It's not so hard to make Goliard a Tytalus maga, and turn the other Tremere of Blackthorn into Tytalus (or a Tremere gone native). And then there's hardly anything to change with regards to the Tribunal structure. I can even envision House Tremere attempting to drop a House covenant into the Tribunal in an attempt to bring order to whats going on there. Hijinks ensue...
Tytalus is probably a bad choice. Blackthorn need to cooperate internally, and House Tytalus famously cannot agree on what to have for breakfast.
I have seen fairly succesful conversions casting Blackthorn as Merinitae, and that could work.
But neither of the houses T work for me in this context. But ofcourse, YSMV.
Formax and Prelum are personae of Goliard. She maintains their sigils. Iudicium is aware of this, but it gives him advantages...
It is a bit disheartening to learn that the line will be put to pasture for the next little while, but we've had a good run and with 20+ supplements remains well supported without even getting into fan-made material such as Sub Rosa and its ilk. Indeed, I almost envy those just now getting into 5E as they' will have the pleasure of reading new (to them) books for at least a few years to come.
I am curious, however, whether Atlas will make efforts to ensure that the books (or at least a subsection thereof) remain in-print? My own collection will be completed as comps arrive, but I do feel that keeping at least some of the essential books available will help maintain the health of the line. Especially if the lean-times will last much beyond 2017 or so.
I get the pleasure of reading EVERY book for the line for the first time. That's right - kneel and be jealous of me!
L)
Well Egon, you do have the enormous privilege of starting the game with (almost) all material already published, which is indeed very helpful. I mean, having all the rules and material for whatever direction you want to take already done and no need for retcon-ing is a big, big help. 
Now I just have to get into some games!
OK Grand Tribunal Europe will probably feature a workshop on Writing for Sub Rosa and definitely a workshop on Which Way Sixth Edition? It will be in Cheltenham, England in August this year -- and I'm pretty determined to make it bigger and better than ever. If you would like to come we will do all we can to make you welcome and help you make it!
Details at grandtribunal.org
CJ x
I think this is fantastic news. There's an old saying where I come from: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Ars Magica is a strong game, with a lot of great source books, giving GMs and players a solid base upon which to build great stories and sagas for countless hours of entertaining play. We don't need an endless run of splat books to make it a good, fun game. We certainly don't need a new edition just for the sake of having one. With a strong fan community, this forum and great resources like Sub Rosa, I expect Ars Magica will continue for many, many years to come.
I´m mastering two Ars Magica Sagas in Germany (one lasts for 22 years, the other is 1 1/2 years old). Why should I change my life, solely because the fifth edition of Ars Magica will come to an end next year? Of course we will play on until the sagas will end... why not?
I tell you a secret: I have a stressful job. The output of Ars Magica 5th edition for me was breathtaking. It took a lot of effort for me to stay up-to-date. So many good ideas! So little time to use them! Now 5th edition will end, o.k. Now I have the chance to catch up on what I lost sight of. For both of my sagas I have material for the next 15 years, I assume. Then I´ll be in my 60ies. We will see, if I´m starting a third saga in 2030 AD.
Thanks for a great game! It´ll continue, at least in Frankfurt/Main and Kassel, Germany.
Chiarina.
First of all a big THANK YOU and best wishes to David Chart!
Ars Magica 5th edition is a beautiful game indeed. So if it gets changed, the change should be radical.
Sounds less than logical? Let me explain:
Ars Magica is very playable as it is - a complex crunchy game with a close to history feel. And I will keep playing it for years to come (if my schedule allows me to).
So there is no need for a cosmetic reworking.
I hope for radical change in 6th edition. I hope there will be more FATE-ish elements to it: more words-based-mechanics, less numbers, a reinforcement of the idea that creo terram is first of all a subject verb combination.
A radical change though will either result in a product that is even better. If it does, I'll buy it and play it. If it doesn't we will always have 5th edition.
I have lots and lots of 5th edition books - enough to keep me busy for a lifetime of roleplaying. I have stopped buying new ones a few months ago - I don't need any more of them (except for Egypt, Which I won't be able to resist). So if 6th edition turns out to be 5th edition with a new layout, I'll simply keep using my 5th edition books - and so will others - which is not good for Atlas Games' coffers.
So as I see it, Atlas Games can either come up with something really new that sells, or the success and number of supplements of the 5th edition will make people unwilling to move on.
One last request: I am a player who hates pdf and loves real books (and is willing to pay for them). Do not make the same mistake as White Wolf (Onyx) and create books that are near unavailable in Continental Europe. Find some way of making them available in the Old World as well. Oh, and do make a 6th edition core book preorder list!
Hi all,
ArM5 being by far the widest edition on my bookshelf (and I think I pretty much own all published ArM books, in one version or another), I was quite surprised to read it might have gaps on the Berklist. Some ArM5 sourcebooks disappointed me; I found most on par with my expectations; and some were good surprises. Overall, 5th edition was a good edition, but it overwhelmed me, especially rule-wise, and I'm glad Atlas and David (whom I very much appreciated the work) move on to something new. Yes, I realize I am now on the wrong side of COOFhood. 
I am currently playing with a "diet ArM" version of mine (that I should take the time to translate into English and submit to Sub Rosa -- some of you might hate it, for it is sooooo very simple :mrgreen:), so I'm really happy seeing ArM going into this direction, and adopting new points of view.
My two vis pawns.
Well, the future of gaming is likely to be in online sagas, which work particularly well with ArM's focus on downtime. And the PDFs will be available until Judgment Day, won't they?
I do hope that they keep the corebook at least in print and available at FLGS', though. That's obviously still the biggest font of new recruits; we can't rely on the White Wolf community for all of our new kids, after all!
Also, backlisted titles sold through Warehouse 23 can be made available through Print on Demand, right? (I have no idea of the economics of this business model, so fool's parma.)
If you wait long enough, well my friend is trying to write up a "fanfic" version of our first big longterm game(epic scale! including accidental powergaming and accidental screwups, YAY!), that´s about as much as i can provide. 
Even though i haven´t played for years, i was still hoping for a few more tribunal books and maybe a some other fun stuff. 5th edition is easily the best(i have 2nd, 3rd and parts of 4th as well, at least if i dig enough in my bookcases), so it´s nice the more there´s to it of course.
Very agreed. But it´s funny how some game companies DOES run by that model(cough WotC end cough).
Look on the bright side - now you won't need to wait around for books! You get the entire line. 
Actually, ArM5 will have 40 supplements when it is complete.
It's still not enough.
Agreed! This is terrible news!
I turn m back for a few years and Atlas shuts us down?!?
'Tis true. It's to awesome to end so soon.