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Ars Magica is also the title of a book by Judith Tarr. Judith Tarr (born 1955) is an American Author, best known for her Fantasy books
Ars Magica
Image:ArsMagicaRPGCover.jpg
Cover for Ars Magica, fifth edition
Designer Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein·Hagen
Publisher Lion Rampant, White Wolf, Wizards of the Coast, Atlas Games
Publication date 1987 (1st edition)
2004 (5th edition)
Genre(s) Medieval fantasy
System d10-based with strong magic system

Ars Magica is a role-playing game set in Mythic Europe, a quasi-historical version of Europe around AD 1200 with added fantastical elements. A "game designer" is a person who designs Video games or one who designs traditional games such as Board games Video Games Designer A video game designer Jonathan Tweet is a Game designer who has been involved in the development of the Role-playing games Ars Magica, Everway Mark Rein·Hagen (often written Rein-Hagen) is a role-playing, card, video and Board game designer best known as the creator A video game publisher is a company that publishes Video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a Video game developer The Royal Standard of Scotland, also known as the Royal Standard of the King of Scots or more commonly the Lion Rampant was the flag used historically by the Wizards of the Coast (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of Games primarily based on Fantasy and Atlas Games is a company which publishes Role-playing games Board games and Card games Its current president is John Nephew. Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a Conceptual system that asserts human ability to control the natural world (including events objects people and A role-playing game ( RPG; often roleplaying game) is a Game in which the participants assume the roles of Fictional characters. The game revolves around magic-using wizards and their allies. Magic, sometimes known as sorcery, is a Conceptual system that asserts human ability to control the natural world (including events objects people and A magician, wizard, sorcerer or a person known under one of many other possible terms in fiction is someone who uses or practices magic The game was developed by Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein·Hagen and published in 1987. Jonathan Tweet is a Game designer who has been involved in the development of the Role-playing games Ars Magica, Everway Mark Rein·Hagen (often written Rein-Hagen) is a role-playing, card, video and Board game designer best known as the creator see also 1986 in games, 1988 in games This page lists board and Card games Wargames miniatures games [1] The current edition was written by David Chart, working for Atlas Games and published in 2004. Atlas Games is a company which publishes Role-playing games Board games and Card games Its current president is John Nephew.

Ars Magica was one of the first examples of a Troupe system: early editions recommended that the players collaborate to create the campaign world and story. A Troupe system is a way of playing Role-playing games which spreads the Game master 's responsibilities among each of the players 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. A Gamemaster or Game Master (often abbreviated as GM) is a player in a multiplayer Game who acts as organizer arbitrator and officiant in rules situations 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. Medieval Latin was the form of Latin used in the Middle Ages, primarily as a medium of scholarly exchange and as the Liturgical language of the medieval

Contents

History

The first two editions were published by Lion Rampant Games. In 1991, Lion Rampant merged with White Wolf Magazine to form White Wolf Game Studio. [2] 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. Wizards of the Coast (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of Games primarily based on Fantasy and Atlas Games is a company which publishes Role-playing games Board games and Card games Its current president is John Nephew. Atlas published the fourth and fifth editions, and new source-books and supplements.

The 5th edition was released by Atlas in 2004, including extensive changes to the system, especially the combat system and character creation. Many players feel that the alterations to the combat system were long overdue,[3] especially the rules for armour, which in previous editions simply made wearers much more likely to die in combat. Ars Magica 5th edition won the Origins Award for Best Role Playing Game of 2004. The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry

Many characteristics of the later Storyteller system developed by White Wolf can be traced to Ars Magica and the fact that the Storyteller system was developed by one of Ars Magica's co-authors; White Wolf's Mage: 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. Storytelling System, formerly Storyteller System, is a Role-playing game system created by White Wolf Inc Mage The Ascension is a Role-playing game based in the old World of Darkness, and was published by White Wolf Game Studio. [4].

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"[5] - the collection of folk beliefs and superstitions - is correct; under this 'paradigm', children really are abducted by Faeries, and the mountains really are home to dragons. The word paradigm ( Greek:παράδειγμα (paradigmacomposite from para- and the verb δείχνυμι "to show" as a whole -roughly- meaning "example" 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[4]. The World of Darkness (or WoD) is the name given to three related but distinct Fictional universes The first was conceived by Mark Rein-Hagen, while the

Player characters take on the role of both a Magus (or if female, Maga), and of a Companion, otherwise called "Consors". A player character or playable character (PC is a Fictional character in a Video game or Role playing game who is controlled or controllable The Magi (singular Magus, from Latin via Greek μάγος; Old English: Mage; from Persian maguš and Kurdish 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, 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 game[6].

The Order of Hermes

Main article: Order of Hermes (Ars Magica)

Magi 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, allowing Magi to share information, and the Parma Magica, a magical shield which allows a measure of protection against hostile magics (and, in some cases, non-hostile magics as well) which allowed Magi to trust each other. Magi from outside the order must join or die, though the Order doesn't insist that Magi 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 Magi within a Tribunal stage a meeting, also called a Tribunal, where new Magi are presented to the order and the Quæitores judge disputes which cannot be resolved within or between covenants. Once every 33 years, each Tribunal sends a representative to a Grand Tribunal.

Each of the thirteen Tribunals corresponds to a set of modern countries. Each tribunal has a distinct cultural and historical flavor which affects play. For example the Roman tribunal is a densely populated area with a shortage of magical resources but offers high political plots while Novgorod is a hostile environment where barbarian invaders and magical beasts can be a recurrent problem.

Like any medieval border, the territory of each Tribunal is not precisely defined. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending History The Roman occupation of Britain was the first period in which the area of present-day England and Wales was administered as a single unit (with the exception Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Lebanon (ˈlɛbənɒn Arabic: ar لبنان Lubnān) officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic (ar الجمهورية اللبنانية Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية

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. Divinity and divine (sometimes 'the Divinity' or 'the Divine' are broadly applied but loosely defined terms used variously within different faiths and belief systems — God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. 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. Christian views on magic vary widely across Denominational and individual barriers and are often influenced by Biblical, Theological, and historical
The Infernal realm
Satan and his minions. Hell, according to many Religious beliefs, is a location in the Afterlife, which may be described as a place of suffering Satan, ( Standard Hebrew Satan'el, English accuser) is a term that originates from the Abrahamic faiths, being traditionally 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 Magi. Any Magus found guilty of diabolism is expelled from the order and hunted down. For other uses of the word see Satanism (disambiguation. Satanism can refer to a number of belief systems depending on the user and context
The Faerie realm
Creatures of traditional fairy tales; the Seelie and Unseelie courts. A fairy tale or fairy story is a fictional Story that may feature folkloric characters (such as fairies, enchantments]] often involving In Mythology and Folklore, fairies are classified in a variety of ways In Mythology and Folklore, fairies are classified in a variety of ways These creatures are capricious and often malicious; however, their study can be rewarding, since magic is strengthened somewhat in faerie areas. Magi 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 Magi manipulate to create their spells. Magic is distinguished from Faerie largely in that the latter is concerned with humanity, while the former is not.

Additionally, a "Realm of Reason" appeared in the 3rd edition. "Reason" was associated with skepticism and scholarship, and its "rational" aura alleviated the effects of the other four realms. Many fans of the game consider this to be paradoxical and inconsistent, since applying reason and rationality to the world of Ars Magica should really lead to the conclusion that magic exists and fairies are real, and yet the "True Reason" promoted by the realm of Reason claimed the opposite, and thus resembled a delusional state of mind rather than a rational one. [7] The realm of Reason had additional counter-intuitive effects - for example, imposing penalties on wizard's magic use in libraries, despite the consistent portrayal of wizardry in Ars Magica as a scholarly pursuit.

Reason proved a highly controversial addition to the game, and was perceived as part of an attempt by White Wolf to make Ars Magica the backstory for their World of Darkness role-playing 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. The World of Darkness (or WoD) is the name given to three related but distinct Fictional universes The first was conceived by Mark Rein-Hagen, while the This article is not about Literary canons of influential works of fiction but about the concept of a canon which defines the world of a particular fictional series

System

The game system is based on the d10. As a die Some Role-playing games and Miniature wargames use ten-sided dice typically pentagonal trapezohedra to get random decimal numbers such as percentages When an action is performed, one of the character's eight attributes is added to the relevant skill, and a d10 is rolled. An attribute is a piece of data (a “ statistic ” that describes to what extent a Fictional character in a Role-playing game possesses a specific A statistic (or stat) in Role-playing games is a piece of Data which represents a particular aspect of a Fictional character. The total of attribute + skill + d10 is compared to a target difficulty. The action succeeds if the rolled total is greater than or equal to the difficulty.

If the action can only result in a simple success or failure, the die roll of 1-10 is merely added to the total (called a "Simple roll"). If there is opportunity for exceptional success or failure, it's called a "Stress" roll. On a Stress roll, results of "1" and "0" have special meanings: a ONE is rerolled, and the result doubled (additional "1"s lead to successive doublings: quadrupling, octupling, etc; the final non-"1" being enlarged by the multiplier); a ZERO is treated as a zero (rather than a ten), AND one or more additional d10 botch dice are rolled. If any of these botch dice show a zero, the character has botched - failed in some disastrous way; if none of the botch dice turn up zeroes, then the die-roll is treated as a zero. In many Role-playing games and Computer and video games, a critical hit is a successful attack that deals more damage than a normal blow Assuming the roll didn't botch, the total is (as above) compared to the difficulty of the action to determine success or failure (and the degree of success or failure).

The focus of the game is the magic system. Some Role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the Paranormal sense 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. Grammatical mood is one of a set of distinctive Verb forms that are used to signal modality.

The Forms are named after the corresponding singular accusative Latin noun. The accusative case ( abbreviated ACC) of a Noun is the Grammatical case used to mark the Direct object of a Transitive

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 water into, for example, oil or wine; or change the nature of water so that it's murky and green but still healthy to drink. An Intellego Mentem spell may permit the caster to understand any language, or to read minds; 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 scores are used. For example, a spell to turn 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 to determine their casting total for the spell.

By combining these techniques and forms, the Magus 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 Magus can generate by casting spontaneously, and so he may also choose to learn a spell with that desired effect. A Magus is further limited in terms of the spell's application: Ars Magica features a set of magical 'laws', similar in concept to those of physics, defining the upper limits of any magical spell (Creo Corpus, for example, cannot create 'true' life, nor can it restore the dead; magic, in general, cannot affect the flow of time, nor can it affect the 'lunar sphere or anything above it')

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, studying their Arts, creating magic-items, etc. The game system provides rules for magical research on a timescale of 3-month seasons. A season is one of the major divisions of the Year, generally based on yearly periodic changes in Weather.

References

  1. ^ Wieck, Stewart (2007), “Ars Magica”, in Lowder, James, Hobby Games: The 100 Best, Green Ronin Publishing, pp. James Lowder (born January 2, 1963 in Quincy, Massachusetts) is an American author and editor working most often within the Fantasy Green Ronin Publishing is an American company based in Seattle Washington. 13-16, ISBN 978-1-932442-96-0 
  2. ^ A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAME #10: LION RAMPANT: 1987-1990.
  3. ^ Is combat busted?. The Ars Magica FAQ. Project Redcap. Retrieved on 2007-11-23. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of
  4. ^ a b "How is Ars Magica related to White Wolf's Storyteller Games?" section of the Ars Magica FAQ
  5. ^ The Medieval Paradigm section of the Ars Magica FAQ
  6. ^ Covenants section of the Ars Magica FAQ
  7. ^ "True Reason" section of the Ars Magica FAQ

External links

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