Ars Magica: Darkest Days Part One (Long)

[ADGBoss]

Greetings all, I am finally getting around to running Ars MAgica, something that has been on the mind for many years.  I think that now is a good oppurtunity to do for one of the local groups I play with.

We are all pretty new to Ars MAgica so a collective character creation process is more important then ever.  I found it worked very well for Sorcerer and I suspect it will work equally as well for Ars MAgica.  Needless to say I am very much looking forward to this.

What I wanted to do with this thread, aside from getting feedback as usual, is to present, from inception to finish at leas the beginning of the campaign.  that is from first thoughts to the end of the first Plot or basically the end of the third game session. At that point I will enquire if people want to continue or let it slide.

I have been a bit unsatisfied the last two years with my GMing and gaming in general.  The one bright spot was the short Sorcer game I ran but there have been a number of false starts and stutter steps.  This has been for various reasons but one of the mains ones has been dissatisfaction with the Systems in place. Locally, people prefer D20 or more precisely D&D.  I am not criticizing either, I enjoy them but its ALL PEOPLE WANTED TO PLAY.  I tried to run a runequest camp , complete with Web tie in stories etc an dpeopl eliked it but... it did not hold their interest.  I was starting to get a feeling that creatively, frankly I was boring. (Maybe I am who knows)

Regardless my personal goal is to create an enjoyable experience that will re-awaken some interest in role playing as a whole.  This is just a side goal and not something I am going to smack my players over the head with.

One thing, on why I think people role play.  I do not ascribe to the idea any more that people role play for fun nor necassarily to socialize. Fun and socialization are by products of 1 of 2 needs, The need to Explore their own creativity (a sim sort of idea) or the need to pit their intellect and creativity against others.  Thats just my 2 lunars as they say but it does affect my thinking.

Theme- I apologise in advance if I use Theme in a way which is not typical of what is used on the Forge.
 -Change- The game is set in the early 1400's, as Europe is heading towards Reformation and Renaissance but is not quite there yet.
 -Tempation- There is sense that certian knowledge is dangerous and to reach for it is to endanger sanity and the soul.
 -Destiny- Can you prevent the wheels from turning? or will they just grind you into dust?

Step One: soliciting Players

In this case I have taken a good hard look at the local players and decided on six players, all with varying degrees of RPG experience from Complete novice to hardened veteran.  I know sometimes beggers cannot be choosers but well... yes you can.  I can choose all told from about 18 players and although there are 3 in particular I think COULD enjoy the process, for various reasons I rejected them.

As a GM no one is twisting your arm to include a gamer because they are there.  I have made it very clear that I invite players to the game I am going to run, if thats how it works.  Its a "I have a blank, octagonal room with two windows, come help me paint and decorate" as opposed to a model where six or seven (or however many) sit down and decide "Lets find an octagonal room and paint and decorate it." Either way is a valid route to a campaign creation and I have seen both work well.

So the objective for step one is to see who is going to play and get them interested. To this end I sent out an email to the prospective players with a letter from the head of the Covenant of St. Germaine, in Cologne.   It basically is telling them that their request to join the Covenant of St. Germaine has been accepted.  Of course none of them (the players) have requested to join the Covenant.

I intend, during the course of Chargen to turn their Request into a Kicker of sort. ie I am going to have them tell me why their Mage wanted to come to this Covenant in the first place. This will be part of the Coven creation process.  

Any thoughts? Ideas? Opinions?


Sean
ADGBoss

[Ron Edwards]

Wow, Sean, all I can say is that it really sounds like you have your shit together. Looking forward to any and all information as you and the group proceed.

What edition or version of Ars Magica are you planning to use? I ask because my copy is from Lion Rampant, and apparently the magic system in particular went through a number of changes in later editions.

Best,
Ron

[ADGBoss]

Well since Sean is cheap cheap cheap lol no I am using the recent Free Download version.  Its easy for all players to get and I must say I think its going to be a good piece of marketing work for atlas.

Thansk for comp, I want this one to work well so I am trying to get some GMing Zen going.


Sean
ADGBoss

[Blake Hutchins]

I've played the first through 3rd editions of AM, and I have to admit I like the 3rd Ed. by White Wolf the best.  Haven't gotten the 4th edition for various reasons, but did DL the free .pdf from Atlas.

I liked the 3rd Edition the best primarily because it offered a more interesting set of options with Virtues and Flaws, expanding them enough to make Companions really viable, while at the same time providing enough Hermetic choices to make the Gifts of individual Magi much more interesting.  I also liked the combat rules better, especially the Simple (quick and streamlined resolution suitable for large melees) v. Dueling (granular resolution that promotes tense, drawn-out fight scenes).  It's been a long time since I owed a copy of the second edition, but those are the differences that leap out at me.

On the downside, 3rd Edition included the sphere of Reason as opposed to the Dominion, Infernal, Magic, and Fae spheres, in an effort to bring the AM background in line with WoD Mage canon.  This part sucked if you ask me, and sucked hard.  Though I like the Mage concepts of magic, I didn't care for it to be stitched onto the delicious AM medieval framework.

Best,

Blake

[clehrich]

Sean,

Sounds like fun.  I like Ars Magica very much, although my favorite was 2d Ed. (before they brought in the horrible Reason aura).  I don't know how much background stuff you've drawn up, but I'd like to put in my pitch for scrapping auras entirely.  Faerie and Demonic auras I sort of see the point in, but the Magic and Divine aura thing instantly throws you into a fight between mages and the church.  In the 14th century, this seems to me pretty silly, especially as you seem interested in Europe on the eve of the Renaissance.  To be sure, I'd be surprised to see most folks (lay or clerical) gung ho about the stuff that OoH magi get up to, but the idea that the Church really cares about hunting them down makes no historical sense to me.  Anyway, I'd recommend keeping that open-ended.  If the players really want to do "us vs. the horrible church," the rules work well for this, but if they don't care or aren't interested, I say dump it.

Chris

[ADGBoss]

I generally agree, the Church will be more of a political player then necassarily a spiritual one, BUT that could change depending on what the players come up with.

Couple of More points

I am a bit new to Troupe Style Play so any advice on that would be helpful.  I think though that the group creation will do well, helping each character fit into place

Real World Immersion

One thing I tried with a Runequest campaign, and something I think could work well, is a kind of real world immersion.  all the players are on the internet as well, so I am thinking of having alot of campaign information on a website. Not just journal of events but a record of the changing world as well as narrative bits.  Nothing crucial for play but tidbits that they can pick up on and make their own.  I find this helps players who may not have their ball of mana quite set at the beginning but need time to grow into a character.

Finally, I am going to be slipping in a bit more horror, nothing guady like WoD but Cthulu-esque. Subtle and dark...to go with the Tempation Theme.

thanks for the input so far and keep it up, everything helps believe me.

Sean
ADGBoss

[Valamir]

Hmmm...what imediately came to mind was this...

A covenent...accepting 6 new members...at the same time?
Given how few wizards there really are this must represent pretty much every application they had...and instead of picking the best one...they took everybody...

why...

What happened to the previous brothers that left so many vacancies that needed to be filled.

I'm seeing all sorts of potential...

Player IC:  "Interesting <widget>"
NPC:  "That belonged to Brother David"
Player IC:  "Brother David, who's he"
NPC:  "Brother David is no longer with us..."


A few more "no longer with us"es should really start creeping them out.

[ADGBoss]

lol

Yes actually.  1 male and 1 female member have met an untimely end...

won't go into more details yet but that is part of the equation



Sean

ADGBoss

[DP]

...since one of the players is on the Forge. *waves*

Ars Magica is incredibly good as a "gateway drug" for what I think of (wrong or right) for Narrativist role-playing. Group character and covenant creation is a critical part of this. If it's done "right," it may go well, but many of the people we've gamed with are incredibly resistant to being led to water, let alone drinking...

[Jere]

What edition or version of Ars Magica are you planning to use? I ask because my copy is from Lion Rampant, and apparently the magic system in particular went through a number of changes in later editions.

Everything but the magic system tends to change radically between editions. The core of Hermetic magic and laboratory activities are mostly unchanged from 2nd edition, and in many ways from first. Spell evels got tinekred with (with the obvious mixed happiness elvels) in 4th edition and there are the ramifications of the book advacnement rules which has changed with each edition. But at its core you could pick up 1st edition adn 4th edition and see the same magic system in place. More so than you if you picked up 1st edition D&D and 3rd edition D&D.

Jere

[Jere]

I intend, during the course of Chargen to turn their Request into a Kicker of sort. ie I am going to have them tell me why their Mage wanted to come to this Covenant in the first place. This will be part of the Coven creation process.  

This is an excellent way of getting the players invovled from the covenant and helng flesh it out as a central character. Place as character is something Ars Magica still does better than just a handful of other games.

Good luck!

Jere

[Jere]

I am a bit new to Troupe Style Play so any advice on that would be helpful.  I think though that the group creation will do well, helping each character fit into place

My number one advcie for troupe style is do it quick and often. If possible do it for the very first adventure. So it immediately breaks the "this sg did guided covenant gen and thus the saga is his," attitutde that can often creep in an Ars Magica troupe.

Ars Magica also works very well with the style of play that the Forge community tends to call "No Myth."

Jere

[John Kim]

Theme- I apologise in advance if I use Theme in a way which is not typical of what is used on the Forge.
 -Change- The game is set in the early 1400's, as Europe is heading towards Reformation and Renaissance but is not quite there yet.
 -Tempation- There is sense that certian knowledge is dangerous and to reach for it is to endanger sanity and the soul.
 -Destiny- Can you prevent the wheels from turning? or will they just grind you into dust?  

Could you elaborate on this?  In the larger picture, Europe has recovered from the Black Death (circa 1348), but its after-effects are still clearly felt.  Society has changed, but modes of thought and government have not (at least in my rough impression of the period).  Apropos of Cologne, the Rhenish league of cities has been conquered by a more feudal power structure.  From the wording, it seems like your second and third points make this and anti-Renaissance game -- i.e. knowledge is dangerous; prevent the wheels from turning.  I suspect that isn't what you meant, but could you elaborate?

[Jeffrey Miller]

I generally agree, the Church will be more of a political player then necassarily a spiritual one, BUT that could change depending on what the players come up with.

In the 1400's, the Far East and Africa are going to be far less mysterious than outlined in the 4thE book.  Play that up, and you've got endless fodder for stories about change and conflicts :)

I am a bit new to Troupe Style Play so any advice on that would be helpful.  I think though that the group creation will do well, helping each character fit into place

It can be a real eye-opener as to how stance and role can shift.  Find ways to encourage players to have investment in scenes and activities that don't directly benefit them.  The rules generally favor magi characters who never ever leave their labs;  find carrots and sticks to motivate them to participate, or make sure they create grogs and companions they won't mind playing.

Some quick ArM specific tips:

- no Magi goes anywhere alone -- Magi are walking Gods, but are also fragile as crystal.  They go no where alone, unless they have to.  Player A wants to travel off to fight an Ogre for some vis?  Fine!  Spend as long as you want running that adventure, but Players B-D need to be willing to both play grogs & companions (who will, I guarantee, take on personalities and motiviations if your players are like most players)

- ignore the ArM rules on grogs -- the rulebook recommends making grogs communal property.  Ignore this.  

- Have everyone create 1 Magi, 1 Companion, and 3 grogs -- seriously, one of the sweetest parts of ArM is the detailing of the social network that occurs through co-creation of the covenant and its people

- Give grogs a hook -- make every grog have an archtype, stereotype, or SOMETHING that lets you hook into their personalities quickly.  Grogs are the bumbling sherrif and his deputy, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - they are bit players in the story, generally there to ham it up for the audience

- let players participate in world/covenant creation -- give them something to care about (then take it away! mwahahaha.. oh.. sorry..)

Finally, I am going to be slipping in a bit more horror, nothing guady like WoD but Cthulu-esque. Subtle and dark...to go with the Tempation Theme.

If you want to stick closely with canon setting, look into the dark, horrific stories about the unseelie (the Dark Fae) -- the time period you're thinking about is perfect for a "Dark Twilight of The Fae" setting

-j-

[Jeffrey Miller]

I intend, during the course of Chargen to turn their Request into a Kicker of sort. ie I am going to have them tell me why their Mage wanted to come to this Covenant in the first place. This will be part of the Coven creation process.  

Forgive me a quick rant, but never ever ever let players take as a disadvantage (in ANY game system) "Overconfident" - PCs by definition are overconfident, and its a cheap way to get a couple character creation points;  doubly so in Ars.

-jeffrey-