System: ArM5. Character generation by core + Houses of Hermes. Additional supplements may be adopted by troupe consensus.
Number of Players: Looking for 1-2 more; 3-5 recruited in other channels. The saga has not yet started.
Deadline: Express interest in a week or two. The players have to design the characters as a group, with at least some elements of joint backstory. This may take a month or even 1½.
Rules: We'll agree on the practicalities as a group. I suggest to use Discord for table talk, dice, and casual discussions, while the longer posts and asynchronous story-telling goes on the Atlas forums.
Posting Rate: two substantial posts per week
Setting: England 1013. Every covenant in Mercia has fallen, and Eadric the Aeldorman has outlawed magic. Diedne's domus magna fell in 1012, but in Northumbria and Loch Leglean the war is still raging. The Order is seriously weakened by the war, and in all of its Western tribunals it is struggling to survive. In Wales, the Tremere of Blackthorn are rebuilding their covenant, aspiring to dominate the tribunal for the coming centuries. Somewhere in the ruins of the Stonehenge tribunal are the player characters, wondering what to do with their lives. It is intended to be canon, as far as canon goes in 1013, but not pre-destined. We aim for some historical accuracy, mixed with shameless ignorance.
Theme/Focus: While the setting sets a post-apocalyptic theme, there are many variations, and the troupe will decide the directions. Do we play hoplites taking part in the final destruction of Diedne in the North? Are the magi engaged in the cover-up at the behest of House Guernicus? Maybe they are scavengers, come to Stonehenge to loot the battle fields? Or maybe just young magi trying to find a place to settle (and survive) while escaping the witch hunters of Eadric?
How big a magus death toll you expect? (It is a wartime/post-apocalyptic setting, which is usually associated with a bigger casualty rate than normal).
A priori, I think straight out of Gauntlet or almost, but this is one of the things I want to discuss in the troupe.
I try to keep it roughly canon, which should not mean more than 1/3 reduction in the Hermetic population. It is a bit post-apocalyptic in the sense that
most of the Mercere portals are down, and none remain in the British isles.
because of that, inter-tribunal redcap services are slower and less reliable than we are used to.
there are a lot of abandoned covenants around.
Death toll is a bit ambiguous in that it has been high in Stonehenge, but hoplites are pouring in from Eastern tribunals who have seen fewer deaths. That said, Mercia, East Anglia, and Wessex are Hermetically shattered. Wales is not weak, with Blackthorn and Cad Gadu. Northumbria is a still a battle zone, largely fought by Diedne from Scotland and hoplites from the continent. PCs will be from either fallen covenants or from the continent; their choice.
I'll give it at least 3-4 days to see who flag their interest before I pass out invitations.
This sounds like an interesting concept for a game and a good opportunity to tell different stories from the usual Ars Magica fare. I'd be interested.
Do you see things ending up in largely the same place as canon, and telling small stories in the background, or exploring alternate history driven by the PCs?
Sorry. We are full.
I would recommend you to try the Discord server. There tends to be more activity there, also voice games: Ars Magica Discord Server