New Book Ideas

This is a very fair concern, Diedne are interesting because of the mystery and it’s hard to preserve that when you examine them in depth :slight_smile:

Here’s a thought, what about a book about the Order right before the Schism War? There’s no way they could stretch Diedne to fill an entire book anyway, the HoH books cover four apiece, so if they did explore Diedne it would have to be included with something else. The presentation of House Diedne could be largely mundane, or at least as mundane as a mystery cult can be, and it would leave open the question of what Diedne did preceding the Schism War (if in fact they did anything). Even if they weren’t corrupted by an infernal or faerie power Diedne managed to give the Order a run for their money which is impressive for a single House. If they were influenced, well that’s something that can be hinted at or discussed briefly but they don’t need to go in to details thus preserving much of the mystery while still providing a glimpse. Done well this could actually reinforce the mystery rather than expel it.

The book could give a short overview of the Houses and Tribunals at the time, as well as some key points about Europe at the time. It could look at the political situation in the House in more depth and perhaps provide some key locations of the upcoming Schism War if the troupe wants to run a saga through it.

Heh, i think the bigger problem will be to choose what to use and what to exclude.
Just for one thing, where do you think Sidhe and Banshee comes traces their origin to?

Choosing what and how to adapt for the game might be very hard, but lack of things to pick from, i very very much doubt it.

Hibernia would probably be full of Diedne legacy, place where great battles during the Schism War were fought. Moreover, there is St. Patrick and whole Celtic Christianity that opens a lot of possibilites - like, say, pious faerie magi :wink:

Well, clearly, you missed some interestingly funny discussions then. Not that this is important.

I like most ideas :slight_smile: Some more:

Hermetic Religions: This could describe religion in the Order, or ones the Order would find appealing. An option is to have very Order-focused cults: a more detailed look into the Cult of Mercury and its Magical religion; a Faerie religion with magi as priests secretly promulgated through Europe by Merinita magi; a new Divine religion that is compatible with magic (i.e. allows some "Placating the Holy Spirit" trick to ignore Dominion penalties, a la Natural Magicians), led by a new saintly figure; and a new Infernal gnostic cult, along with the demon that is advancing this particular form of corruption.

Massive Adventure: No one mentioned adventures. I think adventures are always fun to have around. We've had short adventures, I think the time is ripe for a Grand Campaign - some overarching plot (rather than a series of consequtive encounters), spanning decades, against some Big Evil. To have broad appeal, I think a generic enemy is needed, one that is plausible at every tribunal - a demonic/diabolist plot is the most obvious, perhaps tied to a trans-Order threat from history, like Trianoma's witch sister, the Diedne, or so on. However, a Christian threat could be just as relevant - mundane/Christian encroachment is an ArM staple. Some 120 pages detailing the bad guys' powers, plots and designs, and some encounter set pieces and statistics for opponents.

High Fantasy Ars Magica: A tribunal book set at different "saga assumptions", with little historical veracity and lots and lots of high fantasy/myth. I'm talking cities with people made of gold, pagan deities that walk amongst men, covenants that are giant automatons.... Possibly an entirely new setting, only loosely based on Europe, much like other fantasy roleplaying games.

Low Magic Ars Magica: A small book taking a detailed look at creating a saga based on hedge wizards, in a world where the Order is more secretive than in most ArM sagas - and is not particularly friendly with the hedgies. Suggest tweaking of Hedge Magic rules to better fit the saga, and incorporating other suitable rules (such as Enrichment). Could be a digital-only release, as it relies heavily on already owning Hedge Magic.

I like replacing it with Tremere Training: You get 50 XP extra during apprenticeship, and 5 Build Points per year in resources from the House. Suddenly, being part of an organization has its advantages.

I very much would like to see a "Grand Campaign" book with a plot spanning decades...

I really like Magi of Hermes and would very much like to see more of this kind of book around.

I like this a lot, but I think these can be rolled up into one book, as these religious ideas have the potential to be saga-changing

So we could have a "Campain" book with 2-3 very detailed campain plots, and some others too, but less detailed, like a mix between Plot Hooks from the books and a Sub Rosa arcticle. Like what was done at the end of the (excellent IMO) Land of Fire and Ice supplement.

I'm not sure what 5 build points imply as ressources (serf's parma), but, on the whole, I find the idea absolutely AWESOME!!! :smiley:

An incredibly useful book. :exclamation:

Perhaps SubRosa could publish some mini-scenarios that would build to a whole campaign.
Or , we could pay an extra subscription fee for authors to work on such.

Their potential to 'requisition' resources from the House can be very powerful, especially if you don't keep it on a rather tight leash.

I can only wonder about what the Transylvania book will do for them, if/when it comes out.

Five build points are a small but nice power boost. It amounts to a tractatus every two years or so, which when you think about it - can add up pretty nicely. However, I would also allow "equivalent" aid, which where the House's support becomes really nice - all the little things that don't really have a Build Point price and your character can't obtain. Need a large ruby for that talisman, and your covenant is poor? No problem. Need some mercenaries that won't get tracked back to you? The House can arrange a legion or two. How about a merchant fleet, or contacts in a big city? The House can really fill in some missing pieces - and all for the low, low price of respect, public obedience... and the creation and preservation of House resources when you've grown enough.

Thats really a very nice change. A very simple and easy to do change, but VERY much "Tremere-ish".

Certainly adventures are always very useful indeed.

Hmm, a big single "foe" for a whole book? Sounds potentially a bit problematic in a commercial sense ( only those who think the setting looks good will be interested ). Many companies seem to handle this by making this kind of books a bit thinner and softcover, might be an idea.

Hmm, actually yeah i think this would be a very cool addition. One that adds myths too extreme for the normal stuff and raises the overall level of "fantasy". It could then also be used by those who doesnt want the whole package but still wants to pick and choose parts of it.

Mmm, maybe... A low fantasy setting is fairly easy to make anyway because you simply dont need to change anything from history. Might be useful but...

Well i´ve not been involved in anything online with AM before here. And not even 3 years here yet.

I just love these ideas. Ooops I just stole them for my game. If anyone does a tremere that is :stuck_out_tongue:

On top of that they have a lousy reputation here in the alps, I dont see why !

'That looks an awful lot like 25 pawns of Vis each year, to be exchanged for far too many books for my taste.

Tellus just highlighted one of the many break points of the covenant resource building cost :slight_smile: But yes, per the RAW that would be possible if the SG does not act light God Almighty and puts artificial breaks into that :slight_smile: My players went so far as to suggest that for our new covenant there was enough with 100-200 build points, given that they would amass the best library in the order (only MAYNBE suprassed by Durenmar) in 1 or 2 years of game time and pass from weakling to legendary status as a consequence. After some laughs we dropped it, a susual, but yes, it is possible :slight_smile:

Cheers,
Xavi

Or how about a vis source worth 1pawn/year^2 ?

1st year 1 pawn/year (1 pawn total)
2nd year 2 pawns/year (3 pawns total)
3rd year 3 pawns/year (6 pawns total)
etc...

see table on p. 31 (ArM5) for the first 20 years.

Or we could look at the 25 pawns per year from above.
Now, this should be the equivalent of a minor virtue, in this case probably Personal Vis Source, right?
Personal Vis Source is supposed to grant about 10% of what the covenant otherwise gains, here around 250 pawns/year.
Pretty neat actually, and only about 1250 build points spent on vis.

A quick look at p. 71 (ArM5) places this at the dividing line between a medium and a high power saga, purely from Vis sources alone.
And that's just one Tremere!

Coeris must be rocking!

Let me clarify/correct - the House lends the resources, it does not give them. It does "give" you raw vis - by "lending" you a raw vis source. This means that you get the much more reasonable 1 pawn per year, if that's how you want to use the virtue. Here is the precise text, although it may need tweaking for balance or whatnot:

Tremere Training: Minor Hermetic Virtue

Your training as a Tremere apprentice has been exhaustive, drawing on the vast resources of the House. You gain 50 experience points that you may spend on Arcane Abilities or Spell Mastery, and 30 more spell levels. Your training doesn't cease after your gauntlet, and as a journeyman Tremere magus you regularly receive resources to improve yourself. You are lent resources equal, on average, 5 Build Points per year, of a nature suitable to your interests. These points may be stocked over several years to allow bigger loans (e.g. two years' allowance will allow you to loan a Quality 10 Tractatus on a topic of your choice). The House offers many resources, including introduction to magical animals that are likely to serve as your familiar, mercenaries, means of transportation, magical items, books, raw vis, teachers, arcane connections to select spirits and sites, and more. Negotiate what you actually receive with your troupe. You are expected to return loaned resources back to the House, perhaps with reasonable wear and tear, and generally not to share them with magi from other Houses. (Raw vis you are expected to use, not return; you are effectively loaning the raw vis source.)

In time, you will be expected to give back to the House. You will be asked to perform various services, such as writing books, inventing spells, investing items, participating in expeditions and missions, and more. You should develop spells and capacities that will allow you to participate fully in a magical-war effort, should the House require it of you. You are also expected to arrive to the House's grand meeting in Transylvania, taking place every ten years. Above all, you are expected to be loyal to your House and its local representatives in the Tribunal - specifically, the Tribune (leader) of the Rhine Tribunal is Master Stentorius, of the covenant of Fengheld.

Young Tremere magi traditionally wear deep-black robes, turning to grey and even white with seniority and age. Magical wolves and birds of prey are popular familiars, and staffs - often set with amber and shod with lead - are popular talismans. A focus on Rego, Mentem, or necromancy is typical. In addition to the magical Arts and Abilities, the House values and teaches Abilities such as Leadership, various Lores, and even Survival.

Awesome :smiley:

I'll note it somewhere :smiley:

That looks much more reasonable, except that the main advantage (the build points) is basically already available according to HoH: TL.
Indeed this may well be more restrictive.