Campaign Title : The Heir of Laimunt Valley
System : Ars Magica 5th Edition
Number of Players : 4 to 6 additional players willing to act as Beta SG for a troupe-style saga
Posting Rate : At least 2 substantial posts per week, more when you are running a story
Plot- or Character-Driven : Mostly character-driven, with some occasional plot-driven stories
Focus : Varied, with a good sprinkling of Hermetic politics
Starting Level : Magi are up to 10 years after Gauntlet
Advancement Rules : Standard up to Gauntlet. After Gauntlet, we use a narrative approach with a baseline of about 45 xp, 3 pawns of raw vis and 1 Warping Point per year. This represents an average over time and is flexible (see this post for some details).
Character Types : At this time, I do not want to see character concepts. This should be discussed as a troupe so that each character can have stories generated by several other Beta SG.
Saga Concept : Ars Magica's troupe-style play is a challenge, but it gives everyone a chance to play. In this saga, each of the players should run stories for the others, while I provide the overall setting and an occasional story.
Before any magus character concept is accepted, there will need to be at least 2 other players who will state their willingness to run stories for that concept. The new players should also look at the existing characters and express an interest in running stories for at least one of them.
Timeline : Ars Magica's troupe-style play is a challenge, but it gives everyone a chance to play. In this saga, each of the players should run stories for the others, while I provide the overall setting and an occasional story.
Campaign Description : In 1196, Leonardus of House Jerbiton passes into Twilight, leaving behind a substantial inheritance to his three filii, Flavia, Wilhelm Weis and Eduardus. In his Hermetic will, duly registered and authenticated with House Guernicus, Leonardus details his many possessions – a great wealth in gold, raw vis, magical enchantments, books and notes, artifacts and mementos from past adventures. These are easily separated among the heirs.
More difficult to handle is a secondary sanctum that Leonardus had apparently established over the last decades of his life. The sanctum was to form the kernel of a covenant he wanted to build there, including several vis sources. The condition to gain access to these resources is that a covenant be established there, headed by a magus of his line.
This causes a few problems to the heirs. First, this sanctum is located in a valley near Basel, at the crossroads between the Tribunals of the Rhine, Normandy and Greater Alps. The potential for conflict is great, as each of these Tribunals could claim jurisdiction over to this territory, under sharply different rules governing covenants and vis sources. Second, each of the filii is already well-established at their own covenant and none wishes to leave position, comfort or influence behind.
After much debate, they find an innovative solution. Flavia, the oldest heir, has a recently-Gauntleted filius named Quintus Clusius. He is named the head of the new covenant, which will pay each of them a vis rent for the use of their inheritance. That leaves plenty of vis available for the new covenant.
Since Clusius is too young to defend and manage this inheritance all by himself, so a number of magi are approached to join the covenant.
(The saga starts in 1204, although your character may end up arriving a bit later depending on the progress.)
