1 comments about Hedge Magic (Ars Magica) (Ars Magica Series).

1. A very good book, although the introductory fiction is one of the worse pieces ever written for Ars Magica (it's too large and feels very artificial). Four types of hedge wizards are described: Cunning Folk, Spirit Masters, Natural Magicians and Ascetics. My favorites are the Spirit Masters and Natural Magicians, mainly because due to their presence the book also includes a very nice appendix detailing Items of Virtue (for the Natural Magicians) and some spirits (for Spirit Masters). The Cunning Folk are on the bottom of my list due to the inclusion of the totally unnecessary rules of wild vis.

   Be warned, though, that, if you're not intending to include any of the above four in your Saga, the only useful part of this book will be the appendix.

1 comments about Covenants (Ars Magica Fantasy Roleplaying).

1. Ars Magica is an interesting line for a rpg. On the one hand the game is set in 13th century Europe; therefore there is a historical basis to the game. On the other hand the major characters are wizards, and that of a not particularly medieval stripe. This being said, Ars Magica is, after 30+ years of gaming with various sets of rules, my single favourite system. I looked forward to Covenants because it was going to be the first serious attempt to nail down the "metacharacter" of the game, the covenant itself, since the 2nd edition. Sadly, it did not live up to my expectations.
   
   The current notion of how to create a covenant is different from in earlier editions. Previously the creation of a covenant was an absolute endeavour -- you created all of the parameters of the covenant, top to bottom, with the notion that there might be rules within the covenant itself that might restrict access to certain sections. Under the 5th edition rules, however, covenants are designed stritcly around the players. Thus a covenant may actually have more goods and materials available to them than the created ratings suggest, at least in terms of magical volumes. This creates an odd situation. If, as I have had happen in various sagas, the players go over to the second generation (apprentices who become magi and take over for the primary magi, who are themselves more or less retiring to their laboratories), the covenant statistics are no longer valid. In simple terms, the statistics created for the covenant only work for a given group of players, not to older or young NPCs or subsequent apprentices. This is a failing.
   
   In Ars Magica money has never been of central importance. Characters have very broad, generalized "wealth levels". This has worked well in that no one has had to really think about where the money comes from. For covenants in the past this was a good idea -- how is a covenant able to support itself? A handwave would suffice. With this supplement, however, the covenant must know precisely from what source its monies derive. This creates a major problem. As most wealth in the 13th century derives from land, and land is not a saleable commodity, the covenant must come up with some sort of plausible reason for why it owns the land. In addition the supplements list a "typical" holding of lands for a covenant to be equivalent to "a large tract of wheat fields ... with a half-dozen villages." This is more than a standard knight of the 13th century would hold, closer to a small barony. Such a covenant, therefore, is not simply a landholder, but a considerable one. Certainly such a group, assuming it could even persuade others that they have actual rights to the lands, would be drawn into the mundane conflicts of the day. Prices for various commodities are provided, yet not how quickly such items would be used up, so the costs versus needs are impossible to calculate.
   
   Now while such sections seem to balance more towards the mundane, concrete, and historical side of the equation, the supplement also has material that, quite improbably, leans heavily towards the fantastical, bordering on the Moorcockian. There are options for mutable and flickering auras, pattern Warping, predetermined natural disasters, fantastical cavalry, death prophecies, and other bizarre environmental factors. Of course this is all intermixed with hard-and-fast rules on realistic fortifications and maintainence, so it is hard to tell precisely which direction the authors meant this books to jump.
   
   There are also rules in here that make it much harder to run your covenant. The rules on prevailing loyalty are horridly broken was written; there are fixes to this over in the errata section at Atlas Games, but they do not go far enough. Instead of merely adding flavour to the game, it is now nearly impossible to have loyal covenfolk. The Extended Rules section on the writing of books, while appear to add extra options, instead takes the core book writing rules and declares that the only way to achieve the levels of Quality found in the core rulebook is with a greater expenditure of money and time than the core rules call for.
   
   There are also a great number of spells of questionable use in this book. The Scribal Magic found in Chapter Seven, while quite charming, has no use or application. While each of these spells seem to be useful to the game there is again the problem of we do not know just how much is needed materially to create books, thus the spells, while at first glance useful, cannot actually be sued in the game. They create specific amounts of material needed for writing and copying books; since we do not know how much of this material is needed, the spells provide no benefit.
   
   The book is not without redeeming features. Chapter Six, which deals with Vis Sources, is both imaginative and charming, the sort of thing that provides great colour to any saga.
   
   Overall this book could have provided great material for Ars Magica sagas. Instead it provides minutiae that confuses many players, dwells on mundania that ultimately confuses the issue of the place of covenants in the Mythic European landscape, creates extra rules that limit (rather than adding to) options, yet also provides fantastical elements to add into a realistic setting. I cannot recommend this volume for any serious saga.

No comments about Covenants (Ars Magica).

No comments about Blood and Sand: The Levant Tribunal (Ars Magica Fantasy Roleplaying).

2 comments about Ordo Nobilis (Ars Magica Fantasy Roleplaying).

1. This sourcebook for Ars Magica will be useful for any saga that involves the machinations of the nobility. It will prove even more useful to the development of knighted companions. The changes made to the combat system will add to the realism of a saga without hampering playability. The authors spent a great deal of time and energy on historical research, and it pays off. In my opinion, this is the best Ars Magica supplement yet published.



2. This is an essential book for any Ars Magica GM who wants to flesh out their Ars Saga. This tome provides you with inside knowledge on the Companion class of characters.

   This title is also a great reference for political structures and social norms of medieval europe. If you are a serious roleplayer into medieval-type settings, you don't want to pass this one by.

No comments about Ars Magica, Third Edition (Ars Magica Fantasy Roleplaying).

2 comments about Ars Magica.

1. Judith Tarr's Ars Magica is wonderful tale of a young monk in the 10th Century who learns the secrets of magic while rising in power and influence within the medieval Church. The mixture of fact (the main charecters are almost all versions of real people) and fantasy is well-developed, and the author's essay on the historical basis of her work is informative and fascinating. Fans of Tim Powers, another master of historical fantasy, may well find much to enjoy in this great novel.



2. If you don't read the author's note first, then you would think that this was a typical piece of fantasy. A boy shows a knack for magic, so he begins a long journey towards mastering the power. Along the way, he will meet a girl with similar abilities and will engage in the fight of his life. These are true, but the framework makes this an interesting read.

   Judith Tarr did her research into the ancient days of the Catholic church and the Holy Roman Empire. The characters she chooses are Pope Sylvester and Emperor Otto. Each of these had rumors about them insinuating that they were practitioners of magic. Tarr takes this and posits "What if this were true?" Having an actual historical figure to borrow from adds a tinge of authenticity to the book.

   At times, I feel that the narrative jumps a little bit. I don't know if Tarr was keeping to the history (for instance, perhaps no record exists of Sylvester at a certain age), or if she was try to keep the book flowing. I would have liked to know a little more about the school of magic he tried to found.

   Nonetheless, this is a fairly good read. It is a quick book, so I would recommend reading this.

No comments about Guardians of the Forests: The Rhine Tribunal (Ars Magica Fantasy Roleplaying).

No comments about The Broken Covenant of Calebais: An Adventure Supplement for Ars Magica (Revised Edition).

No comments about Faeries (Ars Magica Fantasy Roleplaying).