Realms of Power: The Divine. Written and designed by Niall Christie, Erik Dahl, Matt Ryan and Alexander White. Edited by David Chart. Published by Atlas Games. 144 pages, 8.5" x 11", case bound. $29.95 (US)
(Warning! This is my first review and English is not my mother language, so I ask for your kindness)
One of the biggest improvements of Ars Magica Fifth Edition is the way how it defines the four realms (divine, magical, faerie and infernal). For example, since God is the source of all power, his minions are immune to the effects of the other auras (in game terms, no penalties involved). Or the magical realm is much better characterized as “the way the world could be”.
When the Fifth Edition was released, John Nephew, chief of Atlas Games, said that they would be publishing four Ars Magica books each year – and surprisingly they're managing this goal quite well. During the first years, one of the books will be from the Realms of Power line, each one describing one of the realms. The first one, which appeared in 2005, was The Divine.
Contents
Chapter One. Introduction (3 pages)
The first chapter starts saying what this book is not: an update or rewrite of Pax Dei, Kabbalah or Blood and Sand. Pax Dei was a Third Edition supplement, highly criticised along with its partner The Maleficium for being too dark and overpowered. Kabbalah was an excellent sourcebook for Judaism, although suffered from the “PhD thesis” syndrome that plagued many Fouth Edition manuals. I have never read Blood and Sand.
The chapter also introduces the basics for the Divine realm. In Ars Magica it's an in-game truth that God exists and that He's the same for Christianity, Islam and Judaism. As I have said before, the Divine is transcendental, and the other realms can't affect it.
Finally there are some hints about how to introduce the Divine in a saga, and the authors give three options, from being a plot device to only incidental.
Chapter Two. Heaven And Earth (27 pages)
The second chapter defines the Divine auras, places where the Dominion have an especial significance. Like all Ars Magica auras, they range from 1 to 10. In page 10 there's a very nice map of a medieval village with the Dominion in each place (for example, 4 in the church and graveyard and only 1 in the surrounding fields). The book introduces the concept of Empyreal Auras, places where the power is not derived from a congregation, but from a miracle or divine creature.
Next section deals with regiones, another old Ars Magica concept. A regio is mainly a place with different coexisting layers, each one with a different power level.
Then there come many pages talking about angels and other Divine creatures. Hierarchies, traits and powers are described. First I was very sceptical about introducing angels in my saga, but luckily the book gives very nice hints about how to storyguide and portray them.
Chapter Three. Blessed By God (37 pages)
The third chapter deals mainly with characters and rules.
It starts with Holy Characters, introducing new virtues, flaws and supernatural abilities. They are quite general, because they are not linked to one of the three main religions. As it is common in Ars Magica, specially in the Fifth Edition, they can add a lot of flavour to a character. For example, being apostate or having the power of working miracles.
Next section introduces the concept of Holy Influence, which allows changing the people’s attitudes or invoking God's aid. It's nice that it works with personality traits. Then there are some pages about relics, with some nice examples.
Miraculous Effects is the longest section of the chapter. It's a kind of new magic system inspired in the hermetic one. There are three methods (invocation, meditation and purity) and seven powers (adjuration, blessing, cursing, intervention, transcendence, understanding and wonders) than can be combined to create effects, similar to spells. Since both methods and powers are supernatural abilities linked to virtues, it's unlikely that a character can create many effects. A Holy Tradition, Ascetics, is also described.
After expanding the concept of True Faith and the possibility that real believers have to work miracles, another new element is introduced: Divine Warping. This is similar to the magic one described in the rulebook, although it creates different effects (stigmata, visions, obsessions...) and ultimately leads to Ascension or Divine Unity.
Then we have the Nephilim, a new Mythic Companion. This kind of character is so powerful that replaces the “magus slot” of one player. Nephilim are defined as divine giants and heroes, and are only recommended for highly-powered sagas.
Finally we have the section many were waiting for: Holy Magic, or how to create a Hermetic magus with Divine powers. This leads to some restrictions and benefits that can be very interesting to play. I really liked the new Durations for spells: Recitation (a kind of Concentration but you have to pray), Office (until the hour of the next formal prayer), Devotion (as long as a religious ceremony continues), Sabbath (until the dawn of the next day of rest), 40 (forty days and forty nights) and Fast (for as long as the character fasts). Very clever and colourful. There's also a new Holy Societas, the Sol Invictus, an unpopular tradition originated in the Roman Empire with members in House Jerbiton.
Chapter Four. Mythic Christianity (30 pages)
After two chapters that were quite general, the book goes into the three main religions. The first one is Christianity.
It starts with the background: history of the Church, beliefs and practices. Although the text is quite academic, there are a lot of side boxes (at least one per page) that add a lot of flavour: excommunication, the prescriptions against magic, trial by ordeal, Christian relics, exorcism, the offices, militant orders and the Crusades...
The first rules introduced in this chapter are related to Saints: how to design, invoke and even threaten them. There are some nice examples.
Then we have new Christian virtues, flaws and abilities. I really liked the flaws: excommunicate, monastic vows, failed monk, unbaptised and pagan. There are two new traditions (the Cantores and The Priority of Saint Nerius), a new Mythic Compation (the Perfecti) and very nice templates for grogs (the curious noun!) and companions.
Ars Notoria is a magical art based on the texts by Salomon himself. Studying them you can unlock the seven rings that give many benefits to the character, although he has to be a true believer.
Chapter Five. Mythic Islam (20 pages)
This chapter has the same structure than the previous one. It starts with the story of Muhammad, beliefs and practices and variations on Islam. Again, the side boxes add a lot of nice information.
We also have new virtues and flaws, many of them status in Muslim societies. There is a new Tradition (Sufis), Societas (Zoroastrians), Mythic Companion (Zahids, ascets who can work miracles) and some templates (like the blind Sufi poetess).
Chapter Six. Mythic Judaism (23 pages)
Again, the chapter starts with the main concepts of Judaism: history, beliefs and practices, culture and also the anti-Jewish sentiment. The inevitable Golem also appears.
New virtues and flaws deal with the different social status and with the various supernatural practices: dream interpretation, Gematria, Kabbalah and Merkavah. We have rules for all of them, although they're quite simple if we compare them with Four Edition's Kabbalah. There are two new Traditions (Baal Shem and Kabbalists), a Holy Societas (Karaites, unorthodox Jews that only follow the Torah and reject the Oral Law), a Mythic Companion (Kabbalists again) and templates for grogs and companions.
The book closes with a complete bibliography.
Style
The Divine follows the Fifth Edition's layout, which I think is excellent. The circle in the cover that changes from book to book depicts three scenes from the religions described in the manual. The interior art is quite good, and combines original illustrations by Alexander Bradley with historical pictures.
Conclusions
What amazes me from Fifth Edition Ars Magica books is how playable they are. They're still very well researched and really impressive in academic terms (two of the authors are historians), but they also give you a lot of elements to introduce into your saga. And what's more important: a lot of flavour. For example, the grog and companion templates are excellent, the traditions are very well chosen, and I really enjoyed the three typical libraries of each religion.
Matters of taste, I would never extensively use saints, angels or holy magicians in my saga. But there are many elements that really interest me, specially the description of Muslim and Jewish medieval societies.
And what's also important: I really enjoyed reading this book, a thing that’s very important and many publishers forget. I would also recommend The Divine to anyone playing in medieval Europe.
In conclusion, an excellent book and another good manual for the extraordinary Fifth Edition.
Review Summary