Our Ars Magica saga got some love, being named Campaign of the Month for July over at Obsidian Portal! Hopefully the attention will reach some new Gifted apprentices...
I dutifully put in a plug for the Definitive Edition.
Pax,
Patrick
13 Likes
This whole interview is very cool (I will send it to the new players in my saga starting in August, as it gives a nice view of the kind of game ArM5 is). But two things stand out from the pictures - the "Magic of Hermes" and collected Hermes Portal books. Where do these come from and how can I get hold of them?!
3 Likes
Hermes Portal is a fan zen released from 2001 to 2005. There were 15 published issues which were all released for free download but the link from the publisher Eric Kouris (which the Atlas hosted Table of Contents points to) is now down. You can find the original thread talking about it here.
You can find copies of them if you google for "Hermes Portal PDF". I am not posting any links since all the places that host them are sketchy, but there is no issue with downloading "Hermes Portal".
For the "Magic of Hermes" I am not sure exactly what is referred to. Looking into it a little more, it seems to be something that an author put together. Most likely physical copies just given out to other authors he worked with so no way to get a hold of.
3 Likes
I'm familiar with Hermes Portal, and I have the pdfs (through the link on Project Redcap, which I assumed was legit). More wondering about the book in the photo of the bookshelf, which looks to be a published collection of them.
1 Like
Yes the link that is on Project Redcap was the one from the original publisher. It is down now.
Only thing I can figure is like the "Magic of Hermes", it is a self published collection. If you put together a document in the right format any 'Print on Demand' place can make one for you. They were never actually released.
EDIT: Try looking up the ISBN shown on the side of "Magic of Hermes" and you will see that it does not actually match the proper formatting. It is 10 digits in 4 sections, which matches the ISBN of the time. Going to the ISBN checker there is an error. Entering the first 9 digits gives you the check digit which should be the last number. That should be a 7, so the number is not a valid ISBN.
4 Likes
Troy has the right of it. They're both POD unique copies for my game table. The Hermes Portal compilation is just a cover for the combined PDFs, while the Master Grimoire is as I describe it in the interview: a compilation of official and unofficial spells, guidelines, and other miscellaneous helpfulness that I laid out in InDesign. I have produced many versions over the years, each more massive than the last. I obviously need help!
If you look closely, you'll also see a hardcover version of Third Edition that was also POD...
6 Likes
Is that 5 copies of ars 3rd? That's some dedication.
3 Likes
Yeah, we were actually recently contemplating going back to 3rd edition, and it's cheaply had, so... 
4 Likes