PhoenixScientist Character Creation

Well I think the Grand reduction because it would also explain why I'm using trickery and manipulation to get my goals.
We'll thats how I think I'll roleplay my skills at least.

That makes sense. So here's what we've got so far:

Race: Human (Porph)
Virtues: Leon 3, Eyrie 4, Grand 4 (reduced), Enlight 5, Nemesis 5, Daimon 5 (boosted)
Quick Observation and Deep Observation
When in combat, a Porph spends every round that they move less than 15 ft. making a Quick Observation, and every round that they take no Movement Phase instead making a Deep Observation. A Quick Observation will allow the Porph to recognize a creature, weapon, or spell they have not encountered before that battle, until a day has passed. If no creatures, weapons, or spells in the battle are new to the observer, then the Quick Observation is instead used to learn about such things on the fly, rather than sitting down and taking time to study (one QO = 1 hour of study). A Deep Observation will allow the same recognition for 1 week instead of 1 day, or bestow roughly 1 day’s worth of study. Study time lasts twice as long as recognition would.
Special Movement
A Porph has a movement speed of 15 ft. per round, but does not have to spend actions to tap into magic or cast once. If they desire, they may lose this advantage and increase their movement speed to 30 ft. per round. (Those who lack magic or magic items have an automatic 30 ft. speed)
Basic Class: Aesthete
Subclass: Escort (Mystic Harlequin)
Mental Attribute: Serpent's Gaze
Summary: Use your Daimon against their Nemesis to hypnotize them.
Mental Attribute: Lover's Embrace
Summary: Use your Daimon against theirs to alter their senses.
Mental Attribute: Move with the Pack
Summary: Use your Daimon against their Enlight to blend in with similar looking groups.
Alignment: Undecided
Skill Ranks: Unassigned
Engagement Style: Art of Being Nice
Special Ability: Choose One
Special Trait: Choose One

For Alignment, you have one of three choices. Exemplar means you favor your people, whether that means your specific nation, all Porph, or all Humans. Dissent means you act against the interests of your people (same definition of "your" as in Exemplar). Neutral means you are neither Exemplar nor Dissent in a majority of cases. Most characters are Neutral.

The Mystic Harlequin receives 15 skill points at Level 1. They can have 3 ranks in any one skill, but that will improve later. The recommended skills for magical variant Aesthetes are Acting, Comedy, Dance, Diplomacy, Guile, Knowledge (occult), Knowledge (religion), Language, Oratory, Posture, Song, and Training. You don't have to take all or even most of them, and there are many other skills, so when you're responding to this part, just start by telling me a comprehensive description of what you want to be able to do. Things you want to make or be knowledgeable about are included in that.

When it comes to Abilities and Traits, the magical variant of a class does not get the full milieu. They must choose one Ability. If they choose not to take any abilities, they may take one Trait instead. Abilities are used once per day (with exceptions), while Traits can be used at will.

Your options for Ability are: Innervating Touch, Provocative Mark, and Astonishing Strike.
Innervating Touch lets you compel obedience for 3 hours.
Provocative Mark lets you compel a person to ignore their impression of you or your allies for 30 minutes, and obey what you just said prior to activating this.
Astonishing Strike negates the person's depression, blind rage, or hatred for you or your allies for 10 minutes, and forces them to obey what you just said prior to activating this.

Your options for Trait are: Classically Trained, Duplicitious, and Bearing of Nobility.
Classically Trained gives a +10 on your Acting skill check if declared before the roll.
Duplicitous gives a +10 on your Guile skill check if declared before the roll.
Bearing of Nobility gives a +10 on your Posture skill check if declared before the roll.

Looks like fun.
What is the use of posture vs guile?

Entirely different skills. Guile is your basic "bluff skill" in this game. If you want to lie, stretch the truth, or communicate a secret message, you'll need Guile. Additionally, I have removed the D&D popular concept of Sense Motive, and added it into Guile. If someone is using Guile on you, then you can resist by using Guile on them.

Posture is a bit more...odd. By rolling Grand and adding your Posture ranks, you exhibit a level of control far subtler than any dancer, holding each aspect of your body in an exact pose. It is key to upper-class bearing, and long-term maintenance of good posture promotes health and sound sleep. Think of it like a Royal Bearing skill. If you are being watched by nobility, or esteemed guests, or guards that you want to impress, they may be expecting you to conduct yourself in a certain way that mere Guile does not provide. A certain physical discipline. That is what this Posture skill would give you.

Immm thinking of the skills diplomacy, guile, a knowledge, posture and orarory.

Alright! We could just put all your levels in that, but alternatively we could add more knowledges and spread them out more narrowly. We'll see what you want.

There are three kinds of skills: General, Knowledge, and Make. General is the most wide and diverse category, spanning Acting, Appraise, Athletics, Ceramics, Comedy, Dance, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Guile, Gymnastics, Hide, Keyboard, Language, Oratory, Painting, Percussion, Posture, Riding, Soft Steps, Song, Strings, Swim, Training, and Wind Music.

Knowledge can be summed up in "things you know better than most people."
Knowledge (archives) is general knowledge, gathered from schooling, libraries, your personal connection, local archives of law, and so on. If you want to know general information about something from an academic perspective, roll this.
Knowledge (bestiary) is your familiarity with animals, their interactions, what they eat, how they act, etc.
Knowledge (engineering) is your familiarity with machinery and your society's current level of technology. It is generally inapplicable to developments your people have yet to accomplish, like firearms or complex explosive devices.
Knowledge (navigation) is your familiarity with the world and the act of traveling. It is what you would use to interact with navigation equipment on land, and find the path.
Knowledge (occult) is your familiarity with things of a magical nature, whether you're a mage or not. Even those who cannot cast spells the normal way might have years of study into the unnatural, able to perform rituals that give them access to great power.
Knowledge (religion) is your familiarity with things of a pious nature, which may be more relevant to how you do magic, depending on your background. Some people in my setting believe that the gods give them magic powers, same as in D&D or similar games. This is not true; there is no Cleric class for a reason. However, they have studied ancient rites and practices as part of their religion, which are a special interpretation of magic and allow them to interact with their powers.
Knowledge (seafaring) is like the nautical version of navigation, but also involves how to act on a boat, ways to help out the crew, basic know-how when you're traveling off land, and so on.
Knowledge (wilderness) teaches you how to survive in the wild, gather food, avoid disease, pacify animals and steer clear of plants you should not be touching. It's different than bestiary in many ways, but primarily that it focuses on not letting Nature kill you.

I'm kinda thinking a tricky, manipulative, and able to mive though different social circles.

I'm kinda thinking a tricky, manipulative, and able to mive though different social circles.

Finally, we have Make Skills, which have less to do with art and nothing to do with magic (with one prominent exception). If you wanted to make something pretty out of clay, the Ceramics skill is in General. But if you want to make a big, sturdy pot that will last a thousand years, you want the Make (Pottery) skill instead.

The full list is Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Bowyery, Carpentry, Cobbling, Glassmaking, Jewelry, Leathercraft, Locksmithing, Pottery, Scribing, Sculpting, Shipwright, Trapping, and Weaving.

Acting, Appraise, Comedy, Dance, Diplomacy, Guile, Language, Oratory, Posture, and Soft Steps may help you where General Skills are concerned. You don't need to take all, but there's a good list.

For Knowledge, I'd recommend Archives, Religion, and maybe Occult if your character knows their magic doesn't come from a god.

For Making, I don't know. Doesn't sound much like your character is crafty in that respect.

Appraise is for object value i assume?

Maybe 1 appraise and 1 knowlege (occult)
Then a few in diplomacy, guile, oratory, posture, and soft step and knowledge(religion)
??

Yes, appraise is to determine if you know what something is worth. Bear in mind that skill has no control over NPC merchants. If they say they're buying for 20 silver, and you can't persuade them to go higher, it doesn't matter that you appraised the object as being worth 20 gold.

Let's put you down for Appraise 1, Diplomacy 2, Guile 3, Hide 1, Knowledge (occult) 1, Knowledge (religion) 1, Oratory 1, Posture 2, Soft Steps 3

Between now and when we next talk, I need you to decide which one of the Abilities you're taking. If you don't want one, then you can pick from one of the Traits instead.

Oh Yeah! I was waiting to see where my skills panned out...
I was thinking duplicitous, or bearing of nobility or Astonishing strike, but didn't know what fit my character.

I guess I need to kbow how often I can usr my spells(?)

Because why would I need Astonishing strike when I have Serpents Gaze?

Your Mental Attributes aren't spells. They're just powers you can use whenever you want. The real spells come in when you select your magic, but we're not there yet. As to why you'd want Astonishing Strike, keep in mind that your Daimon PV has to be better than the target's Nemesis PV to use Serpent's Gaze effectively. That's not a roll, that's your raw stat. If they're equal to you or better, Serpent's Gaze does nothing.

For your purposes, I'd recommend Duplicitous.

Yeah, I agree. Duplicitous it is.