Howdy folks,
I was sitting here jonesing for more Ars Magica and wondering if there are folks out there who enjoy making up little sagas for themselves on the side.
If so, what keeps it interesting?
-K!
I've toyed with this. Made a covenant, "PCs," "NPCs," came up with some stories that I never was able to use with my troupe, etc. It sort of morphed into a writing exercise, since writing down actions and conversations worked better than talking to myself as two or more characters. And it makes it feel like I am actually role playing, instead of just envisioning things in my head.
What has worked best for me is having the multiple characters to choose from, and keeping the adventures focused on one or two characters in my covenant at a time. So if I stall out or get bored with one character, I move on to another. I make sure the characters have different personalities to make me stop and think, "How would this character respond to this?"
Changing the writing style between characters also helps. One is in the first person, another third. I also have a lab rat to satisfy my desire to try different things in a lab, and for him I make journal entries.
Hope some of this helps. Attempting solo play is definately not the easiest.
That's an interesting idea.
Hmm...
When I was between troupes, I decided to write for the fanzine and the line. Working on a convention scenario and creating the characters is also a good Ars Magica outlet.
PS. It's not that long until the 20th. 
Says you! 
Actually, I'm looking forward to the session. I'm very curious about what Paul may have up his sleeve.
Anyway, I like the idea of writing. I'm not sure that I have much to give the line, so to speak. There are others more talented and with deeper knowledge of the game.
How 'bout the rest of you folks. Any of you play SimCovenant?
-K!
No due to lack of time. Sounds like a really neat idea, though. I would limit myself to 2 or 3 main characters in order to avoid losing the focus, though.
Cheers,
Xavi
I think you are selling yourself short, and the fanzine needs all the help it can get filling issues. A short one-shot adventure, collection of vis sources, or mythical bestiary is doable. Eastern Europe seems to be under-represented in Ars Magica written materials. Read a book of fairy tales from Russia, Hungary, etc., and I'll bet 5-10 story seeds come to mind, of which two or three could be turned into mini-adventures, vis sources, or NPCs with associated story seeds. Right now, I am finishing Grimm's Fairy Tales and have about a dozen red flags for ideas to work on as soon as RoP: Faerie is released.
PS. I'm looking forward to the 20th too, it will be interesting to see if we are all destroyed or not.
Good idea!
Oh, and we're all dead. We're still walking around, but we are all dead. 
Talent is as talent does.
Deep knowledge of the game is interesting in a really esoteric way, but in a practical way, if you can find an interesting thing for characters to do, then I think that's a lot more use than finding a new way to extend the minutiae of the rules inot increasingly obscure fields.
Also, we haven't scratched the surface in a lot of areas. There are a lot of areas which will not ever get to be a financially viable product but would make for great magazine articles. I personally, would like someone to really grapple with shipboard covenants again. I'd like an Ars version of Jamaica. I'd like someone to do Georgia in period. I'd like more faeries to play with. I'd like to know what your magi do when not earning XP.
There's a lot of stuff yet to do.
You know that's exactly the sort of thing that I might enjoy doing. No promises however, I've got a baby on the way and I suspect that he'll be a bit of a time sink with regard to cutting in to my Ars Magica writing.
Yeah, for me, the question really is whether it's just the characters in the Crimea, the entire covenant, or the entire Order that's dead.
I'll travel again, set a short saga where I go. I can see if I can restat the dnd instances from previous holidays. (Yes, I am that much of a nerd, I like to hike, and when going to sleep, I often try to make it into an adventure...)