House Rules

Play by Post Campaigns Ars Magica 5th Edition: Isle of Wrath
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House Rules By Category

Virtues & Flaws

  • Tremere House Virtue: Tremere may pick some besides a Magical Focus in Certamen as their free house virtue.

  • Mercurian Magic: Replace the following line in the virtue text,”If cast as part of a Wizard’s Communion, all participants need to have this Virtue to gain this benefit” with “If cast as part of a Wizard’s Communion, you must know the spell being cast to gain this benefit.” In addition, the virtue now grants your Ceremonial Casting rolls a bonus equal to the number of prop categories you are using during the ritual. See HoH: Societates, pg 59 for information about ceremonial props.

  • Magical Focus: Magical Foci must be based on themes of effect. This means for example that a Magical Focus in swords would not then apply to enchanting any effect into a sword as a magical item. Instead the Focus must apply thematically to whatever effect is intended to be produced.

Experience & Advancement

  • Adventure Experience: Adventuring does not affect the calculation of results of Seasonal Activities (and any resultant experience gained) beyond how any potential time away may count as a distraction from an activity. This intentionally does mean that people could theoretically double dip on a Seasonal Activity and Adventure Experience during a Season and is intended to remove potential disincentives to Adventuring.

  • Correspondence Experience: 2xp may be gained by having an in-character correspondence with someone each season. See page 90 of Covenants for more information.

Abilities

  • Changing Specialty: A character can change the Specialty of an Ability if they choose when the Ability is increased from one level to another permanently via experience.

  • Knowledge Abilities: Less a house rule, and more a matter of clarification. Rarely will we as STs call upon you to make a roll. Instead, we will consult your level of skill along with any modifiers, and simply tell you what you know, or don't.

Combat

  • Static Defense Totals: Defense totals are not rolled; instead of a Stress Die, add +6 to the total of a defender. This means that (aside from Initiative), only the attacker rolls in combat: his Attack roll is compared to a static Defense and, if needed Soak. This is intended to streamline combat posts and the drafting of narrative in a play-by-post environment.

Confidence

  • Confidence Recovery: Any time Confidence Points are awarded the amount recovered is multiplied by the Confidence Score of the character.

Personality Traits

Reputations

Spellcasting & Magic

  • Ceremonial Casting: Ceremonial Casting is universally available for all casters for Formulaic Magic.

  • Wizard's Communion

    • Spell Mastery: Participants in a Wizard's Communion may add their Spell Mastery Ability scores in Wizard's Communion to the Casting Total of the spell being cast. The maximum number of participants that can so contribute is the Spell Mastery score in Wizard's Communion of the primary caster actually rolling for the spell effect. There are no Spell Mastery Special Abilities for Wizard's Communion.
    • Wizard's Vigil: Wizard's Communion is adapted from non-Hermetic magic of Mercurian origin and thus does not need to conform to standard MuVi Guidelines. This means there is no need for Wizard's Vigil.

  • Ritual Magic & Other Magic: Dispelling, suppressing, or otherwise significantly interacting with/altering/ending the effect of a Ritual Magic effect requires a Ritual Magic effect. This is intended to restrict most types of interaction with Ritual Magic aside from Intellego (Intellego being unaffected).

Hermetic Limits

Labs & Labwork

  • Fixing Arcane Connections: This process does take a season to complete normally and does consume a pawn of vim vis. However this process does not meaningfully occupy the full attention of the Mage though it does require their regular presence and involvement. Fixing an Arcane Connection thus is a background Lab Activity that does not interfere with other Lab Work. Fixing more than one connection at a time is possible but does consume the attention of the Magus and a maximum number of Arcane Connections equal to the Magic Theory score of the Magus may be fixed simultaneously.

Magic Resistance & Parma Magica

  • Magic Resistance Interpretation: The following points describe how Magic Resistance (MR) will function and be applied in the saga.

Arts & Guidelines

  • Generic Guidelines

    • Wards Providing Soak Protection: Using the example of Ward Against Heat & Flame (ArM5, pg 143) the ability/guidelines for controlling a given Form can be used to provide protection amounting to increased Soak. For sake of simplicity this guideline is established as uniform across all Forms. Base 4, Provide +5 Soak against a declared potential damage source covered by the Form. The Soak bonus may be increased by +5 for every additional magnitude added to the effect.

  • Mentem

    • Mind Reading & Time: While Mentem allows for the transfer of information from one mind to another the unaugmented mind generally receiving such information requires time to both formulate questions and to process and internalize the answers. This in effect means casters/users of Mentem effects drawing information directly into the mind/thoughts of a caster/user may only pose as many "questions" per round as 1/2 of either their Concentration or Art of Memory ability. If both Abilities are possessed instead the average (unhalved) of both abilities may be used. Potential modification of this limitation may take place with suitable uses of Complexity in spell design or layered effects to assist in the process. The relative depth, complexity, and length of a given piece of information is an additional factor that could cause it to be ruled to make it more time consuming to mentally process and comprehend.

Realms

  • Realm Parity & Balancing: Interactions of Powers of different Realms in conflict with one another will be adjudicated based on normal interactions of effect levels and penetration. No Realm is considered to "automatically" win or be somehow more proficient at achieving effects of a given type. (For example Demons have no infallible ability to lie and not be detected.) There is also no objective God, Gods, or elsewise divinities associated with any Realm.

Auras

  • Aura Interactions:
Aura Interactions Magic Powers Divine Powers Faerie Powers Infernal Powers
Magic Auras +2xR -R +R -R
Divine Auras -2xR +2xR -2xR -2xR
Faerie Auras +R -R +2xR -R
Infernal Auras -2xR -2xR -2xR +2xR
  • Tether Universality: As per Legends of Hermes, pg 17, Inset, discussing Tethers and new guidelines for Vim, the concept of Tethers (though thematically adjusted for each) is adopted as a universal concept applying to the Auras of each Realm.

Regiones

Creatures of Might

  • Might Destruction: Might Destruction first drains away points from the Might Pool of the affected creature. Once the target is reduced to zero Might Pool it begins to take Permanent Might Destruction Damage. Being reduced to zero Might does not kill a creature/being but may leave in temporarily mundane or in some way banish it depending on the nature of the creature. Might Pool points will return at their normal rate if reduced by Might Destruction. Permanent Might Damage can be healed naturally over time, relative to the environment and resources (aura or vis for example) available to the being within which to rest and/or with which to treat its wounds.

Initiation & Mysteries

Contacts & Relationships