Florilegium

It is somewhere in the Middle Ages, but not the real historical time. The existence of magic has caused changes large and small throughout European society. Though some grumble that magic is the work of the Devil, the Pope has given permission to magi to continue their experiments, so long as they are confined to covenants. The hope is that magic can thus be contained in a place, far from the rest of medieval society.

A covenant usually consists of several magi, their companions, and several servants to keep the place functioning. Every covenant choose for themselves how to live, but each is a haven for outsiders and misfits that cannot fit into the strict hierarchies of medieval society.

Within the covenant, magi research magic spells that can have tremendous effects on the world. But magical research is a slow, subtle process taking months or years. And as they labor away on these spells, life goes on. People grow old and change, problems arise for the covenant to deal with, and the world may be a different place by the time a spell is completed. 

This game is a story about once such covenant, and the changes it experiences over the course of years, ideally all told in a few hours of gameplay. You’ll need 3-7 players (4 or 5 is probably best), a lot of notecards and writing utensils, the print-and-play magic cards, and a copy of the Wheel.

This game is heavily inspired by Ars Magica, originally created by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein*Hagen, and Grasping Nettles by Adam Bell. I tried my best to make this game coherent, but familiarity with one or both those (no doubt much better) games might help to understand this one.

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"I really feel like I could finally play the version of Ars Magica that I want to play in a one shot. [...] [Florilegium]'s the perfect demake. It took this this legend of RPG history that I want to know more about and has made it accessible to me. And I'm so grateful for that. I'm so excited to play this."
--Sam Dunnewold, Dice Exploder podcast