For the fans of Ars Magica, a Kickstarter project opened to fund a CRPG version of the PnP based in the rules of the Fifth Edition: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackchickenstudios/ars-magica-video-game

Is this link working for you? I'd like to check out their rule set, but it appears to be down.
http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=AG0204
Also, are you familiar with Ars Magica? Care to sell it to a noob? :)

The link is working here.

And I don't know the Ars Magica system, only heard about it, but the description in the KS page is very interesting. Edit: an text of the creator of the KS about how a typical campaign of Ars Magica works and how we will see it in the game:

In your typical Ars Magica game, a significant portion of your campaign is spent doing what is usually behind the scenes in other role-playing games: your mages research, ponder philosophical questions and write and read books; your companions are politicking with nobles, running your estates and/or going abroad for various reasons; and your peasants are living, working and getting into all kinds of trouble on the front lines. What's more, all the people in your Covenant have their own personalities (and usually mages get pretty eccentric), which leads to all kinds of craziness. This portion, referred to as the 'Long-Term Event' or 'Laboratory' gameplay of Ars Magica, is already set up like a turn-based simulation game in the rpg. So, over the course of the years, you'll be directing all these activities, with some...interesting consequences depending on the personalities involved, and what it is you've decided to do. The role-playing game is the quests, adventures, judgments and narrative arcs that figure into the overall destiny of the Covenant. In the tabletop game, this is usually when the dice come out, foes are battled, and treasures are won. It's not exactly D&D- in Ars Magica, adventures can range from the consequences of an unsavory deal to problems arising an over-potent brew, and don't necessarily involve dungeons and the like...but you probably get the gist. Overall, the simulation and the role-playing game experience are probably going to be unlike *anything* you've ever seen or played, if you've never experienced the tabletop game. :)

The link to Ars Magica 4e works for me now. Will look through it later.

Another doomed Kickstarter that gives virtually no information about the project.

I had no idea what Ars Magica is. After watching the Kickstarter pitch, I still have no idea what exactly Ars Magica is other than it's a pre-existing RPG IP. The video pitch assumes people already know what Ars Magica is. It seems to be just another generic medieval fantasy RPG with overpowered magic. The market and Kickstarter are over-saturated with sword-and-sorcery RPG.

Yeah I saw this, and was just about to pledge, then I looked at the previous projects of this company and cringed. I'm not a graphics whore, but the wannabe anime-ish art-style of '1931: Scheherazade' and 'Academagia' I must admit make this a deal-breaker for me, especially when there's no indication on that page or in the video they will be using a different artist for this game.

Also, although I'm not familiar with this PnP system, I understand that it's not a traditional PnP RPG, and it's also relatively speaking a new one. This game sounds like it would much more like managing a kingdom with a Choose-your-own-adventure interface and stats, like King of Dragon Pass. Certain not controlling a party of characters who have a physical location at all times.

I've never played Academagia; but when I asked for recommendations for games that are similar to King of Dragon Pass, that game came up quite often.

i never played academagia or scheherazade because they're priced pretty high for indie games and have never gone on sale as far as i can tell.

A backer asked in the comments area if the game will be isometric or like their other games. The answer (KoDP was cited also):

It's not isometric, but it's not really like Academagia or Scheherazade, either. It has dialogue, to be sure, for the Adventure sections, but it also has (top-down, probably) maps for certain important journeys & explorations. The Covenant gameplay has specific UIs corresponding to the standard Ars Magica LTE and Laboratory actions. So...maybe a hybrid? It's definitely coming from our previous work, and KoDP.


And the answer when I asked about the similarities with KoDP:

Yeah, that game is a decent way think of it because, like this game, it's 'Covenant' management, with storylines and events. It also has a very strong (pagan) Anglo-Saxon feel, so even the culture is somewhat similar in the early part of our period.

Of course, Ars Magica has some pretty notable differences- laboratory, the magic system, combat and the generational aspects.

Update #1: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackchickenstudios/ars-magica-video-game/posts/332639, explaining how Ars Magica magic system works and how they will implement it in the game

The Ars Magica game Black Chicken Studios wants to make kinda sounds like Crusader Kings spiced up with magic

At least that's my impression

Josh Sawyer and the Codex team up to conduct an interview with the Ars Magica: Years of Conquest team:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=8561

Very good information in there that's pertinent to how the game will be like. Will most likely back this.

I was hoping that they would do more interviews and updates on Ars Magicka. It's such a great concept and I want to see what a studio like Black Chicken can do with it. I love Academagia and I especially love the amount of support that they have given the game and community (mod tools plus 15 free DLCs so far) so I have a lot of faith that they could do this right if given the chance.

Ars magica is actually set into the real medieval world, not a fantasy world. Well, it's alternate history. Magic is real etc.