Which Tribunals do you like best to play in, rate them in order from 1 (Not at all) - 13 (I love to play in this Tribunal)
My picks are:
[13] AM 3: Provencal (Mistridge/Midsummer Nights Tale)
[12] AM 3: Loch Leaglean Tribunal
[11] AM 5: Thebes Tribunal
[10] AM 5: Hibernia Tribunal
[09] AM 4: Stonehenge Tribunal
[08] AM 5: Transylvanian Tribunal
[07] AM 4: Novgorod Tribunal
[06] AM 5: Rheine Tribunal
[05] AM 5: Normandy Tribunal
[04] AM 3: Roman Tribunal
[03] AM 4: Lavant Tribunal
[02] AM 4: Greater Alps Tribunal
[01] AM 3: Iberian Tribunal
Have you played in all of them?
Or is it really "Looks like the best/most fun to play in"?
Because some of the special elements of certain tribunals have turned out to be... less exciting than anticipated.
Conversely, I suspect that some elements work better in play than on paper.
EG:
The tournaments of Normandy seem like a cool idea, but my troupe has always veered away from them. They simply look like too much prep-work.
However, if there was an easy way to deal with it, and possibly just the right troupe, I suspect it would be plain awesome.
We had a campaign that ended 3 weeks ago where we played a covenant on carriages that travelled throughout the Order, so we played in all Tribunals. Personally, I have not read all books, but of those I have read are:
Provecale (Mistride/Midsummer Nights dream), Transylvania, Loch Leaglean, Novgorod, Stonehenge, Normandy and Thebes.
My favorite is the one I'm playing in at any particular moment. There is always some interesting tidbit of history within each tribunal, and their systems of Hermetic governance are different enough to make sense, at least from someone who lives in the US and in several states and notices how the politics of one state are completely different from the politics of another state...
Based on vague recollections of each book's themes. I haven't read the rest.
But it really is down to the saga. I don't like the overly-mundane setting of canon Stonehenge, for example, but a saga set there has plenty of supernatural stuff to draw on that would make it awesome.
It's hard for me to pick a favorite (though it would probably end up being the Rhine Tribunal, my home turf), but I can say that the Iberian Tribunal seems the least interesting to me and I have absolutely no desire to set a saga there (as opposed to all the other tribunals).
It's hard to list a 'favourite' since there are compelling reasons to play in all of them. That said:
I'm most familiar with Stonehenge, and to a lesser extent Loch Leglean, Hibernia, and Normandy. My current Saga is set in Stonehenge and I've done the most research to set it there. Plenty of stories to do.
Provencal was the location of my first Saga, so I always have a soft spot for it.
Rome Tribunal was the second Tribunal I played in and despite a not-so-great source book, was great for political intrigue
Iberia, another book with an up-and-down sourcebook, because of the many potential stories and mix of cultures. In most other Tribunals, having Muslim, Jewish, and Christian characters all in the same spot takes some explaining to do. Not in Iberia! You can go Crusading, play politics in both mundane and Hermetic sides, seek out old Roman sites of power... no shortage of things to do.
I'm sure every Tribunal can make an argument that it's a great place to play in, though.
For my own Saga, I noticed that all but one PC magus has come from anywhere but Stonehenge, which I found amusing. So far I have magi from Hibernia, Normandy (2), Novgorod, Levant, Rome, Scandanavia, and the token Stonehenge PC. NPC magi at the covenant are from the Rhine and Provencal Tribunals. Thank goodness for latin as a common language!
