Reserve, but must define all of their Famillia and Facillia as using the Magic Endurance Reserve if they have one. The Standard "May Use Either Personal END or END Reserve" +1/4 Advantage may be taken as a Facillia if desired.
Metruvians are limited in the number of Character Points they can spend on their Endurance Reserves by the following formula.
ENDURANCE RESERVE MAXIMUM FORMULA
Scaling Capacity Point Cap = Total Character Points / 20
The result is rounded in the character's favor.
EXAMPLE: A Character with 250 total points could spend up to (250 / 25 = 12.5 ~round up) 13 of those points on a Metruvian Endurance Reserve. This could consist of 60 END and 7 REC or 120 END and 1 REC or anything in between with a Real Cost of 13 points.
MAGESIGHT
Many Metruvians take the Mage Sight Talent as described in Fantasy HERO for 5th Edition at least at the five (5) point level, or some equivalent ability to make it easier for them to sense and interact with Magic. However this isn't required; it is simply a convenience.
LONGEVITY
Metruvians may take Life Support (Longevity) at up to the ~400 year level, unless the GM prefers to disallow this.
DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
Working with Magic marks Metruvians in subtle ways, and they have a recognizable aura that is detectable by those with appropriate senses. Metruvians should take the following Disadvantage.
DISTINCTIVE FEATURE
DF: Metruvian (Not Concealable; Always Noticed and Causes Major Reaction; Detectable Only By Unusual Senses; Not Distinctive In Some Cultures)
Disadvantage Value: -5 points
Learning New Famillia and Facillia
Learning new abilities is fairly straightforward for Metruvians.
NEW FAMILLIA
For a Metruvian to learn a new Famillia they must first have enough character points to pay for the Famillia Familiarity, must have a source to learn it from (either a mentor or written text) or create it themselves, and must contemplate for 3d3 days of game time per 1 point in the Familiarity.
This study doesn't need to be intensively sequestered; it can be done while adventuring assuming the character can spend at least a couple of hours of thought and meditation per day. It should be noted that this is more of a process of internal growth than an intellectual exercise and it doesn't really matter if a Metruvian dedicates their full attention to it or reflects on it in the background while doing other things.
At the end of this period of time the Metruvian makes a single Metruvian Lore Skill Roll at -1 per 10 Active Points in the Power Construct. If they succeed at the Skill Roll the character pays the character points for their new Famillia Familiarity and add it to their character sheet. If the Skill Roll is failed the Metruvian must start over again from the beginning if they still wish to learn the ability; the character points are not lost in the case of failure.
NEW FACILLIA
For a Metruvian to learn a new Facillia they must first have enough character points to pay for the Naked Power Advantage it represents.
Additionally the Metruvian must contemplate for a number of days of game time as shown in the adjoining table.
This study doesn't need to be intensively sequestered; it can be done while adventuring assuming the character can spend at least a couple of hours of thought and meditation per day. It should be noted that this is more of a process of internal growth than an intellectual exercise and it doesn't really matter if a Metruvian dedicates their full attention to it or reflects on it in the background while doing other things.
At the end of this period of time the Metruvian makes a single Metruvian Lore Skill Roll at -1 per 10 Active Points in the NPA. If they succeed at the Skill Roll the character pays the character points for the NPA and add it to their character sheet. If the Skill Roll is failed the Metruvian must start over again from the beginning if they still wish to learn the ability; the character points are not lost in the case of failure.
DEEP CONTEMPLATION
A Metruvian may take twice as long contemplating a Famillia or Facillia, with each doubling of time resulting in a cumulative +1 bonus to the eventual Metruvian Lore Skill Roll. In the case of Famillia, the doubling is applied to the random d3 days prior to the roll being made; thus a doubling would take 6d3 days per point in the Familiarity.
Example: Thia wishes to learn a new Famillia that represents a Power Construct with up to 30 Active Points. The Familiarity will cost 3 points, and it normally would take 9d3 days of contemplation for Thia to learn this ability. However, Thia could opt to take 18d3 days instead for a +1 to his eventual Metruvian Lore Skill Roll.
The roll for number of days comes up as 42 days. After 42 days of contemplation, Thia must make a Metruvian Lore Skill Roll, and he gets a +1 bonus for a single doubling of time.
Improving New Famillia and Facillia
Improving existing abilities is relatively easy for Metruvians.
IMPROVING FAMILLIA
A Metruvian may improve an existing Famillia by increasing the Active Points of the underlying Power Construct the Famillia represents in increments of 10 Active Points by spending 3d3 days of contemplation, making a Metruvian Lore Skill Roll at -1 at the end of this period of time, and spending 1 character point to increase the cost of the corresponding Familiarity by one.
Example: Thia wishes to improve his Occult Orbs Famillia. After a period of 3d3 game days he makes a Metruvian Skill Roll at -1. If he succeeds he pays 1 more character point to the Occult Orbs Familiarity and increases the Active Points available to the underlying Power Construct by 10. If he fails the skill roll, he does not spend a character point and the available Active Points are not raised. If Thia still wanted to improve the ability he would have to start over again at the beginning.
IMPROVING FACILLIA
For a Metruvian to improve a Facillia they already have, they must have enough character points to pay for the new Real Cost of the Naked Power Advantage.
Additionally the Metruvian must contemplate for a number of days of game time as shown in the adjoining table. Extra AP and Extra RC represents the difference between the new values and the existing values.
At the end of this time period the Metruvian must make a Metruvian Lore Skill Roll at -1 per 5 Active Points being added to the NPA, and if successful must pay the difference in character points.
Example: Thia wishes to improve his Effortless Facillia from its current state, which has 30 Active Points and a Real Cost of 17. The upgraded version has 45 AP and 26 Real Cost.  This is a difference of 15 AP and 9 RC, so it takes (15+9) = 24 game days of contemplation to do this.
After 24 game days, a Metruvian Lore Skill Roll must be made at -3 (for 15 AP being added); if the roll is successful Thia must pay 9 character points and the character sheet is updated. If the Skill Roll is failed, the character points are not spent and if Thia still wants to raise the ability he will have to start over at the beginning.
Creating New Famillia and Facillia
Metruvians that know at least five (5) Famillia can figure out new Famillia and Facillia without the need of a mentor or book, "feeling" their way into new discoveries. Their form of Magic is understood at a deep level, and intuition is as much a part of it as anything else. Metruvians that do not yet know five or more Famillia cannot create new Famillia or Facillia.
CREATING NEW FAMILLIA
Creating a new Famillia is exactly like learning an existing Famillia as described above, save that the penalty to the eventual Metruvian Lore Skill Roll is doubled.
CREATING NEW FACILLIA
Creating a new Facillia is exactly like learning an existing Facillia as described above, save that the penalty to the eventual Metruvian Lore Skill Roll is doubled.
INABILITY TO CREATE NEW ABILITIES
This option is in effect in my campaigns
By default, any Metruvian can create their own effects. If for some reason a particular type of Metruvian cannot they may take a Physical Limitation Disadvantage indicating this. This Disadvantage also prevents the improvement of abilities already known. Thus Metruvians with this Disadvantage may only learn Famillia and Facillia from others, and without variation. This is a serious Disadvantage for this type of Magic Use and a player should think carefully before taking it.
Arcane Spell Sterility: Phys Lim: Cannot create new Famillia or Facillia (Infrequently, Greatly Limiting; -10 points)