I hope that everyone is well out there and surviving these exciting times with a minimum of hassle.
We have begin playing our Ars Magica campaign now for about a month or so and all of the meetings, wrangling, and planning have really started to pay dividends already. (We spent about 7 months getting this game ready and I doubt I have put more work into any campaign before.) The game plays well, once you get over the sheer volume of rules and the fact that many things are scattered over a number of supplements. The key to keep in mind is other than the core data you don’t need to remember all that stuff! The role-playing opportunities are excellent and the mechanics and nature of the game encourage a certain refreshing degree of restraint.
So far the majority of scenes have been reasonably domestic. I am sure that as the game progresses we will be delving very deeply into hermetic politics. The scale and scope of opportunity for role-playing is even broader than we had envisioned. The current concerns of the characters at present involve the two nearby fey courts and the pagan mystery cult the group is allied with. We did choose a complicated setting, but the rewards are very good.
The game, much like Vampire the Masquerade, really encourages some deep consideration of character motivation and needs. Many times the needs and goals of others are not congruent and compromises need to be made. Because the players are also playing the key servants (grogs) and the companions of the magi, the story possibilities are multiplied as players push the agendas of characters that are assigned to them more diligently than if they were NPCs. For example at least one magus is getting married because he was swept up by events and cultural pressure. The role-playing that has come from this has been the most amusing I have seen in years. We were all laughing so much that we had a hard time playing during the several scenes relating to this particular event.
One other thing that is cool about this game is the journal. Not only did I write a twenty page summary of the background to mesh with the Covenant Story Hooks and Character Flaws, but I am keeping a running journal of the game. This is very handy and I wish I had done it with other games.
If you are looking for a deep role-playing experience and are able to handle a good deal of prep work and overcome some initial frustration getting your team of players on board this is a great game. Folks can look at all of the characters, saga journal, covenant sheet, and related info at: http://home.roadrunner.com/~gamesoapbox/games/ars_magica/index.html
Now that I have got this project off the ground, I am back to working on Aerodrome, a fast play WWI Aerial Combat game. I am presently making the wooden markers for the game and will be finishing up labeling the wooden control panels we made two years ago over the next several months. It is a very cool and simple game and I plan to run tournaments and a campaign with it.
Have a fine day and thanks for reading.
- Andre
Tags: Ars Magica RPG Campaign Journal Role-Playing Magi
