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Reviewers Note: In response to the relative sparseness of Ars Magic reviews available online, I have decided to take matters into my own hands. I hope that I will be excused for starting my series with the line’s core book, for which there are already several excellent reviews, but I found myself compelled to start at the beginning. I would also like to note that this is my first serious attempt an RPG review so comments are appreciated and encouraged.
Imagine a world where myth is real. Faeries dance in forest glades, angels protect the church, demons corrupt the weak, and wizards wield magic beyond the ken of other mortals. You play these magi, gathered in covenants with your allies and servants, unlocking secret powers and creating wonders. When adventures draw you out into the medieval world, your stories are the stuff of legends.
Ars Magic 5th edition represents the latest incarnation of the highly influential pen-and-paper roleplaying game first published by Mark Rein-Hagen and Jonathon Tweet in 1987 under the Lion Rampant label. At the time of its debut, Ars Magica was notable for a number of innovative features such as its emphasis on troupe play and its freeform magic system. Neither of these design elements is really unique to Ars Magica these days, but the game definitely does an above-average job of integrating them into play.
The game’s highly anticipated 5th edition was designed by David Chart and published by Atlas Games in the summer of 2004, winning that year’s Origins Award for Best RPG. Over the past 6 years it has spawned no less than 20 official supplements as well as the Sub Rosa fanzine.
So how does Ars Magica 5E stand up to its contemporary competitors? This review will attempt to answer that question via an evaluation of the game according to the following criteria: Setting, Themes, Characters, Systems and Physical Appearance.
Setting: Ars Magica takes place in Mythic Europe, which corresponds exactly to our world except that in Mythic Europe magic is a very real and active force. The canon start date for sagas to begin is 1220, but this can be modified at the storyguide’s discretion.
Although the feudal society of Mythic Europe is intact and is instrumental to many stories, the Magi reckon geography among themselves using their own system of thirteen semi-autonomous “Tribunals”, which overlap geographically with, but operate distinctly from, mundane institutions.
Themes: Due to the high power-level of even freshly gauntleted Magi, Ars Magica doesn’t really lend itself well to traditional dungeon-crawls. Instead, like its WoD successors, it works best with proactive, player-driven stories. To this end, the game allows the player to take Story and Personality Flaws which do not offer any in-game drawbacks, but instead serve as story-fodder for the affected character. Personality Traits serve a similar purpose.
The troupe system is also useful promoting this style of play as it allows the SG to run focus his adventures on one Player’s Magus while the other Players run their Grogs and Companions in various supporting roles, knowing their character will get their own turn in the spotlight.
The richness of the setting (both in terms of the real Medieval History and the fluff related to the Order of Hermes) provides an ideal backdrop for a wide variety of saga-types from generic High-Fantasy replete with flying castles and fairy-princesses to meticulously researched games of intrigue set in the court of King Phillip II.
Characters: Character Creation in Ars Magica is best described as a Limited Point-Buy system in that the player receives a certain number of points to spend on his/her character at each stage of character generation and must spend the points in a particular way. Each Ars Magica character is defined by eight Characteristics (Intelligence, Perception, Strength, Stamina, Presence, Communication, Dexterity and Quickness) and then fleshed out further by the selection of appropriate Virtues & Flaws, Abilities and Personality Traits. For example, a Maga may have 7 points to spend on her Characteristics, up to 10 points of Virtues and Flaws, 45 points to spend on “childhood abilities”, another 75 points to spend on miscellaneous abilities acquired prior to beginning her apprenticeship, 240 points to spend on the arts and abilities learned during her apprenticeship, and another 120 points to be spent on spells.
There are three basic types of characters in Ars Magica: Magi, Companions and Grogs: Magi are defined by "The Gift" a special trait which allows them to learn magic, but (usually) cripples their ability to interact with other people. Companions are important non-magi who play a signicant role in the troupe’s stories. Grogs are supporting characters like servants or soldiers who are usually portrayed communally by the troupe.
Although this all sounds rather complicated, an experienced player with a well thought-out concept can create a fully-fleshed out character rather quickly. The selection of Virtues, Flaws and Spells tends to be the most time-consuming part of the process since many of the character’s Ability Points are already spoken for by mandatory abilities.
System: Ars Magica is mechanically simple requiring only a single ten-sided die (more dice will speed the handling of botches, but aren’t, strictly speaking, necessary) and a handful of formulae (which are thoughtfully summarized in Appendix II). The game can be a bit slow to pick up at first, but are intuitive enough that after a while you barely even need to look at the rulebook anymore.
Physical combat isn't emphasized in this game, but is rather deadly. A magus capable of levelling cities and slaying dragons can still be brought low by an assassin's poisoned dagger or an enraged mob of peasants armed with farming implements (yes, that's a weapon). There are ways for magi to increase the martial competency through magic, but I personally prefer leaving the fighting to the grogs and certain specialized companions.
The Physical Appearance: Ars Magica’s is a sturdy 240 page hardcover rulebook and otherwise seems to represent good production values. The covers are full colour while the book’s interior is presented in black and white with a sort of rust-coloured hue being added in the boxes, section-headers, and selected pieces of artwork. No official PDF version is available at this time.
The art quality varies rather considerably, but as with other Ars Magic books, I found that the illustrations blended seamlessly into the layout and didn’t really pay them much notice until I went back later to evaluate them for the purpose of this review. This shouldn’t necessarily be construed as the art being bland, but rather that this reviewer is fairly indifferent to game-book art and that there was nothing that struck me as breathtakingly beautiful or hideously ugly.
Chapter 1 – Introduction: This chapter introduces the game’s central premise and briefly explains the concept of troupe play before delving into the core mechanics. Ars Magica uses a fairly simple mechanic with most tasks being resolved by rolling Characteristic + Ability + 1d10 and comparing the result against an Ease Factor (EF) set by the storyguide.
Individual die rolls may call for a simple die or a stress die with the distinction being how the results are read with simple dice being read as they fall while stress die offer the potential for either great success or catastrophic failure on a 1 or 0 respectively. The use of stress dice for risky ventures lends a certain unpredictability to the game that is off-putting to some players, but I thought it meshed nicely with the mythic atmosphere of the background material. Chapter 2 – The Order of Hermes: This chapter is devoted to the Order of Hermes, a self-governing, Europe-wide association of wizards to which the players’ Magi belong. The chapter begins with a brief description of the Order itself, before delving into history of the Order – from its founding in 767 to the modern day (1220 AD). Special emphasis is placed on notable events that might provide saga-fodder such as the Schism War and the Corruption of House Tytalus.
We are also treated to a brief outline of the twelve Houses that make up the Order of Hermes: Bjornaer, Bonisagus, Criamon, Ex Miscellanea, Flambeau, Guernicus, Jerbiton, Mercere, Merinita, Tremere, Tytalus and Verditius. Membership in a House is required under the Code, but the choice isn’t a terribly important one – the main effect being the free Minor Virtue that your Maga receives during Character Creation.
There’s a nice sized section discussing the Hermetic Oath (which all Magi have sworn to uphold) the full text of the Oath is given, followed by a breakdown of the provisions. Finally, the chapter defines the Order of Hermes’ interactions with mundane society.
Chapter 3 – Characters: This chapter opens on a description of the three types of Ars Magica characters: Magi, Companions and Grogs then goes on to define the different elements that go into creating an Ars Magica character. The bulk of the chapter, however, is devoted to Character Templates. We get a (rather stereotypical) sample magus for each House and a nicely varied selection of Companions and Grogs as well.
Next, the book explains how to go about create your own Ars Magica characters, illustrating the process with an example character “Darrius of Flambeau” whose finished stat-block and illustration grace the chapter’s final page.
Chapter 4 – Virtues & Flaws: This chapter opens by explaining the different categories of Virtues and Flaws that exist in Ars Magica 5th Edition (General, Hermetic, Social Status and Supernatural with Flaws also coming in the Personality and Story varieties). Handy charts and sidebars sort the Virtues and Flaws by their value and category while sidebars explaining the restrictions characters faced in the selection of their Virtues & Flaws.
As you might imagine, most of the chapter is taken up by descriptions of the various Virtues and Flaws. The entries are listed alphabetically without concern for their respective value, Virtues first, followed by the Flaws. Unlike previous editions where each individual Virtue and Flaw was assigned its own value, 5th edition only recognizes three values: Free, Minor and Major. A Major Virtue or Flaw is equivalent to three Minor ones.
We get a very thorough selection of Virtues and Flaws and for the most part they seem well-balanced against each other. Story and Personality Flaws are perhaps a bit less detrimental since they act as story-hooks rather than imposing concrete mechanical penalties, but players are limited in how many such Flaws they're allowed to take and I've never found them problematic in play.
Chapter 5 – Abilities: This chapter begins by describing the different types of abilities: Academic, Arcane, General, Martial and Supernatural. Of these, the General abilities are open to everyone with those from the other categories requiring specific Virtues or Flaws to learn.
Chapter 6 – Covenants: This chapter explains the concept of the Covenant. A covenant is a sort of headquarters where the magi and other characters live and work. In Ars Magica the players covenant is treated very much like a character it its own right, even having a Character Sheet.
The design of a covenant is usually a collaborative effort between the players and the SG. Each covenant is defined by its “Season” which represents the covenant’s current stage of development. Once a season has been determined, the SG awards a number of Build Points appropriate to the power level of his Saga. BPs can be spent on books, enchanted items, specialists or Vis sources.
Finally, the players can choose to assign Hooks & Boons (or have them assigned by the SG). Boons are the covenant equivalent of Flaws while Boons serve as the Virtues. As with choosing a character’s Virtues & Flaws, three Minor choices are equivalent to a Major item. The primary difference being that most Hooks act as Story Flaws, drawing the characters into adventures.
Chapter 7 – Hermetic Magic: This chapter addresses those aspects of hermetic magic that are not applicable to the Laboratory or Spells chapters. After a brief introduction, the chapter immediately delves into “The Gift”. At its most basic, the Gift represents a special tie to the Magic Realm that allows a character to learn magic, but cripples his social relationships by inspiring feeling of distrust in others. It is this latter effect which is dwelt upon here, however and we are provided a few nice examples of how people might react to magi in different situations.
This is followed by a run down of the Hermetic Arts which magi use to invoke their magic. Hermetic magic is syntactic in nature and relies upon pairing a Verb with a Noun to produce a supernatural effect. There are five Verbs or “Techniques” (Create, Perceive, Change, Destroy and Rule) and ten Nouns (Animal, Water, Air, Body, Plant, Fire, Image, Mind, Earth and Magic) giving a total of 50 basic combinations that cover a wide range of potential magical effects.
As versatile as Hermetic Magic might be, however, there are certain “Limits of Magic” (feats that simply cannot be accomplished under Bonisagus’ Theory). These are briefly detailed before delving into the different types spells: Ritual, Formulaic and Spontaneous. Of these, Ritual and Formulaic spells are the most powerful, but require the player to invest in learning the spell (and in the case of Rituals take at least an hour to cast and cost Vis). Spontaneous spells allow off-the-cuff effects, but only allow the caster to apply a fraction of her casting score to the effect.
This chapter also explains the related concepts of Penetration and Magic Resistance. To put it concisely, a magus wishing to affect a target that’s protected by MR, must exceed the target’s Magic Resistance with his Penetration Total. The book gives a fairly detailed description of how Magic Resistance works and how one can go about defeating it (Arcane and Sympathetic Connections to increase your Penetration Multiplier) or bypass it entirely (aimed spells).
Also addressed are some of dangers of magic from the consequences of a maga botching her casting roll to the mechanics of “Wizard’s Twilight”. Basically, whenever a magus gains two or more points of Warping at the same time, he has to check to see if he enters “Twilight”. The twilight mechanic takes the form of opposing stress die rolls between the SG and the player (with appropriate modifiers). If the player wins, he is able to regain control of his magic; if the SG wins the character enters Twilight for a period of time ranging from 2-minutes to Eternity based upon his Warping Score. Fortunately, a magus can escape early if he succeeds on his “Twilight Comprehension” roll; the success or failure of Twilight Comprehension also determines whether the lasting consequences of a particular Twilight experience are good or bad.
The last subjects dealt with are Certamen and the Mysteries. Certamen is a type of non-lethal magical duel that is practiced as a sport or used to settle legal disputes and matters of honour. Unlike previous editions of the game, Ars Magica 5th edition doesn’t have a Certamen ability; instead the new mechanic is similar to the combat rules. The Mysteries refer to certain special virtues and probably could have been included in chapter 4.
This is definitely a busy chapter, but does a good job of defining the capabilities and limitations of Hermetic Magic while somehow presenting the results in such a way that they seem logical and intuitive rather than being purely the result of a game-balance decision on the part of the designers. One minor problem involving chapters 7, 8 and 9 is the necessity of flipping back and forth between the three, but ultimately I suspect this is more convenient than single (huge) integrated chapter would have been.
Chapter 8 – Laboratory: This chapter covers the rules for working in the laboratory, relevant rules having been streamlined by the introduction of a universal Lab Total as opposed to having different formulae for different tasks. Ars Magica offers the player a wide range of lab activities for their characters to participate in. The chapter begins simply enough with a discussion of what goes into setting up a Hermetic Laboratory before describing the different activities.
Most of the Lab Activities are pretty simple such as Fixing Arcane Connections, Vis Extraction, Inventing Spells, Longevity Rituals and Copying Lab Texts. These are addressed concisely and well with examples where appropriate. Most of the chapter, however, is devoted to the creation of different sorts of Enchanted Devices (Charged Items, Lesser Enchantments and Invested Items).
Charged Items are the simplest items, allowing a single effect to be invoked a set number of times, but costing no Vis. Lesser Enchantments are still limited to a single effect, but it can be invoked as many times as the user wishes and costs Vis to produce. Invested Items can hold multiple effects, but the creator must “open” it prior to the actual enchantment at a significant cost in Vis. Invested Items can be made even more powerful by attuning them as the creator’s Talisman providing a number of additional benefits.
The chapter also has rules for taking Familiars (animal companions) and Apprentices. These aren’t lab activities per se, but a Familiar can be bound to a magus with three magical cords (Bronze, Silver and Gold) while an apprentice must have her arts opened before she can learn the Hermetic Arts so their inclusion in this section is still appropriate.
This is probably is probably the book's crunchiest chapter and I'd advise new players to read it over twice, the rules themselves aren't particularly complicated, but the text is thick enough that it's easy to miss important details on the first read through.
Chapter 9 – Spells: This chapter describes the various spells and guidelines that exist in Ars Magica. Beginning with definitions of the Ranges, Durations and Targets that are available, the chapter then addresses the topic of spell-design in sufficiently thorough manner. The bulk of the chapter, however, is devoted to the Technique/Form guidelines and sample spells.
The guidelines are arranged alphabetically by Form with each describing what the form can/cannot affect and what constitutes an individual, as well as any relevant special rules that might apply to spells involving that form. Next the guidelines for pairing that Form with the different Techniques are given, being interspersed with a broad selection of sample spells appropriate to each combination of arts.
In addition to the relevant Noun and Verb combination, spells are also defined in terms of their Range, Duration and Target. In a welcome reprieve from the game’s previous editions, all 50 of the spell guidelines use the same base parameters (Personal, Momentary and Individual, respectively). This is a small change, but simplifies spell design significantly.
Thus designing a spell in Ars Magica 5E is a simple matter of finding the appropriate Noun/Verb combination, looking up the desired effect in the relevant guideline chart and adjusting the RDT parameters as appropriate. For example: Designing a spell to hurl a bolt of flame at an adversary would be accomplished by finding an appropriate Creo Ignem guidelines (page 140) and selecting the effect I want – seeing that I can create a fire that inflicts +15 damage using the Level 10 guidelines, I choose a base of 10. Finally, I increase the Range to “Voice” (increasing the spell’s level to 20 in the process) and I’m done!
Chapter 10 – Long-Term Events: This chapter deals with issues related to character advancement. The chapter begins with a discussion of the costs for improving Arts and Abilities (long-time Ars Magica players will note that the cost of improving Abilities has been quintupled). Then describes the different avenues characters have for increasing their scores – as usual in Ars Magica, reading books or having a teacher are the best.
This chapter also gives rules for writing books and handling the long-term effects of Warping and Aging. The latter being especially important as a character’s power in Ars Magica would be directly proportional to his/her age if not for the detrimental impact of aging. Every year beyond the character’s 35th birthday, the player rolls a stress die on the Aging Table and applies the results. Over time the character will accumulate Aging Points which reduce Characteristics, increase Decrepitude, and ultimately kill the character. Longevity Potions help reduce the effects of Aging, but increase Warping, immortality being beyond the reach of Hermetic Magic.
Chapter 11 – Obstacles: This chapter addresses topics related to combat and other sources of injury. Combat in Ars Magica is turn-based with an initiative roll indicating the combat order. Next the attacker makes rolls her Attack Total and compares the results to the Defense Total rolled by her opponent with Attack – Defense carrying over to the Damage roll which the defender will attempt to reduce my making a Soak roll. This dangerous yet abstract method makes it easier to handle group combats involving numbers of Grog as is often the norm in Ars Magica.
The chapter also covers rules for Encumbrance, Fatigue and Wound Recovery as well as non-combat hazards such as Disease, Poison, Deprivation and sources of accidental injury such as fire or falling. The possibility of failing a Wound Stability check makes Ars Magica one of the relatively few games in which it is possible for an initially minor injury to grow progressively worse and kill an otherwise healthy character – rare as it may be.
Chapter 12 – Realms: This chapter deals with the four supernatural realms that make Mythic Europe so Mythic (Divine, Faerie, Infernal and Magic). Of these, Divine and Infernal are fairly self-explanatory while Faerie and Magic might benefit from some additional clarification: The Faerie realm in ArM5 is no longer affiliated with nature instead being a sort of reflection of humanity. Likewise, the Magic realm is now more clearly presented as manifestations of platonic ideals
The chapter describes each realm and explains how auras of that type can come into being. A handy chart illustrates how the different realms interact with each other for weal or woe. The chapter closes with an explanation of regios, a sort of pocket dimension that exist within some auras and can be accessed by those who know how.
Chapter 13 – Bestiary: This chapter deals with creatures affiliated with the four supernatural realms, outlining the stat-block used and providing a small selection of sample characters for each realm proving three creatures each for the Faerie, Infernal and Magic realms and two for the Divine realm with Might Scores ranging from 10 to 50.
Chapter 14 – Mythic Europe: This chapter deals with Mythic Europe and the peculiarities of the setting. In particular, it provides hints for lending your game a suitably medieval flavour. Sections include: The Church, The Nobility, Towns and Trade and Peasants, with each providing advice on how to integrate the topic into the game as a source of stories.
Chapter 15 – Stories: This chapter deals with the details of running a game of Ars Magica. The GMing advice provided is good and the treatment of different story types is thorough enough that the SG should be able to start planning immediately. The chapter also includes a substantial number of story ideas for each category of story.
Chapter 16 – Sagas: This chapter deals with challenges of running an ongoing Ars Magica saga. It gives a nice rundown of topics a SG should consider when planning a saga and provides a nice overview of how Troupe play works before wrapping up with an explanation of the differing levels of research that can go into a game of Ars Magica (None to Extreme) and a summary of different Saga Styles.
The Good: The rules of Ars Magica 5th edition are well-suited to its subject matter. Both the character generation system and the setting are highly conductive to the sort of stories Ars Magica does best while the mechanics are simple enough to be inobtrusive, but also sophisticated enough to handle whatever the system throws at it without any aspects of the game appearing arbitrary or forced to conform purely on the basis of design considerations.
The Bad: Ars Magica 5th edition seems a bit overstretched, as if Atlas was trying to cram too much stuff into too few pages leaving the book’s treatment of some topics feeling a bit shallow. This isn’t really a fatal flaw as the topics in question can be fleshed out in supplements, but it does mean that certain pieces of information can be difficult to locate in the text.
Additionally, I’ve found that Ars Magica requires a greater investment on the part of the players than many other RPGs, given that character development is much more involved and less abstracted than simply gaining and then spending XP or increasing in level. The troupe system is useful in fostering player involvement, but not really necessary as long as the player is willing to cooperate with SG in generating stories for her character.
Conclusion: In the four years since I first converted to 5th edition, Ars Magica has become my favourite system to GM. The rules are, in general, a marked improvement over previous editions and, I feel, more accessible to neonates than earlier incarnations of the game. A must-buy for Ars Magica fans and definitely worth taking a look at for other roleplayers!
Style: **** Substance: *****
