I'd like to use this thread to get agreement on how the game is going to run. I would like for players to respond to a question or status within two days - some of that is unavoidable due to the vastly different time zones of the players. I'm enclosing this: [url]https://forum.atlas-games.com/t/ars-magica-pbp-pbem-best-practices-requested/1063/1]
Does anybody have any objections? I believe for this game to be successful, we need to put energy in driving the story forward.
A question: How fast do Self-Confidence Points reset? Certainly, when we start a new story players will have at least three; I don't think anybody took Low Self-Esteem. Would you expect that they come back in a year, or what?
Finally, saga speed. I'm willing to run the first story, unless anyone has objections. After that, I figure there will be, oh, two to three years of downtime/development, and the next StoryGuide will begin the next chapter. Is that acceptable, or do players want a faster/slower game?
I personal prefer if Trogdor or silveroak, who already have knowledge how forum based play work, would be the first SG.
You not automatic regain confidence points. I suggest you read ArM 20 how to gain Confidence Points but there is no upper limit how many Confidence Points you can have. My last group played character had collected over 50 unspent Confidence points within a half a year of weekly play. The Confidence Score reset each day if I remember right.
Forum based play is more suited for long breaks compared to chat or RL games in my opinion but if love to hear the opinion of Trogdor and Silveroak on this.
I thought Confidence points don't reset. You get them from stories, but once they're spent, you don't get them back. After you use a Confidence point, you need to earn another one.
P. 20 of the ArM core rules states: "Once a Confidence Point is spent, it is gone forever. Confidence Points are not recovered."
Of course, for a PBP game you might want to alter that a little bit, granting a trickle of Confidence points automatically for "off-screen" activity. Or maybe not. It's a tough call.
That works for me. One thing I can imagine is that some players might want to deal with particular historical events, which might lead to some people wanting their SG time to coincide with a particular year.
I say if thompsja has a story he wants to tell, there's no reason he shouldn't go first. I have a few ideas in the works, but nothing fully fleshed out yet.
I didn't think your Confidence Score was ever reduced. I understand that it represents the maximum number of confidence points you can spend on a single roll, not in a single day. So, for example, if I had a 1(3) Confidence, I might spend 1 Confidence on a spell roll, then an hour later spend 1 more Confidence on a Bargaining check, then a half hour later spend another Confidence point on a Magic Lore check. I'm unaware of any "per day" limit.
I agree that forum play supports longer breaks. One of the strengths of ArM is that a saga can span a long time, allowing for real character development. Too often a PBP forum game can get bogged down in playing out every moment of every season, with the result that no time ever passes. It's a similar problem to the D&D issue where a bunch of characters go from 1st level to 20th level in a matter of weeks because no one ever takes down time.
I really have no opinion on who goes first for storyteller. As to time between adventures I think this could be anything from a season to several years, with the caveat that we should never skip major events- tribunals, Verditious competitions, if we have bjorner the meeting of 12 years, etc. on the other hand, I believe that provided there is no overlap in characters there is nothing preventing us from having more than one story going at a time. For example if Thompsja has a story started and Trogdor has a story he is ready to get started, that does not inherently involve anyone in Thompsja's story, he could start a thread, post the introduction, and if no characters from Thompsja's story have an interest in joining he could continue with that story.
Well, we're starting in 1220. What Hermetic events will happen in say, the next 10 years, that we should note? Silveroak, I don't know when the next Verditius competition is, when would you like it to happen?
we have the next tribunal in 1221, another in 1228, a grand tribunal in 1228, the next verdituous contest I believe is in 1230, and the gathering of 12 years for the bjorners is in 1227, though I don't believe we have any bjorner. And of course in 1230 Thessalonika falls to the Bulgarians...and was recaptured by the Despotate of Epirius in 1237.
Keeping in mind that there are likely to be fireworks at the grand tribunal over the nature of the tribunal of Thebes, especially if tribunals of Rome or other Latin countries feel that the conquest of Constantinople should be reflected in Hermetic boundaries...
I think this question suite here, have anyone already found/read the scrying rules of the Thebean Tribunal? Given that this rule are different in each Tribunal its one of the things we have to fix before starting.
The general principle "don't scry on a magus" is the same from tribunal to tribunal- how it is implemented is not.
According to The sundered eagle the peripheral code in Thebes is very sparce, since precedents are not a matter of law, only deliberately passed edicts. As such I would expect the enforcement of this rule is very haphazard, and similar to the trial of Socrates your popularity and political positioning may well be more important than the egregiousness of the violation.
My take on that paragraph is that while there are some conflicting rulings, you're going to be in trouble if you try scrying on a magus.
Alas, my love for ArM does not extend to writing up centuries of jurisprudence on every issue pertaining to scrying that has come up in the Thebean Tribunal. I suspect that's the same for everyone. Alas, while we might be able to address one or two issues on clear-cut scrying issues, we're unlikely to be able to prepare a comprehensive set of rules as to what is and isn't considered scrying in Thebes.
As I see it scrying = bad. If you do something that might be scrying, you do so at your own peril. For an issue near the edge of the definition of scrying there are probably cases on both sides of the fence. At that point, it probably depends on how well you defend yourself and how much the Quaesitors are out to get you.
In short, I think a lot of hand waving has to take place when talking about the nitty gritty details of the law. We're just not going to be able to give clear answers about even a single issue like scrying.
If you have a particular question, e.g., is this particular activity considered scrying, then maybe we can address that. (Though the answer might be "maybe yes/maybe no.") But I doubt we're going to be able to provide a set of "scrying rules" for the tribunal.
Let me rephrase again: At that point, it probably depends on how well the Archai defends you and how much the Council of Magistrates is out to get you.
The cases are not decided by a magistrate, but either by the tribunal assembly vote or in extreme cases by a jury of 12 magi from at least 4 different covenants, but such rushed proceedings are reserved for extreme cases such as killing another magus or diabolism.
Let me rephrase again: At that point, it probably depends on the strength of your defense and how much the authority that decides the case is out to get you.