Hello,
So I have come to realize that Ars Magica means so many different things to me. That while I love and adore the core setting as it is (and I really do, the whole nature of the historical basis of 1220 Mythic Europe fascinates the history major in me; while in the process of reading an Ars Magica book I often have Wikipedia open to basically begin my journey deepening the knoweldge of a particular place and time) its in some ways the magical system that really and truly calls to me. The whole nature of combining a technique and a form to create a magical working is fascinating and has so much potential for letting almost anything be done. This is why while the core setting is highly interesting I cannot help think about the many ways to twist and change the setting to fit various interesting campaign archtypes that I might want to play.
I'm going to post a small number of the random alternate setting ideas I have (in short, a paragraph or two for each) and then I really hope to hear the ideas from you all. Its not to take away from the core or the main, but to add to the richness that is Ars Magica.
Roman Magi - This would be a setting in which Bonisagus or a figure like him came about during the time of the Roman Empire, maybe either before or during its conversion to Christianity. His development of the Hermetic Arts and the Parma Magica came during the existence of a vast mundane empire. The nature of this would play with the changes of what it means to be a member of the Order in a society that is still unified, and probably how the existence of such widespread, organized, communal, advanced magic might turn the tide on the collapse of the Roman Empire.
The Founders - I would love a setting set in the time of the birth of the Hermetic Art. Maybe the players could be the non-Bonsiagus Founders, working to establish the Order and its Houses and the nature of its magical society and culture. Its not so much an alternate setting as a different period in time.
High Fantasy - The idea I had was that the game is set upon the discovery and settlement of the magical island that may come to be seen as Atlantis (though which would probably have a different name). The players would be the scouts chosen from the arriving settlers (probably escaping from the siege of their original homes by some marauding dark creatures) sent out to explore, examine, and discover all that this new place has to offer. The supernatural nature of the place would be quickly established, with auras of many different types all about the place. An interesting facet would be that the magic would become highly common amongst the new arrivals, as would be what is mechanically represented by the Hermetic Arts. Since the players were the first to basically go out and cover themselves in the magic of the island, they would become one of the first to truly be recognized as part of mage class. How such a society operates, develops, and manifests themselves would be an interesting feature. Such a game could take place on our Earth at some time or maybe in an alternate much more antediluvian world that is much more barbaric and monstrous both outside in the world at large as well as on the island itself.
So yeah, these are some of my ideas and I look forward to both hearing comments from you all on them as well as reading any of your alternate, parallel, sideways Ars Magica setting ideas. 