IC: Ars Magica 5th: Sagas, Covenants & Spells

I bought myself a physical copy of the amazing to read but challenging to play (in my rules-lite mind) and I got he sagas and covenants itch. I pitched the idea over on reddit and got some nibbles. Here is the 'ad'

I've played Ars Magica since2nd Edition. It's a ... complicated... game both cruch-wise and thematically but it has one of the most elegant and flexible magic systems in TTRPG. The covenant/troupe/saga set up is great for long running games. Ars is difficult via PbP for a whole host of reasons but I really miss playing it.

I do believe that there's a Powered by the Apocalypse/DungeonWorld port of ArsMagica that's probably rules-lite enough for you.

Found something called wizard world by Jeff Hunt, Dropbox link dead though.

I’ve been reading this High Magic Ironsworn Hack thpugh.

I once combined AM with De Profundis, in a mage letter writing romp. Good fun but very open ended.
What problems arise from AM Pbp?

Ars Magica is on my bucket list

I'm still not sure if this is an interest check for an Ars Magica 5th edition game, if you are looking for a co-GM or if you are looking for a rules-light system for Ars Magica.

If it's the first one, I'd probably be interested, not having much time to co-GM if it's the second one, and finally, if it's the third one, I would recommend this FATE hack:

Sors Magica, a Fate Core hack to play Ars Magica

The main problems I've experienced involves the following:

1. The length of time decision-making/resource allocation/etc. takes during any Covenant meeting is exaggerated to the Nth degree via PbP. It a big feature of the game and is difficult to mitigate without taking a lot of the power out of the players' hands.
I've gotten around it by making the players junior Covenant members but that's not always going to work.

2. The variety of characters the character creation system allows can make forming a Covenant difficult and can lose players based in another player/character's choices. Some builds/decisions are just difficult to fit into some Sagas.

3. Getting players to address problems is a major issue. Ars Magica really focused on your main character staying home & (in most cases) is actually dis-advantageous to do anything but stay home. Ergo, nothing gets done without someone feeling put out for being forced to do so.

4. The setting is explicitly NOT D&D but gets treated that way and I've had player get actively upset that it's not. It's much more of a midieval simulationist game than it is fantasy adventure and the game mechanics really do not support it being anything other than simulationist.

5. The play-setting takes a great deal of time & effort to construct and lay-out. There's a prodigious amount of work involved in just making the area to play. Lots of Crunch involved and it can be overwhelming.

All that said, I'd love t start an ArsMagica Saga on GP but it'd have to be the actual 5th Ed rules. I've played the PbtA port and it just didn't feel 'right'.

I am not even sure myself. I adore the feel, lore and imaginative content of Ars Magica but I cannot see myself bogging down in its crunch, especially in a play by post forum. I honestly am being pulled to doing it in the Ironsworn: Arcanum.

I want to create that covenant, have massive correspondence and studies with other magi, write about journeys of explorations for knowledge and artifacts. Use grogs and companions to defend ourselves against the ways and tribulations of men. Oddly, in De Profundis style, I'd want to do it all in a first person narrative, a collection of ancient scrolls in a librarary. Perhaps a future mage finds my writings.

Indeed who would want to be a part of that history?

Ars Magica sits on my top 10 list of favourite RPGs. (It used to be top 5, but I'm getting old and my ability to appreciate crunch has diminished somewhat). I haven't played in on PbP, so I have to blow off the mental cobwebs and see if I can imagine how it might be done.

If you want to muck around first with the original system as a preamble to see whether we can pull it off I'd be happy to be a part of the experiment, whether it works or doesn't. I'm also fine with later editions.

There is interest, as long as everyone knows this is an experiment. I am more of the fiction than the numbers (another old rp geezer here). But let us see where it goes.

Chronicles of the Covenant

I'll gladly join this experiment, and while I have heard much about Ars Magica, I have never played it or studied the rules for it.

Feel free to join our merry troupe and discuss any ideas or preferences you may have.