One thing that used to frustrate me about the Ars was the density and distribution of the rules and so on. This would often slow down a game session or cause the wrong outcome, as after lots of page flipping we just guess or misread. This was especially annoying as my style is to focus on the story and try to make all the mechanics seamless.
A few years ago, mainly for use within my Aegen campaign, I summarized most of the core books' rules, tables, and general information. I have not summarized the setting, background or scenario material.
These are now being published (under open license) as 14-15 mini-topic books on DriveThruRPG over the next month or so, for a $1. Please note they do contain house rules.
These are all very interesting and useful! Thank you. But the references to house rules and magic traditions that were part of your own campaign have me curious about the magic traditions you created. Can you tell us more?
They were initially produced for use as a rule summary years ago and complied as three “display books”, with some players using select digital copies that relate to their characters. The combined size was over 200+ pages. Many of the summaries are only referenced by the players when needed on a topic basis.
Personally I have found them invaluable in helping me remember elements that I used to fudge by hand-waving around the rule for the sake of the story.
A good number of the volumes have been updated with expanded house or related rules, at the moment this is on an almost monthly basis. Sometimes the change is just a minor tweak, other times its been two or three new pages.
Thankyou. I personally have problems dealing with the large volumes of text in the Ars Magica books, hence why I converted some elements to a more visual presentation.
The campaign has:
No greek or roman culture
Reduction of the central superiority of the Hermetic magic
Increased use of a Holy Magic tradition aligns with an Earth Goddess cult
Expansion of the Folk Witches - See “The Viking Way” - Price for details
Introduction of primitive Fomoir cursing magic
Expansion of Pictish magic
Progression rules for Magical creatures, such as giants and dragons
Ways in which Magical creatures can take up hedge traditions.
A healing well (maintenance and construction) cult.
How much does the Earth Goddess Cult show up in the above materials/is there one in particular that really digs into that, for lore and/or mechanics? A while back I went looking to see if there was a universal-ish “Pagan Holy Magic” system akin to what we find in ROP:Divine, and had no luck, (which isn’t the worst thing in the world from a theological standpoint, but I’d love to see what y’all come up with)
Spiritual Pact (from RoP:Magic pg 88) is probably your best bet:
Spiritual Pact
Major, Supernatural
The character has made a pact or agreement with a powerful Magical spirit, and in return for loyal service, is granted access to that spirit’s power. The pact serves as an Arcane Connection to the character of indefinite duration, which the spirit can use to make itself aware of the current location and state of health of its servant.
The character can channel the power of the spirit by spending a Confidence Point. Make a Presence + Magic Lore + stress die roll: this is the amount of Magic Might Pool that the character acquires from his spiritual master. The Might points acquired are always less than the current Might points of the spirit, regardless of the roll’s result. On a botch, the character loses all current Confidence points. This action is equivalent to spellcasting in with regard to the concentration it requires. The character can spend these Might points on any of the spirit’s powers. Penetration is calculated in the usual way for magical creatures using the initial Might
Pool in place of Magic Might, and including the character’s Penetration Ability, if any.
The character using this power does not have a Might score, just a Might pool. He does not gain Magic Resistance from the use of this power, nor does he leave behind vis if he is slain. He cannot be affected by Vim spells (or similar magics) that target the Might score of supernatural creatures. Without a Might score, the pool does not replenish; once the character has spent all of his Might points this power ends. All powers used have their duration lapse when the character uses his last point of Might Pool. If this power is evoked again while the character still possesses Might Pool, then the new points gained replace the points left over; the two pools do not add. The points acquired by the character are lost from the spirit’s Might pool and cannot be returned by the character, but the spirit regenerates the spent points as normal.
While the connection to the spirit is active, there is some visual manifestation of this, which makes it clear that some supernatural effect is taking place. For example, if contacting a fertility spirit, fruits and grains might spring from around the character’s footsteps. While in contact with a war spirit, a character might appear to be clothed in ghostly armor. When the character is actively channeling the spirit, he acts as an Arcane Connection to the spirit of indefinite duration, although this connection lapses when the Might Pool is exhausted.
The storyguide should decide upon the powers of the spirit. With the agreement of the troupe, this Virtue could be used to channel the power from a spirit of a different Supernatural Realm; or from a group of closely related spirits, such as a small pantheon of pagan “gods,” but care should be taken not to grant the character too much flexibility with this one Virtue. A character can only have a single pact.