I had a long running game that started just after the founding of the order:
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Well here's the update from the first session of the GT:784. I've told my players that unless they interfere history will go "the way it does in the books." Whenever they stick their oar in they'll change something. They liked that. The 3 players I had area Flambeau, Jerbiton and Tytalus. They haven't yet been introduced to all of the founders who are still alive.
1.) The founders personalities had largely been glossed over and clean up by 1220. Flambeau was all about capturing Saracen women after the battle and using them as sex slaves and servants.... Oh and did someone say fire?
Tytalus is a 3'6" dwarf who's sort of a combination of Alastor Moody from Harry Potter & Terry Tate see -> youtube.com/watch?v=RzToNo7A-94 . Also dresses Hariste up in revealing clothing and is openly handsy with her.
Jerbiton is a friendly fellow and doesn't quite understand the fame and adoration he gets from his followers.
Tremere & Diedne were up in a tree... K I S S I N G! The PCs haven't quite discovered yet that she's pregnant with his child. She slept with him before realizing he was a going to be a founder, back when she thought he was "just" an apprentice of Tytalus. His political scheming has turned her off. Unless the PCs change history, Tremere will later beg her to see the child, but she will refuse and hide the child. He will never forgive her for this, and always speak ill of Diedne and her house. Tremere's apprentices & followers will not be told this part - they'll simply follow their leader and absorb his attitude toward the Diedne.
The PCs have realized that Tremere is likely quite in love with Diedne though.
Bonisagus & Trianoma I haven't changed much as depicted in the books.
2.) So what actually happened? Flambeau offered the new member of his house a few of his women for the night. Not wanting to be rude, the player "accepted" slept next to the two women but not with them.
Jerbiton had a bunch of groupies making art of him, he's a very handsome fellow who was born to have art made of him. The Jerbiton PC, a tailor, offered to make him new robes & other accessories. He graciously accepted.
Tytalus opened up by punching the Tytalus PC in the nuts and lecturing him about "constant vigilance" & "All it takes is a ReCo spell to stop this from happening again."
They then were introduced with all the other recent graduated Apprentices by Trianoma, (9 from their covenant & 9 from others) and were asked to "perform their spell" at which point they asked "what if I have more than one?" Trianoma said sure. The PCs & the other graduates from their covenant proceeded to make complete fools of the other graduates.
The PCs are aware that this is part of a plot to demonstrate the efficacy of a 15 year apprenticeship, instead of the current "mastery" model which just requires MT 3, Latin 4, PM 1, Two Arts at 10 & one Level 25 spell.
Some other threads I"ve started over the years:
So. Suppose that the Order of Hermes is fact built not on the ruins of the Cult of Mercury, but in fact built on the pillars of smaller magical orders that were more specialized and likely did not have a fully unified theory of magic, but did have Parma Magica, but a weaker, less improved version... For some reason this is concealed from the Order. It isn't just mere ego - why would the Order whitewash it's actual history?
I have an idea.
I'll go with the concept of a Cult of Mercury in the Roman Empire, but also Cults of Jupiter, Mars, Venus, etc each with their own specialized area of magic. Perhaps the Cult of Mercury was the largest. We can go with the roman equivalent of the 12 Olympian gods, maybe with a couple other major Roman gods included. All with some level of feuding with each other over various types of resources, but cohesive, perhaps exclusive to certain regions and existed with state support directly by the Emperor.
But the Romans weren't the only ones to have state magi. The Parthians (247 BC–224 AD) and their successor empire Sasanians ( 224 - 651 AD) had their own magi too.
The Christianizing of the roman world in the 300s and 400s combined with the fall of the Western Empire in the 400s did cause problems for the Cults - in the Western Empire. (Personally, I think the original writers of Ars Magica, ReinHagen and Tweet, had a poor understanding of Roman history and thought that the entire empire "fell" when in fact the better populated Eastern Empire endured for another 1000 years.) The eastern emperors realized how useful the Cults were, and to avoid theological problems, had them secularize, become christian holy magi, or, go underground as reclusive "monasteries". In fact, a whole order of Christian Magi serving the Emperor and Empire was created.
Then there were the apocalytpic wars with the Sasanians. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine% ... 2%80%93628
In the final war, Heraclius, didn't just melt all the church silver and gold plate for mundane armies, he made as many wild and outlandish, but believable promises as possible to the existing cults within the Empire, and in the former Empire. The final war in 602-628 saw the near annihilation of every single surviving in Cult in Europe and any other "Order" of magi.
The Order of Hermes was built on the very few survivors and scattered remnants of other traditions of the final war. It also explains the reticence of the magi at the time of the founding to get involved in the affairs of state. For me, it also gives a good story foil - the subject of the "role" of the Order is a big theme in my current game.
Another thread, not mine: