Lords of Men? Any teasers? :)

Hi,

So the next book is Lord of Men, and since Magi of Hermes has been released, I thought I could ask if there would be any teasers, previews or cover art soon? Could anyone in the know let us in on their secrets a bit? :slight_smile:

As for us not in the know, what should Lords of Men contain? What should it not contain? Speculations?

Yes, I look very much forward to this book. We need Ordo Nobilis, 5th edition style. :slight_smile:

Eirik

What was there in Ordo Nobilis ?

Off the top of my head, I'd suspect this LoM to include:
Overview of the medieval social hierarchy.
Rules for politicking (similar to those used by Trianomae in HoH: MC).
Rules for governing large scale combat (as hinted in ToME).
Stats for important figures of 1220.

Hopefully, this is the answer to what it will not contain.

Gods forbid.

I sincerely hope LoM will be designed at a higher level of fantasy, but I fear it will aim at the pseudo-historical level of Art & Academe and City & Guild. I don't like this non-Mythic Europe.

I do wonder how rules of warfare are even possible for Ars Magica. With rampant magic, angels, demons, spirits, and so on I think ArM is too open-ended to allow rules that would truly support mass warfare in a real campaign. I suspect the LoM will instead provide rules for warfare sans magic, a boring excercise unrelated to real ArM warfare.

I agree in one point. Stats for famous people are pretty useless: I can figure out for myself that the skills the pious bishop of Cologne has (and adapt them to the power level of my campaign). A sample bishop, count etc might be helpful though, for quick reference and as a base for customization.
I hope there won't be lengthy rule details for social interaction. Story seeds or campaign ideas, a few floor plans and lots of history is what I want. I do disagree with YR7 here: Lords of Men is a book for people who do not need to slay a dragon or demon every other season, but who like the simple challenges of covertly supporting a besieged city or dealing with feudal oblgations. This is Ars Magica after all, a (or rather the one and only) game for intelligent gamers made by educated people (even if some of them are from the colonies...) - if I wanted to slay dragons I could play AD&D or a computer game

Do people think this is going to be the book where more advanced personal combat shows up? I don't mean more mass combat rules, I mean one on one dueling type rules.

S. Buckler

I think those are unlikely to be developed. Ars is not really fine tunned to that kind of combat.

Xavi

I think personnal combat should be more detailed. Heck, a couple of pages with options in a book would do the trick.
I think it might be wrong to say that Ars isn't about personnal combat. Every troupe plays Ars Magica differently. For instance, I have an idea for a campaign were all the magi are Flambeau magi-knights, never using magic to attack, only to defend. Their "covenant" is actually their camp, moving around, seeking quests and glory, true to the ideals of the Round Table (yes, these guys are from the Normandy Tribunal).

Detailed rules for personnal combat, or at least more options, would be very usefull indeed. :slight_smile: Or at least, that's my opinion.

Cheers,

E.

@ Xavi--there have been dueling systems built into Ars Magica before, haven't there? I may be misremembering, but...

I'm currently working my own house-ruled combat systems out--I'm calling it GURPS Magica (so you can guess where I'm getting the info from) for a few nuances to make combat more fun for the players who are playing companions (my game is set a bit later than the canon game, because we want some rapiers and swashbuckling, too). The two systems actually seem to mesh pretty well without tooooo much kludginess. But I'd really love to have as much of the work as possible done by the Atlas folks who know the game inside out. That's one of the things I'm hoping for in Lords of Men!

S. Buckler

I made my own options for combat too, a kind of expansion, using the same rules as a baseline, but adding to it. Wound effects (arrows sticking in bodies, severing of limbs, crushing bones) were included, along with other things I had missed. I'm hoping for someting along those lines in Lords of Men. And crossbows. We need crossbows..

E.

YR wrote "I sincerely hope LoM will be designed at a higher level of fantasy, but I fear it will aim at the pseudo-historical level of Art & Academe and City & Guild. I don't like this non-Mythic Europe."

I like it on the other hand. Atlas cannot please everyone, but for what it's worth, the more you take it into high fantasy surely the less plausible and also less relevant the Europe bit becomes.

Yes, I really like the Europe part og Mythic Europe. I always describe Ars Magica to new players as "medieval Europe where the myths are true". I try to keep it as historical as possible. :slight_smile:

E.

Hey, I say the exact same thing, when I explain it to new players and interested people. Although I most often also briefly explain the Order.

But I am really curious about Lords of Men. I happened to like Art & Academe. City & Guild I found mainly uninteresting at first. Since then I've become a great fan of the craft qiality rules and the craft magic.

My mind is wandering this morning... I should be getting on with "stuff" but I thought I'd check in here and see whether there were any dates announced for this book. I haven't found any, and the cover's not up yet.

Are we looking at late January?

No, later than that. No firm date at this point, which is why there hasn't been a formal announcement. There have been two insistent delays in final proofreading and editing.

Sorry about that.

David

is Atlas dropping the publishing rate from 4 book a year or is this just a temporary blip? It seems as though there's been a reduction in the teasers for forthcoming works recently (or am I just greedy?)

My suspicion is Atlas-side familial expansion has created a temporary refocusing of resources.

V

Good point Vrylakos, my gaming suffered from such an expansion a fair few years ago but that's easing now.

Lords of Men http://www.atlas-games.com/product_tables/AG0293.php

The undisputed rulers of Mythic Europe are the nobility - those high-born who are bound together by sacred vows of loyalty, are supported by the land, and provide support to the Church. Lesser nobles compete for the favor of those superior to them, while great nobles seek the loyalty of those beneath them. When not distracted by the politics of landholding and of war, they hunt the mundane and magical beasts of the forests and host extravagant feasts. For the nobles of Mythic Europe are first and foremost knights in shining armor.

This book contains complete rules and background for the nobility of Mythic Europe, ranging from the details of their lands to their entertainments, political struggles, and dealings with the Order of Hermes. And, of course, it presents special rules for combat, whether at a tournament or during a desperate siege. It also describes the hard lives of the peasants, who make the rich existence of the nobility possible by providing the food at their feasts, the labor for their buildings, and the soldiers in their armies.

Authors: Timothy Ferguson, Andrew Gronosky, Chris Jensen-Romer, Mark Lawford
Cover Artist: Grey Thornberry
Stock Number: AG0293 | ISBN: 1-58978-114-7 | MSRP: $29.95 (US)
Format: 144 pages, hardcover
Release Date: TBA

This one will be good. Exactly what I hoped for, it seems.:slight_smile:

E.