I may be interested in running an Ars Magica game. Mind, the last time I was the storyteller for ArM was when 4th edition was still quite new, so I'll have some rust to shake off. I would be using 5th edition, though. First of all, it will take me about three weeks to flesh out enough sketches for us to get started with the actual saga. My current thoughts are to have it take place in the Baltic Sea region. I'll use RL history as a powerful source of inspiration, but as usual with ArM, things may not be quite as they are labelled on the tin. Right now, I'm thinking of having the game on a Wednesday night, and 9pm EST works for me. With just a 3-hour session, I would like it if we plan on running ongoing matters that don't necessarily require the entire troupe as play-by-post throughout the week. Lab work and so forth would be a good example of that, as well as the various private requests and inquiries that inevitably pop up. I prefer smaller troupes, so I'd like to limit this to a maximum of four steady players. Everyone will need a functional mike, since I plan to use Skype or Ventrillo alongside Roll20. Powergamers are cordially invited to stay far away, although a functional knowledge of the rules and the setting will be important. I'm fine with that being somewhat out of date - we'll be discovering nuances that have changed together, in that case :). My games tend to focus on avoiding combat. If your preferred solution to problems is a pilum of fire , this may not be the game you are after. Mind, that this does not mean that a combat-capable character, or even a martial veteran, would be useless. Think of it as a roleplaying background, though, rather than a set of tools to demolish obstacles. Obviously, being fluent in English is going to be important. I'm not a native speaker myself, but people don't seem to have many problems with my accent, so there you go. As long as you make an effort to use proper English, and don't type (or speak) as if you're on Twitter, we should be good to go. As for players, I don't select people on a first come, first served base. Send me a private message if you're interested, and why you like Ars Magicka. Give some idea of your personal background, so I can get a better feel for the people we'll be playing with. As a guideline: I normally have a strong preference for older gamers. It's certainly not a requirement, but your chances may be slim if you are under the age of 21, and age 30+ is probably a safer estimate of what I'm looking for. As for me, I'm a semi-retired librarian in my 40s with a background in history and anthropology. I regret knowing only 3 languages comfortably, and another few hesitantly. There's a lot of awesome books and studies that have never seen a translation into a western language, and especially games like ArM make it a sobering realization how little we actually understand of other cultures - even those of us who try.
