Just got it

Hey. Im a soldier in the US Army deploying to the middle east at the beginning of march. And I just ordered Ars Magica, RoP: Faerie, and Guardians of the forest to keep me occupied while im over there. Ive been gaming for 11 years and went to college for medieval history (with an emphasis in the Norse) and have been looking for an rpg that is a close representation of medieval europe but with magic, fey, and other elements of fantasy thrown in. Ars Magica seems a perfect fit for me and the magic system sounds awesome. Im excited to recieve the rpg and am eager to read it overseas as a nice escape from reality, and by the time i return home i should have the rules and supplemental books i ordered completely memorized and numerous story ideas :smiley: . So hello, and expect numerous questions from me as i delve into my new tomes!

Happy gaming!
Good Luck, God Bless, and Stay Safe :wink:

Welcome to Ars Magica soldier. Stay safe, and come home in one piece.

Welcome, I hope you like it, but not as much as I do, (I wouldn't wish that burden on anyone, much less someone serving my country).

Ars Magica and Mythic Europe seem to be exactly what you're looking for.

Welcome to the community.

-DC

Welcome. Spread the good word on the game over there, and let others in on the secret!!

Should you become as addicted as we are, I heartily recommend as your next purchases the three "Houses of hermes" books.

You could also run "the broken covenant of calabais" for your fellow soldiers.

Good luck,
eric

Thanks for the support everyone. Im really excited to get the three books I ordered so I can get started on this rpg. I think this is the game system ive been waiting for. Is there anything written for Mythic Scandinavia for 5th edition yet? I forsee me running my sagas in the Black Forest and the Rhineland, but I would definitely love to add some Norse flavor to them.

There are some fourth edition works, "Ultima Thule" and one on Iceland ("Land of Ice and Fire"? Anyone?). The fifth edition Hedge Magic book addresses Rune Magic and some Norse traditions.

Be safe.

Oh I love the Old Icelandic sagas! They were my primary sources for medieval papers in college. i still read them. Can 4th edition material be easily used with the 5th edition rules?

Welcome to the game!

The plotlines and background material, certainly, tho' some basic assumptions and misc details and History of Hermetic Culture have been changed, esp the history of House Tremere et al. But it's mainly the mechanics that are a bit of a shift, differences in characters, spells and Virtues/Flaws, that sort of thing, and the attributes of a Covenant. (You'll learn that a Covenant is actually just one more character, the most important one in a saga, as that is ultimately the truly central character in the story, and typically the only one guaranteed to endure to the end of it.)

Peace and Strength on your and yours, and Luck when the first fails.

It's been a bit since I read Ultima Thule. Having said that...

I think the Runic magic system in the 5th edition revision of Hedge Magic would cover the Runic Magic system covered in Ultima Thule.

The Creatures and the Beastiary from Ultima Thule you should be able to update yourself fairly easily.

The historical, cultural, and religious information covered in Ultima Thule you probably already know from your studies.

I'm sure there's more in Ultima Thule and the Icelandic book that I am forgetting.

Welcome to the game, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. I think it fits in well with what you appear to be looking for.

The Land of Fire and Ice book has a saga outline in it that can certainly be used pretty much as-is, involving two interconnected stories - one about a demon and ancient magic, the other about the dragon guardian of Iceland and a magical regio. I think the saga has some nice elements of Norse saga flavor in it, but if you're really into these I think you'll find it too high-fantasy and not sticking enough to the real Nordic inspiration.

In general, adapting 4e stuff to 5e requires some work in converting creatures and similar statistics. But the greatest difference is in how the Realms of Faerie and Magic are seen, which is what causes the most problems. This means converting might actually require some thought on how to modify the story/creature/regio to conform more to 5e standards, or abandoning the 5e ideas in favor of a better story.

Anyways, be safe,
Yair

I know this is silly.

Okay... So that means that you believe your superiors, any enemies and civilian factions keeping grudges might actually not keep you occupied? :wink: None of them probably are as imaginative storyguides as you then!

Good luck.

Welcome :slight_smile:

For what you say Hedge Magic (Revised edition) would be vital for you: it contains rules for Vitkir, the norse magicians and Gruagachan, the dudes descended form giants and trolls that dwell in Scotland and the norse lands

Land of Fire and Ice is amazing, and you might really enjoy the saga/setting of the Isle of Man published in Hermes Portal (available for download free in Hermes Portal #14 and #15).

For what you say yes, you might have found your game here. :slight_smile: Good luck there.

Cheers,

Xavi

Well, I finally have my Ars Magica books and Im very happy with them. In Guardians of the Forests Im particularily interested in setting my covenant and saga in Holstein area of northern Germany, In particular the settlement of Schieswig right on the border of Denmark. It lays under the Danish rule of Vlademar II at the time and is situated right next to the haunted Viking ruins of Haithabu. Sounds perfect for me :wink: ! I thought I was going to purchase RoP: Faerie and put my saga in the faerie-haunted Black Forest but after reading about this area of northern Germany Ill definitely put it there instead. But now I want to get another sourcebook to help me with story hooks and such for that slightly Norse-flavored area. The Vitkir and Gruagachan from Hedge Magic sound perfect and I'll likely get that book but I was also wondering if anyone has used the Rune Magic explained in the Ancient Magic sourcebook? Would it also fit well into my slightly Norse saga? Thanks.

I will have to check, but probably. The furthorc there represents the runes in Britain (in the northlands it is the Furthark). IIRC the Ancient Magic ones deal with the runes as a "dead" magic system. well, in hedge magic you will find the rune users alive and kicking if you want to use the runes for real :wink:

Cheers,

Xavi

Welcome :slight_smile:

And for some nice (and free) stuff you can look at the old Hermes Portal stuff: pagesperso-orange.fr/styren/herm ... hermes.htm

Mostly 4th edition but they did a nice sourcebook stuff in issues 14 and 15 for the Isles of Mann, mixing norse, irish and scottish backgrounds.

Ancient Magic relates to the intergration of lost magical traditions into Hermetic Theory. None of the traditions described is designed as PC characters (except possibly the Hyperborean Hymnists). By discovering intact rune scripts, the PCs can unlock their mysteries and translate the effects into Bonisagus' theory thereby granting access to new durations and targets which are detailed in the book. If you want your Hermetic Magi to explore the Norse world in search of its magical secrets, this is the book for you.

Hedge Magic is about Non-Hermetic traditions currently active in Mythic Europe. It provides rules for completely new systems of magic that may be integrated into Hermetic Theory (sadly, Rune Magic is not reprinted) or used on their own as PCs or enemies of the order.
In addition to the Vitkir and Trollsynir (a Gruagach variant) mentioned earlier, I believe the Folk Witch (seithr), Nightwalker traditions would also be good fits for a campaign set on the borders of the Norse world. If you want to play non-Hermetic wizards buy this one.

Hope this helps,
gremlin44

If you dont have it you might want to get "Covenants" as well, it is very nice for "spicing up" your covenant but also has lots of surrounding information.

Thanks everyone. Im definitely gonna love this system :smiley: .