[tab][/tab][tab][/tab] Hello all,
[tab][/tab]I decided it is time for me to make a new PbP game of AM. After a seven year hiatus I now have the time to indulge, so I would like to have 3-6 players for a Thebes Tribunal campaign. I choose the site because I actually know that place in real life. The covenant itself is brand new but pre-made, with some slight room for changes.
[tab][/tab] If you are interested, please make a post. Bellow is more information about the campaign . Be well.
Campaign Title: Bad Apples
System: Ars Magica 5th edition
# of Players: 3-6 players, may take more...
Deadline: I hope to get started by the end of April, so deadline is early May
Starting Level: Most will be magi just out of gauntlet. If a player wants to have 1-2 years more experience, that can be accommodated. Companions can be of any adult age.
Characters: 1 Magus, 1 Companion. Those two must NOT be connected and you may not play both in the same 'quest' thread. Grogs will be communal.
Advancement Rules: As main book advancement
Combat Rules: Will be flexible on this. I am not fond of involved combats in PbPs and tend to abbreviate them. Or they can be resolved in Skype or some such...
Dice-Rolling Rules: Most rolls will be done by me. Some will be done by players (mainly actions) on some kind of online dice-roller.
Special Rules: Some, especially in character creation. Books used will be main and the three Houses of Hermes. Anything outside those is open to discussion, as long as I have that book. There is an important division between magi from outside the Tribunal and magi raised in the Tribunal.
Posting Rate: Minimum once a week
Absences: That's the main trouble with PbPs. Luckily in Thebes Tribunal magi can get lost in political appointments. So anyone missing will be probably called to serve the polity.
Writing Expectations: Low to moderate
Text Formatting: I am fine with anything, but I prefer when speaking in character to preface with the name.
Plot- or Character-Driven: I will be running a main plot, based on a predetermined scheduled for the first 7 years of the covenant. I will also be doing side-quests and there is room for other STs.
Focus: Mystery, though other styles will be included. There is a focus in symbolism.
Charter: Will be made retroactively by the players, with some extra conditions.
Character Types: There will be a detailed post about this
[tab][/tab]After years of leading a nomadic existence from covenant to covenant two Criamon Magi, Anastaj the Vlach and Christoforos of Meteora, decide to create a new place for them in the mountains of Pindus. The Order in the Theban Tribunal though views this move with suspicion and tries to postpone it by putting additional conditions in their petition, to get more time to investigate both the site and their patron. However the pair are more adept in political maneuvering than expected, taking in stride these conditions and getting permission to build their tower. This makes the Order members more suspicious and worried.
[tab][/tab] Now Anastaj is seeking new blood from outside the Tribunal, magi fresh out of their Gauntlet, to flesh out this new covenant. Anastaj is a competent, likeable old man, who knows how to talk to people. He will cajole, intrigue and charm, never promising more than he should or lie, but he is not above bribing Parens to influence their former apprentices. To find people to join, he travels the nearby Tribunals during a pre-Grand Tribunal year, especially talking to Redcaps and showing off one of the treasures of their site; a prefect red apple worth 10 pawns of Mentem vis. And Christoforos has been smoothing roughed feathers back home, making sure their new covenant gets a fighting chance.
[tab][/tab] It is 1215 AD, the year of the grand tribunal, the year the ruler of the Despotate was assassinated, one year since the last regional Tribunal. And as the foreign magi start arriving at their new home, word comes from the east: while traveling from Thessaloniki, Christoforos' party was embroiled in a skirmish and the Criamon was slain....
(EDIT) Character creation rules moved to the main thread
I am interested, but will wait for your detailed post on character types to make sure your idea of characters for the game will be a good match for ideas I have.
To check, if I am playing Giorgios the grog, do you want us to write:
GIorgis says "Magus, may we set up camp here?"
or more like in a script for a drama, GIORGIOS: Magus, may we set up camp here?
I am interested and would like to play a Bonisagius if possible?
I'd be interested. I'm trying to get a Zoroastrian Flame Dancer off the ground elsewhere, if that game falls through I'd love to play her here.
Other character idea: Veda Criamon, massive Art of Memory for nmumonics and Artes Liberales for Mathematics. On a custom mentalist path I would love to explore if you'd be up for it. Stuff like a mental lab, clear thinker, anchoring ones mind to a Vestige... a literal Labyrinth. I've a half baked background for it if that seems interesting.
Or whatever would fit.
Hold your horses, I just posted the character creation requirements. PM if you have questions, but you should prolly wait until I make a forum thread about the covenant itself before finalizing your choices.
Of course. Any house is welcome.
No problem, just the excitement coming through.
Do you prefer latins? Are there cultures from the levant that are off limits?
I think I answered that, but let me be clear:
-[tab][/tab] Any culture and any religion is fine
-[tab][/tab] Exotics should take specific flaws (some are allowed others arent) but still be playable
-[tab][/tab] Magi should be hermetics.
-[tab][/tab] Most importantly, there must be a reason why they choose to join this backwater covenant.
The Byzantine Empire, as a continuation of the Roman Empire, was a multi-cultural state. Their prejudices were more against outside enemies they fought (Slavs, Ottomans, Latins etc) than indigenous ethnic groups. Also while aggressive against heresy, they were less so than the western countries.
On that note though, I do not have any of the Africa source books, and I have yet to read my copy of Levant >_<
Kk. I'm just wondering as far as character origin stories at the moment, nothing rule specific. Despite wanting to play characters I've made previously in games that didn't take off, I would want to make a character specific to the campaign.
Lone Wolf and Cub 8)
Hi all, also interested! No concept in mind at the moment, will go with the flow.
I'm also interested! No real concept in mind. Probably something fairly generic, with some research or cult focus.
[tab][/tab] I count five so far, so I will go ahead today and register for a forum thread. It will take a while so sit tight till then. In the mean time, anything you want to ask, ask. There is space for 1-3 people more, but you might have a slight lab space problem. Someone would have to set shop outside the main building 
[tab][/tab] My main issue now is my lack of knowledge on web stuff. I got ton of material I want to dump, but I am clueless on web sites and html etc. I will just have to write everything down, including maps and diagrams, and link you to pictures and google earth....
I'd love to join. I have a draft up my sleeve for a Bjornaer eagle (I was thinking white-tailed eagle, but I think I can make it work with something further from the see too). Actually, I think he would something more eccentric than a lab in the main building. Auram specialist; may I push it to the point where he can start with incantation of lightning? He is not particularly anti-social, but he does not like crowds. He will feel at home in the mountains. He is probably an alien in Thebes.
As a companion, I would like to play a pious, Christian character, seeking the remote covenant to study and contemplate. Any restrictions on pious (flaw) and true faith? It may or may not be playable, so I had better look at the covenant/other characters before I commit ... He might be a retired knight templar ... but well ... the idea is not fully developed.
I can help with a wiki. Wikidot seems popular.
Are play by post campaigns on these forums.
I may have a potential player later today depending on if a different game falls apart.
Both are welcome. I direst you to read the character creation segment above. Please avoid infernal/holy, miracle workers etc. so True Faith is a no, unless absolutely critical to your character :S It will cause major disruption to fellow players' characters.
I did read it 
It was not clear that true faith by the core rules, without any direct powers other than magic resistance, came in the same category as miracle workers and other RoP stuff. Hence the question. Thanks for the clarification.
Can I just clarify, if I was to play a Verditius I could not have another mystery cult virtue as I would have "Verditius Magic"? Or can I take one other as well?