I susspect that the Source (my local game store) will get their copies Tuesday at the same time as the distributors. When I recieve a copy I'll mention it to you all and try to answer any burning questions that you have untill to you recieve your own.
I'm pleased to see this thread reached 100 posts before anyone had even seen a copy of the book. 
That seems like a healthy level of anticipation.
I must take a moment to brag, because I have a copy of Societates right now, IN MY HANDS. It just arrived this afternoon. I will bring it with me this weekend to KublaCon in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I'm running a sit-down Ars Magica event, if anyone would like to meet up with me and flip through it. 
Some really neat illustrations, I must say. The Columbae one, the Donatores one, and the Hermetic Sahirs one especially jumped out at me, and I liked several of the Flambeau and Tytalus ones too. The Jerbiton style made me do a double take at first, but on reflection I like it. An interesting almost storybook quality to them.
i guess they sent to to you directly huh? Drool drool drool
I'm soooo jealous!!! 
Have a good reading 
OK, weekend is over.
Any comments on HoH:S, Erik or anyone else?
Impatiently,
Jarkman
Woo Hoo got my copy. I won't get a chance to look at it until this evening.
Ditto, Jarkman.
Jeeze, Erik. It's like you have a job or something. Forget the daRned paycheck and spill! 
Tapping foot, refreshing view, slavering for info!!
-K!
F5!! F5!!!! Post your comments, you bastards!!!! 
Xavi
I just got a chance to look at the Societates book too. I am at work, so I only looked at the pictures. Plus I think I've read all of the chapters at least twice already and the Ex Misc chapter more times than that...
I do like the art for the Donatores, Root-Cutters and Seirenes. I tend not to like Kelley Hensing's art because it often looks over-rendered and muddy, but these are all pretty good.
I agree about the Jerbiton art. It is a different style. I assume it's from a new artist. I think it works. It looks a little comic book or cartoon like, which is in no way a denigration of it. I love both art forms.
OK, now that is just mean.
"Why, yes, this water does taste good. There is a slight mineral flavor that I'm not a particular fan of but otherwise just fine. Oh, you say you're thirsty? Dying of thirst? Really?" Gulp. "Well, when your well fills up then you can have all you want, but until then, I'll let you know that the water is quite good."
Grrr. <>
As an author, I'm not really comfortable writing a review of the book. Anything negative is bashing my fellow authors and anything positive is blowing my own horn. That said, I like it. I like all the Ex Misc traditions. I especially like Mark's ideas for changing the Ex Misc traditions. I think some of his ideas for altering my traditions would have been better than the ones I wrote. 
I always like an "idea" in its abstract more than the actual implementation though...
I like the new slant on Flambeau as defenders of the Order and not just pyromaniacal psychos. I like the rules for Agencies utilized in the Jerbiton and Tytalus chapters. I think all the authors did a good job.
I hope the Ars community enjoys the book. I don't think there is any groundbreaking stuff that will cause the kind of caustic debate that Criamon did, but obviously, I'm too close to the book to be a neutral judge of that.
If you have a specific question, I'd be happy to attempt to answer, but that's the best I can do.
Fair enough. Actually I DO understand, but I had to point out how it sounded (heh heh heh)
Anyway, as to specific questions, let's talk about Tytalus and Agencies. Conceptually, what are Agencies and how do the Tytalus participate in them? No need to detailed mechanics or listing out all the details. Just looking for a summary.
Secondly, toss us a meaty bone from the Flambeau plate. What is one thing that you really like in Flambeau version 2.0.
Thirdly, what is one thing from Ex Misc (if anything) that makes you go "Now THAT change gets deployed/introduced immediately in my saga."
Again, not looking for satiation in this venue, just a little more than a whiff.
Oh, and feel free to talk about what you like. Reward yourself for doing good by feeling good about it!
-K!
edited for bad spelling, -K!
I fully understand.
Agencies are collections of agents. These are essentially minions that a character can use to find things out or get things done. They come into play much less often than Grogs or Companions, so they are not fully fleshed out characters. A Principal must maintain his agency otherwise his agents are not going to be there when needed. The rules explain how to do that and what you can expect from your agents.
I like the different schools of combat. I especially like the School of Ramius, which focuses on spells that get around an opponent's Magic Resistance. There are some good ideas in there that non-Flambeau can use.
Well, obviously, my own traditions are in my saga. I also like the ward magic practiced by the Columbae and the Hermetic Sahir summoning rules. The Cult of Orpheus is also in my saga as antagonists.
I think that the traditions of Ex Misc in the past were often portrayed as dirt-eating, tree-huggers who were only found in peasant hovels. These traditions are more noble in heritage and with histories comparable to other Houses in the Order. I think with some effort any of them could be made into real full-fledged Houses -- if only the Hermetic Man weren't keeping them down. 
My thought for the Pharmacoepians and Seirenes was to create a couple of traditions that were around at the time of the Founders, but for one reason or another didn't make the original twelve houses and entered only after Ex Misc was created. The Donatores are also outside the rural, backwoods stereotype. They all speak Latin and are part of an orgainzation that's older than the Order.
I hope this helps.
Oooo...shinyyyyyyy...
<> I'm such a geek.
Muy excellente! Thanks.
All right you other authors/early posessors of ArM goodness!! Same questions but add a "What is one thing you like about Jerbiton 2.0?" in there as well, please.
Thanks again, John. Really looking forward to my copy.
-K!
I'm working my way through the first chapter and I just read the horn of champions. A question for Andrew. Was the fact that if this item falls into the wrong hands the person with those wrong hands could use it to kill a large number of senior Flambeau a concern to you, something that you didn't consider, or did you view it as a story opportunity?
The horn has two effects first it alerts a group of flambeau who have given AC's to the Domus Magna that their assistance is needed. Second, it teleports that group to the site of the item. The catch is that the second effect has no penetration. so if a character wants to be summoned they need to suppress their parma.
If an enemy of the house would get the horn and knw how to ue it they could use the first effect to alert the crew then a few rounds later when many of them have dropped their parmas they could use the ACs to rain destruction upon the house's chosen champions.
Four new spell mastery abilities in the Flambeau chapter and another two in ex Misc.. Excellent, the game needed more general access mastery abilities!!
Quick casting, unraveling and rebuttal all seem very useful.
Me too. In fact, I'd rather not say anything about it at all, but I was compelled to comment on the artwork because I've asked about it in the past when I got my copy after other players. But don't worry, Erik Tyrrell ("The NDA-Breaker!") has his copy now, so you'll surely get all your answers soon enough.
I decided ahead of time that I'd gladly answer questions about my chapter but I don't want to get drawn into arguments with customers over it. I'm sorry to say, your question seems headed directly onto thin ice and I'd rather not answer directly.
I'll say this much: I agree, the Horn of the Champions would be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. That probably has several implications for Castra Solis and the volunteer champions.
If you want to use that as a story opportunity, by all means have fun with it. 
Edit: By this I don't mean to say Erik is trying to draw me into an argument; it's just that if I give an answer to "what were you thinking" then I'm pretty much defending the text. Once the ink has hit the paper, I believe what I was thinking ceases to matter, and the important thing is what the text means to the reader. If, when someone reads the book, he or she sees an implied story opportunity as Erik did, then I think that is a Good Thing.
To avoid future confusion: I think John meant to say, the School of Vilano (rather than Ramius).