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ZearothK
Aug 25, 2008

I've lost twice, I've failed twice and I've gotten two dishonorable mentions within 7 weeks. But I keep coming back. I am The Trooper!

THUNDERDOME LOSER 2021


NihilCredo posted:

Are there any games that take inspiration from Ars Magica or that, in your opinion, scratch similar itches? Doesn't need to be in the pseudo-historical fantasy setting either. The important 'itches' are:

- Troupe roleplaying and rotating PCs, everybody gets to be in the spotlight at different times and characters aren't strictly "yours"

- Emphasis on building up some form of "home base", alliances, resources etc. rather than being wandering murderhobos

- Emphasis on creating your own powers/abilities/gear, with creative freedom but still a sense of progression

(preempting the obvious: the WoD Mage games only check out the last box)

If you ask "why not just run Ars Magica", that is indeed my plan. But since the current edition is exactly 20 years old, I figure there's a decent chance something else in the same space has since come out that I had never heard of, and I should check those out before committing.

There's Greg Stolze's REIGN, which to be fair is over a decade old at this point. Some clarification.

-Troupe style isn't directly part of the mechanics, but can be done by just having different characters for the different levels of play. Not really different from other RPGs on this point though.

-It has extremely robust rules for companies that can go from your friendly neighbourhood thieves guild all the way to empires and the conflict and relationships between said factions.

-It comes with very flavourful magical and special skills that are part of its base setting, but it also has guidelines on creating your own spells/esoteric skills. It is not really stuff you can use from within the session though.

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Impermanent
Apr 1, 2010
REIGN 2e just got released so it is no longer a decade old. it's still not got near the crunch of your ars magica style game, though.

sebmojo
Oct 23, 2010


Legit Cyberpunk









Yeah blades in the dark et al are your best bet for that.

GladRagKraken
Mar 27, 2010

NihilCredo posted:

Are there any games that take inspiration from Ars Magica or that, in your opinion, scratch similar itches?

I've been considering how to run a campaign similar to the Commonweal series. After careful consideration, asking players to become familiar with the vibe of a world that you only get glimpses of through text closer to puzzle boxes than novels AND to learn the bookkeeping associated with Ars Magica seems like a lot.

Which is to say I'm very interested in where you land with this. Please do keep us updated.

LLSix
Jan 20, 2010

The real power behind countless overlords

GladRagKraken posted:

I've been considering how to run a campaign similar to the Commonweal series. After careful consideration, asking players to become familiar with the vibe of a world that you only get glimpses of through text closer to puzzle boxes than novels AND to learn the bookkeeping associated with Ars Magica seems like a lot.

Which is to say I'm very interested in where you land with this. Please do keep us updated.

A Commonweal game sounds amazing! You might try running it as a systemless CYOA like some of the forum games here. The magic system is so flexible and has such a wide range of power I don't know how you could describe it mechanically. FYI, there's a Commonweal book series thread. Which seems like something you might be interested in.

Subjunctive
Sep 12, 2006

✨sparkle and shine✨

LLSix posted:

A Commonweal game sounds amazing! You might try running it as a systemless CYOA like some of the forum games here. The magic system is so flexible and has such a wide range of power I don't know how you could describe it mechanically. FYI, there's a Commonweal book series thread. Which seems like something you might be interested in.

Thanks, Graydon.

Xiahou Dun
Jul 16, 2009

We shall dive down through black abysses... and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever.



Well I bought a book.

Thanks!

Subjunctive
Sep 12, 2006

✨sparkle and shine✨

Yep, that’s a $50 post so far.

Runa
Feb 13, 2011

It's a weird feeling clicking a thread out of curiosity only to find evidence the whole thing was built over the ruined remains of what was apparently a lot of drama spilling over that you have absolutely no context for

Xiahou Dun
Jul 16, 2009

We shall dive down through black abysses... and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever.



Yeah but it’s similar to the Black Company and that’s like nerd cocaine.

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GladRagKraken
Mar 27, 2010

Xiahou Dun posted:

Yeah but it’s similar to the Black Company and that’s like nerd cocaine.

Without diving too deeply into the manner in which I disagree with you, I should mention that the FitD system to emulate Black Company type stories is something I am aware of and not on my short list of systems which may be suitable.

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