I am about do direct an Ars Magica game, when i read about experience adventuring i realized that any magi could spend experience points on any art ( magic arts) to a max of 5 experience points on one for each adventure. Does this need any kind of excxuse, such as:
You were following a clue that leads you to a very old fire temple in wich you can learn some inscriptions that let you spend experience on ignem.
Or
I have been trying to find the assassin of a bishop in Toledo, I have used no magic at all, but can i spend 5 experience points on Ignem art?
Both are posible just the first one, or the players need an excuse more than the second option less than the first i explained?
Thank you a lot, i have tried to explain myself, I hop you can understand me properly.
Adventure experience points come from using an Ability or Art "in the field" and thus adding to your knowledge from practical experience. The rulebook says:
You need not actually provide a source of experience to your players (as in your first example): if the characters cast any Ignem spells as part of their exploration, then they can put their adventure experience points into that Art. They don't need inscriptions on the fire temple to allow this. However, if they didn't use their Ignem Art in any way, then they cannot apply those xp to that Art. On the other hand, they can apply the experience points to an Ability that they didn't actually roll on, but is appropriate. Thus if the ancient fire temple was in the Zagros mountains, then a player could apply the experience points to Area Lore: Jibal, even if they didn't actively use that Ability during the adventure. Merely by going there they could have learned something about this part of Persia.
(If you do provide some inscriptions in the fire temple, then they can perhaps come back and study them for a season (or more), treating them like a book or even a lab text)
In your second example, because the characters did not use Ignem, they cannot apply experience points to Ignem.
Yes, just make sure you know what players do in the 'timeskips' involved in any adventure. One thing a magus can ALWAYS spend XP from an adventure on, for example, is Parma. After all, every magus worth their salt is putting their parma up at least twice a day.
Thank you both for the answer. The answers you gave me Mark was exactly what I wanted to know. It was strange to me to think about spendig experience points on an Art after an adventure. For me arts seem like skills that just could be learned by studying books or vis, runes or thinks like this, and I thought about spells, as a posible place to spend experience points. I like the idea of being able of spending experience in arts. This way if any player goes adventuring can still follow leveling up the arts, sometthing that is esential for a wizard player. All in all the limit of five experience points isn't on all the arts, is it?
I mean if for example I used creo ignem to kill many bandits attacking me and after I used creo terram to block some ranged attaacks. Could I spend the 7 experience points gained in creo ignem and terram, spending a maximum of five points in one of those?
Just remember that not every source of experience can be applied to Arts. To recap from the main rulebook:
Exposure: Can be applied to both Abilities and Arts. Also, bear in mind that any seasonal activity that doesn't generate experience generates exposure experience, particularly noteworthy for seasons spent inventing spells, creating magic items or teaching a student.
Adventuring: Can be applied to both Abilities and Arts. For Arts, only those actually used "on stage".
Practice: Can only be applied to Abilities, not to Arts. Can be split between different Abilities, if applicable.
Training: Can only be applied to Abilities, not to Arts.
Teaching: Can be applied to both Abilities and Arts, but Arts are limited to only one student per teacher.
Books: Can be applied to both Abilities and Arts, whatever the book is about.
Vis: Can only be applied to Arts, not to Abilities.
And remember that Finesse, Parma Magica et al are Abilities, not Arts, so are allowed/disallowed as any other (mundane) Ability.
Edit: Corrected a mistake regarding practice experience, thanks to the kind help of Arthur
Yes I had it clear the rest of it, was just adventuring and spending experience in arts, what i could think of being wrong, or more stated, just because probably I think the Arts are the teorical side of the magic and the spells the practical side. So in my mind it had more sense if arts couldn´t be leveled up adventuring, but thinking raw i really think it is better, and that it gives the players a reason to get out from the convenant.
Again Thank you all a lot. Tomorrow I will start my second AM5 campaign i hope it will go fine.
