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The twelve Hermetic Houses were introduced in the very first edition of Ars Magica. Their backgrounds and practices were later expanded in Second Edition's The Order of Hermes, one of the milestones in this games' history (the others being, in my opinion, Covenants, Faeries, The Wizard's Grimoire and The Mysteries).
The Houses were almost unaltered in the Third and Fourth Editions, and the changes introduced in Houses of Hermes were minimal.
But, unexpectedly, the Fifth Edition rewrote some of the core concepts. The twelve familiar Houses were still there, but now they were divided in three groups: True Lineages, Mystery Cults and Societies. And instead of a new manual describing all of them, there would be three, one for each group.
True Lineages is the first in the Houses of Hermes series and was published in 2005. Mystery Cults appeared this 2006 and I hope next year we'll see the third book.
Houses of Hermes
For Ars Magica newcomers I will first introduce the twelve Hermetic Houses, with some information that has been unchanged since the First Edition.
- House Bjornaer. The only house that comes from a Germanic tradition and not from a Latin one. They're shapechangers and protectors of the wilderness (Mystery Cult)
- House Bonisagus. Bonisagus created the Hermetic Theory and his disciple Trianoma was the driving force in the Order's foundation. So the House is split in two groups: researchers and politicians (True Lineage)
- House Criamon. A very secretive house that pursues something called the Enigma (Mystery Cult)
- House Ex Miscellanea. The only House whose founder was not a founder of the Order. A gathering of magi from many traditions, many of them only nominally Hermetic (Society)
- House Flambeau. The most violent magi, lovers of fire and destruction (Society)
- House Guernicus. The judges of the Order, also called Quaestitoris (True Lineage)
- House Jerbiton. The most mundane of the magi, usually from a noble background and interested in art (Society)
- House Mercere. Messengers of the Order, many of them without magical powers (True Lineage)
- House Merinita. Students of the faerie world (Mystery Cult)
- House Tremere. Enforcers of strategy, planning, politics and unity. No vampirism involved (True Lineage)
- House Tytalus. Promoters of conflict in all of its forms. Many centuries ago they were corrupted by devils, and now they are distrusted (Society)
- House Verditius. Unsurpassed creators of magic objects (Mystery Cult)
Contents of True Lineages
Chapter One. House Bonisagus (31 pages)
The magi of House Bonisagus are the descendants of the two main founders of the Order, so the House is divided between magi Bonisagi, those dedicated to the improvement of Hermetic theory, and magi Trianomae, enforcers of the Order's unity.
The chapter starts with the history of the House: the founder's origins, the Order's first years, the attitudes during the Schism War... There are some side boxes that give story seeds related to the main text, which is a really nice thing later repeated in the other chapters.
The next section deals with the House organization, which is quite simple: the Primus, one council for each lineage and all the other magi. The two councils are quite interesting. One compiles and then disseminates the valuable research, and the other tries to keep the magical knowledge away from mundanes. There is also a mention to seekers, magi who try to uncover ancient secrets.
Then there are some pages dedicated to the magi themselves: the apprenticeship, taking other magi's apprentices (a right only Bonisagi have), political views, common virtues and flaws...
We also have the called “House utilities”: status, folios (compilations of magical research), an intrigue system and new virtues and flaws.
The chapter ends with an impressive section dealing with Original Research, the ultimate goal of any Bonisagus wizard. This means pushing the boundaries of Hermetic Theory. There are three kinds of breakthroughs: Minor (like inventing a new Range), Major (like the development of the Aegis of the Hearth) and Hermetic (like breaking a lesser limit, something highly improbable). There is a research system and some advices about integrating this into a Saga.
The book also gives us four examples of original research, which can be used as innovations already present in the Order or as goals for the players. They're Arma Magica (a way to add effects to the Parma Magica ritual), Parmulae (providing magic resistance to others), Figurine Magic (creating wax figures containing powers) and Realm-Aligned Spells.
Chapter Two. House Guernicus (43 pages)
Guernicus magi are the official judges and investigators of the Order, but they're more than this. They linked the Order of Hermes to the magic in Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, thus giving it a unifying tradition, but also discovering a lot of magical objects and writings that kept for themselves. And since the founder was a Mercurian earth magus, many of his descendants have followed this tradition.
The book says it clearly: a Guernicus magus is mainly a magus, and serving the Order is only a part-time job. This is a nice departure from the previous editions, and helps giving more depth to the House.
After the usual sections about history and organization, there are ten pages related to the interpretation of the Code of Hermes. Every paragraph in the Code is commented, explaining which the agreed meaning is and how flexible Quaesitoris are with them. This is an invaluable resource, not only for players with a Guernicus magus, but for any political Saga.
The next sections deal with Tribunal procedures, penalties and the Quaesitorial duties and powers. Again, they can add a lot of flavour to any Saga.
In the last pages Guernicus magi are described as wizards and not only as judges. We are given some possible roles, status and advancement, allies, new spells and very powerful (and secret) Mercurian rituals.
Chapter Three. House Mercere (32 pages)
Mercere the Founder lost his magical powers, and even Bonisagus himself was unable to recover them. Nevertheless, he remained inside the Order. His first two apprentices had the Gift, but not the next ones, so this House is also split in two: Redcaps, that are ungifted, and Mercere magi.
A strange thing about House Mercere is that its members usually have family ties. The first two apprentices were the founder's descendants, and Mercere magi try to have as many children as possible (before the longevity potion, of course) to get at least one with the Gift.
After the House's history, the chapter starts with Redcaps. There are four main roles they can have: messengers and heralds, who carry information between covenants; merchants, who trade with vis and mundane resources; mercenaries and guardians, protectors of other magi; and minstrels and wanderers, those who value freedom above all. There's a new Society for each role, and the book also introduces very nice rules about vis trading.
Then we have the magical Mercere. There are two lineages, descendants of the two original apprentices. One group are Mercurian magi and the others are Muto specialists, called “Mutantes”. Both backgrounds are very interesting and have new powers.
The chapter ends with laboratory and magic rules, and some spells. Many of the new virtues and flaws are not specific for Mercere, and one of them, Blood of Heroes, allows the creation of Mythic Companions.
Chapter Four. House Tremere (34 pages)
Tremere was the youngest and weakest of the original Founders, but also the last to die. When he was at the peak of his power, he tried to dominate the Order and then the whole world. Obviously he didn't succeed, and since then the House has been quite reclusive. It wasn't until the XI century that their magi joined mixed covenants.
House Tremere believes in order, control, strategy and planning. For example, its members always vote in blocks at Tribunal meetings, trying to introduce changes in the Peripheral Code for their convenience.
Again the chapter starts with the House's history, structure and organization, a very important thing since they're very hierarchical. The rules for promotion are also described, and these included both political and by force advancement.
Then we have the information about the magi. Tremere had a necromantic background, and so his followers are used to deal with ghosts and spirits. There is a main rule: all magi are trained to be useful to the House, and they are all combat capable. Their favoured arts are obviously Rego and Mentem, but also Animal. Some very interesting specialist roles are also introduced.
Obviously a text about Tremere must have rules about Certamen, and in True Lineages we have plenty of them, mainly about styles. The new spells are OK, but I advise to be careful with the virtues and flaws, since some of them are related to supernatural creatures from the Transylvanian Tribunal (the place were the Tremere have their Domus Magna).
Style
True Lineages follows strictly the Fifth Edition layout, which I like very much. The interior art is simply OK, although I don't like some of the pictures.
Each chapter of the book has been written by a different author, and it shows. There are some differences between the chapters that could have been easily avoided. For example, Mercere have no “key facts” sidebox (although the information can be found in the text), and there's a completely unnecessary index in the Guernicus pages.
Conclusions
Having three Houses of Hermes books could have been a risky manoeuvre, but I think that all Ars Magica fans can buy True Lineages.
First, because I'm sure that all Sagas will have at least one magus from these four Houses, but mainly because there is a lot of information not strictly related to them: the Code of Hermes' comments, the way to conduct a trial, the Mercurian Magic and Certamen rules, the new virtues and flaws and all the sideboxes containing story seeds.
So don't expect anything like the old World of Darkness clanbooks, but a nice volume with tons of playable information. I only hope that the following two titles will keep this quality level.
