[LFG] [ARS MAGICA] Tuesday Night EST

Hey gang, I don't want to lock in any specific details, just throwing a line out and checking for interest in an Ars Magica 5e game on a weekly or biweekly basis. I can give my DM'ing CV if folks want, but I'm looking for people who know or are willing to learn the system pretty well, I don't want to have to be your game system computer. I am not a historian, but I do a decent amount of research, and in addition to being a game that rewards engaging with the system, Ars Magica is a game and setting that reward engaging with history. So please let me know if there's a part of Mythic Europe that calls out to you all. I have the most knowledge about France, Spain and Jewish Communities in Medieval Europe. Let me know what ya'll are interested in, if anything, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

My boyfriend and I have been looking for an rpg group, and though we haven't tried Ars Magica, it seems like a very interesting system! Tuesdays don't free up for me until mid-April, though -- would that be an issue to us joining?

This sounds Cool I've been interested in Ars Magica for a long time being a chaosium fan. But i never got around to playing it. My Best time to play would be evening 7:30-till whenever. and my day is saturday. but i can swing other nights. I'm a bit of a history nerd. France and spain sound great! especially if you can get some involvement with the itallian city states and the powers across the mediterranean. Sounds awesome!

I reread the post. I missed that it's tuesday nights. That works for me

Rizzard said: This sounds Cool I've been interested in Ars Magica for a long time being a chaosium fan. But i never got around to playing it. My Best time to play would be evening 7:30-till whenever. and my day is saturday. but i can swing other nights. I'm a bit of a history nerd. France and spain sound great! especially if you can get some involvement with the itallian city states and the powers across the mediterranean. Sounds awesome! Out of curiuosity, why the Chaosium reference? As far as i know, they have not published anything Ars Magica related in the past 25 years or more. It's been Lion Rampant > White Wolf Games > Atlas Games, in my experience.

I always thought it was chaosium that originally published it. looking at the little logo on the old cover now i see where i was mistaken. the lion rampant logo was always mistaken for the chaosium dragon when i looked at it. So... I'm still very interested in playing I've always liked the concept of the game and the pseudo historical setting sounds great! I just acquired the 5th edition rules!

Haley M. said: My boyfriend and I have been looking for an rpg group, and though we haven't tried Ars Magica, it seems like a very interesting system! Tuesdays don't free up for me until mid-April, though -- would that be an issue to us joining? Not necessarily! As long as folks are cool we don't need to rush our starting point. Plenty to potentially discuss and plan in the mean time. I'd ideally like to run for 4-5 people. Rizzard said: This sounds Cool I've been interested in Ars Magica for a long time being a chaosium fan. But i never got around to playing it. My Best time to play would be evening 7:30-till whenever. and my day is saturday. but i can swing other nights. I'm a bit of a history nerd. France and spain sound great! especially if you can get some involvement with the itallian city states and the powers across the mediterranean. Sounds awesome I'm glad the chaosium details got sorted out, but yeah, it'd be grand to have you. It is definitely more historical accurate than a lot of games, but is still fantasy haha. Just alt-history as opposed to alt-reality. I am a big fan of setting games in port cities, so that gives plenty of reason for a relatively cosmopolitan setting. It's not Constantinople when it comes to diversity but Barcelona or Cartagena or Montpellier all have reasons to recommend them and are on the Mediterranean.  

Sounds great! Spain sounds great. I'm in, and I'll stay tuned!

Rizzard said: Sounds great! Spain sounds great. I'm in, and I'll stay tuned! Right on! I chose those three cities as they provide a variety of different options while still being on the Mediterranean and thus easily "connected" to the rest of Mythic Europe and the world of mysteries and magic beyond. It helps that all three have (at this time especially) interesting (to me at least) connections to multiple religious traditions and are part of area where it is believed that the study of the Kabbalah in Judaism began. Valencia is (in 1220, the default start of the timeline) still held by the Almohad's for the immediate moment but that dynasty is much weaker and more destabilized than it has been. The kingdom of Al-Andalus, once a shining bastion of Islamic academics and culture is crumbling and in Valencia are already stirrings of a return to Christendom. It has been held by the forces of Islam for a hundred years, but it has changed hands before, and may again. This presents the opportunity of a chronicle dealing with living in Al-Andalus in its dying days, and the Reconquista on the horizon.At one point it was captured by a Christian and Moorish combined army under the command of El Cid. The Order of Hermes has rules forbidding interference by Magi in the affairs of mortal politics, but will it stop your covenant from choosing sides? Barcelona is ruled as part of Aragon, and has been in the past ruled by Romans, Visigoths, Jews, Muslims, Louis the Pious, and finally now Aragon. It is a city bent towards trade. It's founding has been attributed to Iberian tribes, Hannibal, and Hercules in past at various points. The still standing ancient roman walls are too small to contain the now sprawling parishes of Barcelona. The current King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona, Jauma I, the Conqueror has created the Consell de Cent (Council of One Hundred), a municipal government made up of 128 members that seeks to bring law and prosperity to the city. New walls and churches are planned and the city is an explosion of growth aided in part by supplying the armies of the southern Spanish kingdoms in the reconquista. But Barcelonans are realists. They know that whatever king rules, money has power, and god is god. The Order of Hermes looks dimly on covenants engaging too much in trade, but with so much money to be made, will that stop your covenant from taking the reigns of power in their hands? Not to mention the competition brought to bear by Italian and Venetian, Moorish and Ottoman, French and English merchants, all hungry for a cut of the pie.  Lastly I suggested Montpellier in France as a location distinct from Spain and the Reconquista, but still a trading hub. Montpellier is a new city, without greek or roman origin. Instead a local fuedal dynasty, the Guilhem, founded the port city which began its rise to prominence as a hub of trade and learning on the Mediterranean in 1180 when William VIII of Montpellier gave permssion for all, regardless of origin and creed, to teach medicine in the city. Tolerant of Jews, Cathars, and Muslims, the law and medicine faculties are scheduled to open their doors this very year (1220 A.D.). It too is owned by the King of Aragon and is the center of France's spice trade, with 40,000 inhabitants and may very well be the second most important city in France after Paris. Here is a city where scholars and doctors of all backgrounds rub shoulders, where men study the Torah, the Koran, the Bible side by side. At the same time of course, it is a city of progress, where rich merchants take strides to gain whatever advantages they can. This is a city that would welcome the Order of Hermes as equals, maybe even as leaders, but the Order's rules forbid meddling. Will the covenant wed itself to the fate of the University of Montpellier or will it establish it's independence? These are all just my initial thoughts after doing some simple Wikipedia dives and google searches. I tend to do a decent amount of research, but I will likely hold off until them as are most interested in playing have pointed directly at one of these three and said "That one please!" 

Also, all of these relate to a city covenant and city based game which is not actually the default. It is much more common to set covenants away from cities as a point of fact, simply because of the way the mechanics and game setting interact with magic/God's Dominion. So consider those options if folks want to do something centered around a city. Otherwise we can use them as potential starting points for a covenant located a few days away, hidden in a secret cove on the coast, or in the Montserrat peaks near Barcelona maybe. It's all reliant on what you folks want to do. 

Montpellier is tempting, but it lacks legends, and is thus almost entirely focused on intrigue. That is not a bad thing (I love social characters), but as a university town and without the mythology, you run the risk of it resembling Harry Potter, which would do the setting a disservice. On the other hand, the Camargue is right next door, and that has a lot of potential for legends. Something in the vicinity could definitely work. We could also look at a location near a city in Aragon (such as the aforementioned Barcelona), because they are involved with Spain without being part of the Reconquista front lines, which I would prefer to avoid. It would be easy enough to have ties with both Montpellier and Al-Andalus, especially since Aragon is a melting pot - it's got large minorities of Jews and Muslims (both from the Levant and from Al-Andalus).

Patrick v. said: Montpellier is tempting, but it lacks legends, and is thus almost entirely focused on intrigue. That is not a bad thing (I love social characters), but as a university town and without the mythology, you run the risk of it resembling Harry Potter, which would do the setting a disservice. On the other hand, the Camargue is right next door, and that has a lot of potential for legends. Something in the vicinity could definitely work. We could also look at a location near a city in Aragon (such as the aforementioned Barcelona), because they are involved with Spain without being part of the Reconquista front lines, which I would prefer to avoid. It would be easy enough to have ties with both Montpellier and Al-Andalus, especially since Aragon is a melting pot - it's got large minorities of Jews and Muslims (both from the Levant and from Al-Andalus). The Camargue is pretty cool. The only other mythical connection beyond the general code of chivalry/romanticism of the troubadours is that the crusade against the Cathars will be going on at the time of the chronicle, and some folks link them to the Grail. Which is always fun? Languedoc is just cool, and if we shunt to the west of Montpellier we get towards some potentially interesting stuff. Barcelona is really cool, and ties in a lot of stuff I like. It's not as heavy on myth as one might like, but I can look into the Iberian tribes, the nearby mountains, and the mythical founders for inspiration there. Plus general Spanish medieval legendary is easy to nudge towards Barcelona.

Barcelona might also be a conveninient port in general, for excusions into Leon or Navarre. Montpellier might be better if we want to explore southern France beyond Roussillon (which, if emmory serves, was actually Aragonese at the time). There's advantages to both! And, depending on the time period, we might get into the whole Troubadour (or Trouvere) / Courts of Love affair, and the English/French mess in Aquitaine.

Montpellier was part of Aragon  at the time and will remain so for a while, until he sells the city to France! I think that someplace in the wilderness (some interesting natural landmark, mountain, vale, valley) near either there or Barcelona would be rad. Does anyone else have a strong feeling on the issue?  Also we still have room for one or two more people if I understand correctly.

(Am said boyfriend, am greatly looking forward to the game)

Looking forward to it, as well. I would argue against too large of a troupe, since we'll (presumably) have companion characters and grogs to play, too. It can run a little out of hand to keep track of everyone, even if they aren't involved in the story.

Looking forward to it! do we have a date for our first session?

Well Big Boss and Haley M. have indicated Mid April is there ideal starting point. If the 11th works for them, I can make it work for me. Otherwise we can push it back. I think I'm going to go ahead and say that we're going to set the covenant in The Montserrat just outside Barcelona, which is at this point part of Aragon. If you four want to start discussing concepts for characters and covenants I'm happy to help guide that, but I figure some free reign gives you all a chance to identify the kind of stuff (via boons/hooks) you all are interested in.

Do you plan to have us start in an established covenant, and/or use the rules in the Covenants book to create one? At least establishing the laboratories will make Covenants quite handy, and the rules for covenant libraries in that book are also more extensive than in the core book.

April 11 is slightly iffy for me, I may have work that night but could probably still make the session. What time were you thinking of starting?

I'm leaning towards a Fey type character, though I might go Bjornaer if our main characters are to play a larger role in going out in the world. Primarily though, Merinita, Hard fey blood, etc. The themes and concepts interest me greatly. I'm up for integrating backstories with the rest of us, but as I've never played the game, I might be a bit clumsy with story points. 

I'm a bit of a veteran at the system / setting. Doesn't make me flawless with the rules at all, but it might allow me to help out with some ideas or implementation, if people would like to. And I know the setting pretty well, of course.

Hmmm, I usually make it home around 6:30 PM EST, so around 7 or 8 would probably be best.  I would prefer we all made a Covenant together, and as far as which rules to use: I have most of the books and it seems like Patrick has a good idea how things work. I'm also happy to provide as much input as people want on characters, setting, rules. 

I've done the "making a Covenant together" thing a few times, and it's decidedly a mixed blessing, in my opinion. Player input in what kind of themes they are interested in is obviously important, but especially when you follow the economics rules in the Covenants book, you end up with a game of spreadsheet management, not roleplaying. Likewise, managing book loans can get really tedious, even if it's of critical importance to (especially) a beginning covenant. As an aside, I've done too many spring covenants in recent years, so those would not be interesting to me. I'd much rather that our troupe be part of an established Covenant, with some NPC magi that are looking for new blood to bloster the ranks. I propose we set up a campaign forum, so we don't have the use this recruitment thread for the discussions henceforward.

Sure, I think a story about an autumn or winter covenant looking to revitalize itself would be excellent! And I will set up the situation posthaste and make my explanations etc.

The deed is did. I messaged you all the game link.

Relatively Rare to see Ars Magica run here, at the hands of a detail oriented GM that knows history. I wish you all well for this game. Sort of the details I like to put in my own games.  Good luck to all.

What timezone do you play in?

still looking for players?