Ars Magica game [English] Heresy! Needs players

Play by Post Discussion Recruitment: GMs Looking for Players
1

Following is the information I posted to Liber Amicorum and sagalocator . I need 4-6 players to get this saga off the ground. I am a freelance author, and I daresay a good storyteller, with experience both running and playing games in other systems. Please contact me if you are interested in joining the troupe.

Location: Online (via irc)
Setting: Loch Leglean Tribunal, AD 1220
Contact: Arlo Horner, lordcayan AT yahoo DOT com
Alpha Storyguide: Arlo Horner, lordcayan AT yahoo DOT com
Players: 4 [4-6]
Description: 5th ed. Saga Title: Heresy! The Pope is on his deathbed, and the truce between the Order and the Church could be upset when a new pontiff dons the Worlds Biggest Hat. What will the future hold for all of Mythic Europe if the balance of power is upset? Become a major player in determining the fate of the known world! Join now, at the beginning, to have a say in covenant creation. Covenant will be spring or winter, power level will be low, magi will be freshly gauntleted, but the saga may take generations to reach a conclusion.

Due to lack of interest in IRC gaming, this is now officially a Play-by-Post format saga.

2

You should maybe try to say what day and hour (with GMT provided) you'd like to play, as this can prove problematic.

Otherwise, good luck, and have fun! :smiley:

3

This post was previously about the logistics of an IRC game but is now irrelevant and has been deleted.

4

I am unfamiliar with play by posting, but would be interested in giving it a try as I think that playing with experienced Ars Magica players could give me a better feel for the game. I have very little experience with the game, being involved with a new table top saga currently and with a small amount of experience with table top sagas of 4th edition.

Are there any slots still open for this game? Or has it died off?

Angado wizard of Cymril of the Seven Kingdoms

5

The first player is still on board, so that makes you the second. Please email me to confirm your place in the troupe.

Initially I wanted to do regular sessions via IRC but it doesnt look like that format is generating the interest I had hoped for.

Thank you for your interest in Heresy!

6

revised draft of bonisagus magus posted here:
If anyone has any constructive criticism it would be appreciated.

Character Birth Name: Nikko Polien Hermetic Name: Genistain of Bonisagus
Age: 29
Year Born: 1191 Gender: Male Height: 5’6” Weight: 140lbs
Hair: Black Eyes: Green Handedness: Right handed
Religion: Greek Orthodox Christian Title: Magus of the Order of Hermes
Characteristics:
Intelligence: +5 (analytical) Perception: 0 Strength: 0 Stamina: 0
Presence: 0 Communication: +1 (descriptive) Quickness: 0 Dexterity: 0

Flaws: Tormenting Master (major story flaw); Twilight Prone (major hermetic flaw);
Optimistic (major personality flaw); visions (minor supernatural flaw)

Virtues: The Gift; Hermetic Magus; Puissant Magic Theory (house virtue)
Gentle Gift (major hermetic virtue); Affinity with Magic Theory (minor virtue);
Skilled Parens (minor hermetic virtue); Great Intelligence X 2 (minor virtue x 2);
Inventive Genius (minor hermetic virtue); Privileged Upbringing (minor general virtue);
Book Learner (minor general virtue)
Abilities:
Animal Handling (dogs) 1 Great Weapon (staff) 1
Athens Lore (legends) 2 Greek (expansive vocabulary) 5
Artes Liberales (Ritual Magic) 4 Guile (lying to authority) 2
Athletics (running) 1 Latin (hermetic usage) 4
Awareness (alertness) 1 Bargain (Books) 1
Magic Theory (Enchanting Items) 5
Brawl (dodge) 2 Parma Magica (perdo) 1
Abilities Continued: Penetration (mentem) 1
Charm (being witty) 2 Philosophiae (moral philosophy) 2
Church Lore (politics) 2 Profession – Scribe (copying) 1
Concentration (reading) 1 Ride (speed) 1
Etiquette (the church) 1 Stealth (hiding) 1
Finesse (grace) 1 Swim (diving) 1
Folk Ken (clergy) 2

Arts:
Creo: 5 Intellego: 4 Muto: 5 Perdo: 4 Rego: 4
Animal: 4 Aquam: 5 Auram: 5 Corpus: 4 Herbam: 4
Ignem: 4 Imaginem: 4 Mentem: 5 Terram: 4 Vim: 5

Spells:
Doublet of Impenetrable Silk (Mu An15)
Triton’s Breath (Mu Aq15) R:Per D: sun T: Part Req: Auram
This spell turns water into air as it enters the caster’s lungs, allowing the caster to breathe water as if it were air. (Level 15 version of lungs of fish with range category restricted to personal to reduce spell level)
Comfort of the Drenched Traveler (Pe Aq 5)
True Sight of the Air (In Au15)
Ward against Rain (Re Au10)
Eyes of the Cat (MuCo5)
Lamp without Flame (Cr Ig10)
Aura of Ennobled Presence (Mu Im10)
Spells continued:
Touch of Midas (Cr Te20—ritual)
The Crystal Dart (Mu Te10)
Wielding the invisible sling (Re Te10)
Scales of the Magical Weight (In Vim5)
Sense the Nature of Vis (In Vim5)
Demon’s Eternal Oblivion (Pe Vim10)

Equipment: woolen shirt, trousers, and hooded cloak; Greek Orthodoxy Bible; Oak quarterstaff;
15 silver pennies; a few days worth of provisions; Old pack mule; leather boots;
Small iron knife;

Personality: Optimistic +5 Curious +3 Friendly +1

Background:

Young Nikko began life in a well to do merchant family in Athens.  From the age of six he was tutored and was being groomed for the clergy.  Nikko excelled at his studies but was taken as an apprentice shortly after his tenth birthday.  Nikko labored under his parens diligently.  He studied faithfully and was an invaluable lab assistant.  When his gauntlet came; he failed spectacularly.  His parens had deigned to set an impossible task for Nikko’s gauntlet, and so the gifted apprentice labored into his sixteenth year of apprenticeship.  The time of his second apprenticeship was even more blatant in evidence that his parens had no intention to allow Nikko to leave his service yet.  One year later, Nikko’s third gauntlet nearly killed him.  Desperate, Nikko fled to a nearby covenant his paren had taken him too some years earlier at tribunal.  There Nikko pled the quaesitores to hold his gauntlet examination.  Nikko passed expertly, and the quaesitores began to investigate his parens.  Since then Nikko’s parens has plotted to undo him.
 Nikko passed his gauntlet and became Genistain of Bonisagus, a little known magus of diverse talent, solid theoretical knowledge, and unbridled optimism.  He has left Greece far behind, and now seeks new opportunities in a new tribunal.

(As per your e-mail I have included 30xp for one year post gauntlet, and aged him one additional year, I didn’t add on any xp for the additional three years Nikko was forced to apprentice. I think this is probably appropriate as a tie in with the story flaw “tormenting master”)

7

Whoops! I missed the "magi will be freshly gauntleted" line... I'll rework character and post update in a couple days.

8

Interested players should know the detailed character creation guidelines for the saga, so I am posting them here. Angado I emailed them to you just a moment ago as well. Sorry that took a little while, its been spring cleaning the last few days.

When a guideline refers to accepted rulebooks, that includes nearly all published material for ArM5, I am only missing about the 2-3 most recent books. Rest assured your character will not be crippled in any way without the supplemental books. All characters will begin on equal footing, hence these guidelines.

Here are the character guidelines for beginning the Heresy! saga.

You may use a template character if you really wish, primarily if you are new to Ars Magica, but please customize the character before submitting for approval.

For the magus, it would be best to create one just after apprenticeship, having started preferably between age 7 and 10, although perhaps as late as 15, for a final starting age of 22-30.

If you would like to start with a talisman, familiar, longevity ritual, or something your magus could set up fairly easily, You may have 1 year in the laboratory after apprenticeship without further approval, utilizing no more than 8 pawns of vis in total. Please remember to note the year on your character's age.

If your magus has the "magical animal companion" story virtue, you may spend a season in your laboratory to bond with it as your familiar, unless of course the magus is House Bjornaer. If you do not have that virtue, you may spend one season of your laboratory year in finding a suitable creature and befriending it.

If you wish to use part or all of your laboratory year learning new spells, you may assume to have access to a lab text for any spell that is already listed in the core rulebook, or a spell that differs only in range, duration, or target. A spell which is more unique than that must be learned without the benefit of a lab text.

As per the default covenant, assume you have a normal laboratory in a magical aura of 3.

If you wish to spend your laboratory year learning something else, use the rules from the core rulebook (you have 30 experience for the year, -10 for each season you have spent on lab activities).

Parma Magica should be limited to a score of 1.

For your companion, please shoot for about 35 years of age (that way you don't have to age them before starting), and no more than 45 in any case.

Your companion may be younger than that, if you choose, but please no older, as it will limit the characters lifespan in terms of sessions.

Please use your character's virtues and flaws to dictate starting equipment. A covenfolk or custos may have any mundane equipment, paid for by the covenant. A poor character, unless equipped with a virtue that specifically mentions particular equipment (such as knight) should start with only inexpensive gear, and a wealthy character may begin with expensive gear. Only redcap companions should start with magical items, per the guidelines in the core rulebook. Only redcap companions should begin with a longevity ritual.

When designing magical items for redcaps, please use only enchantments directly from the accepted rulebooks, modified by range, duration, and target only, otherwise we must discuss the details to make sure there will be no problems.

9

I actually don't know anything about the Loch tribunal. Can you let me know the following:

  1. How many magi are active in the tribunal, approximately?

  2. How many covenants are established in the tribunal?

  3. What are the prominant languages of the peasantry?

  4. Is the monetary standard the silver penny as in Stonehenge?

  5. Is there a church within a day's journey from the covenant?

Next set of questions:

  1. What type of library information will be available and how will we resolve access to the same texts?

  2. What type of access to covenant vis will be possible, or how will we determine access?

  3. What day(s) of the week will posts be expected to be in by?

  4. Will we have a seperate thread for out of character posts?

Sorry for so many questions, but thought I'ld put them up.

Angado, wizard of Cymril of the Seven Kingdoms

10

He might not know the answers to a lot of your questions until he knows who is playing and by what method the play will be.

If you do a play by post, I would like to join. My schedule is too erratic for IRC though.

11

Sophocles thank you for your interest. We are currently preparing to set up a play by post campaign, as it seems many people share your view regarding IRC. There may be opportunities for IRC sessions in the future, but we are going with a play by post format at this time. Please email me to confirm your place in the saga, the address is in the initial posting.

The Loch Leglean Tribunal was chosen specifically for the lack of recent published material to cover it so that nobody has to feel constrained to someone else's vision of it, but I will tell you a little bit about how I see it.

Loch Leglean is one of the smallest physical areas for a single tribunal, and therefore it is likely to have somewhat fewer magi than average, however the land is kind of at the edge of Christendom, and while it is populated normally by mundane folk it is also relatively rich in magical resources. Because it is further removed from Hermetic Politics, there are likely to be "forgotten" covenants with little contact in living memory with the rest of the Order.

The majority of the mundane residents will natively speak Scotch Gaelic, although many will have a working knowledge of English, Irish Gaelic, or Welsh in order to deal with their neighbors. The Church is present in the Tribunal, but to something of a lesser degree than in the other Tribunals. When we create the covenant, we will decide exactly how close and involved the nearest Church is. This lessening of local Church influence is deliberate for the needs of the saga.

I think the exact monetary standard is likely to change from region to region within the Tribunal, as it probably does in most Tribunals, since they are not drawn directly across mundane political divisions. Power centralization is less in this era than it is in modern times, and localized currencies are probably quite numerous. I think a silver penny makes a decent base unit, and although they are likely to look quite different than they do in the Stonehenge tribunal, the weight and value is likely similar.

I reserve the right to add color to the Saga through description of the coins in use and other such details when appropriate, and don't want to overdo the idea here before we begin.

Players will find that my style is to be inspired by history, and not constrained by it. I will seldom use historical figures, and when I do, I may use them outside their real world place in history. If you recognize a name in the Saga, you may be more comfortable thinking of it as a different person than the historical figure, who shares the same name and perhaps role or certain personality traits.

Regarding the Covenant, the initial players will design it. We will have a forum-style discussion and equal opportunity to declare priorities for the covenant set-up. I will play the post requirements fairly casually, you shouldnt have to worry about a particular day of the week as long as you post fairly regularly and don't leave us waiting too long for your character's actions. We will discuss the covenant charter and governing style, which will in turn determine how vis and other resources are accessed.

The Covenant is a powerful tool for driving the story the way the players want to play it, and when I designed the Heresy! Saga, I planned for the player input that goes into the covenant to be a significant driving force, as well as a voice of player freedom, ideas and desires for the type of stories you want to play over the course of the Saga. I don't want to constrain any of us to the type of covenant I would have imagined. The strength of Ars Magica is its flexibility, and I embrace that aspect of it.

Out of character posts will likely have one or more threads, but I don't intend to fascistically impose rigid rules on when you can and cannot speak out of character. Use your best judgement when speaking out of character will interrupt the story, and if it is appropriate in the middle of an in-character post, just make sure we can recognize it as OOC content.

12

You got mail!

I would very much like to join too.

13

A potentially interested player who seemed to have more experience in PbP games asked some good questions in email, and I'm going to post the reply here so everyone can see the answers. Some of this speaks to the details and guidelines of what I will expect in the Heresy! Saga, and some of it to my style as a StoryGuide. I haven't posted the original questions due to length, but you can easily see what I was asked based on my replies.

heheh you have a lot of good information there, it sounds like you are quite experienced with PbP style gaming. As you may have already gathered, I haven't got a lot of experience in posting style gaming.

Let me try to answer your questions in order, and I'll post the responses to the recruitment board as well.

I initially wanted to go with IRC for a faster-paced saga, since the saga style itself is long term, I didnt want years to actually end up taking years :wink: So the posting rate should be relatively intense. I was thinking about 3 posts per week should be fair, that lets players miss a couple of days but still ensures they will be up on the current events of the saga.

My spelling and grammar is generally quite precise, and while I don't expect players to adopt the same standards, proper grammar and spelling is appreciated. I don't expect to have to confront anyone about this, and won't complain unless it is really blatant or difficult to understand. I would like not to discriminate against anyone because of their writing habits.

I like to believe that my style encourages lengthier and more imaginative responses than "one line stage directions." But with a posting limit in effect sometimes a player may need to submit a terse response over no response at all. I like to use the game to encourage the appropriate level of imagination, and players who consistently use short and unimaginative responses may find that their lack of consideration to detail results in the same sort of mistakes it might if the character was paying as little attention as the player.

I think the question of 1st vs 3rd person posts is a matter up to the individual players. As storyguide, I like to go back and forth. In this type of format, an obviously central NPC may develop an "interface" similar to player characters, making his or her own posts in his or her own voice. I don't think it hurts the continuity of the story too much if one characters actions are narrated, and another characters are more of a diary style, it adds depth of perspective. But I would hope that each player tends to adopt a favorite style for his character and stays consistently for the most part in either 1st or 3rd person while making in-character posts.

When narrating, I like to use the present tense, and I believe that sets the example players will follow. The present tense is more associative, encourages you to imagine things as happening now.

I believe I answered the question about Out of character (OOC) posts in response to angado's questions, in the forum. There will certainly be one or more OOC threads, and the players are expected to use their own judgement in when something OOC would be inappropriate in the middle of an In Character (IC) post. I also ask that OOC content is clearly distinguishable from IC content when posted this way.

I believe it is my job as storyguide to ensure that any character conflict which develops does not devolve into player conflict. I like to use management skills and the story arc to deal with troubles that may arise. Some degree of conflict amongst the characters is acceptable, even desirable, provided the players take it in context and are able to have fun with it. There are ways of shifting a players perspective so that the conflict they experience becomes more fun, and there are ways of discouraging players who insist on creating too much character conflict.

I have a very structured idea of how the covenant creation will work, but I appreciate your concerns. Rather than bogging the players down in details, I want to know what they want most from the covenant and I will worry about synthesizing the whole. On a more detailed level, each player will get to choose their first priority for each type of covenant resource. Everyone should end up with access to a book they can use, a source of vim they are interested in, etc.

Regarding the charter, I dont want to waste everyones time drafting a legal document word for word. The choice of covenant season will have a lot to do with the charter and governing style, but the players should be able to choose, for example, whether vim is awarded by drawing lots, allocation amongst magi equally, paid for service to the covenant, and if any of them are going to want a chance at covenant leadership we should be able to agree on a system that will allow them to reach for that chance at the appropriate time. As a covenant should always put some vim aside for a rainy day, I like to encourage the covenant to allocate some to magi, and allow more to be earned.

I had planned on setting aside about the first two weeks from getting players together to develop the covenant. Whatever details are not decided upon then will be chosen as appropriately as possible, and I will be able to use all the player input up to that point as a guide.

So in summary, I value flexibility and imagination, and I truly want as much player input as possible to take the story in the direction the players want to explore. I view the synthesis of everyone's ideas and goals as a delicious challenge. In creating this saga, I deliberately left many details to the players via their characters and the covenant they want to play. I believe it is the true art of the storyguide to evolve along with the players, to weave these disparate elements of players, characters, and environment, into an event that is enlightening and fulfilling for everyone.

I'm the type of SG who likes to warm everyone up at the start of a story with a couple of imagination questions, things about their characters they haven't thought of yet, and may not come into the story if no one asks, but certainly exist. I like to create an environment that allows your character to have the types of experiences you want to play, and send you deep inside that story. I want my vision of the story to merge seamlessly with every player's goals and intentions. I like to play by the book, but I'm not a rules-lawyer. The rules are so everyone knows what to expect and plays on the same playing field, which is very important, but they do not trump telling an enjoyable story. In fact sometimes the story calls for blowing everyone's expectations out of the water just for a moment. When you can successfully pull all that off, and everyone's having a good time doing it, That's how a game story is truly shared.

I hope that answers your copious questions :slight_smile: Please let me know if you would like to be included in the Heresy! Saga. :slight_smile:

At this time, I have at least 4 players who have expressed interest. Since changing the format, spaces have been filling fast. Anyone else who wants in, please do not hesitate, or you will need to wait for someone to drop out. I will close recruitment in another day or two once all interested parties are fully confirmed, because I have enough players to start now. I can only accept one or two more at most.

14

Here's a copy of my Magus character:

Llywellyn Ex Miscellanea
Characteristics: Int +3, Per +1, Pre +3, Com +1, Str -2, Sta +1, Dex -2, Qik +1
Age: 31 Decrepitude: 0 Warping: 0 (0) Confidence: 1 (3)

Virtues: The Gift, Hermetic Magus, Strong Magical Blood*, Major Magical Focus (Spirits); Affinity with Rego, Alluring to Magical Beings, Apt Student, Deft Form (Mentem), Imbued with the Spirit of Vim, Life Boost*, Natural Leader, Puissant Rego.
Flaws: Close Family Ties, Driven (Major), Necessary Condition (speaking at the target), Optimistic (Minor), Spirit Friend, Study Requirement*, Vulnerable to Folk Tradition.

Personality Traits: Determined +3, Enthusiastic +3, Authoritative +2.
Reputations: None
Twilight Scars: None

Combat: Dodge +1, Soak +1
Fatigue Levels: OK, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious.
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20)

Abilities:
Artes Liberales 1 (astronomy), Awareness 2 (alertness), Britain Lore 2 (legends), Charm 3 (first impressions), Code of Hermes 1 (dealing with mundanes), Concentration 1 (spells), Dominion Lore 1 (angels), English 5 (inspiring oratory), Etiquette 2 (nobility), Faerie Lore 1 (spirits), Finesse 1 (precision), Folk Ken 1 (magi), Guile 1 (concealing intent), Infernal Lore 1 (demons), Intrigue 2 (alliances), Latin 4 (Hermetic terms), Leadership 3 (inspiration), Magic Lore 2 (spirits), Magic Theory 3 (Rego), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (politics), Parma Magica 1 (Corpus), Penetration 2 (Rego), Second Sight 4 (spirits).

Arts:
Cr 0, In 0, Mu 0, Pe 0, Re 14+3;
An 0, Aq 0, Au, 0, Co 2, He 0, Ig 0, Im 0, Me 3, Te 0, Vi 3
Talisman: A torc of interwoven walnut and hornbeam wood bound with gold, capped with a star sapphire set in magnetic star-iron.
Talisman Attunements: +4 mind, +4 protect self.
Equipment: Wizardly robes, Talisman, dagger, fine noble clothing. Encumbrance: 0 (0)

Spells Known:
Bestow the Endurance of the Berserkers (ReCo 25) +20
(R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind)

Perception of the Conflicting Motives (InMe 15) +4/+8
(R: Eye, D: Mom, T: Ind)

Compel the Mind to Slumber (ReMe 15) +22/+26, Mastery 1 (Multiple Casting)
(R: Voice, D: Diam, T: Ind)
The target falls asleep within a few seconds, and cannot be woken until the duration ends. (Base 4, +2 Voice, +1 Diameter)

Voice of Rightful Authority (ReMe 25) +22/+26, Mastery 1 (Multiple Casting)
(R: Voice, D: Sun, T: Ind)

Ward Against Metal (ReTe 25) +18/+22
(R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind)
The caster is protected from stone and metal, so that none of it can actually contact his body. If he is walking on a stone surface, he is actually suspended very slightly above it. (Base 15, +2 Sun)

Circular Ward Against Magical Beings (ReVi 25) +24/+28
(R: Touch. D: Ring, T: Cir)

Command the Spirit of Magic (ReVi 30) +25, Mastery 1 (Penetration)
(R: Voice, D: Moon, T: Ind)
Makes a magical spirit obey you, provided you can command its attention and obedience. The more authoritative and strong-willed you are, the more cooperative the spirit is. If the spell penetrates the spirit’s Magic Resistance, make a stress roll of Pre + Leadership to see how effective your commands are, though any roll other than a botch will compel at least minimal obedience. (Base 5, +2 Voice, +3 Moon)

Common Spontaneous Spells
Ward Against Mundane Beasts (ReAn 4) +20*/24* (R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind)
Circle of Beast Warding (ReAn 5) +20/24 (R: Touch, D: Ring, T: Cir)
Cloak of the Duck’s Feathers (ReAq 4) +20*/24* (R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind)
Aura of Ennobled Presence (MuIm 5) +3 (R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind)
Wizard’s Sidestep (ReIm 10) +20/24 (R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind)
Unseen Arm (ReTe 5) +20 (R: Voice, D: Conc, T: Ind)
The Unseen Porter (ReTe 10) +20 (R: Voice, D: Conc, T: Ind)

  • May be cast without fatigue.
    / Casting totals after the slash are with his talisman.

Seasons After Gauntlet:
Year One: 1) Attuning his Talisman, 2) Learning the spell Perception of the Conflicting Motives, 3) Learning the spell Circular Ward Against Magical Beings, 4) preparing talisman for enchantment (6 pawns + 4 pawns from Imbued with the Spirit of Vim).

Appearance and Personality:
Llewellyn is tall, but thin and willowy of build. His eyes are dark, intense, and unnatural, like a black night sky full of shining stars.
He possesses a natural charm and authority, and is able to fit himself into most situations and take charge effortlessly, if his Gift does not get in the way. He tends to vacillate between boyish enthusiasm and deadly serious focus.

Llewellyn believes he can achieve great things, but does not yet know what he wants them to be. He is Driven to find a cause he can believe in, something larger than himself, which he can lead to greatness. It is likely that he will become involved in a mystery cult of some sort, such as a gnostic one, and/or one which aims to change society.

Background:
Llywellyn is a magus Ex-Miscellanea, from the Line of Gwydion. Gwydion was a Welsh magician at the time of the war against Damhan-Allaidh, the son of a faerie queen, who developed potent magical powers drawing upon his faerie blood. Magi of the Line of Gwydion seek out apprentices with supernatural parentage, and train them to harness their own innate power to boost their magic. However, because their magic is so visceral, they cannot learn Arts through abstract reason, and must directly experience what they are studying. In game terms, they have Strong Faerie Blood, Giant Blood, or a similar virtue as a free major non-Hermetic virtue; they have Life Boost as a free minor Hermetic virtue, and Study Requirement as a major Hermetic flaw. Most also have the minor Hermetic virtue Imbued with the Spirit of [Form], as they learn to draw more deeply upon their own blood.

Llewellyn was born William , the second son of a Norman lord. When his father was young and brash, the heir to his estate, he went hunting in the forest with some friends in midsummer. Showing off, he rode on ahead to catch his quarry more dramatically, but quickly became lost. He wandered through the forest for hours, becoming more and more bewildered as he walked, until he stumbled into a regio in the twilight. It became dark, but for the light of the full moon. In the quiet light, he saw the spirit of a pagan warrior-queen bathing in a mountain stream. William’s father has only dreamlike memories of that night, but he still bears the white scars of a duel they fought when she discovered him watching her, and their child from when their passionate duel led to passion of another kind. He woke the next morning by a mundane forest stream and found his way home. The following spring, he dreamt of the pagan queen while camped under the full moon on a hunting trip in the same forest, and awoke to find a newborn baby in a basket of walnut, wrapped in a pure white blanket, with a star-sapphire torc on his chest. The pale child looked up at him with eyes like the night sky, jet black and shining dimly with stars.

(One possibility is that Llewellyn’s mother was the ghost of the ancient queen Boudicca, who fought Rome and burned London in 61 AD. Normally I wouldn’t chose such a grandiose figure for an Ars Magica character’s background, but it wouldn’t be grandiose in-character, since Boudicca and her revolt were unknown in Europe until Tacitus’s histories were rediscovered in the 16th Century.)

William was a serious child, intense in demeanor, and full of wonder. He was trained to lead, and he still retains the same expectation of being obeyed that he used to have. However, between his Gift and the superstitions surrounding his origins, he was never trusted, and never fit in with his brothers and knights. He was willowy of build, without the strength to be a knight, and no horse would let him ride it, so William focused the way of the court instead. He excelled as a courtier due to his natural charisma, but never quite overcame the distrust. He could also see spirits and things that others could not, and often they would even do what he asked them to do. He spent a lot of time in their company, listening to their stories. He became especially close to one enigmatic but wise spirit which dwelt by the rocky shore and groves down the coast from his manor, manifesting as a flutter of moths shining in moonlight.

When William was 12, an enormous traveler arrived at his father’s manor. The stranger was well dressed, obviously a man of wealth and power, but was over 7 and a half feet tall and brutally strong. The traveler was Bran Ex Miscellanea, who had come to take William as his apprentice. William was eager to go, but his father did not want to lose his son and possible heir, especially if he was to learn magical power. So they made a bargain. The giant agreed that William would return to his father and family every summer season, but would spend 18 years as his apprentice to make up for the lost time. Bran took William as his apprentice, and gave him a Welsh Hermetic name, Llewllyn, as is traditional in the Line of Gwydion.

15

I will probably go with an Ex Misc with Giant Blood.

Should I post the character here, or will you start a thread?

16

Anyone have any covenant ideas atm? Specifically anyone have any ideas for library specifics, defenses, or mundane resources?? Also does anyone have any suggestion for vis sources?

I've drafted and sent a few ideas to our SG for consideration, I was wondering if anyone had insights to share as my experience with this system is somewhat limited, especially for the current edition.

Thank you

17

I would not want to second guess the SG, however based on the above, it soundds like Lordcaine has a very specific process in mind for covenant creation. Don't jump too far ahead. Some SGs require certain covenant features for the stories they want to tell.

In general though, since so many decisions are really based on the site, that's the most crucial deicision to make first in my opinion. Site determines your resources, how you need to set up your defenses, who your neighbors are, etc.

18

very ggod point :smiley:

19

Are you still looking for players? If so I am interested in trying a play-by-post saga

20

Lord Caine? I e-mailed you at lordcayan@yahoo.com but haven't heard back. Not trying to be a pain but everything still go?