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"Promises, Promises" is a free introductory kit for Ars Magica. It is available for download from Atlas Games web site. And, I can't recommend it highly enough.

This is a wonderful introduction to one of the longer lasting fantasy games out there. Ars Magica has been around for several years and has been passed from game company to game company, perhaps making it the only game with four different publishers!

On to the adventure, "Promises, Promises" is a great little mystery for beginning players and GM's. The rules that are needed are all spelled out, and the kit also comes with pre-generated characters and full spell descriptions for all the pre-generated characters.

The mystery unfolds for the players as they each take the part of one or more of the magi in the adventure. The PC's will get to use their brains and their mystical abilities as they try to unravel the mystery of their master's disappearance and why they are in trouble with the Council.

The GM is given details for most everything the players would care to do to resolve the mystery. This makes it easy on first time GM's and also provides a framework around which to design further adventures. It would be easy to use this as the starting point for a campaign in Ars Magica as it sets the characters up quite nicely and makes them work to achieve their goals.

The only shortcoming's of this kit are the somewhat sparse rules on some actions. They could have been explained a little better, however, it is really hard to say much bad about a free product. Ultimately, if your gaming group is looking for an introduction to Ars Magica, or just looking for a single night's diversion, I would highly recommend this. It's worth the download time.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Promises, Promises
Author: David Chart Category: game Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Cost: Free Page count: 16 Playtest Review by Paul Franklin on 07/07/98. Genre tags: none	"Promises, Promises" is a free introductory kit for Ars Magica. It is available for download from Atlas Games web site. And, I can't recommend it highly enough. This is a wonderful introduction to one of the longer lasting fantasy games out there. Ars Magica has been around for several years and has been passed from game company to game company, perhaps making it the only game with four different publishers! On to the adventure, "Promises, Promises" is a great little mystery for beginning players and GM's. The rules that are needed are all spelled out, and the kit also comes with pre-generated characters and full spell descriptions for all the pre-generated characters. The mystery unfolds for the players as they each take the part of one or more of the magi in the adventure. The PC's will get to use their brains and their mystical abilities as they try to unravel the mystery of their master's disappearance and why they are in trouble with the Council. The GM is given details for most everything the players would care to do to resolve the mystery. This makes it easy on first time GM's and also provides a framework around which to design further adventures. It would be easy to use this as the starting point for a campaign in Ars Magica as it sets the characters up quite nicely and makes them work to achieve their goals. The only shortcoming's of this kit are the somewhat sparse rules on some actions. They could have been explained a little better, however, it is really hard to say much bad about a free product. Ultimately, if your gaming group is looking for an introduction to Ars Magica, or just looking for a single night's diversion, I would highly recommend this. It's worth the download time. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)