Ars Magica

Ars Magica is also the title of a book by Judith Tarr.

Ars Magica is a role-playing game set in Mythic Europe, an idealized (or quasi-historical) version of Europe around 1200 AD. The game revolves around magic-using wizards and their allies. The game was originally developed by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein·Hagen in the late 1980s.

Ars Magica was one of the first examples of a Troupe system: early editions intended that the players collaborate to create the campaign world and story. Each player would have an opportunity to be the Story Guide, and each player would have more than one character, so that if they felt their main character would not go on an adventure (for example, if they were busy with their research) a secondary character may be used. Troupe play has been de-emphasised in recent editions, however, and in the latest (5th) edition of the game is relegated to an optional play style described at the back of the book. Many "troupes" opt for a more traditional system with a single story guide, or have one player be the "Alpha" story guide with responsibility for the overall plot, and a few "Beta" story guides who run side-adventures.

In order to get an "authentic" feel from having such a historical setting, the game uses medieval Latin for a number of key terms.

History

The first two editions were published by Lion Rampant games. In the early 1990s, rights to Ars Magica were acquired by White Wolf Game Studio, a company that Rein-Hagen had founded. White Wolf published the 3rd edition, which greatly expanded the settings and peripheral rules while leaving the core system intact. White Wolf also published many supplements, detailing specific regions of Europe, or outlining stories that could be played in the original setting. Ars Magica was later sold to Wizards of the Coast, who produced several supplements, but just before publishing a 4th edition sold the rights to Atlas Games. Atlas published the fourth edition and has published new source-books since.

The 5th edition was released by Atlas in 2004, including extensive changes to the system, especially the combat system and character creation. Ars Magica 5th edition won the Origins Award for Best Role Playing Game of 2004.

Many characteristics of the later Storyteller system developed by White Wolf can be traced to Ars Magica (and the fact that both Ars Magica and the Storyteller system were both developed by the same person); White Wolf's The Ascension was envisioned as "Ars Magica in the Modern World," and many of the changes in Ars Magica's 3rd edition were introduced in order to make the game-worlds more compatible.

Setting

The setting, Mythic Europe, is based on Europe of the 13th century; the geography is the same, and the mundane (non-magical) politics are practically identical. However, the "Medieval paradigm"The Medieval Paradigm section of the Ars Magica FAQ - the collection of folk beliefs and superstitions - is correct; children are abducted by Faeries, and the mountains are home to dragons. In 3rd edition, to tie the game into the World of Darkness line, this was the case because those were the beliefs; other editions distance themselves from this interpretation, simply taking place in a world where those beliefs happen to be true"How is Ars Magica related to White Wolf's Storyteller Games?" section of the Ars Magica FAQ.

Player characters take on the role of both a Magus (or if female, Maga), a Latin word meaning "Wizard", and of a Companion, otherwise called "Consors". Companions are select skilled non-magi (warriors, foresters, castellan, and so forth) who help wizards conducting their affairs, as Magi tend to be distanced from "mundanes" due to their study of magic. Additionally, there are a number of Grogs (skilled peasants) who can be controlled by any player. The wizards live clustered in specific citadels (called Covenants), which are often built in places of power. Covenants are the home base for the Magi (plural for Magus), but the magi tend to roam the Magical Europe for their adventures. Some sources for the game consider the covenant to be the central character of the gameCovenants section of the Ars Magica FAQ.

The Order of Hermes

Mages belong to one of the houses of the Order of Hermes, a society founded by the wizard Bonisagus, who created a consistent way to describe magic allows Magi to share information, and the Parma Magica, a magical shield which allows Magi to trust one another (somewhat). Mages from outside the order must join or die, though the Order doesn't insist that mages present both options.

The Order is divided into Tribunals, which each administer a large country-sized region of Mythic Europe. Once every seven years, the mages within a Tribunal area stage a meeting, also called a Tribunal, where new mages are presented to the order and the Quæitores judge disputes which cannot be resolved within a covenant. Once every 33 years, each Tribunal sends a representative to a Grand Tribunal.111

Realms of Power

Four "realms of power" influence Mythic Europe:

The Divine realm: The God of the Abrahamic religions and His agents in the world. The Divine realm is opposed to magic (see Christian views on witchcraft), and magic is weaker in areas where the Divine is stronger (in cities and around churches); yet, the Gift is part of a Mage's soul, and therefore a gift from the Divine.
The Infernal realm: Satan and his minions. In the medieval context, this includes everything from Satan himself to illnesses and bad smells. Demons tempt the faithful to sin, and while the Order of Hermes refuses to explicitly name the Infernal as their enemies (which could provoke their anger) their laws state that they can "never be allies". Magic is weak where the Infernal is strong, though infernally-tainted magics do exist, and are usually of great power, in order to tempt mages. Any Mage found guilty of diabolism is expelled from the order and hunted down.
The Faerie realm: Creatures of traditional fairy tales; the Seelie and Unseelie courts. These creatures are capricious and often malicious; however, their study can be rewarding, since magic is strengthened somewhat in faerie areas. Mages are allowed to ally with the Faeries, as long as they do not incur their wrath and thereby bring their fellows into danger.
The realm of Magic: A mysterious and largely unexplained force in the world, which the Mages manipulate to create their spells.

Additionally, a "Realm of Reason" appeared in the 3rd edition, Reason was associated with scepticism and scholarship, and its "rational" aura alleviated the effects of the other four realms. This was a highly controversial inclusion, and was perceived as part of an attempt by White Wolf to make Ars Magica the backstory for their World of Darkness roleplaying games; neither the 4th nor the 5th edition of the games has included the realm of Reason, and all references to it have been stricken from the canonical setting.

System

The game system based on the d10. When an action is performed, one of the character's eight attibutes is added to the relevant skill, and a d10 is rolled. If the action can only result in a simple success or failure, the die roll is added to the total; if there is opportunity for exceptional success, a roll of one is rerolled, and the result doubled; multiple ones lead to multiple doublings. If the action is performed under stressful situations, a zero is treated as a zero (rather than a ten), and one or more botch dice are rolled. If any of the botch dice show a zero, the character has botched - failed in some disastrous way. Otherwise, the total is compared to the difficulty rating for the action, and the action succeeds if the total is equal to it or greater.

The focus of the game is the magic system. There are 15 Arts divided into 5 Techniques and 10 Forms. The Techniques are what one does and the Forms are the objects one does it to or with. This is sometimes called a "Verb/Noun" magic-system. The Arts are named in Latin.

The Techniques are named after the corresponding first-person singular present tense indicative mood Latin verb.

Creo is the technique that lets the Magus create from nothingness.
Intellego lets the Magus understand.
Muto lets the Magus change the basic characteristic of something.
Perdo lets the Magus destroy, deteriorate, make something age and other similar effects.
Rego lets the Magus control something without affecting its basic characteristics.

The Forms are named after the corresponding singular accusative Latin noun.

Animal is used for (multicellular) animals. Since bacteria were unknown in medieval times, illnesses are evil spirits, which come under Vim.
Auram is used for anything that has to do with the air, including lightning.
Aquam is used for water, or any other liquid. Strictly, this excludes ice (which is solid and therefore Terram) but most players ignore this.
Corpus (Corporem in older editions) is used for the human body.
Herbam is used for plants and fungi.
Ignem is used for fire, and anything else to do with temperature and heat.
Imaginem deals with senses and perceptions.
Mentem deals with intelligence and the mind, either human or ghosts. Angels are not affected by magic, and demons and faeries react unpredictably. The minds of animals are not affected by Mentem but by Animal.
Terram stands for earth and minerals, or any other non-living solid.
Vim has to do with pure magic, but many spells to ban or control demons also belong to this realm.

Thus, Creo Ignem spells create fire (and the normal effects of fire, such as heat or light);. a Perdo Ignem spell may drop the temperature in a room. A typical Perdo Imaginem spell is granting invisibility to the caster by making one's image disappear. Rego Aquam could turn water into an unusual, but natural form (e.g. creating a pillar of water), while Muto Aquam could turn change the nature of water into, for example, oil or wine. An Intellego Mentem spell may permit the caster to understand any language; and so on... A mage's skill when casting a spell is the sum of their scores in the appropriate technique and form.

If a spell involves more than one technique, or more than one form, this is known as a requisite; The lowest technique and form are used. For example, turning a person to stone would involve Muto, Corpus and Terram; The player would add the character's Muto score to the lower of their Corpus and Terram scores.

By combining these techniques and forms, the magi may achieve any effect and spontaneously cast a spell with that desired effect. However, there are often severe limits to the level of power a magi can generate by casting spontaneously, and so he may also choose to learn a spell with that desired effect.

Magic is treated in this game-system as a serious object of study: Magi are supposed to spend a long time in their laboratories, preparing new spells and potions, and increasing their knowledge of the Arts. The game system provides rules for magical research on a timescale of 3-month seasons.

External links

Atlas games' Ars Magica homepage
Project:Redcap an online Ars Magica community