How, What, Where, NPCs and Ars Magica

The Ars Magica sessions seem to be going well, I am having fun and everyone else tells me they are too, so that is good.

When we have completed the prologue - probably four more sessions - all the Player Characters, and more non-Player Characters (NPC) than I had expected - though with so far two notable surprising exceptions - should be at the Covenant. When we have all gotten that far we will write up the prologue, I will be asking the others for their write up on what happened. Nothing to elaborate, as much as people are prepared to write, but it would be good to get some input from everyone before going forward, this way I know what is important to people and get some perspective on what was liked and not liked.

Then we will take a break from the story line of our central cast, if everyone agrees, and progress another related story using just NPCs. This will also give me a chance to get my vague ideas consolidated and some preparation done that incorporates everyone’s input before taking things up at the Covenant. I am keen that we all feel strongly linked to the Covenant so wish to plan this and discuss it with people before hand.

So far, the use of NPCs has gone well with at least one player being much attached to the Mythic Companion he has been playing. Another player seemed to enjoy exploring the capabilities of a specialized Herbam Magi as he endeavored to save villagers from marauding beasts from some unknown “other” place. Unfortunately, this Herbam Magi only was played in one session so he will have to be reprised.

A surprising twist from the NPCs being played by the characters has seen the Mythic Companion abducted or fulfilling an obligation (depending on how you look at it). It is good people are attached to the NPCs but also good that consequences be realized. This NPC did suffer a bit in the end but not just because of his actions, nor just those of the other NPCs; one PC did not act to help as the NPC surrendered, while the second PC was pushing him into his punishment as an experiment. Anyway out of this, very vague I know, came a fun storyline that has directly linked a character the Players are attached to, to some back-story. This has given us the opportunity to progress this story without the hand of the GM forcing things along - or maybe moving it along out of the sight of the players is a better way to phrase it - more on that later. Anyway it brings background unknown story to the fore and into everyone’s hands which is nice. Another NPC was handed over to another Magus no questions asked which was quite funny, poor chubby Gautier. It was much unexpected; the PC did not even bother trying to use his masses of Charm and Wit to save him!

Thus far, people have played Folquet, Viriathus and to a lesser extent Jihad. The characters Gautier, Tanit and Magpie have also been designed as NPCs with the intent that people are able to play them but I am a player down. I am also holding Tanit back as there are some things I am keen to do with the character first and I have been enjoying playing her.

Having people play the NPCs seems to have allowed stories to progress more naturally but still within a broad guideline. With NPCs I have provided some kind of instruction. Except for Jihad who ended up being played by a different player at a different stage in the session than intended, but that can easily be fixed before next session as I had emailed information on him to everyone, everyone just didn’t read it I am guessing. What I haven’t done is switch control of NPCs around yet and will probably do so in the future. Back to the point of this paragraph; the NPCs are there in part to ensure fun and effective characters to go along with the PCs and allow escape from the DnD party which drives many games that I have played and instead bring in the Troupe idea that Ars Magica is designed for. There are other NPCs designed by players, which have appeared as Antagonists, as well as a few yet to appear.

Regarding the approach to the game; broad goals have been stated for each session, or group of sessions, and a key impact that the NPC should have has also be explained along with a broad outline of personality, linked to flaws and traits. Otherwise people have had free reign and it has been entertaining to watch, play and see the storyline progress in unexpected directions.

Say no to railroading! What can I say that just popped out, I have been experimenting in this game to try and ensure everyone is fully engaged and having as much input as they can or want to have and can take the game in interesting directions but within a broad storytelling framework that everyone has a stake in. I had played in quite a long Ars Magica campaign previously but found my enjoyment deteriorating as my rules knowledge expanded but my input into the game did not at all develop, rather I was just along for other people’s stories. Anyway I wanted to make sure that didn’t happen to anyone in this game. For example, with the current three sessions, heading into the final next week, I had been upfront. Storyline objective was to get the PCs and NPCs from point A to B, what happened in the middle was up to the players. They had three Magi who wanted to get from A to B and one NPC who wanted to get from A to B but had a stop over in the middle he wanted to explore. This was pretty much the instruction given I think and the fun has ensued from there. Next session we are minus one NPC but plus another.

I probably have not well explained how I have attempted to do this above so will give it a go. The game is designed to be played in blocks of 2-4 sessions and I have stated up front which PCs characters are to be involved, so will be the stars, and put forth NPC characters for people to play. These will be the supporting cast. By stars this has not meant that the PCs will necessarily obviously be in the driving seat the entire time but the story has been focused on their Virtues and Flaws, especially their Story Hooks, as well as their Personality Traits in an effort to build initial links into the narrative and get every player engaged.

I thought this approach would be useful, to ensure that we are all upfront about spotlight for characters and to ensure that as a group we can make sure that the spotlight is shared around. Not necessarily equally each session but that everybody is assured that their PCs, which people have put much work into constructing, will get their sessions to go forth and engage with the story hooks they have nominated. Or not if they find something else shiny they wish to pursue then that option is there but it all still remains linked to a thread that can keep everyone’s characters engaged.

"All men must escape at times from the deadly rhythm of their private thoughts.

It is part of the process of life among thinking beings."

I stole this quote from here, this part drew me in as it is the core of the quote and what in part roleplaying is about, but the rest of it is very fitting to what I am trying to do with Ars Magica. Plus the Blog is a good read. I will admit I have no idea who Raymond Chandler is.

I tried to use punctuation as a friend is urging me, probably put it all in the wrong places. Oh well better that than the stream of consciousness none of you would be reading.

I also think Railroading can be undertaken by players, not just by a Storyteller or Game Master.

What I sent my fellow gamers

Suvs, Bela, Steve D and Steve X,

This is to fill Suvs in but all should read before the next game as it has a new NPC below. The next Ars session is this Thursday night. So far we have had three sessions.


Background

The first and second got Thierry Ex Jerbiton, his True Friend Louis, Roger the Norman, the Magi Folquet and a mishmash of survivors from Theirry's covenant and nearby village across the Pyrenees with a wonderful, for Theirry and the Faerie, dalliance with the Spring Fae of the pass. There was also the kidnapping of Louis' new Bride and the massacre and destruction of the nicest village and Covenant in all of Europe, watched by the frozen but magically protected Famous Poet Theirry ,while Folquet and Roger tried valiantly to protect everybody. Strange beasts came through portals to do this, Roger the Norman has declared them Beasts from Hell or some such and clearly from their clawed hands, lantern eyes and grotesque old women appearance and willingness to massacre and kidnap in a horribly bloody fashion - including wearing someone's skin - they aren't nice. This was followed by the seizure of one member of Thierry's Coveant - Gautier - by the Magi Batiste, to be his apprentice. Batiste is famous for incorporating magic from the Schools of Islam into Hermetic Magic and infamous for beating, torturing and killing apprentices that displease him. Theirry was well please d to be rid of the annoying Gautier and it was Batiste's right under Hermetic Law - as a member of House Bonisagus - to seize Gautier.

The Third session saw Viriathus, Mythic Hero and Redcap, arrive in a town on the coast of Iberia to escort three newly Gauntleted Magi to their new Covenant. Before this could occur the townsfolk rose up to drive these suspect individuals from their fair coastal town, the Magi and Viriathus left as quickly as they could after terrorising the town with a Demon Horse and sending the local Priest packing in fear after he attempted to drive the demon's from the town. The four indivdiuals are now trecking across the countryside with only meager supplies, chicken theft and nabbing the meager belongings of shepherds their main sustenance. They are apparently being stalked by a wolf while Viriathus guides them towards his own objective prior to depositing them at their new abode.


What has been going on

I have been organising the sessions so that their are two PCs played by players and at least one NPC played by a player. The NPC has some broad goals that I am keen for the player to pursue as well as some personality guidelines but otherwise people play them as they see fit. This allows rules to be learned by people playing lots of different kinds of characters as well as hopefully getting everyone engaged while spreading the PCs out so they are not a DnD party wandering the countryside. I have an NPC that I am hoping you will be keen to play for the next two sessions. The current program is to get everyone's characters to the Covenant. Each group of two to three sessions should be seen as running in parallel. While Thierry and Roger do battle and make their way across the Pyrenees the current group are moving west across Iberia.

Next session will commence at the border of the forest that Viriathus has been guiding people to. The central cast will be the Italian Ex Miscellanea Magus (Steve D.) who hunts beasts, a Merinita Magus (Steve X.) with an interest in drugs and the fae. With them are an Ex Miscellanea Carthaginian Maga who terrifies most normals she encounters and Viriathus the Numantine (Bela), Mythic Hero, Redcap in the service of House Mercer and the Order of Hermes and Bloodcap, born on the fields of the final massacre by Rome of the Numantians. In addition they will encounter young Jihad (Suvs) and his magical Magpie (NPC).


Young Jihad

Jihad ran away from his Master, Zaid, a landholder on the East Coast of Iberia, when he was eight – this occurred within hours of Zaid getting him home. Jihad has been on the run ever since gradually working himself westwards across Iberia in the hope of finding his home and parents. Zaid long-ago gave up looking for his run-away slave, he was cheap and a suspicious little Berber anyway, but he has reported him to the authorities and should he hear of the boy he will come looking.

Brave in the face of threats to animals, stoic about his life, Jihad has become adept at hiding and trapping animals to survive. He is particularly adept at finding locations to hide that no one seems able to find. He found that sometimes he gets a tingling sensation and he perceives entryways that apparently escape the notice of others, he slips into these entryways and easily escapes his pursuers. Though he does not know it, he is currently using a Magical Regio inside a forest as his base of operations. Whenever he feels at threat, he slips into this area. His powers are magical in origin.

It goes against his nature but Jihad keeps to himself, his fear of others finding him and returning him to slavery ensures Jihad continues to hide. However, of course a greater fear may push him towards people that he may perceive as similar outcasts.

Ameliorating his curiosity and desire to associate with people is his only friend a Magpie, which Jihad rescued from a particularly ferocious cat and brought to one of his hiding places to nurse. The animal and Jihad have grown close, it troubles the young boy not a bit that the Magpie and he chat endlessly about Iberia, scavenging and other topics of mutual interest.

Some things the players should know about Jihad to help along the story:

• Jihad shares some interesting abilities with the Mythic Hero Viriathus.
• Jihad has just been scared out of his wits by a huge group of what he first thought where merchants but on closer inspection appeared to be animals walking upright, bringing carts of goods and animals arriving in his hiding place.
• The Magpie quite likes Magi, though his first loyalty is to Jihad.

Jihad's character sheet looks long but that is only because I have cut and paste the information on each of his Virtues and Flaws into the sheet for ease of reference.

I finally got to use this young slave, developed from this joke character, in hopefully a fun form.

Chuck Thrust Redux

I spoke to soon. With some input from Professor Vortex and Shotgun Suzie Chuck Thrust and his Buccaneer Fighter-Bomber, Therése are now flying the skies looking for the enemies of the Righteous and Freedom, Evil-Doers and Plotters beware...

Chuck Thrust, Fighter-Ace

Chuck Thrust is finished. Hopefully I captured the essence of Pulp: High Action, Pseudo-Science Fiction and some innocent Camp. With the combination of a great character development kit and the basis of the InSpectres game to give some visibility to the type of players engaged in the game the next session should have some great elements.

Chuck Thrust

The CHIP gaming group has moved onto Spirit of the Century after a successful InSpectres adventure. I missed the character creation session but will be making the first gaming session with:

Chuck Thrust


I only have his Fighter-Bomber to design and all will be safe in the world.

Excuse the poor punctuation, that will be fixed when I make the effort.

Tanit fillia Ashtart Ex Miscellanea

Some background on Tanit:

A Pagan Tanit comes from a small but powerful heritage in Utica, descendants of the Carthaginians. She is a worshiper of Moloch the God Ba'al. Her House joined Ex Miscellanea to enable it to maintain it's proud histories while using alliances with members of the Order of Hermes to aid in defending themselves against the Schools of Islamic Sorcerers who surround them in North Africa.

Moloch the God Ba'al, the Sacred Bull, was widely worshiped in the ancient Near East and wherever Punic culture extended. Baal Moloch was conceived under the form of a calf or an ox or depicted as a man with the head of a bull. Hadad, Baal or simply the King identified the god within his cult. The name Moloch is not the name he was known by among his worshipers, but a Hebrew translation. The written form Moloch (in the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament), or Molech (Hebrew), is no different than the word Melech or king, transformed by interposing the vowels of bosheth or 'shameful thing'. He is sometimes also called Milcom in the Old Testament (1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:33, 2 Kings 23:13 and Zephaniah 1:5)

Viriathus the Numantian

Viriathus has been bound to House Mercer by oath and to Celestine by favour and he can break neither. This though is no great chore; with House Mercer he pursues his role as redcap on the expanding boundaries of the Order of Hermes while with Celestine he receives interesting and profitable missions.

Viriathus personal ambition is to acquire wealth that will support him. This he will achieve through the acquisition of ever better magical items trough the Order of Hermes and his membership of the Redcaps.

Born on the ancient bloodied battlefield of Roman conquered Numantia Viriathus is a throwback to the Arevaci, a Celtiberian Tribe with close ties to both the Faerie and Magical Realms.

the Who and the Where

I have been happy with the progress of this game. I will post a write-up of the first two sessions when I have put all my notes together. I really enjoyed both sessions and hopefully the players did too. This is what I sent out as the prelude for the next two to three sessions. I have more information on the Mycthic Hero NPC for one player and would have liked a name for the other players Magus before sending this out but otherwise this is where we will be starting.

the Who and the Where

The next two to three sessions will focus on el Viajero de Merinita and Logical Steve’s Magi – Magus X until named - along with the Mythic Hero Viriathus the Numantian and the Maga, Tanit fillia Ashtart Ex Miscellanea. The three Magi find themselves in a coastal town between Valencia and Barcelona awaiting their escort to the Covenant that has invited them as new member. They are on the wrong side of the blurry but fought over border between the Order of Hermes and the different Schools of the Islamic Sorcerers. All the Magi are together in a hostel where their respective Covenants of apprenticeship had arranged a night’s room and board through the Redcaps. There is currently a truce between the Order and most of the Schools so the Magi should be safe, but maybe a little tense as they await the arrival of their guide.

The objective is to get the Magi to the Covenant overland. This is a war zone, conflict is everywhere, the Magi do not have to fight but that will depend on what they do along with their escort as they make their way to the Covenant.

The PCs:

El Viajero de Merinita awakens in the world from his gauntlet with a note clasped in his right hand that reads:

“My Filius, congratulations on the passing of your final gauntlet, you are now a Magus of Merinita and a member of the Order of Hermes. I do not know what visions you have had in your wanderings under the influence, nor could I discern meaning in your ramblings but you will find yourself in a fishing town. Wait here for the Viri, you will know him by his name, remember your Latin my Filius. He will guide you to your new Covenant, the Covenant of Summa Tutela (the Covenant of the Guarded Height). Do not hesitate to write me should you have questions, news or insight to impart on the ways of the Fae.

Your Parens”

In your left hand is clasped a small bag of Soma that if prepared by a skilled Herbalist or Apothecary can produce a drink that will affect the consumer an entire season. In your pocket are two small yellow berries of the Mandrake plant which when consumed provide an intense hallucinatory effect that lasts as long as a formulaic or Spontaneous spell casting and can be used prior to casting.

Magus X has gotten himself to the town through the use of one of the vessels of his family. They were more than happy to drop him off after his unwelcome return to them by his Parens at the conclusion of his Gauntlet. Magus X has three pawns of Vis given him by his Parens as a parting gift, one of Vim in a Griffin’s Talon, itself valuable, one of Animal in the dried heart of a Crow and one of Muto in a mosquito trapped in hardened tree sap. He too has a note:

“Filius, you have passed your gauntlet. Trivial spells already for you in the realm of animal.

May you find what you seek within the Order of Hermes. I offer only the advice that you be wary of hunting to much these beasts you have taken such a proprietry interest in. Some hunt back and while we may not be close I would prefer you not come to an unnecessarily untimely end.

Listen to Felix Achaemenus Scholae Bonisagus and do not anger Celeste, you can learn much from both. Finally make yourself useful if you can.

Parens”

The NPCs:

Viriathus is a Redcap messenger and problem solver for House Mercer and the Order of Hermes. He is a brutally terrifying descendent of the Numantians, who successfully fought the Carthaginians and for a time the Romans. He is a direct descendant of one of these Celtiberians greatest leaders, the original Viriathus, legend has it that the original Viriathus had been borne of the union of the Fae of the Celtiberians who ruled a region that existed in parallel to the mundane Iberia and a Magical Wolf who ruled Celtiberia during the War against the invading Romans and Mercurian Magi. This Viriathus may or may not be much like the original, but he was conceived on the battlefield of the final massacre of the Numantians by the Romans and brought forth with the death of his mother. He is consequently both a Hero of Mythic Origin and a terrifying Bloodcap.

Tanit fillia Ashtart Ex Miscellanea is a Carthaginian Maga, she has a reputation as a Hedge Wizard and most Magi would consider her little more than a witch and coming from a magical tradition that is believed to have conducted human sacrifice in it’s past – something possibly still done now in secret, though the PCs may not know this depending on rolls.

None of the four characters have met each other yet.

The Scene.

The Magi have been told to await their escort who will meet them in the town and escort them to the Covenant. All the characters are currently in Al Andalusia, neither the Reconquest nor the Order of Hermes having stretched this far. But there is a truce between the Order of Hermes and several of the Schools of Islamic Sorcery, though not between the Christians and Muslims.

The Magi are waiting in a Travelers rest house, used by those who are dropped here by ship, or those awaiting a ship to depart. El Viajero de Merinita doesn’t know how he got here, though he was guided by a watchful and helpful Redcap by the name of Walchelin. Magus X knows how he got here, on a family ship, a one time favour to get their least favourite son out of Italy. Tanit traveled here on foot by herself, avoiding contact with people as much as she could, though more often than not they fled and barred their doors at her approach.

Viriathus has arrived on the outskirts of the town and has made himself ready to enter the town, find the Magi in the Hostel – the location of which he knows – and depart hastily. Viriathus wears a helmet to disguise his terrifyingly horrifying monstrous visage and has steeled himself for the potential illness and disquiet he feels when passing through towns, villages and hamlets – he also plans on avoiding any churches or clergy, they particularly distress him; no doubt the Divine Aura that is stronger where they preach and reside.

The Good ol’boy Johnny Smash

A Good ol’boy Johnny played banjo in the Roadhouse Smash, he always wanted to sing but never could, he also wanted to front the band, Johnny’s Roadhouse Smash, but was just to mean lookin, way to mean lookin, not ugly, just mean lookin, and couldn’t sing. All he could really do was play a mean, very mean, banjo, or fix it or anything really. After a few tours from Queanbeyan to the Gippsland and back again with the Roadhouse Smash but no record deal, the quartet decided that Johnny’s mean looks, nasty fists and quick six-shooter had gotten them out of scrapes but kept them from getting into Hicks with Sticks. They had assumed the reverse would be the case, the singer learnt banjo and the quartet became a three piece. The other three are Johnny’s brothers Billy, Bobby and little Bubba Smash. Johnny still has his electric Banjo and amplifier, but not much cash and is lookin for a job, any job, preferably one that uses his numerous talents. Billy, Bobby and little Bubba, Johnny doesn't like them much, nor does he like listening to anything from the number one country album, Hittin Hard, the Roadhouse Smash.

Academics: 1, book learnin, reading, schoolin? Guitars an guns is where it’s at.

Athletics: 3, punchin, kickin, Cussin and when really annoyed shootin.

Technology: 4, can fix anything, make anything find anything, especially good stuff.

Contact: 1, mean lookin, to mean lookin to be contactin people other than with his fists of the heavy end of his Banjo.

Talent: Performing in Dodgey Locations

This character was created for a session of Inspectres.