Review of # 17 by myself.
Under the rose: I'm learning that two books are out and I will need to buy them, that's very good. I'm looking forward to the subrosa 18 too.
From the line editor: the last one, since David will be out. He says Ars Magica 5th edition is complete. I wonder how we can consider that with some tribunals only detailled in previous editions. Since I only started with 5th, I don't have those and don't plan to buy them. I understand why they do not feel the need to re do it, but can we say it's complete? I'm unsure.
Werewolves of gevaudan : it provides a new type of character, werewolf with a story background and seeds.
Set piece: the inn : finally, an article about inn. Inns are location where players go often. My players often go in their room, and there, in the "private" room they are used to rent, they do magic stuff, flying away by the window in the animal form, or going out invisible by the back door. But now I can have some historical informations about what is in the inn and where to find it. It also come with some character sheets, for NPc (or PC ideas).
Flambeau cave : another mystical place we can use, like those described in Mythic places the book, linked to the faith and flame book.
An unfinished tower: himinis' legacy it explains a saga/story seed about a magus who would have found ways to integrate "defixio magic" in the hermetic magic. There are informations, in the model used in Legends of Hermès. As such, it's an additional potential legend we can use to further explore the hermetic history.
An art out of time: tempus Ouch. The title rings with "danger" but also "wanna play with time? here are your flaws!" With an introduction linked to the previous saga-seed, what most impressed me was the historical background on that form. If any "time-magic" should exist, it should be "credible" and those references, with real books and authors (I guess, I didn't check it myself) are excellent material for such purpose. The tempus form is by itself complicated. The author tried to prevent gamebreaking, but if he succeeded is left to your opinion. I'm not personaly sure I would use that because I'm sure there will be exploits with it.
Common magics discuss craft regarding laboratory and some things magi enjoy, like book-writing.
The giants of castlenau : not sure if I understand correctly the combination "giant's gift" and "giant blood" (because I'm not seeing when they can use their power since they are naturally at size +2).. ah scrap it, it's suggestion, no mandatory virtues, okay. This part introduces a "mythic type of creature" from a region, with background and 2 npcs.
The divine of Provence: a lost angel since it's a variation about a saga plot, I didn't read it, waiting to read the original (published in Faith and flame) one. But anyway, having variation of stories is always interesting: it stimulaites the imagination.
Populating Provençal; finally! While reading faith and flame, I didn't find the magus Trey albeit he was described and should have been there, he wasn't. Now he has stats and I will maybe use the character in another saga. Since he uses a ex miscellanea tradition I never liked, nor felt interesting, I will carefully consider that character. I see he has been decided as being 55 years old, that I find a bit low considering what the background says about him. But we will see.
Spells from the iron bound tome : new spells. Yes! Always good to use! (come with a metacreator file, if you use it.) From what i quickly read, I'm dubitative about "Inhibit the selfish deviations of the warp": since my reading is that spells never give warping to their caster (if cast on him) or their target (lower t) if designed for him, I'm not sure what is the point of that spell.
Some spells will be debattable with your SG, but at least, you have now a reference to use, which is better than nothing.
Ruins, rumors & relationships - story hooks for provençal : it's about giving you links between books. "This story from that book + Provençal = fun to play", etc.
Val-Negra: rising from the ashes saga theme where the PCs did recover Val-Negra and have it as their covenant. I like that part, and especially the NPC Abbadon. For once, the magus seems powerful enough to justify his age. One thing: the author choose not to include his spell list. I guess why, but i'm curious how that should be handled because there is something "intriguing" in the idea that such a powerful magus may one time have that issue: having too much options, we simply forget some. I ran in that issue with some powerful NPCs, and used "classic" spell, forgetting I had invented "better" spells, because in a list of 100+ spells, you cannot, during a game-session, remember all and every of them! when a moment come (battle, certamen spell, ...) that you have to cast a spell for the NPC, it's so tempting to just go for a classic, which renders the NPC somewhat "forgettable" in his magic aspect, which is a profound shame for such archmagi who should, normally, give a sense of magical "uniqueness" if not power.
And that's it.
Let's meet again for another edition!
I didn't find any mappa mundi in this issue of SubRosa. Was all said in the previous editions? Neither was there any journal of Vulcanis Argens. I wanna know how that magus felt... it is intriguing!