PDA

View Full Version : Ars Magica + La Famme Nikita = ???



mint
2011-04-12, 07:25 PM
Some friends of mine have been talking about getting together an Ars Magica game.
Almost everyone in my gaming group GM a bit and Ars Magica is good for passing around the role. The system facilitates telling a story together.
We have been sort of stumped for where to set the game and what type of game we want to run.
A few of them have played Ars Magica semi-regularly before but the games always petered out because they were once in a while type games and the system doesn't lend itself so well to that type of play. Unfortunately this means at least one of us has already "seen it" when it comes to a concept or place to set the game.
Anyway, we we're talking about it and one of them said,
"Did anyone ever watch Nikita? The one with the blond Nikita (Peta
Wilson)? Lets do that"
And now, I think that's what we're doing.

This here (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LaFemmeNikita) link is will take you to tvtropes (you have been warned) for the show.
I think that should be informative.
If you don't want to get sucked into tropes for a few hours:
It is a spy show. There's a lot of close up footage of poker-faces, deception and cold calculated schemes.
So we are going to try running a medieval spy thriller where our characters are often pawns of much bigger fish. Really really clever fish, with magic.

Now, I used to watch the show when I was a teen but as for espionage and politics in a large covenant in a civilized area (possibly Paris) during the middle ages, I am out of my depth.
Also there is an element of 1-upmanship here. Since we will all be telling stories, we'll be trying to impress and surprise each other and junk. And I like to win. Part of that is being prepared.

My point: what are your thoughts on medieval espionage, covert ops and scheming? Scenarios, adventures, plot ideas?
Talk to me :D

rayne_dragon
2011-04-13, 08:45 PM
I really love this idea. Ars Magica is a really cool system and the idea of fantasy espionage is awesome.

I suggest reading up on your Machiavelli and tales of the "Fair Folk." If you can't get some good ideas between The Prince and ancient legends for this kind of thing I would be amazed. The Name of the Rose also comes to mind as a possible source of inspiration.

Keep in mind the middle ages were a dark and superstitious time. Fill your adventures with shadows and poisons, theft and assassination and you will do well.

Mutazoia
2011-04-13, 10:02 PM
I suggest reading up on your Machiavelli and tales of the "Fair Folk." If you can't get some good ideas between The Prince and ancient legends for this kind of thing I would be amazed. The Name of the Rose also comes to mind as a possible source of inspiration.

I would also suggest Zelazny's "Amber" novels. The family in-fighting and scheming is a thing of beauty

Menalaos
2011-04-13, 11:27 PM
Hi there - two friends of mine and myself are also planning on starting up an Ars Magica game, maybe in a modern setting (a la Neverwhere/Stardust) but we're open to other ideas. Contact me at my email address if you're interested in joining forces!

mint
2011-04-16, 03:59 AM
rayne_dragon:
The Prince and Name of the Rose are solid.
Thinking of Machiavelli kind of makes me wonder what Ars Magica in the renaissance would be like.
Most of all, I am trying to figure out fun mundane and semi-believable stuff for the grogs, who will be sort of like abeyance operatives, to be involved with.


Mutazoia:
do they pick up pace later o in the books? I remember reading one or two as a teen and being meh about it. I remember liking the family intrigue part but I remember thinking there was too much other junk in the way.

endoperez
2011-04-16, 10:38 AM
Mutazoia:
do they pick up pace later o in the books? I remember reading one or two as a teen and being meh about it. I remember liking the family intrigue part but I remember thinking there was too much other junk in the way.

You might want to try his other books, then. I love Lord Demon, a book co-authored by Zelazny and Jane Lindskold. Main players are "demons" or "gods", and are hideously powerful, but people with less power play important roles as well. There's quite a bit of plotting and intrigue in there, but most of it ends up being wrapped up into one big plot later on.

Andrewmo
2011-04-16, 12:40 PM
I would probably consider either Italy or Constantinople. Italy has a whole bunch of competing city states and the papacy as well as the threat of the Holy Roman Empire during the standard 1220 Period. Constantinople in 1220 has just been conquered by the 4th Crusade and as a result you ahve the Byzantine greeks christians, Latin Christians and Venetians all scheming at each other.
There is a sourcebook for Contaninople/greece just released for 5th ed Ars Magica and there is an old 3rd ed sourcebook for italy (probably available as PDF and a bit heavy in demons).
You are also going to have to decide how the hermetic code is going to impinge on the groups activities and what rival covenants there are. If the pc's are mages then they have some problems with blending in as spies due to the gift. However this can be good if you want to give companion characters a chance to shine.
For the Hermetic code I would probably go with a strict interpretation of none inteference with mundanes to the point that covenants have to run undercover operations in order to function as that gives your mage spies someone to worry about the Quasitors who have their own magic for investigations.
If you want to stick to your original idea of Paris there are less mundane rivalries but you still have the problems caused by the English King being the ruler of a big chunk of France but as Duke of Normandy rather than King of England. You have the semi-independent southern France with the ongoing Albignesian crusade and of course you have the major source of Heremtic Schemers House Tytalus with their Domnus Magnus not far away (Brittany I thik)


If you want to get more advice about Ars magica games you coudl try
http://forum.atlas-games.com/
I have always found the forum there helpful and knowledgable about ars magica and the medieval world

mint
2011-04-16, 06:59 PM
Thanks! That gave me a lot of ideas. Need to think more about how to handle the hermetic code.
I do read those forums a bit but not as regularly as these and I'm not registered so it landed here :D

Constantinople is one of the places we've been before and we decided to not go there again with the system.
We are unlikely to focus a lot on history and game with politics of non-magical society so where we set the game is more relevant for flavour than anything else.
It's more a civilized area vs rural area for us.
I am kind of leaning towards Italy though.

Andrewmo
2011-04-17, 07:32 AM
If Hermetic scheming an politics is what you want you may also want to tie in the Central Alps tribunal they have a lot of old covenants with mad and schenimg magi who could give plot hooks to your pc's.
I also recomend making Vis scarce easy to do in a heavily populated area like italy as that gives easy hooks to get the pc's involved in things.
Rivals of Hermes has some groups who could be opposed to the pc's if you want to use none hermetic magi one of the groups is heavily involved in mundane society and would make a good opposition in Italy. Hedge magic also has some none hermetic magic which makes for interesting complciations but the mages from hedge magic are generally much weaker than hermetic magi

Seonor
2011-04-17, 08:41 AM
Another book that has fun ideas for a campaign in the middle ages try Baudolino (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baudolino) (like Name of the Rose written by Umberto Eco). It has a more fantastical style the NotR, is set in Italy, Paris, Constantinople, two crusades and a journey east to find the legendary kingdom of Prester John.