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Ars Magica is one of my favorite games, but it has always been burdened with a bit of a split personality. On the one hand, it is a game of storybook wizards, members of an ancient, secret order who live in magical towers and inhabit a world of fabulous creatures and forgotten lore. On the other, it is a game set in the historical world of thirteenth-century Europe, with the Albigensian heresy, crusades, and all the kings and popes of the history books. It has often been an awkward mesh, no matter how much retro-fitting was done, but A Medieval Tapestry: Personalities of Mythic Europe shows that not only can this fit be made, but that it can make for damn fine gaming.

A Medieval Tapestry consists of detailed descriptions of about 50 characters in 160 pages. A short chapter at the beginning of the book contains some guidelines for creating magi along philosophical, rather than just house lines. This looks like it'll be useful for creating plausible Criamon Politicians or Bjornaer Bibliophiles (for example), and it includes several sample characters which can be used as starting PC magi or interesting NPCs. A useful appendix at the end lists all the characters in the book by the environment in which they are most likely to be found (university, court, covenant, etc.). This still leaves an average of about three pages per character, so you're probably figuring you're getting something other than a bunch of generic character write ups. And you'd be right.

The characters in A Medieval Tapestry are not just sets of stats (though those are included, and most are created according to the Ars Magica character creation rules, making them useable as PC grogs, companions and magi). They're also individual slices of life in Mythic Europe. The characters run the social gamut from Count Thomas, Eagle of Savoy, to Wat the Kennel-Keeper. Each character is dealt with at length, and illustrates a part of the society of Mythic Europe, from the Church's political efforts against heretics, to the life of a peasant footsoldier. Rounding out each character are a few short "adventure seeds", which can be used to bring the characters into the lives of the PCs and vice-versa.

The amount of research done is impressive, and invaluable. Every character is a plausible inhabitant of Mythic Europe, and numerous text inserts go into depth on some of the aspects of medieval life the characters touch on. Even if I never used a single character from this book, it would still be one of the best Ars Magica resources I ever bought, simply as a lesson in how to bring the world of Mythic Europe to life.

In fact, even were that all there was to it, A Medieval Tapestry would be excellent, but there's more. What really tickled me about this book is that it deals with Mythic Europe. The characters aren't just figures from medieval life -- they are people who are, or can be, connected to the Order of Hermes. Cristoforo, for example, is a medieval lawyer (and a one-page essay on medieval law accompanies the character), but he is a lawyer who has studied at a covenant and is intrigued by the possibilities of applying civil law to Hermetic issues, not to mention the possibility of applying a Hermetic longevity potion to himself.

The book also includes some equally interesting magi. Like the mundanes, these characters add depth and complexity to Ars Magica, instead of just warm bodies. The characters exist at the upper limits of Hermetic theory, straddle the boundaries of houses, or are intimately caught up in the world of mundanes. My favorite is Ulpris, a 160-year-old Imagonem specialist, whose ghostly form (not always under his control) is one of the Order of Hermes' political movers and shakers, while his dying, paralyzed body lies in a room protected around the clock by guardsmen and powerful magics.

Overall, I'm very impressed with A Medieval Tapestry, and I recommend it highly. Many good books have come out for Ars Magica over its long existence, but few, if any, are as interesting, thoughtful, or just plain entertaining as this. This is what a game supplement should be -- it gives the world the breath of life, and it does so without limiting the vision of the individual GM. Simply put, A Medieval Tapestry is a "must have" book for any Ars Magica group.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

A Medieval Tapestry: Personalities of Mythic Europe<
Author: Jeff Tidball (Ed.), et al. Category: game Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Cost: 21.95 Page count: 160 ISBN: 1-887801-60-X Capsule Review by Eric Brochu on 05/24/98. Genre tags: none	Ars Magica is one of my favorite games, but it has always been burdened with a bit of a split personality. On the one hand, it is a game of storybook wizards, members of an ancient, secret order who live in magical towers and inhabit a world of fabulous creatures and forgotten lore. On the other, it is a game set in the historical world of thirteenth-century Europe, with the Albigensian heresy, crusades, and all the kings and popes of the history books. It has often been an awkward mesh, no matter how much retro-fitting was done, but A Medieval Tapestry: Personalities of Mythic Europe shows that not only can this fit be made, but that it can make for damn fine gaming. A Medieval Tapestry consists of detailed descriptions of about 50 characters in 160 pages. A short chapter at the beginning of the book contains some guidelines for creating magi along philosophical, rather than just house lines. This looks like it'll be useful for creating plausible Criamon Politicians or Bjornaer Bibliophiles (for example), and it includes several sample characters which can be used as starting PC magi or interesting NPCs. A useful appendix at the end lists all the characters in the book by the environment in which they are most likely to be found (university, court, covenant, etc.). This still leaves an average of about three pages per character, so you're probably figuring you're getting something other than a bunch of generic character write ups. And you'd be right. The characters in A Medieval Tapestry are not just sets of stats (though those are included, and most are created according to the Ars Magica character creation rules, making them useable as PC grogs, companions and magi). They're also individual slices of life in Mythic Europe. The characters run the social gamut from Count Thomas, Eagle of Savoy, to Wat the Kennel-Keeper. Each character is dealt with at length, and illustrates a part of the society of Mythic Europe, from the Church's political efforts against heretics, to the life of a peasant footsoldier. Rounding out each character are a few short "adventure seeds", which can be used to bring the characters into the lives of the PCs and vice-versa. The amount of research done is impressive, and invaluable. Every character is a plausible inhabitant of Mythic Europe, and numerous text inserts go into depth on some of the aspects of medieval life the characters touch on. Even if I never used a single character from this book, it would still be one of the best Ars Magica resources I ever bought, simply as a lesson in how to bring the world of Mythic Europe to life. In fact, even were that all there was to it, A Medieval Tapestry would be excellent, but there's more. What really tickled me about this book is that it deals with Mythic Europe. The characters aren't just figures from medieval life -- they are people who are, or can be, connected to the Order of Hermes. Cristoforo, for example, is a medieval lawyer (and a one-page essay on medieval law accompanies the character), but he is a lawyer who has studied at a covenant and is intrigued by the possibilities of applying civil law to Hermetic issues, not to mention the possibility of applying a Hermetic longevity potion to himself. The book also includes some equally interesting magi. Like the mundanes, these characters add depth and complexity to Ars Magica, instead of just warm bodies. The characters exist at the upper limits of Hermetic theory, straddle the boundaries of houses, or are intimately caught up in the world of mundanes. My favorite is Ulpris, a 160-year-old Imagonem specialist, whose ghostly form (not always under his control) is one of the Order of Hermes' political movers and shakers, while his dying, paralyzed body lies in a room protected around the clock by guardsmen and powerful magics. Overall, I'm very impressed with A Medieval Tapestry, and I recommend it highly. Many good books have come out for Ars Magica over its long existence, but few, if any, are as interesting, thoughtful, or just plain entertaining as this. This is what a game supplement should be -- it gives the world the breath of life, and it does so without limiting the vision of the individual GM. Simply put, A Medieval Tapestry is a "must have" book for any Ars Magica group. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

A Medieval Tapestry: Personalities of Mythic Europe<