Next Ars supplements?

Games Discussion Ars Magica
1

So Faeries is in the pipeline, finishing the Realms of Power set. We’ve already had three Houses of Hermes books, so what’s next?

Do wiser heads have the next 10+ supplements pencilled into a schedule that stretches to 2012, or is there space for idle speculation about interesting supplements?

Obvious ambitions could include new Tribunal books, particularly Transylvania and Thebes but also Hibernia and Provencal. Not to mention 5th edition versions of those Tribunal books that are showing their age, Rome, Iberia and Loch Leglean.

And if I had a magic wand to command what next, and/or the ability, patience and time to write some of these, then how about:

  1. Covenant specific books, ala Mistridge and Triamore perhaps focused on the Domus Magnus of each house. With some good reason why players would visit.
  2. New Wizards Grimoire (sorry) dull but useful
  3. Book of Legends, short 4-5 page cameos focused on myths, legends and big beasties
  4. Hedge Magic II, and/or Ancient Magic II as their must be more out there
  5. Ancient cult books e.g. Cult of Mercury digging deeper into how the ancient cults and religions operated and used magic.
  6. The other big magical traditions. Books on Mythic China, Mythic India, and/or Mythic Islam (not sure Levant did it justice)
  7. Historical Order books. For example Order of Hermes on the eve of the 1st Schism war or at other significant points in hermetic history.
  8. Future Order books (similar to above). Perhaps the 2nd schism war (1280?), the Templars (1300). Black Death (1350), Early Witch trials (1400), Rise of the Ottomans (1450), The Renaissance (1500), or the serious Witch trials (1550 ono) and the Winter of the Order or Hermes

My fantasy would be an Ars treatment of both China and India, which the Mongols are bringing into increased contact with Mythic Europe. Lots of cool legends, magic’s and technologies in Song China.

And/or an Order of Hermes book on the Renaissance.

So idle speculation time, what else would Ars fans like to see?

Richard

2

A book about diedne renounced house

3

Personally, I would love a book about stories in Mythic Europe, and how to tell them. Maybe more adventures. Or even a campaign book that focus on how to run a long campaign stretching into the next century, and what it means for the Order and mundane society. Did the Verditius really invent the plate mail? And is black powder really the work of the Devil? Mythic Europe's take on history. :slight_smile:

Also, a book on nobility and war would be lovely. We have City and Guild. Maybe something called Nobility and War. And a book called Farm and Forest would be a nice way to make this into a trilogy. This would focus on rural life, legends of the forest and would work very nice with RoP: Faerie.

And I would love more Tribuna books, especially Thebes and Tansylvania. And how about one book taking on Stonehenge, Loch Leglan and Hibernan tribunals with a common theme about the legends of the British Isles?

Well, with RoP: Faerie coming out, it seems we're closing on to the point where we have most of the books we need (all the House books, all the RoP books etc).
This really is my all time favorite rpg :slight_smile:

Cheers,

Eirik

PS. And merry christmas :slight_smile:

4

For me, I would love to see a new Wizard's Grim collecting all the tweeks and adjustments to the core magic system into one book.

I'd also get a some use out of a Nobility sourcebook, though I can't imagine there would be much to say in a Peasants sourcebook (extending rules for farming just aren't necessary, IMO :slight_smile: ).

What I definately do not want to see if a new edition. :smiling_imp:

5

In this thread: Upcoming publications?
Michelle Nephew posted the following:

6

Hint appreciated.

'Tales of Mythic Europe', in particular, looks very interesting.

7

Tales of mythic Europe sounds to me like book of adventures.

Magi of Hermes sounds like the book from last year's open call. If so, it should big fat book of Hermetic spells and items.

8

Yes. Actually, the next 12, up to the end of 2011. No, I'm not saying what's on it.

Although some people in this thread will get what they wish for before the end of 2011, if the schedule goes smoothly.

9

That's pretty good news!!! :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:

10

Can you tell us if there are any more series to be worked on? I mean, we had the Houses of Hermes series and the Realms of Power. Are there any more lines of their ilk being talked about?

11

No, I can't tell you. Sorry.

12

Well, the product page has four series: Tribunals, Houses, Realms and Miscellaneous.

I think the "Miscellaneous" line may get some books. :smiley:

13

Transylvania's an interesting writing challenge, actually. I thouth about it when writing HoH:TL. When you buy a book that says "Transylvania" on the cover, you expect certain things: certain Hammer Horror tropes. That's a legitimate expectation. The question is how to balance that C20th Gothic feel against historical Hungary, which is not at all like that.

Now in the 3rd ed, each Tribunal was basically a subgenre. For demon stories you went to Ireland, Politics was England, Hammer Horror was Transylvania...and this had a sort of bordering function. Now in 5th, this doesn't happen because the Order is more strongly intergrated and you can't say "Now leaving Westerns (Russia), entering Horror (Transylvania)".

So, how do you juggle that? I have no real idea, myself. It's one of those things where I sort of think "To do this properly I'd need to sit down and research this every weekend for about three months to get the details the way I'd like them." like I did with parts of CoG, because if you get it wrong, it's patently obvious that you've made a mistake. Also, we have New Wave Horror to think about, and new wave on one side really suits us well (because it isn't based on gore its based on mood) but on the other side doesn't because one of the core sources of new wave horror is loss of control/helplessness, and some players have really not responded well to mechanics in which they ceed authorship (like Mysteries where you don't just pick and mix for example.)

So, it has a lot of potential for greatness, and a lot of potential for looking like a lame ripoff of Chill or Ravenloft (particularly since Ravenloft has a guide to Transylvania, I believe, which kind of does our thing of taking folklore and making it into story material.) and the difference is, IMO, finding a slant on the material which is novel, that lets you keep the horror elements as a sort of English translation of deeper, authentic folkloric elements. This lets you use the buyer expectation of Hammer tropes as a starting point to guide the reader into a level of deeper coolness you don't get in other books.

So, you'd say "We know you know Dracula...so from your basic understanding of the vampire trope, we can explore (well, basically all the stuff I explored in the Santorini article for HP for those with long memories.). and that's different to Hammer Vampires, which is shallow and you've seen before, or Playable Vampires, which would be a mistake IMO (although I have accidentally written rules for them now that I think about it..."Some vampiric faeries steal vitality from blood, while others draw it from the garlic placed over doors to keep them out." is in the sell text for Faeries. Oops. Some vampires are pretty obviously faeries, though.)

My point though is that the job of the writer, for me, would be to use the reader expectation of Hammer Horror tropes as a lens through which to explore deeper material. The research load for that, though, is huge, unless we can rope in some genuine Magyars.

And to you.

14

Coming off my Transylvania ideas in the last post, I'd like a James Bond style book. My concept is this:

So, House Tremere trains certain operatives. They are non-magi, and they are therefore comparatively cheap and replacable. They are deniable assets to be used where the Gifted cannot go. They are trained at a particular facility, (which in my notes I've called the Yellow School, but forgotten why) and they go on each mission tricked out with a few small, deniable, magic items from V Branch. The Yellow School occassionally bump into other agencies, and some of them have similar kit and training (Redcaps, The Primus of Jerbiton's guys, the Tytalus guys, some other guys from outside parties.)

I'm not sure how to do Medieval versions of "Martinis, girls and guns" but I think it would would look a bit Three Muskettersish.

So, secret agents, but with magical gizmos for tech.

15

Might be very fun indeed

... Without this being scrying.
Or interfering with mundanes.
Or any of those pesky code-breaking things.

:smiley:

16

I also wondered how a good Transylvania book would be done, because it is the most "mono-house" tribunal and would basically be an expanded Tremere House quarter of HoH:TL. (Plus the Michelin travel guide that GOF and L&L got us used to)
However, perhaps combining it with the above ideas on a book about non-gifted companion intrigue... that could be a working recipe.

The other book idea I fantasized about (not THAT way, please...) would be a "Enemies of the Order" book. It would finally bring together the scattered plots about Daman-Allaidh (Sp?) and/or the Diedne and other legendary baddies into workable and rich saga outlines, with referrals to the other books where related materials are found.

17

Yes, you'd need a framework...a "take" on the material that was novel, because otherwise you start getting to the point where you go "In what way is plot hook X distinctively Transylvanian?"

That being said, because it has few covenants and only a single predominant House, you'd get a lot less biography and a lot more space for various forms of coolness.

18

Speaking of Tremere, I really like that house, and would love to see a tribunal book for the Transylvanian Tribunal. However, Tremere magi are never played in my campaign, as the players don't like that they all get the minor magical focus in certamen. Our group thinks that it makes them too focused on a rather small aspect of Hermetic Magic in that way. In a book on the Transylvanian Tribunal, it would be nice to open up this rule a bit, so various "types" of Tremere magi could get different bonus virtues. Of course, one could just house rule that they get something else, but it would be cool to have Tremere magi have different "jobs" so to speak, as they all work for the House. Some would be duellers (magical focus in certamen), some soldiers (warrior virtue), some commanders (puissant leadership) others spies (puissant guile maybe), and their bonus virtue would reflect this.
Maybe the Tremere covenants in the tribunal had different "training facilities" for the different types of Tremere magi too.
A tribunal book like this, where one house dominates, would be very interesting. The Tremere could function as well organized society of Magi, or as the all powerful villain, almost like a fascist empire, depending on what the troupe wants. :slight_smile:

Cheers,

Eirik

19

I’m keen to see a Transylvanian tribunal book, at the high fantasy end of Mythic Europe, but suspect that by the time it gets published House Tremere will have been all but annihilated (at least in our saga).

The Mongols I imagine as an unstoppable, all powerful force, that suffers challenges to that power badly. It seems likely that the invasions would seek to co-opt or destroy any magical opposition and the Order of Hermes in the East is likely to come off badly.

During the withdrawal from Hungary the Mongols put an estimated 50% of the population to the sword i.e. anywhere up to a million people. I’d imagine this process involves the last gasp of magical opposition in the Tribunal and House Tremere dying with it.

So perhaps a Tribunal book devoted to the last vestiges of a ruined house battling with all manner of supernatural threats to recover ancient books and artefacts. Or a House in exile, perhaps in Rome, seeking to reclaim the wastelands of Hungary for the Order.

20

I'd house rule it then: for your campaign it is obviously a broken rule.

Also, I'd let them see the Nightwalkers in Hedge Magic: certamen is both stranger and cooler than previously suspected. You'd still all have the one focus: but its a focus that now really rocks for combat teams.