Yeah, sorry. I am stuck for inspiration to embellish character background. Such inspiration usually comes when the story starts. I haven't given up, but I am not sure if I will be able to come up with a satisfactory character any time soon.
Start slow and answer a few simple questions. Who was his master? Where did he live? Who else lived there? How did you character interact with these people?
You have to essentially see your magus' apprenticeship as a story. Let your inspiraiton free, and that story that will tell you who he is.
Hello,
I am Whaler and hail from Sweden. I am experienced with both Ars magica and the pbp style, so hopefully that won’t be any issue. Sometimes my English can a be a little awkward though. I actually wanted to apply to your saga earlier so I am fairly caught up on the concept and what you guys have been discussing. Glad I get the chance to join now and looking forward to playing with you all.
Welcome aboard Whaler!
You're not the only one for whom English isn't his first language. I'm from Quebec (Canada) so my first language is French. Your English looks perfectly fine to me! 
I've been playing Ars ever since 3rd edition in the early '90s, although for most of the last 20 years it's been through this forum instead of face-to-face. My play style tends to be toward the nitty-gritty and low-power end of the scale, but for this saga I'm aiming at the upper end of mdeium-power. I favour narrative and story-telling, but still like the numbers to add up.
Cheers!
Hello everyone!
I'm Rafael. I have some experience with several systems, including Ars Magica, but until now most of my games have been D&D. On the other hand I have zero experience with PbP, so please, bear with me for a moment. I'll soon get the gist of it.
Just like Whaler I've been wanting to apply for some time, but I think I still have a few posts to read before I catch up.
Oh, my native language is Portuguese (Brazilian), and I'd say I have English 4 (engineering). Please, help me correct any mistakes! ^^
Hello chaps and welcome on board!
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I've created a first story thread for the arrival of the first wave. Your magus should only participate in this story if its stats have been finalized, including post-Gauntlet advancement. So for now that means Wolfgang (@Plot_Device), Mariana (@callen) and Perion (@Houlio).
A second wave of magi will arrive a few months later.
just missed deadline.
Don't worry, you might make it still in this story. I just don't want to put pressure and rush things. This story was supposed to start in January.
Do you want us to jump right in, or are you planning on putting up the first IC post to set the stage?
One of you can start the ball rolling with a little scene as they arrive near the valley where the covenant is located. I'll jump in with the people you meet and the things you notice as you arrive.
Hi,
I'm Julia. I'm from southern Germany. I have some experience with Ars Magica as a play by post game, and quite a bit of experience with play by post with The One Ring and Star Trek. Ars Magica seems to be a hard game to find offline players for so I've decided to try this forum.
I teach EFL, which is not the same as "evil", and history.
I hope I can come up with a mage that fits your story.
Welcome aboard Julia!
Hi,
It's seems it's here the first step before beginning in this game. My pseudo is Lothindil, same on internet since many years. I'm come from Belgium. So, yes, I'm frenchspeaker but writing in English isn't a difficult for me. I'm playing with Ars Magica since around one year with two friends and I'm totally addicted to the system. I have many experience on role play by forum, around ten years, as players and as gamemasters on a custom system created by my husband in French. I guess PbP won't be so different.
Oh, and except when I'm working, I can easily play on American hours.
Hoping find a character who will fit with your story ^^
I've got a number of questions. I've looked at some of the other character sheets, which made me realize that character generation is going to take at least a fortnite and maybe up to two months.
So I thought: So what can I do until then?
And I found 2 answers:
- I could play minor characters of others (grogs, familiars, apprentices etc). That raised the question if there are such characters that need running already, because it makes sense to let their creator introduce them so we get a feeling about how they are supposed to tick.
- I could run a story as a beta guide, nothing fancy for a first attempt, but that raised questions, too: The players who have come to this game early have committed themselves to running stories for others. What about latecomers like me? Do I commit my betaguiding to certain characters? Or is it like the noticeboard in the witcher computer games where you put up a note that monster x needs slaying or that the vis source in the fairie forest should be collected, and people just sign on? Can a player sign on for more than one story? Just because they are told simultaneously doesn't automatically mean they happen simultaneously - although this couldn't take into account rewards and wounds gained in one story and therefore make it impossible to create a correct timeline? Which leads to the next question: How about the consequences of these stories: Can a betaguide run a story that angers the Fairie Queen on the mountain next to the covenant? Can they have the characters find a large cache of vis/books/magic items/invulnerability potions (obviously not)? So how do I make sure that my story doesn't derail the game by introducing unwanted elements like overpowered rewards or overpowered enemies? Do you trust me to be reasonable or is there some kind of authority that reviews the intended plots and rewards?
Preparing and running stories tailored to the other characters is just one way of contributing to the saga. There are also vis sources to detail, places to describe, etc. So you can look at the maps () and decide to lay a claim on a specific place and develop it. This will come, of course, with some stories that could happen there. The same can be with people.
As the Alpha storyguide, I am the final resource to balance things out. So if some specific reward and impact of some event is too much (or not enough), I will discuss with you ways to bring it in line with the power level of the saga.
That doesn't mean I need to know all of the details. I want to play in some stories as well, so some things can be kept secret. But establishing with me the broad outline of an area, or people, before fully developping it help keep things safe. Some things can be simply discussed with the troupe.
Let's take an example. As part of the background of the covenant, there was an arragment reached with the Telsberg family head by Leonardus for the use the small valley. Since Leonardus is gone, Clusius will have to go meet the Telsberg to present himself as Leonardus' heir. Since this is a story that my magus will need to be heavily involved in, I asked if one of the players was interested in developping the Telsberg family based on some thoughts I had on the subject. Houlio offered to do that, and also prepared his own companion to be from the Telsberg. So he has a "claim" on the Telsberg family, as indicated in this Notes and Claims post.
So there are plenty of opportunities around if you want to work on something while you complete your character! Take a look at the maps, take a look at the proposed vis sources. Share your ideas for stories, interesting locales or people. Tugurium is a place where Leonardus gathered people that didn't fit well in medieval society, so some of them, while not "playing" material, can add color to the saga. After all, the steward isn't even alive (note to self, finalize Julius' character sheet). 
As a final note, many of the posts in The Covenant of Tugurium, Grogs and Covenfolk, as well as Notes and Claims are set up as wikis, so that anyone can edit them. So when you create a new character, or a new place, you can just add them in the right place and create links. If you have trouble doing it, don't hesitate to ask!
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Cool, then let me start by doing the oak vis source. If that goes well, I can tackle the next one.
Can I also make a turb captain?
Where do you want me to post them (for review)?
Any character can be presented in your personal character creation topic. Vis sources should probably be presented and discussed in Covenant Discussions (OOC).
Had a weekend that was a bit unexpectedly away from home. I'm back now, and will look at getting a story post up tonight. Nice to see the new people here too!
Maybe I just haven't found it yet, but I think it would help to have a "character in a nutshell" thread (or maybe add such a text to an existing thread?):
It would be a short paragraph about what would be immediately known/seen. This might help to refer to another player's character.
Example:
Eikona ex Jerbiton is a small, woman with long gorgeous golden hair that is held by a lace scarf, but cascades down her back. Her dress looks expensive and is tailored to reveal her curves. With deep blue eyes and ruby lips, she is a true beauty. Her accent betrays her Burgundian origins. You have heard that she likes men and that her magical interests are focused on the Art of Imaginem, particularly the visual capturing of species.
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