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Warning: The Following Contains Spoilers
The Black Monks of Glastonbury, by David Chart is a dual-stat Coriolis supplement for Ars Magica and D20. It is a setting/story book, describing Glastonbury abbey in thirteenth century England, its surroundings, inhabitants and story-hooks. It also includes rules for diabolism for both Ars Magica and D20.
It is a fairly slim book, with only around 80 pages. Its cover is a dull brown, showing two dark looking monks hurrying by some armoured men. The design around the picture is suitably medieval.
Thoughts
Black Monks of Glastonbury (BMoG) caused a bit of a controversy a while back in Ars Magica circles. There has been a fear that Ars Magica, like so many other game lines (7th Sea, L5R, Traveler, BESM), would be converted to D20. We were assured that this book was merely one of Atlas Games’ Coriolis supplements: dual stat books designed to showcase Atlas settings to the D20 audience. From what I’ve heard from John Nephew and others at the Atlas Forums and RPG.net, the experiment is not a stunning success. John Nephew also commented that BMoG was a testing ground for a possible format for Ars Magica 5th Edition, particularly the cover and possibly the interior. I’ll deal with that in the art section below.
I’m coming at this book from two angles. First, as a Ars Magica game master, whose run a weekly two year saga, and who contributes to the only English language Ars-fanzine, Hermes’ Portal. I’ve got a lot of interest in Ars Magica remaining Ars Magica. It’s the best magic system out there and I’d hate it to be changed to something else. Likewise, I’m also coming at this book from the perspective of a long-term D20 game master, having run a fortnightly Forgotten Realms game for the past year. (As a side note, I must confess to loathing the D20 system; I run my D20 game for convenience’s sake and am entering the process of conversion to a HarnMaster/Ars Magica homebrew hybrid.)
BMoG thus needs to pass two tests. How useful is it as an Ars supplement and how useful is it as a D20 supplement? I’ll answer these two questions at the end of the review.
What do you get?
BMoG describes the abbey of Glastonbury in Mythic Europe, a setting that assumes that myths and legends from the thirteenth century and earlier were real. Magic, devils, dragons, angels and faeries all exist. Glastonbury abbey is an infernally corrupted den of hellish plots, with grandiose goals that range from restoring the False King Mordred to extending infernal control over all the surrounding land.
Chapter One
Chapter One is an introduction, explaining that BMoG is more than an adventure module, it is a book that describes a mini-setting. It tackles the predicament that is hardly needed in most ArM books, that of dealing with real religions, namely Christianity. It explains the two system format-- a black (and thus evil) monk for the D20 stats, and a white (and virtuous) monk for the Ars Magica information. There is also mention of the ‘reality check’, a section at the end of each chapter that describes what is fact and what is fiction (separating the fantasy from the medieval history). The chapter is short and to the point.
Chapter Two
This chapter deals entirely with using this book in a D20 game. It deals with integrating the abbey into a fantasy world, and introduces some specific aspects of Ars Magica, such as vis (raw magical power), supernatural auras and regiones, and a (very) brief summary of England in 1220 AD.
Since one of the goals of the Coriolis line is to showcase the merits of the non-D20 settings, this chapter introduces lots of Ars Magica goodness. It is stressed that this is not an Ars/D20 conversion book, but it certainly does a reasonable job of doing so, in that, the Ars setting is presented in D20 terms. Arts and Hermetic magic specifics are not converted, but all of the Houses get a run down, the Code of Hermes is here, the role of covenants, and how D20 could be adapted for Mythic Europe, such as races, classes and study rules.
A new D20 spell is included here, Aegis of the Hearth (Abjuration), which provides Spell Resistance to an area. I’m not really up with the D20 rules, but it seems like a fairly good conversion of the AotH from Ars Magica, basically granting SR = to 10 + twice the level of the spell. The spell can be learned at any level. Furthermore, the spell grants penalties to caster levels when someone is trying to cast a spell within the affected area. There is a cost though, relatively minor at 40XP per level of the spell. I may consider introducing this spell into my game.
All in all, this chapter is useless for Ars Magica troupes, and only of minor interest to D20 groups who may be interested in either trying out Mythic Europe, or adapting some of the ideas here, such as vis (an XP substitute for spell and item enchantment costs).
Chapter Three
A history of Glastonbury abbey, it takes us from its foundation by Christ and Joseph of Arimethea, to King Arthur, to the infernal corruption and its current activities. The history is interesting and event-filled, although there is a constantly changing list of names, such as Phagan and Deruvian. While useful for story guides who want to know the history and/or use it in game, it is really superfluous information. In a book this small, you really need to be sure that everything mentioned is relevant and pertinent to the main goals of the book, in this case, the diabolical story seeds. Since neither Phagan nor Deruvian are mentioned ever again, their names could have been cut and instead mentioned in passing. The same goes for Gildas, who, as much as I like him, has no role in the story of the infernal monks.
One thing that struck me about this chapter is that there is no apparent mention of Gwyn ap Nudd, the powerful Summer Faerie King who ruled over the Tor of Glastonbury. Given his prominence later on as a major story/saga-hook, he should have been in the history.
Another thing I should point out is the official Ars Magica version of the Arthur story. Since David Chart has gone on record as saying that BMoG is a canon Ars Magica product, we now have the definitive Ars Magica version of Arthur. Basically, Morgana is a powerful Faerie, who is now in the possession of Arthur’s body in a faerie regio somewhere in Glastonbury. I’m not a fan, and I can’t say that many others will be either. It is a rather narrow shoehorn and not only alienates people, it now actively means that other interpretations will be non-canonical.
Littered throughout are story-seeds relating to aspects of the history. Final mention should go to the new magical item, St. Dunstan’s Tongs, a powerful anti-infernal item, with both Ars Magica and D20 stats.
Chapter Four
Here we get to the meet, a description of Glastonbury abbey. I won’t go into too much detail, but suffice to say that I was impressed with the descriptions. A pretty but not all that useful map shows the abbey and the nearby village, there are D20 stats for both, and a bevy of ArM and D20 tidbits, such as the game effects for local legends about the abbey’s graveyard, church and monuments. The most interesting are the ‘pyramids’, which are two standing stones that were used to ‘trap’ Mordred when he was burried after the battle of Camlann. D20 stats are present as to how these work.
Chapter Five
The Monks are here described, although since there are around 48 monks, only the ring leaders, and the very few uncorrupted monks are mentioned.
Glastonbury is odd, as not only does it have a monk with True Faith living amidst a bunch of diabolic schemers, it also has a hedge mage working his magic.
Each character is described in the following: Appearance, Character and Plans, History and Role (in the story). The length varies. There are also stats for the major characters, such as Peter, the pious monk; Robert, the magician; William, the infernal abbot; and Eustace, the prior. I can’t tell you how accurate the D20 stats are, such as the CR etc, but let me tell you, the infernalists are damned powerful (which is the point).
As an example, William the abbot in D20 terms with CR19, has at will, lightning bot, horrid wilting and feeblemind, has an intimidate of +27, a Charisma of 36 and a DC to resist his spells of 23 + spell level. Oddly, now I look, he has no Spell Resistance and his AC is only 17. His Ars Magica stats are just as gross, in fact, they are a lot more. Particularly his +21 attack and +22 defence ratings, his magic resistance of 70!, all his stats at +5, his 95 points of virtues, unlimited use of Clenching Grasp of the Crushed Heart and Incantation of Lightning, ad nauseam. He’s not one to take on lightly. (This does bring the problem that has been oft mentioned before, of each hedge-tradition getting a universal magic resistance. The whole point of the Parma Magica is that it was meant to be the first/and or best. Given the +70 MR that William has, this puts to shame most Hermetic magic resistance and makes the Order that little bit more inexplicable.)
This chapter falls down on three areas. It does not adequately explain the role of monks in an abbey and in society (although it refers to another Ars Magica book, Heirs to Merlin). Thus, although I pride myself on knowing a lot of medieval history (being a medieval history student), I found myself wondering what a Sacristian was, and what exactly the prior did. Furthermore, although each main infernal monk gets a write up, none of their stories really mix. They all exist in isolation. The abbot wants to increase the power of the abbey, the prior wants to wake up Mordred, and the Sacristian wants to corrupt the local churchmen with heretical doctrines. Finally, there should have been a D20 write up for True Faith. Although it is assumed that the Cleric classes take care of that, I’d have liked to have seen a True Faith feat. Not really a failing, but something missing.
Chapter Six
The diabolical schemes of the monks are here explained. Each one is a potential saga or major story line, from the land grabbing of the abbot, the church corruption of the Sacristian and the most ambitious (and interesting), the False King plot line.
Each plot gets about a page in exposition and each is very usable. I must commend David Chart on making each plot able to be used in a variety of different situations. With the exception of the False King story, each plot could easily be used in any fantasy setting, assuming the existance of a corrupt or evil temple of some sort.
Even the False King plot, with some work, could be moved out of England (difficult), or to a fantasy setting. Most fantasy settings have a fallen heroic king and dastardly usurper that could be co-opted. This story line is by far the most detailed.
Advice is given for how to use these stories for troupes and for wandering bands of heroes.
Chapter Seven
BMoG doesn’t just describe Glastonbury, it also describes the surroundings. Accompanied by a misleading and very unclear map, we are introduced to the land surrounding the abbey, its legends and concerns, twelve locations in all. Each has a story seed and some legend. A few have a new magical item, vis source or other object or event of interest.
The best thing about this chapter is that it shows just how interesting and magical the medieval world was. Supernatural trees, saint’s relics that make people vomit insects, and pits that produce vis-filled slime fill out this chapter.
Chapter Eight
Here we get the faerie part of the book, which deals with the realm of Gwyn ap Nudd, the Faerie King that rules over the hill that overlooks the abbey. This chapter is of primary use to an Ars Magica game, as the faeries of ArM would be exceedingly difficult to port over to a D20 game without some significant world decisions made by the GM. The easiest way to do it would be to assume that the Faerie regio is a portal into a small extra-planar dimension in which Gwyn ruled.
As well as unnecessary stats for Gwyn for both ArM and D20 (Gwyn can cast limited wish at will, as well as having an SR of 30 (50 inside his realm), with a CR of 19, it strikes me that most non-Epic level characters won’t stand a chance), there is a new feat, called Free Expression. This feat, as near as I can tell is completely useless outside of the narrow confines of the events in this story-hook (it allows you to alter a faerie realm with a successful roll). It literally does nothing. Even in Ars Magica, the virtue Free Expression gave some benefit, and the D20 version should grant some bonus, such as +2 to Perform and some other creative/artistic skill.
All of the seeds are interesting and could be used in many other games, even modern, non-D20/Ars Magica games. I certainly plan on using some in my monthly Buffy game.
Chapter Nine
The 10 level Diabolist prestige class. Basically, the design philosophy behind it is that the powers of Hell want to make being evil really, really enticing, and so they grant a lot of power at (seemingly) very little cost. You get the best of everything, saves, BAB, skill points, weapon and armour proficiencies and so on. The catch is that you need to be really evil, and that at any moment, the Devil could decide on a whim to kill you, no save, no warning, no nothing. You just die and are eternally damned. The gifts are obscene. It is an NPC prestige class designed to make powerful opponents. Really powerful opponents. Such as the a fore mentioned abbot.
Chapter Ten
Some diabolism rules for Ars Magica, these are for just one brand of infernalism and do not replace those from the Maleficium, but instead supplement it.
The rules here are decent. Apart from suffering from the same problem of all Ars characters-- it’s almost impossible to easily create advanced versions of characters-- these rules are fairly good at conveying the seductive nature of Hell. Diabolism requires a Temple for the rites to be performed in, each demonic gift requires a season to gain it, the diabolist can summon demons and call down curses. It all works for me. The downside is that (as David points out) the rules are incredibly unbalanced, since diabolists get a lot of power, easily and quickly.
Appendices
We get a glossary, a bibliography and an index of D20 material.
Art and Presentation
BMoG has some of the best art in any Ars Magica book, and also some dross. By no means that worst offender in the history of Ars, without exception, the art of Chad Sergesketter is crap. He’s no Pommer or Scotello, but compared to the other art in the book, he really lets the team down, and I’m disappointed in Scott Reeves for letting it in.
That said, there are some really nice engravings and other public domain art in there, mainly at the opening chapter pages.
On to presentation: a possible format for Ars 5th ed. I can’t say the cover design is all that exciting. It is certainly better than the current red leather, but as a dull brown, it doesn’t evoke much at all. I like the medieval-ness of the whole thing, but I really think that Atlas should experiment a bit more. As far as the interior page design goes, a big thumbs up. I’m a fan of the faded edge design. It certainly beats the current Ars format of big white space on the outer edge of every page. To be honest, I’d like to see something along the lines of the old Mythic Perspectives, or the elegant lattice from the original Vampire: the Dark Ages. I also liked the parchment/page look of the insets for magic items and stat blocs. A big thumbs up for them too.
I personally found the formatting of the Ars/D20 system information confusing. While each was differentiated by a picture of a monk, I would have found it easier if it were boxed or something so that it was further removed from the descriptive text.
Also, the text formatting was misleading, as the Chapter title was quite small, and in the traditional Ars font, but then heavy bold titles make up the lesser headings, which means you are not sure where you are, whether a new section, old section or what. Furthermore, the size of the font is quite large.
How useful is it as an Ars supplement?
BMoG is certainly one of the better adventure books for Ars Magica because it is “more” than an adventure, it is a location. This is where The Bishop’s Staff fell down. It was a setting-less adventure. Once you completed it, you really didn’t go back. The town was uninteresting and the adventure itself a bit odd. Here, you are given a number of diabolical plots that span at least 20 years. There is huge scope for stories, from interaction with the numerous story-hooks and supernatural thingies. Even ignoring the diabolical plots, you have the Glastonbury Tor, which although fairly outre, manages to be a viable setting in and of itself. Furthermore, it succeeds in being portable, able to be moved out of England and into other kingdoms. As David points out, there were stories of corrupt monasteries all over the place. It could as easily be in Italy or Spain. Only the Arthur stuff would need to be significantly changed. Additionally, the Diabolism rules make it useful, if only because they show up the tactics of Hell-- having souls die in sin, not in heinous damnation. Infernalists cease to be cookie-cutter foes, and become not only powerful enemies, but smart and subtle ones. They are a viable foe for the Order, with the pit-fall being that it’s too easy to become powerful. There is also no real explanation as to why people let themselves become damned for all eternity (this is a problem in the character write ups for the diabolical monks too). Ultimately, it serves as a book useable for characters of all types, no matter how powerful. If you have a group of arse-kicking Flambeau, then the monks can match that fire-for-hell-fire. For weak or subtle types, there is the more low-key aspects, such as intrigue over land, over clerical positions and so on. Direct confrontation is possible, but not necessary.
I’m a bit worried over some of the now-canon Ars “truths”, but time will tell on those. I certainly don’t plan on making Morgana a faerie, or having Mordred an infernally powered False King.
How useful is it as a D20 supplement?
For a D20 game, it is considerably more difficult to say. It is generic enough to be ported over to just about any feudal fantasy setting. Medieval England is the template for most fantasy settings, and most that I know of include rich temples or monasteries to good gods. Since this is a book about a monastery that has been corrupted, that base story could easily be taken anywhere. The Diabolist prestige class makes it really easy. Furthermore, by changing the names on all of the places and people you can make it your own. I can’t really comment on the accuracy of the stats, but most of the items seem reasonable, and the Aegis of the Hearth is a good spell (although not, as far as I can tell, Open Game Content-- nor are any of the magic items actually). There are some good ideas that can be mined, such as the idea of vis, the training rules and auras. The only thing that would cause difficulty are the plots for the False King (it requires King Arthur and Mordred figures within the setting), and the Faerie King, which seems a bit tacked on. The Diabolist PrC is damn powerful, but serves its purpose as an NPC PrC. The story hooks, tied into a location, promise many hours of interesting and fun exploration, as PCs interact with the legends and myths that surround Glastonbury.
Conclusion
Overall, I have to say that despite some initial misgivings over BMoG, it has impressed me. It is a solid effort with numerous uses, both in system terms and in story-hook terms. It was the story hooks that delighted me the most. Every supplement should include a whole bunch, and while recent Ars Magica books have done this, not all of the story hooks are good ones. Not all of them are good in BMoG, but most are.
As for ratings:
Style: 3
Substance: 4
