It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, but I was thrilled to be part of the Definitive Edition Kickstarter. I got the full collection, and I can’t wait for the physical book to be decorating my shelf
During the campaign, the Creative Commons licensing for Ars was something that really caught my eye. I’m a novelist, with my fourteenth novel being published in early March, and I love the setting and system of Ars more than any other that I’ve played. Now I have the opportunity to translate that into something that not only honors the greatest RPG and magic system, but allows other people to build a larger world based off of what I’ve made.
My plan is this: a seven novel saga chronicling the life of one Roland of Flambeau, from the beginning of his apprenticeship to his death. I chose seven because that’s how many “stages of man” there are listed in the canon, plus it’s a magically significant number. I’m 44000 words into book 1, which chronicles from when he’s picked up by his parens until his Gauntlet.
This isn’t a LitRPG-the characters aren’t aware of their stats or their XP usage. I’m trying to remain faithful to the RAW as much as possible while “writing between the rules” to create an immersive, character first story.
This is my first real announcement of the project. I’ll continue posting updates here; feel free to ask any questions you might have!
Thanks to Atlas and this wonderful community for inspiring so much awesomeness.
However, knowing that there’s other authors in this area is always exciting to see. When I was younger, I definitely read so many Project Red Cap covenant descriptions, some adventure logs were closer to fan fiction and those were always my favorite.
Today I’m crossing 50000 words! Always an exciting landmark in any novel.
For the curious, I consistently put down 3500 words every day unless physically incapable, which is generally if I have to drive all day for an event or there’s some sort of family emergency. I don’t know how long each book will be because I’m a discovery writer, not a plotter, and I don’t know what’s going to happen until I see it on the page! Still, my writing rarely goes over 80000 a book, and the largest I’ve written was 104k. We’re about to time-jump to our apprentice’s first Tribunal visit, 9 years into his apprenticeship.
Regarding the Pink Dot problem in my novel saga:
There are so many interpretations of Magic Resistance and its interactions with enchantments, permanent or temporary, that there’s no way to write it in a book that accommodates everyone’s belief in how it works. Therefore, after some research, I’ve decided on a very fundamentalist approach to it. If you prefer a different way of doing it, that’s absolutely fine.
If the item itself is magical, it’s resisted.
If the item itself is under a magical effect, its resisted. This means a spell to enhance sharpness, increase weight, etc. would cause the item to be resisted.
If the item itself is subject to a magical effect, the magical effect is resisted but the item is not: example is the Blade of Virulent Flame. The fire is cast onto the blade, the blade is subject to the heat (and can melt) rather than being an inherently “flaming blade.” This would not dispel or even suppress the flames wrapped around the sword-they simply wouldn’t touch the magus.
Yes, this means that a skilled maga can neuter a group of grogs with a Group targeted MuTe spell against their swords or spearheads. I’m fine with that, and it’s the logic I’m going with in my books Not looking for a rules debate, of course, as this isn’t gameplay, and “troupe discretion” begins and ends with authorial decisions…but I did see the excellent thread about this posted fairly recently. Good stuff.
This sounds great! I like that you're sharing a bit of process and how you think about things. I'm looking forward to read the books for sure.
I've never written a full length novel (mainly just RPG and technical manual stuff), but it's something that I'd like to have done before Final Twilight takes me. Others doing it with the Open License gives a bit of inspiration in that direction.
I do have a campaign chronicle of the latest sandbox / emergent campaign at 327 032 words and counting. 165 sessions, nowhere near done, and about 200k words of notes to add - and absolutely no clue where the players will take this beast. If it wasn't such a daunting task - that'd fill a good series for sure (James S.A. Corey: The Expanse managed an excellent 9 volumes, the best tv-series and a bunch of novellas, comics and videogames out of their campaign so I guess it can be done hah hah...)
Exciting! If it’s something you want to do, I recommend giving it a shot. There are definitely people interested, I guarantee.
And thanks for your feedback on my ideas! Ars is my favorite RPG system by far, and I want to honor the hard work that’s gone into it from both Atlas and the community while putting my own stamp on things
Update after some of the work today. Writing Certamen is absolutely fascinating, a huge mine of sensory and lyrical power. Tons of fun. Up over 63000 words and moving on!
I have now made a clean 100k words as we start his Gauntlet! No writing tomorrow, as I’ll be heading to San Francisco for the Market of Marvels on Saturday. Anyone in that area? I’d love to see you
My library of all things Pagan & Occult - the Adocentyn Research Library - is in Albany, just north of Berkeley. We have over 21,000 books, including a complete collection of Ars Magica and a LOT on medieval magic. Our regular hours are Sunday noon-6:00pm and Thursday 1:00-8:00pm. Stop by and check us out.
